120 DEXOXVILLE AND DOXGAN. [1685-86. 



Louis was triumphant and powerful, while James, 

 in conflict with his subjects, was in constant need 

 of his great ally, and dared not offend him. 



The royal instructions to Denonville enjoined 

 him to humble the Iroquois, sustain the allies of 

 the colony, oppose the schemes of Dongan, and 

 treat him as an enemy, if he encroached on French 

 territory. At the same time, the French ambassa- 

 dor at the English court was directed to demand 

 from James II. precise orders to the governor of 

 New York for a complete change of conduct in 

 regard to Canada and the Iroquois. 1 But Dongan, 

 like the French governors, was not easily con- 

 trolled. In the absence of money and troops, he 

 intrigued busily with his Indian neighbors. " The 

 artifices of the English," wrote Denonville, " have 

 reached such a point that it would be better if they 

 •attacked us openly and burned our settlements, 

 instead of instigating the Iroquois against us for 

 our destruction. I know beyond a particle of 

 doubt that M. Dongan caused all the five Iroquois 

 nations to be assembled last spring at Orange 

 (Albany), in order to excite them against us, by 

 telling them publicly that I meant to declare war 

 against them." He says, further, that Dongan 

 supplies them with arms and ammunition, incites 

 them to attack the colony, and urges them to de- 

 liver Lamberville, the priest at Onondaga, into his 

 hands. " He has sent people, at the same time, 

 to our Montreal Indians to entice them over to 



1 Seignelay to Barillon, French Ambassador at London, in N. Y. Col. 

 Docs., IX. 269. 



