of the Indians with the French is dangerous and corrupting to their
morals," and that their only safety lies in keeping them at a distance
from the settlements. This was the view of the Jesuits, and there is
much to be said in its favor; but it remains not the less true that
conversion must go hand in hand with civilization, or it is a failure
and a fraud.

Cadillac was not satisfied with the results of the meeting at the
Chateau St. Louis, and he wrote to the minister: "You can never hope
that this business will succeed if it is discussed here on the spot.
Canada is a country of cabals and intrigues, and it is impossible to
reconcile so many different interests."[27] He sailed for France,
apparently in the autumn of 1699, to urge his scheme at court. Here he
had an interview with the colonial minister, Ponchartrain, to whom he
represented the military and political expediency of his proposed
establishment;[28] and in a letter which seems to be addressed to La
Touche, chief clerk in the Department of Marine and Colonies, he
promised that the execution of his plan would insure the safety of
Canada and the ruin of the British colonies.[29] He asked for fifty
soldiers and fifty Canadians to begin the work, to be followed in the
next year by twenty or thirty families and by two hundred picked men of
various trades, sent out at the King's charge, along with priests of
several communities, and nuns to attend the sick and teach the Indian
girls. "I cannot tell you," continues Cadillac, "the efforts my enemies
have made to deprive me of the honor of executing my project; but so
soon as M. de Ponchartrain decides in its favor, the whole country will
applaud it."

Ponchartrain accepted the plan, and Cadillac returned to Canada
commissioned to execute it. Early in June, 1701, he left La Chine with a
hundred men in twenty-five canoes loaded with provisions, goods,
munitions, and tools. He was accompanied by Alphonse de Tonty, brother
of Henri de Tonty, the companion of La Salle, and by two half-pay
lieutenants, Dugue and Chacornacle, together with a Jesuit and a
Recollet.[30] Following the difficult route of the Ottawa and Lake
Huron, they reached their destination on the twenty-fourth of July, and
built a picket fort sixty yards square, which by order of the governor
they named Fort Ponchartrain.[31] It stood near the west bank of the
strait, about forty paces from the water.[32] Thus was planted the germ
of the city of Detroi