On this,
the elder Lamberville sent the younger with letters to Denonville to
explain the position of affairs, saying at the same time that he
himself would not leave Onondaga except to accompany the chiefs to the
proposed council. "The poor father," wrote the governor, "knows
nothing of our designs. I am sorry to see him exposed to danger; but,
should I recall him, his withdrawal would certainly betray our plans
to the Iroquois." This unpardonable reticence placed the Jesuit in
extreme peril; for the moment the Iroquois discovered the intended
treachery they would probably burn him as its instrument. No man in
Canada had done so much as the elder Lamberville to counteract the
influence of England and serve the interests of France, and in return
the governor exposed him recklessly to the most terrible of deaths.
[Footnote: _Denonville au Ministre_, 9 _Nov_., 1686; _Ibid_., 8
_Juin_, 1687. Denonville at last seems to have been seized with some
compunction, and writes: "Tout cela me fait craindre que le pauvre
pere n'ayt de la peine a se retirer d'entre les mains de ces barbares
ce qui m'inquiete fort." Dongan, though regarding the Jesuit as an
insidious enemy, had treated him much better, and protected him on
several occasions, for which he received the emphatic thanks of
Dablon, superior of the missions.
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