1696-98.] POSITION OF FRONTENAC. 421 



Champigny himself saw the necessity of com- 

 promise. The instructions of the king were 

 scarcely given before they were partially with- 

 drawn, and they soon became a dead letter. Even 

 Fort Frontenac was retained after repeated direc- 

 tions to abandon it. The policy of the governor 

 prevailed ; the colony returned to its normal 

 methods of growth, and so continued to the end. 



Now came the question of peace with the Iro- 

 quois, to whose mercy Frontenac was authorized to 

 leave his western allies. He was the last man to 

 accept such permission. Since the burning of 

 Onondaga, the Iroquois negotiations with the 

 western tribes had been broken off, and several 

 fights had occurred, in which the confederates had 

 suffered loss and been roused to vengeance. This 

 was what Frontenac wanted, but at the same time 

 it promised him fresh trouble ; for, while he was 

 determined to prevent the Iroquois from making 

 peace with the allies without his authority, he was 

 equally determined to compel them to do so with 

 it. There must be peace, though not till he could 

 control its conditions. 



The Onondaga campaign, unsatisfactory as it 

 was, had had its effect. Several Iroquois chiefs 

 came to Quebec with overtures of peace. They 

 brought no prisoners, but promised to bring them 

 in the spring ; and one of them remained as a hos- 

 tage that the promise should be kept. It was 

 nevertheless broken under English influence ; and, 

 instead of a solemn embassy, the council of . Onon- 

 daga sent a messenger with a wampum belt to tell 



