His Excellency, Sir John Thomas Duckworth, K.B., Vice-Admiral of the
Red, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over the Island of
Newfoundland, &c.
To the Micmacs, the Esquimaux, and other American Indians frequenting
the said Island, Greeting:
WHEREAS it is the gracious pleasure of His Majesty the King, my
master, that all kindness should be shewn to you in his Island of
Newfoundland, and that all persons of all nations at friendship with
him should be considered in this respect as his own subjects, and
equally claiming his protection while they are within his Dominions:
This is to greet you in His Majesty's name and to entreat you to live
in harmony with each other, and to consider all his subjects and all
persons inhabiting in his Dominions as your brothers, always ready to
do you service, to redress your grievances, and to relieve you in your
distress. In the same light also are you to consider the native
Indians of this Island; they too are, equally with ourselves, under
the protection of our King, and therefore equally entitled to your
friendship. You are entreated to behave to them on all occasions as
you would do to ourselves. You know that we are your friends, and as
they too are our friends, we beg you to be at peace with each other.
And withal, you are hereby warned that the safety of these Indians is
so precious to His Majesty, who is always the support of the feeble,
that if one of ourselves were to do them wrong he would be punished as
certainly and as severely as if the injury had been done to the
greatest among his own people, and he who dared to murder any one of
them would be severely punished with death; your own safety is in the
same manner provided for; see therefore that you do no injury to them.
If an Englishman were known to murder the poorest and the meanest of
your Indians, his death would be the punishment of his crime. Do you
not therefore deprive any one of our friends, the native Indians, of
his life, or it will be answered with the life of him who has been
guilty of murder.
Fort Townshend, St. John's, Newfoundland,
1st August, 1810.