1696.] COMPLAINTS OF FRONTENAC. 417 



may enable me to pass the short remainder of my 

 life in some little distinction ; but, whether this be 

 so or not, I most humbly pray your Majesty to be- 

 lieve that I will sacrifice the rest of my days to 

 your Majesty's service with the same ardor I have 

 always felt." 1 



The king highly commended him, and sent him 

 the cross of the Military Order of St. Louis. Cal- 

 lieres, who had deserved it less, had received it 

 several years before ; but he had not found or pro- 

 voked so many clefamers. Frontenac complained 

 to the minister that his services had been slightly 

 and tardily requited. This was true, and it was 

 due largely to the complaints excited by his own 

 perversity and violence. These complaints still 

 continued ; but the fault was not all on one side, 

 and Frontenac himself had often just reason to 

 retort them. He wrote to Ponchar train : " If you 

 will not be so good as to look closely into the true 

 state of things here, I shall always be exposed to 

 detraction, and forced to make new apologies, 

 which is very hard for a person so full of zeal and 

 uprightness as I am. My secretary, who is going 

 to France, will tell you all the ugly intrigues used 

 to defeat my plans for the service of the king, and 

 the growth of the colony. I have long tried to 

 combat these artifices, but I confess that I no 

 longer feel strength to resist them, and must suc- 

 cumb at last, if you will not have the goodness to 

 give me strong support." 2 



1 Frontenac au Roy, 25 Oct., 1696. 



2 Frontenac au Ministre, 25 Oct., 1696. 



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