finished, the French proceeded cautiously towards the fortified villages of the Onondagas and Oneidas, their centre led by De Frontenac, now seventy-six years of age, who was carried in an arm-chair, while De Callieres commanded the left wing, and De Vaudreuil the right. But the Onondagas, satisfied that the invaders could not make a permanent conquest of their country, pursued their old policy of burning their villages on the approach of the enemy, and retreated into the recesses of the forest, whither they could not be pursued, leaving their crops of corn to be destroyed. A lame girl, found concealed under a tree, and a feeble old chief, whose infirmities prevented him from retreating with his tribe, were the only Onondaga captives made by the French. This gray-haired man, whom his own advanced years should have taught him to spare, De Frontenac handed over to be tortured by his Indians. Bravely did the withered sachem suffer, and fierce were the epithets he hurled at his tormentors, whom he derided amid his sufferings, "as the slaves of a contemptible race of foreigners." The French were more fortunate among the Oneidas, of whom they captured thirty-five prisoners. But beyond the destruction of their crops and dwellings, very little injury was inflicted on either them or the Onondagas. Their loss in men was trifling, and the Cayugas and Senecas remained wholly undisturbed.

On the 12th of August the army returned to Oswego, and on the 15th arrived at Fort Frontenac, whence they shortly after descended to Montreal, while bands of the Iroquois hung on their rear, and cut off stragglers whenever an opportunity presented itself. Nor did these tribes afterwards cease their incursions into the French settlements, till they found the frontier so strongly guarded that they could not carry off any important plunder. Unlike former times, they were now unable to make any serious impression upon 1697. Canada; and in 1697 appeared disposed for peace, the negotiations for which were opened through Oureouhare, still faithful to De Frontenac, and whose death for a while interrupted them. But the treaty of Ryswick terminated the war, in which Great Britain had engaged without policy and came off without advantage, and removed every difficulty in the establishment of peace between the French and English colonies and their allies. The English were the first who received intelligence of the treaty, and at once sent a deputation to Quebec, to propose an exchange of prisoners, both as regarded themselves and the Iroquois. The Governor, however, preferred to negotiate separately with the latter, and thus impugn their assumed sovereignty by the British. Of this sovereignty he found the Iroquois

to be not a little jealous, and did everything in his power to improve this feeling to the advantage of his countrymen.*

While busily engaged in these transactions, and in taking measures otherwise for the benefit of the Colony, De Frontenac died in the seventy-eighth year of his age, having to the last preserved 1698. the great energy of character which had enabled him to overcome the many difficulties and dangers of his most adventurous career. He died, as he had lived, loved by some for his courage and military virtues, hated by others for his cruel temper and proud and overbearing manners, but respected and feared alike by friend and foe, and with the credit of having, with trifling aid from France, supported and increased the strength of a colony, which he had found on his re-appointment at the brink of ruin.t

Smith's Hist. Can. vol. i. pp. 125-145. Doc. Hist. New York, vol. i. pp. 325345. Heriot's Hist. Can. pp. 313-344.

+ Heriot's Hist. Can. p. 345. Conquest of Can. vol. i. p. 331. Hist. Brit. Amer. vol. i. p. 198. La Potherye, vol. i. p. 110.

F

TH

CHAPTER V.

THE GOVERNMENT OF M. DE CALLIERES.

HE Chevalier De Callieres, Commandant of Montreal, who had already distinguished himself by important services in the colony, received his commission as Governor of Canada, to the joy of the inhabitants, by the first ship from France after navi1699. gation had opened. The negotiations with the Iroquois were still incomplete, owing principally to the intrigues of his predecessor to get them to acknowledge the French sovereignty of their soil, and received the immediate attention of the new Governor. The Earl of Bellamont, now Governor of New York, by insisting that the Iroquois as well as the English prisoners should be exchanged at Albany, sought to procure an admission from the French that these tribes were subjects of Great Britain. "That the Five Nations,” said Bellamont, "were always considered subjects of England, can be manifested to all the world." But De Callieres proved more than a match for the Earl in this game of diplomacy. He flattered the pride of the Iroquois, by sending agents to the principal Onondaga village to treat of an exchange of prisoners, to settle the preliminaries of peace, and to induce them to send deputies to Canada for its final ratification, a course they ultimately pursued, despite the expostulations and threats of Lord Bellamont. During the summer the Onondagas and the Senecas sent envoys to Montreal 1700. "to weep for the French who had been slain in the war,” and "to bury their hatchets, over which should run a stream of water, in the earth." Their arrival created a jubilee in the town, which they entered amid the pealing of artillery; a reception which piqued a Huron chief not a little, and who told the bystanders, "that fear made the French show more respect to their enemies than love did to their friends."

After rapid negotiations, peace was ratified by the Iroquois on one side, and the French and their allies on the other. "I hold fast the

tree of peace you have planted," said the politic De Callieres, addressing the deputies in their own figurative style, "and will lose no time. in despatching an armourer to Fort Frontenac to repair your arms, and will send merchandise there also suited to your wants.” *“I have always been obedient to my father," said Le Rat, a Huron chief," and I bury the hatchet at his feet." The deputies of the Ottawas and the other north-western tribes echoed his words. "I have no hatchet but that of my father, Ononthio," responded the envoy of the Abenaquis, "and now he has buried it." The Christian Iroquois, allies of France, also expressed their assent to the peace. A written treaty was made, to which the deputies attached the symbols of their tribe. The Senecas and Onondagas drew a spider; the Cayugas, a calumet; the Oneidas, a forked stick; the Mohawks, a bear; the Hurons, a beaver; the Abenaquis, a deer; and the Ottawas, a hare. The numerous prisoners on both sides were allowed to return. The Indians eagerly sought their homes, but to this conduct the greater part of the French captives presented a mortifying contrast. They had contracted such an attachment for the unrestrained freedom of forest life, that neither the commands of their King nor the tears and entreaties of their friends could persuade them to leave their savage associates.

The authorities of New York were highly indignant at the success of De Callieres in thus weakening British influence with the Five Nations. They correctly attributed the chief cause of this success to the influence of the Jesuit missionaries, who had acquired a strong hold on their religious sympathies, and never scrupled to use it for political purposes. Their indignation found vent in a law of their legislature, which directed the hanging of every "Popish priest" who should come voluntarily into the province.

The Governor promptly informed the French ministry of the conclusion of this advantageous peace, and urged that it should be improved to the ruin of British influence with the Five Nations. If a favourable arrangement of the boundary disputes could not be made, he urged that at least the country of the Iroquois should be declared neutral ground, and that both nations should not make any settlements among them. He likewise proposed that they should be left to their own choice in spiritual affairs, being fully satisfied they would prefer Romanist to Protestant missionaries. Still, the sovereignty of the Iroquois remained undecided. British continued to penetrate through their country, and share in the Indian commerce of the west. preserved the mastery of the great lakes, and De Callieres, to

But Canada

The

1701.

strengthen French influence, resolved on establishing a fort and trading post at Detroit. The Iroquois were soon apprised of this design, and remonstrated against it in strong terms. The Governor replied, "That as Detroit belonged to Canada, its settlement could neither in justice be opposed by the Five Nations nor the English; that his object in building a fort there was to preserve peace and tranquillity among all the western tribes ;" and added, "that he was master in his own government, yet only with a view to the happiness of his children." The Iroquois were fain to be content with this answer, and in the month of June, De Cadillac, accompanied by a Jesuit missionary and one hundred Frenchmen, was despatched to commence a settlement at Detroit. Thus Michigan is the oldest of all the inland American States, with the exception of Illinois, whose colonisation had already been commenced by the unfortunate La Salle.

But while France was thus grasping a firm hold of the west, and establishing her supremacy more securely on the great lakes, events were in progress in Europe which threatened to defeat her plans. James II. had died at St Germans, and Louis XIV. raised the ire of the British nation by recognising his son as the legitimate ruler of the "three kingdoms." William III., although on his death-bed, was still true to his ruling passion of hostility to France, and formed new alliances, governed the policy of Europe, and shaped the territorial destinies of America. His death in March 1702, 1702. did not interrupt the execution of his plans, which the ministers of Anne ably carried out. From the pinnacle of power, and with every prospect of giving law to all Europe, the exploits of Marlborough and Eugene, the bloody fields of Blenheim and Ramillies, reduced Louis to the lowest condition, and at one time even seemed to place his very crown in peril.

1703.

But the gallant and prudent De Callieres was not fated to witness the reverses of his royal master, nor to see French influence weakened in America. He died on the 26th of May 1703, to the great regret of the people of Canada. Their sorrow for his loss was the best tribute they could pay to his worth. Although, probably, inferior to his predecessor in brilliancy of talent, his sound common sense, greater freedom from passion, honourable conduct, and chivalric courage, gave him great influence with the Indian tribes, as well as with his own people. While, far from being their tool, he wisely preserved a good understanding with the religious orders, now becoming formidable in the colony from their wealth and numbers. To him, however, they chiefly owed an edict