1696.J AUDACITY OF FRONTENAC. 407 



his government. He did not, and perhaps could 

 not, keep his word. 1 



In the question of Fort Frontenac, as in every 

 thing else, the opposition to the governor, always 

 busy and vehement, found its chief representative 

 in the intendant, who told the minister that the 

 policy of Frontenac was all wrong ; that the public 

 good was not its object ; that he disobeyed or evaded 

 the orders of the king ; and that he had suffered the 

 Iroquois to delude him by false overtures of peace. 

 The representations of the intendant and his fac- 

 tion had such effect, that Ponchartrain wrote to 

 the governor that the plan of re-establishing Fort 

 Frontenac " must absolutely be abandoned." Fron- 

 tenac, bent on accomplishing his purpose, and 

 doubly so because his enemies opposed it, had an- 

 ticipated the orders of the minister, and sent seven 

 hundred men to Lake Ontario to repair the fort. 

 The day after they left Montreal, the letter of Pon- 

 chartrain arrived. The intendant demanded their 

 recall. Frontenac refused. The fort was repaired, 

 garrisoned, and victualled for a year. 



A successful campaign was now doubly necessary 

 to the governor, for by this alone could he hope to 

 avert the consequences of his audacity. He waited 

 no longer, but mustered troops, militia, and Indians, 

 and marched to attack the Iroquois. 2 



1 Colden, 178. Fletcher could get no men from his own or neighbor- 

 ing governments. See note, at the end of the chapter. 



2 The above is drawn from the correspondence of Frontenac, Cham- 

 pigny, La Motte-Cadillac, and Callieres, on one hand, and the king and 

 the minister on the other. The letters are too numerous to specify. Also, 

 from the official Relation de ce qui s'est passe' de plus remarquable en Canada, 

 1694, 16'J5, and Ibid., 1695, 1696; Me moire sounds au Ministre de ce qui re'- 



