“Thus situated, our last resource is to you, Sir, hoping and praying that you will so far use your authority to save an almost deserted country from destruction, and to order or procure the small number of twenty men with an officer, to be stationed among us for our defence; and that you will make order for the establishment of a civil court to take place immediately and to continue in force until the pleasure of his Excellency the Governor shall be known, and to whom we beg you would communicate our distress. “We beg your answer by the return of the bearer, addressed to the Revd Mr. Le Dru, our Priest, who signs this in the name and at the request, of the inhabitants. “Dated at Kaskaskia the fourteenth day of September, 1789. “Ledru, curé Des Kaskaskias pour tous les habitans Français de l’endroit et outres voisins de la partie Americaine. “JNO EDGAR.”(134) John Edgar offered to furnish provisions for the twenty soldiers asked for in the petition, and to take bills on Congress in payment.(135) Hamtramck responded to the petition by saying that sickness prevailed among the troops at Vincennes to such an extent that twenty men could not be sent thence to Kaskaskia, but that the request would be sent to headquarters. As to the civil department, the people were advised to elect two or three magistrates in every village. These should prevent debtors from leaving, and should levy on the goods of such debtors as had already gone to the Spanish side. “Let your magistrates be respectable men by their moral character, as well as in point of property; let them attend with vigilance to all disputes that may arise amongst you, and in a particular manner to the Indian affairs.”(136) This reply reached Edgar on the night of October 27, 1789. The next day, Edgar wrote to Hamtramck saying that it was probable that the recommendations in regard to establishing a civil government could not be carried out without a military force. The French were easily governed by a superior, but they knew nothing of government by an equal. Indians were constantly incited by the Spanish. They stole horses and escaped to the Spanish side. Edgar enclosed correspondence and depositions showing that on the night of the eighth of October, John Dodge and Michael Antanya, with a party of whites and Indians, came from the Spanish side to Kaskaskia, made an unsuccessful attempt to carry off some of Edgar’s slaves, and threatened to burn the village. He adds “[In] the spring it is impossible I can stand my ground, surrounded as we are by savage enemies. I have waited five years in hopes of a government; I shall still wait until March, as I may be able to withstand them in the winter season, but if no succour nor government should then arrive, I shall be compelled to abandon the country, and I shall go to live at St. Louis. Inclination, interest and love for the country prompt me to reside here, but when in so doing it is ten to one