McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Marquis de la Jonquière Collection
Collection
1 folded leaf ; 25 x 18 cm
French statesman and count of Jouy-en-Josas (Île-de-France), Antoine-Louis Rouillé was born in Paris on 7 June 1689 and served in multiple government posts before being appointment secretary of state for the navy in the 1740s and foreign secretary in 1754 under the rule of King Louis XV. In this role, Rouillé pusued a policy of attempting to avoid the escalation of conflict with the British in North America. Fort Rouillé on the southern shore of Lake Ontario (built in 1750 or 1751) is named in his honour. As foreign secretary, Rouillé was one of the French signatories of the first Treaty of Versailles in 1756. Rouillé was replaced as Foreign Secretary in June of 1757 and died in Neuilly in 1761.
Consists of an English translation of a letter to the Marquis de la Jonquière written by Antoine-Louis Rouillé, comte de Jouy, secretary of state for the French Navy, at Versailles, dated 28 February 1750. The letter discusses an immediate release of prisioners of war taken during recent conflicts between the French and British colonies. It also includes a mention of Indigenous allies of England and France, and Indigenous people captured during the conflicts: "the Indian Prisoners among the two Nations be likewise released, but after all the French and English Prisoners are released. And that you and those govournours each one on his Part facilitate the Redemption of the slaves which may afterwards remain in the Indian Villages." The letter also includes the name of examiner Josiah Willard, secretary of the province of Massachusetts-Bay.
Purchased from Alexander Books, November 2019.