Sebastian Rale-A Maine Tragedy of the Eighteenth Century: EXTRACTS FROM RALE'S LETTER TO HIS NEPHEW. Page 117-128 John Francis Sprague Boston, Mass. Printed by the Heintzemann Press 1906 EXTRACTS FROM RALE'S LETTER TO HIS NEPHEW. " Norridgewock This 15th October, 1722. "Monsieur, my dear Nephew. The peace of Our Savior: "During the more than thirty years that I have lived in the heart of these forests with the Savages, I have been so occupied in instructing them and forming them to Christian virtues, that I have but little leisure to write many let- ters, even to those who are most dear to me. Nevertheless I cannot refuse the little details of my various duties which you desire. I owe it as an acknowledgment of the friendship which makes you so strongly interested in everything that concerns me. " I am in a district of that vast extent of land which lies between Acadia and New England. Two other Missionaries are occupied with me among the Abnaki Savages, but we are far re- moved from each other. The Abnaki Savages, beside the two villages which are in the centre of the French Colony, have three others, each villages of considerable size, situated on the bank of a river. The three rivers empty into a sea south of the Canada river between New Eng- land and Acadia. " The village where I live is called Nanrant- souak; it is situated on the bank of a river which discharges itself into the sea about thirty leagues hence. I have built a Church, which is neat and very ornamental. I thought noth- ing ought to be spared either for its decoration nor for the ornaments which are used at our holy ceremonies: Vestments, chasubles, copes, sacred Vessels, everything appropriate, and would be so esteemed in our Churches of Europe. I have formed a little Brotherhood of about forty young Savages, who assist at di- vine Service, in their cassocks and surplices. Each have their duties, so many to assist at the holy Sacrifices of the Mass, & to chant the divine Office for the Consecration of the Holy Sacrament, & for the processions which they make with a great crowd of Savages, who often come from long distance to attend them. You would be edified at the great order which they keep, & the piety which they show. "They have built two Chapels at about three hundred paces from the village; the one dedi- cated to the most holy Virgin, & where may be seen her Image in relief, is above the river; the other dedicated to the guardian Angel, is at the lower end of the same river. Since they are both on the road which leads either to the Woods or into the open country, the Savages never pass without offering their prayer. There is a holy emulation among the women of the Village as to who shall the better decorate the Chapel, of which they have the care, when the procession repairs thither. All that they have, jewels, pieces of silk or calico and other things of that kind are used to adorn it. " The abundance of light adds not a little to the beauty of the church and Chapels ; I have no need to be saving of wax, as this country furnishes it to me in abundance. The islands of the sea are bordered with wild laurels, which in autumn bear berries a little like those of the juniper. They fill their kettles with them and boil them with water. As soon as the water boils, the green wax rises & remains on the sur- face of the water. From a measure of three bushels of this berry, one obtains nearly four pounds of wax; it is very pure and very good, but neither soft nor manageable. After several attempts I have found that by mixing as much tallow, either of beef, mutton or moose as of the wax, fine, hard & serviceable candles may be made. With 24 pounds of wax and as much tallow, one can make two hundred long candles of more than a foot in length. One finds an infinity of these laurels on the islands & along the sea coast: A single person will easily pick four measures in a day. The berry hangs like grapes from the branches of the tree. I have sent a branch to Quebec with a cake of wax; it has been found excellent. " None of my neophytes fail to repair twice a day to the Church; in the early morning to attend Mass, &- in the evenings to assist at the prayers which I offer at sunset. As it is neces- sary to fix the imagination of the Savages, too easily distracted, I have composed suitable pray- ers to make them enter into the spirit of the August Sacrifice of our Altars ; they chant them or properly recite them in a loud voice during Mass. Besides the sermons that I give them on Sundays and Holy Days, I scarcely allow a week to pass, without giving a short exhorta- tion, to inspire horror of the vices to which they are most inclined, or to strengthen them in the practice of some virtue, " After Mass I teach the Catechism to the children and young people; a large number of old persons assist at this and reply with docility to the questions which I ask them. The rest of the morning until noon, is devoted to hear- ing all who wish to speak to me. It is then that they come in crowds to make me share their pains and inquietudes, or to communicate to me subjects of complaint against their coun- trymen, or to consult me about their marriages & other particular affairs. It is necessary for me to instruct some, to console others, to re- establish peace in families at variance, to calm troubled consciences, to correct others by re- proofs mingled with gentleness and charity, in short, as much as it impossible, to render them all contented. " After noon I visit the sick and go around among the cabins of those who have need of particular instruction. If they hold a council, a frequent occurrence among the Savages, they depute one of the principal men of the assembly to beg me to assist at the decision of their de- liberations. I go as soon as possible to the place where the council is being held ; if I judge that they are taking a wise course, I approve it; if on the contrary I find anything to say against their decision, I declare to them my opinion, which I support by solid reasons, &- they con- form to it. My advice always fixes their reso- lutions. They do not even hold their feasts without inviting me; those invited bring each a dish of wood or bark; I give the benediction on the food; they put in each dish the portion prepared. The distribution being made, I say grace, & each retires ; because such is the order and custom of their feasts. " In the midst of these ceaseless occupations you will not find it difficult to understand with what rapidity the days slip by. There has been a time when it was with difficulty that I found time to recite my office, & to take a little re- pose during the night; for discretion is not the virtue of the Savages. But for some years I have made it a rule to speak to no one, from the evening prayer until after Mass the next morning, & I have forbidden them to interrupt me during this time, unless it is for some im- portant reason, as for example, to assist a dying person, or for some other affair which cannot be put off. I employ this time to pray and to repose from the fatigue of the day. " When the Savages go to the seashore, to pass some months hunting ducks, bustards and other birds which are found there in great quan- tities, they build on an island a Chapel which they cover with bark, near which they prepare a little hut for my dwelling. I take care to carry there part of the ornaments, & the service is performed there with the same propriety and the same crowds of people as at the village. "You see, my dear nephew, what are my occupations. For as to what regards me per- sonally, I will tell you that I only see, only hear, only speak to Savages. My food is simple and light. I was never able to adapt my taste to the meat & to the fish smoked by the Sav- ages; my only nourishment is maize, which they pound and of which I make every day a kind of pudding which I cook with water. " The only sweetening which I have here, is to mix with it a little sugar to correct the insip- idity. This is not wanting in these forests. In the spring time the Maples hold in store a liquid similar to that which the sugar . cane of the Islands contains. The women occupy them- selves in collecting it in bark dishes, when the trees distil it; they boil it and obtain from it a fairly good sugar. The first distilled is always the best. "All the Abnaki Nation is Christian, & very zealous to preserve their Religion. This attachment to the Catholic Faith, has made them up to this time choose rather our alliance, to the advantages that they had drawn from their alliance with the English their neighbors. These advantages are very attractive to our Savages ; the ease which they have of trading with the English, from whom they are not far- ther away than a journey of one or two days, the convenience of the road, the great market which they find for the purchase of goods which suit them ; nothing can be more capable of at- tracting them. Instead of which going to Que- bec, more than fifteen days are necessary to get there, besides they have to provide pro- visions for the journey, while they have a num- ber of rivers to cross, and frequent portages to make. They feel these inconveniences, & are not indifferent to their interests, but their faith is infinitely more dear, and they think that if they withdrew themselves from our alliance, they would soon find themselves without Mis- sionary, without Sacraments, without Sacrifice, without almost any exercise of Religion, and in manifest danger of being plunged again into their former infidelity. "This is the tie which binds them to the French. It has been tried in vain to break it, either by traps which have been held out to their sim- plicity, or by acts of trespass, which could not help irritating a Nation infinitely zealous of its rights & of its liberty. These beginnings of misunderstandings fail not to alarm me, & make me fear the dispersion of the flock, which Providence has confided to my care so many years & for which I would willingly sacrifice that which remains of my life. Observe the various artifices which they employ to detach them from our alliance. " An Englishman asked permission of the Savages to build on their river a kind of store- house, to trade there with them, & he promised to sell them goods at a much greater bargain than they had bought them even at Boston. The Savages who would find it to their profit, & who would save the trouble of a journey to Boston, consented to this willingly. Another Englishman asked soon after the same permis- sion, offering conditions even more favorable than the first. It was accorded him equally. This readiness of the Savages emboldened the English to establish themselves along the river, without asking permission; they built houses there, & raised forts of which three were of stone. This proximity of the English gave at first pleasure enough to the Savages, who did not perceive the trap which they laid for them, & who only looked at the pleasure which they had, in finding their new guests all that they could desire. " But at last, perceiving themselves, insen- sibly as it were, surrounded by the habitations of the English, they began to open their eyes, & to entertain distrust. They asked the Eng- lish by what right they had established them- selves upon their lands, and even built forts there. The reply which was made them, that the King of France had ceded their country to the King of England, threw them into great alarm, for there is no Savage Nation which does not suffer impatiently what they regard as subjection to any power whatever it may be; they will be called allies and nothing more. This is why the Savages immediately sent some of their number to M. le Marquis de Vau- dreuil, Governor General of New France, to learn if it were true, that in effect the King had thus disposed of a country of which he was not the master. It was not difficult to calm their in- quietude; it was only necessary to explain to them the articles of the treaty of Utrecht which concerned the Savages, &- they departed content. "About this time a score of Savages entered into one of the English houses, to trade or to rest. They had been there but a short time, when they saw the house suddenly surrounded by a troop of nearly two hundred armed men. 'We are dead men,' suddenly cried one of them. 'Let us sell our lives dearly.' They prepared to throw themselves upon this troop, when the English, perceiving their resolution, and know- ing besides what the Savage is capable of in the first access of fury, strove to pacify them, by assuring them that they had no evil designs, and that they had come only to invite some of them to go to Boston, to confer there with the Governor, on the means of keeping peace and good understanding, which should exist between two Nations. The Savages, a little too credu- lous, deputed four of their fellow-countrymen who repaired to Boston; but when they arrived there, the conference with which they were di- verted, ends in retaining them prisoners." (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. 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