record of disaster—leading—though with one momentary triumph—to a tragic end.
Omniscience is denied to Man. It belongs only to the Creator, who has given to men, in its place, the limited faculty of foresight. And, with such foresight as they had, the three promoters of the fortunes of New France—Count Frontenac, Talon, and La Salle—formulated their plans, and in the autumn of 1674 the latter sailed for France, to obtain the royal sanction and the moneyed help which were needed. Whatever the strength or the weaknesses of their project, money was their sine qua non.
La Salle's first return to France. Bearing strong letters of recommendation from Frontenac to the French Minister of State, Colbert,[1] he met with a cordial reception at home. In response to his petitions to the King, he was, in consideration of his services as an explorer, raised to the ranks of the untitled nobility[2] and was granted the seigniory of the new post on Lake Ontario, which, in honor to his patron, was named Fort Frontenac. He was also invested with the command of the same, together with that of the settlement around it, subject to the authority of his friend the Governor-General. On his part he undertook to repay to the King the cost of the fort, to maintain it, at his own charge, with a garrison equal to that of Montreal, besides laborers; to form a French colony around it, as well as one of domesticated Indians near by; to build a church and support one or more Récollet friars.
He had but little trouble, now that he was in the sunshine of royal favor, in obtaining from his gratified family and friends the needed funds; and on his return to Can-*
- ↑ La Salle had, in the parlance of the present day, "made himself solid" with the Governor, by his active participation in Frontenac's plans for the enlargement of the French power in Canada; especially in the matter of holding a council with the Iroquois, at Onondaga, where a treaty of peace was secured from that powerful and warlike tribe, which seemed to ensure peace for many years.
- ↑ La Salle's Patent of Nobility is given in the second volume of this series, "Shea's Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi Valley," from Paris Doc. in Sec'y's Office, Albany, vol. ii, pp. 8-11.
