]
Denonville was sorely perplexed. He was hard pressed, and eager for
peace with the Iroquois at any price; but Dongan was using every means
to prevent their treating of peace with the French governor until he
had complied with all the English demands. In this extremity,
Denonville sent Father Vaillant to Albany, in the hope of bringing his
intractable rival to conditions less humiliating. The Jesuit played
his part with ability, and proved more than a match for his adversary
in dialectics; but Dongan held fast to all his demands. Vaillant tried
to temporize, and asked for a truce, with a view to a final settlement
by reference to the two kings. [Footnote: The papers of this
discussion will be found in _N. Y. Col. Docs_., III.] Dongan referred
the question to a meeting of Iroquois chiefs, who declared in reply
that they would make neither peace nor truce till Fort Niagara was
demolished and all the prisoners restored. Dongan, well pleased,
commended their spirit, and assured them that King James, "who is the
greatest man the sunn shines uppon, and never told a ly in his life,
has given you his Royall word to protect you." [Footnote: _Dongan's
Reply to the Five Nations, Ibid_., III. 535.] Vaillant returned from
his bootless errand; and a stormy correspondence followed between the
two governors.
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