The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1924-09-04

ton of his early studies he Joined the
Society of Jesus, September 25, 1874.
About fifteen years later he Yolun-
teered for the American missions and
sailed, as he tells us in one of his
letters, from La Rochelle, July %,
1859. A voyage OF about three months
brought HIM to the Canadian shores,
where he landed at Quebec. October
Is. 1889. After a novitiate of two
years among the Indians at st. Fran
els de Sales on the Chaudiere just
opposite Quebec, and two years OF
mission work in the far west among
the Illinois, Father Rale returned at
the request of his superior. to take
up what proved to be his life work
among the Indians of the kennebec.
In the prime of his days, we'll sea-
soned in all the h%ardships of mis-
s~ionary life, Father Rasle was fully
equipped to meet the storms now ga
thering about the devoted village of
Narantsouac. The days of peace
and quiet which had characterized the
years Of Druillette had passed. To
the New England settlers, both the
Indians and their missionary had be-
come a menace. They might. per-
haps, be permitted to yet linger
awhile, but only at tho expense of
their faith; they must send the dis
trusted and hated Jesuit back to Que
bee. The long struggle for the pos
session of the American continent
was now on, in which there was lit
tie save extinction for the aboriginal
occupant of the soil. The French
had met the Savage and made him
their brother; the English had turned
his proffered friendship to the bitter
7 est mistrust and hatred the one held
out a helping hand; the other sought
to %dispossess him from the land of
his ancestors.
For fifty years" says Abbott,
The planters and traders of Maine
carried on their intercourse with
the Indians without any out
break. The Indians were often
subjected to great wrongs at the
hand of individuals, and bitter
complaints were not u%nfrequent.
As the English grew more pow
erful. they became arrogant and
domineering; while the natives,
crushed and irritated, were ready
to embrace any opportunity for
#direful revenge
THE CHIEF MAGISTRATE
The Indian was susceptible to kind
and honest treatment, and those among
the English who accorded him a fair
deal were sure to enjoy his trust and
friendship. There We're, fortunately
many examples of fairness on the
part of the English settlers in their
relations with the doomed Indians,
which served to soften the animosi-
ties for the times. AS one of the few
noted for kindly and just intercourse
! we mention the chief magistrate at
Pemaquid. Abraham ShuEte. who al
ways lived in peace and harmony with
his Indian neighborS, and who is said
to have assured them that he was
determined to see all their wrongs
redressed.
In extolling the natural charms of
Old Narantsouac. we cannot help
sensing our inability to do justice to
the truly enhancing beauties of this
. historic spot; the same fact is equal
ly true, perhaps more so. when we at
tempt to briefly portray the life of
the heroic man. who, for a third of a
century, devoted all his energies to
the development of Christian virtue
in the hearts of his people. His ac-
~tivities in defence of their ancestral
rights were only secondary to the one
great purpose of his life, which was
that Of the good shepherd, to save
their souls.
To begin, he did not find the Indians
of the Kennebec entirely unframed
or unresponsive. At heart, they
were, perhaps. one of the best among
the Indian tribes of America; as far
as we know they were the only great
ltribe that never soiled its hand with
the blood of the missionary. The
lab6rs of the Jesuit fathers. Druil-
lette, James and Vincent Bigot, per
laps others, were not without fruit,
at least in germ. When Rale came
he found their hearts in fallow; he
had only to SOW the seed of Christian
truth in ground already we'll pre-
pared. His conception of this great
work was truly apostolic. Suffer-
ing and priyation, hunger and thirst,
persecution and danger. he counted
for naught. provided they led him
along the Royal road of the Cross
or proved stepping stones to the sal
walton of his people.
RfOS LIZ Or NE hENN EBEC
From a human standpoint. we nat
urally admire anyone who labors for
the betterment of humanity. In bene-
ficient results. we are apt to forget
costs, to overlook sacrifices. At the
present day, we laud the man who
leaves home and kindred for the trails
OF life among the uncivilized. the un-
cultured-yet, we have to remember
that the world is. in a sense, much
smaller today than in the time of
Rale-that modern science has
thrown c~onyeniences across miles OF
ocean, leagues of forest. to cheer the
weary. to sweeten the sacrifices OF
the frontier hero. When the Apostle
Of the kennebec came to Narantsouac.
ne passed through a wilderness filled
with dangers and privations; day by
day he toiled on, his natural conso-
lations grew fewer, his earthly food
scarcer. When he reached the scenes
of his labors, passing along the wind
ing paths by the river, he found his