70 ‘The French in Prince Edward Island 
     
    
   
   
    
     self-vovernment. To the Commandant and to the 
     
     Sub-delegate of the Intendant they looked for direc- 
     
     tion in times of prosperity which were rare, and upon 
     
     them they relied for aid in times of distress which 
     
     were all too frequent. Though confident of ultimate 
     
     prosperity they were still distrustful of their title 
     
     to their lands, a distrust that has ever haunted the 
     
     peasant the world over. De Pensens tried to calm 
     
     their fears by promises but pleaded with the King 
     
     that the Commandant should have power to grant 
     
     written assurances until such time as a formal deed 
     
     could be issued by the King or by the Governor and 
     
     Commissaire Ordonnateur at Louisburg. To hasten 
     
     the settlement of the colony he also urged that one or 
     
     two soldiers should be allowed to settle annually, 
     
     their pay being continued for the first three years. 
     
     He thought that they would make better settlers 
     
     than the Acadians who were “naturally lazy and 
     
     accustomed to work only in easy marshes” whereas 
     
     the lands of the island were uplands and difficult to 
     
     clear although the wheat thus produced gave better 
     
     flour and made better bread. He insisted that in- 
     
     creased cultivation was necessary, as the English 
     
     were grumbling about the number of boats setting 
     
     out from Acadia; and he saw that if the Acadians 
     
     should cease to furnish the provisions which had 
     
     hitherto tided the colonists over their periods of 
     
     want, those on the island compelled to rely on their 
     
     own resources might starve to death, since only those 
     
     who had become firmly established in the little settle- 
     
     ments could support themselves, and all newcomers