THE CHURCH BELL RINGS
Joseph Brant had been a valiant warrior; he had dealt
with the affairs of the Six Nations wisely and well. But
he had never forgotten that one of the first duties of
any ruler is to be, in some sense, a priest unto his
people. From a lad, he seems to have been a devoted
Christian. The alarms of war had drawn his mind for a
period, it is true, to worldly considerations alone, but
now that strife had ceased he became once more the friend
of the missionary and sought to supply the spiritual
needs of the tribes over which his influence was felt.
Like every Indian, the wonderful things which Brant saw
all about him in nature held his mind in a spell. To him
there was One who had created all things, and who was
ever ready and willing to sustain His children. On one
occasion in council Brant spoke of the primitive freedom
of the Indian people, and then exclaimed: 'This country
was given to us by the Great Spirit above; we wish to
enjoy it.' He went on to tell how the Indians had tried
to get peace, how their efforts had failed, and how their
patience was now all gone. Yet there was one covert in
which they might find shelter in time of storm. 'We
therefore throw ourselves,' was his final utterance,
'under the protection of the Great Spirit above, who, we
hope, will order all things for the best.'
While Brant was on his second visit to England, the
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign
Parts asked his help in getting out their printed books
for the Indians. He willingly assented, and soon had a
new edition of the Prayer and Psalm Book in preparation,
He translated also the Gospel of St Mark. The Prayer and
Psalm Book and his translation of the Gospel of St Mark
were issued as one book. The publication of this volume
must have brought a feeling of pride to the breast of
the Mohawk chief. The book was a work of art, well printed
and with some fine engravings. The frontispiece depicted
the inside of a chapel, in which the king and queen were
standing with a bishop on each side of them. The monarch
and his consort were handing sacred books to the Indians,
who were clustered about in an expectant attitude.
A few years later Brant translated into the Mohawk tongue
the Liturgy of the Anglican Church as well as a doctrinal
primer. Copies of these were sent to Harvard University,
and its corporation replied with a cordial vote of thanks
to the War Chief for his gift. Brant also planned to
write a comprehensive history of the Six Nations, but
unfortunately this work seems never to have been commenced.
Hardly had the Mohawks settled at Grand River when they
began to feel that they should have a church building in
which to worship. Funds were gathered, and as early as
1785 they were laying the foundations of a suitable
edifice. This building, which was reared in the depths
of the forest about two miles from the centre of what is
now the city of Brantford, generally went by the name of
'The Old Mohawk Church.' In 1904, on a petition to the
king, it was given the title of 'His Majesty's Chapel of
the Mohawks.' Thus was restored the name of the church
in which the Indians were wont to worship in the Mohawk
valley. With its square tower, quaint slender steeple,
and the graves of bygone generations of red men who have
worshipped in it gathered about its walls, it is a
venerable reminder of the past. The Bible which was first
used in 'The Old Mohawk Church' was a gift from Queen
Anne to the tribesmen in 1712 and was brought to Grand
River from their former home on the Mohawk. The silver
communion plate was part of a service which had also been
presented to them by the same queen before they came to
Canada. It was of burnished silver and bore the Royal
Coat of Arms. The remaining pieces of this set were given
to the Indians who settled in the Bay of Quinte district.
In the year 1786 there was sent to the church a large
and melodious bell. This was a presentation from the
British government, and on it was stamped the arms of
the reigning House of Hanover.
In all the wide region later known as the province of
Upper Canada, as yet no other Protestant sanctuary had
opened its doors for the use of Christian believers. With
the erection of this temple of the Mohawks begins the
history of the Protestant churches in one of the fairest
sections of the Dominion of Canada. It was a sweet and
solemn bell that pealed out its message when service was
held on those Sabbaths in pioneer days. Into the solitudes
it rang, wakening the stillness, echoing to hill-top,
and throbbing down to distant valley. Up and along the
river stole the gladsome strain, the first call to prayer
ever heard in this scarcely broken wilderness. From among
the trees emerged the exiled people of the Long House.
They mingled together; they entered the courts of the
Great Spirit, silent and full of awe. There they listened
to the Gospel story and burst forth into many happy songs
of thanksgiving and of love.
Brant was very desirous of securing a missionary who
would suit the tastes of all. He tried to get a resident
missionary in the person of his friend Davenport Phelps,
but the bishop of Quebec refused Phelps ordination; and
it was not until 1822, when the New England Company took
over the missionary work on the Mohawk reserve, that the
Indians of Grand River had a resident pastor. Brant also
had won from General Haldimand a promise that a school
should be built for the education of the Indian children,
and that a flour-mill should be erected for the grinding
of corn.
Brant was deeply interested also in the native amusements
of the people of the Long House. He seems to have retained
a boyish heart in the later years of his life, and he
saw with pleasure the sports and pastimes of the Indian
youth. Hour after hour he would sit as an honoured
spectator watching them play a hard-fought game of lacrosse
that required fleetness of foot and straightness of limb.
An eye-witness who sat with Brant at one of these games
has told of the excitement which the match aroused. On
this occasion a great company of Senecas had come all
the way from New York state in order to compete for the
mastery with their kinsmen, the Mohawks. The contest
lasted for three days before the Senecas finally won the
valuable stakes which were offered as the prize.
The field which was cleared for the game was fairly
extensive, the goals being placed about five hundred feet
apart. The teams had sixty men a side. When any one
dropped out from either party another was supposed to
take his place, and so the energies of the contestants
did not flag. The netted rackets employed in the game of
lacrosse were three and a half feet in length, straight
at the handle but curved at the other end. The broad
portion used for throwing or carrying the ball was formed
of thongs of deerskin, interwoven and drawn firm and
tight. It was a picturesque sight when the opposing teams
were ready to commence play. The animated warriors were
nude except for a breech-cloth reaching to the knee. When
all was in readiness, an Indian maiden came tripping into
the centre of the field. She was prettily attired after
the custom of her tribe, wore bracelets of silver and a
red tiara decked with eagle feathers. Placing the ball
among the players, she hurried from the field of play.
Two experts from the rival parties then raised the ball
between their rackets and strove to make the first
successful throw. The great game had now begun, and each
time the ball went through a goal it counted one tally.
The score-keepers, who were chosen from the older sachems
of the tribes, were invested with peculiar powers. If
one team was making far less tallies than its opponent,
they could diminish its rival's score (without the players'
knowledge, however) in order that the contest might be
protracted. Games of this vigorous kind have made the
athletes of the Six Nations noted in both Canada and the
United States down to the present day.