267 



and vivacity of youth, and was well calculated to retrieve the 



Apprized of the disunion of the English, (through the spies 

 who resided in the colony of New-York,) he did not long re- 

 main inactive, but made preparations to carry on the war. 

 Fully sensible of the impossibility of conquering the Iroquois, 

 he avoided the fatal error into which De la Barre and De Nou- 

 ville had fallen, and by a bold and secret manceuvre, hoped to 

 diminish their confidence in the superiority of the English, 

 and thus open a way for negotiation. He accordingly planned 

 an expedition against Albany. This design did not long re- 

 main concealed from the knowledge of the colonists, who re- 

 ceived the intelligence from some praying Indians, taken pri- 

 soners upon Lake Champlain, (September 1st, 1689.) 



A messenger was immediately despatched by the Civil and 

 Military Council of Albany to Ulster, for the aid of thirty 

 men, and an express sent to Capt. Leysler at New- York, to 

 procure an additional one hundred men, and a supply of am- 

 munition. Unable to obtain any aid from New- York, and an 

 attempt to raise by subscription a sum sufficient to maintain 

 one hundred men having entirely failed, (the amount sub- 

 scribed not exceeding half the sum required,) a deputation 

 was sent to New-England for aid. Although little could have 

 been expected from this quarter, (being engaged at the time in 

 a war with the eastern Indians,) they returned with a promise 

 of assistance. From this time to the latter end of November, 

 the pubhc attention was entirely absorbed in the internal af- 

 fairs of the colony ; and little was done to prevent a surprise, 

 if we except the sending out occasionally of a few scouts. 

 During this period the public credit had sunk so low, that in- 

 dividuals became responsible for the payment of the military. 

 On the 25th of November, the long expected assistance from 

 the east, consisting of eighty-seven men, arrived at Albany, 

 This timely aid, which, under a proper discipline, might have 

 averted the blow which shortly after fell upon Schenectady, 

 only added to the confusion. Thirty of their number were 

 stationed at Schenectady, but instead of meeting a cordial wel- 



