1681.] THREATS OF THE KING. 67 



Every ship from Canada brought to the king 

 fresh complaints of Duchesneau against Fronte- 

 nac, and of Frontenac against Duchesneau; and 

 the king replied with rebukes, exhortations, and 

 threats to both. At first he had shown a dispo- 

 sition to extenuate and excuse the faults of Fron- 

 tenac, but every year his letters grew sharper. 

 In 1681 he wrote : " Again I urge you to banish 

 from your mind the difficulties which you have 

 yourself devised against the execution of my 

 orders ; to act with mildness and moderation tow- 

 ards all the colonists, and divest yourself entirely 

 of the personal animosities which have thus far 

 been almost your sole motive of action. In con- 

 clusion, I exhort you once more to profit well by 

 the directions which this letter contains ; since, 

 unless you succeed better herein than formerly, I 

 cannot help recalling you from the command which 

 I have intrusted to you." 1 



The dispute still went on. The autumn ships 

 from Quebec brought back the usual complaints, 

 and the long-suffering king at length made good 

 his threat. Both Frontenac and Duchesneau re- 

 ceived their recall, and they both deserved it. 2 



The last official act of the governor, recorded in 

 the register of the council of Quebec, is the formal 



that the charges against Perrot were false, including the attestations of 

 Migeon and his friends; that Dollier de Casson had been imposed upon, 

 and that various persons had been induced to sign unfounded statements 

 without reading them. La Barre an Ministre, 4 Nov., 1683. 



1 Le Roy a Frontenac, 30 Avril, 1681. 



2 La Barre says that Duchesneau was far more to blame than Fron- 

 tenac. La Barre au Ministre, 1683. This testimony has weight, since 

 Frontenac's friends were La Barre's enemies. 



