of his supremacy being disturbed by the never-ending
quarrel between Church and State. The Bishop proposing to alter the
ecclesiastical system of the colony by the institution of movable
priests, both the King and Colbert objected strongly to a scheme which
would have centralized all spiritual power in the hands of one man,
and he a spiritual despot, however sincere and high-souled. But the
inflexible Laval contrived for a time to evade or disobey the royal
instructions that were sent to him, until at length, in 1688, he asked
to be relieved of his office, and the King freely granted his request.
Thereupon, he handed over the episcopal office to Saint-Vallier, and
retired to the seclusion of his cherished school.

The destruction of the college by fire in 1701 almost broke the heart
of the venerable prelate; but with invincible energy and spirit he
began at once the work of restoration. In four years the new building
was completed, and in it he passed the evening of his days, until, at
the age of eighty-six, he closed his eyes for ever on the scene of a
strenuous, stormy, and holy life.

Time and events meanwhile had been treating Frontenac with equal
sternness. The danger from New England had for a time relieved him of
domestic troubles; but with the failure of Sir William Phipps, his
clerical enemies at Quebec once more began their machinations, in
spite of which the versatile old Governor still contrived to hold his
way and course. Politically, the city was divided on the question of
keeping control of the far west; for while some saw danger in
dissipating the strength of the colony, and therefore advised the
maintenance of a smaller but more compact territory, Frontenac, the
fur traders, and the _coureurs de bois_, on the other hand, were
determined to hold the West and to maintain the allegiance of the
Indian allies.

Such, up to the last, was the attitude of the martial Governor, who,
at the age of seventy-six, was ready once more to undertake the
punishment of the Iroquois. He would fain have walked and toiled like
the rest of the twenty-two hundred men who composed his column; but
the Indian allies, unable to see him endure the hardships of the
march, bore him triumphantly on their shoulders. Their faith in the
great Onontio was without measure, and French prestige among them was
now at its highest point. The Onondagas fled before their advance; the
Oneidas begged for peace. The villages of the enemy were giv