eant the end of her glory as an
imperial power. The Republic had lavished treasure upon this war as
never before--a sum equivalent in modern money to fifteen hundred
million dollars. Even when compelled to borrow at seven per cent,
Venice kept up the fight and opened the ranks of her nobility to all
who would pay sixty thousand ducats. Nor was the valour of the
Venetians who defended Crete less noble than the determination of their
government. Every man who loved the city of St Mark felt that her fate
was at stake before the walls of Candia.

Year by year the resources of the Venetians had grown less and their
plight more desperate. In 1668 they had received some assistance from
French volunteers under the Duc de la Feuillade. This was followed by
an application to Turenne for a general who would command their own
troops in conjunction with Morosini. It was a forlorn hope if ever
there was one; and Turenne selected Frontenac. {28} Co-operating with
him were six thousand French troops under the Duc de Navailles, who
nominally served the Pope, for Louis XIV wished to avoid direct war
against the Sultan. All that can be said of Frontenac's part in the
adventure is that he valiantly attempted the impossible. Crete was
doomed long before he saw its shores. The best that the Venetians and
the French could do was to fight for favourable terms of surrender.
These they gained. In September 1669 the Venetians evacuated the city
of Candia, taking with them their cannon, all their munitions of war,
and all their movable property.

The Cretan expedition not only confirmed but enhanced the standing
which Frontenac had won in his youth. And within three years from the
date of his return he received the king's command to succeed the
governor Courcelles at Quebec.

Gossip busied itself a good deal over the immediate causes of
Frontenac's appointment to the government of Canada. The post was
hardly a proconsular prize. At first sight one would not think that a
small colony destitute of social gaiety could have possessed
attractions to a man of Frontenac's rank and {29} training. The salary
amounted to but eight thousand livres a year. The climate was
rigorous, and little glory could come from fighting the Iroquois. The
question arose, did Frontenac desire the appointment or was he sent
into polite exile?

There was a story that he had once been a lover of Madame de Montespan,
who in 1672 found his presence near t