1694.] DEMANDS OF FRONTENAC. 399 



uncivilized people ; " buried the hatchet, covered 

 the blood that had been spilled, opened the roads, 

 and cleared the clouds from the sun. In other 

 words, he offered peace ; but he demanded at the 

 same time that it should include the English. 

 Frontenac replied, in substance : " My children 

 are right to come submissive and repentant. I am 

 ready to forgive the past, and hang up the hatchet ; 

 but the peace must include all my other children, 

 far and near. Shut your ears to English poison. 

 The war with the English has nothing to clo 

 with you, and only the great kings across the 

 sea have power to stop it. You must give up 

 all your prisoners, both French and Indian, with- 

 out one exception. I will then return mine, and 

 make peace with you, but not before." He then 

 entertained them at his own table, gave them a 

 feast described as " magnificent," and bestowed 

 gifts so liberally, that the tattered ambassadors 

 went home in embroidered coats, laced shirts, and 

 plumed hats. They were pledged to return with 

 the prisoners before the end of the season, and 

 they left two hostages as security. 1 



Meanwhile, the authorities of New York tried to 

 prevent the threatened peace. First, Major Peter 

 Schuyler convoked the chiefs at Albany, and told 

 them that, if they went to ask peace in Canada, they 

 would be slaves for ever. The Iroquois declared 

 that they loved the English, but they repelled 



1 On these negotiations, and their antecedents, Callieres, Relation de ce 

 qui s' est passe de plus remarquable en Canada depuis Sept., 1692, jusqn'au 

 Dtpart des Vaisseaux en 1693 ; La Motte-Cadillac, Me'moire des Negotiations 

 avecles Iroquois, 1694; Callieres au Ministre, 19 Oct., 1694; La Potherie, 

 III. 200-220 ; Colden, Five Nations, chap. x. ; N. Y. Col. Docs., IV. 85. 



