f the French and Indians. The
settlements of the English were sacked, the inhabitants were either
massacred or carried into captivity, and all those scenes were
re-enacted which had marked the success of Frontenac's three
war-parties in 1690. Thus New England was exposed to attack from the
side of Acadia no less than from that of Canada. Incidentally Canada
and Acadia were drawn into closer connection by the vigour which
Frontenac communicated to the war throughout all parts of his
government.

But the most vivid event of Frontenac's life after the defence of
Quebec against Phips was the great expedition which he led in person
against the Onondagas. It was an exploit which resembles Denonville's
attack upon the Senecas, with the added interest that Frontenac was in
his seventy-seventh year when {149} he thus carried the war into the
heart of the enemy's country. As a physical _tour de force_ this
campaign was splendid, and it enables us, better than any other event,
to appreciate the magnificent energy which Frontenac threw into the
fulfilment of his task. With over two thousand men, and an equipment
that included cannon and mortars, he advanced from the south shore of
Lake Ontario against the chief stronghold of the Iroquois. At the
portage the Indians would not permit their aged, indomitable Onontio to
walk, but insisted that he should remain seated in his canoe, while
they carried it from the pool below the fall to the dead water above.
All the French saw of the stronghold they had come to attack was the
flame which consumed it. Following the example of the Senecas, the
Onondagas, when they saw that the invader was at hand, set fire to
their palisade and wigwams, gathered up what property was portable, and
took to the woods. Pursuit was impossible. All that could be done was
to destroy the corn and proceed against the settlement of the Oneidas.
After this, with its maize, had been consumed, Frontenac considered
whether he should attack the Cayugas, but he decided against this {150}
extension of the campaign. Unlike Denonville, he was at war with the
English as well as with the Iroquois, and may have thought it imprudent
to risk surprise at a point so far from his base. While it was
disappointing that the Onondagas did not wait to be destroyed by the
cannon which with so much effort had been brought against them, this
expedition was a useful proof of strength and produced a good moral
effect throughout th