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HANNAH SWANTON,

THE CASCO CAPTIVE;

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CATHOLIC RELIGION IN CANADA,

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INFLUENCE ON THE INDIANS OP MAINE.

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WRITTEN FOR THE MASSACHUSETTS SABBATH SCHOOL SOCIETY, AND REVISED BY THE COM- MITTEE OF PUBLICATION.

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BOSTON:

MASSACHUSETTS SABBATH SCHOOL SOCIETY. Depository No. 13 Cornhill.

1837.

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Entered according to act of Congfess, in the year IS^, tr/

CHRISTOPHER C. DEAN, in tho Glerk'8 Office of the District Court of Massaichusettg^

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CONTENTS.

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Mrs. Swanton's removal from Massa- chusetts to Casco Bay in Maine, - 5 Conference of Bommaseen, an Indian

Chief, with a Minister of Boston, - 10 How Roman Catholics corrupt the Gos- pel, - - ^ - - - 12 Scenery in Casco, now Portland, - 16 Evil influence of Roman Catholics on

the Indians of Maine, - ^ 21 Mrs. Swanton taken captive by the In- dians-, ' - * - - - 25 Mrs. Swanton arrives at Quebec, - - 33 Roman Catholic arguments, - - 36 Fellowship with the Roman Catholic re- *' ligion declined, - - - - 39 Sorrow for sin, ----- 41 Comfort in religion, - - - 43 Deliverance from captivity, - - 47 Maine flourishes by religion and peace, 48 Appendix. Roman Catholic principles in Canada, ^ - • • • 51

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What is here presented to the reader, is taken chief- ly from the Rev. Cotton Mather's ** Magnalia, or Ec- clesiastical History of New England." The object has 4»een to keep to historical truth. The dates and pkcea 4nenti(med| testify that you have here fiMt, and mt IGuBtion.

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RESIDENCE IN CASCO BAT

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Hannah Swanton removed, with her husband and children, from Beverly in Mas- sachusetts, to Casco Bay in Maine, when there were only a few families settled along the shores and near the mouths of the rivers, and several miles in the interior. She left religious privileges, and exposed herself and family to many privations, and to the attacks of savage Indians, that the family might ob- tain earthly gain. She afterwards thought it folly and sin to forsake the worship of God for mere worldly advantage. The result, in her case, remarkably resembled that of Lot, who lifted up his eyes and looked on the well-watered and fertile plains of Sodom, 1*

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when he chose the place of his abode, ahd did hot sufficiently regard the spiritual dan" gers to which he might expose himself. The soil of Sodom was indeed rich, but its people were wicked ; and if the luxuriance of the Country produced him abundance, yet the guilt of its inhabitants brought utter ruin on them ilnd him* We may look at the local i^ituation of Mrs. Swanton^s residence, that we hiay understand how she met with the calamities following a fatal Indian assault. ' ' The place of her habitation was that which is now occupied by the busy population of Portland. This is a peninsula extending into Casco Bay> but protected fitom the violence of the ocean by Cape Elizabeth, and by nu- merous islands, which form a wall, unbroken, in appearance^ against the winds and the ■Waves of the great deep* Here> therefore, was a favorable place for light Indian canoes to float securely on the water, or for theit temporary wigwams to be erected oil the land. Only about six thousand Indians ob- tained a miserable, scanty subsistence iil all

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tHE OASCO CAPTIVE. 1

the great forests, and along all the great rivers of Maine. The gospel had not com« . among them to teach them to labor^ and td lay aside the tomahawk and scalping knife> the arrow and the gun, and love their neigh^ bor as themselves, and worship God and heai* his holy word on the sacred Sabbath. They j were therefore immoral and wretched, as the heathen generally are* And this is to be deplored, that they were the worse for the influence of professed Christians over themi The French and English, though neighbors to each other, and bearing the Christian name, were often engaged in the unnatural) unchristian work, of doing each other all the harm they could, even to the destruction of life. From the French, therefore, in Can* ada) the Indians came with powder and gunsj and with French priests and military officers to lead them on to the dreadful work of mur- dering and plundering and enslaving the Eng- lish families along the shores of Maine* They came down the rivers, as the Androscoggin and the Kennebec ; both to subsist on the

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fish they caught in their waters, and to trans-^ port themselves in their birch canoes. As these rivers meet together within a few miles of the north-eastern arm of Casco Bay, here was a favorable place for their passage, and then, after carrying terror and distress and havoc to the settlements along in Maine, in Casco, Saco^ Wells and Berwick, they re- tired by Salmon Falls river, and perhaps by Connecticut river^ or Lake Champlain, back to Canada. Where, all this time, were the ministers of Jesus ? Where was the peaceful and benevolent spirit of His religion ? One might think, as he looked at these melan- choly scenes, that his followers were sent out, not to save men's lives, but to destroy them. Had all the professed Christians, who had access to the Indians, given them the Bible, instead of the musket, and the spelling-book instead of the murderous knife, other scenes would have been witnessed ; and this interesting race of men might now have been happy cultivators of the soil, and have presented a living, enlightened, Chris-

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tian population, where now they are remem- bered only as an extirpated people. Never more may the intercourse of Christians prove so fatal to any nation ! May we not involve them in our quanels to their destruction ; Imt go together in the spirit of brotherly love, io present them the gospel — and to preserve, instruct, reform, evangelize and bless them.

The early settlers of Maine were the vic- tims not only of national ambition, but of religious bigotry. Men are necessarily reli- gious in some way, for their reason teaches them that there must be some being or beings superior to themselves ; and their conscience convinces them of sin, and they have natu- ral fears of evil. If therefore they have no revelation of the true God, and of the right way of escaping his displeasure by the only sufficient sacrifice for sin, the oflering of the divine Redeemer, they will fear false gods, and will depend on burdensome ceremonies, "rms, austerities, or cruel rites.

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religion will curse luther than bless a people, and will make them intolerant, cruel and vicious, instead of reforming them and making them holy.

Such was the religion of the '^rench of Canada ; — ^it was the bigotry of the Church of Rome. This people have been repre- sented as naturally kind and hospitable. Mrs. Swanton found them such ; and others have borne the same testimony of them ; but their religion did not encourage this disposi- tion ; and this fact may appear in the follow- ing narrative. The true character of Cath- blic bigotry, and the danger experienced by the first settlers of Maine from this spirit, may be seen by what will now be related of a conference between a minister of Boston and a company of captive Indian warriors, in 1696. ^i

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BOMMASEEN, AN INDIAN CHIEF.

BoMMASEEN was onc of the Indian chiefs or urinces, and was taken, with some fel-

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low warriors, in one of the settlenjents of Maine^ Being now, with some other Indians^ a prisoner in Boston, he desired a conference with a minister of the city, which was grant- ed him. Bonmiaseen, with the assent of the other Indians^ then told the minister that he wished for his instruction in tlie Christian re- ligion ; as he feared that the French, in what they taught about this religion, had deceiv- ed them. The minister inquired of himj what instructions of the French appeared most suspicious. He replied, that the French taught them, that the Lord Jesus Christ was of the French nation ; that his mother, the Virgin Mary, was a French lady ; that they were the English who had murdered him j and that whereas he rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven, all who would recom-- mend themselves to his favor, must avenge him on the English as far as they could. He risked *the minister whether these things were J^^X- so, and prayed for instruction in the true Christian religion. The minister, considering that it was the disposition and manner of the

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Indians to use much similitude in their dis« courses, looked about for some agreeable ob** jeotj by which he might with apt comparison, convey the ideas of truth into the minds of the savages ; and he thought none would be more agreeable to them than a tankard of drink, which happened then to be standing on the table. He proceeded, therefore, in the fbt- owing manner with them . ^ '

HOW ROMAN CATHOLICS CORRUPT *. THE GOSPEL.

He told them, as with proper actions he presented the signs to them, that our Lord^ Jesus Christ had given us a good religion, which migbt be compared to the good drink in the cup upon the table -.^mm «^

That if ^e take this good religion, (even that good drink) into our hearts, it will do us good, and preserve us from death. That God's Book, the Bible, is the cup wherein that good drink of religion is offered us.

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That the French, having the cup of good drink in their hands, had put poison into it, and had then made the Indians drink that poi- soned liquor ; by which they run mad, and be- gan to kill the English, though they could not but know that it must unavoidably end in their own destruction at last.

That it was plain the English had put no poison into the good drink ; for they set the cup wide open, and invited all men to come and see before they tasted, even the very In- dians themselves ; for they had translated the Bible into Indian. That they might mfer from this that the French had put poison into the good drink, as they had kept the cup fast shut, (the Bible in an unknown tongue, the Latin,) and kept their hands upon the eyes of the In- dians, when they put it to their moutlis.

The Indians, expressing themselves to be well satisfied with what the minister had thus far said, prayed him to go on, and shew them what was the good drink, and what was the poison which the French had put into it.

He then stated to them distinctly the chief

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Articles of the Christian religion, with all the simplicity and sincerity of a protestant ; ad- ding upon each, This is the good drink in the Lord's cop of life; and they still professed that they liked it all.

He further demonstrated to them, how the Papists had, in their idolatrous popery, in some way or other depraved every one of these ar- ticles, with base ingredients of their own in- vention ; adding upon each. This is the poi- son which the French have put into the cup* At last he mentioned this article. . .j .; -t To obtain the pardon of your sins, you must confess them to God, and pray to him to pardon them for the sake of Jesus Christ, who died for the sins of his people. God loves Jesus Christ infinitely ; and if you place your eye on Jesus Christ, and him only, when you beg the pardon of your sins, God will par- don them« You need confess your sins to none but God, except when men have known your sms, or have been hurt by them ; and then those men should know that you confess your Mns ; but, after all, none but God can pttrdoB thmi.

THE CASCO CAPTIVE.

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<> He then added, The French have put poi- son into this good drink. They tell you, that you must confess your sins to a priest, and submit to a penance enjoined by a priest ; and this priest is to give you a pardon. There is no need of all this ceremony to obtain par- don. It is nothing but French poison, all of it.

The Indians appeared astonished to meet with one who would put them in a way to ob- tain the pardon of their sins without paying their beaver skins for it ; and, in a rapture of admiration, they fell on their knees, took the minister's hand into theirs, and began to kiss it with an extreme show of affection. •

He shook them off, however, with dislike of their posture ; and Bommaseen, with the rest, stood up; and lifted up his eyes and hands to heaven, and declared that God should be judge of his 'heart in what he said. He then said, " Sir, I thank you for these things ; I resolve to spit up all the French poison ; you shall be my father ; I will be your son ; I beseech you to continue to instruct me in that religion which may bring me to the sal* vation of my soul,"

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HANNAH SWANTON,

Of the result of this conference it is only added — ^Now God knows what heart this In- dian had when he so expressed himself ; and to him let us leave it. , : . » «it

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SCENl&RT ABOUT PORTLAND.

The powerful influence of artful priests op- erated, therefore, upon the savage spirits of the Indians, to urge them on to assault, and harass and destroy the young families of Maine. Thus a cloud was gathering afar off, that was to move on sullenly, and pour its ru- inous storm upon the little settlement on the Neck in Casco Bay. This Neck is a tract of land between Fore River and Back Cove which the buildings of Portland now cover. It is a graceful sweep between two hills, nar- rowing as it sinks, till the middle forms a neck, and then widening as it rises again to the op- posite hill. From the hill on the east at the end of the peninsula, called Munjoy's hill, an ei^tei^ivejand now a beautiful prospect is pre-

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sented. Immediately under your eye lies the populous and spacious grave-yard ; and then the houses, interspersed with churches and other public buildings stretch along, till the eye rests upon the agreeable and yet unoccupied plain which forms the summit of the hill on the other side of the city. Along the left, on Fore River, is the shipping, which adds much life and cheerfulness to the scenery. Beyond the city, West and North, the land gently rises like an amphitheatre spreading to the view, through the distance of thirty miles ; and then, beyond these hills, at about sixty miles distance, rises the majestic White Mountains, white almost through the year with their lasting snows, and thus suggesting the name they bear. Over this prospect are presented to the vision, villages adorned with temples of the living God. At the east is exhibited a delightfully mingled scenery of land and water, furnished by the expanse of Casco Bay and its many Islands, with the rivers that run, and the points that project in- to it. On the south extends the great and

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HANNAH SWANTON,

wide sea, spotted here and there with sails, that appear large or small according to their distance ; and all suggest interesting thoughts of the life and bustle and wealth which they contain. In a spot where the prospect all around is so wide, and the objects seen are so various, so beautiful, or interesting in, them- selves, and so finely grouped, the religious mind will adore in thought the power, skill and beneficence of God. ^ ^ ^ ..

How monstrous that, amidst the grandeur, the beauty, the luxuriance, and the nameless accommodations for man, which the earth pre- sents, through the goodness of the Creator, there should be hypocrisy, bigotry, encroach- ment, fraud, violence and bloodshed. How strong is the contrast between the glory of God's works of creation, and the, depravity of the rational beings who dwell amidst these works! r ^^ , 4,

Was this fair world made to \^ marred by the various operations of war ; and by scenes of cruelty, fmud and sensuality ? We might think the earth would refiise to bear so much

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There have been times when this idea has been realized ; when God has caused the earth to open and swallow up daring offen- ders, and when the heavens have poured dowh destructive storms upon a wicked and ac- cursed people. • ^

Let the reader pause and reflect that man's wickedness is suffered to rage for this reason, that, as he is created with the powers of a moral agent, he is left to act in this capacity, that he may form and exhibit his character, and may, according to it, be either cursed or blessed. ■ - ^

The history, therefore, of every village, of every family, and, indeed, of every individual, will be rich in instruction. It will exhibit man's guilt and folly, and their fatal consequences ; or it will display his fear of God — ^his wis- dom, and the happy result of faith and obedi- ence. : ^ '

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scanty grass cropped close by the cows that in summer days pasture on it, and crowned on its summit by the Observatory and a few dwelling houses, and occupied on its brow by a decaying battery, and about its sides and base by the habitations of a populous city. But at the period to which this history re- lates, it was covered with a forest ; and, if you could look through its trees, upon the wilderness below, you might near the shore see the abodes of twenty-five families) some of them garrisoned houses ; and at the left, on a point, projecting into Fore River, and terminating in a cliff,* Fort Loyal, the place of refiige and defence, to which families re- tired when their garrisons could not resist a powerful foe. Here lived the family of Mrs. Swanton. -

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EVIL INFLUENCE OF ROMAN CATHO- LIC PRIESTS ON THE INDIANS or IfAINE.

Over the Indians of New England, the French of Canada early acquiried a powerful influence ; and from Quebec they excited the tenants of the woods to attack the young and feeble settlements on the coast of Maine. Thury, about 1690, was a Catholic missiona- ry on the banks of the Penobscot ; and in his zeal for his faith, he labored to persuade the Indians that, by exterminating all the English families in Maine, they would again become sole masters of the land, and would do God service. "My children," said this warrior missionary to his flock, " God commands you to shake the sleep from your eyes. The hatchet must be cleaned of its i^st, to avenge lum of his enemies and to secure to you your rights. Night and day a continual prayer shall ascend to him for your success ; an un-

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ceasing rosary shall be observed until you re- turn covered with the glory of triumph."

Monsieur Denonville, a French ruler in Canada, acknowledged to the Minister of Marine in France, that he owed to the mis- sionaries, and particularly to two priests, the friendship of the Indians in Maine, and their success in their expeditions against the En- glish, -f'

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In 1688, the Indians, encouraged by prom- ise of assistance from the French in Canada, began to assail the eastern plantations in Maine, after some years of peace. The next year a large body of Indians in 120 canoes attacked Falmouth, now Portland. In the merciful providence of God, Col. Benjamin Church, with soldiers from Massachusetts, arrived the very day before the attack was made, and thus saved the whole population of the town from the merciless savages. In 1690 the place was assailed again, the enemies consist- ino: of French and Indians. The inhabitants had no public military force for their defence, and they fled to their garrisons, whicti were

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dwelling houses, built in such a manner as to allow of being defended against an enemy* From the garrisons the)' retreated to the fort. Here they defended themselves for several days ; but at length, on the 20th of May, they surrendered, on condition that they should be safely conducted to the next English town, and thut the Governor of the French should hoM up his hand and swear, by the great and ever living God, that the condition should be observed. .»

But when they had delivered themselves up, the engagement was violated, and men, women, and children were suffered to be made captives in the hands of the heathen, and to be cruelly murdered, especially the wounded men. Such are the fatal fruits of the custom of war ! Such is the offspring of the bigotry of a corrupt church ! Such are the conse- quences of man's apostacy from God ! If in- dividuals of Christian nations have suffered firom the violence and perfidy of pagans ; oth- ers, disgracing the Christian name, have in- flicted enormous wrongs upon uncivilized na-

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34

KANNAB SWANTON.

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tions. Our ancestors are not guiltless. They visited this country, with the sword in one hand, while they held the Bible in the other, and they looked upon the Indians too much as savages, who were to be coerced or extir- pated, rather than as rational beings who might be Christianized. It is humbling to observe how little has been done, flrom the time when Maine was explored and settled, to this day, to instruct the Indians in the knowledge of the Gospel, by Protestant teachers. At this day, missionaries labor with safety in all countries ; and the opposition they encounter, is fix)m Papal rather than from pagan enemies. — God has, however, wrenched the sword from the hand of antichrist, and he can only rage and threaten, not smite and destroy. But it was not so in the early days of New England. The Pope has the same disposition now as then, but not the same power. The Roman Church professes to be infallible, and must therefore be immutable ; and what it was in the days of its power, it is in disposition now in the days of its weakness. Now, however,

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less. They ^ord in one a the other, IS too much >d or extir- 5 who might to observe time when to thb day, sdge of the it this day, countries ; Jr, is from Bnemies.-— word from I only rage y. But it V England, ion now as he Roman » and must Lt it was in »sition now , however.

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THE CASCO CAPTIVE. ' 35

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Among ^e persons who suffered by French Jndian, and Roman r^^u i- 1 "J^'^^ncii,

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THE INDIANS,

-- slain, and myZ' Sren ^^ '"^'^'^ With me. The elde,f J '*'*'* '^«»

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HANNAH SWANTON,

with them without danger either to my life or theirs ; for our mutual condolence and affec- tion so displeased our Indian masters, to whose share we fell, that they would threaten to kill us, if we conversed much, or cried together. Thus my condition was like what the Lord threatened in Ez. xxiv. 22, 23. — " Ye shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men. And your tires shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your feet ; ye shall not mourn nor weep ; but ye shall pine away for your iniquities, and mourn one toward another.'' We dared not mourn nor weep in the sight of our enemies, lest we should lose our lives. At first, while the enemy feasted on our En- glish provisions, I might have had some with them, but then I was so filled with sorrow and tears, that I had little appetite to eat ; and when my appetite returned, our English food was spent ; and the Indians themselves want- ed, and we much more, and then I pined with hunger. We had no corn nor bread ; but sometimes ground nuts, acorns, purslain, hog- weed, weeds, roots and sometimes dogs' flesh.

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life or afFec- whose to kill pettier. 3 Lord "e shall )f men. ,ds, and t mourn or your lother." sight of r lives, lur En- e with ow and t ; and sh food iS want- led with id; but In, hog- s' aesh,

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but not sufficient of these to satisfy hunger. We had no success at hunting, except that one bear was killed, of which I had part. Another time I had a very small part of a tur- tle ; and once an Indian gave me a piece of a moose's liver, which was a sweet morsel to me. We had fish also, when we could catch it. Thus 1 continued with them, hurried up and down the wilderness, from May 20th to the middle of Febmary, continually carrying a great burden. I must go, too, at their pace, or be immediately killed. At the same time I suffered from cold through want of clothing, being dressed by them in Indian apparel, with a slight blanket, no stockings, and but one pair of Indian shoes, and of their leather stock- ings for the winter. My feet were sometimes wounded by sharp stones and prickly bushes, and at other times they were pinched by snow and ice ; for upon this I traveled, ready to be frozen, and to faint from want of food, so that I often thought I could go no further, but must lie down and let them kill me if they, would. Yet then, God so renewed my

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28

HANNAH 8WANT0N,

Strength, that I went on still further, as my master required, and held out with them.

Though many Englishmen were taken, and I was with them, at times, while about Casco Bay and Kennebec River, yet at Norridge- wock we were separated, and none of the English were in our company, but a man named John York, and myself. We were both almost starved, and yet we were told that if we could not travel on with them they would kill us. And accordingly when Mr. York grew weak from want of food, they killed him, and threatened me with the same fate. Once my Indian mistress and myself were left alone, while the rest of the party went away to fish ; and they lefl us no food from Sabbath morn- ing to the next Saturday, except a piece