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DENONVILLe’s EXPEDITION TO THE GENESEE COUNTRY AND NIAGARA.

that decision to our Masters. Nevertheless, Sir, whilst you were expressing these civilities to meyou were giving orders and sending passes to despatch canoes to trade at Missilimaquina where anEnglishman had never set his foot and where we, the French , are established more than 60 years.I shall say nothing of the tricks and intrigues resorted to by your people and by your orders toinduce all the Savage tribes domiciled with the French to revolt against ,us. I tell you nothing,either, of all your intrigues to engage the Iroquois to declare war against us. Your Traders at Orangehave made noise enough about it, and your presents of munitions of war made, with this view, lastyear and this, are convictions sufficiently conclusive not to entertain a doubt of it, even were therenot proofs at hand of your wicked designs against the subjects of the King whose bread you haveeaten long enough and by whom you have been sufficiently well entertained to cause you to havemore regard for His Majesty, though you had not all the orders from his Brittanic Majesty that youhave to live well with all the subjects of the King, his antient friend.

What have you not done, Sir, to prevent the Senecas surrendering to me the Outaouas and Huronprisoners of Missillimaquina whom they treacherously captured last year, and how many goings andcomings have there not been to the Senecas on your part and that of your traders who do nothingbut by your orders, to prevent the restitution of the said prisoners by the said Senecas who weresolicited at the village of the Onontagues to give me satisfaction.

I avow to you, Sir, that I should never have expected such proceedings on your part, which with-out doubt will not please the King your Master, who will never approve your so strenuously opposingby threats of chastisement the Iroquois coming to me, when I invited them to visit me to arrangewith them the causes of discontent that I had on account of their violences. Three years ago, Sir,you made use of them to wage war against the French and their allies, you took great pains to givethem, for that purpose, more lead, powder and arms than they asked. You did more, Sir; for youpromised them reinforcements of men to sustain them against the King’s subjects; quite recently,Sir, you would have again pushed your ill will further by sending two Parties, commanded by mencarrying your orders, to Missilimaquina to expel us from there and put you into possession, contraryto the word you have given not to undertake anything before the arrangement of their Majesties, ourMasters.

You have, Sir, still surpassed all that; for after the pains you had taken to prevent the Iroquois assembling at Catarocouy where I expected to meet them to settle all our differences and receivefrom them the satisfaction they should have afforded me, as well in regard to the Huron and Outaouasprisoners they would have given up to me had you not opposed it, as for the pillagings and robberiesthat they have committed on us, and all the insults they daily offer our missionaries, as well thosethey may have actually among them as those they have expelled after an infinite amount of ill treat-ment during 20 years they lived in their villages; after you, Sir, having, I say, so little regard for theinterests of the King’s subjects and the good of Religion whose progress you thus prevent, you have,Sir, quite recently contravened the last treaty entered into between our masters, a copy of which youhave received with orders to observe it, and of which you have also sent me copy. Read it well,Sir, if you please, and you will there remark how strongly their Majesties have it at heart to preservetheir subjects in good union and understanding, so that their Majesties understand that the enemiesof one are the enemies of the other. If the avarice of your merchants influenced you less than thedesire to execute the orders of the King your master, doubtless, Sir, I should already have had proofsof your good disposition to execute the said treaty, according to which you ought not to afford eitherrefuge or protection to the savages, enemies of the French Colony, much less assist them with ammu-nition to wage war against it. Nevertheless, I assert positively that you have, since the publicationof said treaty of neutrality, contravened it in this particular, since nothing is done in your govern-ment save by your orders.