t
the haughty and unbending disposition of the intendant was probably a
principal cause of those untoward disputes. M. le Fevre de la Barre and
M. de Meules succeeded them in their respective offices, with special
recommendation from the king to cultivate friendly relations with each
other, and with M. de Blenac, the governor general of the French
American islands.

New France had for many years remained in a state of great confusion,
and had made but little progress in prosperity or population, and now
the prospects of a disastrous war darkened the future of the colonists.
Various causes had united to revive the hostility of the Iroquois, their
ancient and powerful foes. Since New York had fallen into English hands,
the savages found it more advantageous to carry their trade thither than
to barter their furs with the privileged company of France. The falling
off of commercial intercourse soon led to further alienation, which the
death of an Iroquois chief by the hands of an Illinois, in the territory
of the Ottawas, then allies of the white men, soon turned into open
hostility. The Comte de Frontenac had failed in his attempts to
negotiate with the savages; and on the arrival of his successor, an
invasion of the colony was hourly expected. M. de la Barre at once
perceived the dangerous state of affairs; he therefore summoned an
assembly of all the leading men in the country, ecclesiastical, civil,
and military, and demanded counsel from them in the emergency.

The assembly was of opinion that the Iroquois aimed at the monopoly of
all the trade of Canada, by the instigation of the English and Dutch of
New York, who were also supposed to incite them to enmity against the
French, and that, consequently, those nations should be held hostile. It
was also believed that the savages had only endeavored to gain time by
their negotiations, while they either destroyed the tribes friendly to
the colonists, or seduced them from their alliance. With this view they
had already assailed the Illinois, and it was therefore the duty of the
French to save that nation from this attack, whatever might be the cost
or danger of the enterprise. For that purpose the colony could only
furnish 1000 men; and to procure even this number, it was necessary that
the labors of husbandry should be suspended. Re-enforcements of troops
and a supply of laborers were therefore urgently required for the very
existence of the settlements; and an earnest appe