1690.] REPLY OF FRONTENAC. 267 



When the reading was finished, the Englishman 

 pulled his watch from his pocket, and handed it to 

 the governor. Frontenac could not, or pretended 

 that he could not, see the hour. The messenger 

 thereupon told him that it was ten o'clock, and 

 that he must have his answer before eleven. A 

 general cry of indignation arose ; and Valrenne 

 called out that Phips was nothing but a pirate, and 

 that his man ought to be hanged. Frontenac con- 

 tained himself for a moment, and then said to the 

 envoy : — 



" I will not keep you waiting so long. Tell 

 your general that I clo not recognize King William ; 

 and that the Prince of Orange, who so styles him- 

 self, is a usurper, who has violated the most sacred 

 laws of blood in attempting to dethrone his father- 

 in-law. I know no king of England but King 

 James. Your general ought not to be surprised 

 at the hostilities which he says that the French 

 have carried on in the colony of Massachusetts ; 

 for, as the king my master has taken the king of 

 England under his protection, and is about to re- 

 place him on his throne by force of arms, he might 

 have expected that his Majesty would order me to 

 make war on a people who have rebelled against 

 their lawful prince." Then, turning with a smile 

 to the officers about him : " Even if your general 

 offered me conditions a little more gracious, and if 

 I had a mind to accept them, does he suppose that 

 these brave gentlemen would give their consent, 

 and advise me to trust a man who broke his agree- 

 ment with the governor of Port Royal, or a rebel 



