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A half-century of conflict. France and England in North America. Part ...

A half-century of conflict. France and England in North America. Part ...

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1745-1747.] WILLIAM JOHNSON. 211the fort, <strong>and</strong> if he found it <strong>in</strong>defensible, to burn it,— which he did, much to the astonishment <strong>of</strong> aFrench war-party, who visitedthe place soon after,<strong>and</strong> found noth<strong>in</strong>g but ashes. ^The burn<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> Saratoga, first by the French <strong>and</strong>then by its own masters, made a deep impression onthe Five Nations, <strong>and</strong> a few years later they tauntedtheir white neighbors with these shortcom<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>in</strong> nomeasured terms. "You burned your own fort atSeraghtoga <strong>and</strong> ran away from it,<strong>and</strong> a sc<strong>and</strong>al to you." ^which was a shameUn<strong>in</strong>itiated as they were <strong>in</strong>party politics <strong>and</strong> faction quarrels, they could seenoth<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> this <strong>and</strong> other military lapses but pro<strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong>a want <strong>of</strong> martial spirit, if not <strong>of</strong> cowardice. Hencethe difficulty <strong>of</strong> ga<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g their activethe French was redoubled.alliance aga<strong>in</strong>stFortunately for the prov<strong>in</strong>ce,the adverse <strong>in</strong>fluence was <strong>in</strong> some measurecounteracted by the character <strong>and</strong> conduct <strong>of</strong> oneman. Up to this time the French had far surpassedthe rivalnation <strong>in</strong> the possession <strong>of</strong> men ready <strong>and</strong>able to deal with the Indians <strong>and</strong> mould them totheir will. Em<strong>in</strong>ent among such was Joncaire,French emissary among the Senecas <strong>in</strong> western NewYork, who, with admirable skill, held back thatpowerful member <strong>of</strong> the Iroquois league from sid<strong>in</strong>gwith the English.But now, among the Mohawks <strong>of</strong>eastern New York, Joncaire found hismatch <strong>in</strong> theperson <strong>of</strong> William Johnson, a vigorous <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>telli-1 Schuyler, Colonial New York, ii. 121.2 Report <strong>of</strong> a Council with the Indians at Albany, 2^ June, 1754.

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