Part 1

R A N D AND THE MICMACS.

BY JEREMIAH S. CLARK, B. A.

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CHARLOTTETOWN: PRINTED AT THE EXAMINER OFFICE, QUEEN STREET. 1899

Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine, by JEREMIAH S. CLARK, at the Department of Agriculture.

SILAS TERTIUS RAND.

BY THEODORE H. RAND, D. C. L. (_Re-printed by Permission._)

Oft did thy spell enthrall me, spite the cost! Thou brought’st a charmed and fadeless holiday— Stories and songs of Indian Epic lay— When’er thy eager step the threshold crost, Imagination all its plumes uptost To follow where thy spirit led the way!— (The sense that thou saw’st God when thou didst pray I never through the dimming years have lost.)

Fair Minas’ shores thy step did gladden, too! Thou charm’dst great Glooscap from the unlettered past, And told’st his story to the listener nigh’st; Ay, lover of song, of learned lore and vast, Thou lov’dst the Indian with a love so true, In his sweet tongue thou gavest him the Christ.

SILAS TERTIUS RAND.

D. D., L.L. D., D. C. L.

Stand thou a hero! brave, strong, sweet-souled Rand, Firm on thy high pedestal through all time. Thy God who cheered thee on, and held thy hand, Preserves from dread oblivion thy memory sublime.

What, though no sculptured block adorned the spot Where they had laid thy worn-out shroud away, Until a daughter’s toil memorial brought! Within a thousand strengthened hearts thy visage beams to-day.

Mild was thy manly spirit! as a child Among his playmates thou couldst laugh and sing; Yet, through the greatest hardships on the wild, Thou didst the cheering Gospel to the Micmac wigwam bring.

Peace when the gloaming settled, sweet release From thy long day of labor, for as He Pleased not himself, thyself thou didst not please; Thou too were meek and lowly, yet a prince of high degree.

Now, to thy memory, learned _Sakumow_,[1] Prince in the realm of mind, few were thy peers! Soon fades this wreath we bring, as low we bow, But in the richer lives of men thy life lives through the years.

J. S. C.

Wolfville, 20th May, 1899.

[1] _Sakumow_ (Micmac for Prince or Sage.)

INTRODUCTION.

BY REV. ROBERT MURRAY, D.D. (_Editor of Presbyterian Witness._)

Dr. Rand was a man of rare genius and high attainments. It would be a wrong to him, to the country, and to the Church of Christ to allow his name to pass into oblivion. I am grateful to Mr. Clark for his highly creditable effort to do some justice to the character and work of a truly good, devoted, brilliant and scholarly Christian man.

My own acquaintance with Silas Tertius Rand extended over a period of more than thirty years. He attracted my attention and admiration when I came to this city long ago, an eager student of books and men. Rand was then in his early prime, tall, erect, lithe; never well-dressed; always notable. His features were regular; his forehead was lofty; his eyes were steel-grey and keen, and his look very kindly. He had abundance of dark wavy hair. While speaking, his gestures were perfectly natural and graceful. He had a melodious voice, clear, easily modulated to any key, and easily reaching any audience. His sentences were rhythmic, and rose and fell on the delighted ear with fitting cadence. He was a born orator, though utterly unconscious of the fact. Indeed his unconsciousness was one of the charms of his praying, his preaching and his speaking. His mind was full of his subject and in complete sympathy with his audience, whom he usually held spell-bound.

I never thought of Dr. Rand as growing old, though the last time he spent half an hour with me his locks were thin and grey, his eyes were dim, his forehead deeply furrowed, and his speech less clear than of old, because the “grinders were few,” and he had reached or passed beyond his fourscore years. He was wont to tell of his work among the Indians and for them, and it was my pleasant duty to repeat the story as best I could to my readers.

He was a poet; and he was wont to honor me with the perusal of his poems, Latin as well as English, before they were in type; and I liked them well, and like them still. His Latin translations show marvellous aptitude and resource. Some are worthy of the poet-saints of the Middle Ages who breathed their fears, their faith, and their sorrows into lyrics that cannot die.

His life-work was to master the Micmac language, to find his way to the hearts of the poor children of the forest, and to tell them the story of the Gospel in its simplicity. He made the language his own; he gathered the traditions of the Indians and learned their ways; and in many instances found his way to their hearts. He not only translated portions of the New Testament and Psalms into Micmac, but prepared a complete vocabulary of the language. This work and his Bible translations are in print, and may yet be found useful.

As to his success as a missionary among the Indians, it is not for me to speak. This I may say: Dr. Rand was wont to go among the Indians from camp to camp, telling them the story of redeeming love and pointing them to the “Lamb of God.” He had won the confidence of many. He had access to their minds and hearts, and he was fully convinced that not a few had become sincere Christians. He did not ask them to sever their connection with the Church of Rome; he asked them simply to follow Christ. One brilliant convert he had—a very able man, Ben Christmas. But strong drink ruined this poor Indian so far as this life was concerned. I believe he died a humble penitent.

The Micmac Mission is now seemingly forgotten. It was never well organized, never adequately supported. Can it be revived? Where is Dr. Rand’s successor? Should the Lord call any of our young earnest and devoted Baptist brethren to this work the new missionary ought to have at his back the whole influence, the spiritual and material resources, of the denomination. The work could now be conducted much more advantageously than when Dr. Rand grappled with it. I am sure the Christian community would hail with pleasure a revival of the Indian wigwam enterprise.

I may add that Dr. Rand was one of the few men I have known who seemed to be on terms of reverential intimacy with the blessed Lord and Master of us all. When praying he knew and felt that the Lord was listening. To him there was reality in all acts of worship, and he helped others to realize the presence of God. There was no hard, high, dead wall between him and the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As he advanced in years he dropped the censoriousness in which he sometimes indulged in earlier years. A man like Dr. Rand is a gift from God, for which any community ought to be grateful; and the remembrance of him ought to be lovingly cherished.

ROBERT MURRAY.

Halifax, Nov. 1, 1899.

CONTENTS.

Sonnet on Dr. Rand by T. H. Rand, D. C. L. III Poem on Dr. Rand, by J. S. C. IV Introduction by Rev. R. Murray, D.D. V Frontispiece—Portrait of Dr. Rand VIII Acrostic by Dr. S. T. Rand IX Acknowledgment X Foreword XI Biographical Sketch 1 Micmac Mission (One Report) 25 Distributing Scriptures (Special Report, unpublished) 33 Micmac Version of John III: 16 38 Micmac Mythology 39 The Dying Indian’s Dream (facsimile of Third Edition, 51 1881) Lines written after reading the “Dream,” Anonymous 71 The Sunbright Clime, by Dr. Rand 73 Latin Translations of Psalms and Hymns by Dr. Rand 74

ACROSTIC BY DR. S. T. RAND

=S=-tanding to-day still in the “way”, =I=-n health and strength almost beyond compeers, =L=-ife’s beaten road, I too have trod, =A=-nd borne the load by the grace of God =S=-afely thus far for three and seventy years.

=T=-he way has not been wholly through a vale of tears;

=R=-ich floods of light have cheered my sight =A=-nd visions bright have banished doubts and fears. =N=-or will I cease God’s name to bless, =D=-ependent still through coming days and years.

—_In Christian Messenger, 18th July, 1883._

ACKNOWLEDGMENT.

This opportunity is taken to express my indebtedness to Miss Hattie B. Rand for the privilege of using and possessing her father’s private Diary; and, with her, to Miss Helen L. Webster, Miss Cornelia Horsford, Mrs. Irene Fitch, Mr. George V. Rand, Rev. Robert Murray, D.D., T. H. Rand, D.C.L., Rev. E. M. Saunders, D.D., and others, whose sympathy and encouragement induced me to go on with the task of publication, after most of the work had been done and the first project abandoned.

J. S. C.

FOREWORD.

This little book brings again into the sunlight some few records of the life and work of a very remarkable man. It seems fitting at this time to present in a popular form a glance at the life and work of Dr. Rand, as it will be fifty years on the twelfth of next November, since the work was organized, and Silas T. Rand appointed by the Commissioners at Halifax to his chosen field of labour among the Micmacs of the Maritime Provinces.

Many of the victories and defeats connected with this mission in which our fathers shared (or might have shared) have been forgotten; and, as we now gather what there is for us of encouragement and enjoyment in the records of that noble undertaking, we cannot but find stimulation and satisfaction in living over again, however imperfectly, the struggles and triumphs of one of our own heroes,—one who is certainly worthy of our highest appreciation. Only a small part of the available material will be used, as nobody is prepared to write a biography at present; and, even if someone could spend months among the Rand Manuscripts in the Libraries at Wellesley and Acadia, the occasion that calls this forth would have passed away before the work could be ready for the public.

This booklet does not pretend to be a biography; you may call it a Memorial, or even a Jubilee Souvenir, if you wish; but, kindly do not overlook the purpose for which it is issued:—In all seriousness allow it to call your attention to the stern fact that the Micmac Mission, while in progress was very much hindered by lack of Christian sympathy, and, since the faithful laborer was removed to his reward, no attempt has been made to carry on the work which was so manfully undertaken fifty years ago. And then, with these considerations, and the parting words of our Best Friend, fresh in your memory, ask yourself whether we to-day are any longer justified in repeating Cain’s impertinent question, or answering it in his own self-complacent way. Surely we know a better way to keep the jubilee of Dr. Rand’s splendid endeavour than either altogether to ignore the man and his work, or merely to feast our fancy upon the beautiful mythology of the Micmacs which he has given us as one of the incidents of his work. It is ours to build, if we will, on the broad foundation which he has laid; shall we not take advantage of this opportunity, and to do our share towards giving the people life. Let us realize the fact that until Silas T. Rand aroused our people fifty years ago, no Christian teaching had been attempted among the Micmacs except by Roman Catholic missionaries; and it is not enough that they had _modified the mythology_ of the Micmacs,—in no other terms could the work be described which had been done before Dr. Rand began his campaign based upon an open Bible for every man, and a full and free salvation procured for us all through the atonement made by Jesus Christ. The Roman Catholic missionaries are to be honoured for their self-sacrificing work,—Dr. Rand and his supporters are to be highly honoured for their splendid endeavour,—but, while we honour those who so richly deserve this tardy tribute from us, let us remember that our duty to our fellowmen is not done by simply making additions to our stock of heroes and hero-worship. The hero is, after all, the conscientious toiler; he makes mistakes like other men; he may even err to a greater degree because he lives at higher pressure, but he is filled with his mission, and, whether he “succeed” or not, no moment of his life is lost.

After Dr. Rand had with great difficulty learned the Micmac language, and reduced it to written form, he translated for the people the New Testament, and Genesis, and the Psalms; and as he went about his work day by day, he kept adding to his literary labours, until he had at last completed a Grammar and a Dictionary, the latter of which is now published by the Canadian Government. He tramped ceaselessly from settlement to settlement, sharing to the fullest extent the wretchedness of the degenerate descendants of that once lordly race, as he laboured to make the Gospel Message plain to the sons of the forest. He met discouragement in every form; he received scant sympathy from his fellow-Christians, every step he took was most bitterly opposed by the Roman Catholic clergy, but he lived to rejoice in the work that brought fulness of life to a number of the people, and laid a broad foundation for future work, before he answered the summons that called him home to his reward.

J. S. C. Kirklawn, P. E. I., October, 1899.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

DR. RAND AT HIS LIFE-WORK

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IT has been the writer’s privilege to gain possession of Dr. Rand’s private diary, through the kindness of his daughter Hattie; and, after a great deal of labour, the rare privilege is ours of being able to see the struggles and successes of this great undertaking from the standpoint of the one upon whose shoulders the full weight of the burden always pressed,—the one, too, who had the first and fullest share in the rewards that ever follow faithful service for mankind.

The diary was hastily written—often with a poor pen and poorer ink, besides other inconveniences, as he moved from place to place, carrying on the work of the Mission, but the difficulties one meets in reading the volumes are banished by the pleasure of learning, as fully as may be, the details and the leading events in that remarkable work. But there are difficulties which are not at all due to the condition of the manuscript; and the student, if he be in any way ambitious to test his powers as a linguist, is here presented with perhaps the best opportunity that man ever had,—for here are whole volumes written in Latin and French, with pages of Micmac and Maliseet, and Greek, interspersed amongst the more solid matter; while Hebrew words occur occasionally, and prove very “shibboleths” to one who has become assured that the Maritime Provinces, like _Omnia Gallia_, are still divided into three parts. There are, perhaps a thousand pages written in Pitman’s method of shorthand, and Dr. Rand also used and published in a phonetic method which necessitated the mastery of another alphabet of which the translator may have no further use after the present undertaking is completed. Writing in his Diary on March 16th, 1884, he tells how he had been for two weeks reading a copy of the Scriptures in Eskimo, kindly loaned by Dr. Sawyer, of Acadia; and that portion of his Diary written while on his tour through what was then called “Western Canada,” abounds with Indian words used by the different tribes in that section. There are complete lists of the first decade of numerals in the languages of the Mohawks, Onedias, Senecas, Ceyugas, Onondagas, and Tuscaroros, and such words as “bread,” “milk,” etc., are traced through all the different dialects. Nor was Dr. Rand satisfied with gathering what he could from the languages used in the schools and forests of Canada; he became more or less familiar with German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese; and, to cap the climax, the page of the Diary which relates a conversation with a returned Burman Missionary is adorned with a number of Burmese words.

When we realize the marvellous progress he made as a linguist, we can, only after an effort, believe the well authenticated statement that this man was a plain farmer and stone-mason, with a most meagre education, when, at twenty-three years of age, he presented himself at the Academy in connection with Acadia College, at Wolfville, Nova Scotia. To him, “learning” had never been a task, and he seized upon each opportunity with all the enthusiasm of his buoyant nature. He says:—“My first lesson in Latin was taken the first night of the four weeks I spent in Horton Academy. I heard a fellow-student, the late Wellington Jackson, repeat over and over again: ‘The words _opus_ and _usus_ signifying “need,” require the ablative, as, _Est opus pecunia_, “There is need of money.”’ That rule, and the truth it contained, was so impressed upon my memory, and was such a perfect illustration of my own circumstances that I never forgot it.”

His stay at the Academy was brief, but he had made good use of his opportunities, and from that time on he was, in the fullest sense of the word, a student. He says that in the spring of 1833 he returned to the work of a stone-mason and the study of Latin. In the following year his ability as a student and a Christian teacher was recognized, and responding to the urgent call for such men, he laid down his trowel to be ordained and chosen pastor of the Baptist Church at Parrsboro. From this time on, besides continuing his Latin studies, he began to work on Greek and Hebrew in order that he might be better able to understand and teach the Sacred Scriptures. After two years in the pastorate, he again studied at Acadia for a time, but as Pegasus may boldly deviate from the common track, so we find the young man, Silas Rand, in his literary studies following the light of his own erratic genius, as he laboured on for ten years in the regular work of the ministry. During these years he was pastor successively at Horton, Liverpool, Windsor, and Charlottetown; and in Charlottetown he began his work as the missionary to the Micmacs. It was while pastor at Liverpool, on the 10th of May, 1838, that he was united to the companion of his life, Jane McNutt, whose home was at that place.

The year 1846 may well be remembered as one of great missionary interest in the Maritime Provinces. Christian men and women began to realize that a larger privilege and responsibility was theirs than they before had dreamed of. That year Maritime Presbyterians became represented abroad by John Geddie and Isaac Archibald in the South Sea Islands, and Maritime Baptists sent Mr. and Mrs. Burpee to Burma. During the year Professor Isaac Chipman, of Acadia, suggested to Mr. Rand that, as there were heathen in our own country, he, who had made such rapid progress in learning languages, should learn the Indian language, and give the Gospel to them. As he looks back to that occasion, the Micmac Missionary says: “I took hold of the idea, and determined thenceforth to devote my life to the work of civilizing, educating and Christianizing the semi-savage Indians of the Maritime Provinces.”

During the next two and a half years he laboured incessantly, trying to faithfully discharge his duties as a pastor, yet bending every energy to master the Micmac language. Dr. Rand has been abundantly censured for “wasting his time over a vanishing language.” He did not. Would that more of us might waste our time to such advantage. Here a quotation from the fourteenth annual report of the Mission may be considered: “The language of the Micmacs _must decay_. If they are brought under the influence of instruction they will desire to learn English, and yet we do not observe much progress made even in that. Among themselves they converse in their own language, and every effort to make ourselves understood among them must be in a simple conversational style. They often cannot understand our generally uttered Saxon words, far less our theological phrases. Let the minister of the Gospel or Sabbath-school teacher who can, with but little difficulty, make himself understood to the generality of our white population, endeavor to make even an ordinarily intelligent Indian acquainted with the doctrines of the atonement or substitution of Christ in the room of sinners, and faith in His work, and he will at once see the necessity for diligent efforts to acquire a knowledge of that peculiar language. We repeat, the language may be fast disappearing; but it has been by the exertions of your missionary, reduced to a grammar, and a dictionary of it is in course of construction: will men of science fail to acknowledge their obligation to your missionary’s efforts? To the antiquarian and philologist the cause in which we are engaged has claims. But, above all, it has been made the vehicle of conveying the story of the Cross to a portion of our fallen race.”

Dr. Rand’s work, when studying the language, was made less difficult by securing the assistance of Joe Brooks, an intelligent Frenchman, whose father was a sailor in the French navy, captured by the British during the last war, and brought with other prisoners to Halifax. When liberated, instead of returning to France he settled at Digby; and his son Joseph, led on by a spirit of adventure, went into the forest and made his home among the Micmacs, marrying one of their women. Following the Indian custom, he gave prominence to the meaning of his name, _Ruisseau_, and gave it in English as Brooks. He had become thoroughly “civilized” according to the Micmac standard, and, as he was an intelligent man, proved a great help to the busy minister who was so anxious to learn Micmac that he would ply him with questions by the hour, noting down most carefully every answer, until, instead of learning, he could teach.

Before we go on following Dr. Rand in his life-work, many readers would like to know more about those pages in his Diary which are of so much interest to the linguist and the antiquary. Here let Dr. Rand speak for himself, so that now, as years ago, his personality may explain his position, and disarm all criticism.

“May 6th, 1877.—I do not think I am ambitious of fame, but I think it meet that friends should know that, proposing to translate the Scriptures into the languages of the Indians, I can furnish them with some confidence of my ability in foreign languages and dead languages. But I fear to spend too much time over it. . . . I have received a letter from Jacob Martin stating that his brother Moses will be willing to assist in translating the Scriptures into Mohawk, but would prefer coming down to N. S. I am quite taken with the idea. It would obviate one objection to the work, as I need not then wholly neglect the Micmacs.

“10th. . . . Have studied Mohawk to-day; and corrected Latin hymns and studied Latin versification by way of relaxation.”