CHAPTER VI.

COUNT DE FRONTENAC,

Frontenac the Most Conspicuous Figure in the History of New France-Of a Noble Basque Family-A Soldier at Fifteen-Marries Anne de la Grange-Trianon-At the Siege of Candia-Appointed Governor and Lieutenant-General of New France-Hopes to Build a Great Empire on the Banks of the St. Lawrence—Makes Radical Changes in the Government of Quebec and Canada-Censured by the Home Government for Introducing Changes-His Quarrels with the Intendant and the Clergy-A Friend of La Salle's—His Quarrelsome Nature Forces the King to Recall Him-The Marquis de Denonville Lays Waste the Country of the Senecas-The Iroquois Retaliate with the Massacre of Lachine-Frontenac Sent to Canada to Save the Colony-Plans the Conquest of New England-Three War Parties Sent by Him Against the English Settlers-Their Success Gives New Life to New France-New England Plans the Invasion of Canada-The Expedition Against Montreal a Failure-Sir William Phips Lays Siege to QuebecFrontenac's Vigorous Resistance-Phips' Fleet Hopelessly Defeated-The People of Quebec Do Honor to Frontenac-Rewarded by the French King-Plans to Drive the English from North America-Sends an Expedition Against the Mohawks-Its Success Gains the Confidence of the Western Indians-Personally Leads an Expedition Against the Iroquois-Returns to Quebec—Old Quarrels Renewed-Death of Frontenac, November 28, 1693—Mourned by All Classes in the Colony-Character of Frontenac,

F all the governors of New France, Louis de Buade, Count de Frontenac, stands out on the pages of history as the most conspicuous figure. He had a strangely mixed character; he was arrogant, over-bearing, tyrannical and yet possessed of such force, and energy, and wisdom that he did more than any other man during the time of French occupation in America to establish French rule on a firm basis. He came to Canada at a critical time in her history; a time when on the one hand a sparse population settled along the St. Lawrence was in danger of annihilation from the savage Indians of the Six Nations, and when the struggle which was ultimately to end in the conquest of Canada by the British was in its initial stages. He managed to avert the danger from the Iroquois and to postpone for many years the loss of New France. It was his striking and magnetic personality that enabled him to face the difficult situation he found in

Canada, and had there been a Frontenac in Quebec when Wolfe came against the rocky fortress it is doubtful if the British troops would have succeeded in capturing the city. Certainly Frontenac would never have allowed his troops to face in a pitched battle the veterans composing Wolfe's force.

This illustrious governor was an aristocrat of an ancient and noble Basque family. His father held a high position at the court of Louis XIII, and the king became Frontenac's god-father and had him christened Louis after himself. From his earliest years young Frontenac showed a passion for the life of a soldier, and at the age of fifteen was sent to the seat of war in Holland to serve under the Prince of Orange. He saw much fighting and before his twenty-third year had distinguished himself in a number of battles and sieges. His services were appreciated by his king, and, when twenty-three years old, he was made a colonel in the regiment of Normandy. He continued in the field and was several times wounded and in one engagement had an arm broken. When he was twenty-six years old he was raised to the rank of Maréchal de Camp (brigadier-general). He does not seem to have seen much active service after attaining this high military rank, but returned to Paris where he enjoyed a season of peace and spent his time in entertaining and being entertained.

It was during this time of peace that Frontenac met Anne de la Grange-Trianon, the beautiful daughter of one Sieur de Neuville. He fell passionately in love with this girl, and, after a romantic courtship, which was opposed by the father and friends of his fiancée, they were married in 1648. From the beginning, the marriage seems to have been an unhappy one. It could hardly have been otherwise; they were both strong characters and Frontenac's over-bearing manner and passionate bursts of temper could not fail to make a woman of character and intellect unhappy.

For twenty years but little is known of the life of Frontenac. During these years he entertained extravagantly, and on a small income endeavored to keep pace with the most fashionable grandees of Paris. In 1669, Venetian ambassadors came to the court of France asking aid against the Turks. For several years the Turks had been attacking Candia in overwhelming numbers, and the Venetians felt that without the aid of France it would soon fall.

They requested forces, and likewise that a French officer should be placed in command of the troops operating against the Turks. The task of conducting these operations would need both courage and energy, and it speaks well for Frontenac that he was chosen for this important command. Candia fell, but so ably did Frontenac conduct the campaign that lustre was added to his name, and he was recognized as one of the ablest soldiers of his time.

Three years after his return from the Candia expedition he was appointed Governor and Lieutenant-General for the king in the colony of New France. According to writers of the period, his extravagance had left. him deeply in debt and his domestic life was intensely unhappy. It was said that the king gave him this appointment "to deliver him from his wife and afford him some means of living." This can hardly be true, for although Frontenac and his wife were not congenial companions, during the whole course of their lives they seem to have had much respect for each other, and while he was in the wilderness of Canada Madame Frontenac was his most active partizan in the court of France and looked keenly after his interests.

Frontenac was not a young man when he set out for Canada. He had reached his fifty-second year, but was still youthful, fiercely passionate and possessed of a stubborn will. He was a courtier, and it seems strange that such a man should have been sent to rule over the vast wildernesses of Canada; but Frontenac was able to conform to his environment, and indeed from the moment he saw the shores of Canada he loved the country. The vast River St. Lawrence with its thickly wooded banks attracted his eye, and when he reached the lofty rock of Quebec a second Gibraltar, he held it as a fitting place to be the capital of a great empire and resolved within himself to firmly base such an empire.

As soon as he landed in Quebec he at once began to look after the interests of the colony. He did not wait for reports with regard to the country from the officials under him, but examined for himself every detail of the government, and anxiously inquired from all classes as to the needs of Canada. He conversed with traders, with hunters, with fishermen, and was soon thoroughly familiar with the land he had come to govern. One of his

first acts was to convoke a Council at Quebec and administer the oath of allegiance. He had his own ideas as to how Canada should be governed. The three orders of the State no longer assembled in France, but Frontenac thought that some such form of government might be adopted with advantage in Canada and he determined to establish these orders in the New World. The Jesuits and Seminary priests formed the first order, a few nobles and several officers served for the second, and the merchants and citizens for the third. It looked for a time as if the clergy, the nobles, and the commons were to have a voice in the ruling of Canada. He formed the members of the Council and the magistrates into a distinct body. When everything was ready for his new form of government the Jesuits lent him their church, and in it, on on the 23rd of October, the three estates were convoked with suitable pomp and splendor. On this occasion Frontenac delivered a paternal and eloquent address to his children, for such he already began to consider the people of Canada, and after administering the oath of allegiance the assembly was dismissed.

Quebec was the centre of the life of the colony, and in Frontenac's opinion it was necessary to have a firm municipal government in the town. He proposed to establish one on the model of some of the French cities of his time. He ordered the public election of three alderman, of whom the senior should act as mayor; having done this he proposed with the assistance of the chief citizens to draw up a body of regulations for the government of the town. He went a step further in the direction of popular government; he ordained that a meeting should be held every six months for the discussion of public questions. Popular government was a thing frowned upon by the king of France, and some of the leading officials recognized that Frontenac's action would prove offensive to the French court. Talon, the Intendant, refused to attend the meeting, and when Colbert, the great Minister, heard of Frontenac's action he warned him against popular government, and pointed out that the meeting of the States-General had not been permitted for many years in France; and in a diplomatic way and with mild censure, forbade him to establish popular government.

From the beginning of his rule Frontenac had a succession of quarrels with the leading men in the colony. He was a man, by culture, travel and experience, far superior to his confederates, and he was impatient of their opposition to his wishes. He was on the eve of a quarrel with Talon when the Intendant was recalled to France. However, he managed to become embroiled with the clergy at a very early date in his rule and began that antagonism to the Jesuits which ended only with his death. He took a lively interest in the Indians, and put forth every effort to civilize them. He had a genuine affection for the red men, and this affection was returned; he called them children and they looked up to him as a father. His motives in treating the Indians generously were not altogether unmixed, as he was, like all other men in the colony, interested in the fur-trade. The clergy were not above trade, and Frontenac bitterly complained that the Jesuits thought more of "beaver-skins than of souls."

It was during his first term that he was attracted towards La Salle and it was due to Frontenac's admiration for that dauntless discoverer that the great West and the Mississippi became known to the world. The monopoly granted La Salle, as has already been seen in that distinguished discoverer's life, embroiled Frontenac with Perrot, the Governor of Montreal, and the priests of that community. The quarrel was a bitter one, and echoes of it reached the court at France, but the king and his minister showed marvellous forbearance with Frontenac.

They took measures, however, to curb his power. Up to this time the appointment and removal of councillors had rested, in the absence of the bishop, solely with the Governor. It was now ordained that the councillors should be appointed by the king himself, and this naturally served as a check on Frontenac.

After the recall of the Intendant Talon, Frontenac for a time ruled. alone, but Bishop Laval and another Intendant, Duchesneau, arrived in New France. Bishop Laval was as little capable of bearing opposition to his wishes as was Frontenac. He had quarreled with all the previous governors under whom he had served, and was not long in the country before he was at daggers-drawn with the new governor. His quarrel was a righteous one;