Sebastian Rale-A Maine Tragedy of the Eighteenth Century: Rale's Inscription on the Outer Door of his Church Page 145-146 John Francis Sprague Boston, Mass. Printed by the Heintzemann Press 1906 Rale's Inscription on the Outer Door of his Church Found by Colonel Thomas Westbrook when he made his raid, 1721-22. " Englishmen. "I that am of Norridgewock have had thoughts that thou wil't Come and Burn our Church and Our Father's House to revenge thyself without cause for the houses I have burnt of thine. It was thou that didst force me to it, why didst thou build them upon my Land without my Consent. " I have not yet burned any, but what was upon my land; Thou mayest burn it, because thou knowest that I am not there, such is thy Generosity, for if I were there, Assuredly thou shouldst not burn it., although thou shouldst Come with the number of many hundred Men. "It is ill built, because the English don't work well; It is not finished, although five or six Englishmen have wrought there during the space of four years, and the Undertaker who is a great Cheat, hath been paid in advance for to finish it. I tell thee, Nevertheless, That, if thou dost burn it in revenge upon my land, thou may- est depend upon it, That I will Revenge my- self also, and that upon thy Land in such a manner as will be more sensible and more dis- advantageous to thee for one of thy Meeting houses or Temples is of more value beyond Compare than our Church. And I shall not be satisfied with burning one or two of thine, but many; I know where they are, and the Effect shall make thee know that I have been as good as my word. " This shall Certainly be done sooner or later, for the War is but just beginning; And if thou wouldst know where it will have an End I tell thee it will not have an end but with the world. If thou canst not be driven out before I dye, Our Children and Nephews will Continue it till that time, without thy being able to Enjoy it peaceably. " This is what I say to thee, who am of Nor- ridgewock in the name of all the Nation." * *From Baxter's -Pioneers of New France in New England. " (c) 1998 Courtesy of the Androscoggin Historical Society & Somerset County Maine US Gen Web Project ************************************************* NOTICE: Printing the files within by noncommercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. ************************************************* The USGenWeb Project makes no claims or estimates of the validity of the information submitted and reminds you that each new piece of information must be researched and proved or disproved by weight of evidence. It is always best to consult the original material for verification.