his guard. If caught napping he must take the consequences.
Thus, to fall upon an unsuspecting hamlet and slay its men-folk with
the tomahawk, while brutal, was hardly more brutal than under such
circumstances we could fairly expect war to be.

The massacre of women and children is another matter, not to be excused
on any grounds, even though Schenectady and Salmon Falls are paralleled
by recent acts of the Germans in Belgium. Still, we should not forget
that European warfare in the age of {122} Frontenac abounded with just
such atrocities as were committed at Schenectady, Dover, Pemaquid,
Salmon Falls, and Casco Bay. The sack of Magdeburg, the wasting of the
Palatinate, and, perhaps, the storming of Drogheda will match whatever
was done by the Indian allies of Frontenac. These were unspeakable,
but the savage was little worse than his European contemporary. Those
killed were in almost all cases killed outright, and the slaughter was
not indiscriminate. At Schenectady John Sander Glen, with his whole
family and all his relations, were spared because he and his wife had
shown kindness to French prisoners taken by the Mohawks. Altogether
sixty people were killed at Schenectady (February 9, 1690),
thirty-eight men, ten women, and twelve children. Nearly ninety were
carried captive to Canada. Sixty old men, women, and children were
left unharmed. It is not worth while to take up the details of the
other raids. They were of much the same sort--no better and no worse.
Where a garrison surrendered under promise that it would be spared, the
promise was observed so far as the Indians could be controlled; but
English and French alike when they used Indian allies knew well that
their {123} excesses could not be prevented, though they might be
moderated. The captives as a rule were treated with kindness and
clemency when once the northward march was at an end.

Meanwhile, Frontenac had little time to reflect upon the probable
attitude of posterity towards his political morals. The three
war-parties had accomplished their purpose and in the spring of 1690
the colony was aglow with fresh hope. But the English were not slow to
retaliate. That summer New York and Massachusetts decided on an
invasion of Canada. It was planned that a fleet from Boston under Sir
William Phips should attack Quebec, while a force of militia from New
York in command of John Schuyler should advance through Lake Champlain
against Montreal. T