What the effect of this allocution would have been, unsupported by favouring circumstances, it is difficult to say. The Indian tribes all had a remarkable gift of perspicacity. They had no need of Dr. Johnson's advice to clear their minds of cant, for cant was something quite foreign to their mental habits; it was not a product of forest life. It happened, however, that Perrot was able to show them a number of Iroquois scalps, and hand over to them an Iroquois prisoner that his party had taken on their journey up the Ottawa. This looked like business, and lent a weight which might otherwise have been lacking to the somewhat fustian eloquence of Onontio. The affair of the capture had happened in this wise. As the expedition neared the place now known as Sand Point, on the river Ottawa, they discovered two Iroquois canoes drawn up at the end of the point. Three canoes were detached to attack the enemy, but were received with a heavy fire from an ambush on the shore, by which four Frenchmen were killed. Perrot, who thought it much more important to accomplish his mission among the Ottawas than to have even a successful fight with the Iroquois, did not at first wish to push the matter further; but his men were full of fight, and he finally allowed a general attack to be made, which resulted most successfully. More than thirty Iroquois, the narrative says, were killed, and many more were wounded. Out of thirteen canoes only four escaped. Two prisoners were taken. One of these was sent to Quebec and was used by Frontenac to help out his negotiations with their nation; the other was taken to Michilimackinac. His fate was not a pleasant one. Perrot gave him to the Hurons, and by so doing made the Ottawas a little jealous. Both Ottawas and Hurons were at the time meditating an alliance with the Iroquois, and the Hurons thought they could make good use of their prisoner as a peace-offering. The French, however, were not going to have any nonsense of that kind. The commanders conferred with the missionaries, and finally a hint was dropped to the Hurons that, if they did not put their prisoner "into the kettle," he would be taken from them and given to the Ottawas. That settled the question; the unhappy prisoner was put to death with the customary tortures, and all chance of peace between Hurons and Iroquois was thus destroyed. What the Ottawas might do still remained uncertain. Frontenac's message had by no means wholly won them over to the French alliance. They had heard of the warfare Onontio was waging against the English, and thought they would await developments.
That war had been going merrily on in its own fashion, and Perrot was able to give an account of the success of the principal expedition—the one directed against Albany—for it had returned to Montreal after doing its bloody work nearly two months before he left for the Upper Lakes.[38] The story of the three war parties must now be woven into our narrative. The one just mentioned started from Montreal on one of the first days in February (1690). The Indians of the party had not been informed what their destination was. When they learned that the intention was to attack Albany, they inquired with surprise how long it was since the French had become so bold. Like the Indians of the West, they had drawn their own conclusions from the events of the previous year. They were not disposed to join in so hazardous an undertaking; and it is allowable, perhaps, to doubt whether it was at any time seriously contemplated to make Albany the point of attack. If it was, the leaders changed their minds, for on coming to a point where the roads to that place and to Corlaer or Schenectady diverged, they took the latter. The difficulties of the march were extreme. Though it was yet midwinter, more or less thaw prevailed, and during much of the journey the men had to walk knee-deep in water. Then on the last day or two came a blast of excessive cold. A few miles from Corlaer the expedition was halted, and the chief man of the Christian Mohawks harangued his people. The opportunity had now come, he said, for taking ample revenge for all the injuries they had received from the heathen Iroquois at the instigation of the English, and to wash them out in blood. This Indian known as the Great Mohawk, or in French as the Grand Agnié, is described in the official narrative as "the most considerable of his tribe, an honest man, full of spirit, prudence, and generosity, and capable of the greatest undertakings." The little army was in wretched plight, and probably, had they been attacked at this point by even a small force of men in good condition, they would have been completely routed. No such attack, however, was made. Marching a little further, they found a wigwam occupied only by four squaws. There was a fire in it, and, benumbed with cold, they crowded round it in turns. At eleven o'clock at night they were in sight of the town, but in order that they might take the inhabitants in their deepest sleep, they deferred the attack for three hours; then they burst in through an open gate in the palisade. The official account says, in very simple words, that "the massacre lasted two hours." This, be it remembered, was supposed to be regular warfare, not between savage Indians, or between French and Indians, but between French and English. War, as already stated, had been declared between France and England, and this was Frontenac's method of carrying on his part of it. When New England retaliated later in the year by the attack on Quebec, we can hardly wonder that some of the inhabitants of that city anticipated a general massacre should the English obtain possession of the town. The special enormities alleged to have been committed by the heathen Iroquois in the massacre at Lachine are, by witnesses who made their statements within a few days after the event, affirmed to have been perpetrated by the Christian Indians at Schenectady. Sixty persons in all were killed, thirty-eight being men and boys, ten women, and twelve children of tender age.[39] Many were wounded, thirty were carried away captive. The chief magistrate of the place, John Sanders Glen by name, lived outside the town in a palisaded and fortified dwelling, which he was prepared to defend. He was known, however, to the French commanders as a man who had always been favourable to their people, having on several occasions rescued French prisoners from the Mohawks, over whom he had great influence. On being assured that his life and property would be spared, he surrendered. It was also agreed to extend the same immunity to any of his relatives who might have survived the massacre; and the number of persons claiming the privilege was so great as to cause the Indians to express some surprise and ill-humour at the wide range of his family connection.
The homeward march was begun a day or two later. It was by no means a prosperous one. Early in the attack a man on horseback had escaped through the eastern gate of the town, and, though shot at and wounded, was able to make his way to Albany and give the alarm. Thence word was sent on to the Mohawk towns, and the warriors, accompanied by a detachment of fifty young men from Albany, started on the track of the retreating foe. Two only on the French side had been killed in the attack on Schenectady, but before the party reached Montreal, their losses amounted to twenty-one, seventeen French, and four Indians. The opinion of the Mohawk Indians on the character of the expedition was expressed in a message of sympathy which they sent to the authorities at Albany. "The French," they said, "did not act on this occasion like brave men, but like thieves and robbers. Be not discouraged, we give this belt to wipe away your tears. We do not think what the French have done can be called a victory. It is only a further proof of their cruel deceit."[40]
The expedition organized at Three Rivers left that place on the 28th January; but it was not till after two months' wanderings in the inhospitable wilderness that they were able to strike their first blow. The New England frontier had for a year past been in a very disturbed and precarious condition owing to a renewed outbreak of hostilities on the part of the Abenaquis Indians. A long period of previous warfare with these tribes had been closed by the Treaty of Casco in 1678, but now the frontier was again aflame. The English settlers attributed the trouble to the machinations of the French with whom the Abenaquis were in close alliance; and certain it is that the Marquis of Denonville, in a memorandum written after his return to France, takes credit to himself for the mischief done. He speaks of the progress made in christianizing the Abenaquis, and of the establishment near Quebec of two colonies of them which he thought would prove useful. He then proceeds: "To the close relations which I maintained with these savages through the Jesuits, and particularly the two brothers Bigot, may be attributed the success of the attacks which they made upon the English last summer when they captured sixteen forts besides that of Pemaquid, where there were twenty cannon, and killed two hundred men."[41] The ex-governor exaggerates the number of cannon in the fort at Pemaquid, as there were only seven or eight, and omits to mention the fact that, after that place had surrendered on the promise that the lives of all in it should be spared, a number were murdered by his Indians. That they were not also tortured, Father Thury, who was with the attacking party, attributes to the influence of his exhortations. M. Lorin, in giving an account of the occurrence, says there is no doubt that the Abenaquis were impelled by their missionary, the Abbé Thury. He quotes the statement of Charlevoix that, before setting out, their first care had been to make sure of the divine assistance, by partaking of the sacrament. "Certainly," he says, "the part taken by the missionaries in expeditions of this character, was a preponderating one." He also ventures the theory that, as the heathen Iroquois never penetrated into New England, the only enemies of the faith upon whom the missionaries could exercise the zeal of their Abenaquis converts were the English.[42]
The fighting along the frontier lasted all through the summer and autumn of 1689. The winter brought respite from attack, and the settlers were beginning to indulge a sense of security when Hertel and his fifty men crept up to the little settlement of Salmon Falls, on the borders of New Hampshire and Maine. The attack was made in very similar fashion to that at Schenectady. The assailants burst in at night and at once began to apply tomahawk and torch. Thirty persons, men, women, and children indiscriminately, were slaughtered, and fifty-four were made prisoners. Hearing that a force of English from Piscataqua, now Portsmouth, was hastening to the scene, Hertel ordered a retreat. At Wooster River the pursuers caught up with him, but, taking up an advantageous position on the far side of that stream, he held them in check, killing several as they tried to cross the narrow bridge. At night he resumed his retreat. Some of the prisoners were given to his Indians to torture and kill. It was unfortunate that Father Thury was not present to inspire milder sentiments in these converts.
Hertel was a born fighter, and when, upon reaching one of the Abenaquis villages on the Kennebec, he learnt that the Quebec party under M. de Portneuf had just passed south, he determined to follow them with thirty-six of his men, though he was obliged to leave behind him his eldest son who had been badly wounded in the fight at Wooster River. A number of Indian warriors joined the party at a point on the Kennebec; and on the 25th May, the united force, numbering between four and five hundred men, encamped in the forest not far from the English forts on Casco Bay. The principal of these was Fort Loyal, a palisaded place mounting eight cannon. The others were simple blockhouses. The several garrisons consisted of about one hundred men under the command of Captain Sylvanus Davis, whose narrative in the original—and most original—spelling has come down to us. The garrison first knew that an enemy was at hand by hearing the war-whoop of the Indians, who had just scalped an unfortunate Scotsman found wandering about in the neighbourhood, all unconscious of danger. Thirty volunteers at once sallied forth from the fort to meet the foe. They had not gone far when they received a volley at close range which killed half of them. Of the remaining half only four reached the fort, all wounded. During the night the men in the blockhouses crept into the fort, together with the inhabitants of some neighbouring houses. The place could not be carried by assault, so Portneuf determined to besiege it in due form by opening trenches and working his way in. The work was well and rapidly done, and Davis saw that surrender was inevitable. He inquired if there were any French in the attacking force, and, if so, whether they would give quarter. The answer was affirmative on both points. Davis inquired whether the quarter would include men, women, and children, wounded and unwounded, and whether they would all be allowed to retire to the nearest English town. This was agreed to and sworn to; but, no sooner had the occupants of the fort filed out, than the Indians fell upon them, killed a number, and made prisoners of the rest. Davis protested, but he was told that he and his people were rebels against their lawful king, and therefore without any claim to consideration. The captives, Davis among them, were carried off to Quebec, where they arrived about the middle of June. The fort was burned, the guns were spiked, the neighbouring settlements destroyed, and the dead left unburied.
Thus had Frontenac's expeditions fared. They had spread grief and alarm amongst the English settlements, but had inflicted no serious blow on English power. They had shown how expert the colonial French had become in the methods of Indian warfare, and also to how large an extent they had themselves inbibed the Indian spirit. We may doubt whether Frontenac philosophized much on the subject; his immediate object was to produce an effect on the minds of his wavering Indian allies and his sullen Indian enemies; and the raids into English territory, with the slaughterings and burnings, were doubtless well adapted to that purpose. If Onontio was strong enough and bold enough to make war in this fashion on Corlaer and Kishon[43] at once, there was something for allies, and enemies as well, to reflect on. This view of the matter finally prevailed with the Lake tribes. For some two or three years trade had been almost at a standstill, and furs had accumulated which the savages were now anxious to turn into European goods. With one accord they determined to try the Montreal market once more, and see Onontio face to face.
During the winter, while his guerrilla forces were in the field, Frontenac had not been idle. Having arranged for offensive measures, he next took thought for defensive ones; and, as if with a prevision that Quebec itself might not be exempt from attack, he devoted special attention to strengthening the fortifications of that place. He caused a vast amount of timber to be cut for palisades, with which he protected the city at the rear, its only weak point. In the spring he began the erection of a strong stone redoubt; and the work was pushed with so much vigour that by midsummer it was well advanced towards completion. These pressing occupations did not, however, absorb all his thoughts. The fact of his having been chosen a second time by the king for the governorship of Canada, notwithstanding all the criticism of which he had formerly been the object, gave him a position of manifest strength, which even his bitterest opponents of former days could not ignore. The Sovereign Council as a whole recognized the fact, and was anxious to arrange matters so as, if possible, to avoid friction for the future.
The governor on his part was determined to preserve an attitude of dignified, not to say haughty, reserve, and throw upon the council the task of making such advances as might be necessary. In pursuance of this policy, he refrained from attending the meetings, though his presence was much required. The council having deputed Auteuil, the attorney-general, to wait upon him and invite his attendance, he replied that the council should be able to manage its own business and that he would come when he thought the king's service required it. It is hard to understand why Auteuil should have been chosen for this negotiation; for Frontenac must have had a vivid recollection of the insolence with which he had been treated during his first administration by this individual, then a raw youth of not much over twenty. The next move of the council was to send four of their number to repeat the invitation, and to ask the governor at the same time with what ceremonies he would wish to be received. His answer was that if they would propose the form he would tell them whether it was satisfactory. The council felt that the governor was pushing his advantage a little too far; but nevertheless they applied themselves to the question, and, having devised a form which they thought could not fail to be acceptable, sent Villeray, the first councillor, to the château to explain what was proposed. Villeray was as deferential and complimentary as he knew how; but the end was not yet. "See the bishop, and any other parties who have knowledge of such matters, and get their opinion," said the governor. The bishop was consulted accordingly, but very properly declined to give any opinion. Thrown back on their own resources the councillors devised the following scheme: that, when his Lordship, the count, should decide to make his first visit to the council, four of its members should present themselves at the château in order to accompany him to the place of meeting, which was the intendant's palace on the bank of the St. Charles; and that, on all subsequent occasions, he should be met by two councillors at the head of the stairs and respectfully conducted to his seat. This was duly explained by the first councillor, Villeray, who said he was authorized to add that any modification of the plan which the governor might suggest would be gladly adopted by the council. This was submission indeed, yet still the count hesitated. He asked to see the minutes of the council in which the resolution bearing on the matter was recorded. Villeray struggled up Palace Hill with the official register, and presented himself again before the potentate, who found the entry in good shape, but reserved his final answer. A few days later, having been again waited on, he graciously informed the deputation that the arrangement proposed was quite satisfactory. With what must really be called a fatuous self-complacency, he added that, had the council wished to go too far in the way of obsequiousness, he could not have consented to it, as, being himself its head, he was jealous of its dignity and honour. If for some men there is, as the poet hints, "a far-off touch of greatness" in knowing they are not great, it is to be feared Frontenac did not possess that particular touch.
Not only were the fortifications of Quebec strengthened, but steps were also taken to form a local militia guard under the command of the town-major, Prevost. Leaving to that officer the supervision of whatever work was still required on the defences, Frontenac, accompanied by the intendant and Madame Champigny, left the capital on the 22nd July for Montreal, where his presence was much required. He probably did some inspection of posts on the way, for he did not reach the end of his journey till the 31st. Trade at this time was pretty much at a standstill. Bands of mission Indians were on the war-path against the English; and every now and again the Iroquois would swoop down on the settlements, notwithstanding the fact that scouts were kept continually employed along the routes by which they were accustomed to make their approaches. Under the new administration the lesson of Lachine, the lesson of eternal watchfulness, was being taken to heart. The governor had much to occupy his thoughts. At Montreal, as at Quebec, he was anxious to perfect the organization of the military forces, and to place the city, from every point of view, in the best possible condition of defence. He had not as yet received news as to how Louvigny and Perrot had succeeded among the Lake tribes; yet upon the success of their mission hung the most momentous issues. Was Canada to secure allies in the West who would hold at least in partial check the Iroquois power, or were Hurons, Ottawas, Iroquois, and English to combine their forces for her destruction? Meantime bad news had come from Acadia. Port Royal and other fortified posts had been captured; the English were in possession of the entire country; the governor had been carried captive to Boston. It was known that the English of Albany and New York were moving: what the next news would be, who could tell?