Sebastian Rale-A Maine Tragedy of the Eighteenth Century: LT. GOVR. DUMMER To Gov. VAUDREUIL. Page 129-135 John Francis Sprague Boston, Mass. Printed by the Heintzemann Press 1906 LT. GOVR. DUMMER To Gov. VAUDREUIL. "Boston N. England January 19th 1725. "Sir " Your letter dated Quebec October 29th per Henry Edgar, one of the English Captives, came safe to me; on perusal thereof I am greatly Surprised at the matters Contained therein, which are so unjustly represented, that I cannot Satisfy my Self to pass them by un- answered. In the first place as to what you say relating to the death of Monsr. Rale the Jesuit, which you set forth as so Inhumane & Barbarous; I readily acknowledge that he was slain, amongst other of our Enemies at Nor- ridgewalk; And if he had Confined himself unto the professed Duty of his function viz to Instruct the Indians in the Christian Religion, and kept himself within the bounds of the French Dominions, and had not Instigated the Indians to War & Rapine there might then have been some ground of Complaint; But when instead of Preaching Peace, Love and Friendship Agreeable to the Doctrines of the Christian Religion, he has been a Constant and Notorious Fomenter & Incendiary to the In dians to kill, burn & Destroy, as flagrantly appears by many original letters & manuscripts, I have of his by me, and when in open Viola tion of an Act of Parliament of Great Britain, and the Laws of this Province strictly forbid ding Jesuits to reside or teach within the British Dominions, he has not only resided but also once & again appeared at the head of great numbers of Indians, in an Hostile manner threatening and Insulting, as also publickly assaulting the subjects of His British Majesty; I say, If after all, such an Incendiary has hap- pened to be slain in the heat of Action, among our Open and Declared Enemies, surely none can be blamed therefor but himself, nor can any safeguard from you or any other Justify him in such proceedings: And I think I have much greater Cause to Complain, that Mr. Willard the minister of Rutland (who never had been guilty of the Facts charged upon Mr. Ralle, &- applied himself solely to the preach ing of the Gospel) was by the Indians you sent to Attack that Town Assaulted, slain and scalpt, and his scalp carried in Triumph to Quebec. " As to the next article you mention, That St. Georges River was in the year 1700 by order of the Two Crowns Marked as the bounds of the English and French Lands where- by it appeared That Penobscot was given to you, and that one La Fevre had a right to the Land thereabouts, & that all Vessels paid a Duty to him, And that Mr. Capon Envoy of Eng- land when King George came upon the Throne, went to ask the Penobscot Indians to submit themselves to England, which they refused. I have no difficulty to Answer to each of the aforesd Points ; And as to the last relating to Mr. Capon you Labour under a very great Mistake to mention him as Envoy of England, he being far below any such Character, and only an Inferior Officer, Comissary or Victual- ler to the Garrison of Annapolis, & sometime after was taken & yielded up to the English, sent by Lieutenant Govr. of that place to visit the French settlements within that District & to require an Oath of Allegiance and Fidelity from them to Queen Anne; but he had no oc- casion to Come and Entice the Penobscot Indi- ans to submit themselves to England, for they as well as the Norridgewalk Indians & many other Tribes had done that long before even in the year 1693 at a Treaty of Sr. William Phipps Governor of this Province, by which Treaty, I can make it appear, that they not only submitted themselves as subjects to the crown of England, but also renounced the French Interest & Limited Claim to the Lands bought and possessed by the English; But since King George came to the Throne, Mr. Capon has not been in those parts at all, as I am Informed by the People of that Country. "As to St. Georges River being the bounds and La Fevre's pretended Right it seems very wonderful you should make any mention of those things or lay any weight upon them at this time, when if the Case were formerly as you now represent it, which I do not allow, all such claim and pretension is wholly superceded and at an end; whereof you may soon and easily satisfy yourself by consulting the Treaty of Peace at Utrecht Concluded between the two Crowns in the year 17 13, by the twelfth Article whereof it is provided, 'That all Nova Scotia or L'Accadie with its Ancient Boundaries &c. to- gether with the Dominion property & posses- sion of the sd Islands Lands & places, and all right to which the Most Christian King, the Crown of France, or any the subjects thereof have hitherto had to the Islands Lands & places, and the Inhabitants of the same are Yielded & made over to the Queen of Great Britain & to her Crown forever.' Now by the aforesd Res- ignation, the French King Quitted all Right not only to the Lands, but also to the Inhabi- tants whether French or Indians, or whatsoever they were & transferred the same to the Crown of Great Britain forever, whereby you are En- tirely Cutt off from any Claim to the subjection of the said Indians, from thence forward; And we are not ignorant how far the French King understood the Countrey of L'Accadie to Ex- tend Westward by his patent Granted to Monsr. D'Alney tho you seem to be a stranger to it. " As to the whole Nation of the Indians Ex- claiming against some of their Tribe, as pre- tending that they were suborned to give Deeds for their Lands, if it be matter of Fact, that they do so, which is hard to be Conceived, it is a most unjust Imputation, & must Argue a won- derfal Deceitfulness & self Contradiction in them, since they have upon all Treatys when the whole Tribes were together Constantly ac- knowledged and submitted to the English Titles and possessions, which they had by honest and Lawful purchase Acquired. " As to the Building of Forts any where with- in the British Dominions I suppose that you will not scruple to acknowledge that the King of Great Britain has as good a right to Erect Fort- resses or places of Defence within His Do- minions, as the French King has in his And therefore when you shall please to Give me Instances of the French Kings Applying him- self to the Indians for leave to build a Fort or Forts for the Defence of His Subjects I shall then give you a further Answer to that Argu- ment. And in the meantime I must tell you that we have always treated the Indians with sincerity, & never thought it proper to make Apologies for Building Forts within our own jurisdiction (as you Insinuate) but on the Con- trary in all our Treatys with them have As- certed our undoubted right to do so. "You likewise signify that we must Blame no body but our selves for the Violence and Hostilities Committed against Our nation by the Indians. But syr, If the blame must lye where it ought I must Impute their Outrages, falsness & Ill Conduct towards us, not so much to their own Inclinations, as to the In- stigations of the Jesuit Ralle & others Under your Government, whereof we have had suf- ficient Information from time to time, as also of your own forcing the Indians against their Wills upon our Frontiers to destroy & Cutt of our People which Cannot be otherwise lookt upon except as a direct & Notorious Violation of the Treaty of Peace at Utrecht. " Nevertheless Sir, After All, I have much greater Inclination to Amity & good Corre- spondence with you than otherwise, And there- fore I have sent Collo. Samuel Thurber one of His Majesties Council, and Collo. William Dudley one of the House of Representatives who are Commissioned to Confer with you Pursuant to such Instructions as they have re- ceived from me; And I Desire that you will Give CREDENCE to them accordingly. I am, Sir, Your Most Humble & Most Obedt Servant Wm. Dummer." (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.