Sebastian Rale-A Maine Tragedy of the Eighteenth Century: EXTRACTS FROM A LETTER WRITTEN By RALE TO CAPT. MOODY, FEB. 7, 1720. Page 101-103 John Francis Sprague Boston, Mass. Printed by the Heintzemann Press 1906 Letters-EXTRACTS FROM A LETTER WRITTEN By RALE TO CAPT. MOODY, FEB. 7, 1720. "The Traders in Brandy to the Indians had by their declarations in Canada a fine set upon them of a thousand Crowns, and he that could not pay it was con- demned to the Chain and to be whipped through the Town. There is no Justice among'st the English, who have never given them any, Even under this Governor, I think to do it myself. " If Rum drinking continues, the drinker of Rum shall find wherewithall to eat, by suffer- ing him to kill one of the cattle belonging to him that shall have given him drink. And if he won't kill it for fear of being refused it another time, another that is not a drinker shall kill it; this I think to propose to the men, when they come home, and 1 am sure they'll hear me with pleasure. I can't by my Character carry them forth to war, I can absolutely hinder them when they haven't solid reasons for it, but when they have any, I sha'n't hinder them, as for example, to preserve their Land whereon depends their prayers, or any considerable wrong that's done to them, in these cases I'll tell them they may make war. "The views of your Governor are fine and generous; he desires war) and being a warrior he must not wonder at it, but I'm sure he would be astonished at an Indian war, five forts and many houses in Arrowsick were reduced to ashes in one day. "The English say it's the Fryer or Mr. Vaudreuil that stirs up war, but 'twil' be said at the Conference (where I shall be and upon their desire, perhaps, speak for the Indians) 'tis you English, you seize our Lands against our will & thereby take away our prayers, more valuable than our Lands or bodies; you will govern us; I desire your Governor may know this. I am actually composing an ample writing about these things to send to the King of France, that he see what I do to preserve my Indians in their Lands & prayers, which depend thereon; here- in I heard the King's designs reported to me by Mr. Vaudreuil, Last fall, and three years before that I should assist the Indians to pre- serve their Lands & prayers; to move me he has assigned me a considerable pension of 6,000 francs till my death; all this goes away in Good Works; this I suppose comes because your Governor has threatened he will have me taken up, or cause me to quit by writing to his King against me. The Indians told it to Mr. Vau- dreuil who wrote it to the Court, since which I am more and more strengthened here . . ." (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.