a 
     
    
   
   
    
     226 ‘The French in Prince Edward Island 
     
    
   
   
    
     saying, and thereby they will be prevented from enter- 
     
     ing into a peace, which must infallibly terminate in 
     
     their ruin. 
     
    

    
     These, my children, are my sentiments concerning 
     
     your welfare, and merely on this account I called you 
     
     together. It is now your business to determine which 
     
     side you will embrace. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Among the early French missionaries to the In- 
     
     dians of Acadia under British rule were Pére Bréau 
     
     at Pisquid and Pére Descloches at Beaubassin. But 
     
     those who did most to induce them to settle in villages 
     
     were the Abbés Gaulin and Courtin. The former re- 
     
     mained in Acadia but the latter spent the summer in 
     
     visiting the outlying districts, particularly Isle Saint 
     
     Jean. It was he who induced the Indians of the island 
     
     to settle at Malpeque, 1730-1733. These two devoted 
     
     missionaries translated the prayers of the church into 
     
     Micmac, part of the catechism, and some religious 
     
     instruction.2? On the death of the Abbé Courtin, who 
     
     was drowned off the coast of Ile Royale in 1733, the 
     
     Abbé Bierne was sent to replace him, having Petit- 
     
     pas as his interpreter; but he grew weary in well- 
     
     doing and was allowed to return to France. He in 
     
     turn was succeeded by Pére Vincent, who came under 
     
     censure of the Bishop of Quebec, and also returned 
     
     to France. Henceforth the Indians of Malpeque had 
     
     no resident religious instructor, a need which was 
     
     deeply felt. Forant wrote in 1789 that the Indians 
     
     of Malpeque were “very wretched and very liber- 
     
     tine.” He urged assistance for the erection of a 
     
    
   
   
    
     11 C11 B, Vol. 12, p. 884.