THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 21 



the French. As the EngUsh gave the highest price for furs, the 

 Five Nations began to deal with them, and even bought up those 

 that were intended for the French market. Barre met the chiefs of 

 the Five Nations upon the north shore of Lake Ontario and endeav- 

 oured to frighten them into having nothing to do with the EngHsh 

 of Hudson's Bay, but the Iroquois insisted on doing as they pleased 

 in the matter. The English reproached the Five Nations for not 

 having gone to war with the French, but they replied in the same 

 noble and determined manner. "Barre," they said, "is our father," 

 " Corlaer, " as they called the governor of New York, " is our brother, 

 " but neither of them is our master. He who created the world gave 

 " us the land we occupy ; we are free. We respect both, but neither 

 "has the right to command us, and no person ought to take offence 

 " that we prevent the earth from being troubled." 



Barre, on account of his unsuccessful negotiations with the 

 Indians, was recalled to France and succeeded by Denonville, a brave 

 and active officer, who immediately took steps to extirpate the Indians 

 if he could not reduce them to subjection. He opened his campaign 

 with a measure most iniquitous and unjustifiable that could well be 

 conceived. Having invited a number of Chiefs to meet him on the 

 banks of Lake Ontario, he treacherously put them in irons and sent 

 them to France. There could now be nothing but war to the utmost 

 extremity. He inarched against the Iroquois with 800 French 

 regulars, and 1,300 Algonquins, but the expedition accomplished 

 nothing worthy of note, except the building of Fort Niagara. On 

 the return of the French they found Lake Ontario and the Upper 

 St. Lawrence alive with the canoes of the Iroquois, who blockaded 

 forts Niagara and Cataraqui and razed the former to the ground. 

 They afterwards made a sudden descent upon the Island of Montreal, . 

 which they laid waste with fire and sword, and carried off two 

 hundred prisoners without any resistance. They also blew up the 

 fort at Cataraqui. In 1689 Count Frontenac was again sent out 

 from France, for the purpose of putting a stop to the war, or if that 

 could not be done to carry it on with more vigor. 



After finding that it was useless to try to win the Iroquois from 

 the English, he sent out several expeditions against the English 

 settlements of what is now New York State, killing a number of the 

 defenceless inhabitants and making the Iroquois still more bitter 



