portant [council] fire in your children's cabin. I pray God that He conduct matters for His glory and the country's good and that He preserve you long, which is the wish, my Lord, of Your very humble & very obt Serv', J. DE LAMBERVILLE. FROM THE SAME TO THE SAME. 18 July, 1684. Sir-The Council convoked at Onnontagué was, at length, held on the 16th and 17th of July. You will see by the memoir I enclose in this letter what you said to the Onnontagués and what they reply by three Belts. Since you spoke, or I have made you speak to the Senecas assembled here in a body, Chiefs and Warriors, and their answer, we have spoken to them by three Belts and they have answered you by nine. These are twelve Belts which your ambassadors take to you. I know not if you will accept the trifling pains we have taken to cause satisfaction to be given you, and to extricate you from the fatigues, the embarrassments and consequences of a disastrous war, and procure at the same time freedom of trade; for the Senecas informed me at night, by express, that they would give you more satisfaction than you expected, because they wished through respect for you, not to wage war any more against the Oumiamis, if you so wish it, and even any other nation if you insist on it. In fine, they do not wage war save but to secure a good peace. They return without striking a blow, without shedding blood, etc. The Seneca Iroquois offer you more than you would have believed. The Onnontagués considered their honor engaged to this meeting, and have put all sorts of machinery in motion to induce the Senecas to condescend to place their affairs in their hands. On the first day of the Council every thing was almost despaired of, and the plenipotentiaries all excited came to see me, saying they gained nothing on the Senecas, and that up to that time they most willingly accepted war; that they rejected the presents which you and they had made them. They sent me back a collection of belts, that the chiefs and warriors acted with great zeal in combating the obstinacy of the Senecas so that having gained the Oneidas and Cayugas over to their side, they came to high words. Deputies, notwithstanding, succeeded one another to sound me on the state of affairs and to learn the true cause of the withdrawal of our Missionaries. Finally I told them that the real cause was, that the displeasure which they perceived you felt, and which they also entertained at being disparaged by the Senecas, had caused them to withdraw to you, until they should have satisfied you. At length the Onnontagués persuaded them to confide in them and to place their affairs in their hands—that if you did not accept their mediation, they should unite according to their policy, with all the other Iroquois against you. La Grande Gueule and his triumvirate have assuredly signalized themselves in this rencounter. My brother, who will inform you of every thing, will relate matters more in detail. We, however, await your orders which you will please convey to us by M. le Moine whom the Onnontagués request you to send instantly to them at Choueguen [Oswego] in all security and without the least fear. FROM THE SAME TO THE SAME. 9 Onontague, this 17th August, 1684. My Lord-Your people have brought my brother back here with the greatest possible diligence, having been wind bound three days, at one island. In order not to cause you any delay, which could only produce a useless consumption of provisions by your army, they arrived here with Sieur le Duc at midnight and having passed the rest of the night in conferring together, we had the Chiefs and Warriors assembled at day light after having obtained information from La Grande Gueule and Garakontie. We declared our intentions in the presence of several Senecas who departed the same day to return to their country where they will communicate our approach. They carry one of your belts to reassure those who are alarmed by your armament. The Onnontagués have despatched some of theirs to notify the Oneida, the Mohawk and the Cayuga to repair to Ochouegen [Oswego] to salute you and to reply to your proposals. They wish so much to see M. le Moine here whom you promised them would come, that it appears that nothing could be done should he not arrive, Also, as you advised them not to be troubled at the sight of your barks and Gendarmes, they give you notice, likewise, not to be surprised when you will see faces painted red and black at Ochouegen I gave a Cayuga letters for you some eight or ten days ago. I do not know if he will have delivered them. I believe that I advised you that Colonel Dongan had the Duke of York's placards of protection (des sauveguardes) affixed to the three upper Iroquois villages, and that he styled himself Lord of the Iroquois. A drunken man here tore these proclamations down and nothing remains but the post to which the Duke of York's arms were attached. I gave La Grande Gueule your belt under hand, and remarked to him the things which you wished him to effect. He calls himself your best friend and you have done well to have attached to you this hoc, who has the strongest head and loudest voice among the Iroquois. The over coats (capots) and shirts which you have been so good as to send to be used on occasions are a most efficaciaus means to gain over, or to preserve public opinion. An honorable peace will be more advantageous to Canada than a war very uncertain as to its success. I am of opinion, whatever the Messrs the Merchants may say, that you do them a good turn by inducing the Iroquois to give you satisfaction, and that the war would be very prejudicial to them. I am with all sort of respect and submission, My Lord, Your very humble and very obedient servant, FROM THE SAME TO THE SAME. Onontague, this 28th August 1684. My Lord-M. Le Moine's arrival has much pleased our burgomasters who have exhibited towards him many attentions, and have promised to terminate matters with you in the manner you desire. The Onontagues have called the Deputies of each Nation together as I have advised you. The Cayugas came here the first, with two young Tionnoutatés to restore them to you. We expect the Senecas, and as we were hoping that the Oneidas would arrive to-day, one Arnaud whom Father Bruyas is well acquaintainted with, came here on horseback from Mr. Dongan to tell the Iroquois that he did not wish them to talk with you without his permission, being com 1 Arnold Cornelis'n Viele, a citizen of Albany, who acted as Interpreter between the Whites and Indians. For his service in this capacity he had already obtained from the latter, 26th Septr. 1683, a tract of land called Wachkeerhoha, on the north bank of the Mohawk above Schenectady, the grant of which is in Alb. Deed Book C, 199.-Tr. plete master of their land and conduct towards you; that they belonged to the King of England and the Duke of York, and that their Council fires were lighted at Albany and that he absolutely forbad them talking with you. Two words which we whispered in the ears of your pensioner, La Grande Guele, caused us to see at once how unreasonable, in his opinion, was so strange a proceeding as that of Mr. Dongan, after having himself exhorted the Iroquois to give us satisfaction in order to avoid a disastrous war which would have very bad [consequences.] When M. le Moine and I shall have the honour to see you, we shall give you the particulars of these things, and how La Grande Gueule came to high words against this Messenger, exhorting all the warriors and chiefs not to listen to the proposals of a man who seemed to be drunk, so opposed to all reason was what he uttered. We being two or three day's journey from here, the said Messenger produced three belts of Wampum. The first and second are from the Mohawks and Oneidas, who have promised Mr. Dongan that they should not go to meet us; the third was for the Onnontagués to exhort them to give their wampum belt also, as assurance of the same thing. They answered by La Grande Gueule, that they esteemed themselves too highly honored by your having granted to them the embassy of M. Le Moine and by your having placed the affairs of the peace in their hands, to commit so cowardly an action and so grave a fault as that which he seemed willing they should perpetrate. After many disputes, the Onnontagués councilled among themselves, and concluded to enquire of M. le Moine if he would not wait the permission which Mr. Dongan wished the Iroquois to have from him to talk with you, and if he would not tarry ten days more, and you remain at the Lake, to learn Mr. Dongan's final will. This is a piece of Iroquois cunning not to embroil themselves with Mr. Dongan, and to follow entirely what M. le Moine should say, whom they well knew would not wait so long, matters having advanced to the point at which they are, and knowing moreover that delay was directly contrary to your instructions. The Iroquois requested M. le Moine himself to communicate their opinion to the Cavalier, which he certainly did in an excellent manner, and which you will be glad to learn when he will give an account of his negotiation. He has thought proper to send you one of his canoes at once to inform you hereof, and to assure you that as soon as the Onontagué deputies shall have arrived here, he will endeavor to despatch them hence at the earliest moment to conduct them to you. If not he will leave with the Senecas who are here. Tegannehout acted his part very well and harrangued strongly against Mr. Dongan's messenger and in favor of Onontio. Good cheer, and the way you regaled him was a strengthening medicine which sustained his voice when it might perhaps have failed in another. who had not experienced proofs of your friendship such as you did him the honor to give him. He will return with M. le Moine. The cavalier says that before returning to his Master, he wishes to speak to the Senecas who are expected here. I caress somewhat Tegannehout in order that he may win those of his Nation over to his opinion and not to suffer them to yield to the solicitations of Sieur Arnaud to whom the Onnontagués have given two wretched belts to say to Mr. Dongan that they could not do other than what he himself had urged them to do; to wit, to settle matters peaceably with you, and to soothe his spirit if he were dissatisfied with them for not going to Albany whence they had returned very recently. A letter is sent you which he has given to M. le Moine. Whatever Sieur Arnaud may say, we have not neglected to send for the Oneida deputies whom we expect to-morrow. Monsieur le Moine will use the greatest possible diligence to return to you, inasmuch as this delay is not very agreeable to him. FROM THE SAME TO THE SAME. Onontague, 27 Sept. 1684. My Lord, I return here after having been delayed ten days in the Lake by very strong head winds. A day before the Iroquois deputies met here, the Senecas sent Belts to the Iroquois villages to declare to them that should you disembark in their country, they would attack you. Six or seven Mohegans (Loups) were preparing to go to the assistance of the Iroquois, as the Outaoutes were aiding the French. The Seneca scouts have been as far as Kaionhouagué, where you had concluded the peace, to be certain of the place at which your army had encamped. The Onnontagués believed for several days that they had killed me. Tegannehout's arrival in this country will have calmed the minds in communicating your peace to them. No news have as yet been received from the Seneca. Some say they will shortly come hither to confer on important matters. If any one come from the Fort there I shall inform you of whatever I will have learned. Sieur Arnaud, Mr. Dongan's deputy, has not re-appeared here since my departure from Onnontaé, though he had assured me that he should return in ten days. 'Tis said that his delay is caused by not having found his master at Orange (Albany), and that he has gone to Manath to inform him of the proceedings of the Onnontagué and of your arrival at Gainhouagué, [Hungry Bay.] I had the honour of writing to you from the Fort whence I sent you a wampum belt from the Tionnontatés. I gave Sieur Hannataksa the belt of Wampum and the red Calumet in your name, to whom I said that you would be ever obliged to him if he would turn his arms to the left of Fort St. Louis, where the Illinois are mingled with the Oumiamis, so as to give no cause of complaint. . Uncertain as I was regarding matters on the side of the Senecas, and fearful that the Senecas would create confusion on arriving here, I made some presents in your name to some captains who could best curb their insolence, so as to prevent the brewing of the storm. Your man of business, I mean La Grande Gueule, is not concerned at any thing; he is a venal being whom you do well to keep in pay. I assured him that you would send him the jerkin you promised. The Cayugas who are gone to war to the borders of Merinlande and Virginia have sent home some of their warriors to say that the English had killed three of their men, and that they having taken five Englishmen alive, had cut their throats after subjecting them to some bad treatment, and that they were still in the English country. After having spoken to you of others, I must acquit myself of a part of my duty, by thanking you very humbly for all the kindnesses you have been pleased to shower on me. I should have wished you, in addition to the good health in which it pleased God to preserve you in the midst of an army weakened by diseases, greater satisfaction for the trouble you have taken for the public good. Individuals assuredly know that if you had not accepted peace, which is very favorable since no one has been killed on either side, the Colony would have been exposed to the mercy of the Iroquois who would pounce, in different directions, on defenceless settlements, the people of which they would carry off in order to pitilessly burn them. I pray God, who knows the sincerity of your intentions, to be your reward and to heap His blessings on you to the extent of the wishes of him who is entirely, my Lord Your very humble and very obedient servant, J. DE LAMBERVILLE. I told Colin that you would remember him and his comrade. The Tionnontatés have sent to thank the Onnontagués for having, by their obliging disposition, gained you over to treat for peace, and thus preserve the lives of many, and that they were attached to Onnonthio. Sieur la Grande [Gueule] has pronounced your panegyric here, and professes to [VOL. I.] 12 keep the promise he made you, to cause the articles of peace to be observed. Some furs are to be collected this fall. He is treating on this subject with Hannagoge and Ganakontié. There is no news yet from the Senecas. FROM THE SAME TO THE SAME. Onnontague, this 9th Octob. 1684. My Lord, The message you sent here by three canoemen from Montreal shows you to be in reality a man of your word. Sieur Grande Gueule has been informed by express, who is gone to find him at his fishery eight leagues from here, that you have written. I shall cause him when he returns particularly to recollect his promise to you to have satisfaction given you. I have spoken in his absence both privately and publicly, to influential persons and obtained promises from the chiefs and warriors that they would send two strings of wampum to the Senecas in three days to put them in mind of the word which the leader of those who pillaged the French canoes had himself brought here, from those of his own nation, that they had accepted all you had concluded at La Famine. I told them what you had concluded and had ordered me to acquaint them with. The report about the thousand Illinois is a mere rumor without any foundation, and M. du Lut told me at Katarakoui, that he did not believe the truth of this news; besides there cannot be any apprehension that they could have dared to undertake any thing, having met neither Frenchmen nor Outaouas. All that they could make a demonstration against have more fuzileers than they. A party of 40 warriors will leave here in six days to attack the Illinois whom they may find among the Chaouennons. I have presented the Captain a shirt in your name, to exhort the Senecas through whom he will pass, to keep their word with you. He has assured me that he will not lead his troop towards the quarter you forbad him. I notified him as well as the others that you had despatched a canoe to inform the Oumiamies and the Maskenses that you had included them in the peace, and that they could remain secure at the place where they had been before they were at war with the Iroquois. The Senecas shall be equally notified of this in a few days. You may rest assured, my Lord, that I shall spare no pains to have that satisfaction given you which you expect from the Iroquois The frenchmen who came here told me that whilst you were at La Famine a false alarm reached Montreal that the Iroquois were coming; that there was nothing but horror, flight and weeping at Montreal. What would so many poor people have done in their settlements if merely six hundred Iroquois had made an irruption into the country in the condition in which it is. You form a better opinion than one hundred manufacturers of rhodomontades who were not acquainted with the Iroquois, and who reflect not that the country, such as it is, is not in a condition to defend itself. Had I the honor to converse with you longer than your little leisure allowed me, I should have convinced you that you could not have advanced to Paniaforontogouat [Irondequoit bay] without having been utterly defeated in the state your army was in-which was rather an hospital than a camp. To attack people within their entrenchments and fight banditti in the bush will require one thousand men more than you have. Then you can accomplish nothing without having a number of disciplined savages. I gave you already my thoughts, and believe I told you the truth, and that you deserved the title of "Liberator of the Country" by making peace at a conjuncture when you would have beheld the ruin of the country without preventing it. The Senecas had double pallisades stronger than the pickets of the fort and the first could not have been forced without great loss. Their plan was to keep only 300 men inside, and with 1200 others perpetually harass you. All the |