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 3 1924 028 897 911 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
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 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
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 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028897911 
 
^t^-^Lu, (iXt/ii^e-i.^42. ^^L^JtM^*-^ 
 
THE HISTORY OF 
 
 GRAND^PRE 
 
 (THIRD EDITION) 
 
 THE HOME OF LONGFELLOW'S "EVANGELINE' 
 
 BY 
 
 Thb Only Descendant of the Exiled People now 
 Living in the Grand-Pri^ of the Acadians, 
 
 JOHN FREDERIC HEREIN, 
 
 Author of "The Marshlands" 
 WOLFVILLE, N.S. 
 
 WILLIAM BRIGGS 
 
 TORONTO 
 
 fMAH 
 
F 
 
 i\G SSA-l A- 
 
 Entered according to Act of the ParlUment of Canada^ in the year 
 
 one thousand nine hundred and seven, by Johh Frederic 
 
 Herein, at the Department of Agriculture. 
 
 9- ft- ^ 
 
 ' ^ ^'|/l ii (' J 
 Y I r ^1 -I .(f HI 1 1 
 
Srdiratrit to 
 
 Mb Mttti\n'B ^Mplf, 
 ©Iff Arabtana. 
 
THE RETURNED ACADIAN. 
 
 Along my ffttber's dykes I roam again, 
 
 Among the willows by the river-side. 
 
 These miles of green I know from hill to tide, 
 And every creek and river's ruddy stain. 
 Neglected long and shunned our dead have lain, 
 
 Here where a people's dearest hope had died. 
 
 Alone of all their children scattered wide, 
 I scan the sad memorials that remain. 
 The dykes wave with the grass, but not for me. 
 
 The oxen stir not while this stranger calls. 
 From these new homes upon the green hill-side. 
 Where speech is strange and this new people free, 
 
 No voice cries out in welcome ; for these halls 
 Give food and shelter where I may not bide. 
 
 F. Herbin. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 I. Introduction — Description - - 7 
 
 II. Acadia— Minas— The Micmac Indians. (1504-1900) 13 
 
 III. Port Royal— Minas Visited. (1604-1710) 21 
 
 IV. Minas Settled — Dyke-building — Churches at Minas 
 
 —Church's Raid. (1671-1705) - 27 
 
 V. Loss of Port Royal by the French — Treaty of 
 Utrecht — Names of Inhabitants of Minas, 1714 — 
 Description of Grand-Pre, 1720 — ■ Governors 
 Vetch, Nicholson, Caulfield, Doucette, Philipps, 
 Armstrong, Philipps. (1710-1730) - - 37 
 
 VI. French Neutrals — Armstrong — Mascarene. (1730- 
 
 1747) - , . . 59^ 
 
 VII. Noble at Grand-Pre — March of Coulon — Attack at 
 Grand-Pre — Capitulation of the English — Re- 
 taking of Grand-Pre. (1747-1748) - 64 
 
 VIII. Halifax Pounded — Cornwallis— Hopson — Lawrence 
 
 (1749-1755) - 78 
 
 IX. Minas before the Deportation (1755) 96 
 
ri CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAFIEE f*** 
 
 X. Winslow at Grand-Pr^ — Proclamation Issued — 
 First Embarkation — Second Embarkation — Final 
 Embarkation. (1755) - - - 105 
 
 XI. The Acadians in Exile— The Return. (1755-1766) 126 
 
 XII. The English Settler's at Minas - 148 
 
 XIII. The Origin of " Evangeline " - - 155 
 
 XIV. Geology of Minas — The Tides — Minerals of Minas 
 
 — Geological Structure - - 163 
 
 Guide Leaf - 170 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 The Author - Frontispiece. 
 
 Well and Willows - - - - 12 
 
 Evangeline {From the painting by Thos. Faed) - 22 
 
 Cape Blomidon ... . - - 32 
 
 Grand-Pr^ VUlage - 66 
 
 Plan of Winslow's Camp - - - - 104 
 
 Grand-Pr6 Meadows - - 138 
 
 G^spereau Landing — Scene of Embarkation - 154 
 
 Gaspereau Valley, N.S. 160 
 
GRAND-PRE 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 Introduction — ^Description. 
 
 Geand-Pre, Acadia, Minas, and Evangeline, are 
 names which, in their broadest significance, repre- 
 sent many interesting facts in the history of Nova 
 Scotia, yet the thought suggested is the banish- 
 ment of a race of people from the country they 
 had inhabited for nearly one hundred and fifty 
 years. A poet, on the one hand, has woven into 
 undying verse the story of that closing scene. A 
 soldier, on the other hand, has put on record in a 
 journal the facts and details that make up the last 
 days of the Acadian occupation of Grand-Pre. One 
 is a poetic creation based upon these facts of history. 
 The other is the journal of a commander who had an 
 unpleasant duty to perform. But it is left to the imag- 
 ination to complete the picture, without the aid of poet 
 or historian, of the grief and misery which became the 
 lot of this banished and wandering people. In this vol- 
 ume are gathered together those facts and fragments of 
 history which relate to the Acadian people of Grand- 
 Pre. 
 
 Longfellow's beautiful poem, the story of Evange- 
 line in the constancy of her love, created out of the 
 
 7 
 
8 GRAND-PRi. 
 
 larger chapter of a people's history, has made hallowed 
 ground of Grand-Pre. Yet, apart from the beauty of 
 the poem, and the romantic glamour it throws 
 over the land of Evangeline, the pages of Aca- 
 dian story make unique and , strange facts of his- 
 tory. Many of its chapters are both thrilling 
 and picturesque, and not a few will be found 
 deeply pathetic. The struggle fojc.supremasy between 
 the greatest of the Latin and the Teutonic races, whose 
 national rivalry and antipathy so often made Europe 
 a battlefield, also caused England and France to con- 
 tinue their strife and perpetuate their hatred in the 
 forests of the New World. This forms the background 
 of the picture. Against this we may trace the growth 
 of. Acadia from its first settlement in 1605 through one 
 hundred and fifty years to the deportation in 1755, 
 when occurred the closing scene at Grand-Pre, when 
 the Acadians were taken from their homes, their 
 lands left desolate, and their habitations and build- 
 ings burned to make it impossible for them to 
 return. The mighty tides of Fundy completed the 
 work of man's destruction by breaking down the neglec- 
 ted dykes and letting in the waters to flow over the 
 fields where their last labors had been to harvest their 
 grain and to store the fruitage of their whole summer's 
 toil. 
 
 The poem " Evangeline " is a remarkably correct page 
 of history. Since its appearance in 1847, because the 
 odium of the act of the expulsion seemed to rest with 
 the English Government, a great deal has been written 
 in attempt to show that the Acadians were, in them- 
 selves, largely to blame for the fate that befell them^ 
 
GRAND-PRi. 9 
 
 and that their removal from the country was a 
 political necessity. Had all the facts been known, 
 much of it would not have been written. Hali- 
 burton, in 1839, only seventy-four years after the 
 French were taken away, wrote a history of 
 Nova Scotia. At that time men were alive who 
 had lived through the scenes of the expulsion. 
 Eichard, in 1895, published "Acadia: Missing Links 
 of a Lost Chapter in American History," with the aid 
 of everything that could throw light on the subject. 
 To-day Acadian history is practically reconstructed; 
 and only within a few years has it been possible to give 
 all the facts in regard to that much-mooted question. 
 The Expulsion of the Acadians. Becords were lost or 
 destroyed; facts favorable to the people were made 
 to appear against them ; and that .evidence was sought 
 which would condemn the people forever. Between 
 Haliburton and Eichard is a host of writers whose 
 efforts have tended to perpetuate the error that has 
 so darkened the memory of an unfortunate people. 
 
 The portion of Acadia about Grand-Pre iirst occu- 
 pied by the Acadians, known in earlier history as Mines 
 or Minas, is noted both for the richness of its soil and 
 the loveliness of its farms and orchards. It is also 
 remarkable for its geological formation, having been 
 visited by eminent geologists, while specimens of its 
 curious mineral crystallizations enrich the collections 
 of many colleges and museums. Longfellow's glowing 
 description of its features of varying beauty does not 
 usually disappoint the stranger who comes to Grand-Pre 
 with the lines of the poem still fresh in his memory. 
 Wolfville, only three miles away, is the centre about 
 
10 GRAND-PRlt. 
 
 which cluster the points of beauty, and from which 
 radiate the lines of road which communicate with them. 
 Directly in front lies the blue stretch of Minas Basin. 
 The distant purple hills of Cumberland are cut 
 off and relieved on the west by the bold and 
 clearly defined shape of Cape Blomidon. Numerous 
 large and beautiful streams empty their waters 
 into the Basin, which in turn flows into the Bay 
 of Fundy. Cape Blomidon terminates the range 
 of mountains which lies on the north side of the 
 Annapolis Valley. The eastern extremity of this valley 
 is the Canard and Habitant of the Acadians, now 
 named Cornwallis, and the broad fields of the Grand- 
 Pre. These are seen to best advantage from Look-Off, 
 a point on the North Mountain about five hundred 
 feet above the level- of the plain. This overlooks a 
 varied and extended scene of great beauty. Look-Off 
 is about twelve miles from Wolfville, and the road 
 thither lies through the finest of the orchard country, 
 and over marshes of wonderful fertility and richness. 
 When the traveller reaches Wolfville his feet are on 
 Acadian ground. The town is set in the midst of scenic 
 and historic richness of varying aspect ; and combining 
 with meadow, marsh, forest, green slope, orchard and 
 mountain are the phenomenal tides of the famous 
 Fundy. It occupies the site of an Acadian village, 
 and has become the most important town in that 
 part of "Minas, overlooking the waters of the Basin, 
 re-named Horton after the deportation. In its old 
 cemetery may be read the names of some of the early 
 settlers from New England, one stone dating 1774. 
 Many graves antedate this. On many stones may be 
 
GRAND-PR^. 11 
 
 read the early life of tMs region in the names they 
 bear of those first families whose fortunes were cast 
 here and who died m the land of their adoption. 
 
 The memory of the Acadians is kept only by scat- 
 tered willows and apple trees, cellar excavations that 
 have gaped under the sky for a century and a half, and 
 disused dykes which the forces of nature have not as 
 yet laid level with the earth from whence they were 
 taken. Not a letter in the whole of Minas tells the 
 name of an Acadian. 
 
 Beyond the ridge south of Wolfville lies the famous 
 valley of the Gaspereau. The river flowing through 
 it empties into the Basin east of Grand-Pre. The salt 
 tides make their way up this river for several mUes. 
 Half a mile from the broad outlet is the historic land- 
 ing-place where the Acadians were taken into boats and 
 borne to the transports anchored in the channel. 
 
 "West and east from the river lie the wonderful marsh- 
 lands, those salt plaius which drew the Acadians to 
 the shores of Minas Basin, and which they reclaimed 
 from the sea through years of arduous toil. Follow- 
 ing all the rivers where the marshes lay they built their 
 homes on the adjoining uplands, and became a numer- 
 ous people. It was at Grand-Pre they were finally com- 
 pelled to gather for removal, that other people might 
 be induced to make their homes on the Acadian lands 
 and enjoy the fruits of their toil and industry. Prom 
 the Gaspereau the transports went out with the tide, 
 and Grand-Pre ceased to know the Acadians as a united 
 people. 
 
 A commemorative structure of a permanent character 
 will before long be erected at Grand-Pre. In the his- 
 
12 GRAND-PRt. 
 
 tory of this part of Acadia it was the most clearly 
 marked and important place in Mraas. Winslow and 
 his soldiers were encamped there in 1755. It was 
 the last to be destroyed when the Acadians were 
 removed. Grand-Pre is the home of Longfellow's 
 " Bvangeliae," and a stone memorial there would be 
 fitting to perpetuate the name of the poet, as well as to 
 mark the spot he has made famous, and to stand among 
 the few landmarks of the departed people which have 
 come down to us from their day. The row of willows 
 they set out alongside the church road must in time fall 
 into decay. The depression in the earth which was 
 once a cellar will be filled up. The well may cease to 
 exist. The site of the Acadian church is less plainly 
 discernible every year. ]^ot a trace remains of the 
 cemetery. Time is obliterating the Acadian roads. 
 Imperishable marble should now mark the place, and 
 tell its history to the many persons who come every year 
 to look upon what remains of the once populous 
 Grand-Pre of the Acadians. A fund is now being 
 raised for the purpose of making of this ground an 
 Acadian and Longfellow Memorial Park. 
 
o 
 
 e 
 < 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Acadia— Mlnas — The Mlcmac Indiana. 
 
 1504-1900. 
 
 As early as the year 1504 the coast waters of Nova 
 Scotia became known to French fishermen and traders 
 of Bretagne and Normandy. During that century sev-> 
 eral attempts were made to colonize the country, but 
 not for a hundred years was a permanent settlement 
 established in Acadia. 
 
 The first mention of the word " Acadie " occurs in 
 a document written in 1603; but it must be inferred 
 that through a century of intercourse with the native 
 Indians, the Micmacs, and because of the increasing 
 importance of the fur trade and the fisheries, the 
 peninsula of Nova Scotia must have had a name to 
 designate it. The frequent use of the word " Cadie " 
 or Acadie, by the Indians led to the adoption of that 
 name for the country inhabited by them. It forms the 
 terminal of several geographical names still in use in 
 the province. Thus we have Shubenacadie, Tv&cadie, 
 Chieabenacafiie, Chibbenacadte, Shwiacadie, Ponom- 
 acadie, Henacadie, Sunacadie, 'Kaiacadie Segoonum- 
 acadie, Moulacadie, Choalacadie, etc. The Malicites of 
 New Brunswick pronounced the word " Quoddy," and 
 it occurs in that form in some of the place-names of 
 that province, VsiBaamiLquoddy, Noodiquoddy, etc. 
 
 13 
 
14 GRAND-PRi. 
 
 Kaddy or Cadie is the equivalent of region, field, 
 ground, land, or place, the place of, and when joined 
 to an adjective, or to a noun with the force of an adjec- 
 tive, it denotes that the place referred to is the appro- 
 priate or special place of the object expressed by the 
 noun or noun-adjective. In the Micmac language, 
 adjectives of this kind are formed by suffixing " a " or 
 " wa " to the noun. Thus, Segubbun is a ground-nut ; 
 Segubbuna, of or relating to ground-nuts; and Segub- 
 buna-Kaddy is the place or region of ground-nuts, or 
 the place in which these are to be found in abundance, 
 Shubenaeadie. Segubbuna-Kaddy (Shubenacadie), 
 place of ground nuts ; Soona-Kaddy (Sunacadie), place 
 of cranberries; Kata-Kaddy, eel-ground, etc. 
 
 Acadia, or Acadie, as it was known in its earlier 
 history, formed a part of the French dominion in 
 America called New France. Acadia embraced Nova 
 Scotia, New Brunswick, and a large part of the State 
 of Maine. 
 
 Minas, Manis, Menis, as it has been variously called, 
 was named by the French Les Mines, and referred to 
 the south shore of Minas Basin, from which the name 
 was derived. Mines, later Minas, owes its name to the 
 fact that veins of pure copper had been found at Cape 
 D'Or, called also Cap des Mines. Hence the adoption 
 of the names Minas Basin; Minas, the region; Minas, 
 the French settlement south of Minas Eiver (the Com- 
 wallis Eiver) . In general terms, Minas may be said to 
 include all the shores or land bordering on the Gas- 
 pereau, Cornwallis, Canard, Habitant and Pereau rivers. 
 This includes the present territory of Avonport, Hor- 
 tonville, Grand-Pr6, Gagpereau, Wolfville, Port Wil- 
 
GRAND-PRt. 15 
 
 liams, New Minas, Kentville, Starr's Point, Canard, 
 CornwalUs and Pereau. The French settlement at 
 Piziquid (Windsor) was for a time included in Minas. 
 
 Various points in Acadia had been settled by the 
 French before these beautiful lands sloping to the 
 waters of Minas Basin became the scene of coloniza- 
 tion. Yet report of its wonderful richness, its seclu- 
 sion and beauty, had made Minas known a century 
 before it received a permanent settlement. The Grand- 
 Pre — the great prairie — and the broad sheet of basin 
 receiving into its bosom a hundred streams, fine 
 stretches of forest, the vast acres of marshlands, bold 
 bluffs and undulating hills lay like a garden, the favor- 
 ite haunt of Micmac Indians and the retreat of an 
 occasional pirate or corsair, until the beginning of its 
 history in 1671. 
 
 The aborigines of Acadia were called by the French, 
 Souriquois, and in the 18th and 19th centuries they 
 were known as Micmaca. When the French first came 
 they nimibered about 3,000. The Micmacs came origin- 
 ally from the south-west and took possession of Acadia, 
 driving the Kw6decks, or Iroquois, towards the St. 
 Lawrence, and established the Eestigouche as the north- 
 ern boundary of the Micmac territory. They permitted 
 the Malicites, who were once a portion of the AbMiaki 
 nation, to secure the St. John without opposition, 
 reserving a village site at the mouth of the river. The 
 Micmacs were of the Algonquin family of Indians. 
 
 When the French came to Acadia they found that the 
 Indians had a name for every sea, basin, lake, river, 
 brook, headland and hill in the country. It was the 
 home of the Micmacs and they were familiar with every 
 
16 GRAND-PR^. 
 
 part of it. Their language is beautiful and poetic. The 
 oldest names we have are theirs. We know nothing of 
 the origin of the word " Mic-mac." In time the French 
 gave beautiful and suggestive names to many parts of 
 the country. Many of these have been changed to 
 English names. 
 
 In Micmac tradition, Glooscap is the Great Spirit. 
 He once lived in Nova Scotia, but they do not know 
 where he now is. He was like other men in his way 
 of living; but he never died, never was sick, and never 
 grew old. He lived in a large wigwam. Blomidon 
 bears his name, in Micmac, Olooscap-week (Glooscap's 
 home). Minas Basin was his beaver pond. The dam 
 •w&s at Cape Split, the extremity of North Mountain. 
 This he cut open, leaving a passage way for the tides. 
 Spencer's Island was his kettle, made of a stone. Two 
 rocks near by were his dogs. All these places have 
 Indian names expressive of their connection with the 
 legend. When the white man came, Glooscap was dis- 
 pleased with their treachery, and turning his kettle over, 
 and changing his dogs to stone, he departed from the 
 country. He is expected to return some day. 
 
 There is evidence to show that there were Micmac 
 villages ia Minas in early times. Game and fish were 
 abundant, and the extensive shores uncovered by the 
 retreating tides supplied great quantities of shell-fish. 
 In several places on the west side of the Basin, at 
 Starr's Point, Canard, Wolfville, Gaspereau, and Long 
 Island, their remains have been found, showing 
 where they had their camping-grounds, landing- 
 places, and trails. Through the use of these places 
 by successive generations of tribes, large tracts 
 
grand-prL 17 
 
 were cleared of wood, and were ready for the 
 Aeadians when they sailed up the Basin on the lookout 
 for suitable places for their homes. At Starr's Point, 
 a few years ago, Indian skeletons were found, seeming 
 to point to the existence of an Indian burying-ground 
 there. Various stone implements and arrow-heads have 
 been found in the same locality. Near that place a 
 Kitchen-Midden, with its heap of large clam-shells, 
 bones of various animals and pieces of copper, hand 
 implements of stone, axes, adzes and arrow-heads of 
 stone, chipped into shape from material obtained at 
 Blomidon, rude pottery in fragments, showing crude 
 attempts at ornamentation — all these have been found 
 buried under several inches of soil. 
 
 These remains show to what degree of civilization 
 the aborigines of this country had attained when the 
 French missionaries began their work among them. 
 The Micmacs were an honest and intelligent race, and 
 always maintained their friendship for the French. 
 Much of our history was influenced by these natives. 
 Harsh and aggressive treatment never secured their 
 friendship. 
 
 Occasional visits of the French to Minas for trade 
 made known the richness of the country; and later, 
 when Port Eoyal had grown too large to furnish the 
 youth with land, these virgin fields became settled. 
 
 Here the rivers were imobstructed by dyke or ford. 
 The red tides rose and fell, flooding the marshes and 
 mixing with the crystal waters of the many mountain 
 streams. Only the coarse salt grass moved in the flow 
 of the sea wihere now stretch out the broad hay meadows 
 of the Basin of Minas. No horses or cattle grazed on 
 2 
 
18 GRAND-PRi. 
 
 the slopes. If o sheep fed in pasture or clearing. No 
 smoke but of Micmac camp or bark wigwam rose in 
 the air. No church spire pointed to heaven and told 
 of the Son of God. Over the whole extent of the 
 waters no ship spoke of man's industry and of a people's 
 commerce. Here waited a rich heritage ready to 
 reward toil and peace, a very haven of refuge. But 
 through what a fire of persecution and woe was it to 
 be brought about! By what tyranny and injustice! 
 Through what pools of blood, over what devastation of 
 homes is the foundation of a nation's greatness laid ! 
 
 The Micmac language has been preserved in a dic- 
 tionary of more than forty thousand words, and a 
 large amount of valuable linguistic material and Mic- 
 mac mythological lore has been gathered together by 
 the late Silas Tertius Band, who had labored among 
 the Micmacs for more than forty years. The Indians 
 of to-day are fast losing their hold upon their ancient 
 customs and manners. They number in all something 
 over three thousand in the provinces at the present time. 
 
 MICMAC NAMES OF PLACES. 
 
 Aeadle F.: Aca&ia E. 
 
 Annapolis River : TavoopsMk, flowing out between rocks. 
 
 Antlgonlsh : Nalegelkooneech, where branches are torn off 
 
 by bears getting beechnuts. 
 Avon River : Pesegitk, Tooenueook, flowing square into 
 
 the sea. 
 Benacadle : Bunna-kaddy, place of bringing forth (moose 
 
 resort In calving season). 
 Blomldon: Globscap-week, GlooScap's home, Owkogegeschk. 
 Boot Island : Caydy-iunny-gek, clam diggings. 
 Canard : Apeheechkumoochwaakade, duckland. 
 Canso : Gansoke, facing the frowning cliff. 
 Cape Breton : Oonamaagik. 
 Cascumpec : Cascumpec, flowing through sand. 
 
GRAND-PRi. 19 
 
 Charlottetown Harbor : Brooksake. 
 
 Chedabucto : Sedabooktook, running far back. 
 
 Chignecto : Sigunikt, a foot cloth. 
 
 Chlverie : Wohoek, white water. 
 
 Cobequld : Maycobegilk, end of the flowing water, the 
 bore. 
 
 CornwalUs River : Chijikwtook, narrow river. 
 
 Cumberland : Cwes-o-mally-geek, hardwood ridge. 
 
 Economy : Kenomee, sandy polno. 
 
 Gaspereau Lake: Pasedoock, small islands with shrubbery. 
 
 Gaspereau River : Magepskegichk, tumbling over large 
 rocks. 
 
 Gaspereau, or Alewlfe River : Segoonumakaddy. 
 
 Halifax : Chebookt, chief harbor. 
 
 Hantsport : Kagagwek, place of dead flsh. 
 
 Herring Point : Wospooijiktook, to be among the seals. 
 
 Herring Cove : Moolipchugich, a gorge. 
 
 Isle of Haut : Maskoositkik, an Indian potato. 
 
 Katakaddy, eel-ground. 
 
 La Have River : Pijenooiskak, having long points. 
 
 Long Island : Mesadik, extending far out. 
 
 Memramcook : Amlamkook, variegated. 
 
 Micmac : Migamack. 
 
 Minudie : Menoody, a bay. 
 
 Mud Bridge (Wolfville) : Mtaban. 
 
 Newfoundland : Vptumcook, the mainland. 
 
 Nictau : Nictahk, forks. 
 
 Noodiguoddy, place of seals, or place of seal-hunting. 
 
 Noosaboon : Noosdbon, the river. 
 
 Nova Scotia : Megumaage, Micmac land. 
 
 Oak Point : Upkwaweegan, a house covered with spruce 
 bark. 
 
 Parrsboro' : Owwokun, a crossing-over place. 
 
 Partridge Island : Putowecha, Munegoo. 
 
 Passamaquoddy : Pestumooguoddy, Pollock-ground. 
 
 Peticodiac : Pelkoothweak, bends in a bow. 
 
 Penobscot : Banoopskep, opening out through the rocks. 
 
 Pictou : Piktook. 
 
 Place of Eagles : Kitpooakaddy. 
 
 Pockwock Lake : Paakwaak, stop here, you cannot go 
 farther. 
 
 Ponhook Lake : Bahnook, first lake In the chain. 
 
 Prince Edward Island : Eppayguit, anchored on the wave. 
 
 Quebec : Kehec, the narrows. 
 
 Quaco : Outwahgahgek, the home of the sea cow. 
 
 River John : Cajbooginek, winding through the wilder- 
 ness. 
 
20 GRAND-PRi. 
 
 Shubenacadle : Seguhunakadie, place where the Segubun 
 
 or Mlcmac potato grows. 
 St. John : Menagwes, where they collect dead seals. 
 St. John River : OlastooTc, beautiful river. 
 St. Mary's Bay : 'Wagweiik, the end. 
 Starr's Point : Nesoogwitk, lying on the water between 
 
 two points. 
 Sunacadie : SoonaJcaddy, place of cranberries. 
 Tangier River : AJimagopskegeek, tumbling over rocks. 
 Tracadie : Tulukaddy, probably place of residence. 
 White Waters : Wajeechk, a signal. 
 Windsor : Setun. 
 Yarmouth : Keepoogwitk, land's end. 
 
CHAPTEE III. 
 
 Port Royal — ^Minas Visited. 
 
 1604-1710. 
 
 In 1604 Pierre de Guast, Sieur de Monts, a native 
 of Saintonge, a nobleman of the court of Henry IV. 
 of France, came to Acadia to found a colony. He was 
 given the monopoly of the fur trade to reward him for 
 this work. With De Monts were Champlain, Poutrin- 
 eourt and Pontgrave, names well known in connection 
 with the history of New France. 
 
 In 1604 De Monts sailed up the Bay of Fundy on an 
 exploring expedition. He visited the mines of pure 
 copper at Cape D'Or (Golden Cape), also called Cap 
 des Mines. These mines were undoubtedly known to 
 the Indians, for among their remains found on the 
 shores of the Basin, pieces of copper are sometimes met 
 with. 
 
 De Monts sailed into the Basin to Partridge Island, 
 where the captain of one of the ships found a large 
 specimen of amethyst. The stone was broken in two 
 pieces, and De Monts received one of them. On their 
 return to France the specimens were cut and mounted 
 in beautiful settings, and presented to the king and 
 queen. This stone is rarely met with now on the island 
 touched by these hardy explorers, and only in small 
 and poorly colored specimens. The writer has obtained 
 
 21 
 
22 GRAND-PRE. 
 
 fine pieces at Blomidon, which when cut and polished 
 compare well with the hest stone obtainable. 
 
 On the lookout for a suitable place for settlement, 
 De Monts was not favorably impressed with the stern 
 appearance of the rocky cliffs of Blomidon and the 
 north shores. He missed the rich lands but a few miles 
 farther south. He then continued his passage along 
 the north shore of the Bay of Fundy, at that time called 
 Bale Franeaise.* 
 
 With the establishment of Port Eoyal began the 
 friendly relations that continued so long between the 
 native Indians and the French. A profitable trade in 
 beaver and other furs sprung up. 
 
 In the year 1606, Poutrincourt and Champlain, 
 while coasting in a small boat on the north side of the 
 Basin of Minas, found a cross, very old, and entirely 
 covered with moss, and thoroughly rotten. This dis- 
 covery was evidence to prove that the basin had been 
 visited by Christian people, and also leads to the con- 
 clusion that traders must have visited Minas before the 
 settlement of the country. 
 
 The history of La Cadie, or L' Acadia, began with, the 
 founding of Port Eoyal, now Annapolis, in 1605, a 
 grant of that portion of it having been made to Pout- 
 rincourt by De Monts. With the French noblesse were 
 Catholic and Protestant clergymen, laborers and arti- 
 sans. The company spent the winter on an island in 
 the mouth of the Eiver St. Croix, which De Monts chose 
 for his headquarters. After a dreary winter, in which 
 nearly half the party died of scurvy, the survivors 
 returned to Port Eoyal, and the settlement was estab- 
 
 • The word Fundy is derived frgm " fond," the end, op 
 top, of the bay. 
 
FAEDS EVANGELINE. 
 
GRAND-PRi. 23 
 
 lished there. In 1607, the monopoly of the fur trade 
 was taken from De Monts, and the colonists abandoned 
 Acadia. In 1610, another party came out under the 
 leadership of Poutrincourt. Jamestown, in Virginia, 
 settled in 1607, was growing rapidly. Samuel Argall, 
 from that place, destroyed Port Eoyal in 1612, but a 
 few of the French colonists remained in the country 
 among the Indians. 
 
 From this period for ten years there is little mention 
 of Acadia. The fur trade was still carried on, and the 
 fishing industry increased. The French continued in 
 the country, and forts were built on St. John Eiver and 
 at Cape Sable. 
 
 In 1631, James I. gave Acadia to Sir William 
 Alexander, Earl of Stirling, and the country received 
 the name it was ultimately to retain, Kova 
 Scotia.* To aid the enterprise of an annual fishing 
 expedition the Order of Nova Scotia Baronets was 
 established. 
 
 Melanson is the only name traceable to this Scotch 
 period of rule, forming to-day a numerous family. 
 
 The peace of St. Germain-en-Laye, in 1633, gave 
 Nova Scotia to France, when effort was made vsdth 
 
 * Oeigin of the Fibst Coat of Abms of Nova Scotia. — 
 The Order of Baronets of Nova Scotia was established on 
 the principle that they should assist the plantation of the 
 province at their own charges. Charles I., in 1625, con- 
 ferred on each knight a space of land three miles wide and 
 six miles long in New Scotland. The complete number of 
 knights was to be 150. The insignia of the Order to be 
 the arms of Nova Scotia, Argent, " the ancient arms of our 
 said ancient kingdom of Scotland," on a blue cross, com- 
 monly called a saltier azure, to be supported by the uni- 
 corn on the right side, and a savage on the left ; and for 
 the crest, a laurel branch and a thistle proceeding out of 
 an armed hand, and a naked (sword ?) conjoined, witl^ 
 the motto : Munit Tiaec ct altera vincit. 
 
24 GRAND-PRi. 
 
 success to establish colonies in the country. A com- 
 pany was formed having for its commander Isaac de 
 Eazilly, his kinsman, d'Aulaey de Chamisay, and 
 Nicholas Denys de la Eonde. At this time 300 per- 
 sons were brought to Acadia. Chamisay, between 1639 
 and 1649, brought out others; and under Charles 
 Etienne de La Tour, in 1651, others were settled. 
 From these the Acadians of the Maritime Provinces 
 of Canada are descended, numbering over 150,000. La 
 Tour is probably the only name dating from the arrival 
 in 1605 of De Monts and Poutrincourt. Of the 300 
 who came in 1632, there were perhaps twenty families. 
 Others married yoilng women who were brought from 
 France later. 
 
 With de KaziUy came three Capuchin friars, who 
 took charge of the Acadian missions. Eecords of mar- 
 riages, births and deaths were always kept by these 
 spiritual directors, but many have been lost, so that it 
 is not known from what parishes in France the first 
 Acadian families came. The Canadian Archives 
 Department is gathering all historical material in 
 France and England relating to the country and the 
 people, and new facts are frequently coming to light. 
 
 In 1636, dykes began to be used to keep the salt tides 
 of the ocean from flooding the marshes. Agriculture 
 rose in importance as the Acadians brought more and 
 more of this rich land into cultivation, and became 
 skilful in the care of the dyke-protected meadows. In 
 all parts of New France, seigneuries, large tracts of 
 land, had been granted to members and friends of the 
 governing bodj of the country, the Himdred Associates. 
 
GRAND-PRA. 25 
 
 Their engagement was simply to settle the country, to 
 protect the settlers, and to support the missions. 
 
 The rivalry of two seigneurs in Acadia, La Tour and 
 d'Aulney-Chamisay, the one living at the mouth of the 
 St. John Eiver, the other at his fortified trading-post 
 on the Penobscot, resulted in open war, which con- 
 tinued to 1645, when, during the absence of La Tour, 
 d'Aulney captured Fort La Tour. The defence was 
 bravely conducted by Lady La Tour, but without avail, 
 against a superior force ; and the lady was compelled to 
 witness the execution of her courageous followers. It 
 is said she died of grief because of this cruel act. 
 D'Aulney died in 1650, and La Tour became governor, 
 and lieutenant for the king in Acadia, and besides, he 
 married the widow of his late rival. 
 
 In 1654, a force from Boston, under Major Sedge- 
 wick, took Port Eoyal and Fort La Tour, while the 
 question of the boundary between Acadia and New 
 England was in dispute. La Tour at once transferred 
 his allegiance to England. Acadia was restored to 
 France in 1667, but it was 1670 before the representa- 
 tive of Prance took possession. This coimtry now 
 became a part of New Prance, a province of the mother 
 coimtry, and was governed directly from Paris. After 
 all the sacrifice of time and money, the population of 
 Acadia was at this date about 400. Port Eoyal had the 
 most of these. 
 
 It was from this place, in the year 1671, that the 
 few first Acadians removed to Minas, and gave date to 
 the beginning of history at Grand-Pr6. It was but a 
 few decades when this section of the country became 
 the most flourishing in Acadia. 
 
26 GRAND-PRi. 
 
 After the coming of Grandfontaine, the population 
 of the country doubled in sixteen years, and during 
 that time there was a great advance in agriculture. 
 Considerable trade was carried on illegally about the 
 coast by New Englanders. 
 
 In 1689, France and England began a war which 
 was carried on with little intermission till 1713. 
 Acadia was again captured, the fort at Annapolis being 
 unable to withstand attack. In America both sides 
 made use of the Indians, as far as they were able, and 
 their savage nature was aroused to its highest pitch of 
 aggression and cruelty. Acadia was retaken in 1690. 
 In 1710, a garrison of less than three hundred men at 
 Port Eoyal capitulated to a New England force, and 
 Acadia passed out of the hands of the French for the 
 last time. The place was named Annapolis, in honor 
 of the British queen. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Minas Settled — Dyke-building — Churches at Mlnas — 
 Church's Raid. 
 
 1673-1705. 
 
 The chief founder of Minas was a rich inhabitant 
 of Port Eoyal, Pierre Terriau, who probably settled on 
 Habitant Eiver about 1672. Associated with him were 
 Claude and Antoine Landry, and Bene Le Blanc. 
 Terriau had wealth and much wheat, which he had 
 raised at Port Eoyal, and he distributed it among the 
 others without interest. 
 
 Here was the hoped-for retreat. Those at Port 
 Eoyal were under the eye of the Fort, the prey of every 
 evil chance. Minas was without protection, save that 
 of isolation, yet it grew rapidly after the pretensions 
 of La Villiere, in command of Acadia, who claimed 
 Minas, were laid aside three years later. His policy had 
 tended to obstruct settlement. Minas under the 
 Seigneur La Borgne received no assistance from him. 
 Annapolis had at this time a population of 361., The 
 Acadians were mostly descendants of colonists brought 
 out to Nova Scotia between 1633 and 1651. They 
 came from Eochelle, Saintonge, and Poiteau, a limited 
 area on the west of France — a country of marshes. 
 
 The census of 1671 gives us the following names: 
 
 Bourgeois, Gaudet, Kessy, de Foret, H6bert, Babin, 
 Daigle, Blanchard, Aucoin, Dupeux, Terriau, Sarvoie, Cor- 
 
 27 
 
28 GRAND-PRt. 
 
 poron, Martin, Pellerfn, Morin, Brun, Gauterot, Trahan, 
 Cyr, Thlbaudeau, Petitpas, Bourg, Boudreau, Gullbaut, 
 Granger, Landry, Doucet, Girouard, Vincent, Brean, Le 
 Blanc, Poirler, Comeau, Pitre, Belliveau, Cormier, Rim- 
 baut, Dugas, Richard, Melanson, Robichan, Lanone, 
 d'Entremont, de la Tour, Bertrand, de Bellisle, Boudrot, 
 Girouard, Martin, Commeaux. 
 
 In 1671, the agricultural population confined itself 
 more and more to the land. Every immigrant, every 
 disbanded soldier, became a farmer. Thus land became 
 necessary, and as the boys grew up many had to 
 look elsewhere for homes. Sometimes whole families 
 migrated. From this time settlements increased rapidly 
 in different parts of Acadia, on the best available land. 
 
 From 1671 to 1686, the population of Acadia had 
 more than doubled. Minas had now 57 souls, 10 fami- 
 lies, 83 acres tilled, 90 horned cattle, 21 sheep, 67 swine, 
 30 guns. Among the settlers was Pierre Melanson, 
 called La Verdure, aged 54, bom in 1632, and Marie 
 Muis D'Antremon, his second wife, aged 36, bom in 
 1650. Their nine children were from one to twenty 
 years old. Pierre Melanson came from Port Eoyal. 
 His name was afiBxed to the marriage settlement of 
 La Tour and Madame D'Aulney in 1653. In 1654 
 Melanson was Captain Commandant of the king at 
 Port Eoyal, and tutor, as well, to the children of the 
 then dead D'Aulney, proprietor of the country. 
 
 As will be seen later, the surnames of the nine 
 families at Minas increased rapidly. They were Aucoin, 
 De la Boue, La Eoche, Pinet, Terriau, Eivet, Boudrot, 
 Hebert, Landry. Aucoin, Terriau, Boudrot, Hebert 
 and Landry became the most numerous of the names 
 we find on the list of the Acadians at Minas in 1755. 
 
GRAND-PRi. 29 
 
 These settled near the head of the tide on the Canard 
 and Habitant Eivers. Le Blanc was not on the census 
 of 1686, but the name became numerous later on the 
 south side of Minas Eiver (the Cornwallis). The 
 Melansons also were located there, and a village on the 
 Gaspereau had this name. 
 
 In 1686 we find thirty-six new names on the census 
 of that year: 
 
 Le Prince, Brassard, Douaron, Levron, Lort, Arsenaut, 
 Bergeron, Bellefontaine, Tourangeau, Barlllot, Godin dit 
 Chatillon, Benoit, Prgjeau, Baslarache, Fardel, Henry, 
 Gareau, Laperridrre, Michel, Gourdeau, La Bauve, La 
 Pierre dit Laroche, Pinet, Rivet, Miranda, La Barre, 
 Aubin, Mignault, Cochu, Collard, Mercler, LavalUe, 
 Lagosse, Blou, Desorcis, Martel, Dubreuil. 
 
 From 1686 to 1710, seventy-seven new names were 
 added to the Acadians : 
 
 La Basque, Moyse, Olllvier, Parisien, Dubois, Bernard, 
 Thibeau, Rosette, La Breton, Lounais, Lafont, Allard, La 
 Marquis, Emmanuel, Dupuis, Denis, Barnabe, Beaumont, 
 La Malstre, AUain, Cadet, Lessolle, Raymond, Donat, 
 Malllard, Vilatte, Surette, Savary, Dumont, Lavergne, 
 Lalande, Simon Bablneau, Paris, Crosse, Saint-Scene, 
 I'Esperance, Manceau, Pothier, Dambone, Lalibertfi, 
 Laurier, Yvon, Samson, Blondin, Bldeau, Gentll, Gousille, 
 Langlois, Vigneau, dit Maurice, Champagne, ClSmenceau, 
 La Montague, Mouton, Jasmin, Voyer, Toussaint, Boutin, 
 Roy Chauvert, Boucher, Darols, de Saulnlers, Boisseau, 
 Herpin, GuSrin, Lonqu6p6e, Hach6, Lambert, Chlasson, 
 Maisonnat, Carre De Vaux, Ondy, Nuirat Veco, Leger. 
 
 Acadia's history gives an account of disputes and 
 attacks everywhere else, but for some years Minas is 
 seldom mentioned. It grew quietly in retreat. Though 
 
30 GRAND-PRi. 
 
 history is silent regarding it, we may infer the ambi- 
 tions that actuated the habitants. The great results 
 disclosed later, when base motive was not lacking to 
 treat them as enemies, can be ascribed to those quiet 
 days of thrift and industry that made the small nation 
 of Acadian peasantry a prosperous and contented peo- 
 ple. From 1670 to 1710 Port Royal was besieged five 
 times. Minas was visited and made to suffer but once. 
 Reports of the rich extent of the marshes attracted 
 many to its borders. Thousands of acres awaited the 
 building of dykes to make their owners rich. 
 
 At various times pirates and privateers had appeared 
 near the coast of Acadia, and Villebon, in 1699, gover- 
 nor at Port Royal, urged the necessity of maintaining 
 a fortress at that place, with a garrison of 300 to 400 
 men, as a protection against the English and pirates. 
 This would be a means of protecting Minas as well, 
 where corn and cattle were raised. At that time Ville- 
 bon sent four men to a cliff of copper in Minas, where 
 they worked for ten or twelve days, but produced little. 
 A few specimens were sent to Prance. The cost of the 
 work was 47 livres. 
 
 It was Villebon who sent a detachment of his gar- 
 rison to Minas when he heard that the people of that 
 place had said that they would Join the English when 
 they should appear among them. This had effect upon 
 the Acadians, for they sent a working party to assist 
 in building the fort. La Verdure was chief man at 
 Minas to transmit all orders from the governors, and 
 to have them executed. He was continued in the office. 
 
 It must be understood that the first attempts made 
 by the Acadians at dyke-building were eommensur- 
 
GRAND-PRlt. 31 
 
 ate with their small niimbera. Dykes were thrown 
 up to enclose small areas of marsh, alongside the 
 upland, often from point to point of land. As the 
 population grew larger these small dykes increased, 
 until the people were of sufficient number to run a dyke 
 across the river from shore to shore. This required 
 united effort and great skill, especially in putting down 
 a sluice in the bed of the river channel, to let out the 
 fresh water from within, and to keep out the salt water 
 of the rapid tides. 
 
 That part of the dyke with a sluice is called an. 
 arboiteau; aboiteau, abateau. In fact, there are more 
 than twenty words, with slight difference in spelling, 
 to represent it. A not infrequent pronunciation of the 
 word is "bato." A great deal has been written, and 
 many opinions given, more or less different, to explain 
 the origin of the word. The word is doubtless of French 
 origin : 
 
 Une boite d'eau, a water box, abateau. 
 
 Aboyer, to keep at bay, aboideau. 
 
 Abot, a branch of a tree fastened to a horse's foot. 
 Aboter, a hoppled animal, hence aboiteau, a water-clog. 
 
 Abat, a barrier, or defence, abateau. 
 
 Abattre, to beat off, or back, abateau. 
 
 Aboideau, "I'abbe d'eau," seems to be the correct 
 word, and the best form of it; abee, a French word, 
 meaning a dam, d'eau, water. 
 
 The first account we have of a dyke and sluice is in 
 " Voyage du Sieur de Dierville en Acadie, ou Nouvelle 
 France," in the year 1699, published in 1708. The 
 reference is as follows : 
 
 "It is necessary, in order to raise grains, to drain, 
 
32 GRAND-PRt. 
 
 the marshes, which the sea at high tide overflows with 
 its waters; and which they (the Acadians) call the low- 
 lands. Those lands are good enough; but what labor 
 does it require to put them in condition for cultivation ? 
 It is not easy to stay the course of the sea; the 
 Acadians, nevertheless, accomplish the task by means of 
 strong dykes, which they call ahoteauxj and this is how 
 they make them: They set up five or six rows of large 
 trees, quite entire, at the places by which the sea enters 
 the marshes, and between the rows they lay other trees 
 lengthwise, one upon another, and they fill all the 
 empty spaces so well with soft clay, well packed, that 
 the water can no longer pass through. They fit in the 
 middle of these works a flood-gate (un esseau) in such 
 a manner that it allows, at low tide, the marsh-water to 
 flow out by its own pressure, and prevents the water of 
 the sea from entering." 
 
 The Acadians performed a great work in building the 
 dykes. On the Canard River and at Grand-Pre are 
 many traces of their labor. Dykes stretched across the 
 Grand-Pre meadows to Long Island. The greater num- 
 ber of these protecting walls of earth required also the 
 construction of aboUeaux in the bottom of river chan- 
 nels. On the Gaspereau about all the marsh was dyked 
 in. Wolfville, Port Williams, New Minas and Kent- 
 ville had dykes in early times. A very interesting work 
 may be seen on the road to Look-Off. The bridge cross- 
 ing the former channel of Canard Eiver rests on the 
 broken ends of the old French dyke, over where the 
 aboiteau lay. After the expulsion, the dyke was broken 
 by a high tide, and the English built another only a 
 
z; 
 o 
 
 Q 
 
 S 
 o 
 
 hJ 
 m 
 
 H 
 
 < 
 o 
 
GRAND-PrA. 33 
 
 few yards west, till the great work of constiiucting the 
 Wellington dyke was done, nearer to the Basin. 
 
 The District of Minas included the parish of St. 
 Joseph at Canard River, and that of St. Charles at 
 Grand-Pre. The churches were of wood, with towers 
 from which, twice a day, came the sound of L'Angelus. 
 We have an interesting account of a visit to Grand-Pre, 
 or Minas, as it was called, in 1686,, by Bishop Valliers, 
 of Quebec. We learn from him that the inhabitants 
 were young men, well built, and hard working. They 
 had left Port Royal to settle there. They were drain- 
 ing the marshes and building dykes. They were with- 
 out spiritual guidance, and the Bishop stopped a day 
 to minister to them, giving them instruction, hearing 
 confession and giving communion in the morning; and 
 in the afternoon he baptized some children, and settled 
 some differences between them. They had been without 
 religious instruction for some time, and they pleaded 
 for a priest to be given them, promising not only to 
 support him, but to build a church and a parochial 
 house. Where now stand the French willows and the 
 old well so much visited every year, was then known as 
 an island, being surrounded by water at high tides. 
 This strip of land was offered by the owner as a site 
 for the church and house, either the whole or a part of 
 it. Here, eventually, the church and priest's house 
 were built. The burying ground was also near by. The 
 location of these may be seen to-day. This spot was 
 in 1755 used by Colonel Winslow for himself and his 
 regiment when the Acadians were being deported. 
 
 The first missionary at Grand Pre was le pere Claude 
 3 
 
34 GRAND-PR^. 
 
 Mireau, Kecollet, who wrote the first acts in the regis- 
 ters, June 25th, 1694. ' As only part of the parish 
 register remains, there is no complete list of the priests 
 of Minas. The list of missionaries, or cures, of whom 
 we know, is : 
 
 M. de St. Cosme, 1697. 
 
 Bonaventure Masson, Eecollet, 1707-1710. 
 
 Abbe Gaulin, 1711-1717. 
 
 Felix Pain and Justinian Durand, 1717-1738. 
 
 L'Abbe de la Goudalie, 1739-1748. 
 
 L'Abbe Chavreulx, Grand-Pre, and Abbe Daudin, 
 Canard Eiver, removed in 1755. 
 
 Pr'om 1690 to 1710 hostilities scarcely ceased between 
 the Few Englanders and the French. Pillage, sur- 
 prises, and ambushes were the order of the day. All 
 the cruel nature of the Indians was excited to barbarous 
 deeds. The hatred of the two peoples grew to its high- 
 est, and no act seemed too bloody or cruel. 
 
 The Acadians, meanwhile, were being bound by 
 closer ties, as the newer arrivals at Minas married the 
 daughters of the older settlers. Eelationship, religion, 
 and a common nationality bound the whole people in 
 one great family. 
 
 In 1693, Minas promised to become the most popu- 
 lous and flourishing settlement in Acadia. Its people 
 numbered 297, with 360 acres of land under cultiva- 
 tion, 461 horned cattle, 390 sheep, 314 swine. Port 
 Eoyal had lost in population and wealth. In 1701, 
 there were 490 souls; in 1714, 878, in Minas. 
 
 In 1701, the Governor of Acadia passed through the 
 country. He visited Minas and found the people yery 
 comfortable and independent, possessed of a great num- 
 
GRAND-PRA. 35 
 
 ber of cattle, and able to export 700 or 800 hogsheads 
 of wheat yearly, beyond their own consumption. They 
 lived like republicans, acknowledging no royal or judi- 
 cial authority. The Governor afterward had to send 
 Bonaventure, naval commander of the coast, to bring 
 them to terms. They engaged to make a road through 
 the woods to Port Eoyal, a distance of ten leagues, as 
 soon as the harvest was over. Only a trail existed at 
 this time between the two centres. Many Indian trails 
 ran over the peninsula, but the waterways served as the 
 principal means of passing from one part of Acadia to 
 another. Minas Basin received- the waters of many 
 long rivers, navigable for small craft. 
 
 We learn that for the purpose of defence, both from 
 the English and from pirates and privateers, there was 
 a company of militia at Minas. La Verdure, whom we 
 have mentioned, was captain. He was the chief man 
 at Minas; honest, poor, a debtor to the extent of 1,400 
 livres. All governmental addresses were sent to him 
 for execution. The cure had a salary of about $150. 
 
 In 1704, about the end of May, an expedition left 
 Boston to ravage the coast against the French and 
 Indians. About 550 men, including some Indians, 
 embarked in two gimboats, 14 transports, 36 whale- 
 boats and a shallop. The expedition was under the 
 command of Colonel Benjamin Church, a celebrated 
 partizan, who had in 1696 burned and pillaged settle- 
 ments of the French and killed their cattle. He passed 
 up the coast, killing and making prisoners as he went. 
 At Fundy, Church, with the smaller vessels, went to 
 Minas, to attend to the lighter and more congenial 
 work of robbery, leaving the remainder to attack the 
 
36 GRAND-PRi:. 
 
 fort at Port Eoyal, -which, by the way, was not 
 attempted. At Minas, Church caused the dykes to be 
 cut, thus flooding the marshlands and destroying the 
 crops. Euin and desolation followed his route. Hav- 
 ing met with some resistance, he destroyed three popu- 
 lous villages, plundered the inhabitants and killed their 
 cattle. His instructions from Governor Dudley were 
 to burn houses and make what spoils he could. A 
 French writer affirms that but few houses at the 
 heads of the rivers were spared. A better agent 
 ■could not have been chosen. He had been sent 
 in a spirit of retaliation, because the Indians had 
 been attacking the English settlements, instigated, it 
 is said, by the French of Canada. One writer desci-ibes 
 Church as being energetic, impetuous, and bull-headed. 
 He was so fat that when pushing through the woods he 
 kept a stout sergeant by him to hoist him over the 
 fallen trees. He was now sixty-five years old, and must 
 have outgrown the valor that had made him a noted 
 Indian fighter ; for on his visit to Minas he had treated 
 the innocent people there in a despicable manner. Pub- 
 lic opinion in Massachusetts branded him as a coward, 
 though he received the thanks of the Government. 
 
 In 1705, Bonaventure, the Governor, sent four sol- 
 diers to Minas to bring back the king's bark, La 
 Gaillarde, loaded with wheat. He presented to the 
 church there, as a royal gift, an ostensorium, a pyx, a 
 chalice, and complete ornaments for the Eucharist. 
 This was probably to replace what had been taken off 
 by Church in the previous year. It is apparent that 
 only one church had been pillaged. 
 
CHAPTEE V. 
 
 Loss of Port Royal by the French — Treaty of Utrecht — 
 
 Names of Inhabitants of Minas, 1714— Description of 
 
 Grand Prg, 1720 — Governors Vetch, Nicholson, 
 
 Caulfield, Doucette, Philipps, Armstrong, 
 
 Philipps (1710-1730). 
 
 1710-1730. 
 
 On October 10th, 1710, Port Royal STirrendered to 
 the English force under Nicholson, after a gallant fight 
 of nineteen days.' It has never been out of the pos- 
 session of Great Britain since that time. The terms of 
 capitulation referred to Port Eoyal and the territory 
 within three miles of the fort. The people within that 
 radius were allowed two years to pass out of the banlieue 
 into what was yet claimed as French territory, bind- 
 ing themselves to allegiance for that time if they 
 remained. 
 
 The French of Canada never lost hope of regaining 
 Acadia, and the Acadians were more or less in sym- 
 pathy with this ambition, until they learned from bit- 
 ter experience that their own countrymen failed in 
 every way to better their condition. Yet the struggle 
 was continued till 1760, when France lost all the pos- 
 sessions she ever owned in ISTew France. During that 
 time of futile effort to win back what she had lost, the 
 representatives of French rule attempted to maintain 
 their subjects in due obedience. 
 
 37 
 
38 GRAND-PRt. 
 
 In 1710, Col. Vetch* was in command at Port Eoyal 
 as English Governor, supported by 450 soldiers. Minas 
 in a friendly spirit "sent deputies to Annapolis to learn 
 what they might expect under the new government. No 
 answer was then given, but Masearene, an officer of 
 French extraction, who could speak the language of the 
 Acadians, was sent to Grand-Pre to deal directly with 
 the people. This officer was senior in command, and 
 was afterwards acting governor of the province. 
 
 On November 13th, 1710, Masearene arrived before 
 Grand-Pre in the brigantine Betiy. On board this 
 vessel were fifty-nine soldiers, a lieutenant and a sur- 
 geon. A French vessel was also brought along, captured 
 on the passage up the Bay of Fundy. She had furs on 
 board as a present to the governor. 
 
 An Acadian passenger from Minas was at once sent 
 from the ship with ah order from Masearene, which ran : 
 
 " . . Make known by these to all the Inhabitants 
 
 of Minas .... and other places .... that they 
 may as soon as possible assemble at the place which they 
 shall judge most convenient for me to land at, that I shall 
 impart the instructions I have concerning them from His 
 Excellency our Governor. I let them know that they need 
 not take umbrage at my landing with some forces, since 
 they are only designed for my guard and security, and not 
 to commit any act of hostility against the inhabitants as 
 long as they shall do their duty." 
 
 On the 13th, about noon, Masearene landed at Grand- 
 Pre in a flat-bottomed boat with forty-two men and 
 
 * In New England, in 1706, Vetch with others was fined 
 £200 for carrying on unlawful trade with the French. 
 This Act was set aside by the Queen in Council. There 
 was no queen to grant pardon to the Acadians when they 
 traded with thpse of their own languag;e. 
 
GRAND-PRE. 39 
 
 officers. The order addressed to the people had re- 
 assured them as to the peaceful intentions of the sol- 
 diers. The tact of the commanding officer caused about 
 150 of the inhabitants to assemble on the shore to meet 
 him, and he was received with demonstrations of joy. 
 
 Vetch's instructions were that they were to be 
 declared prisoners of war, and their persons and pro- 
 perty were at the disposal of the government. Mas- 
 carene simply told them that his guard would not 
 commit any act of hostility if the Acadians did their 
 duty. 
 
 After landing, the whole party marched to the house 
 selected and given up by the people for the officers' 
 quarters, and the men were lodged in four houses 
 around that occupied by them. A guard was formed 
 with a sergeant and twelve men, and the whole party 
 remained on shore instead of going back every night 
 to the vessel, which had to lie about nine miles off in 
 deep water. The creek they had entered by had the 
 tide only an hour and a half. 
 
 Mascarene refreshed himself, then communicated his 
 instructions to those present. As his order had not 
 reached those persons living at a distance, those present 
 asked that certain ones among them should be chosen 
 to represent the whole people. Mascarene consented to 
 this, and the Acadians selected Peter Melanson and 
 four men formerly captains of their militia, and 
 another man, six in all. To these the instructions were 
 given, as he had received them from Vetch. They were 
 told that their property and persons were at the dis- 
 posal of the government, and that while those under 
 the capitulation had lost almost all they possessed, the 
 
40 GRAND~PR±. 
 
 people of Minas had been out of pity protected from 
 the army. This seemed a fitting introduction for the 
 demand that was now to be made. They were requested 
 to pay six thousand livres,* either in money or in 
 peltry, with a further contribution of twenty pistolesf 
 every month from the date of the surrender of Port 
 Eoyal towards maintaining the governor's table. The 
 payment of this amount gave them the free right to 
 trade with Annapolis, but with no other place, and to 
 pass between the districts. They were to trade with 
 only those who came to them with an order. 
 
 These instructions gave the deputies much concern, 
 and they told Mascarene of the miserable condition of 
 many of the people of Minas because of the action of 
 the previous French Governor. They stated it would 
 be impossible to collect more than half the amount 
 demanded of them, as a third of their people were very 
 poor. They asked that a little time might be given 
 them to obtain half of what was demanded of the 
 people, and to petition the governor to remit the other 
 half; and to prevent the tax from falling upon a few 
 of the richer and more public-spirited persons, they 
 pleaded for power to compel those to pay their share 
 who might otherwise refuse the demand. 
 
 A list of the inhabitants was drawn up, and the 
 amount each person was taxed for. 
 
 Jean Landry, one of the deputies, and the captain 
 of the vessel, took charge of the furs, amounting to 
 sixty pistoles, to carry them to Annapolis. The whole 
 
 * $1,200. 
 tl80. 
 
GRAND-PRE. 41 
 
 proceedings were quietly carried out, no complaint hav- 
 ing been made of the treatment of the soldiers. 
 
 On the 4th, Mascarene marched three mUes to the 
 boats waiting for the party. The Acadians were paid 
 sixteen livres for the lodging of his soldiers, himself 
 and the two officers. 
 
 Form of the authority vested in the deputies: 
 
 " I establish Messrs. Peter Melanson, Alexander Bourg, 
 Anthony Le Blanc, John and Peter Landry, Cra. to be 
 
 receivers of the contributions agreed, on the part of the 
 eight representatives for the share of the inhabitants of 
 Manis, designed for a present to our Governor, to wit, the 
 sum of as also for that part of their share 
 
 towards the twenty pistoles, vizt., the sum and 
 
 grant to them the power of making the inhabitants of 
 Manis contribute proportionably according to eachs capa- 
 city under penalty of the sd. if they refuse of Military 
 execution. The said are to gather the sums in 
 
 peltry, money or other effects, and to transmit them to 
 Annapolis Royal. 
 
 " Done at Manis the 16th of Nov., 1710, O.S. 
 
 " Translation. 
 
 " P. Mascarene." 
 
 Vetch was determined to secure as much tax from 
 the Minas Acadians as lay in his power; but in six 
 months sickness and death had reduced his garrison 
 to one hundred men, and left him powerless to impose 
 his severe demands upon the people. Those at Anna- 
 polis stated that he treated them like negroes, and that 
 they were under great obligations to him for not receiv- 
 ing worse treatment. 
 
 During the next year the fort was in a weak con- 
 dition and in danger of attack. Minas remained in 
 
*2 GRAND-PRt. 
 
 French territory until the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. 
 But meanwhile the fort was blockaded by the French. 
 Abbe Gaulin, parish priest at Minas, tried to organize 
 an expedition to aid the French, and succeeded in get- 
 ting together two hundred men, and entrusted them to 
 Saint Castin, who had been named Lieutenant of the 
 king in Acadia. The enterprise was not carried out. 
 
 Port Eoyal was now Annapolis ; and Acadia, Nova 
 Scotia. The province had a population of about six 
 thousand souls. 
 
 The Treaty of TJthecht gave Acadia, excepting 
 Louisburg, to England. The Acadians had liberty to 
 remove themselves and all their movable effects to any 
 place within a year. Those who were willing to remain 
 might do so as subjects of Great Britain, and should 
 enjoy the free exercise of their religion as far as the 
 laws of that country allowed. They had also the privi- 
 lege of selling their lands and estates in the country if 
 tbey wished to remove. 
 
 The Acadians determined to leave the country rather 
 than take the oath of allegiance, which might at any 
 time compel them to take up arms against their own 
 countrymen. In 1713 they had sent a deputation to 
 Louisburg, but found the soil of Cape Breton of inferior 
 quality, wooded, and without natural meadows. Yet 
 they had determined on leaving. Lands in Prince 
 Edward Island had been offered them. Colonel Vetch, 
 who was in c(tmmand at Annapolis, would not permit 
 them to go, on the pretext that he was only Lieutenant- 
 Governor, and they must wait for the arrival of Gover- 
 nor Nicholson. His coming dates after the year stipu- 
 lated by the treaty had expired. 
 
GRAND-PRE. 43 
 
 The following letter from Felix Pain, missionary, 
 EecoUet, to the Governor of Cape Breton, is to the 
 point : 
 
 "MiNAS, 23rd Septemtier, 1713. 
 " A summary of what the Inhabitants have answered me : 
 
 "'It would be to expose us manifestly to die of hunger, 
 burthened as we are with large families, to quit the 
 dwelling places and clearances from which we derive our 
 usual subsistence, without any other resource, to take 
 rough new lands, from which the standing wood must be 
 removed, without any advance or resistance. One-fourth 
 of our population consists of aged persons, unfit for the 
 labor of breaking up new lands, and who, with great exer- 
 tion, are able to cultivate the cleared land, which supplies 
 subsistence for them and their families. Finally, we shall 
 answer for ourselves and the absent, that we will never 
 take the oath of fidelity to the Queen of Great Britain, to 
 the prejudice of what we owe to our king, to our country 
 and to our religion ; and that if any attempt were made 
 against one or the other of these two articles of fidelity, 
 that is to say, to our king and to our law, that in that 
 case we are ready to quit all, rather than to violate, in 
 the least thing, one of those articles. Besides, we do not 
 yet know in what manner the English will use us. If 
 they burthen us in respect to our religion, or cut up our 
 settlements to divide the land with people of their nations, 
 we will abandon them absolutely. We know further, from 
 the exact visit we have made, that there are no lands on 
 the whole Island of Cape Breton which would be suitable 
 for the maintenance of our families, since there are not 
 meadows sufficient to nourish our cattle, from which we 
 draw our principle subsistence.' " 
 
 Felix Pain gives us definite information as to the 
 Population of Minas in a census dated October 5th, 
 1714. There was a total of 1,290 souls. The families 
 gi^ us fifty-four surnames, viz, ; 
 
44 
 
 GRAND-PRi. 
 
 
 Aucoin, 
 
 Breau, 
 
 Grange, 
 
 Pinet, 
 
 Babet, 
 
 Chauvet, 
 
 Hebert, 
 
 Eembaud, 
 
 Baguette, 
 
 Commeau, 
 
 Jasmin, 
 
 Eichard, 
 
 Braillot, 
 
 Coperon, 
 
 Landry, 
 
 Eieul, 
 
 Benoit, 
 
 D'Aigre, 
 
 Laroche, 
 
 Roy, 
 
 Blanchard, 
 
 D'Arois, 
 
 Leblanc, 
 
 Saunier, 
 
 Bodart, 
 
 Douaron, 
 
 Lejeune, 
 
 Sire, 
 
 Boutin, 
 
 Doucet, 
 
 Leprince, 
 
 Teriau, 
 
 Boucher, 
 
 Dugas, 
 
 Martin, 
 
 Thibadeau, 
 
 Boisseau, 
 
 Dupuis, 
 
 Melanson, 
 
 Toussaint, 
 
 Bourg, 
 
 Forest, 
 
 Michael, 
 
 Trahan, 
 
 Bourq, 
 
 Gautereau, 
 
 Mouton, 
 
 A^incent, 
 
 Boudrot, 
 
 Girouard, 
 
 Perrine, 
 
 Voyer. 
 
 Brasseaux, 
 
 Godet, 
 
 
 
 The following letter will show why Vetch did not 
 
 let the Acadians depart. It was written to the Lords 
 
 of Trade, England: 
 
 " London, Nov. 24th, 1714. 
 " My Lord, — 
 
 " In answer to Your Lordships' Queries, delivered to me 
 by Mr. Secretary Popple, upon the 23rd of this instant, my 
 most humble opinion is as follows : 
 
 " As to the number of the familys of French Inhabi- 
 tants in the countrys of L'Accady and Nova Scotia, by the 
 best account I could get during the space of three years 
 and more I had the honor to command there, they were 
 computed to be about five hundred family's, at the rate of 
 five persons to a family, which makes two thousand five 
 hundred souls. 
 
 " As to the next. How many of them it is supposed will 
 remove ? By the last advices from thence, they had 
 obliged themselves under their hands all to remove save 
 two family's, viz., one Mr. Allen and one Mr. Gourday, 
 both of which had lived iu New England formerly. 
 
GRAND-PRi. 45 
 
 " As to the 3rd Querle, How many family's may be upon 
 Cape Breton ? That I cannot pretend to be so exact in. 
 But according to the best advices, I could learn they are 
 said to be now about five hundred famllys, besides the gar- 
 rison, which I consider consists of 7 companys already. 
 The French King, to encourage them to settle the place, 
 gives them eighteen months' provisions, and assists them 
 with ships and salt, to carry on the Fishery. 
 
 " As_ to the 4th, What may be the consequence of the 
 French moving from Nova Scotia to Cape Breton ? They 
 are evidently these : First, their leaving that country 
 entirely destitute of inhabitants. There being none but 
 French and Indians (excepting the Garrison) settled in 
 those parts ; and as they have intermarried with the 
 Indians, by which, and their being of one Religion, they 
 have a mighty influence upon them ; so it is not to be 
 doubted but they will carry along with them to Cape 
 Breton both the Indians and their trade, which is very 
 considerable. And as the accession of such a number of 
 inhabitants to Cape Breton will make it at once a very 
 populous colony (in which the strength of all the Coun- 
 try consists), so it is to be considered that one hundred 
 of the French, who were born upon that continent and 
 are perfectly known in the woods, can march upon snoe- 
 shoes and understand the use of Birch Canoes, are of 
 more value and service than five times their number of 
 raw men, newly come from Europe. So their skill in the 
 fishery, as well as the cultivating of the soil, must in- 
 evitably make the island, by such an accession of people, 
 and French, at once the most powerful colony the French 
 have in America, and of the greatest danger and damage 
 to all the British Colony's, as well as the universal trade 
 of Great Britain. . . . 
 
 " As to the next question, which relates to the time of 
 the French's removing from Nova Scotia with their effects; 
 I am informed several of them, who have no very great 
 substance, are already removed thither this summer, and 
 that the rest design to do so next summer, as soon as 
 their harvest is over and the grain got in. As to the 
 
46 GRAND-PRt. 
 
 number of the cattle they may carry away (if permitted) 
 and what will be the conseQuences of the same, I have 
 been informed when upon the place, that there may be 
 about five thousand Black Cattle, besides a great number 
 of Sheep and Hoggs, in all that country, the greater part 
 of which, no doubt, they will carry off, if permitted. 
 
 " The consequences are evidently these : First, it will 
 Intirely strip that Colony of the above cattle of all sorts, 
 and reduce it to its primitive state. To replenish' which 
 at the same rate (it now is from New England the nearest 
 Colony to it, which is one hundred and ten leagues) at a 
 moderate computation of freight only for the transporta- 
 tion of such a number of Black Cattle and a proportionate 
 number of Sheep and Hoggs, will cost above forty thousand 
 pounds, besides the long time it will require to stock that 
 country. . . . 
 
 " As to the last Querie that comes under my cognizance, 
 viz., the consequence of allowing the French to sell their 
 lands in those parts : First, as it would entirely disap- 
 point the settlement of that valuable country ; because it 
 is never to be supposed that any person will go to buy 
 land in a new country, when in all His Majesty's planta- 
 tions abroad there is such encouragements, of land gratis, 
 to such as will come and settle in them. 
 
 " Secondly. It would be a breach of the Public faith, 
 contained in Her Majesty's Royal Instructions, when the 
 reduction of the place was undertaken, by which the lands 
 are promised away to the Captors, for their encourage- 
 ment to reduce the same. Nor is there any article in the 
 treaty of peace that entitles the French to any such 
 privileges. Nay, moreover, I am of the opinion that by 
 the treaty the French inhabitants are either allowed to 
 remove, if they designed it, or at least to make a demand 
 of the same, in a year's time after the ratification of the 
 treaty, neither of which was done. Nor would the inhabi- 
 tants have offered to go, had they not been not only im- 
 portuned but threatened by the French officers. In the 
 French king's name, to be treated as rebels if they did 
 
GRAND-PRi. 47 
 
 not remove, which, how far that is consistent with the 
 Treaty, Is, with the foregoing particulars, most humbly 
 submitted to Your Lordships' consummate wisdom by, 
 " May It please Your Lordships, 
 
 " Your Lordships' most humbly devoted Servant, 
 
 " Samuel Vetch." 
 
 Nicholson arrived in Port Royal in July, 1714, 
 and the matter of the departure of the Acadians came 
 up before him. They were waiting, ready to depart 
 OD his permission. He was made to realize very soon 
 what a loss the Province would sustain if the Acadians 
 were permitted to go; and to save time he referred 
 the question again to the Queen, although she had 
 stated that they had the privilege of leaving the couji- 
 try if they so wished. Unfortunately, the Queen died 
 in August of the same year, and the matter was never 
 settled. Delay after delay followed, with pretext and 
 subterfuge, fraud and deception. The people of Minas 
 did not sow their lands in 1715, having enough grain 
 to live on for two years, and so sure were they of 
 departing. They were refused transportation in Eng- 
 lish vessels. French vessels were forbidden to enter 
 Acadian ports. When they built their own vessels they 
 were refused permission to buy rigging at Louisburg or 
 Boston; and finally their vessels were seized. Later 
 they were threatened that if they left the country all 
 their property would be taken from them, and they 
 would be left but a little provision. It is too plainly 
 apparent that the Acadians were not to leave the coun- 
 try with the consent of the governors. From 1713 to 
 1730 every effort was made to compel the Acadians to 
 take the oath of allegiance. The events of these few 
 
48 GRAND-PRt. 
 
 years are the key of the whole Acadian question, over , 
 which there has been so much dispute, and about which 
 so much has been written. The facts have come to light 
 only within a few years; nor has any attempt been 
 made to controvert them. 
 
 It is painful to read of the events which follow. 
 In view of aU the circumstances, the Acadians were 
 remarkably faithful to the government under which 
 they lived. They were kept iu the country that- they 
 might serve their masters. If, at times, they were 
 wrongly influenced by their own countrymen, it was 
 a natural and spontaneous movement on the part of 
 these harassed people, and had everything to excuse 
 it. Their industry and skill made them a part of the 
 country. Their patience was almost beyond belief, in 
 toleration of the harshness, tyranny and fraud practised 
 upon them. Their nature was calm and peaceful. Who 
 will blame them because they looked fondly to the flag 
 of their country and to the home of their religion, since 
 they were always looked upon with suspicion, and 
 treated as slaves and enemies by their petty rulers? 
 
 Caulfield became Governor in 1715. He sent two 
 officers, Peter Capoon and Thomas Button, to Minas, 
 to proclaim King George, and to tender the oath to the 
 Acadians. We have their reply to these officers: 
 
 "We have the honor to signify to you that no, one 
 can be more thankful than we are for the kindness of 
 King George, whom we recognize as the lawful sov- 
 ereign of Great Britain, so graciously shows us, under 
 whose rule it will be for us a real joy to remain, -as 
 he is such a good prince, if we had not since last sum- 
 mer made engagements to return under the rule of the 
 
GRAnD-PRA 49 
 
 King of Prance, having even given our signatures to 
 the officer sent in his name, contrary to which we can- 
 not act until their two Majesties of Prance and England 
 have disposed of us otherwise. However, we bind our- 
 selves with pleasure and gratefulness, while we remain 
 here in Acadia, to do or undertake nothing against His 
 Britannic Majesty King George, of whose proclamation 
 to the Crown we are witnesses, which was made by you, 
 sirs, in presence of the inhabitants of the said places, 
 at Minas, this 12th of March, 1715, we, the under- 
 signed, acting and being authorized by all the inhabit- 
 ants to act, according to the power of attorney which 
 they have given us. — Jacques Le Blanc, Antoine Le 
 Blanc, Charles Babin, Jessemin Philippe Melanson, 
 Claude Landry, Pierre Terriau, Rene Le Blanc, Pierre 
 Eichard, Jacques Le Blanc, Francois Eimbaut, Ger- 
 main Terriau, Jean Le Blanc, Martin Aucoin," etc., etc. 
 
 This shows the determination of the Acadians to 
 depart, though reluctant to do so, as soon as it was 
 possible to go with the consent of the Crown. This 
 was their desire the next year. 
 
 At this time Minas was the only grain plantation, 
 and was supplying the garrison at Annapolis, which 
 was almost destitute and without credit. 
 
 The condition of affairs was changed under the next 
 Governor, Doucette, in 1717. While the French were 
 ready to leave the country, the Indians were friendly; 
 but when it appeared that the Acadians, tired of the 
 delay in the settlement of affairs regarding their leav- 
 ing, or remaining ia, the country, were disposed to 
 remain on terms of peace with the English Government, 
 the Indians began to threaten them. Doucette de- 
 4 
 
50 GRAND-PRi. 
 
 manded of them the oath, which they had refused up 
 to this time because it tied them to the country. They 
 claimed the right to depart with their property. If 
 they were to remain it would be on condition that 
 they were to be protected from the Indians, and their 
 oath was not to compel them to bear arms against their 
 own countrymen. This was the difficulty in the way 
 of a peaceful settlement of the matter. The gov- 
 ernors expected the Acadians to take an unqualified 
 oath of allegiance, and the people never did so. 
 
 The eight deputies appointed every year to represent 
 the two sections of Minas, one on the north, Canard, 
 and the other so often called Minas, were invested with 
 no judicial authority or Judiciary power, though often 
 acting as arbitrators in small cases. Appeals were 
 made to the governor and council. These deputies 
 acted in behalf of the people, published the orders of 
 the governor, and represented the people in petitions 
 and requests. 
 
 On May 9th, 1720, those of the people who became 
 British subjects were offered the free exercise of their 
 religion, and their estates ensured to them and pos- 
 terity, and all their civil rights. In case they could 
 not decide upon their representatives the governor 
 appointed Alexander Bourg, James Le Blanc, Paul 
 Melanson and Peter Brows. 
 
 Official letters and notices were translated into 
 French and given to the people in that language. This 
 was the practice from 1730 to 1755. The alternative 
 offered them was to leave the country without taking 
 any of their goods or cattle, which would be forfeited. 
 The governor, shortly after, in a letter, speaks of the 
 
gramd-PrA. 61 
 
 many proofs of his kindness, and the lenity of his gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 They said in reply that they feared the savages if 
 they took the oath of allegiance, but that they promise 
 to be faithful and do no hostile act against the right of 
 His Majesty while they remain in his dominion. They 
 also explain that they could not leave the country in 
 the year allowed them in the articles of peace, because 
 the privilege granted them to sell their estates was use- 
 less, as there was no one to buy them. It can be seen 
 that it was not desired that they should leave the coun- 
 try, and that every effort was made to compel them to 
 bind themselves with the full power of an oath that in 
 its whole meaning they could not take. The French 
 governors tried to get the people to remove to those 
 places occupied by them, but the inducements were not 
 sufficient for them to leave the rich lands they were now 
 occupying. Nor did the English governors wish to lose 
 their chief source of supplies. They felt more or less 
 independent of all restraint, and the Minas people were 
 more difficult to control than those near the fort at 
 Annapolis. " All orders sent to them, if not suiting 
 to their humors, are scoffed and laughed at, and they 
 put themselves upon the footing of obeying no govern- 
 ment." 
 
 We have the following account and description of 
 Minas, written in 1720: 
 
 "Minas, called by the French Les Mines, has its name 
 from the copper mines which are said to be about it, 
 especially at one of the capes, which divides the Bay of 
 Fundy, and is called Cap Des Mines, or Cape Dorg. This 
 town* lies thirty leagues by sea and about twenty-two by 
 
 • Grand-Prfi. 
 
52 GRAND-PRt. 
 
 land east-north-east from Annapolis Royal, on the same 
 side of the Bay of Fundy. The harbor there, or rather 
 the road. Is very wild and insecure. The vessels trading 
 there, which seldom exceed forty or fifty tons In burthen, 
 take the opportunity of the tide, which commonly rises 
 nine or ten fathoms, and run up the creek (Dead Dyke) 
 to the town (Grand-Pr§), where when the tide leaves 
 them, they lie on a bank of mud, which stretches five or 
 six miles before it reaches low-water mark. This place 
 might be made the granary,' not only of this province, but 
 also of the neighboring governments. There is a flat of 
 meadow (Grand-Pr6 Dyke) which stretches along for near 
 four leagues, part of which is dammed in from the tide, 
 and produces very good wheat and peas. 
 
 " The rest of the meadows might be with some labor 
 dammed in also, and if peopled with industrious inhabi- 
 tants, might be of very great advantage, not only in regard 
 to this Province, but as is mentioned above, for the supply 
 of the neighboring Governments. 
 
 " The houses, which compose a kind of scattering Town, 
 lie on a rising ground along two Cricks, which run betwixt 
 it and the meadow, and make of this last a kind of 
 Peninsula. This place has great store of Cattle and other 
 conveniences of life, and in the road they catch white 
 porpoises — a kind of fish, the blubber of which turned 
 into oil yields a good profit. 
 
 "The Inhabitants of this place and round about it are 
 more numerous than those of the British River (Anna- 
 polis River), besides the number of Indians which often 
 resort here, and as they have never had any force near 
 them to bridle them, are less tractable and subject to 
 command. All the orders sent to them, if not suiting to 
 their humors, are scoffed and laughed at, and they put 
 themselves upon the footing of obeying no government. It 
 will not be an easy matter to oblige thiese Inhabitants to 
 submit to any terms which do not entirely square to their 
 humors unless a good force be landed there, and a Port or 
 redoubt of earth be thrown up, well ditched, friezed and 
 palllsaded, till a more durable be built. This redoubt 
 
grand-prA. 53 
 
 must have four pieces of cannon (sakers) and command 
 the meadow, which is their treasure. The force sent for 
 that purpose must be three or four hundred men, the 
 reason of which will appear when it is considered when 
 the wildness of the harbor will not make it safe for any 
 Ship of force to remain there to give countenance to such 
 an undertaking, and even if she could anchor safely it 
 must be at the distance of twelve miles from the place 
 where the said redoubt is to be built, and that any other 
 vessels which must be employed to carry the troops and 
 workmen must lie ashore dry sixteen hours, at least, of 
 the twenty-four, and may be liable to be burned, and 
 thereby out off the retreat of those employed in this work, 
 unless they are able to defend themselves and to make 
 head against the inhabitants and Indians, who will never 
 suffer it to go on if not kept in awe by a sufficient force. 
 The redoubt should be capable to receiving a hundred and 
 fifty men, which will be enough to curb the Inhabitants 
 till they grow more loyal, or better be put in their stead." 
 
 In 1739, General Phillips took the reins of power at 
 Annapolis. He at once issued a proclamation to the 
 Acadians declaring they must take the oath without 
 reserve, or leave the country within three months. At 
 the same time he prohibited them from selling, dis- 
 posing of, or taking away any of their effects. He 
 believed that this order would bring about the desired 
 result, that of binding the Acadians to the country by 
 means of the oath. They refused to comply, however, 
 as they had always done, stating that the Indians were 
 threatening them with revenge if they were omitted 
 from the reservation. They were willing to retire from 
 the country, and asked that they might wait till the 
 seed they had put in should mature, as they now had 
 very little to guBt^ifl their families. They asked per- 
 
54 GRAND-PR£. 
 
 mission to carry it away with them in vehicles they had 
 or they would make. Philipps interpreted the clause 
 of the treaty that gave them the right to carry away 
 their movable effects, cattle, etc., to mean simply to sell 
 or dispose of them. They faced the difficulty, and set 
 about preparing to depart by the only way left, without 
 sacrificing everything, and that was by land. To do 
 this a road was necessary; so they began to make one 
 from Minas to Annapolis. Very soon the Governor 
 issued the following proclamation: 
 
 " I do further forbid any person to quit their inhabita- 
 tions clandestinely and without my leave." A special 
 order was sent to Minas, " Not to cut any such road with- 
 out having His Excellency's leave in writing." The reason 
 assigned for this further obstruction of the Acadlans was 
 that they had design to molest Annapolis, or to drive off 
 their cattle and effects to settle at Beaubassin, now a 
 fortified position and in possession of the French, to stand 
 in defiance of the Government. Their real purpose was 
 divined, but it was not the intention of the Governor to 
 allow them to leave the country. Philipps speaks of the 
 Acadlans as being ungovernable, headstrong, and directed 
 by bigoted priests. He says further, ' We cannot let them 
 go just now ; their departure would render our neighbors 
 too powerful ; we need them to erect our fortifications, 
 and to provision our forts till the English are powerful 
 enough of themselves to go on, and they must not with- 
 draw before a considerable number of British subjects be 
 settled in their stead. If they withdraw in spite of us a 
 great many fine possessions will become vacant. I believe 
 it will not be diflUcult to draw as many people almost from 
 New England as would supply their room, if It were not 
 robbing a neighboring colony, without gaining much by 
 the exchange ; therefore, I hope there are schemes form- 
 ing at home to settle the country with British subjects in 
 ]the spring, before which time these inhabitants do no^ 
 
GRAND-PRjt. 55 
 
 think of moving, having the benefit of enlargement of 
 time I granted. What is to be apprehended in the re- 
 settling of these farms is disturbance from Indians, who 
 do not like the Acadians going off, and will not want 
 prompting mischief." 
 
 Doucette was again Governor from 1722 to 1725, 
 when he was succeeded by Akmsteong, a man of harsh 
 temper and violent action. The records show that this 
 man was at variance with everybody within his reach, 
 at one time or other, inhabitants, officers, soldiers or 
 priests. 5is arrival caused the departure of some of 
 the French families, and the others were resolved to \ 
 depart. This demanded a change of demeanor, as, with 
 the other governors, he felt how important it was to 
 keep the people in the country. By affirming that the 
 laws of Great Britain did not permit a Roman Catholic 
 to serve in the Army, he succeeded in getting the 
 Acadians of Annapolis to take the oath of ^allegiance. 
 The rest of the Province, about three-fourths of the 
 population, were yet to be brought to terms. Two 
 officers whom he sent to Minas failed to make theiii 
 British subjects. Subsequently Armstrong sent a 
 young officer named Wroth, with ample powers, to deal 
 with the people as the case demanded. 
 
 Copy of the oath, as obtained by Wroth : 
 
 "I do sincerely promise and swear that I will be 
 faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King 
 George the Second, so help me God." 
 
 Articles granted to the inhabitants of Minas: 
 
 "I, Robert Wroth, etc., etc., promise and grant in the 
 pame of the King, etc., etc,, to the inhabitants of Minas, 
 
56 GRAND-PR]^. 
 
 etc., the articles here below that they have requested of 
 me, namely : 
 
 " 1. That they shall he exempt from taking up arms 
 against anyone, so long as they shall be under the rule of 
 the King of England. 
 
 " 2. That they shall be free to withdraw whithersoever 
 they will think fit, and that they shall be discharged from 
 this signed agreement as soon as they shall be outside the 
 dominions of the King of England. 
 
 " 3. That they shall have full and entire liberty to 
 practice their religion and to have Catholic, Apostolic and 
 Roman priests." 
 
 The Governor accused Wroth of making too free use 
 ,of his power, and when the matter came up before the 
 Council, the oath was declared null and void, but the 
 inhabitants were held as being British subjects. 
 
 We have now come to an important chapter in the 
 account of the Acadians. The Lords of Trade in Eng- 
 land were not pleased with the result of Armstrong's 
 dealing with the question of the oath. Philipps was 
 called upon again to act as Governor. Knowing the 
 people he had to deal with, he was well prepared to 
 treat with them. He was well received in the Province, 
 ,and a short time after he arrived at Annapolis, in 
 December of 1739, the people of that place took the 
 oath of allegiance. It was too late in the season to go 
 over the country to visit the other French centres, but 
 [ by April of the following year the inhabitants of Minas 
 \ also had become British subjects. Philipps allowed the 
 restrictive clause by a verbal agreement, which ex- 
 empted the Acadians from bearing arms and fighting 
 against the French and Indians. Philipps realized the 
 impossibility of compelling the people to fight against 
 
grand-prA. 5*1 
 
 their own countrymen ; and to compromise in the diffi- 
 culty, the qualifying clause was not embodied in the 
 copy of the oath. 'No threats or attempts to compel the 
 people were used. Although they had increased greatly 
 in population, they showed themselves ready to yield to 
 proper treatment, so long as their confidence was gained 
 and no harsh measures were adopted. The people drew 
 up a certificate, attested to by their priest, Charles de la 
 Goudalie and the king's receiver, their notary, Alexan- 
 der Bourg, called iellehumeur. This document was 
 addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Paris as 
 a record of the act. 
 
 Philipps was active in the administration of the 
 affairs of Government. He ordered that all quit-rents, 
 homages, and other services formerly paid by the people 
 to their respective seigneurs should be paid to the Eng- 
 lish representatives. Bourg, from the time of his 
 aippointment in December 10th, 1730, was to receive 
 these dues, and to report twice a year. He received 3s. 
 per pistole (about $3.00) collected. 
 
 The road between Minas and Port Eoyal was ordered 
 to be cleared, and every inhabitant was expected to do 
 his share of the work. The people were prohibited from 
 exporting beasts, cattle or any provisions, except from 
 Annapolis, under a penalty of fifty pistoles. This was 
 to prevent scarcity of provisions, as they depended upon 
 the supplies of the Acadians. 
 
 Some of the people were at this time summoned to' 
 Annapolis to answer the charge of having aided the 
 escape of a John Turno from his master at Boston. 
 They were from Grand-Pre. Amand Bujeau, Jean 
 Jjandry, Jean Le Blanc, Peter Allen, as being more 
 
58 GRAND-PRi.. 
 
 directly responsible, were compelled to give security for 
 the return of Turno. 
 
 When Philipps was recalled to England he said of 
 his successor, Armstrong, that he " is turning up every 
 stone, and raking into every kennel, to find some dirt 
 to bespatter me with, in hopes that some may stick." 
 It was such men as these who often made history 
 against the Acadians. They ruled them, made their 
 laws, accused them and condemned them, all too easily, 
 and made the record by whioh they are judged by the 
 opinion of to-day. 
 
CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 French Neutrals — Armstrong — Mascarene. 
 
 1730-1747. 
 
 Feom this date, 1730, the Acadians were known as 
 Fkench Neuteai^s. This was the first real step taken 
 by the people that would have led up to their full 
 allegiance to the British Crown, had the proper 
 methods been followed later in dealing with the people. 
 They were slowly realizing that their only hope of 
 safety lay with England, and in being united with the 
 English colonies, although there was so poor a represen- 
 tation of power in the Province until the founding of 
 Halifax. The show of power, dignity, and often 
 of arrogance, on the part of the Government did 
 not always inspire confidence, when backed only 
 by a half-starved and weak garrison manning a 
 tumble-down fort. The French of Canada, on the 
 other hand, always claimed them; but on several 
 occasions they - refused to obey the French, even 
 when strong influence and harsh threats were brought 
 to bear upon them. , 
 
 The Acadians were not more illiterate than many : 
 isolated sections of New England. They were hard- i 
 working and skilful in their special labors. They knew 
 the value of money, and learned where their trade inter- 
 ests were best. A high moral standard was always 
 characteristic of the people as a whole. The strength 
 
 59 
 
60 GRAND-PRi. 
 
 of their religious, national and domestic attachment 
 cannot be denied. To be left unmolested was the great 
 desire of these simple and honest peasants. Social 
 equality ruled them, and their domestic morals cannot 
 be questioned. 
 
 Now that the vexatious question of the oath was 
 settled, the people of Minas were left in comparative 
 quiet and increased rapidly in strength and wealth. 
 For twenty years they enjoyed a certain measure of 
 comfort and happiness in their increasing prosperity. 
 
 Armstrong became Governor again in 1731, and 
 remained at the head of affairs for nine years. He 
 committed suicide in 1739. Armstrong was of an 
 irritable and jealous disposition, and was seldom at 
 peace even with his own ofBcers and people. Fortun- 
 ately Minas was some distance away from him, and in 
 direct communication with Annapolis only about half 
 the year, the Government being represented by the 
 notary, Alexander Bourg, who was receiver of the rents 
 and revenues of the Crown. In 1733 Armstrong wished 
 to establish a fort at Hinas, but was prevented by the 
 Indians.* At another time he wished to force upon 
 
 * In May, 1732, Armstrong entered into a contract with 
 Rene Le Blanc lor the erection of a granary or magazine, 
 which he intended as a barracks for troops. This aroused 
 the Indians in opposition to the measure, and it was finally 
 dropped. The council had been kept in ignorance of the 
 purpose of the Governor. The order to Le Blanc was : 
 " I hereby order and empower you, Reng Le Blanc, of 
 Menis, to prepare and have in readiness, timber fit for 
 building a granery or magazine for His Majesty's service, 
 of 26 feet, French measure, of width within, and 60 feet 
 In length, and to have them all in readiness to be erected 
 upon my arrival at Menis, or otherways as I shall think 
 proper to direct, and all other necessaries for building the 
 game ; ag aJ§P * thousand pieces of other timbers, of 14- 
 
GRAND~PRt. 61 
 
 the people a priest, Father Isidoi?e, who had been inter- 
 dieted for some offence by the ecclesiastical authorities. 
 He effected his purpose, with the result that the people 
 refused to attend church. Then, to punish them. Arm- ' 
 strong refused them a priest altogether. 
 
 It will be interesting to note the condition of the 
 AcADiANS with regard to their land at the begianing 
 of Mascarene's administration as Lieutenant-Governor. 
 ISTo new grants of land had been made under Philipps 
 or Armstrong, as unappropriated land was granted to 
 Protestants only. Acadian families had grown up, and 
 the population had increased to a great extent. At 
 Minas nearly all the available marsh land had been 
 dyked in. All the farms had been divided and re- 
 divided, as became necessary. Some had been com- ' 
 pelled to remove to other parts of the province. This, 
 state of affairs led more or less to litigations on account 
 of unsettled boundaries, as land became more necessary^; 
 and retarded them in the progress they would other- 
 
 foot long about and about eight or nine Inches diameter, 
 with a sufiBcient quantity of binders proper for the same, 
 and in so doing this shall be your warrant. Given, 
 etc " L. Armstrong." 
 
 As a result of this order Ren6 Le Blanc was insulted 
 and threatened by three Indians from Piziquid, and the 
 inhabitants generally were blamed for this interference. 
 
 In 1735 Armstrong visited Minas to renew the treaty 
 with the Indians, and to tender the oath to those who had 
 not taken it. Committees of the council were held thereon 
 the 17th, 19th, 24th, 26th, 28th of April. The most of the 
 grants had been brought in and examined, and questions 
 of boundaries had been settled. Orders were given for 
 the repair of fences and dykes, and for the repair of the 
 road between Minas and Piziquid. The proceedings con- 
 tinued till the 9th of May. M. de la Goudalie was priest 
 at this time. 
 
62 GRAND-PRi. 
 
 wise have made. It gives us also an idea of the patience 
 with which they tolerated the rigorous rule of their 
 governors. This difficulty was never removed. Masca- 
 rene did much to gain the respect of the French. He 
 was the son of a French Protestant, and had won his 
 way by his own merit to the high position he now held. 
 He possessed qualifications which fitted him well for 
 the trying position he was called upon to fill — cour- 
 teous, humane, dignified, firm, and of strong and noble 
 character. 
 
 > France and England were at war in 1744. France 
 jiwas very desirous of regaining Acadia; and to this end 
 it was believed by the authorities in Canada that the 
 Acadians would at once lend their aid. A new and 
 later generation had' sprung up, and, as subsequent 
 events proved, the English had little to fear from the 
 Acadians, with all the influence and threats they were 
 subjected to. Mascarene was not without doubt as to 
 which way the people might turn. Acadia was invaded 
 four times by the French, and every effort was made to 
 secure the assistance of the habitants, but without avail. 
 This was the order issued by the commander of the first 
 expedition : 
 
 " We order you to deliver up your arms, ammunition 
 . . . and those who contravene these orders shall 
 bo punished and delivered into the hands of the 
 Indians, as we cannot refuse the demands these savages 
 make for all those who will not submit themselves." 
 
 The reply to this was: , 
 
 "We, the inhabitants of Mines, Grand-Pre, Eiver 
 Canard, Piziquid and the surrounding rivers, beg that 
 you will be pleased to consider that while there would 
 
GkAMD-PRi. 63 
 
 be no difficulty, by virtue of the strong force you com- 
 mand, in supplying yourself with the quantity of grain 
 and meat you have ordered, it would be quite impossible 
 for us to furnish the quantity you demand, or even, a 
 smaller, without placing ourselves in great peril. 
 
 " We hope, gentlemen, that you will not plunge both 
 ourselves and families into a state of total loss; and 
 that this consideration will cause you to withdraw your 
 savages and troops from our districts. 
 
 "We live under a mild and tranquil govei-nment, 
 and we have all reason to be faithful to it. We hope, 
 therefore, that you will not separate us from it, and 
 that you will grant us the favor not to plunge us into 
 utter misery. This we hope from your goodness, assur- 
 ing you that we are, with very much respect, 
 
 " Your very humble and obedient servants, 
 
 " Acting for the communities above mentioned, 
 
 " Jacques Le Blanc, 
 
 " PiEREE Le Blanc, 
 
 " Francois Le Blanc, 
 
 " Rene ( X) Granger, his mark, 
 
 " Claude Le Blanc, 
 
 "Jacques Terreau, 
 
 "Antoine Landry, 
 
 "Joseph (X) Granger, his mark, 
 
 " Pierre Eichaed, 
 
 " Eene Le Blanc." 
 
 The expedition being unsuccessful at Annapolis, it 
 was proposed to winter the soldiers at Minas, but the 
 people objected so strongly they were obliged to with- 
 draw. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Noble at Grand-Pr6 — March of Coulon — Attack at Grand- 
 
 Pr6 — Capitulation of the English — Retaking of 
 
 Grand-Pr6. 
 
 1747-1748. 
 
 France was particularly unfortunate in her attempt 
 to retake Acadia. She had lost Louisburg, the great- 
 est fortress in America, and in 1747 she sent a large 
 fleet to recover it, and get possession of Acadia. As 
 was natural, great excitement was caused by the report 
 of these proceedings. In Canada it was believed that 
 the Acadians would assist the undertaking and rise 
 against English rule. There were but two hundred and 
 twenty soldiers at Annapolis, but New England took 
 active measures to protect the territory, and companies 
 of militia were soon drafted and sent to the Province. 
 A detachment of troops was sent from Quebec to co- 
 operate with the French fleet, under the command of 
 Chevalier de Ramesay. He arrived at Chebucto, now 
 Halifax, early in the spring of 1747. The ships not 
 having arrived, he proceeded to Annapolis. Hearing no 
 tidings of the French, he began the long journey back 
 to Quebec by way of Minas, Beaubassin, St. John. 
 Meanwhile part of the fleet arrived at Chebucto, and 
 orders were sent to Ramesay to return, whieli he did, 
 making the tedious march back to Annapolis in Sep- 
 tember. Here he waited in vain for the fleet to appear, 
 
 64 
 
GRAND-PRt. 65 
 
 till, losing hope, he for the second time began the toil- 
 some march to Quebec. Storm and plague had 
 destroyed the largest fleet France had ever sent across 
 the waters. Mascarene at Annapolis had sent to Massa- 
 chusetts for aid. In response to this appeal Shirley, 
 Governor of that State, sent 500 volunteers under the 
 command of Colonel Ahthuk Noble.* This ofl&cer 
 had already seen service as Lieutenant-Colonel of a 
 regiment at the seige of Louisburg, in 1745, and had 
 shown conspicuous bravery in leading an attack. He 
 had been home but a few months when he was called 
 again to go to Nova Scotia. New England felt that 
 it would be a serious menace to its interests to lose the 
 Province. Farming and trading had made a fortune 
 for Colonel Noble. On a considerable area of land on 
 the Kennebec he had a palisaded fort to protect his 
 estate from the savages. 
 
 ♦Arthur Noble and his brothers James and Francis 
 came to Boston In 1720, in one of Captain Robert 
 Temple's vessels. They seem to have formed a part of a 
 Scotch settlement in Ireland, and hailed from BnnisklUen, 
 County Fermanagh. James Noble settled in Boston, was 
 successful in business, married Jane, sister of Colonel Wm. 
 Vaughan, lived on Friend Street, and is buried in the 
 grounds of King's Chapel. 
 
 Arthur Noble went to Maine, and in 1735 was living at 
 Pleasant Cove, Georgetown, at the mouth of the Kennebec 
 River on the land laid out by the Penobscot Company, 
 purchased from Stephen Minot, and adjoining land of 
 Adam Winthrop. He was early a man of local promin- 
 ence ; traded exclusively in furs and hides with his 
 brothers in Boston ; owned a large tannery ; was a Pres- 
 byterian and active in church matters ; sold land, and gave 
 right of way to Rev. Wm. McClenachan for a church, and 
 was early known as Lieut. Noble. , „ . ^ 
 
 He received a commission in the Second Massachusetts 
 Regiment from Governor Shirley. General Samuel Waldo 
 was brigadier. He served with distinction at Louisburg, 
 
66 GRAND-PRt. 
 
 Arriving at Annapolis in the autumn of 1747, the 
 first detachment of men was sent to Minas by water. 
 Severe weather turned them back, however, and in 
 November about one hundred men marched overland, 
 the ground being frozen. These were quartered on the 
 inhabitants. The remainder sailed for the same place 
 in ships with their cannon and munitions of war, and 
 the frame of a blockhouse. Storms, drifting ice, and 
 the strong tides of the Bay of Fundy, made their pas- 
 sage so dangerous and difficult that Noble resolved to 
 finish the journey by land. On the 4th of December 
 the force disembarked at French Cross, or Morden, 
 about forty miles from their destination. Snow cov- 
 ered the ground, and the whole country was a forest. 
 Without paths and without guides, the party crossed 
 the North Mountain and pushed their way across the 
 country towards the road from Annapolis which led 
 them to the French settlements farthest up the Corn- 
 
 his regiment occupying the abandoned Royal or Grand 
 Battery ; and lie was specially designated by General 
 Waldo to lead with picked men one of the perilous night 
 assaults upon the famous Island Battery at the entrance 
 of the harbor. ' 
 
 In 1746, Shirley planned for anothej' expedition to Can- 
 ada. Noble raised a company of 100 men, but the expedi- 
 tion was abandoned. On the "urgent call of Lieut.-Govemor 
 Mascarene at Annapolis for troops, Noble was placed at 
 the head of a regiment Of 470 men, and despatched f6r the 
 Bay <A Fundy. The Rhode Island contiagent was wrecked; 
 the New Hampshire men got astray and returned ; Cap- 
 tain Neddick, with his company from C3ape Neddlck, was 
 wrecked on the island of Mount Desert." 
 
 Colonel Arthur Noble married Sarah Hecklin. There 
 were tw& children: : Sarah, reputed very beautiful, who 
 married Colonel Wm. Litbgow, of Fort Halifax, and 
 Arthur, junior, who married Mary GofEe. Their numerous 
 children married into' the Capon, Devons, and Harrison 
 "families. 
 
GRAND-PRt. 67 
 
 wallis. Their course lay through the populous villages 
 of the Habitant and Canard Eivers, across Minas River 
 and along the south bank between Greenwich and 
 Grand-Pre. Eight days and nights they toiled along 
 the broken country, each man carrying provision for 
 fourteen days. Noble found the village ready to receive 
 him. The ships arrived safe, having gone forward with 
 the stores. Grand-Pre was the principal village of 
 Minas, only one mile and a half from the landing place 
 at the mouth of the Gaspereau and in a commanding 
 position. It overlooked the surrounding country, and 
 was on the road running between Annapolis and Pizi- 
 quid. 
 
 Twenty-four houses had been selected along the high- 
 way in which to quarter the soldiers. The ground was 
 too much frozen to attempt to put up the blockhouse, 
 and it was stored in outbuildings of the place. The 
 vessels, together with their stores, ammunition, five 
 small cannon and the supply of snowshoes, were left at 
 the landing-place for the winter. 
 
 The village and surrounding country was under mili- 
 tary rule, with Noble in command. He did not realize 
 the danger of his position, although he kept scoutiag 
 parties out over the country. The rest of the men were 
 taking their ease, living on the provisions of the vil- 
 lages, and on friendly terms with the inhabitants. The 
 British flag had been hoist&d on the chureh steeple, 
 mu'ch to the horror of the Acadians. 
 
 "Winter had now set in, and the ships were held fast 
 in the ice. Huge masses of brown-colored ice covered 
 all the flats and river banks, and floated up and down 
 with the changing of the tide. Navigation was stopped 
 
 1 
 
68 GRAND-PRi.. 
 
 for the winter, and there was nothing to be done till 
 spring. The nearest of the enemy were at Beaubassin, 
 at the head of Chignecto Bay, on a neck of land con- 
 necting Wova Scotia with New Brunswick. Kamesay 
 controlled the isthmus, having built a fort there. It 
 was Noble's intention, as soon as it was practicable, to 
 march on this point and drive off the French. There 
 was no road by land, and a passage there was impossible 
 by water. The snow lay deep over the country. Two 
 hundred miles of dense forest lay between Noble and 
 Eamesay. Several ice-blocked rivers guarded the way 
 between Grand-Pre and Beaubassin. Noble thought 
 himself absolutely safe from attack, for the difficulties 
 he saw that made his moving on Beaubassin imprac- 
 ticable would also protect him from attack. Yet his 
 scouts were ever on the alert, and guards were made to 
 do duty. Near the centre of the village was a stone 
 building in which Noble had placed the cannon, and to 
 which he attached the main guard previously doing 
 duty at his own quarters. 
 
 Meanwhile word had reached Eamesay of the arrival 
 of the troops at Grand-Pre, and he learned that it was 
 Noble's intention to march against him in the spring. 
 But he was misinformed as to the number of soldiers 
 under Noble. He was told that there were two hun- 
 dred and twenty, which was less than half. Eamesay 
 had already made two arduous but fruitless marches to 
 Annapolis. On the return from the last of these he 
 had severely hurt his knee, and was unable' to march. 
 Calling a council of his officers, he proposed ar bold 
 enterprise, to which they gave eager assent. The pro- 
 posal was to attack the enemy by a rapid march and 
 
GRAND-PrA. 69 
 
 night attack on Grand-Pre. As Eamesay was unable to 
 lead the party, the command fell to the gallant Captain 
 Conlon De Villiers. Immediate preparations were 
 made for the march. Provisions were collected, snow- 
 shoes and sledges prepared, and in a short time the 
 party was ready for the start. There was but one way 
 to reach Grand-Pre, and that was by making the dis- 
 tance through the woods and across the rivers near their 
 head. The snow was over three feet deep, and the long 
 march would afford but little shelter to these hardy war- 
 riors. In four days aU arrangements were complete. 
 Coulon had under his command two hundred and forty 
 Canadians and twenty Indians. Here was the flower 
 of the warlike Canadian nohlesse — Coulon De Villiers, 
 who, seven years later, defeated Washington; Beaujeau, 
 the hero of future fights — a bold and determined war- 
 rior, without the appearance of it; the Chevalier de la 
 Corne, Saint Pierre, Lanaudiere, Saint-ours, Deslig- 
 neris, Courtemanche, Eepentigney, Boishebert, Gaspe, 
 Colombiere, Marin, Lusignan. 
 
 On the 31st of January the company started on its 
 long march. Mile after mile they dragged their snow- 
 sledges along, each with its provisions. There could be 
 no wavering now. Their long winding track was as the 
 trail of a serpent whose instinct led it to its prey. Over 
 hills and through valleys and swamps they moved, till 
 night overtook and compelled them to rest, and slum- 
 ber came to their weary bodies. Through storms of 
 snow and wind, or in the sharp frost of the Acadian 
 forests they marched in the daytime. At night they 
 were often glad to rest in holes scooped out of the soft 
 snow, in such shelter as the forests offered. Many a 
 
70 GRAND-PRi. 
 
 meal they ate, thawing the frozen food in their mouths. 
 Over the mountains and gorges of the Cobequids they 
 tramped. At the head of the Bay they were met by 
 messengers who brought them intelligence as to the 
 exact number of the English at Grand-Pre and what 
 had been done there. This was startling news, but it 
 did not deter them. They were able to procure pro- 
 visions at vUlages they were now passing through, and 
 recruits were added to their ranks. On reaching the 
 Eiver Shubenacadie, near the head of the Basin of 
 Minas, they found it impassable from floating ice. 
 Coulon resolved that the river must be crossed by a 
 small party at this point to guard the road to Grand- 
 Pre, so that intelligence might not be carried to the 
 English of their approach. They were in territory now 
 where the French were more favorable to the English. 
 Boishebert, with ten Canadians, crossed the river in a 
 canoe through the drifting ice, and was in great danger 
 at times. The main body continued up the river for 
 three days before they could cross. Making their way 
 through what is now Hants County, they were joined in 
 a few days by Boishebert; and at last, on the 9th, they 
 reached Piziquid, a large Acadian settlement. 
 
 The greatest caution was now observed, as they were 
 but fifteen miles from Grand-Pre. Having traversed 
 the distance from Beaubassin in safety, there must be 
 no blunder now. Everything was in their hands; and 
 to prevent failure, Coulon placed guards on every road 
 leading to Minas. They rested till noon of the 10th, 
 when they began their march again through a storm of 
 , snow. They moved slowly until they reached the 
 Gaspereau Eiver, almost south of the present village of 
 
GRAND-PRi. 71 
 
 Grand-Pr6. They were divided into ten parties to 
 attack as many houses, which should be selected for the 
 purpose. They were now but a mile and a half from 
 their destination. Half frozen in the storm, they had, 
 to wait an hour for nightfall before they went any \ 
 farther. When it grew dark they approached the vil- 
 lage of Melanson, on the bank of the Gaspereau. Bach^^ 
 of the parties took possession of one of the houses, and 
 in a short time the shivering men were enjoying the 
 warmth of fires made in the great fire-places of the 
 Acadian peasants. Where Coulon, the leader, found 
 shelter a wedding feast was going on. The arrival of 
 these armed men, and the prospect of bloodshed, was a 
 violent interruption to the happy proceedings. Coulon 
 soon obtained all the information he desired as to the 
 location of the English, and in what houses they were 
 lodging. He learned that Noble had divided his men 
 into twenty-four parties, each in its own house. These 
 houses were along the main road centering on Grand- 
 Pre, and scattered over a distance of a mile and a half. 
 Calling his officers together, Coulon arranged the 
 details of the attack. The French were not sirong 
 enough to attack all the houses; hence it was deter- 
 mined to divide the party into ten bands for simul- 
 taneous attack on the principal lodgments of the Eng- 
 lish. The French now numbered three hundred and 
 forty-six men. The principal party, under Coulon him- " 
 self, consisted of about fifty men, and included Beau- 
 jeau, Desligneris, Mereier, Lery and Lusignan, as, his 
 officers. This party was to attack a stone house where 
 the main guard was placed, in a central position in the 
 village. This building was larger than the rest, and 
 
72 GRANh-PRi. 
 
 more strongly defended. The next house to this was 
 occupied by Colonel Noble, his brother, Ensign Noble, 
 and several other officers. This was to be attacked by 
 a smaller division of men commanded by La Come, 
 with Eigauville, Lagney and Villemont. The remain- 
 ing parties were to attack the other houses selected. To 
 make sure of the houses, guides were pressed into ser- 
 vice, but in several cases they did not reach the right 
 houses, and eventually they had to depend on the know- 
 ledge they gained of their positions before the attack. 
 About two o'clock in the morning the whole body 
 was drawn up on the road leading over the hill to 
 Grand-Pre. Everything was ready for the march. It 
 was snowing steadily, as it had done for thirty hours. 
 All the roads were impassable, except on snowshoes. 
 The largest party, under Coul&n, was to attack the 
 stone house, but in the darkness of the night, made still 
 more obscure by the thick-falling snow, they went 
 astray, and about three in the morning they found 
 themselves near a small house, where a guard was 
 posted. The snow deadened every sound, and they 
 were able to approach within a short distance of the 
 building without being observed. The men were dash- 
 ing forward to the attack, and the alarm was given 
 before Coulon discovered that it was not the stone 
 building. It was too late, however, to< retreat, for the 
 English were aroused from their sleep by the sentinel's 
 alarm and the shot that killed him a moment later. 
 Immediately from the house came the report and ilash 
 of muskets, and Coulon fell, severely wounded. The 
 young cadet, Lusignan, was also hit, but he pushed on 
 till a second ball shattered his thigh. This did not 
 
GRAND-PR± 73 
 
 stop their advance, and in a short time they had cap- 
 tured the house, all but three of the defenders falling 
 in the engagement. 
 
 The wounded officers were taken back to Melanson 
 village, where the surgeon had been left. La Corne, 
 who was second in command, had attacked the house 
 where Noble was lodged. Here were Ensign Noble, 
 Captain Howe, Lieutenants Pickering ,and Leehmere, 
 who were ill, and Jones. They were aroused from 
 their beds by the firing, and the French were on them 
 before they could dress. The guard was small, as the 
 main guard had been removed to the stone house, where 
 Noble had intended to take up his quarters. Noble 
 received two musket balls in his body, but continued 
 firing his pistols. The French called to him to sur- 
 render, promising quarter; but he refused, and on the 
 next discharge he was struck in the forehead by a bullet 
 and instantly killed. His brother was also shot, with 
 the two lieutenants, while Captain Howe was wounded 
 and made a prisoner. 
 
 There was sound of firing far and near till daylight. 
 The French had taken several houses, including the 
 buildings in which was the frame of the blockhouse. 
 All the English not made prisoners had crowded into 
 the stone house, which La Corne was blockading. 
 Beaujeau and his party had been called to his assist- 
 ance, and found him firing on the enemy from the 
 house in which Noble had been killed. The English 
 were now commanded by Captain Goldthwait. Some 
 of his men made a sally, but could do nothing in the 
 deep snow. Howe, who was bleeding to death, begged 
 permission of La Come to send for an English surgeon. 
 
74 GRAND-PRt. 
 
 Early in the afternoon a French officer with a flag of 
 truce was sent to the English with a note from Howe, 
 and remained as a hostage while the surgeon dressed 
 the wounds of the Englishman. On the return of the 
 men, the truce was prolonged till the next morning. 
 
 The courtesy of the Erench in the treatment of Howe 
 led up to the surrender of the English. The stone 
 house was crowded to suffocation by three hundred and 
 fifty men. They had five small cannon, but no ammuni- 
 tion except what each carried with him, and that was 
 much reduced by the hours of firing. All their supplies 
 were now in the hands of the French. They had, more- 
 over, but one day's provisions, and little prospect of 
 improving their condition. At the expiration of the 
 truce the English commander and one of his officers, 
 with a white flag, came to the French to propose terms 
 of capitulation. Howe acted as an interpreter, and the 
 terms were soon arranged. The French were victorious 
 in one of the most gallant exploits in French-Canadian 
 history. The English were to march for Annapolis 
 with the honors of war within forty-eight hours. The 
 Indians were to keep the plunder they had taken. The 
 prisoners of the French should remain in their hands. 
 The English sick and wounded should be left at the 
 Canard Eiver till they recovered, protected by a French 
 guard. None of the English should bear arms during 
 the next six months within the districts of Minas or 
 Chignecto. 
 
 The English loss was one hundred killed, one hun- 
 dred and fifteen wounded, and fifty captured. The 
 French loss was seven killed and fifteen wounded. The 
 assailing force numbered three hundred and fifty men, 
 
GRAND-P£i. 75 
 
 while the English had about five hundred and twenty- 
 five men. Eleven of the twelve houses attacked were 
 taken. 
 
 Howe soon recovered from his . wound, and was 
 exchanged for five Canadians some time later. He 
 finally fell a victim to Indian treachery at Beaubassin. 
 Coulon left Minas by the 12th of February. He caused 
 the blockhouse to be destroyed and the cannon made 
 useless. At the foot of the bank alongside the present 
 road leading to the French well and willows, a grave 
 was dug and all the dead buried, except Colonel Noble 
 and his brother. These officers were interred on the 
 right of the road, farther up the hill, on the Laird 
 property, between two large apple trees. To-day noth- 
 ing marks the spot where these brave men were buried. 
 
 Colonel Noble was defeated through a false idea of 
 the security of his position. He had been warned by 
 the Acadians at Minas that the French would attack 
 him. He did not believe that the French could reach 
 him, and made but little preparation for defence. 
 
 The French were now in possession of Minas, a part 
 of Acadia, and De Eamesay at once proclaimed that 
 the Acadians owed submission to France. This left 
 them in a state of perplexity and doubt, so they 
 wrote to Mascarene. Eamesay had written to the 
 Government of Quebec and the Bishop of Quebec 
 •for confirmation of his proclamation. Then he 
 issued a new proclamation in the name of the King of 
 Prance, ordering them to take up arms against 
 the English. All this did not materaially affect 
 the condition of affairs at Minas. Capt. Rous, sent 
 by Shirley of Massachusetts, came with a 24:-gun 
 
76 GRAND-PRi. 
 
 brig, two armed schooners and three hundred men. 
 One hundred and fifty men were landed, and a flag 
 hoisted at the stone house. The force remained four 
 days and then retired. 
 
 In 1748, Captain Charles Morris, of one of the six 
 independent companies raised ia Massachusetts for ser- 
 vice in N^ova Scotia, was in command of a detachment 
 sent to Minas on board a schooner acting as a convoy 
 to a sloop carrying goods which were to be paid the 
 Aeadians for the losses sustained by them during 
 Colonel Noble's stay in Grand-Pre. Lieut.-Colonel 
 Gorham was in charge of another detachment of Ean- 
 gers who went on board of two schooners. They also 
 .acted as a convoy. The Aeadians had furnished pro- 
 visions and other necessaries, and had houses burned 
 and fences destroyed for firewood. They had also given 
 labor. The goods taken to Minas amounted in value 
 to ten thousand pounds, New England currency. 
 Among the deputies who had an important share in 
 the distribution of the goods were Eene Le Blanc and 
 Joseph Dugas. Morris made at this time a chart of 
 Minas Basin, and the villages about it, and prepared a 
 list of the inhabitants. 
 
 In one way and another the Minas Aeadians had met 
 with misfortune and loss. They had been deprived of 
 their boats and vessels so that they might not be used 
 by the French of Canada to transport themselves and 
 ammunition when moving against the English. This 
 gave them great diflBculty and hardship in bringing 
 their supplies of salt, clothiug and other necessaries 
 from Annapolis. They often had to go to that place 
 for a bushel of salt or other common stock, and convey 
 
\ GRAND-PRE. 77 
 
 it the sixty miles between the two places over the 
 extremely bad ways. At one time Captain Donnel, of 
 New England, had permission from Masearene to go to 
 Minas, convoyed by a vessel furnished by the governor, 
 to exchange their grain for goods they much needed. 
 The people owed him considerable debts on account of 
 former purchases. The goods were molasses, salt, sugar, 
 linen, striped calico, cloth, scythes and wood axes. 
 There is a full account of the settlement of the transac- 
 tion, and receipts. These last were signed by the 
 ancients of Minas, Een6 Le Blanc, Jac. Terriau, Fras. 
 Le Blanc, Jos. Dugas, and by the deputies of Minas, 
 Bern. Daigre, Fras. Boudrot, Mich'l Le Blanc, Paul 
 Oquine; and by the deputies of Eiver Canard, Jean 
 Terriau, Oliver Deglass, Jean Granger, Michael Eich- 
 ard. Canard at this time included all the territory 
 north of the Minas Eiver. Piziquid was included in 
 the transactions. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Halifax Founded — Cornwallis — Hopson — Lawrence. 
 
 1749-1755. 
 
 In 1749 there were probably 10,000 Acadians in the 
 Province, living in Annapolis, at Minas, Piziquid, at 
 Cobequid, and at Beaubassin. To anticipate the depor- 
 tation, it may be stated here that there were about 6,000 
 persons removed in 1755, two-thirds of these from 
 Minas and Piziquid. Of the 1,000 who escaped into 
 the woods, many were afterwards taken and sent out 
 of the Peninsula. About 3,000 had made their way 
 into the country to the north. 
 
 During the few years preceding the expulsion, since 
 the Acadians had increased so rapidly in numbers, 
 there was frequent mention of them in government 
 documents. The English Government on numerous 
 occasions urged the necessity of just treatment of 
 the people, recommending such acts as should 
 eventually make the people wholly in sympathy with 
 the local rulers. They were to be assured that no effort 
 would be put forth to remove them from the Province. 
 They were to be left in quiet possession of the property, 
 and to enjoy the free exercise of their religion. During 
 the war the people had been deeply agitated over tlie 
 report that Shirley . Governor of Massachusetts, pro- 
 posed to take some of their land and to intersperse 
 
 78 
 
GRAND-PRi. 79 
 
 Protestants among them, granting certain priviTeges 
 to the Prench who would come over to Protestantism. 
 He had written to England describing a scheme 
 whereby the French Catholics might be made Protest- 
 ants. As may be supposed, this report left them very 
 uneasy. 
 
 In 1749, Halifax was founded and became the seat 
 of Government, with Edward Coenwallis as Gover- 
 nor. Between Halifax and Minas there was only a 
 trail, but in a few days Jean Melanson from Canard, 
 and Claude Le Blanc from Grand-Pre, presented the 
 respects of their people to Cornwallis. They then 
 learned that a proclamation to the Acadians had been 
 drawn up, and they were ordered to make it public in 
 their districts. By this document they were called upon 
 to take the oath without restriction, and to despatch 
 deputies to Halifax within fifteen days with their reso- 
 lution. At the time appointed, deputies from all the 
 French districts, representing Over 10,000 people, 
 appeared before Cornwallis. In all their behavior they 
 were respectful, yet determined to the point of obstin- 
 acy ia their requests. Cornwallis informed them that 
 no exemption would be allowed in taking the oath, and 
 that all the people would have to sweat allegiance by 
 the 26th of October, or forfeit all their rights and pos- 
 sessions in the Province. The deputies again departed 
 to make this known to the people, and returned with the 
 reply in a few weeks. They brought a paper to the 
 Governor, signed by a thousand inhabitants. This 
 referred to the oath they had already taken, and of the 
 privileges they had enjoyed under other governors, and 
 of the reliance they had placed in His Majesty, having 
 
80 GRAND-PRJS. 
 
 rendered service without a wish or attempt to violate 
 the oath. It spoke of the danger they were in from the 
 Indians. They would take the old oath as taken 
 under Philipps. If this were refused them they were 
 resolved to leave the country. 
 
 Cornwallis was in error in his estimate of the 
 Acadians. Finding that they could not be moved as he 
 desired, he became haughty and harsh, and indulged 
 in threats which he did not carry out. " It is only out 
 of pity to your inexperience that we condescend to 
 reason with you, otherwise the question would not be 
 reasoning, but commanding and being obeyed." He 
 then wrote to the Lords of Trade, stated what had 
 transpired, and his purpose to make the Acadians as 
 useful as possible while they stayed. At the same time 
 he placed every obstacle in the way of their leaving the 
 Province. 
 
 The French at this time were building a fort at 
 Beausejour, and every effort was made through Abbe le 
 Loutre, Micmac missionary, to get the Acadians over to 
 the territory that was claimed by the French. The 
 Acadian centres were in a state of agitation and excite- 
 ment. The people were in serious doubt as to what 
 would be the next move taken by ComwaHis. His arbi- 
 trary action and harshness were not conciliating them 
 to English rule. As Cornwallis was too much taken up 
 .with affairs at Halifax to move against Beausejour, the 
 efforts of the French led a number of the Acadians to 
 ^ act against the English, with the Indians. It was now 
 late in the year for a general departure, yet some f ami- 
 lies joined their countrymen. To check any unexpected 
 move; an English force was sent to Minas under Cap^ 
 
GRAND-PR^. 81 
 
 tain Handfield. As it was too late in the season to 
 build barracks they enclosed three houses in a triangu- 
 lar picketing, with half bastions. The situation was 
 low and flat, commanded by a hill, and was so exposed 
 that in the deep snow of winter it was often possible to 
 walk over the palisades. A blockhouse had been taken 
 from Annapolis and erected within the enclosure. This 
 fort became known as Vieux Logis. Handfield had 
 under his command three subalterns and a hundred 
 men. The people assisted the soldiers, and supplied 
 provisions. They also aided the poorer settlers in 
 building their houses in Halifax, and cleared a road to 
 that place from Minas, eighteen feet wide. 
 
 Minas was now under military guard, to which it 
 submitted quietly. I cannot do better than quote from 
 an article by a Canadian writer: 
 
 "For forty years after the Treaty of Utrecht they 
 increased and prospered, and had England treated them 
 from the commencement with fairness, and kept in the 
 Province sufficient force to show them she was not to 
 be trifled with, and there was no prospect of France 
 regaining her old dominions by the sea, they might 
 have been gradually won from their fidelity to the land 
 of their origin, and taught to pay willing allegiance to 
 their new masters, who, imder all circumstances, had 
 treated them with great consideration and at the same 
 time with obvious weakness. Had they been allowed 
 to remain in the country, under the checks of a suffi- 
 cient military force and populous English settlements, 
 the ten thousand Acadian French that occupied the 
 fertile districts of the Province in the middle of the 
 last century would eventually have increased to a very 
 6 
 
82 GRAND-PRA. 
 
 large number, and exercised a most important influence 
 on the social, religious and political conditions of Nova 
 Scotia, even while remaining loyal to England. In 
 other words. Nova Scotia might have been another 
 French Canada." 
 
 In October of this year, three hundred Miemac and 
 St. John Indians, instigated by the French, blockaded 
 the fort at Minas, for the purpose of giving the Acadi- 
 ans an opportunity to leave the coimtry, and take off 
 their cattle and property. Finding the people fixed in 
 their resolve to wait till they should learn from the 
 Governor what was to be done with them, the Indians 
 departed. They had surprised a detachment under 
 Captain Hamilton, consisting of eighteen men, and 
 with these prisoners, and the notary Le Blanc, they left 
 the country. No one had been killed by the engage- 
 ment, although the firing had been kept up for several 
 days. The prisoners were released some time later. 
 
 In 1750, the English had firm control of the French 
 centres of the Province. Another fort had been built 
 at Piziquid, which, with the garrison at Sinas and at 
 Annapolis, protected the Acadians and kept them in 
 touch with Halifax. Cornwallis was still demanding 
 of the Acadians to take the oath, and they never ceased 
 to plead for permission to leave the country with their 
 property. It is needless to dwell on the particulars of 
 the administration of Cornwallis. Cause after cause 
 was assigned why the Acadians should not leave the 
 Province. .. ' , • '^ " 
 
 When HopsON succeeded Cornwallis the Acadians 
 were raising great crops, much more than they required 
 for their own use. The fort, Vieux Logis, had fallen 
 
GRAND-PRt. 83 
 
 into decay, and it was not deemed advisable to repair it. 
 In consequence of this, the garrison was sent to Port 
 Edward, at Piziquid. Hopson, more humane than 
 Cornwallis, saw how difficult it would be to force the 
 people to take the oath, which had been the cause of 
 so much trouble. He knew how valuable the people 
 were to the country. He was able in a short time to 
 make a treaty with the Indians of the. east coast, and 
 would have done much to soften the condition of the 
 Acadians, if ill-health had not compelled him to retire 
 from the position fifteen months after he became Gov- 
 ernor. The Acadians had passed through the period 
 of excitement and agitation caused by the founding of 
 a large English town in the Province. The following 
 order from the Governor gives us a good idea of the 
 condition of affairs at this time. For a time, at least, 
 they were not to be treated like slaves : 
 
 "You are to look upon the Acadians in ttie same light 
 with the rest of His Majesty's subjects, as to the protec- 
 tion of the laws and government, for which reason nothing 
 Is to be taken from them by force, or any price set upon 
 their goods but what they themselves agree to ; and, if at 
 any time they should obstinately refuse to comply with 
 what His Majesty's service may require of them, you are 
 not to redress yourself by military force, or in any unlaw- 
 ful manner, but to lay the case before the Governor and 
 wait his orders thereon. You are to cause the following 
 orders to be stuck up in the most public part of the fort, 
 both in English and French : 
 
 " 1st. The provisions or any other commodities that the 
 Acadians shall bring to the fort to sell, are not to be taken 
 from them at any fixed price, but to be paid for according 
 to a free agreement made between them and the pur- 
 chasers. 
 
84 GRAND-PRt. 
 
 " 2. No officer, non-commissioned officer or soldier sliall 
 presume to insult or otherwise abuse any of the Acadlans, 
 who are upon all occasions to be treated as His Majesty's 
 subjects, and to whom the laws of the country are open, to 
 protect as well as to punish. 
 
 " At the season of laying in fuel for the fort. . . -" 
 
 It is refreshing to read this after the heartless and 
 haughty manner pf the earlier governors. What might 
 not a few years of firm and kindly government have 
 done with these imfortunate people? It was not to be. 
 Hopson sailed for England after his short rule. 
 
 The last, the most famous, the most infamous, of all 
 the governors of Nova Scotia is now before us, who is 
 to iatroduce the last act in the Acadian drama. This is 
 Chaeles Lavteence, the man who will ever be remem- 
 bered for his connection with the deportation of the 
 Acadians. He was a soldier, bold and active, keen and 
 intelligent, but ambitious and unscrupulous to the 
 highest degree. His antecedents were humble, but 
 being endowed with more than ordinary ability, with- 
 out the restraints of a refined or noble nature, he gave 
 way, when opportunity offered for high purpose and 
 manly action, to the baser and more sordid impulses 
 which seem to have ruled his life. He was, moreover, 
 haughty and disdainful in manner. Without real 
 friends, his acts received support from his agents and 
 from those who were unable to resist him. Of low cun- 
 ning, a consummate flatterer of the higher, an oppres- 
 sor of the weak, with false promises and every effort to 
 accomplish his own personal ends, Lawrence has the 
 unenviable distinction of having caused the expatria- 
 tion of the Acadians, and of having done it with great 
 
GRAND-PR&. 85 
 
 cruelty. These facts have come to light only within a 
 few years, through the researches of French writers, 
 Many State documents relating to the administration 
 of Lawrence have been lost, or, as it is now believed, 
 intentionally destroyed. / 
 
 The Acadians had been threatened with various 
 forms of punishment by almost all the governors, and 
 had learned the lesson of humility and patience, all 
 to no purpose — or perhaps to great purpose, when the 
 bitterness of their days was on them in their homeless 
 wanderings. In the light of later facts thrown upon 
 their condition, it is almost beyond belief that a people 
 should be so patient and quietly persevering in their 
 effort to remain upon their lands under all the imposi- 
 tion practised upon them. If individuals acted against 
 the peace of the country, a most cruel persecution fol- 
 lowed of the whole people, thinly disguised under vari- 
 ous pretexts. The treatment accorded the people had 
 become a matter of practice long established. Unfor- 
 tunately for them, they were found too submissive. 
 Their homes were their all, and they bore insult and 
 indignity for forty years in a vain hope that a time 
 would come when they would be finally secure on the 
 lands their fathers had taken from the sea, and made 
 beautiful and rich beyond any other in America. Every 
 act of obedience to governmental order and demand 
 seemed to leave them more at the mercy of men who, 
 from national prejudice or lack of human feeling, 
 preyed upon their weakness, and for many years left 
 them in the power of whim and circumstance. Every 
 argument has been made in our own day to influence 
 opinion against these people, and to excuse or palliate 
 
86 GRAND-PRi. 
 
 the brutalities of men because of their connection with 
 the British Government. 
 
 Lawrence had only been provisional Governor till 
 1746. The scheme of the deportation of the Acadians 
 had been maturing in his mind; but now, with fuller 
 power, his purpose took more definite shape. Many 
 documents and reports show a fixed resolve on his 
 part to get rid of the Acadians. Complaints were 
 frequent, and every possible reason assigned to show 
 that it was necessary to remove the people. The acts 
 of individuals were charged to the whole people. 
 What was done at Beaubassin was punished at Minas, 
 as well as at other Acadian centres. It must be here 
 understood that when finally the people were taken 
 from their homes, it was done without the sanction of 
 the English Oovernment, and was so carried out because 
 of the length of time required to carry messages across 
 the water between ,England and the Province; and 
 that orders forbidding this action were received too late 
 to prevent it. 
 
 Hopson's humane orders were revoked. " If they 
 should fail to comply, you will assure them that the 
 next courier will bring an order for military execu- 
 tion." 
 
 " No excuse will be taken for not fetching fire-wood, 
 and if they do not do it in proper time the soldiers shall 
 take their houses for fuel." Such were the brutal 
 orders of Lawrence. 
 
 The English were now in position to control the 
 Acadian centres of Nova Scotia. The French fort at 
 Beausejour had fallen. A few hundred Acadians who 
 had, through persuasions and threats, assisted the 
 
GRAND-PRi. 87 
 
 French with their presence when fighting began, 
 refused to assist their countrymen. There were , over 
 10,000 in the Province who had refused to leave their 
 homes, under all the pressure of every influence that 
 could be brought to bear upon them, and in the face 
 of every provocation arising out of the attitude and 
 behavior of Lawrence. The failure of the Acadians to 
 assist the French was assigned as the cause of their 
 defeat. There was now no ground for fear. 
 
 On the 6th of June, one hundred men from Fort 
 Edward, "Windsor, and fifty from the garrison at Hali- 
 fax, came to Minas. The party reached Grand-Pre in 
 the evening and distributed themselves two in a house. 
 At midnight they seized all the arms and ammdni- 
 Tiox they could find. This was accomplished without 
 resistance. The soldiers met at Grand-Pre in the morn- 
 ing and placed the arms on board a boat which had 
 been sent for the purpose, and they were carried to 
 Fort Edward. The real purpose had not been made 
 known until the outrage was committed, not because of 
 fear of the Acadians, but that as many of their arms 
 as possible should be secured. Yet only about one-fifth 
 of the whole number was found. Shortly after this 
 an order was issued demanding of the Acadians the 
 surrender of all their arms, under penalty of being 
 treated as rebels. The result was that about 3,900 
 were given up. The people then addressed a petition 
 to Lawrence, couched^ in respectful terms, and showing 
 in all fairness in what position they stood: 
 
 "We, the inhabitants of Mlnas, Plzlquld, and the River 
 Canard, take the liberty of approaching Your Excellency 
 
^8 GRANb-PRL 
 
 for the purpose of testifying our sense of the ciare which 
 the Government exercises, over, us. 
 
 " It appears, sir, that Your Excellency doubts the sin- 
 cerlty with which we have promfbed to be faithful to Hl8 
 Britannic Majesty. 
 
 " We most humbly beg Your Excellency to consider our 
 past conduct. You will see that, very far from violating 
 the oath we have taken, we have maintained It in its 
 entirety, in spite of the solicitations and the dreadful 
 threats of another power. We will entertain, sir, the same 
 pure and sincere disposition to prove, under any circum- 
 stances, our unshaken fidelity to His Majesty, provided 
 that His Majesty shall allow us the same liberty that he 
 has granted us. We earnestly beg Your Excellency to 
 have the goodness to Inform us of His Majesty's inten- 
 tions on this subject, and to give us assurances on his 
 part. 
 
 " Permit us, if you please, sir, to make known the annoy- 
 ing circumstances in which we are placed, to the prejudice 
 of the tranquility we ought to enjoy. Under pretext that 
 we are transporting cur corn or other provisions to Beause- 
 jour and the River St. John, we are no longer permitted to 
 carry the least quantity of corn by water from one place 
 to another. We beg Your Excellency to be assured that 
 we have never transported provisions to Beausejour or to 
 River St. John. If some refugee inhabitants from Beause- 
 jour have been seized with cattle, we are not on that 
 account by any means guilty, inasmuch as the cattle be- 
 longed to them as private Individuals, and they were driv- 
 ing them to their respective habitations. As to ourselves, 
 sir, we have never offended in that respect ; consequently, 
 we ought not, in our opinion, to be punished ; on the con- 
 trary, we hope that Your Excellency will be pleased to 
 restore to us the same liberty that we enjoyed formerly, in 
 giving us the use of our canoes, either to transport our 
 provisions from one river to another, or for the purpose 
 of fishing ; thereby providing for our livelihood. This per- 
 mission has never been taken from us except at the present 
 time. We hope, sir, that you will be illeased to restore 
 
GRANI^-PRi. 89 
 
 it, specially In consideration of the number of poor inhabi- 
 tants who would be very glad to support their families 
 with the fish that ^i^y would be able to catch. Moreover, 
 our guns, which we regard as our (jwn personal property, 
 have been taken from us, notwithstanding the fact that they 
 are absolutely necessary to us, to defend our cattle which 
 are attacked by the wild beasts, or for the protection of 
 our children and ourselves. Any inhabitant who may 
 have his oxen in the woods, and who may need 
 them for purposes of labor, would not dare expose 
 himself in going for them without being prepared to 
 defend himself. It is certain, sir, that since the Indians 
 have ceased frequenting our parts, the wild beasts have 
 greatly increased, and that our cattle are devoured by 
 them almost every day. Besides, the arms that have been 
 taken from us are but a feeble guarantee of our fidelity. 
 It is not the gun which an inhabitant possesses that will 
 induce him to revolt, nor the privation of the same gun 
 that will make him more faithful ; but his conscience 
 alone must induce him to maintain his oath. An order 
 has appeared in Your Excellency's name, given at Fort 
 Edward, June 4th, 1755, by which we are commanded to 
 carry guns, pistols, etc., etc., to Fort Edward. It appears 
 to us, sir, that it would be dangerous for us to execute 
 that order before representing to you the danger to which 
 this order exposes us. The Indians may come and threaten 
 and plunder us, reproaching us for having furnished arms 
 to kill them. We hope, sir, that you will be pleased, on 
 the contrary, to order that those taken from us be restored 
 to us. By so doing you will afford us the means of pre- 
 serving both ourselves and our cattle. 
 
 " In the last place we are grieved, sir, at seeing our- 
 selves declared guilty without being aware of having dis- 
 obeyed. One of our inhabitants of the River Canard, 
 named Pierre Melanson, was seized and arrested in charge 
 of his boat, before having heard any order forbidding that 
 sort of transport. We beg Your Excellency, on this sub- 
 ject, to have the goodness to make known to us your good 
 pleasure before confiscating our property and considering 
 
90 GRAND-PRt. 
 
 us In fault. This Is the favor we expect from Your Ex- 
 cellency's kindness, and we hope you will do us the jus- 
 tice to helieve that very far from violating our promises, 
 we will maintain" them, assuring you that we are, very 
 respectfully, 
 " Sir, your very humhle and obedient servants." 
 
 Hearing that the Governor looked upon the petition 
 as impertinent, they drew up another on June 34th, 
 1755, disclaiming any intention of being without pro- 
 per respect for the Government, and that they all shared 
 the same intentions and feelings in the matter. They 
 acknowledged being embarrassed in his presence and 
 begged to be excused for their timidity, and if anything 
 seemed hard in their petition, they asked permission to 
 explain their intention. This was signed by forty-four 
 inhabitants in the name of Minas, Canard and Piziquid. 
 
 As might be expected, the answer given shows the 
 Governor's intention to find offence in everything the 
 Acadians represented to him. " The memorial of the 
 10th of June is highly arrogant and insidious, and 
 deserves the highest resentment." 
 
 In view of the charges that have been made against 
 them, let us review the situation a moment. The 
 people had been accused of aiding the Indians, when, 
 in point of fact, the Micmacs had left the Province 
 and were in New Brunswick. The Indians had been 
 for some time a menace and danger to them, and they 
 were glad to be separated from them. At the build- 
 ing of Vieux Logis, at Grand-Pre, the Acadians had 
 been harassed by them because of their seeming sym- 
 pathy with the English, and because they had not 
 endeavored to prevent it. The Acadians had repeat- 
 
grand-prA. 91 
 
 edly, moreover, given valuable intelligence to the Brit- 
 ish. They had warned Noble previous to the attack of 
 Grand-Pre. But few of the Minas people had gone over 
 to the French; and these, with the Acadians" of other 
 parts of the province who had taken up arms, were 
 compelled to do so against their own wishes, under 
 penalty of death. For forty years they had been 
 refused titles to their land, and the privilege of taking 
 up new land, or of extending their own. They had 
 always been thrifty and industrious, performing great 
 labor in dyke-building, and in setting out orchards 
 which, after one hundred and fifty years, are yet bear- 
 ing fruit. Their lands in most cases had been divided 
 and subdivided among the children. Yet they pro- 
 duced more than was needed for the whole Province. 
 They had two beautiful churches and abundance of 
 goods. 
 
 "We now return to the delegates who were in Halifax. 
 Lawrence requested them to take the oath. They 
 begged to be allowed to consult with their people again. 
 Lawrence refused this, giving them twenty-four hours 
 to decide. Their answer, given next day, was that they 
 could not do so without meeting with their own people 
 to determine for or against the oath. This refusal 
 caused them to be treated as prisoners. 
 
 Instructions were at once sent to Murray, at Pizi- 
 quid, to demand of the Acadians of Minas new dele- 
 gates, and if the oath was not taken, the Government 
 would set about to remove them from the Province. 
 It appears certain that Lawrence projected the depor« 
 tation early in 1755, and had carefully worked out the 
 details of the scheme. All the arms of the Acadians 
 
92 GRAND-PRA. 
 
 were in the hands of the Government, without which 
 they could make but little resistance. Their priests 
 and archives were carried off. He had concealed his 
 purpose from the English Government till too late for 
 their intervention. Boscawen, in command of the 
 fleet which had supported the movement against the 
 French at Beausejour, had been induced to favor the 
 scheme, as well as the Council at Halifax. In intimat- 
 ing to the Lords of Trade that he purposed demanding 
 of the Acadians an unqualified oath of allegiance, and 
 if they refused it, stating he intended to send them 
 out of the country to France, he was plainly deceiving 
 that body. Meanwhile, three months would be neces- 
 sary to receive an answer from England. 
 
 On July 5th one hundred delegates appeared before 
 Lawrence, in obedience to his demand, and delivered 
 their petition. Those of Grand-Pre and vicinity in 
 their petition, signed by two hundred and three, 
 referred to the oath taken by them in Philippe' time, 
 and of their intention not to take any othej]) " Char- 
 ity for our detained inhabitants, and their innocence, 
 oblige us to beg Your Excellency to be touched by our 
 miseries, and to restore to them their liberty, with all 
 possible submission and the most profound respect." 
 
 The deputies were imprisoned, with those already 
 confined, and kept so till late in the year, when the 
 whole people were deported. The following statement 
 of events by Abbe Daudin will be read with interest: 
 
 " For a long time the English never spoke to the 
 Acadians except to announce their ruin In the near future. 
 They were told that they would be mere slaves, that they 
 would be dispersed by the Irish ; in short, everything fore- 
 
GRAND-PRt. 93 
 
 boded the destruction of their nation ; there was talk of 
 nothing else but burning the houses and laying waste the 
 fields. However, the inhabitants were not discouraged, as 
 is proved by the most abundant harvest that was ever 
 seen in the country. Prayer was the only weapon they 
 used against the English. After the taking of Beausejour 
 they made a show of commanding the inhabitants on holi- 
 days to go to the fort and sharpen all their instruments of 
 war, telling them these weapons were to destroy them 
 after they had cut to pieces their brethren who were 
 refugees with the French. 
 
 " When the Grand-Pr6 delegates had started for Hali- 
 fax, there came to Annapolis an order, etc., etc. 
 
 " When the delegates from all parts had arrived to the 
 number of about one hundred, they were called before the 
 Council, when they were immediately told that no propo- 
 sitions or explanations would be received from them. . . . 
 He put the following very plain question to them : ' Will 
 you or will you not swear to the King of Great Britain 
 that you will take up arms against the King of France, his 
 enemy ?' The answer was not less laconic than the ques- 
 tion. ' Since,' they said, ' we are asked only for a yes or 
 no, we will answer unanimously. No ;' adding, however, 
 that what was required of them tended to despoil them of 
 their religion and everything else. 
 
 " Immediately the Governor gave orders to transport 
 them on a small island, distant as far as a cannon-ball 
 would carry from Halifax, whither they were conducted 
 like criminals, and where they remained until the end of 
 October, fed on a little bread, deprived of receiving any 
 assistance as well as of speaking to any one. 
 
 "The Governor imagined that this harshness would 
 soften their courage ; he found them as firm as ever. He 
 took the resolution of betaking himself to the aforesaid 
 island with a numerous retinue, accompanied by all the 
 instruments of torture, in order to try to soften their cour- 
 age at the sight of this spectacle. In the midst of this 
 display befitting a tyrant, he asked them if they persisted 
 in their answers. One of them replied, 'Yes, and more 
 
94 GRAND-PRt. 
 
 than ever ; we have God for us, and that is enough.' The 
 Governor drew his sword and said : ' Insolent fellow ; you 
 deserve that I should run my sword through your body ! ' 
 The peasant presented his breast to him, and, drawing 
 nearer, said : ' Strike, sir, if you dare ; I shall be the first 
 martyr of the band ; you can kill my body, but you shall 
 not kill my soul.' The Governor, in a sort of frenzy, asked 
 the others if they shared the feelings of that insolent 
 fellow who had just spoken. All with one voice exclaimed: 
 'Yes, sir! Yes, sir!' . . . 
 
 " After carrying off the priests, the English raised their 
 flag above the churches and made the latter into barracks 
 when their troops passed there. . . . The missionaries 
 reached Halifax with this fine accompaniment, drums beat- 
 ing. They were led out on the parade, where they were 
 exposed for three-quarters of an hour to mockery, contempt 
 and Insults." 
 
 It was evidently the desire of Lawrence that the 
 Acadians should not take the oath. He acted promptly. 
 Everything was ripe for the undertaking. It was 
 decided on July 28, 1755, to deport the Acadians. New 
 England troops were ia the country, having assisted in 
 the capture of Beausejour. In a letter to the command- 
 ant, Moncton, he informed him that the French of that 
 place were to be removed at once, as soon as transports, 
 which had been ordered, should come up the Bay. Very 
 full particulars were given as to the removal of the 
 people and the seizure of property and cattle. Not the 
 slightest trace of pity or compunction is apparent in 
 the orders he issued to the officers in command at the 
 different centres. If the people had been animals or 
 wild beasts, and likely to escape in spite of his vigil- 
 ance, he could not have been more merciless in working 
 out the soulless scheme of the deportation. He gave 
 
GRAND-PRi. 95 
 
 positive orders again and again to secure the cattle of 
 the people. In herding the people together to prevent 
 any from escaping, the utmost effort was to be made. 
 
 Colonel Winslow, who was at Beausejour, received 
 orders to embark with his regiment, consisting of three 
 hundred men, and sail for Grand-Pre. He arrived at 
 Minas on the 15th of August, whence he proceeded to 
 Windsor to consult with Murray, in command at Fort 
 Edward, as to the details of the work they were about 
 to perform. 
 
 Winslow in his journal has given us a full account 
 of his stay at Grand-Pre. Let us make a brief review 
 of the Acadians on the eve of departiog from their 
 homes, to which they were never to return. All too 
 thoroughly was the work carried out at Minas, as we 
 shall see. 
 
CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 Minas before the Deportation. 
 
 1755. 
 
 In 1753, THE POPULATION of the Acadian section of 
 Minas was about 4,500. From Blomidon on the north, 
 along the shores of Minas Basin, and up all the rivers 
 emptying into it, to the G-aspereau on the south; and 
 from Avonport on the east to New Minas on the west, 
 the country of Minas lay with village after village 
 nestling near the meadows the people had reclaimed 
 from the sea. The church at Grand-Pre and at 
 Canard made two centres around which clustered the 
 happy homes of a peaceful people — ^homes that had 
 been theirs and their forefathers for eighty-four years. - 
 Doubtless some of the ancients remembered when the 
 chief founders had come to Habitant and Canard, and 
 later to Grand-Pre. The people were as a rule long- 
 lived. During the years of their occupation of Minas 
 many rows of willows had grown up. Scattered over 
 the country orchards marked the places of their thrift 
 and labor. Miles of dyke made rich meadows, on 
 which at this time their harvests were ripening; and 
 prosperity, which seemed to smile upon them, made 
 the parting all the more cruel when they had to 
 leave so lovely a land. Many families were in grief 
 because of the absence of those who were prisoners at 
 
 96 
 
GRAND-PRi. 97 
 
 Halifax, but no thought of the awful fate that was to 
 be their own came to them. No words can paint the 
 horror that was to follow. 
 
 In the summer the men of Minas were employed in 
 husbandry, having their dykes and farms to attend to. 
 In winter they cut timber, fuel and fencing. Fish and 
 game were abundant. The Acadians were honest, sober 
 and frugal; the women virtuous and industrious, and 
 engaged chiefly in carding, spianing, and weaving wool, 
 flax and hemp, which they produced in abundance. 
 They had, besides, the fur of numerous animals, such 
 as bear, beaver, otter, fox, marten, moose and cariboo. 
 This made them handsome clothing, or was traded with 
 the English and French for such articles as they needed. 
 Their dyes were ordinarily black and green. Scarlet 
 they obtained by carding and spinning the English duf- 
 fel, which they wove in stripes to decorate the women's 
 garments. They had long ago learned the necessity of 
 making use of the natural conditions of their surround- 
 ings, so that their habits and customs were character- 
 istic of the country. It was all the harder for them 
 under the changed conditions of the country where they 
 were reqiured to begin life anew. Many of them had 
 been born to the lives they were now living, and, so to 
 speak, they had become part of the soil. 
 
 On their uplands they had their orchards of pears, 
 plums, cherries, and apples. Without the benefit of 
 the years of cultivation as at" present, the soil produced 
 turnips, cabbages, onions, and other garden produce. 
 The dyke lands were /their chief :support. On these 
 natural meadows, which they learned to protect from 
 the sea by means of dykes, they raised wheat, rye, oats, 
 7 
 
98 GRAND-PRt. 
 
 peas, flax — more than they required for their own con- 
 sumption. Moreover, they were able to raise hay in 
 large quantities, and the undyked marshes produced 
 salt grass, which they were able to use for their cattle. 
 
 Many of the Minas people were well-to-do. For 
 instance, we find the following inhabitants were pos- 
 sessed of that kind of wealth and in quantities which 
 many of our farmers to-day, in fairly good circum- 
 stances, do not possess : 
 
 Younj? 
 Bullocks, CowQ, CatLle. Sheep. Hogs. HcrRes 
 
 Jean Baptists Dalgre 6 14 22 98 34 2 
 
 Pierre Landry 6 8 7 20 16 . . 
 
 Baptiste Sapin 6 7 15 40 25 4 
 
 Janls Terriau 4 4 6 40 15 3 
 
 Charles Granger 6 12 16 74 20 2 
 
 Jean Baptiste Le Blanc 4 7 9 30 11 2 
 
 Norez Michel Boudrot 4 5 2 19 70 1 
 
 Renez Ancoine 6 9 12 90 22 3 
 
 Claude Trahan 4 5 7 20 20 4 
 
 Charles Lebrun 4 14 31 50 22 1 
 
 Germain Richard 6 8 11 86 20 2 
 
 In the forests were moose, bear, wild cat, beaver, 
 otter, marten, fox (red, gray and black), rabbit and 
 partridge in great numbers, and wild geese, duck, teal, 
 plover, and other marsh birds were numerous; and at 
 feertain seasons wild pigeons came in iminense flocks. 
 
 The seas were full of codfish, and the rivers 
 •abounded in salmon, shad, bass, eel, smelt, and other 
 varieties.' The white porpoise came into the basin, 
 sometimes seventeen feet in length, and yielded three 
 barrels of oil. 
 
 The country of Minas was abundant in provision of 
 all kinds which it produced. An ox could be bought 
 for five dollars, a sheep for one dollar, and wheat for 
 
GRAND-PRt. 99 
 
 thirty-five cents a bushel. When a young woman could 
 weave a bolt of cloth, and a young man make a wheel, 
 they might marry. If a couple were to be married, the 
 whole village in which they lived lent a hand to build a 
 house, clear some land, and supplied them with cattle, 
 hogs and poultry. Large families are characteristic 
 of the people even at the present time. Various amuse- 
 ments made the cold wiater pleasant. Singing, danc- 
 ing and open hospitality cheered their homes. They 
 lived as one large family, bound by the ties of religion, 
 race and kinship. The following hymins they sung on 
 the last days of their stay in ISTova Scotia : 
 
 I. 
 
 Faux plalsirs, vous senneurs, bien frivoles 
 E?ountez aujourdhui nos adleux : 
 Trop long temps vous ffttes no Idoles : 
 Trop long temps vous charmetz nos yeux — 
 Loin de nous la fiddle esperance, 
 De trouer en vous notre bonheur, 
 Avec vous heureux en apparence. 
 Nous portens la chagrin dans la coeur. 
 
 II. 
 
 Tout passe — 
 
 Sous le firmament — 
 Tout n'est que changement — 
 
 Tout passe — 
 Ainsi que sur la glise — 
 Le mond va roulant, 
 En dit «n s'ecoulant — 
 
 Tout passe — 
 C'egt la mSrlte 
 Hormls I'feternltS 
 
 Tout passe — 
 
100 GRAND-PRi. 
 
 Falsons valoir la grace 
 Le temps est precieux 
 Ouvrez devant nos yeux 
 
 Tout passe — 
 Les champs, les rangs, 
 Le petits et les grands — 
 
 Tout passe — 
 D'autres frequent la place 
 Bt s'en vout a leur tour 
 Dans a mortel sSjour 
 
 Tout passe — 
 
 III. 
 
 Vive JSsus 
 
 Vive J6SUS 
 Avec la crolx son chere portage — 
 
 Vive J6SUS 
 Dans le coeurs de tout les 61us — 
 Sa croix do son coeur — est le gaye — 
 Futil au plus bel heritage 
 
 Vive JSsus 
 Portens la croix — 
 Sans choix, sans 6nnuie, sans murmure. 
 
 Portens la croix — 
 Quand nous en servons aux choix 
 Quoique tr6s am6re et trSs dure — 
 Maigr6 le sous et la nature. 
 
 Portens la croix — 
 
 Many French willows are standing -to-day, living 
 testimony of the Acadian occupation. All over Minas 
 stand these immense trees, marking the site of roads 
 or houses before 1755. No other memorials save the 
 old dykes and an occasional apple tree, tell of the 
 hapless race whose country this was, and whose 
 only iappiness was here. The willow is extremely 
 
GRAND-PRt. 101 
 
 tenacious of life. A green limb broken from a 
 tree and thrust into the earth will take root and 
 grow. In this respect it is a fitting memorial of 
 the people who set them out; a foreign growth that 
 has become indigenous. The tree was brought from 
 Prance at an early date. 
 
 The French road ran through the present village of 
 Grand-Pre, north of the main highway, which it joined 
 near Scott's Corner. Thence the road led to Johnson's 
 Hollow, just below the Academy boarding-house, 
 in Wolfville. Here it diverged and lay near the rail- 
 road to Kentville. From the village of Grand-Pre to 
 the landing-place on the Gaspereau was a road. From 
 the main village' of Grand-Pre, the road to Windsor 
 ran south over the hill to Walbrook, and crossed the 
 river at that point by a sunken bridge, which could be 
 used only at low tide. We have the names of all the 
 villages, as they were known to the Acadians. We 
 have also the names of a great many of the men and 
 boys who were taken away. According to Winslow the 
 list is : ' 
 
 Males, from ten years 446 
 
 Deputies, prisoners at Halifax .... 37 
 
 Men — 
 
 483 
 
 Women, married 337 
 
 Sons 527 
 
 Daughters 576 
 
 1,923 
 
 Old and infirm, not mentioned 820 
 
 2,743 
 
 It is positively known that Winslow did not secure 
 all the people at Minas, as the whole number was 
 greater than here given. 
 
102 
 
 GRAND-PRi. 
 
 * Villages. 
 
 De Landry 
 
 Claude Terriau . . 
 
 Des Landry 4 
 
 Granger 44 
 
 Jean Terriau 65 
 
 Comeau 74 
 
 Michel 27 
 
 Aucoine 77 
 
 Trahan 38 
 
 Poirier 20 
 
 Saulnier 32 
 
 Brun 64 
 
 Dupuis 65 
 
 Hebert 19 
 
 Francois 3 
 
 Pinons 7 
 
 Antolne 51 
 
 Claude 80 
 
 Herbert Co Ero ( ?) 74 
 Claud Landry .... 74 
 
 Navie 3 
 
 Jean Le Blanc 30 
 
 Pierre Le Blanc. . . 60 
 Grand Le Blanc. . . 42 
 
 Richard 49 
 
 Pinour 2 
 
 Melanson 52 
 
 Michel 57 
 
 De Petit (Gotro) . . 94 
 
 Landry 15 
 
 Comeau 4 
 
 Granger 4 
 
 Pinue 3 
 
 Hebert 5 
 
 Jean Teriau 2 
 
 La Coste 2 
 
 Grand-Pre 20 
 
 Gaspereau 41 
 
 No. of Inhabitants. Looation. 
 
 39 North of Mlnas or Comwallls River. 
 
 41 
 
 South of Minas River. 
 
 Gaspereau. 
 
 About Grand-Pr6. 
 COmitted) Canard. 
 Canard. 
 
 Grand-Pr6. 
 Gaspereau. 
 
grand-prA. 103 
 
 All the names except those in italics are the names 
 of individuals or families. They are given here as 
 tliey are listed by Winslow. 
 
 The principal villages on the south side of Minas 
 Eiver, now the Cornwallis, sometimes called Minas or 
 Grand-Pre, were Gotro, Pierre Le Blanc, Michel, 
 Melanson, Grand Le Blanc, Gaspereau, Jean Le Blanc 
 and Grand-Pre. On the north side of the same river, 
 the villages of the Canard section, sometimes called 
 Habitant and Canard, because the settlements were 
 mainly on the Habitant and Canard Eiver s, were 
 named: Claude Landry, Antoine, Hebert, Dupuis, 
 Brun, Trahan, Saulnier, Poirier and Hebert. The 
 remaining villages had less than twenty inhabitants. 
 
 At Grand-Pr6 and Gaspereau, and along the south 
 side of Minas, the common names of the Acadians in 
 the order of their frequency were : Le Blanc, Melanson, 
 Hebert, Eichard. On the north side the common names 
 were: Boudro, Comeau, Landry, Aucoine, Granger, 
 Terriau, Dupuis. 
 
 The name Melanson, so common among the Acadians 
 to-day, was no doubt of Scotch origin, and belonged 
 to one of Sir William Alexander's colonists who came 
 to Acadia about 1633. The larger number of the 
 settlers who became the progenitors of the 150,000 
 of Acadians now living in the Maritime Provinces, 
 came out from Eochelle, Saintonge and Poiteau, on 
 the west coast of France, between the years 1632 and 
 1649. These men became fishermen and farmers, and 
 the needs of the time caused them to become adepts 
 in boat-building, blacksmithing, and in the erection of 
 their buildings. They became famous in the difficult 
 
104 
 
 (^rand-prL 
 
 work of dyke-building. They raised large quantities 
 of hay and graiu, more than enough for their own 
 needs. Sheep and cattle became their wealth. 
 
 In 1671, when the first census of Acadia was taken 
 of which we have any record, there were seventy-five 
 families, made up of 440 persons. 
 
 In 1686, Miuas had been settled about fifteen years, 
 and had a population of fifty-seven persons. In 1714, 
 the people numbered 878. In 1755 there were at least 
 10,000 Aeadians in Minas. 
 
 Names at Minas at time of deportation: 
 
 Alin, 
 
 Cotoe, 
 
 Gotro, 
 
 Pitree, 
 
 Aucoine, 
 
 Caretter, 
 
 Granger, 
 
 Quette, 
 
 Apigne, 
 
 Cleland, 
 
 Hebert, 
 
 Eobichaud, 
 
 Boudro, 
 
 Cloarte, 
 
 Inferms, 
 
 Bichard, 
 
 Blanchard, 
 
 Clemenson, 
 
 Lapierre, 
 
 Eour, 
 
 Bourg, 
 
 Celestin, 
 
 Leuron, 
 
 Sosonier, 
 
 Belmere, 
 
 Celve, 
 
 Le Blanc, 
 
 Sorere, 
 
 Brun, 
 
 Daigre, 
 
 Le Clane, 
 
 Sapin, 
 
 Babin, 
 
 Diron, 
 
 Leblun, 
 
 Sonier, 
 
 Brassin, 
 
 Dour, 
 
 Lebar, 
 
 Semer, 
 
 Brane, 
 
 Duzoy, 
 
 Leprince, 
 
 Terriot, 
 
 Bugeant, 
 
 David, 
 
 Labous, 
 
 Trauhase, 
 
 Benios, 
 
 Dins, 
 
 Lesour, 
 
 Tibodo, 
 
 Bouns, 
 
 Dupuy, 
 
 Landry, 
 
 Tunour, 
 
 Belfontaine, 
 
 Duon, 
 
 Michel, 
 
 Trahan, 
 
 Bouer, 
 
 Dupiers, 
 
 Massier, 
 
 Tilhard, 
 
 Braux, 
 
 Doulet, 
 
 Munier, 
 
 Vinson. 
 
 Brasseaux, 
 
 Dusour, 
 
 Mengean, 
 
 
 Commeau, 
 
 Doucet, 
 
 Melanson, 
 
 
 Capierre, 
 
 Forest, 
 
 Noails, 
 
 
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 lovniA oj. avon 
 
 Q 
 Q 
 
 ■5 
 
 < 
 
 q: 
 CL 
 
 a 
 2 
 
 < 
 QC 
 
 o 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 in 
 
 
 j^ 
 
 ->. 
 
 
 J_ 
 
 
 
 < 
 U 
 
 > 
 O 
 
 o 
 
 
 30vn/A oiavop 
 
CHAPTEE X. 
 
 Winslow at Grand-PrS — Proclamation Issued — First 
 
 Embarkation — Second Embarkation— Final 
 
 Embarkation. 
 
 1755. 
 
 We now find Winslow at Geand-Pre. He had 
 arrived on the 15th, and took up Ms quarters on the 
 plain where the church and the priest's house were. 
 The tents of the soldiers were pitched about the 
 churchyard, and Winslow occupied the priest's house 
 which overlooked the encampment on the east; this 
 had been vacant since August 4, when Ahbe Chauvreulx 
 had been made prisoner and taken to Fort Edward. 
 The officers were lodged in a small house near by. The 
 sacred things of the church had been removed by the 
 elders of the village, on the order of the commander, 
 and it became an arsenal and storehouse. Prepara- 
 tions were made at once to surround the camp with a 
 palisade, to prevent surprise, and to protect the 
 position against any possible attack. The place was 
 well chosen. The church was large enough to hold 
 several hundred people, and was in future to serve as 
 a prison for four hundred men, besides a large guard 
 of soldiers. The position, while commanded by the 
 slope and hills on the south, the wealth of the people, 
 the rich meadows of Grand-Pre, lay to the north, east 
 and west. Beyond Long Island stretched the broad 
 
 105 
 
106 GRAND-PRt. 
 
 Basin of Minas, and in the blue of the farther shore 
 Blomidon loomed. The site of the camp was a piece of 
 " upland " rising out of the dykeland, containing about 
 fourteen acres. This stood north of the Village of 
 Grand-Pre, with willow trees marking the roads which 
 traversed it, and, while dominated by the slope of the 
 village itself, lay isolated upon the green breast of the 
 wide meadows, which stretched in unbroken level to the 
 north, west and east. 
 
 This spot had been precious to the Acadians for many 
 many years, for the graveyard held the many relatives 
 and friends, whose eyes were not to see this last desecra- 
 tion of their most sacred possessions. The comfort of 
 their church was denied them. The spires of St. Charles 
 bore the flag which represented justice and humanity, 
 and was to be the guise under which the ends of cruelty 
 and rapacity were to be served; worked out with the 
 most exacting system, and concealed with the elaborate 
 skill of intelligent minds. On the gentle slope rising 
 to the south lay the village with its scattered houses. 
 On the east and west a continuous line of dwellings 
 marked the hillside. Willows and apple-trees, gardens 
 and pastures, and the fruitful dyke-lands to the river 
 banks filled the land with vistas of beauty and peace. 
 Yet an armed host was in the midst of the people, 
 who were without suspicion, and who went about 
 their daily tasks unconscious of the impending fate 
 that was to waste their lands, destroy the fruits of 
 their labors, their property and homes. But what was 
 the utter loss of their worldly goods to the sorrow of 
 being separated from the land that had been their 
 home for so many years! The very tides and airs, 
 
GRAND-PRt. 107 
 
 and the forests and dyke-lands were there, and homes 
 could be restored, if only they could return. But this 
 was not to be. The land was for other peoples. The 
 loss of aU their wealth was as nothing beside this 
 greatest loss of their lives, never to be made up. 
 
 Colonel John Winslow, in command at Grand-Pre, 
 was sprung from the early governors of Plymouth 
 colony, had seen considerable military service, and on 
 several occasions had left his Marshfield farm to serve 
 the country. He was now fifty-four years of age, with 
 little education, though a thorough soldier. When it 
 was decided to attack the position at Beausejour, held 
 by the French, Winslow was commissioned by Shirley, 
 Governor of Massachusetts to raise two thousand 
 volimteers. He was able to do so in a short time, 
 and was made lieutenant-colonel in command of one 
 of the two battalions which composed it. Farmers, 
 yeomen, fishermen, shopkeepers and various trades- 
 men from all over the country enlisted for the service. 
 
 Winslow found himself pleasantly situated at Grand- 
 Pre. The people were not troublesome, and in a short 
 time the soldiers off duty were given to wandering 
 through the villages, though not on friendly terms 
 with the inhabitants. Captains Osgood, Adams and 
 Hobbs were with Winslow. Fifteen miles away, on 
 the bank of the Piziquid, was Fort Edward, where 
 Captain Murray was in command of a garrison of 
 regulars. 
 
 When Lawrence learned that Winslow's camp was 
 being fortified, he feared that the people would be 
 alarmed, and he urged him not to arouse their mis- 
 trust. Winslow replied that the Acadians were with- 
 
108 GRAND-PRL 
 
 out fear, as they supposed the English would be with 
 them all win,ter. The people made no trouble, and 
 the friendly feeling was evinced in their behaviour. 
 They were called upon at once to bring in supplies of 
 bread, flour and fresh meat. Harsh means would 
 have been used to compel obedience, had it been 
 necessary, even with military execution. Minas had 
 to supply Port Edward as well, at one time sixty 
 bullocks being demanded of the inhabitants of Canard 
 and Habitant. No money was paid them for the 
 supplies needed for the troops, as everything of that 
 kind was claimed by the Government. The season 
 had been a good one, and the harvest large. The 
 wheat was ripe, and but for the wet weather the 
 work of gathering the grain would have been well 
 advanced. It was determined that all the grain 
 should be gathered and stored in the granaries, barns 
 and cellars before the Acadians should be told of their 
 fate. When all the work was done and the people 
 placed on board the transports, everything was to be 
 burned and the country left desolate, so that all the 
 Acadians should give themselves up, and that none 
 should return to Minas. The transports were an- 
 chored outside, after having been unloaded of supplies, 
 and more vessels were expected. Meanwhile, Winslow 
 was getting all the information possible in regard to 
 the villages" and the people. The camp was surrounded 
 with a palisade, and regular guards and patrols estab- 
 lished. Card-playLag was prohibited as leading to 
 idleness in the camp. Quoit-playing was not per- 
 mitted within the enclosure because of the damage 
 done to the green sward. Masons and diggers were 
 
GRAND-PRt. 109 
 
 sinking wells, and every preparation was made for 
 the stay at Grand-Pre. On the 31st of August, 
 Winslow, with a party of fifty men, set out on a tour 
 of inspection, which he reported as taking in two- 
 thirds of Grand-Pre. The day was Sunday, and the 
 afternoon was spent in looking over the country. On 
 the next day Captain Adams, with a party of seventy 
 men, visited the villages of Habitant and Canard; 
 and on the day foUowiag Captain Hobbs visited the 
 village of Melanson, in the valley of the Gaspereau. 
 On the same day the country to the south was ex- 
 plored by Captain Osgood. By the reports thus 
 obtained "Winslow was able to get the location of the 
 villages and the condition of the crops. At Canard 
 was a beautiful church and a country full of inhabi- 
 tants, with abundance of the world's goods. Eeports 
 equally favorable were made of other places 
 visited. Everywhere the Acadians had plenty of 
 provisions, and a good harvest was being gathered in. 
 Winslow had been visited by Murray, and they had 
 arranged a plan of operations. The only thing lacking 
 was the transports, yet to arrive. The commanders 
 agreed that the male inhabitants should be summoned 
 to meet at the church at Grand-Pre, to hear the Icing's 
 orders. Thus the Acadians were to be entrapped in the 
 king's name. The positive orders from Lawrence 
 were to secure the Acadians by stratagem or force, 
 as circumstances demanded, and not the least atten- 
 tion was to be paid to any memorial or remonstrance 
 from the people. No stronger power than the orders 
 of the king could be used to bring the people to- 
 gethef J They looked for a settlement of their affairs. 
 
110 GRAND-PRE. 
 
 which had long been promised them. Here at last 
 was what they were looking for. 
 
 The arrangements were complete. The captains, 
 Adams, Hobbs and Osgood, were sworn to secrecy. 
 When the vessels came, only the time for calling the 
 people together, remained to be fixed. On the first of 
 September Winslow wrote Murray that he would meet 
 with him on the next day, as three of the transports 
 had arrived. The French were soon on board making 
 inquiries, but as the. captains had been warned 
 not to let the Acadians know why they had come to 
 Minas, their suspicions were not excited. Eleven more 
 ships were to arrive in a few days. On Tuesday, the 
 2nd, Winslow set out in a whaleboat for Port Edward, 
 baviag with him " Doctor Whitworth and adjutant 
 Kennedy, to consult with Captn. Murray in this Critical 
 Conjuncter." So runs his journal. They drafted 
 the Proclamation' to the Inhabitants, which was 
 translated into French by Deschamps, a merchant of 
 Piziquid. It was as follows: 
 
 " To the inhabitants of the district of Grand-Pr6, Minas 
 River, Canard and places adjacent, as well ancients as 
 young men and lads. 
 
 " Whereas His Excellency the Governor has instructed 
 us of his late resolution respecting the matter proposed to 
 the inhabitants, and has ordered us to communicate the 
 same in person. His Excellency being desirous that each 
 of them should be satisfied of His Majesty's intentions, 
 which he has also ordered us to communicate to you, as 
 they have been given to him : We, therefore, order and 
 strictly, by these presents, all of the Inhabitants as well 
 of the above-named district as of all the other districts, 
 both old and young men, as well as the lads of ten years 
 of, age, fd attend at the church at Grand-Pr6, on Friday, 
 
GRAND-PRA. Ill 
 
 the 5th Instant, at three In the afternoon, that we may 
 impart to them what we are ordered to communicate to 
 them, declaring that no excuse will be admitted on any 
 pretense whatsoever, on pain of forfeiting goods and 
 chattels, in default of real estate. 
 "Given at Grand-Prg, 2nd September, 1755. 
 
 " John Winslow." 
 
 We have in Winslow's own words : 
 
 " 1755, September the 4th. This morning sent for 
 Doctor Eodion (Dr. Whitworth) and delivered him a 
 Citation to the Inhabitants with the Strict Charge to 
 See It Executed, which he Promised Should be Faith- 
 fully Done. 
 
 " A Fine Day, and the Inhabitants very busy about 
 their harvest," etc. 
 
 The orders had gone forth, and everything was in 
 readiness for the morrow. The guards had been 
 strengthened, and no one was to leave the line of,, 
 pickets. Powder and ball were served to the men. 
 Besides, the whole camp was under arms. 
 
 With less than twenty-four hours' notice the Aca- 
 dians appeared at the Grand-Pre from all the villages 
 of Minas. From the Canard, Pereau, and Habitant 
 rivers, from the Gaspereau Valley, from Minas in the 
 west to Avonport in the east,- they came. Four hun- 
 dred AND EIGHTEEN MEN ENTERED THE CHURCH, 
 their own church, which was now their, prison. No 
 suspicion of danger had entered their minds. There 
 was no delay. When the people had entered, Winslow 
 had a table placed in the centre of the church, and 
 accompanied by the officers who were off guard,, and 
 by a strong escort, he took his place to deliver His 
 Majesty's final resolution to the Acadians. 
 
112 GRAND-PRjk. 
 
 Here he took his stand in his laced uniform; Near 
 him were the New Englanders, " strong, sinewy 
 figures, bearing, no doubt, more or less distinctly the 
 peculiar stamp with which toil, trade and Puritanism 
 had imprinted the features of New England. Their 
 commander was not of the prevailing type. He was 
 fifty-four years of age, with double chin, smooth 
 forehead, arched eyebrows, close powdered wig, and 
 round, rubicund brows, from which the weight of an 
 odious duty had probably banished the smirk of self- 
 satisfaction that dwelt there at other times."* Before 
 him were the sons and fathers of Minas. Strong, sun- 
 burnt children of the soil, they waited anxiously for 
 his words, their dark eyes and black hair in sharp 
 contrast with the grey colors of their homespun. 
 Doubtless many a prayer went up from that dese- 
 crated fane before the full horror of their fate dark- 
 ened their lives. It is a sad picture — almost too sad 
 to contemplate. 
 
 Winslow then read to the Acadians the following, 
 which is taken from his journal: 
 
 " Gentlemen, — I have received from his Excellency, Gov- 
 ernor Lawrence, the King's Ck)mmission which I have in 
 my hand, and by whose orders you are Conveyed together, 
 to Manifest to you His Majesty's final resolution to the 
 French inhabitants of this his Province of Nova Scotia, 
 who for almost half a Century have had more Indulgence 
 Granted them than any of his Subjects In any part of 
 his Dominions. What use you have made of them you 
 yourself Best Know. 
 
 " The Part of Duty I am now upon is what thoh Neces- 
 sary is Very Disagreeable to my natural make and "rem- 
 
 •His portrait is in the room of thje Massachusetts His- 
 torical Society. 
 
GRAND-PRi:. 113 
 
 per, as I Know it Must be Grievous to you who are of the 
 Same Specia. 
 
 " But It Is not my business to annimadvert, but to obey 
 Such orders as I receive, and therefore without Hesita- 
 tion Shall Deliver you his Majesty's orders and Instruc- 
 tions, Vlst.: 
 
 " That your Lands & Tennements, Cattle of all Kinds 
 and Live Stock of all Sorts are Forfeited to the Crown 
 with all other your Effects Saving your money and House- 
 hold Goods, and you your Selves to be removed from this 
 his Province. 
 
 " Thus it is Preremptorily his Majesty's orders That the 
 whole French Inhabitants of these Districts be removed, 
 and I am Throh his Majesty's Goodness Directed to allow 
 you Liberty to Carry of your money and Household Goods 
 as Many as you Can without Discommoding the Vessels 
 you Go in. I Shall do Every thing in my Power that all 
 Those Goods be Secured to you and that you are Not 
 Molested in Carrying of them of, and also that whole 
 Family Shall go in the Same Vessel, and make this re- 
 move, which I am Sensable must give you a great Deal of 
 Trouble, as Easey as his Majesty's Service will admit, 
 and hope that In what Ever part of the world you may 
 Fall you may be Faithful Subjects, a Peasable & happy 
 People. 
 
 " I Must also Inform you That it is his Majesty's 
 Pleasure that you remain in Security under the Inspec- 
 tion & Direction of the Troops that I have the Hour, to 
 Command." 
 
 He tlien declared them prisoners of the king, and 
 all their horses, cattle, sheep, goats, hogs and poultry 
 forfeited, and no one under his command was to hurt, 
 kill or destroy anything of any kind, or to rob orchards 
 or gardens. Winslow now returned to his quarters at 
 the priest's house, where he was soon followed by a 
 deputation of the older Aoadians, who begged him to 
 8 
 
114 grand-prL 
 
 consider the condition of many of their families now 
 that they were not permitted to return to their homes, 
 or to let them know in what condition they' were in. 
 After consultation with his officers, Winslow decided 
 to permit twenty of the men to return to their homes, 
 ten for each side of the Minas River, to inform their 
 relatives that the women and children would be safe 
 from molestation. They were to bring those who had 
 not come in, the remaiuder of the' prisoners being held 
 responsible for the return of the absent. The families 
 and friends of those in the church were ordered to 
 supply food for the prisoners. They were permitted to 
 move about the inclosure, but not farther east than 
 Winslow's quarters. 
 
 "Thus Ended the Memorable fifth of September, a 
 Day of Great Fatigue & Treble." 
 
 By the seventh of the month, there were only five 
 transports in the Basin, not half the number required. 
 The prisoners were increased to four hundred and 
 twenty-four. The millers were at work, and the 
 people were as comfortable as could be under their 
 sad circumstances. A strong guard was always posted, 
 and every precaution taken to prevent surprise. 
 
 On the 10th of September only one hundred of 
 the prisoners had been able to return to their 
 homes to spend one night with their families, twenty 
 at a time being allowed the privilege. On this morn- 
 ing, Winslow had received a memorial from the peo- 
 ple, imploring that they should be permitted to go to 
 places where their own countrymen were, and that 
 they should be given time to prepare for departure. 
 They had probably learned the fate of the other 
 
GRAND-PRi. 115 
 
 French centres. They agreed to pay all expenses 
 incurred. To preserve their religion they were willing 
 to sacrifice everything else. Of course, nothing was 
 done in their favor. Winslow states that on this 
 morning he observed unusual signs of commotion on 
 the part of the Acadian prisoners. As there were 
 five transports idle, he determined to place fifty of the 
 young men on each of the vessels, and thus lessen the 
 danger of his position at Grand-Pre. He called for 
 Pere Landry, their chief leader, who spoke English, 
 and told him, much to his grief and surprise, that he 
 intended to embark two hundred and fifty of the 
 young men. Landry was ordered to prepare the 
 men at once, as the tide served in an hour and they 
 must be taken away before that time. All the 
 soldiers were under arms, and formed into line. The 
 men who were to depart were drawn up in columns, 
 six deep, on the left of the whole body of the Acadians. 
 Thus they stood between the two gates, in the rear 
 of Winslow's quarters. The scene that followed is 
 indescribable. Here were all the unmarried young 
 men, from ten years and upwards, who were about to 
 be separated from their fathers and brothers. They 
 had been drawn off from the main body and were 
 guarded on all sides by the eighty soldiers under 
 Captain Adams. Bayonets were fixed and it was 
 dangerous to resist. Yet when the order was given 
 to march there was no movement of the Acadians. 
 Every evidence of grief and excitement became mani- 
 fest — cries of anger, tears and pleading for mercy, 
 stubborn refusal to march, calling of father to son, 
 and son to father, of brother to brother. Words can- 
 
116 GRAND-PRE. 
 
 not paint such, scenes. When the bojs said that they 
 would not go without their fathers, Wiaslow writes 
 that he did not understand the word, and that the 
 king's commands were absolute. The order to march 
 was again given, and the soldiers advanced with fixed 
 bayonets to enforce the command. They were thus 
 compelled to move, and went off praying, singing and 
 crying. A great many of the people from the villages 
 now lined the road to the landing-place on the 
 Gaspereau, a distance of one and a half miles. Many 
 fell on their knees and prayed as the melancholy pro- 
 cession passed, or followed with wailiug and lamenta- 
 tion. Eeaching the shore they were soon hurried on 
 board boats, and carried to the ships, where they 
 remaiued under strict guard until the fleet departed, 
 some time later. On the return of the soldiers, 
 another company of ninety married Acadians 
 were escorted by Captain Osgood and eighty men. 
 Two hundred and thirty of the French were now on 
 board. The faithful wives and mothers brought 
 provisions every day for the captives, the boats 
 coming in at each tide from the vessels that were 
 anchored out in the bay. As many as could go in 
 the boats were permitted to board the ships to see their 
 relatives. 
 
 The AEMED FORCE AT Grand-Pe:6 consisfed of 
 three hundred and sixty-three men. There was evi- 
 dently considerable hatred shown towards the French 
 people, as Winslow had to make stringent regulations 
 to prevent the soldiers distressing the inhabitants. An 
 oflScer accompanied the soldiers who brought in water 
 for the camp, to prevent them maltreating the 
 
GRAND-PRE. 117 
 
 people. On one occasion two of the men were flogged 
 for stealing fowls. 
 
 By the middle of September, Winslow had a list of 
 the Aeadians of the Minas district, and of their live 
 stock of all kinds. Two thousand seven hundred and 
 forty-three persons, with five thousand horned cattle, 
 eight thousand six hundred sheep, four thousand 
 hogs, five hundred horses, were the estimates accord- 
 ing to his list. A fine harvest would have blessed 
 the unfortunate Aeadians had they been able to 
 remain in the country. They were now gathering it 
 in for their enemies, or it would be destroyed. It 
 was difficult for the people to realize that they were 
 to be removed. They did not fully believe it till their 
 lingering hope died with the commencement of 
 their long, sad wandering in a strange country and 
 among a strange and unsympathetic people — a wan- 
 dering that was to leave them destitute, attacked by 
 disease, worn out and heart-broken with the distress 
 of their lives till many were relieved by death. 
 
 It was the 8th of October before the final embaeka- 
 TiON began. A few more transports had arrived, and 
 as the season was colder, it became necessary to 
 hasten the disagreeable work. Orders had been sent 
 to the people to prepare themselves to go on board 
 the ships. On the 7th, twenty-four Aeadians escaped 
 from two of the vessels. Suspecting one of the men, 
 Francois Hebert, as the contriver or abettor of the 
 escape, whether guilty or innocent, he was ordered 
 ashore, having gone on board that day with his 
 effects, and his house was burned before his eyes. 
 Notice was then given that if the men who had 
 
118 GRAND-PRt. 
 
 escaped did not return in two days, all their friends 
 would be served in the same manner and all their 
 household goods confiscated. Through the efforts of 
 P^re Landry, who interceded for them, twenty-two 
 of the men returned quietly to the yessels. Two of 
 them were shot by a search party while trying to escape. 
 
 On the 8th, Winslow wrote : " Began to embark 
 the inhabitants, who went off solentarily (sic) and 
 unwillingly, the women in great distress carrying off 
 their children in their arms; others carrying their 
 decrepit parents in their carts, with all their goods, 
 moving in great confusion, and appeared a scene of 
 woe and distress." Grand-Pre and the Gaspereau 
 valley were cleared of inhabitants in a short time. 
 Vessels were at Boudro's Point, between Canard and 
 Cornwallis rivers, to receive the people of that part of 
 Minas, but there were not enough to accommodate 
 them. They were crowded to suffocation, and much, 
 if not all of their goods, were left on the shore, where 
 they were brought in carts. When the English 
 settlers came in 1760, the remains of carts, furniture 
 and household goods were found where the Acadians 
 were compelled to leave them. Affairs dragged along 
 slowly and wearily until the 37th of October, when 
 the fleet set sail, and conveyed from Minas as many as 
 it was possible to crowd into the transports. There 
 were fourteen vessels, two convoyed by frigates, in this 
 fleet, an average of two hundred and seven to each ves- 
 sel. Three were for Philadelphia, one for Boston, four 
 for Maryland and five for Virginia. 
 
 Prom Port Edward, Winslow sent an account to 
 Governor Lawrence, dated. October 27th, of what was 
 
GRAND-PRi. 119 
 
 being done. "We began to embark the inhabitants 
 and shipped the whole of Grand-Pre and Gaspereau, 
 and to expedite the affair sent Capt. Adams with half 
 the party, to encamp between the rivers Canard and 
 Habitant at a place called Boudro Point, where the 
 inhabitants of those rivers, and all of Larure (?), 
 Habitant and Pereau were ordered to be, and in com- 
 pliance of those orders actually came with all their 
 families and effects. ... It was conclud.ed to 
 ship as many of the inhabitants as could be sent by 
 the vessels we had, and forward them to the places 
 to which your Excellency assigned them, which on 
 the 31st was completed, and the transports fell down 
 under the convoy. . . . And although I put in 
 more than two to a ton, and the people greatly 
 crowded, yet remains upon my hands, for want of 
 transports, the whole village of Antoine and Landry, 
 and some of the Canard, amounting to ninety-eight 
 families, and upward of six hundred souls, all of 
 which I removed from Boudro Point to Grand-Pre, 
 where I have at present set them down in houses 
 nearest the camp, and permit them to be with their 
 families upon their word of being at any call ready 
 to embark and answering to their names upon the 
 roll-call at sunset in the camp." 
 
 All the inhabitants being removed from the north 
 side of Minas Eiver, Winslow ordered the houses and 
 BAENS TO BE BURNED. This was douc ou the Gas- 
 pereau as well. Enough houses to accommodate six 
 hundred and fifty people were left standing in the 
 vicinity of Grand-Pre, and were not destroyed till 
 December. * 
 
120 IRAND-PRi. 
 
 HOUSES BURNED BY WINSLOW. 
 
 Houses. Barna. Outhouses. 
 
 Nov. 2, at Gaspereau 49 39 19 
 
 " 5, Canard, Habitant, Pereau. 76 81 33 
 
 "6, " " 85 100 75 
 
 "7, " " 45 56 28 
 
 Total 255 276 155 
 
 Houses 255 
 
 Barns 276 
 
 Outhouses 155 
 
 Mills at the several places 11 
 
 Church 1 
 
 Total 698 
 
 Shipment by Winslow 1,510 
 
 " Osgood 732 
 
 Total 2,242 
 
 On the 14th of November Winslow set out for 
 Halifax with an officer and fifty men, ninety men 
 having been despatched to Annapolis on the 3rd. 
 Captain Osgood was left in command at Grand-Pre, 
 where six hundred and fifty Acadians were held till 
 transports should arrive to bear them away. Two 
 vessels sailed with three hundred and fifty of the 
 French on the 13th of December, one for Boston and 
 one for Connecticut; and on the 30th the last of the 
 unfortunate people were sailing away from the 
 country that was never again to be their home, two 
 hundred and thirty persons in two vessels, one for 
 Boston and one for Virginia. 
 
 I shall not dwell on this closing scene of the 
 
GRAND-PRt.^ 121 
 
 Acadian occupation of Grand-Pre and Minas. Harsh 
 words are useless. The chief designer, Lawrence, has 
 been stigmatized as having brought about the depor- 
 tation of the Acadians. Of the same blood and race, 
 I have been a dweller of Minas for twenty-three years. 
 My home has been in sight of the, dykes and marshes 
 of the Grand-Pre, the Basin of Miaas. I have 
 visited a great part of the country of Minas once 
 occupied by the Acadians. The willows set out 
 by them mark many of their former villages. Their 
 orchards still bear fruit, and their cellar walls yet 
 mark the places where they lived and died, many of 
 them, and from which hundreds of them were driven 
 to leave their bones in other lands. My ancestors 
 found their way back to Hova Scotia, and settled on 
 the shore of St. Mary's Bay, where their numerous 
 descendants are to-day. By some strange chance I 
 am here, the only Acadian of whom I know, living 
 amid the same scenes that knew the people of Minas 
 from 1671 to 1755. 
 
 From Historical and Genealogical Record of the first 
 settlers of Colchester County, by Thomas Miller, as told 
 by an Acadian woman who witnessed the events. 
 
 On the second day of September, 1755, the French In- 
 habitants of Cobequid Village (now Masstown), lying on the 
 north side of the bay, and upper part of the Township of* 
 Londonderry, were engaged in their fields at their work, it 
 being harvest time. With the afternoon tide three vessels 
 were seen coming up the Bay. Two of them prepared to 
 anchor, one opposite the Village, and the other at Lower 
 Cobequid, whilst the third ran further up the shore. Curi- 
 osity was rife. Who were they, and whither were they 
 going ? Their curiosity was still heightened by the appear- 
 ance of a person in the garb of a curate, who informed them 
 that the following notice was posted on the door of the 
 Church : " To the Inhabitants of the Village of Cobequid, 
 and the surrounding shores, as well ancient as young men 
 
122 GRAND-PRt. 
 
 and lads, ordering them all to repair to the Church the 
 next day at three P. M. and hear what he had to say to 
 them." Signed by John Winslow. 
 
 Meanwhile the sailors landed, and were freely supplied 
 with milk, and anything they wanted, by the farmers. 
 Small parties of Soldiers landed, chatted with the people, 
 examined their farms, or strolled to the uplands in search 
 of partridges, and in the afternoon of the third day of 
 September they joined the people as they repaired to the 
 Church. The moon rose, and the sisters strolled out and 
 ran to the Church to ascertain the cause of their delay. 
 When they arrived at the Church, to their great astonish- 
 ment, they found it surrounded by soldiers, who answered 
 their inquiries by pointing their bayonets, and ordering 
 them to go home. They met many of the women from the 
 houses nearest the Church, and all anxious and sad at the 
 detention of their friends. At daybreak the following 
 notice was read, which was stuck on the fence opposite 
 the Church : " Cobequid, September 4, 1755. All officers, 
 Soldiers, and Seamen employed in His Majesty's Service, 
 as well as all His subjects, of what denomination soever, are 
 hereby notified that all cattle, viz., horses, homed cattle, 
 sheep, goats, hog^s, and poultry of every kind that was sup- 
 posed to be vested in the French inhabitants of this Pro- 
 vince, have become forfeited to His Majesty, whose prop- 
 erty they now are ; and every person of what denomination 
 soever. Is to take care not to hurt, destroy, or kill any of 
 the above named animals, nor to rob orchards or gardens, 
 or to make waste of anything in these districts, without 
 special order given at my camp, the day and place to be pub- 
 lished throughout the Camp, and_at the Village where the 
 Vessels lie. Signed by John Winslow, Lleut.-Colonel Com- 
 manding." 
 
 When the people read this notice they were speechless 
 with terror ; death stared them in the face. In the mean- 
 time three hundred men and boys found themselves close 
 prisoners in their own Church. Some of the boys screamed 
 aloud, some attempted to force the door, but they were 
 overawed by the muskets of their guards. Day dawned at 
 length over the wretched prisoners ; they wished to be 
 allowed to return to their families for food ; this was re- 
 fused, but their families were ordered to supply food to 
 them. A few of these prisoners were sent out during the 
 day to inform those who dwelt at a distance from the 
 Church if they did not immediately surrender, their houses 
 would be burnt and their nearest friends shot. One of these 
 messengers attempted to escape ; he was shot, and his house 
 and barn set on fire. Thus the work of destruction wa*" 
 
GRAND-PRt. 123 
 
 commenced. About 200 married womea and upwards of 100 
 young women, besides children, were ordered to collect what 
 they could of apparel, and prepare to embark. In vain the 
 men entreated to know whither they were going, but no an- 
 swer was given. By noon, the 5th of September, the beach 
 was piled with boxes, baskets and bundles ; behind them 
 were crowds of weeping women and children ; children cry- 
 ing for their mothers, and mothers looking for their chil- 
 dren ; sick men and bedridden women were carried by 
 strong maidens, or tipped out of their carts which bore 
 them to the spot. A little before highwater the prisoners 
 in the Church were ordered to form six deep and march to 
 the place of embarkation ; they refused to obey the com- 
 mand. The troops were ordered to fix bayonets and advance 
 on the prisoners. This act produced obedience, and they 
 commenced to march. When they came to the beach, and 
 saw their property, their mothers, wives, children, and 
 sisters kneeling on each side of the road, one long, loud 
 wail of anguish went up from them on account of being 
 so suddenly torn away from their houses and homes, the 
 place of their nativity, their flocks and fields, which were 
 then covered with the crops of the season, with some of 
 the wheat cut, and the remainder ready for cutting, and 
 separated from their wives and families, leaving behind 
 them their Church and the graves of their kindred, to be 
 dispersed among strangers in a strange land, — among a 
 people whose customs, laws, language, and religion were 
 strongly opposed to their own. The women were ordered 
 the same afternoon to embark in another ship. About mid- 
 night all were on board, except one or two women who had 
 escaped to visit their forsaken houses the next morning, 
 and witness the sad havoc that had been made the night 
 before by some of the British soldiers who remained, by 
 setting fire to a number of the houses of the village. 
 Among these was the Chapel, of 100 feet in length and 40 
 feet in breadth, which contained a large, heavy bell. This 
 chapel stood in a field which is now owned by Alexander 
 Vance, near the house of Mr. Lightbody, of Masstown. 
 This place took its name from the fact that the French had 
 their place of worship or Masshouse there. Mr. Vance In- 
 formed the writer, that he had recently ploughed up some 
 of the melted metal of the bell, and the spot upon which 
 it stood was pointed out by Mr. Thomas Fletcher, who was 
 one of the first settlers in this place after the French were 
 driven out. , .^, ^ ^ 
 
 The transport ship with the men on board drifted down 
 to the mouth of the Avon River, and there awaited the 
 other vessel that had the women <uid children on board. 
 
124 GRAND-PR^. 
 
 At daybreak she was In sight, and they drifted down the 
 Bay with the saddest freight on board that ever sailed out 
 of Cobequld ; and as the vessels stood out to pass Bloml- 
 don, the third vessel that had run further up the Bay 
 joined them, freighted with the French Inhabitants who 
 were gathered from the places now called Onslow, Truro, 
 Clifton, and Selma. With a favorable wind these miserable, 
 houseless, homeless wanderers were borne out of sight of 
 the place of their nativity ; night hid from their view for- 
 ever the blue mountains of Cobequld. 
 
 It may here be mentioned that while the French In- 
 habitants of Truro were hunted by the British soldiers as 
 the partridge on the mount, some of them fled for a hiding 
 place, and encamped In the woods up the Salmon River, In 
 the deep of the brook Mr. William Murray had his mills on 
 recently, and from this the brook took Itsi name as French 
 Village Brook. One of the females who had escaped, or had 
 been left behind on account of a boat being overloaded, re- 
 turned that night to her former place of abode, and there 
 remained during the night altogether unconscious. In the 
 morning, when she returned to consciousness, she was too 
 weak to stand ; It was some hours before she realized the 
 full horrors of her situation. After a time she was able to 
 crawl to the door, and there the scene which surrounded 
 her was fearful. The first object she beheld was the 
 Church, the beautiful Mass House, a blackened heap of ruins. 
 She was recalled to a sense of her forlorn situation by her 
 cow which came to her, asking by her lowing to be milked. 
 She milked her cow and partook of some of the milk with a 
 crust of Wread, which revived her so much that she set out 
 to see If she could find any one remaining In the village ; 
 but there was no one to be found. Cattle had broken Into 
 the fields, and were eating the wheat ; horses were running 
 In droves through the fields. On the evening of that day, 
 cows and goats came up to their accustomed mllklng-place, 
 and lowed around the deserted dwellings ; pigs yet fastened 
 In the pens squealed with hunger ; and the oxen, waiting In 
 vain for the master's hand to free them from the yoke (for 
 they were used In moving the goods to the vessels), were 
 bellowing In agony of hunger ; they hooked and fought 
 with each other, running through the marsh, upsetting the 
 carts or tumbling Into the ditches, until death put an end 
 to their sufferings. The pigs were rooting up the gardens. 
 She sat down on the doorstep beholding the desolation of 
 the Village, when an Indian approached her, and told her to 
 come with him. She Inquired the fate of her people. 
 " Gone," said he, " all gone," pointing down the Bay ; " the 
 people everywhere are prisoners ; see the smoke rise, they 
 
GRAND-PR±. 125 
 
 will burn all here to-night." He pointed up the Bay ; two 
 or three blazing fires attested the Indian's story as too true. 
 He assisted her in gathering some of the most valuable 
 things that were left. The Indian then piloted her to his 
 wigwam, near the edge of the forest ; here she found about 
 a dozen of her people, the remnant left of what was once 
 the happy settlement of the village of Cobequid (now 
 Masstown). They waited about the woods on the north 
 side of the Bay for more than a month to see if any more 
 stragglers could be found before they would start to go to 
 Miramichi. At length they were joined by about twenty of 
 the French inhabitants who had escaped from Annapolis. 
 These persons informed them that the houses and crops in 
 Annapolis were burnt by the soldiers who were sent up the 
 river to bring them to the ships. Some fled to the woods ; 
 some, besides this party, crossed the Bay, intending to go 
 to Miramichi through the woods. After another week's 
 travel they met with a party that had escaped from 
 Shepoudie (now called Shubenacadie). From these persons 
 they learned that about two hundred and fifty buildings 
 were burned along the sides of the river, and that while 
 they were firing the Mass House there, the Indians and 
 French rallied and attacked the British soldiers, and killed 
 and wounded about thirty of them, and drove the remainder 
 back to the ships. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The Acadians in Exile — The Return. 
 
 1755-1766. 
 
 We have shown how awful in its results was the 
 deportation, both in robbing this country of a prosper- 
 ous people, and in depriving that people of a home, 
 and separating families and kindred in widely divided 
 places in New England.* Lawrence and the chief 
 agents in this shameful act received twenty thousand 
 acres of the Acadian land. This was reduced to five 
 
 * Extracts taken from a letter written in 1758, three 
 years after the deportation, from citizens of Halifax to 
 some distinguished person in England, concerning the state 
 of the Province : 
 
 " The haughty and disdainful behaviour of Governor 
 Lawrence . . . and it was publicly declared by his 
 creatures In office here . . . that those who have be- 
 haved with integrity and honesty would soon be displaced. 
 He has publicly called his Council a pack of scoundrels, 
 the merchants a parcel of villains. . . . Is it possible, 
 sir, that people can be easy under such a Governor ? Our 
 distresses have arisen from the malevolent disposition of 
 Lawrence and his creatures. . . . Whatever specious 
 crime may be alleged against Lord Charles Hay, his co^ 
 flnement was solely due to Governor Lawrence's Insinua- 
 tion to Lord Loudon, upon . . . and speaking too con- 
 temptibly of what had been done for the mighty sums 
 expended In Nova Scotia. . . . It Is with pleasure we 
 hear that the accounts of Nova Scotia will be strictly 
 enquired into, as we are very sure, if sifted to the bottom, 
 it will be found that not less than 10,000 pounds of rum, 
 molasses (of which there was not less than 30,000 gallons, 
 which was worth £3,000), beef, pork, etc., etc., provisions 
 
 126 
 
GRAND-PRt. 127 
 
 thousand by the Lords of Trade. He himself had the 
 handling of the wealth in products and live stock 
 which the Acadians left, and the lion's share of that 
 wealth was his. The deportation was worked out in 
 a ni6st heartless manner, to prevent, if possible, the 
 reunion of families, and their return to Acadia. A 
 great many died in a few years, on account of the 
 hardships they had to bear. A small proportion of 
 them found their way back to their former homes. 
 Their descendants number one hundred and fifty thou- 
 sand in the Maritime Provinces to-day, but the great 
 purpose of the deportation was carried out: their land 
 was offered to English settlers, and finally taken by 
 them; and the wealth of the Acadians was devoted to 
 others. In the course of years many documents that 
 would throw light on the events of 1755 were lost or, as 
 many think, destroyed. The recovery of papers in 
 England and France led to the reconstruction of Aca- 
 dian history, and is changing opinion in regard to many 
 events of that time. A grudging justice is being done 
 
 and much merchandise for the supply of the Indians and 
 French inhabitants which were taken at Fort Beausejour, 
 neither distributed as a reward to the captors nor 
 accounted for, except some small quantity of beef and pork 
 sold to the Commissary, . . . and which was extremely 
 bad and decayed, and certified by Governor Lawrence as 
 provisions sent by Governor Shirley. That the cattle, etc., 
 etc., of the Acadians were converted to private uses, of 
 which we know 3,600 hogs and near 1,000 head of cattle 
 were killed at Pizlquid alone and sent by water to other 
 places, and what at other forts is yet a secret, all unac- 
 counted for to the amount of a very large sum ; and he 
 and his Commissary are now under great perplexity, and 
 contriving to cover this Iniquitous fraud. . . . That 
 £30,000 has been laid out on batteries not worth thirty 
 pence for the defence of this place in the judgment of 
 every person acquainted therewith." 
 
128 GRAND-PRt. 
 
 to the unfortunate people who had suffered so much at 
 the hands of merciless men. 
 
 The story of an exiled and wandering people can- 
 not be written, save in fragmentary accounts of indi- 
 viduals separated from their own families and 
 kindred, and in the general account of a few gathering 
 bands who, with their own home far away from them, 
 sought to find their way back to their country. It must 
 be a history of suffering and grief, of hardship and sick- 
 ness and death. A story of children left without 
 parents, and helpless among strangers; families 
 broken up and scattered in such a way lend at such a 
 time, would give us a thrilling and pathetic story, but 
 the very conditions of their life prevent the recording 
 of events. Here and there, in their wandering back 
 to Acadia, we get a glimpse of them, but often only 
 through the increase in those familiar Acadian names 
 in various parts of the provinces do we know of the 
 return of the exiles, and many of these do not know 
 their own history. 
 
 We cannot long follow the Acadians in Exile. The 
 story of Minas is ended. " Dispersed by the orders 
 of Lawrence, decimated by malady, deprived of spirit- 
 ual succor and human consolations, received with mis- 
 trust and contempt, placed in a desperate situation 
 without any visible way out, crushed under the 
 burden of an overwhelming woe, could they again 
 become attached to life, set themselves once more to 
 work and resume their former hopes?" 
 
 In other parts of the country the Acadians met the 
 same fate as those at Minas. Between 1755 and 
 1763, it is believed that fourteen thousand out of the 
 
GRAND-PrA. 129 
 
 eighteen thousand Acadians of the maritime country 
 were removed. Of these at least eight thousand 
 perished through grief, destitution, disease and other 
 causes. 
 
 The only instance found where any arrangement had 
 been made to receive the Acadians on their removal 
 from Nova Scotia is in the Eecords of Connecticut; a 
 resolution passed in October, 1755, to receive, take care 
 and dispose of the people. The Governments of the 
 other provinces complained that they had not been 
 apprised of the intei^tion of Lawrence to quarter on 
 them the dep6rted^ people. 
 
 On the arrival of several vessels in Boston harbor, 
 a committee appointed to learn the condition of the 
 Acadians, reported of two vessels that the people were 
 sickly, one from being too crowded with forty on deck 
 and the other from very bad water. Another had 
 forty lying on deck, and all the vessels too much 
 crowded. They had too small an allowance of food to 
 carry them to their destination. A few were permitted 
 to land. 
 
 Only a small portion of the people were put ashore 
 in the northern ports of New England, except at 
 Boston, where two thousand were landed. New York 
 and Connecticut received, respectively, two hundred 
 and three hundred. The remainder were distributed 
 in Pennsylvania, M^aryland, the Carolinas and Georgia. 
 In Philadelphia they were at first forbidden to land, 
 but after being over two months on the vessels, the 
 three overcrowded ships gave up their unhappy 
 freight. The last reference to these is in the city 
 records of 1766, when a petition was tabled which 
 9 
 
130 GRAND-PRi. 
 
 asked for the payment for coflBns provided for the 
 French N'eutrals. Death had reduced them from four 
 hundred and fifty to two hundred and seventeen. 
 
 South Carolina furnished the fifteen hundred Aca- 
 dians who landed there, with vessels to return. After 
 many hardships and misfortunes, they reached St. 
 John Eiver, on the Bay of Pundy, reduced to half 
 their number. 
 
 Those who reached Georgia were again banished. 
 They were permitted to make boats, and in these 
 they made their way back as far as Massachusetts, 
 when an order from Lawrence caused their boats to 
 be seized and themselves to be made prisoners. 
 
 Others made their way to Louisiana and settled. 
 Their numbers increased by the arrival of others till 
 1788, from San Domingo, Guiana, the ports of New 
 England, and from France. Their descendants now 
 number about fifty thousand. 
 
 Of those who landed in Massachusetts, Hutchinson, 
 the historian, says : " It is too evident that this unfor- 
 tunate people had much to suffer from poverty and 
 bad treatment, even after they had been adopted by 
 Massachusetts. The different petitions addressed to 
 Governor Shirley about this time are heartrending." 
 This condition gradually lessened till they were able 
 to leave the State for Canada. 
 
 Virginia refused to accept the fifteen hundred who 
 were to be landed there. They remained on the ships 
 till at length they were taken to England. 
 
 Pour of the twenty ships never reached their destin- 
 ation. One was lost, two were driven by storm to 
 
GRAND-PRt. 131 
 
 San Domingo, and the fourth was taken by the Aca- 
 dians themselves, and returned to Acadia. 
 
 In New York, in the counties of Weschester, Rich- 
 mond, Suffolk, Kings and Queens, eighteen heads of 
 families, numbering with their wives and children 93 
 persons, were distributed. This was in 1756 and 1757, 
 in the time of Gov. Hardy and Lieut.-Gov. Delancy. 
 The list of May 6, 1756, gives the names of the follow- 
 ing persons, each with his wife and the number of their 
 children : 
 
 Charles Savoit, 8. Michael Richard, 6. 
 
 Charles Lamolten, 1. Alexander Etbert, 5. 
 
 Ba Selena. Prances Commo, 7. 
 
 Francis Quela, 8. John Malie, 7. 
 
 Daniel Oavon, 8. Glode Daucet, 8. 
 
 Francis Martain, 5. Joseph Blanchard, 3. 
 
 Zakare Richard, 6. Peter Lome, 3. 
 
 John Martin, 2. Louis Giroid, 6. 
 
 Jerema Gouder, 2. Sera Etbert, 8. 
 
 A special act was passed on July 9, 1756, to empower 
 the Justices of these counties to bind out " such of- 
 His Majesties subjects commonly called Neutral French 
 
 as have removed from Nova Scotia to this colony." 
 
 " Whereas it has been judged necessary for his majes- 
 ties service to remove his Subjects of Nova Scotia, com- 
 monly Called Neutral French, from to Some other of his 
 Majesties Colony's and in Consequence thereof a certain 
 number has been received into this Colony Poor, Naked and 
 destitute of every convenience and Support of life to the 
 End that they may not continue as they now really are 
 useless to his Majesty themselves and a Burthen to this 
 Colony. 
 
 " Be It Enacted by his excellency The Governor, the 
 
132 GRAND-PR^. 
 
 Council and the General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted 
 by the authority of the same — That his Majesties Justices 
 of the peace of the said several and respective County's, or 
 any two of them the whereof to be of the Quorum, Shall 
 be and hereby are empowered and required to bind with 
 Reputable Families such of them as are not arrived to the 
 age of Twenty-one Years for such a space of time as the 
 said Justices shall Judge proper, not exceeding the time 
 they shall respectively attain the age of Twenty-one Years. 
 During which time they shall be Obliged faithfully and 
 Industriously to discharge their Service as other indented 
 persons within this Colony are. 
 
 "And be It Provided and Enacted that if any Such Per- 
 son or Persons within the age of Twenty one years are 
 already become useful Subjects, and are able to maintain 
 themselves by their labour without continuing a Burthen 
 to the publick then the respective Justices Shall by this 
 act have no power to bind out any Such Person or Per- 
 sons, but are directed and Required to leave them to sup- 
 port themselves by their own Industry and Labour. And 
 be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid that the 
 said Justices are hereby directed and required to treat the 
 said people committed to their care with all the Justice in 
 their power. Observing to make a most favorable con- 
 tract for them both as to time of Service and the Con- 
 sideration to be paid them when their time of service 
 Shall be expired, whether it be in Impliments of Trade, 
 Clothing or other Gratuity." 
 
 We find that under this Act 110 young Acadians, 58 
 girls and 53 boys who came in August, 1756, from 
 Georgia with Acadian families, were put out to ser- 
 vice. One young man and nine young women, con- 
 trary to the Act, heing over age, were bound out to 
 service. For a time a number of them were also 
 detained on Governor's Island, New York Bay, and by 
 August 26, 1756, they were distributed through the 
 
grand-prA. 
 
 133 
 
 counties of Winchester and Orange. The heads of 
 families and their children. 
 
 Paul Divon, wife, 2 children 
 
 John Kase. 
 
 John Diron, • 
 
 ' 1 
 
 
 Peter Dusa. 
 
 John Badrow, ' 
 
 ' 1 
 
 
 Jeremiah Juinah 
 
 Michael Basua, ' 
 
 • 4 
 
 
 Francis Dusa. 
 
 John Bartel Urian, ' 
 
 ■ 2 
 
 
 Joseph Belivo. 
 
 John Baptiste Urian, ' 
 
 ' 2 
 
 
 John Bomau. 
 
 Veter Sur, 
 
 ' 1 
 
 
 Paul Woodrow. 
 
 John Divan, ' 
 
 ' 1 
 
 
 Joseph Juiah. 
 
 Peter Besha, ' 
 
 ' 5 
 
 
 Joseph Guillan. 
 
 Peter Dusau, ' 
 
 ' 5 
 
 
 Joseph Gilboa. 
 
 Michael Borua, ' 
 
 ' 1 
 
 
 Frances Savoy. 
 
 Joseph Sur, ' 
 
 ' 2 
 
 
 John Thoaang. 
 
 Francis Bodrou ' 
 
 • 2 
 
 
 Peter Bisbaur. 
 
 Michael Gooda. 
 
 
 Peter Gassing. 
 
 Charles Gooda. 
 
 
 John 
 
 Baptist Bostrong. 
 
 John Richard. 
 
 
 Jaik Jiruah. 
 
 Joseph Dusah. 
 
 
 Julian Bula. 
 
 Louis Jiruah. 
 
 
 
 
 Official statistics show 332 Acadians arrived in the 
 colony of New York in May and August, 1756. 
 
 Westchester received 141 Suffolk received 44 
 
 Orange " 81 Queens " 44 
 
 Richmond " 13 Kings " 9 
 
 Over the county 55 minors were bound out. 
 
 From time to time parties of these people arrived at 
 New York from Georgia. Sheriff Willet, on August 
 29th, 1756, charged the Government with the care of 
 44 French Neutrals. Some of these were sent to New 
 Castle, Bedford and other places, £14: 2s. Nine more 
 of them distributed by Justice TJnderhill, Oct. 16, 
 1756, at a cost of about six pounds. 
 
134 GRAND-PRt. 
 
 In July of the year 1757, a party of Acadians who 
 had been at or near Weschester, escaped from that place, 
 and were again captured near Fort Edward on their 
 way to Crown Point. In August, the New York 
 Council directed the Sheriffs of the several counties to 
 secure the French Neutrals in the jails of the several 
 counties. This order was obeyed. Sheriff Hillyer of 
 Eichmond, Statten Island, on August 13, 1757, inform- 
 ed Archibald Kennedy, President of the Council, that 
 he had confined in Richmond jail all Acadians except 
 women and children. He demanded money for the 
 support of the guards to watch the prisoners. This 
 the county authorities refused, so he appealed to the 
 Council. 
 
 Daniel Jauncey, a New York merchant, on Dec. 19, 
 1757, petitioned the New York authorities on behalf 
 of the Acadians. He offered to furnish at a small 
 expense shipping from New York to any place the 
 Government might wish to transport them. Nothing 
 came of it, however. 
 
 In 1765, the Marquis de Fenelon offered to take 150 
 of the New York Acadians and settle them in the West 
 Indies (French), of which he was the Governor. Gov. 
 Colden seems to have ignored the offer. 
 
 Aug. 35, 1768. — Came on sloop "Swallow" from 
 Quebec, Benj. Bennoi, wife, two children, Michael 
 Dugas, Edward Dugas, John Dugas, Peter Daufatt 
 (Doucette). 
 
 April 28, 1756. — Captain Andrew Dunning, of a 
 sloop, brought a number of French Neutrals from Cape 
 Sables, but ordered not to land them. 
 
 Aug. 6. 1756. — Jaques Morris, a French Neutral, 
 
GRAND-PR& 135 
 
 came to town with two small vessels full of Acadians 
 from GTeorgia, but last from Barnstable. He was 
 warned not to land the people in the town — five men, 
 sixty women and children. Fifty of above people 
 were brought in sloOp Lemmon, Barnabas Gibbs, mas- 
 ter, from County of Barnstable, also warned not to 
 land them. 
 
 Benjamin Smith took to his house at west part of 
 town, Peter Landrie, a French JSTeutral from Mitlan. 
 
 John Thibodeau, and wife Margaret, Paul and 
 Joseph Tibbedeau their sons, Mary and Elizabeth 
 Tibbideau their daughters, Mary Le Berthere grand- 
 daughter, came from the town of Eeading, and 
 had to be provided for. They were allowed per day 
 for five persons three half pecks Indian meal, one peck 
 rye, pork, beef and sauce, and two quarts of milk. 
 
 May 36, 1760, — The selectmen looking into the 
 state of the Acadians sent to the town, wrote the fol- 
 lowing letter to the General Court, who are to dis- 
 pose of them through the country: 
 
 Boston, May 37th, 1760. 
 " Gentlemen : — 
 
 " The subscribers, Selectmen of the Town of Boston, 
 Agreeable to the request and desire of the Committee 
 Appointed by the General Court to Apportion a Num- 
 ber of the French Inhabitants among the Several 
 Towns in the County of Suffolk, have made Such Pro- 
 vision for Said Inhabitants as was Necessary for their 
 Comfortable Support as they came into the Town. 
 We expected to have had the Care of them but about 
 two or three days, it is now three weeks. We t^k§ 
 
136 GRAND-PRi. 
 
 leave to Inform the Committee that we are so Engaged 
 in the Town's business that we Cannot possibly attend 
 to this Affair for any Longer time than- this week, the 
 Committee therefore will be pleased after that time to 
 make Such provision for the Inhabitants aforesaid as 
 they in their wisdom shall think proper. 
 
 We with great respect remain 
 
 your most Obedient Servts. 
 
 The Selectmen. 
 To the Honble. Sam'l. Watts, Esqr., and others a 
 Committee, &c." 
 
 Feb. 18, 1761. — Francis Eobishaw at the workhouse 
 was taken down with smallpox, and was moved to Dr. 
 Gardner's Hospital. He was able to be moved March 
 11, 1761. 
 
 Mar. 17, 1761. — Joseph Brow, sr., referred to in 
 letter from Hingham, was not voted ian allowance for 
 the charge of his support at Weymouth. The town 
 then had Peter Daucet ordered to that town. 
 
 April 39, 1763. — Abijah Adams directed to provide 
 a cart to move Joseph Laneau, family and furniture, 
 to Dorchester. He was assigned to this town but was 
 so ill he could not travel. His wife and two children 
 were with him and the town was at considerable ex- 
 pense. The family were to be returned if they became 
 a charge. 
 
 Mar. 29, 1763. — John Benewoy was taken sick while 
 on a visit to Boston and had to be supported. 
 
 Sept. 22, 1760. — The town of Brookline charged by 
 Boston for his care and supplies. Dorchester was also 
 charged with care and supplies on account of Joseph 
 
GRAND-PRt. 137 
 
 Laune (Lanne) also taken sick while on a visit to Bos- 
 ton. ilO 7s. 9d. 
 
 March 29, 1762. — Maria Theresa Lebeaux assigned 
 to Newton was also taken sick. £3 7s;. 
 
 April 28, 1763. — It was desired to send the wife 
 and two children to the husband, Joseph Lenean, as- 
 signed to Eoxbnry. They wished to be with him. 
 Boston agreed to defray expenses if they became a 
 charge or had to be returned. 
 
 April 27, 1763. — Margaret Benneway in a suffering 
 condition. Medway ordered to pay expenses of her 
 keep. 
 
 May 18, 1763. — Mr. Benjamin Fitch informs the 
 Selectmen he has taken into his house as tenant, James 
 Eber and family, last from town of Dartmouth. 
 
 Having through seven years deported these people 
 to New England, the authorities of Nova Scotia still 
 believed they had a just right to send others as thej? 
 fell into their hands, or, as occasion seemed to show, 
 when they could not make any further use of them. It 
 is no wonder that the New England people began to 
 think the imposition had been carried on long enough. 
 
 Sept. 15, 1762. — The Selectmen of Boston learned 
 that a number of. transport vessels had arrived in the 
 harbor from Halifax, having on board a large num- 
 ber of Acadians, by order of the Government of the 
 Province. Also that some of the people had been 
 landed. The transport was visited to ascertain the 
 name of the vessels and their commanders. The 
 ship, Tjyon, Lovel Permel, commander; Exchange, 
 Michael Pole, commander; Charming! Nancy, Francis 
 Haynes, commander; schooner Charming Nancy, John 
 
138 GRAND-PR^. 
 
 Malony, commander; sloop Despatch, Wm. Scott, com- 
 mander; Hopson, Thomas Dood, commander. The 
 captains were then written to as follows: 
 
 " Boston, September, 1762. 
 " Sir, being informed that you have a number of 
 Acadians on board the vessel you Command, which 
 you have brought from Halifax in Nova Scotia, in 
 Company with a number of other Transports. For 
 your government with respect to this matter we would 
 inform you that by the laws of this Province you can- 
 not suffer any one of your Passengers to land without 
 first returning a list of them into the Import OflBce 
 and giving a bond to prevent their being a Town or 
 Province Charge, to prevent under the penalty of One 
 Hundred Pounds Lawful Money, for every Passenger 
 you so suffer to land, we therefore give you this notice 
 that you may avoid the Penalty aforementioned, as 
 you may depend that we shall exact the same unless 
 you strictly adhere to the Law in this case made and 
 provided. 
 
 "Your most hum. Servants." 
 
 The South Carolina Gazette of November 6, 1755, 
 announced that the Baltimore Snow is hourly ex- 
 pected from the Bay of Fundy with some transport 
 vessels, having a number of Neutral French on board 
 who were being distributed among the British colonies. 
 On the 30th, more of the people arrived, and so on for 
 several weeks the arrival of the Acadians was reported 
 until one thousand and twenty of them had been 
 brought into Charleston. The presence of the people 
 seems to have created considerable uneasiness in the 
 
GRAND-PRt. 139 
 
 colony after some months. In February, 1?56, two 
 parties of them attempted to escape. On the 12th they 
 had been brought back with the exception of about 
 thirty of them. A party of five or six had supplied them- 
 selves with firearms and clothes, and some money from 
 a house on the plantation of Mr. John Williams, on the 
 Santee, while he was absent, much to the terror of his 
 wife. The people of the neighborhood raised the 
 alarm, and went after them, but they escaped to the 
 river. The people had not been captured up to the 
 19th, but the people determined that there would not 
 be a repetition of these escapes. The Acadians had 
 intimated that they could easily make their way 
 through the different colonies into Canada, and seemed 
 determined not to stay in the country. Their stay of 
 several months in Carolina, had not apparently satis- 
 fied them to stay, and efforts were being made for their 
 escape. 
 
 On April 1st, a party of Acadians had arrived from 
 Georgia, still with the heartfelt hope that they would 
 be permitted to pass through the country as they had 
 already done, until they reached Nova Scotia. Vain 
 hope for many of them, in truth, for they did not 
 realize the purpose of their removal from their homes. 
 
 On the 15th, eighty Acadians went off in seven 
 canoes as far as Sullivan's Island, and put to sea next 
 morning to proceed along the coast to the north west, 
 having obtained passports, and three hundred more 
 were soon to follow. Such were the frantic efforts 
 these poor people were making to reach their old homes. 
 
 Under Governor Lyttleton, the first act was to dis- 
 pose of the Acadians in Charleston, The act recited 
 
140 grand-prA. 
 
 that it was necessary to dispense the Acadian families 
 into the different parts of the province, to prevent the 
 danger of infectious diseases breaking out among them, 
 because many of them were dwelling in close and incon- 
 venient habitations in the hot season of the year. Also 
 to prevent their doing any mischief. It was provided that 
 four-fifths of the Acadians should be sent out and dis- 
 persed through the other parishes at the public expense, 
 to be defrayed by a general tax on the estates, real and 
 personal, in the province. The church wardens and 
 vestry of the parishes were charged with providing for 
 their support for three months unless they could dis- 
 pose of them before. They were authorized to bind 
 the Acadians for a term of years to such persons as 
 would be vfdlling to take them. The remaining fifth 
 were to be provided for in the towns by the .church 
 wardens and vestry of St. Philips. The Acadians 
 were prohibited from having firearms. The Acadians 
 in one way or another ultimately left the province. 
 But few remained. Among these are the family of 
 Lanneau in Charleston. 
 
 Eleven persons were assigned to Worcester. They 
 were supported by the province. They consisted of: 
 an aged man and woman sixty-five or seventy years of 
 age, past labor, the female very weak; a girl about 
 seventeen years old, who employs her whole time in 
 taking care of the old people. They have four sons 
 who support themselves. In this family are Jean 
 Hebert and M. Lebere. Justin White le Blanc, and his 
 FifCj aged about thirty, both very feeble, the man in- 
 clining to consumption, and unfit for labor; they have 
 three small children, the eldest about five years old, 
 
GRAND-PR^. 141 
 
 all chargeable; one of the children has been born very 
 lately, so that the whole number now is twelve. 
 
 These families, torn from their homes, reduced from 
 comparative affluence to desolate poverty, thrown 
 among strangers of different language and religion, 
 excited pity for their misfortunes. 
 
 Their industry and frugal habits, and mild and 
 simple manners attracted regard, and they were treated 
 here with great tenderness. They cultivated a little 
 tract of land, were permitted to hunt deer at all seasons, 
 and aided in their own support by laboriag as reapers 
 and by manufacturing wooden implements. Although 
 they tilled the soil, they kept no animals of labor. The 
 young men drew fuel and material for fencing on the 
 ground, with thongs of sinew, and turned the earth 
 with a spade. So deep was their feeling of their suf- 
 ferings in their violent removal, that any allusion to 
 their native country drew from them a flood of tears. 
 The aged persons died broken-hearted. In 1767, the 
 remnant removed to Canada among their countrymen. 
 The town then granted £7 to lay in stores and pay the 
 passage of John Lebere to Quebec, and authorized the 
 Selectmen to raise the same by loan. 
 
 Some of the exiles stopped in Baltimore, where they 
 had been brought from Grand-Pre. They appear to 
 have been received with .a generous hospitality there. 
 Private houses were thrown open to them. In the old, 
 deserted mansion known as the Reverdy Johnston 
 house, which stood on the northwest corner of Calvert 
 and Fayette streets, where the Court House is now 
 situated, they were given the use of the habitable 
 rooms. Here they established a little chapel, and it 
 
142 GRAND-PR]^. 
 
 was not long before the industrious people were able 
 to build comfortable homes of their own on South 
 Charles street, near Lombard. This quarter was long 
 known as " French Town." Prominent among these 
 settlers were the names of Guttro, Le Blanc, Berbine, 
 Gould, and Dashield. 
 
 The simple altar they erected in the Johnston 
 building, was followed by the commodious structure at 
 St. Charles and Saratoga streets,, called St. Peter's 
 Church. In time this became too small for the needs 
 of the growing congregation, and on July 7th, 1806, 
 the comer-stone of the present cathedral was laid by 
 Bishop Leonard Neale. 
 
 In Marshfield, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, 
 are records of the Acadians after the deportation. 
 They occupied one of the old Winslow houses, owned 
 by Col. John Winslow, by whom the dispersion from 
 Grand-Pre was effected. An amulet which evidently 
 belonged to an Acadian was found in recent years in 
 the ruins of the cellar of the old house, long demol- 
 ished. In August of 1755, Winslow had written to 
 Governor Lawrence: — "As to poor Father Le Blanc, 
 I shall, with your Excellency's permission, send him to 
 my place." This was written at Grand-Pr6. This 
 purpose was not carried out, however, and Eene Le 
 Blanc was seized and confined, and his large family 
 scattered through the different colonies. One of the 
 families kept in Marshfield was named Midhel. Only 
 as late as 1761 is there any record concerning them. 
 Each year, till 1778, appropriations were made at town 
 meetings to those who supplied the needs of the people. 
 These names were, Winslow, Thomas, Carver, Water- 
 
GRAND-PR£. 143 
 
 man, Ford, Whitelow, and Stockbridge. Here, as 
 elsewhere, they did not adapt themselves to the life of 
 New England. Their religion, and characteristics, 
 and the ban of their fate, worked against them for 
 many years. 
 
 The Revolutionary period saw many of Marshfield's 
 citizens associated with the loyalist party, particularly 
 the "Winslows. 
 
 When peace was concluded between Prance and 
 England, in 1763, a few thousand of the Acadians 
 started for Canada, where they settled. Three years 
 later, another band having gathered in Boston, about 
 eight hundred persons began the long march by land 
 for their loved Acadia. Men, women, and children, 
 with but little food, toiled on through the forests of 
 Maine, and up the Bay of Eundy to the isthmus of 
 Shediac. Four months had been spent on the way, 
 and they learned that their former homes were 
 in the possession of others, and Grand-Pre was not 
 for them. There the greater number of them remained, 
 and their numerous descendants are dwelling there 
 to-day. A small band of fifty or sixty continued 
 round the shores, passing through Beausejour (now 
 Cumberland), Piziquid, and Grand-Pre. Everything 
 was changed. The English had been in the country 
 for six years, and new houses stood where the undis- 
 turbed ashes of hundreds of their homes had lain till 
 1760. 
 
 "The children were frightened by them, the men 
 and women were annoyed as by a threatening spectre 
 from the grave, everybody was angry with them, and 
 the poor wretches dragged themselves from village to 
 
144 GRAND-PR^. 
 
 pillage, worried and worn out by fatigue, hunger and 
 cold, and a despair that grew at every halting-place," 
 till they reached Annapolis. On the deserted shore 
 of St. Mary's Bay they at last found themselves, 
 having tramped a thousand miles, to be driven to a 
 barren country. "Under pressure of necessity, these 
 unfortunate outcasts raised log huts; they took to 
 fishing and hunting; they began to clear the land and 
 soon out of the felled trees some roughly-built houses 
 were put up." Such was the origin of the colony of 
 the Acadians in Digby County. Here was the home 
 of my ancestors after 1775. 
 
 Note. — Seventy of the leading inhabitants of Grand-Pr6 
 and Piziquid had been sent to Halifax, on the demand of 
 Lawrence for deputies to represent those places. Fifty of 
 these were sent away on a vessel from Halifax and in this 
 way separated from their families, and the result affected 
 five or six hundred individuals composing them. The 
 remainder were sent to Annapolis, in the vessel which was 
 to take away more people from the place. We have this 
 fact to show in what way the heads of families, the leaders 
 of the people, were sent away and not permitted to go with 
 their families. 
 
 In a petition to the king, the Acadian exiles at Phila- 
 delphia write : " . . . It is a matter of certainty that, 
 in the year 1730, General Philipps, Governor of Nova 
 Scotia, did confirm unto us and all the inhabitants of the 
 whole extent of the Basin of Minas . . . the free and 
 entire possession on those lands we were then possessed 
 of ; which by grants from the former French Government 
 we held to us and our heirs forever, . . . and agree- 
 able to the oath that was then administered to us. . . . 
 ' We sincerely promise and swear, by the faith of a Chris- 
 tian, that we shall be entirely faithful, and will truly sub- 
 mit ourselves to His Majesty King George, whom we 
 acknowledge as sovereign Lord of New Scotland, or 
 Acadie, so God help us.' .... That they should have 
 the true exercise of their religion and be exempted from 
 bearing arms, and from being employed in war, either 
 against the French or Indians. . . . Under this sanction 
 
GRAND-PRt. 145 
 
 . . . we had the greatest reason to conclude that Your 
 Majesty did not disapprove of this ahove agreement. . . . 
 It was required that our deputies should, on behalf of all the 
 people, renew the oath formerly taken, to General Philipps, 
 which was done without any mention of bearing arms, and 
 we can with truth say that we are not sensible of altera- 
 tion in our disposition and conduct since that time. . . . 
 The French made frequent incursions into our country, in 
 order to annoy that settlement, whereby we came exposed 
 to many straits and hardships. . . . About the time of 
 the settlement of Halifax, General Cornwallis did require 
 that we should take the oath of allegiance without the ex- 
 emption before allowed us of not bearing arms ; but this 
 we refused, as being an Infringement of the principal con- 
 dition upon which our forefathers agreed to settle under 
 the British Government. . . . After the settlement of 
 Halifax, we suffered many abuses and insults from Your 
 Majesty's enemies. . . . our cattle were killed, our 
 houses pillaged, and many of us personally abused and put 
 in fear of our lives, and some even carried away prisoners 
 to Canada, solely on account of our resolution steadily to 
 maintain our oath of fidelity to the English Government ; 
 particularly Ren6 Le Blanc was taken prisoner by the 
 Indians when actually travelling in Your Majesty's ser- 
 vice, his house pillaged and himself carried to the French 
 fort, and he did not recover his liberty but with great 
 difficulty after four years' captivity. . . . Yet it can- 
 not be expected but that amongst us, as well as amongst 
 other people, there have been some weak and false-hearted 
 persons, susceptible of being bribed by the enemy so as to 
 break the oath of fidelity. . . . Not long before our 
 being made prisoners the house in which we kept our con- 
 tracts, records, deeds, etc., was invested with an armed 
 force and all our papers violently carried away, none of 
 which to this day have been returned us. . . . On send- 
 ing a remonstrance to the Governor and Council, no 
 answer was returned. . . . Eighty of our elders were 
 suipmoned ... to take the oath of allegiance without 
 the exemption. . . . We refused. ... We would 
 gladly renew our oath of fidelity. . . We were imme- 
 diately made prisoners. . . . Our estates both real and 
 personal were forfeited. Those at home were summoned 
 to appear before the commanders of the forts, which we 
 showing some fear to comply with on account of the 
 seizure of our papers, and the imprisonment of so many of 
 our elders, we had the greatest assurance given us that 
 there was no other design but to make us renew our for- 
 
 10 
 
146 GRAND-PRE. 
 
 mer oath of fidelity ; yet as soon as we were within the 
 fort the same judgment was passed on us as had been 
 passed on our brethren at Halifax, and we were also made 
 prisoners. . . . 
 
 . . . We were transported into the English Colonies, 
 and this was done with so much haste and with so little 
 regard to our necessities and the tenderest ties of nature, 
 that from the most social enjoyment and afiSuent circum- 
 stances, many found themselves destitute of the neces- 
 saries of life. Parents were separated from children, hus- 
 bands from wives, some of whom have not to this day met 
 again ; and we were so crowded in the transport vessels 
 that we had not room even for all our bodies to lay down 
 at once, and consequently were prevented from carrying 
 with us the proper necessaries, especially for the support 
 and comfort of the aged and weak, many of whom quickly 
 ended their miseries with their lives. And even those 
 amongst us who had suffered deeply from Your Majesty's 
 enemies, on account of their attachment to Your Majesty's 
 Government were equally involved in the common calam- 
 ity, of which Ren§ Le Blanc is a remarkable instance. He 
 was seized, confined and brought away among the rest of 
 of the people, and his family, consisting of twenty children 
 and about one hundred and fifty grS,nd-children were scat- 
 tered in different colonies, so that he was put ashore at 
 New York with only his wife and two youngest children, 
 in an infirm state of health, from whence he joined three 
 more of his children at Philadelphia, where he died with- 
 out any more notice being taken of him than any of us, 
 notwithstanding his many years' labor and deep suffering 
 for Your Majesty's service. ... In this great distress 
 and misery we have, under God, none but Your Majesty 
 to look to with hopes of relief and redress. ..." 
 
 Strivings for reunion continued as late as 1786, 
 thirty years after the great separation, and the 
 number of families yet incomplete was considerable. 
 Yet we must not forget what time and circumstances 
 have wrought of change in the condition of the 
 descendants of this people. A considerable and not 
 unimportant part of American and Canadian nation- 
 ality to-day, they live their days, and" fill all the 
 walks of life. They know themselves las French with 
 
grand-pr£. 147 
 
 the same feelings that affect the descendants of any 
 people. Yet they realize the changed conditions of 
 their life and adapt themselves to them, as others 
 have had to do. And like these peoples, they resent 
 the imputations cast against them and the coercive 
 efforts of certain irresponsible or unreasonable por- 
 tions of the public press who make capital of race 
 cries, and seem pleased to perpetuate race animosity. 
 It is remarkable that only twenty years after the 
 deportation of the Acadians the New England colonies 
 rose in revolt, and finally severed their connection 
 with the mother country. Emissaries were sent into 
 Canada to urge the Acadians who had removed there, 
 and the large Erench population which was long 
 established in the north, to cast their lot with New 
 England in breaking the tie which held the colonies 
 to England. Their mission was fruitless, however, 
 and the French remained faithful to the British 
 crown. Had Canada risen against the authority 
 which had obtained in the country, there would 
 probably have been no British America today. 
 
CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 The English Settlers at Minas. 
 
 It is known that all the Acadians were not removed 
 in 1775. Many of them remained in the country, 
 hiding in. the woods. As they formed into bands and 
 gathered together in different parts of the Province 
 they were taken away. Iii 1764, there were only 
 2,600 Acadians, mostly females and children, remain- 
 ing. In 1768, Nova Scotia had only 1,068. When 
 the English came in, six years after, they met with 
 Acadians who had not eaten bread for five years. 
 For six years the land remained idle. Canard and 
 Habitant became Cornwallis township, and was 
 settled at the same time with Horton. Settlers came 
 from Connecticut and settled in Minas. In 1759, the 
 Government made an effort to secure people. The 
 country had been surveyed and laid off in townships 
 of one hundred thousand acres. The land had been 
 viewed by agents for the people who were to come. 
 On the 4th of June, 1760, twenty-two vessels arrived, 
 convoyed by a brig of war. Where they landed, sixty 
 ox-carts and yokes were found, which had been left 
 by the Acadians when they brought their goods to 
 embark, five years previous. In many places the 
 bones of sheep and horned cattle were seen, evidently 
 those of. animals that had died for want of food. 
 Everywhere they found the ruins of houses near the 
 
 148 
 
GRAND-PRt. 149 
 
 little orchards or garden plots. The dykes, neglected 
 for so long, let in the tide, and the settlers were glad 
 to get the assistance of the Acadians to repair them 
 and build other new ones. 
 
 Lawrence in a proclamation issued on the 12th day 
 of October, 1758, inviting settlers from the old colonies, 
 describes as "One hundred thousand acres, of which 
 the country has produced wheat, rye, barley, oats, hemp, 
 flax, etc., without failure for the last century; and 
 another hundred thousand acres are cleared and stocked 
 with English grass planted with orchards and embel- 
 lished with gardens, the whole so intermixed that 
 every individual farmer might have a proportionate 
 quantity of plowed land, grass land, and wood land." 
 
 Agents were sent from New England to look over 
 the country, and learn the conditions. As a result of 
 these enquiries and the demand for a guarantee of 
 civil and religious liberty, another proclamation was 
 issued to satisfy all, and preparations were made to 
 bring the people to the depopulated country. 
 
 The other portions of Minas, including Grand-Pre 
 and Gaspereau, and called Horton, comprised one 
 hundred thousand acres. This township was also 
 settled in 1760. Two hundred settlers from Con- 
 necticut were invited to take the lands. The grants 
 were in fee simple, subject to quit-rents. A block- 
 house, called Port Montague, was built near the site 
 of the old Vieux Logis, overlooking the meadows 
 and the mouth of the Gaspereau. Here also the 
 dykes had been broken by a terrible storm which 
 occured in 1759. It was some years before the 
 people could jepair the dyke, and not until 1810 was 
 
150 GRAND-PRJE. 
 
 the whole meadow shut in from the tide. The 
 settlers brought cattle with them, and the Grovern- 
 ment bore the expense of transporting the people and 
 their goods and animals. They at first suffered from 
 the severity of the winter, and some of them were 
 provided with provisions by the Government. 
 
 France and England signed a treaty of peace in 
 1763; yet as late as 1765 there were Acadian 
 prisoners at Port Edward — at one time as many as 
 four hundred. After that time they were permitted 
 to take up land. 
 
 The English Minas increased in population, and 
 many names have come down to us from these early 
 settlers. In 1771, Wm. Walsh and Labbeus Harris 
 represented Horton in the Provincial Assembly, and 
 Dr. Samuel Willoughby and Captain Stephen West 
 were sent from Cornwallis. The latter was also 
 justice of the peace for that township. In 1763 
 Horton and Cornwallis had 
 
 No. of 
 Families. 
 
 Acru of Cleared v/p 
 MarMand. Acres. 
 
 Woodland. 
 
 Total 
 Acres. 
 
 Horton 154 
 Cornwallis 128 
 
 5,000 3,000 
 3,000 2,000 
 
 92,000 
 95,000 
 
 100,000 
 101,000 
 
 " To His Excellency Montague Wilmot, Governor of 
 Nova Scotia. 
 
 " The memorial of the inhabitants of King's County 
 humbly sheweth 
 
 "That the French Acadians who have hitherto been 
 stationed in this country have been of great use as 
 laborers in assisting the carrying on of our business 
 in agriculture and improvement in general, but par- 
 ticularly in the repairing and making dykes, a work 
 
GRAND-PRi.. 151 
 
 which they are accustomed to, and experienced in, 
 and we find that without their further assistance 
 many of us cannot continue our improvement, nor 
 plow or sow our lands, nor finish the dyking still 
 required to secure our lands from the salt water; and 
 being convinced from experience that unless those 
 dyke-lands are enclosed we cannot with certainty raise 
 bread for our subsistence. 
 
 " Your . . . will be pleased to take this matter 
 into consideration to admit the Acadians to remain 
 with us the ensuing summer as hitherto, which enables 
 them to labor at much lower wages than if obliged to 
 purchase provisions, especially at the high price which 
 ■ they now bear in country, and which will lead greatly 
 to the encouragement and success of these infant 
 settlements. 
 
 " And your . . . 
 
 " John Burbidge, 
 Samuel Willouohbt, 
 Samuel Bkokwobth, 
 Wm. Canady, 
 Handly Chifman, 
 
 ©■.i « Elisba Lothrop, '\ ^.i 
 
 l>'a'S'S Silas Crane, ^| ""S 
 
 •« a a g Nathan De Wolf, h | ,= | "g 
 
 i s 
 
 „oC Robert Dbnnison, ■" oSfi 
 
 £S~5 Wm. Welsh." ) ^^ 
 
 The Frencb- neutrals who were at work for the 
 inhabitants in Kings and' Annapolis were ordered to 
 Halifax. One hundred and thirty were removed in 
 1762. 
 
 Eeturns of the families, with their effects, who 
 settled in Cornwallis and Horton for the year 1763: 
 
 Horton— Families, 122; persons, 689; wheat, 991 
 bush; rye, 172 bush; Indian corn, 1,070 bush; potatoes, 
 4,613 bush; horses, 99; oxen, 159; cows, 302; young 
 cattle, 402; gheep, 369; swjne, 162, 
 
152 GRAND-PRt. 
 
 Cornwallis — Families, 135; persons^ 656; wheat, 
 1,759 bush; rye, 368 bush; Dats, 3,900 bush; potatoes, 
 13,569 bush; horses, 133; oxen, 195; cows, 395; 
 young cattle, 469; sheep, 495; swine, 395. 
 
 Missionaries carried on their work in ways peculiar 
 to their times. A letter written ia 1791 gives us a 
 picture of the day: 
 
 " As to the religious opinions and professions of the 
 inhabitants I shall only observe in general that a few, 
 and but very few, belong to the Established Church 
 (Scotland) ; a few, but I believe more than the former, 
 are Presbyterian dissenters. The Methodists bear the 
 sway, most all of them Yorkshire. . . . Those of 
 the original settlers from New England who remain 
 have chiefly become New Lights; without prejudice it 
 may be said of both sectaries, that being unenlightened 
 by knowledge and united by delusion, animated by 
 party-spirit and carried away by a religious-like zeal, 
 they seem to vie with each other iu the wildness and 
 the absurdity of their opinions and practices, and 
 they seem to breathe fire and vengeance against each 
 other and against everybody else." Such were the 
 times. 
 
 The history of the Eev. George GUmore, the second 
 Presbyterian minister in Horton, will be read with in- 
 terest. He was bom ia Antrim, studied in Edinburgh, 
 married and had children in Ireland. Came to Phila- 
 delphia in 1769. Early in the Eevolutionary war he had 
 to flee for his life iuto Canada. In 1785 he was in 
 Halifax making claims for losses resulting from the 
 war, as he had espoused the Loyalist cause. He was 
 granted a farm on a barren hill, and during one 
 
GRAND-PRt. 153 
 
 winter he and his family lived on potatoes and milk. 
 In his distress he walked to Halifax to mortgage his 
 farm for a barrel of flour, but failed to do so. He 
 continued to preach in Windsor, and finally, in 1791, 
 he came to Horton, where he died in 1811. His grave 
 is in the burying-ground near the old Covenanter 
 Church at Grand-Pre. His gravestone is inscribed 
 in LatiQ. 
 
 The old Scotch Church at Grand-Pre was begun in 
 1804, and completed about 1818. This relic is very 
 interesting, and is much visited every year. Old trees 
 surround it and the graveyard adjoining, in which 
 the " forefathers of the hamlet sleep." The stiff, 
 high-backed pews remain, and overlooking the neglected 
 interior yet stand the lofty pulpit and sounding-board. 
 
 With the growth of Wolfville is naturally associ- 
 ated the development of Acadia University and the 
 increasing strength of the Baptist body in this 
 portion of the country. The first survey of the 
 country provided for the building of towns, but 
 natural conditions favored their growth elsewhere. 
 A small cluster of houses formed near what was 
 called the "Mud Bridge," which has since become 
 Wolfville. Before the railway passed through, vessels 
 were loaded alongside the main street. The rich 
 land and a beautiful situation, with other favoring 
 conditions, the chief of which was the establishing 
 of the college here, led to the development of the 
 university town of Wolfville. Waterworks, electric 
 lights, sewerage, and well laid-out streets and beautiful 
 residences, with all the conditions of a clean town and 
 the promise of continued growth, make this classic 
 
154 GRAND-PR^. 
 
 centre the rendezvous of tourists wlio seek Grand- 
 Pre. 
 
 Acadia College sprung into being from the needs of 
 the Baptists for an educational institution at a 
 time when its adherents were a small factor in Nova 
 Scotia. In 1827 several educated young men having 
 adopted Baptist principles and entered the ministry, 
 their influence, with the demands of the older minis- 
 try, brought about the result which has been of so 
 much benefit to Baptist teaching ever since. In 
 March, 1839, the school known as the Horton Academy 
 was opened. In 1836 the collegiate institution was 
 commenced, supported by the Baptists of Nova 
 Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. 
 The university and affiliated institutions at the pres- 
 ent time include the College, the Ladies' Seminary 
 and the Academy or Preparatory School, and the 
 Manual Training School. The energy and faith of its 
 supporters are manifest in the effort that is being 
 made for larger endowments to increase the efficiency 
 of the schools. 
 
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CHAPTEE XIII. 
 The Origin of "Evangeline." 
 
 I HAVE been asked many times how it was that 
 Longfellow* came to write his poem " Evangeline." 
 The following is a correct account of it: 
 
 In 1845 Hawthorne and a Rev. Father ConoUy, of 
 South Boston, dined one day with Longfellow. After 
 dinner the priest said he had been trying to persuade 
 Hawthorne to write a story based upon a legend of 
 Acadia, told to him by Mrs. Haliburton, a mem- 
 ber of his congregation, — the story of a young girl 
 taken from Grand-Pre with all her people. In 
 exile she was separated from her lover, and 
 they sought each other in vain until the girl be- 
 came a Sister of Charity, when, advanced in years, 
 she was one day called to nurse a patient who 
 had been brought low with sickness. In him she 
 recognized the lover of her youth. Longfellow won- 
 dered that this legend did not strike the fancy of 
 Hawthorne, and said to him : " If you have really 
 
 * Longfellow was born In Portland, Maine, February 
 27th, 1807, at the corner of Fore and Hancock Streets. 
 His early life was passed in the Longfellow House on 
 Congress Street. His father was a laywer, Stephen Long- 
 fellow ; his mother, Zilpha, daughter of Gen. Peleg Wads- 
 worth. His wife died in 1835. In 1843 he married Miss 
 Fanny Appleton. Her death occurred in 1861. Longfellow 
 died March 24th, 1882, and was buried in Mount Auburn 
 Cemetery, in Cambridge. 
 
 156 
 
156 GRAND-PRE. 
 
 made up your mind not to use the story, will you give 
 it to me for a poem?" Hawthorne assented to this, 
 and promised, moreover, not to treat the subject in 
 prose till Longfellow had seen what he could do with 
 it in verse. It seems that Connoly had been urging 
 Hawthorne to write the story. The priest had been 
 told the facts of the story by Mrs. George Haliburton, 
 an aunt of Judge Haliburton, the author of " Sam 
 Slick." This well-known Nova Scotian published, in 
 1829, a history of Nova Scotia. He Imew many of 
 the Acadians who had returned to the Province after 
 their wanderings in New England. Longfellow made 
 use of this history and Reynal's work when writing 
 the poem. 
 
 The picture of Evangeline, opposite page 23 of this 
 volume, was painted by Thomas' Eaed, an English 
 artist. His brother made a steel engraving of it. The 
 picture was taken from the face of a Manchester 
 working girl. 
 
 " Sat by some nameless grave and thought that perhaps in 
 Its bosom 
 He was already at rest, and she longed to slumber be- 
 side him." — Longfellow. 
 
 In 1838 Havrthorne wrote: "H. L. C. heard 
 
 from a French-Canadian a story of a young couple in 
 Acadia. On their marriage-day all the men of the 
 province were summoned to assemble in the church 
 to hear a proclamation. When assembled, they were 
 seized and shipped off to be distributed through New 
 England, among them the new bridegroom. His 
 bride set off ia search of him, wandering about New 
 
GRAND-PRt. 157 
 
 England all her lifetime, and at last, when she was 
 old, she found her bridegroom on his death-bed. The 
 shock was so great that it killed her likewise." 
 
 The following extracts taken from his Journal show 
 the development of the poem: 
 
 November 28th, 1845.— Set about " Gabrielle," my idyl 
 in hexameters, in earnest. I do not mean to let a day go 
 by without adding something, to it. F. [Mrs. Longfellow] 
 and Sumner are both doubtful of the measure. To me it 
 seems the only one for such a poem. . . . December 
 7th. I know not what name to give to — not my new baby, 
 but my new poem. Shall it 'be " Gabrielle," or " Celestine," 
 or " Evangeline " ? 
 
 January 8th, 1846. — Striving, but, alas, how vainly ! to 
 work upon " Evangeline." One interruption after another, 
 till I long to fly to the desert for a season. . . . 12th. 
 The vacation at hand. I hope before its close to get far 
 on in " Evangeline." Two cantos are now done, which is a 
 good beginning. . . . May 20th. Tried to work on 
 " Evangeline." Unsuccessful. Gave it up and read 
 LegarS's letters. . . . November 12th. I long to be 
 fairly at work on " Evangeline." But as surely as I hope 
 for a free day something unexpected steps in and deprives 
 me of it. . . . 17th. I said as I dressed myself this 
 morning, To-day at least I will work on " Evangeline." 
 But no sooner had I breakfasted than a note came from 
 
 , etc. . . . And now it is past eleven o'clock, and 
 
 the sun shines so brightly upon my desk and papers that I 
 can write no more. . . . December 10th. Laid up with 
 a cold. Moped and mowed the day through. Made an 
 effort, however, and commenced the second part of " Evan- 
 geline." I felt all day wretched enough to give it the 
 sombre tone of coloring that belongs to the theme. 15th. 
 Stayed at home, working a little on "Evangeline ;" plan- 
 ning out the second part, which fascinates me — if I can 
 but give complete tone and expression to it. . . . 17th. 
 Finished this morning and copied the first canto of the 
 second part of " Evangeline." The portions of the poem 
 which I write in the morning I write chiefly standing at 
 my desk here [by the window], so as to need no copying. 
 What I write at other times is scrawled with a pencil on 
 my knee in the dark, and has to be written out afterward. 
 This wiay of writing with a pencil and portfolio I enjoy 
 
158 GRAND-PRi. 
 
 much ; as I can sit by the fireside and do not use my eyes 
 [then weak]. I see a panorama of the Mississippi adver- 
 tised. This comes very d propos.. The river comes to me 
 instead of my going to the river ; and as it is to flow 
 through the pages of the poem I look upon this as a special 
 benediction. . . . January 14th. Finished the last 
 canto of " Evangeline." But the poem is not finished. 
 There are three intermediate cantos to be written. . . . 
 26th. Finished second canto of Part II. of " Evangeline." 
 . . . February 23rd. " Evangeline " is nearly finished. 
 I shall complete it this week, together with my fortieth 
 year. . . . 27th. " Evangeline " Is ended. I wrote the 
 last lines this morning. . . . March 6th. A lovely 
 spring morning. I began to revise and correct " Evan- 
 geline " for the press. Went carefully over the first canto. 
 . . . 31st. Got from the printer the first pages of 
 " Evangeline." . . . April 3rd. The first canto of 
 " Evangeline " in proofs. Some of the lines need pound- 
 ing ; nails are to be driven and clinched. On the whole, I 
 am pretty well satisfied. Fields came out in the afternoon. 
 I told him of the poem, and he wants to publish it. . . . 
 4th. Sumner and Felton came to tea, and we discussed 
 " Evangeline." I think Sumner is rather afraid of it still ; 
 
 and wants me to let it repose for a six-month 
 
 9th. Proof sheets of " Evangeline " all tattooed with 
 Folsom's [his friend the chief proof reader at the Uni- 
 versity Press] marks. How severe he is ! But so much 
 the better. . . . May 26th. Corrected proof sheets of 
 " Evangeline." October 2nd. Why does not Ticknor pub- 
 lish " Evangeline " ? I am going to town to ask him that 
 very question. And his answer was that he should do so 
 without further delay. . . . 30th. " Evangeline " pub- 
 lished. . . . November 8th. " Evangeline " goes on 
 bravely. I have received greater and warmer commenda- 
 tions than on any previous volume. The public takes more 
 kindly to hexameters than I could have Imagined. 
 
 Strange to relate, Longfellow never saw Grand-Pre. 
 As was natural, certain errors occur in the poem, which 
 only a study of the country could have avoided. 
 I have noted a few discrepancies, topographical and 
 historical. The poem is, in the main, correct. The 
 people were made to suffer all the horrors described. 
 Families and friends were separated. 
 
GRAND-PrA. 159 
 
 "This Is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and 
 hemlocks." 
 
 In the year 1710 a terrible forest fire swept over 
 the country from Gaspereau to the Piziquid. It is 
 probable that the extensive forests covering the 
 mountains to the east were also destroyed at the same 
 time. The great quantity of wood which had to be. 
 brought to supply the Acadians must have come from 
 a long distance — as some writers say, from the east 
 side of the Avon. Only a small patch at the head of 
 that river remained. When the English settlers came 
 in 1760 they passed laws for the protection of the wood 
 then standing. For many years the new growth was 
 small, and consisted of spruce, fir, white birch, poplar 
 and white pine. It is said that in the previous year a 
 cyclone had laid prostrate the forest from Annapolis to 
 East Hants. Over a great part of this territory the 
 soil is thin on the mountain, and once the fire started 
 in the next year nothing could stop the fearful march 
 of the flames till it reached the Avon. 
 
 " Naught but tradition remains of the beautiful village of 
 Grand-Prg." 
 
 Of late years much has been learned of the Aca- 
 dians and of their villages. Grand-Pr6 proper was a 
 very small village. 
 
 "Vast meadows stretched to the eastward." 
 
 The marshes lie chiefly to the north, 
 
 "but at stated seasons the flood-gates 
 Opened, and welcomed the sea to wander at will o'er the 
 meadows." 
 
 Gates are not opened to let in the salt water. The 
 
160 GRAND-PRt. 
 
 land is remarkably fertile, and has been producing 
 crops for many years without renewing. Some of 
 the land is very valuable as hay land, and is rated as 
 high as four hundred dollars per acre. After the 
 deportation, in the year 1769, before the Acadian 
 lands were again occupied, the dykes were broken 
 and the meadows flooded. Again, in 1838, the 
 extremely high tide broke over the dykes and flooded 
 many thousand acres of land. The famous Saxby 
 tide of 1869 overtopped the highest dykes by some 
 inches, and in many places the protecting walls were 
 broken down and much damage was done by the salt 
 water. On the Wickwire dyke, near Wolfville, it 
 was several years before the dykes were built, and a 
 year or so before the productive power of the soil was 
 restored. Salt water has the effect of killing the 
 ordinary vegetation of the meadows, under certain 
 conditions. 
 
 " West and south were the fields . . . 
 Spread afar and unfenced o'er the plain." 
 
 There is no plain to the south of Grand-Pre, for 
 the country is hilly, with gentle slopes till it falls 
 away to the Gaspereau valley. 
 
 " Benedict Belief on talne, the wealthiest farmer of Grand- 
 Pt6." 
 
 Oliver Bellefontaine, living in the village of Gas- 
 pereau, is the only one of the name to be found in 
 Winslow's list. There was no priest in Minas in the 
 autumn of 1755, he having been removed during the 
 summer. 
 
 " Gentle Evangeline lived." 
 
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GRAND- PRE. 161 
 
 The only Bellefontaine had no daughter, according 
 to the list above mentioned. Gabrielle Lajennesse was 
 not a name known at Minas. 
 
 Eene Le Blanc was the notary. 
 
 "Anon from the belfry 
 Softly the Angelus sounded." 
 
 The troops had taken the church for a storehouse, 
 and it was within the picket enclosure, and under 
 strict guard. 
 
 In the matter of time there is great discrepancy. 
 No doubt the poet had not access to Winslow's journal 
 at the time of writing the poem. 
 
 " Then uprose the commander, and spake from the steps 
 of the altar." 
 
 He was seated at a table in the open space of the 
 building, and from there he read the proclamation. 
 
 " Lo ! the door of the chancel opened, and Father Fellcian 
 entered." 
 
 This scene could not have been enacted, as there 
 was no priest in the country. Nor was there a 
 service afterwards. 
 
 " Thus to the G'aspereau's mouth they hurried ; and there 
 on the sea-beach 
 Piled in confusion lay the household goods of the 
 peasants." 
 
 The men had been taken on board the transports, 
 and were there some time before the rest of the 
 people were ordered to embark. The sad scene on 
 the beach and the subsequent etobarking, are crea- 
 tions of the poet's fancy. 
 U 
 
162 GRAND-PR^. 
 
 On the 4th of August, 1755, the cure ot Minas had 
 been ordered to Halifax, and was detained there. 
 On the 10th, Le Maire, priest of Canard River, was 
 also a prisoner. There was now not a priest left to 
 the French of the Annapolis valley. This was a 
 severe punishment at all times; for their religion, 
 and the officers of their religious worship they deemed 
 their dearest possession. This move on the part of 
 Lawrence left the way open for the use of the church 
 and the priest's house by Winslow, when he came to 
 Grand Pr6. It left them without the guides they 
 placed every confidence in, and, on the other hand, 
 it removed a possible obstacle to a complete trap set 
 for the Acadians. 
 
CHAPTBK XIV. 
 
 Geology of Minas— The Tides— Minerals of Minas— 
 Geological Structure. 
 
 Geology teaches us that at an early date following 
 on the carboniferous or coal age, the Forth Mountain 
 did not exist, and the waters of the ocean lay over 
 the whole of the Annapolis Valley from the South 
 Mountain eastward to the Cobequid hUls, and north 
 to New Brunswick. The common action of rivers, 
 tides, frost, rain and sun upon the carboniferous lime- 
 stone, slate and saindstone, and other rocks which 
 made up the surface of the earth and the beds of 
 streams, rivers and seas formed immense deposits of 
 mud and sediment which were laid down level under 
 the water and became rock. Then occurred a warp- 
 ing, or change' in this deposit, and what is known as 
 the red sandstone was in many places exposed to 
 view. Along the shores of Minas it can be seen, as 
 well as on the shores of Cumberland and Annapolis 
 basins. The action narrowed the Bay of Fundy to 
 somewhat like its present limits. In many places 
 can be traced the channels of long extinct rivers and 
 v/aterways at a great altitude above sea-level. 
 
 Following this change of feature came the great 
 internal force that rent the earth, and poured forth 
 masses of 'tfioiten niatter which spread over the sand- 
 stone, and were piled up from iPive Islands in Cumber- 
 
 163 
 
164 grand-prA. 
 
 land to the western limit of Digby County. The 
 North Mountain was thus formed, and at Blomidon 
 can be seen the trap or volcanic rock overlying the 
 red sandstone. 
 
 To the geologist the study of this region is of 
 unending interest. With the subsequent cooling of 
 the trap rock, great seams and cracks appeared 
 throughout the mass, which were eventually filled up 
 with the chemical elements in crystalline forms, such 
 as zeolites, amethyst, calcites, etc., found in more or 
 less abundance along the extent of the mountains. 
 Between Blomidon and Partridge Island, about five 
 miles, is the great passage-way of the tides which rise 
 and fall in filling and discharging the immense body 
 of water that passes in and out twice in twenty-four 
 hours. The continuity of the mountain of trap is 
 broken here, unless it extends under the water. 
 Digby Gap is another break in the mountain wall. 
 
 Now the marsh building begins. The great streams 
 where the broad marshes now lie were open seas at 
 high tide; and at low tide great gaping basins and 
 channels through which long rivers flowed from hun- 
 dreds of valleys. Mountain rivers, swollen to torrents, 
 carried down earthy matter fed to them by rains or 
 torn from their own banks and channels; and all 
 this rich sediment poured into the tidal waters was 
 in great part at once checked in its onward move- 
 ment, and fell to the bottom of the slower moving 
 salt water. About the time of high tide the upland 
 streams, losihg almost all motion, gave up their 
 freights of marsh material, which, mixing with the 
 ^ea elements, were laid down to become, in the course 
 
GRAND-PRt. 165 
 
 of centuries, the richest and most productive of land. 
 Many broad valleys were filled up in this way, only 
 a long, windiag, and comparatively narrow channel 
 remaining for the escape of the mountain streams. 
 Doubtless a certain proportion of this accumulation 
 of marsh was supplied by the incoming tide, moving 
 rapidly upward to the heads of its source, and there 
 throwing down the fine particles of material held 
 suspended while its movement was rapid. 
 
 At certain periods the tides are higher than at 
 others. At present only these higher tides cover the 
 marshes that have not been dyked. The deposition 
 of material is yet taking place; for the most part, 
 probably, changing place. This is shown in many 
 places by the comparative height, of the land inside 
 and outside the dykes, there being a difference of 
 several feet. The whole soil has a reddish color, due 
 to the presence of iron. 
 
 The character of the whole Minas region has been 
 modified and marked by the wonderful Fundy tides. 
 On the seaboard at Halifax the rise of the tide is 
 about sLs feet, and there is but little variation over 
 the whole of the coast. At the opening of the Bay 
 of Pundy the height of the spring tide increases, and 
 at Yarmouth it is sixteen feet. At Digby it is 
 twenty-seven feet, and at Parrsboro it is forty-three 
 feet. At the mouth of the Shubenacadie Eiver it 
 occasionally attains the extraordinary elevation of 
 seventy feet. 
 
 " The Bore " is a wall or wave of advancing waters 
 at the head of the iaeoming tide. The salt water 
 at low tide leaves many of the rivers of Minas 
 
166 GRAND-PRt. 
 
 Basin with nothing but a narrow stream or channel 
 of fresh water flowing through them. On either 
 side level " flats " of sand are left bare of water. 
 When the tide returns the empty river channel is 
 filled in six hours, or about a foot of rise in seven 
 minutes. On the Peticodiac Eiver the bore some- 
 times attains the height of ten feet. The rush of 
 water is often at the rate of eight miles an hour, and 
 at some points nearer the sea the tide moves over ten 
 miles an hour. 
 
 The explanation of the tidal phenomenon lies in the 
 ' fact that Atlantic tides moving up along the coast 
 line of Cape Cod are met by the peninsula of Nova 
 Scotia, and forced upward iuto the narrowing limits 
 of the Bay of Fundy. This great volume of water is, 
 so to speak, thrown into the Basin of Minas and up 
 the rivers. 
 
 This country has a variety of interesting features 
 in mineralogy and in geological formation. Profes- 
 sors, teachers and students visit here every year to 
 study the geology of the country and to gather mineral 
 specimens. This can be done with advantage and 
 profit. All the localities are easily accessible. Hun- 
 dreds of pounds of minerals are taken away every 
 season. Amethyst is particularly sought after, both 
 for cabinet specimens and for jewelry. A great variety 
 of agate and jasper can be obtained. Acadialite (red 
 chabazite), heulandite, natrolite, analcite, stilbite, apo- 
 phylite, dog-tooth spar and the various forms of 
 selenite, etc., are among the kinds of minerals that 
 can be obtained here. Very beautiful combinations 
 of these, sometimes associating five different kinds, 
 
GRAND-PRt. 167 
 
 are found. Sheaf stilbite of exceptional quality, and 
 natrolite, from hair-like crystals to large prisms, are 
 met with. Geodes, fossils, ripple marks, rainpoints, 
 animal tracks, etc., are among the interesting things 
 that can be obtaiaed. All this is not in the wilderness, 
 but is in the most picturesque and interesting part of 
 the region of Acadia. 
 List of minerals found: 
 
 Partridge Island: 
 
 Analcite, apophylite, amethyst, agate apatite. 
 
 Calclte, chabazite (acadialite), chalcedony, cat's-eye. 
 
 Gypsum (selenite, satinspar). 
 
 Heulandlte, hematite. 
 
 Magnatlte pyrite. 
 
 Stilbite. 
 
 Jasper, cacholong, opal, semi-opal quartz. 
 
 Blomidon : 
 
 Analcite, agate, amethyst, apophylite. 
 
 Calcite, dog-tooth spar, chalcedony, chabazite (acadialite). 
 
 Gmelinite, gypsum. 
 
 Fareolite hematite, heulandite. 
 
 Magnatite, laumonite, malachite, mesollte. 
 
 Native copper, natrolite. 
 
 Stilbite, psilomelane. 
 
 Quartz varieties. 
 
 Cape D'Or: 
 
 Obsidian, malachite, gold, copper. 
 
 Parrsboro : 
 Augite, amianthus, pyrite. 
 
 In the geological structure of the peninsula of ISTova 
 Scotia there is evidence of volcanic action, glacial 
 movement and changes of level, and at the present 
 time a gradual subsidence is being repeated. We 
 
168 grand-prA. 
 
 have evidence of the Pleistocene, Triassic, Carbonif- 
 erous, Devonian, Silurian and Cambrian, and the 
 granite boulders of azoic time. 
 
 THE SILURIAN AEBAS. 
 
 At Beech Hill, the ridges above Wolfville, Canaan, 
 and up Angus Brook, afford excellent opportunity of 
 studying what is as yet an imperfectly known forma- 
 tion. They include (1) the Dictyonema Websteri 
 slates of Beech Hill and Angus Brook, occurring in 
 hardened and cleaved red and green and mottled 
 slates; (2) the Astroerium venustenu beds of lime 
 rock which are undoubtedly newer in , age, but also 
 part of the Silurian system. 
 
 CAEBONIFEROUS. 
 
 There are two formations at least in the vicinity of 
 Wolfville. The shales and limestones and associated 
 fossiliferous measures of the Horton formation and 
 the granite sandstones and conglomerates underlyiag 
 the former. The designation Avon formation has 
 been assigned to the lower of these carboniferous 
 sediments to distinguish them in the field. 
 
 TRIASSIC. 
 
 The red rocks of Evangeline Beach, the red sand- 
 stones and marls which overlap the silurian and car- 
 boniferous un«)nformably, belong to the triassic 
 system. This is probably the most northerly outcrop 
 of the JSTewark system of New Jersey and other New 
 England States. 
 
GRAND-PRE. 169 
 
 It is to be hoped that careful search will reveal 
 reptilian and other remains. Long Island and Evan- 
 geline Beach are made up for the most part of the 
 triassic sandstone. 
 
 PLEISTOCENE. 
 
 The more recent underlying geological formation, 
 including the "boulder clays" and "till" of the 
 glacial period, followed by the marine clays and sands 
 of later date, together with a careful study of the 
 various phenomena characterizing these two import- 
 ant periods in the later physiographic geologic history 
 of the Basin of Minas, afEord excellent opportunity for 
 study of a very attractive type. 
 
 The most fossiliferous localities in the neighbor- 
 hood of Wolfville are Angus and Trenholm Brooks, 
 Gaspereau VaUey, Horton Shore, from Avonpbrt Sta- 
 tion to Blue Beach; and if an enthusiastic student of 
 marine fossils desires to examine one of the most fos- 
 siliferous limestones of carboniferous age he has only 
 to visit Miller's Lime Kiln and quarry and other out- 
 crops of limestone near Windsor. 
 
170 GRAND-PRE. 
 
 GUIDE LEAF. 
 
 (See Mop.) 
 
 At Grand-Pre. — The French willows, opposite the 
 railway station. In a line from the east, the burying- 
 ground of the Acadians, the French well, the priest's 
 house, the site of the church, and a French cellar. The 
 four places mentioned are in a line in the order named 
 from the east, between the willows and the railway 
 station. 
 
 The Acadian road to the village of Grand-Pre, 
 running from the willows up the hill on the south, 
 marked by willows. The Gfand-Pre, the great 
 meadow, taken from the sea. 
 
 The Landing Place, where the Acadians embarked, 
 one and a half miles "east, on the Gaspereau Kiver. 
 
 Site of ' the old Fort, Vieux Lqgis, near the same 
 place. 
 
 The Old Covenanter Church, begun in 1804, com- 
 pleted in 1818, one-quarter mile south of the station. 
 
 Evangeline Beach, Long Island, with view of the 
 Basin, and Cape Blomidon. 
 
 Col. Noble's grave, on Mr. James Leard's property, 
 near first corner south of the railroad. Soldiers' 
 grave near by in the road. 
 
 The Basin of Minos. — The Tides. Average height 
 forty-five feet. In places seventy feet. 
 
 " Tide in " and " tide out " from the same point. 
 
GRAND-PRt. 171 
 
 The " Tidal Bore," the advance wave of the coming 
 tide, at times ten feet high on the Peticodiac. 
 1 
 
 Cape Blomidon, where amethyst and zeolites are 
 found. 
 
 The dykes and an aboiteau, with sluice, to let out 
 the water. 
 
 The Gaspereau Valley. — Acadian cellars and apple 
 trees. 
 
 The LooTc-Off. — From which can be seen four coun- 
 ties. This drive will take you through a country of 
 orchards and marshes. A very beautiful drive, and 
 historically interesting as well, through the Canard 
 of the Aeadians. French dykes seen on the drive. 
 
 Wolfville. — Named after the De Wolfs, one of the 
 old families. 
 
 Acadia University, and affiliated institutions. 
 
 The University Museum. 
 
 Herbin's collection of Acadian and Indian relics. 
 
 Vessels left high and dry by the tide at the wharves. 
 
 A harbor without water. 
 
 The view from the hill south of "Wolfville, showing 
 the Basin of Minas and Cape Blomidon. 
 
GKAND^PPvE MEMORIAL EDITION 
 
 EVANGELINE 
 
 A Tale of Acadie 
 
 By 
 
 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 
 
 With Introduction by 
 
 John Frederic Herbin 
 
 Wolfville, Nova Scotia 
 
 Author of the Grand Pre' Series of Publications, " The History 
 
 of Grand-Prc," " The Marshlands," "The 
 
 Heir to Grand'Pre " 
 
 TORONTO 
 WILLIAM BRIGGS 
 
 1908 
 
 r 
 
Copyright Canada, 1908, 
 By J. F. Herbin. 
 
AN ACADIAN AT GRAND-PRe! 
 
 To Longfellow. 
 
 Dear Poet, while these fields rejoice. 
 
 And singing tides, regretting not the years. 
 
 Seem yet to hear thy tender voice, 
 
 I feel to-day the heart-throb and the tears. 
 
 Warm is thy look across the land 
 
 Where never came thy living feet to stand. 
 
 A nation sorrows in thy song. 
 
 My people outcast, given unto woe. 
 Thy voice called heaven to the wrong 
 
 Immortal word of pity to iestow. 
 How far thy strong, sweet voice shall fare. 
 Till earth shall know the story everywhere. 
 
 Away with tears! Let grief be done! 
 
 Our living willows everywhere now wave 
 The hope that smiles; and earth alone 
 
 Knows where they nameless slumber in the grave. 
 The past is dead with all its shame; 
 Their scions cherish dear thy deathless fame. 
 
 They weep not now, nor ever pray, 
 No longer plead of strangers to befriend; 
 
 So hills are joyful, and the day 
 
 Shall never sadden seasons without end. 
 
 Their dykelands knoiv them ever gone. 
 
 Burnt roof and hearth long open to the sun. 
 
AK ACADIAN AT GEAND-PEE. 
 
 Oh Poet, thy soul's song I bring 
 To offer to these fields for all my race, 
 
 Not alien though alone I sing, 
 
 And lift to earth and heaven a joyous face. 
 
 Thy tenderness was sweet with halm; 
 
 Despite the agony these fields are calm. 
 
 Thou earnest not in life to see 
 
 The hallotved places of Acadian days. 
 
 Thine own Grand-Pre, now glad for thee 
 And for the memory of her face always, 
 
 Evangeline, who even now 
 
 Entwines the garland on thy tender brow. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 When Longfellow was forty years of age Evangeline 
 was published. It was begun in November, 1845, and 
 finished February, 1874. This tale in verse was his first 
 departure from the lyric and ballad form of poetry. Its 
 success was immediate, and Evangeline is to-day probably 
 the most widely-known poem in the English language. 
 Interest in Grand-Pre has grown to so great an extent that 
 last year fourteen acres of land associated with the early 
 Acadian history and the story of Evangeline were pur- 
 chased to be made into a Memorial Park. This field is 
 beautifully situated at the edge of the diked meadows 
 taken from the sea by the Acadians. Here, by a most 
 happy eombiuation of circumstances, have been preserved 
 historic landmarks of the exiled people for 150 years. Here 
 is their burying-ground, used more than eighty years. 
 This year part of the original foundation of the Acadian 
 church of St. Charles was unearthed. The greater part 
 of this stone had been removed and the site had been 
 plowed over probably for a century and a half. Near by 
 is a well from which a collection of Acadian implements^ 
 of iron was taken about twenty years ago. A depression 
 in the ground partly filled with field stone was cleaned 
 out last year, exposing the foundation of the house and 
 chimney of what had been the priest's home. A row of 
 French willows hangs over the road that runs along the 
 edge of the upland near the diked meadows, called the 
 "Shore Eoad." Another road crosses the field from the 
 ancient village of Grand-Pre between the site of the church 
 and the priest's house. This led to their meadows. 
 
 This famous ground will be known henceforth as the 
 Grand-Pre Memorial Park, and as funds are available, the 
 
.6 INTEODUCTION". 
 
 various objects of historical interest will be protected and 
 suitably marked. A place has been selected for a ,Long- 
 fellow monument. . i 
 
 Evangeline was not the first literary production inspired 
 by the sad story of the deportation of the Acadians. Fol- 
 lowing Haliburton's " History of Nova Scotia," Mrs. C. E. 
 Williams published, in 1841, the second edition of a book 
 entitled "The Acadian Exile, a Tale of the Neutral 
 French." Assuming the date of the first edition to have 
 been at least four years previous, it appeared almost ten 
 years before Evangeline was published. 
 
 Under date of October 24, 1838, Hawthorne wrote in 
 his "American Note Book": "H. L. C, (Father Conner) 
 heard from a French-Canadian a story of a young couple 
 in Acadia. On their marriage day all the men of the 
 Province were summoned to assemble in the church to 
 hear a proclamation. When assembled they were all seized 
 and shipped off to be distributed through New England, 
 among them the new bridegroom. His bride set off in 
 search of him, wandered about New England all her life- 
 time, and when she was old she found her bridegroom on 
 his death-bed. The shock was so great that it killed her 
 likewise." 
 
 It is interesting to note that Longfellow requested a 
 friend in Boston to procure for him Mrs. Williams' tale, in 
 which one of the characters is named Gabrielle. The poet 
 wrote in his diary : " Set about Gabrielle, my idyl, etc. . . 
 shall it be ' Gabrielle ' or ' Celestine ' or ' Evangeline ?' " 
 The last name, being more euphonious, was decided upon. 
 Evangeline has become famous, while Mrs. Williams' book 
 is well-nigh forgotten. 
 
EVANGELINE. 
 
 prelu&e. 
 
 This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and 
 
 the hemlocks, 
 Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in 
 
 the twilig'ht, 
 Stand like Druids of old, with voices sad and prophetic, 
 Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their 
 
 bosoms. 
 Loud from its \^^cW caverns, the deep-voiced neighbouring 
 
 ocean 
 Speaks, and in accents disconsolate answers the wail of the 
 
 forest. 
 
 This is the forest primeval ; but where are the hearts that 
 
 beneath it 
 Leaped like the roe, when he hears in the woodland the 
 
 voice of the huntsman? 
 Where is the thatch-roofed village, the home of Acadian 
 
 farmers, — 
 Men whose lives glided on like rivers that water the wood- 
 lands, 10 
 Darkened by shadows of earth, but reflecting an image of 
 
 heaven ? 
 Waste are those pleasant farms, and the farmers for ever 
 
 departed ! 
 Scattered like dust and leaves, when the mighty blasts of 
 
 October 
 Seize them, and whirl 'them aloft, and sprinkle them far 
 
 o'er the ocean. 
 !N"aught but tradition remains of the beautiful village of 
 
 Grand-Pre. " 
 
8 EVANGELINE. 
 
 Ye who believe in affection that hopes, and endures, and 
 
 is patient, 
 Ye who believe in the beauty and strength of woman's 
 
 devotion, 
 List to the mournful tradition still sung by the pines of 
 
 the forest; 
 List to a Tale of Love in Acadie, home of the happy. 
 
 part tbe ificst. 
 
 ^- • 
 
 In the Acadian land, on the shores of the Basin of Minas, '^° 
 Distant, secluded, still, the little village of Grand -Pre 
 Lay in the fruitful v.alley. Vast meadows stretched to 
 
 the eastward, 
 Giving the village its name, and pasture to flocks without 
 
 number. 
 Dikes, that the hands of the farmers had raised with labour 
 
 incessant. 
 Shut out the turbulent tides; but at stated seasons the 
 
 flood-gates ^^ 
 
 Opened and welcomed the sea to wander at will o'er the 
 
 meadows. 
 West and south there were fields of flax, and orchards and 
 
 cornfields 
 Spreading afar and unfenced o'er the plain; and away to 
 
 the northward 
 Blomidon rose, and the forests old, and aloft on the moun- 
 tains 
 Sea-fogs pitched their tents, and mists from the mighty 
 
 Atlantic s" 
 
 Looked on the happy valley, but ne'er from their station 
 
 descended. 
 There, in the midst of its farms, reposed the Acadian vil- 
 
 ^ lage. 
 Strongly built were the houses, with frames of oak and of 
 
 hemlock. 
 Such as the peasants of Normandy built in the reign of the 
 
 Henries. 
 
EVANGELINE. 9 
 
 Thatched were the roofs, with dormer-windows ; and gables 
 
 projecting -^^ 
 
 Over the basement below protected and shaded the doorway. 
 There in the tranquil evenings of summer, when brightly 
 
 the sunset 
 Lighted the village street, and gilded the vanes on the 
 
 chimneys. 
 Matrons and maidens sat in snow-white caps and in kirtles 
 Scarlet and blue and green, with distaiis spinning the 
 
 golden *" 
 
 Flax for the gossiping looms, whose noisy shuttles within 
 
 doors 
 Mingled their sound with the whir of the wheels and the 
 
 songs of the maidens. 
 Solemnly down the street came the parish priest, and the 
 
 children 
 Paused in their play to kiss the hand he extended to bless 
 
 them. 
 Reverend walked he among them ; and up rose matrons and 
 
 maidens. " ^* 
 
 Hailing his slow approach with words of affectionate wel- 
 come. 
 Then came the labourers home from the field, and serenely 
 
 the sun sank 
 Down to his rest, and twilight prevailed. Anon from the 
 
 belfry 
 Softly the Angelus sounded, and over the roofs of the village 
 Columns of pale blue smoke, like clouds of incense as- 
 cending, *" 
 Eose from a hundred hearths, the homes of peace and 
 
 contentment. 
 Thus dwelt together in love these simple Acadian farmers, — 
 Dwelt in the love of God and of man. Alike were they 
 
 free from 
 Fear, that reigns with the tyrant, and envy, the vice of 
 
 republics. 
 Neither locks had they to their doors, nor bars to their 
 
 windows; *^ 
 
 But their dwellings were open as day and the hearts of 
 
 the owners ; 
 There the richest was poor, and the poorest lived in 
 
 abundance. 
 
10 EVANGELINE. 
 
 Somewhat apart from the village, and nearer the Basin 
 
 of Minas, , 
 Benedict Belief ontaine, the wealthiest farmer of Grand Pre, 
 Dwelt oji his goodly acres; and with_him, directing his 
 
 household, "^ 
 
 Gentle Evangeline lived, his child, and the pride of the 
 
 village. 
 Stal worth and stately in form was the man of seventy 
 
 winters ; 
 Hearty and hale was he, an oak that is covered with 
 
 snow-flakes ; 
 White as the snow were his locks, and his cheeks as brown 
 
 as the oak-leaves. 
 Fair was she to behold, that maiden of seventeen sum- 
 ^ mers; ^^ 
 
 Black were her eyes as the berry that grows on the thorn 
 
 by the wayside. 
 Black, yet how softly they gleamed beneath the brown shade 
 
 of her tresses! 
 Sweet was her breath as the breath of kine that feed in the 
 
 meadows. 
 When in the harvest heat she bore to the reapers at noon- 
 tide 
 Flagons of home-brewed ale, ah! fair in sooth was the 
 
 maiden. ''" 
 
 Fairer was she when, on Sunday mom, while the bell from 
 
 its turret 
 Sprinkled with holy sounds the air, as the priest with his 
 
 hyssop 
 Sprinkles the congregation, and scatters blessings upon 
 
 them, 
 Down the long street she passed, with her chaplet of beads 
 
 and her missal. 
 Wearing her Norman cap and her kirtle of blue, and the 
 
 ear-rings ''^ 
 
 Brought in the olden times from France, and since, as an 
 
 heirloom. 
 Handed down from mother to child, through long genera- 
 tions. 
 But a celestial brightness — a more ethereal beauty — 
 Shone on her face and encircled her form, when, after 
 
 confession, 
 
EVANGELINE. ^ 11 
 
 Homeward serenely she walked with God's benediction 
 upon her. **" 
 
 When she had passed, it seemed like the ceasing of exqui- 
 site music. 
 
 Firmly builded with rafters of oak, the house of the 
 farmer 
 
 Stood on the side of a hill commanding the sea; and a 
 shady 
 
 Sycamore grew by the door, with a woodbine wreathing 
 around it. 
 
 Eudely carved was the porch, with seats beneath; and a 
 footpath »^ 
 
 Led through an orchard wide, and disappeared in the 
 meadow. 
 
 Under the sycamore-tree were hives overhung by a pent- 
 house. 
 
 Such as the traveller sees in regions remote by the road- 
 side. 
 
 Built o'er a box for the poor, or the blessed image of 
 Mary. 
 
 Farther down, on the slope of the hill, was the well with 
 its moss-grown ^° 
 
 Bucket, fastened with iron, and near it a trough for the 
 horses. 
 
 Shielding the house from storms, on the north, were the 
 barns and the farm-yard; 
 
 There stood the broad-wheeled wains and the antique 
 ploughs and the harrows ; 
 
 There were the folds for the sheep ; and there, in his feath- 
 ered seraglio. 
 
 Strutted the lordly turkey, and crowed the cock, with the 
 selfsame ®^ 
 
 Voice that in ages of old had startled the penitent Peter. 
 
 Bursting with hay were the barns, themselves a village. 
 In each one 
 
 Par o'er the gable projected a roof of thatch; and a 
 staircase, 
 
 Under the sheltering eaves, led up to the odorous corn- 
 loft. 
 
 There too the dove-cot stood, with its meek and innocent 
 inmates ^°'' 
 
12 EVANGELINE. 
 
 Murmuring ever of love; while above in the variant 
 breezes 
 
 ■Numberless noisy weathercocks rattled and sang of mu- 
 tation. 
 
 Thus, at peace with God and the world, the farmer of 
 Grand-Pre 
 
 Lived on his sunny farm, and Evangeline governed 1:13 
 household. 
 
 Many a youth, as he knelt in the church and opened hia 
 missal, ^"^ 
 
 Fixed his eyes upon her as the saint of his deepest de- 
 votion; 
 
 Happy was he who might touch her hand or the hem of 
 her garment ! 
 
 Many a suitor came to her door, by the darkness be- 
 friended. 
 
 And as he knocked and waited to hear the sound of her 
 footsteps. 
 
 Knew not which beat the louder, his heart or the knocker 
 of iron; ^^" 
 
 Or, at the joyous feast of the Patron Saint of the village. 
 
 Bolder grew, and pressed her hand in the dance as he 
 whispered 
 
 Hurried words of love, that seemed a part of the music. 
 
 But among all who came young Gabriel only was welcome ; 
 
 Gabriel Lajeunegse, the son of Basil the blacksmith, ^^^ 
 
 Who was a mighty man in the village, and honoured of all 
 men; 
 
 For since the birth of time, throughout all ages and nations, 
 
 Has the craft of the smith been held in repute by the 
 people. 
 
 Basil was Benedict's friend. Their children from earliest 
 childhood 
 
 Grew up together as brother and sister; and Father 
 , Felician, i^" 
 
 Priest and pedagogue both in the village, had taught them 
 their letters 
 
 Out of the selfsame book, with the hymns of the church 
 and the plain-song. 
 
 But when the hymn was sung, and the daily lesson com- 
 pleted. 
 
EVANGELINE. 13 
 
 Swiftly they hurried away to the forge of Basil the black- 
 smith. 
 There at the door they stood, with wondering eyes to be- 
 hold him liiB 
 Take in his leathern lap the hoof of the horse as a play- 
 thing, 
 Nailing the shoe in its place; while near him the tire of 
 
 the cart-wheel 
 Lay like a iiery snake, coiled round in a circle of cinders. 
 Oft on autumnal eves, when without in the gathering 
 
 darkness 
 Bursting with light seemed the smithy, through every 
 
 cranny and crevice, i^" 
 
 Warm by the forge within they watched the labouring 
 
 bellows. 
 And as its panting ceased, and the sparks expired in the 
 
 ashes. 
 Merrily laughed, and said they were nuns going into the 
 
 chapel. 
 Oft on sledges in winter, as swift as the swoop of the eagle, 
 Down the hillside bounding, they glided away o'er the 
 
 meadow. ^-^^ 
 
 Oft in the barns they climbed to the populous nests on the 
 
 rafters, 
 Seeking with eager eyes that wondrous stone, which the 
 
 swallow 
 Brings from the shore of the sea to restore the sight of 
 
 its fledglings; 
 Lucky was he who found that stone in the nest of the 
 
 swallow ! 
 Thus passed a few swift years, and they no longer were 
 
 children. _ i*" 
 
 He was a valiant youth, and his face, like the face of the 
 
 morning, 
 Gladdened the earth with its light, and ripened thought 
 
 into action. 
 She was a woman now, with the heart and hopes of a 
 
 woman. 
 " Sunshine of Saint Eulalie " was she called ; for that was 
 
 the sunshine 
 Which, as the farmers believed, would load their orchards 
 
 with apples; ^*^ 
 
14 EVANGELINE. 
 
 She too would bring to her husband's house delight and 
 
 abundance, 
 Filling it full of love and the ruddy faces of children. 
 
 II. 
 
 Now had the season returned, when the nights grow 
 
 colder and longer. 
 And the retreating sun the sign of the Scorpion enters. 
 Birds of passage sailed through the leaden air, from the 
 
 ice-bound, ^^'^ 
 
 Desolate northern bays to the shores of tropical islands. 
 Harvests were gathered in; and wild with the winds of 
 
 September 
 Wrestled the trees of the forest, as Jacob of old with the 
 
 angel. 
 All the signs foretold a winter long and inclement. 
 Bees, with prophetic instinct of want, had hoarded their 
 
 honey ■"■^^ 
 
 Till the hives overflowed ; and the Indian hunters asserted 
 Cold would the winter be, for thick was the fur of the 
 
 foxes. 
 Such was the advent of autumn. Then followed that 
 
 beautiful season, 
 Called by the pious Acadian peasants the Summer of All- 
 Saints ! 
 Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and 
 
 the landscape ^'''' 
 
 Lay as if new-created in all the freshness of childhood. 
 Peace seemed to reign upon earth, and the restless heart of 
 
 the ocean 
 Was for a moment consoled. All sounds were in harmony 
 
 blended. 
 Voices of children at play, the crowing of cocks in the 
 
 • farm-yards. 
 Whir of wings in the drowsy air, and the cooing of 
 
 pigeons, ^^^ 
 
 All were subdued and low as the murmurs of love, and the 
 
 gjreat snn 
 Looked with the eye of love through the golden vapours 
 
 around him; 
 
EVANGELIKB. 15 
 
 While arrayed in its robes of russet and scarlet and 
 yellow, 
 
 Bright with the sheen of the dew, each glittering tree of 
 the forest 
 
 Plashed like the plane-tree the Persian adorned with man- 
 tles and jewels. 170 
 
 ISTow recommenced the reign of rest and affection and 
 
 stillness. 
 Day with its burden and heat had departed, and twilight 
 
 descending 
 Brought back the evening star to the sky, and the herds to 
 
 the homestead. 
 Pamng the ground they came, and resting their necks on 
 
 each other. 
 And with their nostrils distended inhaling the freshness of 
 
 evening. i''^ 
 
 Foremost, bearing the bell, Evangeline's beautiful heifer. 
 Proud of her snow-white hide, and the ribbon that waved 
 
 from her collar. 
 Quietly paced and slow, as if conscious of human affection. 
 Then came the shepherd back with his bleating flocks from 
 
 the seaside. 
 Where 'was their favourite pasture. Behind them followed 
 
 the watch-dog, ^'"' 
 
 Patient, full of importance, and grand in the pride of his 
 
 instinct, 
 Walking from side to side with a lordly air, and superbly 
 Waving his bushy tail, and urging forward the stragglers ; 
 Regent of flocks was he when the shepherd slept; their 
 
 protector, 
 When from the forest at night, through the starry silence, 
 
 the wolves howled. ^^^ 
 
 Late, with the rising moon, returned the wains from the 
 
 marshes. 
 Laden with briny hay, that filled the air with its odour. 
 Cheerily neighed the steeds with dew on their manes and 
 
 their fetlocks, 
 While aloft on their shoulders the wooden and ponderous 
 
 saddles. 
 Painted with brilliant dyes, and adorned with tassels of 
 
 crimson, ^^'^ 
 
16 EVANGELINE. 
 
 Nodded in bright array, like hollyhocks heavy with blos- 
 soms. 
 
 Patiently stood the cows meanwhile, and yielded their 
 udders 
 
 Unto the milkmaid's hand; whilst loud and in regular 
 cadence 
 
 Into the sounding pails the foaming streamlets descended. 
 
 Lowing of cattle and pteals of laughter were heard in the 
 farm-yard, ^^^ 
 
 Echoed back by the barns. Anon they sank into stillness; 
 
 Heavily closed, with a jarring sound, the valves of the 
 barn-doors, 
 
 Eattled the wooden bars, and all for a season was silent. 
 
 In-doors, warm by the wide-mouthed fireplace, idly the 
 
 farmer 
 Sat in his elbow-chair, and watched how the flames and the 
 
 smoke- wreaths ^'"' 
 
 Struggled together like foes in a burning city. Behind 
 
 him, 
 Nodding and mocking along the wall with gestures fan- 
 tastic. 
 Darted Jtiis own huge shadow, and vanished away into 
 
 darkness. 
 Paces, clumsily carved in oak, on the back of his arm-chair 
 Laughed in the flickering light, and the pewter plates on 
 
 the dresser ' '^^^ 
 
 Caught and reflected the flame, as shields of armies the 
 
 sunshine, 
 Pragments of song the old man sang, and carols of Christ- 
 mas, 
 Such as at home, in the olden time, his fathers before him 
 Sang in their Norman orchards and bright Burgundian 
 
 vineyards. 
 Close at her father's side was the gentle Evangeline 
 
 seated, ^lo 
 
 Spinning flax for the loom that stood in the corner behind 
 
 her. 
 Silent awhile were its treadles, at rest was its diligent 
 
 shuttle. 
 While the monotonous drone of the wheel, like the drone 
 
 of a bagpipe, 
 
EVANGELINE. 17 
 
 Followed the old man's song, and united the fragments 
 
 together. 
 As in a church, when the chant of the choir at intervals 
 
 ceases, '^^^ 
 
 Footfalls are heard in the aisles, or words of the priest at 
 
 the altar, 
 So, in each pause of the song, with measured motion the 
 
 clock clicked. 
 
 Thus as they sat, there were footsteps heard, and, sud- 
 denly lifted. 
 Sounded the wooden latch, and the door swung back on its 
 
 hinges. 
 Benedict knew by the hob-nailed shoes it was Basil the 
 
 blacksmith, - ^^o 
 
 And by her beating heart Evangeline knew who was with 
 
 him. 
 " Welcome I" the farmer exclaimed, as their footsteps 
 
 paused on the threshold, 
 " Welcome, Basil, my friend ! Come, take thy place on the 
 
 settle 
 Close by the chimney-side, which is always empty without 
 
 thee ; 
 Take from the shelf overhead thy pipe and the box of 
 
 tobacco ; '■^'^^ 
 
 Never so much thyself art thou as when, through the 
 
 curling 
 Smoke of the pipe or the forge, thy friendly and jovial 
 
 face gleams 
 Bound and red as the harvest moon through the mist of 
 
 the marshes." , 
 
 Then, with a smile of content, thus answered Basil the 
 
 blacksmith, 
 Taking with easy air the accustomed seat by the fire- 
 side:— -=*» 
 "Benedict Belief ontaine, thou hast ever thy Jest and thy 
 
 ballad ! 
 Ever in cheerfullest mood art thou, when others are filled 
 
 with 
 Gloomy forebodings of ill, and see only ruin before them. 
 Happy art thou, as if every day thou hadst picked up a 
 
 horseshoe." 
 
18 EVANGELINE. 
 
 Pausing a moment, to take the pipe that Evangeline 
 brought him, " '^'^^ 
 
 And with a coal from the embers had lighted, he slowly 
 continued : — 
 
 " Pour days now are passed since the English ships at their 
 anchors 
 
 Eide in the Gaspereau's mouth, with their cannon pointed 
 against us. 
 
 What their design may be is unknown; but all are com- 
 manded 
 
 On the morrow to meet in the church, where his Majesty's 
 mandate ^*" 
 
 Will be proclaimed as law in the land. Alas ! in the mean- 
 time 
 
 Many surmises of evil alarm the hearts of the people." 
 
 Then made answer the farmer : — " Perhaps some friendlier 
 purpose 
 
 Brings these ships to our shores. Perhaps the harvests 
 in England 
 
 By untimely rains or untimelier heat have been 
 blighted, _ _ 245 
 
 And from our bursting bams they would feed their cattle 
 and children." 
 
 " Not so thinketh the folk in the village," said warmly the 
 blacksmith, 
 
 Shaking his head as in doubt; then, heaving a sigh, he 
 continued : — 
 
 " Louisburg is not forgotten, nor Beau Sejour, nor Port 
 Eoyal. 
 
 Many already have fled to the forest, and lurk on its out- 
 skirts, ^^^ 
 
 Waiting with anxious hearts the dubious fate of to- 
 morrow. 
 
 Arms have been taken from us, and warlike weapons of all 
 kinds ; 
 
 Nothing is left but the blacksmith's sledge and the scythe 
 of the mower." 
 
 Then vnth a pleasant smile made answer the jovial 
 farmer : — 
 
 " Safer are we unarmed, in the midst of our flocks and our 
 cornfields, ^^* 
 
 Safer within these peaceful dikes besieged by the ocean, 
 
EVANGELINE. 19 
 
 Than our fathers in forts, besieged by the enemy's cannon. 
 Fear no evil, my friend, and to-night may no shadow of 
 
 sorrow 
 Fall on this house and hearth; for this is the night of the 
 
 contract. 
 Built are the house and the barn. The merry lads of the 
 
 village ^iso 
 
 Strongly have built them and well ; and, breaking the glebe 
 
 round about them, ' 
 
 Filled the barn with hay, and the house with food for a 
 
 twelvemonth. 
 Eene Leblanc will be here anon, with his papers and ink- 
 horn. 
 Shall we not then be glad, and rejoice in the joy of our 
 
 children ?" 
 As apart by the window she stood, with her hand in her 
 
 lover's, -Bs 
 
 Blushing Evangeline heard the words that her father had 
 
 spoken. 
 And as they died on his lips, the worthy notary entered. 
 
 III. 
 
 Bent like a labouring oar, that toils in the surf of the 
 
 ocean, ' 
 
 Bent, but not broken, by age was the form of the notary 
 
 public ; 
 Shocks of yellow hair, like the silken floss of the maize, 
 
 hung ' ^'"' 
 
 Over his shoulders; his forehead was high; and glasses 
 
 with horn bows 
 Sat astride on his nose, with a look of wisdom supernal. 
 Father of twenty children was he, and more than a hun- 
 dred 
 Children's children rode on his knee, and heard his great 
 
 watch tick. 
 Pour long years in the times of the war had he languished 
 
 a captive, ^'"' 
 
 Suffering much in an old French fort as the friend of the 
 
 English. 
 Now, though warier grown, without all guile or suspicion, 
 
20 EVANGELINE. 
 
 Ripe in wisdom was he, but patient, and simple, and child- 
 like. 
 
 He was beloved by all, and most of all by the children ; 
 
 For he told them tales of the Lonp-garou in the forest, '^^^ 
 
 And of the goblin that came in the night to water the 
 horses, 
 
 And of the white Letiche, the ghost of a child who un- 
 christened 
 
 Died, and was doomed to haunt unseen the chambers of 
 children ; 
 
 And how on Christmas eve the oxen talked in the stable. 
 
 And how the fever was cured by a spider shut up in a 
 nutshell, -^'^ 
 
 And of the marvellous, powers of four-leaved clover and 
 horseshoes, 
 
 With whatsoever else was writ in the lore of the village. 
 
 Then up rose from his seat by the fireside Basil the black- 
 smith. 
 
 Knocked from his pipe the ashes, and slowly extending his 
 right hand, 
 
 " Father Leblanc," he exclaimed, " thou hast heard the talk 
 in the village, ^'"' 
 
 And, perchance, canst tell us some news of these ships and 
 their errand." 
 
 Then with modest demeanour made answer the notary 
 public, — 
 
 " Gossip enough have I heard, in sooth, yet am never the 
 wiser ; 
 
 And what their errand may be I know no better than 
 others. 
 
 Yet am I not of those who imagine some evil intention ^"^ 
 
 Brings them here, for we are at peace; and why then mo- 
 lest us?" 
 
 " God's name !" shouted the hasty and somewhat irascible 
 blacksmith ; 
 
 " Must we in all things look for the how, and the why, and 
 the wherefore? 
 
 Daily injustice is done, and might is the right of the 
 strongest I" 
 
 But, without heeding his warmth, continued the notary 
 public, — 30'o 
 
 " Man is unjust, but God is just ; and finally justice 
 
EVANGELINE. 21 
 
 Triumphs; and well I remember a story, that often con- 
 soled me, 
 
 When as a captive I lay in the old French fort at Port 
 Eoyal." 
 
 This was the old man's favourite tale, and he loved to re- 
 peat it 
 
 When his neighbours complained that any injustice was 
 done them. sos 
 
 " Once in an ancient city, whose name I no longer re- 
 member, 
 
 Eaised aloft on a column a brazen statue of Justice 
 
 Stood in the public square, upholding the scales in its left 
 hand. 
 
 And in its right a sword, as an emblem that justice pre- 
 sided 
 
 Over the laws of the land, and the hearts and homes of the 
 people. ''10 
 
 Even the birds had built their nests in the scales of the 
 balance, 
 
 Having no fear of the sword that flashed in the sunshine 
 above them. 
 
 But in the course of time the laws of the land were cor- 
 rupted ; 
 
 Might took the place of right, and the weak were op- 
 pressed, and the mighty 
 
 Euled with an iron rod. Then it chanced in a nobleman's 
 palace '^^^ 
 
 That a necklace of pearls was lost, and ere long a suspicion 
 
 Fell on an orphan girl who lived as maid in the household. 
 
 She,, after form of trial condemned to die on the scaffold, 
 
 Patiently met her doom at the foot of the statue of Justice. 
 
 As to her Father in heaven her innocent spirit as- 
 cended, =*20 
 
 Lo ! o'er the city a tempest rose ; and the bolts of the 
 thunder 
 
 Smote the statue of bronze, and hurled in wrath from its 
 left hand 
 
 Down on the pavement below the clattering scales of the 
 balance, 
 
 And in the hollow thereof was found the nest of a magpie. 
 
 Into whose clay-built walls the necklace of pearls was in- 
 woven." ^^^ 
 
22 EVANGELINE. 
 
 Silenced, but not convinced, when the story was ended, the 
 blacksmith 
 
 Stood like a man who fain would speak, but findeth no 
 language ; 
 
 All his thoughts were congealed into lines on his face, as 
 the vapours 
 
 Freeze in fantastic shapes on the window-panes in the win- 
 ter. 
 
 Then Evangeline lighted the brazen lamp on the table, ^^° 
 
 Filled, till it overflowed, the pewter tankard with home- 
 brewed 
 
 Nut-brown ale, that was famed for its strength in the vil- 
 lage of Grand-Pre; 
 
 While from his pocket the notary drew his papers and ink- 
 horn. 
 
 Wrote with a steady hand the date and the age of the 
 parties, 
 
 Naming the dower of the bride in flocks of sheep and in 
 cattle. ^^^ 
 
 Orderly all things proceeded, and duly and well were com- 
 pleted. 
 
 And the great seal of the law was set like a sun on the 
 margin. 
 
 Then from his leathern pouch the farmer threw on the table 
 
 Three times the old man's fee in solid pieces of silver; 
 
 And the notary rising, and blessing the bride and bride- 
 groom, ''** 
 
 Lifted aloft the tankard of ale and drank to their welfare. 
 
 Wiping the foam from his lip, he solemnly bowed and de- 
 parted, 
 
 While in silence the others sat and mused by the fireside. 
 
 Till Evangeline brought the draught-board out of its corner. 
 
 Soon was the game begun. In friendly contention the old 
 men '^*^ 
 
 Laughed at each lucky hit, or unsuccessful manoeuvre. 
 
 Laughed when a man was crowned, or a breach was made 
 in the king-row. 
 
 Meanwhile apart, in the twilight gloom of a window's em- 
 brasure, 
 
 Sat the lovers and whispered together, beholding the moon 
 rise 
 
EVANGELINE. 33 
 
 Over the pallid sea and the silvery mist of the mead- 
 ows, aso 
 Silently one by one, in the iniinite meadows of heaven, 
 Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the 
 angels. 
 
 Thus was the evening passed. Anon the bell from the 
 belfry 
 
 Eang out the hour of nine, the village curfew, and straight- 
 way 
 
 Eose the guests and departed; and silence reigned in the 
 household. ''^5 
 
 Many a farewell word and sweet good-night on the door- 
 step 
 
 Lingered long in Evangeline's hearty and filled it with 
 gladness. 
 
 Carefully then were covered the embers that glowed on the 
 hearth-stone. 
 
 And on the oaken stairs resounded the tread of the farmer. 
 
 Soon with a soundless step the foot of Evangeline fol- 
 lowed. ^'"* 
 
 Up the staircase moved a luminous space in the darkness, 
 
 Lighted less by the lamp than the shining face of the 
 maiden. 
 
 Silent she passed through the hall, and entered the door of 
 her chamber. 
 
 Simple that chamber was, with its curtains of white, and 
 its, clothes-press 
 
 Ample and hiffh, on whose spacious shelves were carefully 
 folded '"^^ 
 
 Linen and woollen stuffs, by the hand of Evangeline 
 woven. 
 
 This was the precious dower she would bring to, her hus- 
 band in marriage. 
 
 Better than flocks and herds, being proofs of her skill as a 
 housewife. ^ 
 
 Soon she extinguished her lamp, for the mellow and radi- 
 ant moonlight 
 
 Streamed through' the windows, and lighted the room, till 
 the heart of the maiden '*'''' 
 
 Swelled and obeyed its power, like the tremulous tides of 
 the ocean. 
 
24 EVANGELINE. 
 
 Ah! she wa» fair, exceeding fair to behold, as she stood 
 with 
 
 Naked snow-white feet on the gleaming floor of her cham- 
 ber! 
 
 Little she dreamed that below, among the trees of the 
 orchard. 
 
 Waited her lover and watched for the gleam of her lamp 
 and her shadow. '^"'^ 
 
 Yet were her thoughts of him, and at times a feeling of 
 s^ness 
 
 Passed o'er her sonl, as the sailing shade of clouds in the 
 moonlight 
 
 Flitted across the floor and darkened the room for a mo- 
 ment. 
 
 And, as she gazed from the window, she saw serenely the 
 moon pass 
 
 Forth from the folds of a cloud, and one star follow her 
 footsteps, ^'*<' 
 
 As out of Abraham's tent young Ishmael wandered with 
 Hagar. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Pleasantly rose next morn the sun on the village of 
 
 Grand-Pre. 
 Pleasantly gleamed in the soft, sweet air the Basin of 
 
 Minas, 
 Where the ships, with their wavering shadows, were riding 
 
 at anchor. 
 Life had long been astir in the village, and clamorous 
 
 labour '^^^ 
 
 Knocked with its hundred hands at the golden gates of the 
 
 morning. 
 Now from the country around, from the farms and neigh- 
 bouring hamlets, 
 Came in their holiday dresses the blithe Acadian peasants. 
 Many a glad good-morrow and jocund laugh from the 
 
 young folk 
 Made the bright air brighter, as up from the numerous 
 
 meadows, ''so 
 
EVANGELINE. 25 
 
 Where no path could be seen but the track of wheels in the 
 
 greensward, 
 Group after group appeared, and joined, or passed on the 
 
 highway. 
 Long ere noon, in the village all sounds of labour were 
 
 silenced. 
 Thronged were the streets with people; and noisy groups 
 
 at the house-doors 
 Sat in the cheerful sun, and rejoiced and gossiped to- 
 
 f ether. 395 
 
 ouse was an inn, where all were welcomed and 
 feasted ; 
 
 For with this simple people, who lived like brothers to- 
 gether. 
 
 All things were held in common, and what one had was 
 another's. 
 
 Yet under Benedict's roof hospitality seemed more abun- 
 dant : 
 
 For Evangeline stood among the guests of her father ; *"" 
 
 Bright was her face with smiles, and words of welcome and 
 gladness 
 
 Fell from her beautiful lips, and blessed the cup as she 
 gave it. 
 
 Under the open sky, in the odorous air of the orchard, 
 Stript of its golden fruit, was spread the feast of betrothal. 
 There in the shade of the porch were the priest and the 
 
 notary seated; *"^ 
 
 There good Benedict sat, and sturdy Basil the blacksmith. 
 Not far withdrawn from these, by "the cider-press and the 
 
 beehives, 
 Michael the fiddler was placed, with the gayest of hearts 
 
 and of waistcoats. 
 Shadow and light from the leaves alternately played on his 
 
 snow-white 
 Hair, a<? it waved in the wind; and the jolly face of the 
 
 fiddler "» 
 
 Glowed like a living coal when the ashes are blown from 
 
 the embers. 
 Gaily the old man sang to the vibrant sound of his fiddle, 
 Tous les Bourgeois de Chartres, and Le Carillon de Dun- 
 
 Tcerque, 
 
36 EVANGELINE. 
 
 And anon with his wooden shoes beat time to the music. 
 
 Merrily, merrily whirled the wheels of the dizzying 
 dances *^^ 
 
 Under the orchard-trees and down the path to the meadows ; 
 
 Old folk and young together, and children mingled among 
 them. 
 
 Fairest of all the maids was Evangeline, Benedict's 
 daughter ! 
 
 Noblest of all the youths was Gabriel, son of the black- 
 smith ! 
 
 So passed the morning away. And lo ! with a summons 
 
 sonorous *^'' 
 
 Sounded the bell from its tower, and over the meadows a 
 
 drum beat. 
 Thronged ere long was the church with men. Without, in 
 
 the churchyard. 
 Waited the women. They stood bj the graves, and hung 
 
 on the headstones 
 Garlands of autumn-leaves and evergreens fresh from the 
 
 forest. 
 Then came the guard from the ships, and marching 
 
 proudly among them *^^ 
 
 Entered the sacred portal. With loud and dissonant clangor 
 Echoed the sound of their brazen drums from ceiling and 
 
 casement, — 
 Echoed a moment only, and slowly the ponderous portal 
 Closed, and in silence the crowd awaited the will of the 
 
 soldiers. 
 Then uprose their commander, and spake from the steps of 
 
 the altar, «o 
 
 Holding aloft in his hands, with its seals, the royal com- 
 mission. 
 " You are convened this day," he said, " by his Majesty's 
 
 orders. 
 Clement and kind has he been ; but how you have answered 
 
 his kindness 
 Let your own hearts reply! To my natural make and my 
 
 temper 
 Painful the task is I do, which to you I know must be 
 
 grievous. *^^ 
 
 Yet must I bow and obey, and deliver the will of our 
 
 monarch : 
 
EVANGELINE. 27 
 
 Namely, that all your lands, and dwellings, and cattle of 
 
 all kinds 
 Forfeited be to the crown ; and that you yourselves from 
 
 this province 
 Be transported to other lands. God grant you may dwell 
 
 there 
 Ever as faithful subjects, a happy and peaceable peo- 
 ple ! «40 
 Prisoners now I declare you, for such is his Majesty's 
 
 pleasure !" 
 As, when the air is serene in the sultry solstice of summer, 
 Suddfenly gathers a storm, and the deadly sling of the 
 
 hailstones 
 Beats down the farmer's corn in the field^ and shatters his 
 
 windows. 
 Hiding the sun, and strewing the ground with thatch from 
 
 the house-roofs, ' **^ ' 
 
 Bellowing fly the herds, and seek to break their enclosures ; 
 So on the hearts of the people descended the words of the 
 
 speaker. 
 Silent a moment they stood in speechless wonder, and then 
 
 rose 
 Louder and ever louder a wail of sorrow and anger. 
 And, by one impulse moved, they madly rushed to the 
 
 door-way. *^° 
 
 Vain was the hope of escape; and cries and fierce im- 
 precations 
 Eang through the house of prayer ; and high o'er the heads 
 
 of the others 
 Eose with his arms uplifted, the figure of Basil the 
 
 blacksmith, 
 As, on a stormy sea, a spar is tossed by the billows. 
 Flushed was his face and distorted with passion; and 
 
 wildly 'he shouted, — ■ *^^ 
 
 " Down with the tyrants of England ! we never have sworn 
 
 them allegiance! 
 Death to these foreign soldiers, who seize on our homes and 
 
 our harvests!" 
 More he fain would have said, but the merciless hand of 
 
 a soldier 
 Smote him upon the mouth, and dragged him down to the 
 
 pavement. 
 
28 EVANGELINE. 
 
 In the midst of the strife and tumult of angry con- 
 tention, *«» 
 
 Lo! the door of the chancel opened, and Fgther Pgliciaji,^ 
 
 Entered, with serious mien, and ascended the steps of the 
 altar. 
 
 Raising his reverend hand, with a gesture he awed into 
 silence 
 
 All that clamorous throng; and thus he spake to his peo- 
 ple; 
 
 Deep were his tones and solemn; in accents measured and 
 mournful *^^ 
 
 Spake he, as, after the tocsin's alarum, distinctly the clock 
 strikes. 
 
 " What is this that ye do, my children ? what madness has 
 seized you? 
 
 Forty years of my life have I laboured among you, and 
 taught you. 
 
 Not in word alone, but in deed, to love one another ! 
 
 Is this the fruit of my toils, of my vigils' and prayers and 
 privations? *'"' 
 
 Have you so soon forgotten all lessons of love and for- 
 giveness ? 
 
 This is the house of the Prince of Peace, and would you 
 profane it 
 
 Thus with violent deeds and hearts overflowing with 
 hatred ? 
 
 Lo! where the cruciiied Christ from His cross is gazing 
 upon you! 
 
 See! in those sorrowful eyes what meekness and holy 
 compassion ! "^ 
 
 Hark ! how those lips still repeat the prayer, ' Father, 
 forgive them !' 
 
 Let us repeat that prayer in the hour when the wicked 
 assail us, 
 
 Let us repeat it now, and say, '0 Father, forgive them !' " 
 
 Few were his words of rebuke, but deep in the hearts of 
 his people 
 
 Sank they, and sobs of contrition succeeded the passionate 
 outbreak, ***" 
 
 While they repeated his prayer, and said, " Father, 
 forgive them !" 
 
EVANGELINE. 29 
 
 Then came the evening service. The tapers gleamed 
 
 from the altar; 
 Fervent and deep was the voice of the priest, and the people 
 
 responded, 
 Not with their lips alone, but their hearts; and the Ave 
 
 Maria 
 Sang they, and fell on their knees, and their souls, with 
 
 devotion translated, ^^^ 
 
 Kose on the ardour of prayer, lilce Elijah ascending to 
 
 heaven. 
 
 Meanwhile had spread in the village the tidings of ill, 
 
 and on all sides 
 Wandered, wailing, from house to house the women and 
 
 children. 
 Long at her father's door Evangeline stood, with her right 
 
 hand 
 Shielding her eyes from the level rays of the sun, that, 
 
 descending, ^^^ 
 
 Lighted the village street with mysterious splendour, and 
 
 roofed each 
 Peasant's cottage with golden thatch, and emblazoned its 
 
 windows. 
 Long within had been spread the snow-white cloth on the 
 
 table ; 
 There stood the wheaten loaf, and the honey fragrant with 
 
 wild flowers; 
 There stood the tankard of ale, and the cheese fresh 
 
 brought from the dairy; ^^^ 
 
 And at the head of the board the great arm-chair of the 
 
 farmer. 
 Thus did Evangeline wait at her father's door, as the sunset 
 Threw the long shadows of trees o'er the broad ambrosial 
 
 meadows. 
 Ah ! on her spirit within a deeper shadow had fallen, 
 And from the fields of her soul a fragrance celestial as- 
 
 scended, — 
 Charity, meekness, love, and hope, and forgiveness and 
 
 patience ! 
 Then all forsretful of self she wandered into the village, 
 Cheering with looks and words the mournful hearts of the 
 
 women, 
 
30 EVANGELINE. 
 
 As o'er the darkening fields with lingering steps they de- 
 parted, 
 
 Urged by their household cares, and the weary feet of their 
 children. ^"^ 
 
 Down sank the great red sun, and in golden, glimmering 
 vapours 
 
 Veiled the light of his face, like the Prophet descending 
 from Sinai. 
 
 Sweetly over the village the bell of the Angelus sounded. 
 
 Meanwhile, amid the gloom, by the church Evangeline 
 
 lingered. 
 All was silent within; and in vain at the door and the 
 
 windows ^^^ 
 
 Stood she, and listened and looked, until overcome by 
 
 emotion, 
 "Gabriel!" cried she aloud with tremulous voice; but no 
 
 answer 
 Came from the graves of the dead, nor the gloomier grave 
 
 of the living. 
 Slowly at length she returned to the tenantless house of her 
 
 father. 
 Smouldered the fire on the hearth, on the board was the 
 
 supper untasted. ^^^ 
 
 Empty and drear was each room, and haunted with phan- 
 toms of terror. 
 Sadly echoed her step on the stair and the floor of her 
 
 chamber. 
 In the dead of the night she heard the disconsolate rain 
 
 fall 
 Loud on the withered leaves of the sycamore-tree by the 
 
 window. 
 Keenly the lightning flashed; and the voice of the echoing 
 
 thunder s^" 
 
 Told her that God was in heaven, and governed the world 
 
 He created! 
 Then she remembered the tale she had heard of the justice 
 
 of Heaven; 
 Soothed was her troubled soi;l, and she peacefully slum- 
 bered till morning. 
 
EVANGELINE. 31 
 
 V. 
 
 Pour times the sun had risen and set, and now on the 
 fifth day 
 
 Cheerily called the cock to the sleeping maids of the farm- 
 house. 5"5 
 
 Soon o'er the yellow fields, in silent mournful proces- 
 sion, 
 
 Came from the neighbouring hamlets and farms the Aca- 
 dian women. 
 
 Driving in ponderous wains their household goods to the 
 sea-shore. 
 
 Pausing and looking back to gaze once more on their dwell- 
 ings, 
 
 Ere they were shut from sight by the winding road and the 
 woodland. 5^" 
 
 Close at their sides their children ran, and urged on the 
 oxen, 
 
 While in their little hands they clasped some fragments of 
 playthings. 
 
 Thus to the Gaspereau's mouth they hurried; and there 
 on the sea-beach 
 Piled in confusion lay the household goods of the peasants. 
 All day long between the shore and the ships did the boats 
 
 ply. 535 
 
 All day long the wains came labouring down from the 
 
 village. 
 Late in the afternoon, when the sun was near to his setting. 
 Echoed far o'er the fields came the roll of drums from the 
 
 churchyard. 
 Thither the women and children thronged. On a sudden 
 
 the church-doors 
 Opened, and forth came the guard, and marching in gloomy 
 
 procession ^*'' 
 
 Followed the long-imprisoned, but patient, Acadian farmers. 
 Even as pilgrims, who journey afar from their homes and 
 
 their country, 
 Sing as they go, and in singing forget they are weary and 
 
 wajrworn. 
 So with songs on their lips the Acadian peasants descended 
 
33 EVANGELINE. 
 
 Down from the church to the shore, amid their wives and 
 their daughters. ^*^ 
 
 Foremost the young men came ; and, raising together their 
 voices, 
 
 Sang with tremulous lips a chant of the Catholic Mis- 
 sions : — 
 
 " Sacred heart of the Saviour ! inexhaustible fountain ! 
 
 Pill our hearts this day with strength and submission and 
 patience !" 
 
 Then the old men, as they marched, and the women that 
 stood by the wayside ^^^ 
 
 Joined in the sacred psalm, and the birds in the sunshine 
 above them 
 
 Mingled their notes therewith, like voices of spirits de- 
 parted. 
 
 Half-way down to the shore Evangeline waited in silence. 
 
 Not overcome with grief, but strong in the hour of afflic- 
 tion, — 
 
 Calmly and sadly she waited, until the procession ap- 
 proached her, ^^^ 
 
 And she beheld the face of Gabriel pale with emotion. 
 
 Tears then filled her eyes, and eagerly running to meet him. 
 
 Clasped she his hands, and laid her head on his shoulder, 
 and whispered, — 
 
 " Gabriel ! be of good cheer ! for if we love one another 
 
 Nothing, in truth, can harm us, whatever mischances may 
 happen !" &bo 
 
 Smiling she spake these words; then suddenly paused, for 
 her father 
 
 Saw she, slowly advancing. Alas ! how changed was his 
 aspect ! 
 
 Gone was the glow from his cheek, and the fire from his 
 eye, and his footstep 
 
 Heavier seemed with the weight of the heavy heart in his 
 bosom. 
 
 But with a smile and a sigh, she clasped his neck and em- 
 braced him, ^^^ 
 
 Speaking words of endearment where words of comfort 
 availed not. 
 
 Thus to the Gaspereau's mouth moved on that mournful 
 procession. 
 
EVMSTGELINE. 33 
 
 There disorder. pevailed, and the tumult and stir of em- 
 barking. 
 Busily plied the freighted boats; and in the confusion 
 Wives were torn from their husbands, and mothers, too late, 
 
 saw their children &7o 
 
 Left on the land, extending their arms, with wildest 
 
 entreaties. 
 So unto separate ships were Basil and Gabriel carried. 
 While in despair on the shore Evangeline stood with her 
 
 father. 
 Half the task was not done when the sun went down, and 
 
 the twilight 
 Deepene,d and darkened around ; and in haste the refluent 
 
 ocean 675 
 
 Fled away from the shore, and left the line of the sand- 
 beach 
 Covered with waifs of the tide, with kelp and the slippery 
 
 sea-weed. 
 Further back in the midst of the household goods and the 
 
 wagons, 
 Like to a gypsy camp, or a leaguer after a battle. 
 All escape cut ofE by the sea, and the sentinels near 
 
 them, ' &»u 
 
 Lay encamped for the night the houseless Acadian 
 
 farmers. 
 Back to its nethermost caves retreated the bellowing 
 
 ocean, 
 Dragging adown the beach the rattling pebbles, and leaving 
 Inland and far up the shore the stranded boats of the 
 
 sailors. 
 Then, as the night descended, the herds returned from their 
 
 pastures ; ^'^^ 
 
 Sweet was the moist still air with the odour of milk from 
 
 their udders ; 
 Lowing they waited, and long, at the well-known bars pi 
 
 the farm-yard, — 
 Waited and looked in vain for the voice and the hand of 
 
 the milkmaid. 
 SUenee reigned in the streets ; from the church no Angelus 
 
 sounded, 
 Eose no smoke from the roofs, and gleamed no lights from 
 
 the windows. ^'"' 
 
 3 
 
34 EVANGELIlSrE. 
 
 But on the shores meanwhile the evening fires had been 
 
 Ifindled, 
 Built of the drift-wood thrown on the sands from wrecks 
 
 in the temnest. 
 Bound, them shapes of gloom and sorrowful faces were 
 
 gathered. 
 Voices of women were heard, and of men, and the crying 
 
 of children. 
 Onward from fire to fire, as from hearth to hearth in his 
 
 parish, ^"^ 
 
 Wandered the faithful priest, consoling and blessing and 
 
 cheering, 
 Tjike unto shipwrecked Paul on Melita's desolate sea-shore. 
 Thus he approached the place where Evangeline sat with 
 
 her father. 
 And in the flickering light beheld the face of the old man, 
 Haggard and hollov/ and wan, and without either thought 
 
 or emotion, ^"^ 
 
 ■E'en as the face of a clock from which the hands have been 
 
 taken. 
 Vainly Evangeline strove with words and caresses to cheer 
 
 him, 
 Vainly offered him food ; yet he moved not, he looked not, 
 
 he spake not, 
 But, with a vacant stare, ever gazed at the flickering fire- 
 light. 
 " Benedicite !" murmured the priest, in tones of com- 
 passion. " ''"■5 
 More he fain would have said, but his heart was full, and 
 
 his accents 
 Faltered and paused on his lips, as the feet of a child on a 
 
 threshold, 
 Hushed by the scene he beholds, and the awful presence of 
 
 sorrow. 
 Silently, therefore, he laid his hand on the head of the 
 
 maiden, 
 Eaising his tearful eyes to the silent stars that above 
 
 them "" 
 
 Moved on their way, unperturbed by the wrongs and sor- 
 rows of mortals. 
 Then sat he down at her side, and they wept together in 
 
 silence. 
 
EVAISTGELINE. 35 
 
 Suddenly rose from the south a light, as in autumn the 
 blood-red 
 
 Moon climbs the crystal walls of heaven, and o'er the 
 horizon 
 
 Titan-like stretches its hundred hands upon mountain and 
 meadow, *'if^ 
 
 Seizing the rocks and the rivers, and piling huge shadows 
 together. 
 
 Broader and ever broader it gleamed on the roofs of the 
 village, 
 
 Gleamed on the sky and the sea, and the ships that lay in 
 the roadstead. 
 
 Columns of shining smoke uprose, and flashes of flame 
 were 
 
 Thrust through their folds and withdrawn, like the quiv- 
 ering hands of a martyr. ''^'' 
 
 Then as the wind seized the gleeds and the burning thatch, 
 and, uplifting, 
 
 A\Tiirled them aloft through the air, at once from a hundred 
 house-tops 
 
 Started the sheeted smoke with flashes of flame inter- 
 mingled. 
 
 These things beheld in dismay the crowd on the shore 
 and on shipboard. 
 
 Speechless at first they stood, then cried aloud in their 
 anguish, ''^^ 
 
 "We shall behold no more our homes in the village of 
 Grand-Pre !" 
 
 Loud on a sudden the cocks began to crow in the farm- 
 yards, 
 
 Thinking the day had dawned; and anon the lowing of 
 cattle 
 
 Came on the evening breeze, by the barking of dogs inter- 
 rupted. 
 
 Then rose a sound of dread, such as startles the sleeping 
 encampments "'"' 
 
 Far in the western prairies of forests that skirt the Ne- 
 braska, 
 
 When the wild horses affrighted sweep by with the speed 
 of the whirlwind. 
 
 Or the loud bellowing herds of buSaloes rush to the river. 
 
36 EVANGELINE. 
 
 Such was the sound that arose on the night, as the herds 
 
 and the horses 
 Broke through their folds and fences, and madly rushed 
 
 o'er the meadows. ^^^ 
 
 Overwhelmed with the sight, yet speechless, the priest 
 and the maiden 
 
 Gazed on the scene of terror that reddened and widened 
 before them; 
 
 And as they turned at length to speak to their silent com- 
 panion, 
 
 Lo ! from his seat he had fallen, and stretched abroad on 
 the sea-shore 
 
 Motionless lay his form, from which the soul had de- 
 parted'. . »*» 
 
 Slowly the priest uplifted the lifeless head, and the maiden 
 
 Knelt at her father's side, and' wailed aloud in her terror. 
 
 Then in a swoon she sank, and lay with her head on his 
 bosom. J 
 
 Through the long night she lay in deep, oblivious slumber; 
 
 And when she woke from the trance, she beheld a multi- 
 tude near her. ""^^ 
 
 Faces of friends she beheld, that were mournfully gazing 
 upon her, 
 
 Pallid, with tearful eyes, and looks of saddest compassion. 
 
 Still the blaze of the burning village illumined the land- 
 scape, 
 
 Eeddened the sky overhead, and gleamed on the faces 
 around her, 
 
 And like' the day of doom it seemed to her wavering 
 senses. '^°^ 
 
 Then a familiar voice she heard, as it said to tlie people, — 
 
 " Let us bury him here by the sea. When a happier season 
 
 Brings us again to our homes from the unknown land of 
 our exile. 
 
 Then shall his sacred dust be. piously laid in the church- 
 yard." 
 
 Such were the words of the priest. And there in haste by 
 the sea-side, "^'s 
 
 Having the glare of the burning village for funeral torches, 
 
 But without bell or book, they buried the farmer of 
 Grand-Pre. 
 
EVANGELINE. Sr 
 
 And as the voice of the priest repeated the service of 
 
 sorrow, 
 Lo ! with a mournful sound like the voice of a vast con- 
 gregation, 
 Solemnly answered the sea, and mingled its roar with the 
 
 dirges. eeo 
 
 'Twas the returning tide, that afar from the waste of the 
 
 ocean, 
 With the first dawn of the day, came heaving and hurrying 
 
 landward. 
 Then recommenced once more the stir and noise of fem- 
 
 harking ; 
 And with the ebb of the tide the ships sailed out of the 
 
 harbour, 
 Leaving behind them the dead on the shore, and the village 
 
 m ruins. sbb 
 
 K>art tbe Secon^. 
 I. 
 
 Many a weary year had passed since the burning of Grand- 
 
 Pre, 
 When on the falling tide the freighted vessels departed, 
 Bearing a nation, with all its household gods, into exile. 
 Exile without an end, and without an example in story. 
 Par asunder, on separate coasts, the Acadians landed; •■"* 
 Scattered were they, like flakes of snow, when the wind 
 
 from the northeast 
 Strikes aslant through the fogs that darken the Banks of 
 
 Newfoundland. 
 Friendless, homeless, hopeless, they wandered from city to 
 
 city. 
 From the cold lakes of the North to sultry Southern 
 
 savannas, — 
 From the bleak shores of the sea to the lands where the 
 
 Father of Waters «''^ 
 
 Seizes the hills in his hands, and drags them down to the 
 
 ocean. 
 Deep in their sands to bury the scattered bones of thp 
 
 mammoth. 
 
38 EVANGELINE. 
 
 Friends they sought and homes; and many, despairing, 
 heart-broken, 
 
 Asked of the earth but a grave, and no longer a friend nor 
 a fireside. 
 
 Written their history stands on tablets of stone in the 
 churchyards. ^^'^ 
 
 Long among them was seen a maiden who waited and wan- 
 dered. 
 
 Lowly and meek in spirit and patiently suffering all things. 
 
 Fair was she and young ; but, alas ! before her extended. 
 
 Dreary and vast and silent, the desert of life, with its 
 pathway 
 
 Marked by the graves of those who had sorrowed and suf- 
 fered before her, '''^^ 
 
 Passions long extinguished, and hopes long dead and 
 abandoned. 
 
 As the emigrant's way o'er the Western desert is marked by 
 
 Camp-fires long consumed, and bones that bleach in the 
 sunshine. 
 
 Something there was in her life incomplete, imperfect, 
 unfinished ; 
 
 As if a morning of June, with all its music and sun- 
 shine, ««o 
 
 Suddenly paused in the sky, and, fading, slowly descended 
 
 Into the east again, from whence it late had arisen. 
 
 Sometimes she lingered in towns, till, urged by the fever 
 within her, 
 
 Urged by a restless longing, the hunger and thirst of the 
 spirit, 
 
 She would commence again her endless search and en- 
 deavour; •"** 
 
 Sometimes in churchyards strayed, and gazed on the crosses 
 and tombstones, 
 
 Sat by some nameless grave, and thought that perhaps in 
 its bosom 
 
 He was already at rest, and she longed to slumber beside 
 him. 
 
 Sometimes a rumour, a hearsay, an inarticulate whisper. 
 
 Came with its airy hand to point and beckon her for- 
 ward. _ 7»" 
 
 Sometimes she spake with those who had seen her beloved 
 and known him. 
 
EVANGELINE. 39 
 
 But it was long ago, in some far-ofE place or forgotten. 
 " Gabriel Lajeunesse!" they said; " Oh, 5fes! we have seen 
 
 him. 
 He was with Basil the blacksmith, and both have gone to 
 
 the prairies; 
 Coiireurs-des-bois are they, and famous hunters and trap- 
 pers." 1U5 
 " Gabriel Lajeunesse !" said others ; " Oh, yes ! we have 
 
 seen him. 
 He is a voyageur in the lowlands of Louisiana." 
 Then would they say, "Dear child! why dream and wait 
 
 for him longer? 
 Are there not other youths as fair as Gabriel? others 
 Who have hearts as tender and true, and spirits as 
 loyal? 710 
 
 Here is Baptiste Leblanc, the notary's son, who has loved 
 
 thee 
 ^fany a tedious year; come, give him thy hand and be 
 
 happy ! 
 Thou art too fair to be left to braid St. Catherine's tresses." 
 Then would Evangeline answer, serenely but sadly, "I 
 
 cannot ! 
 Vrhither my heart has gone, there follows my hand, and 
 not elsewhere. ''^^ 
 
 For when the heart goes before, like a lamp, and illumines 
 
 the pathway. 
 Many things are made clear, that else lie hidden in dark- 
 ness." 
 Thereupon the priest, her friend and father confessor. 
 Said, with a smile, " daughter ! thy God thus speaketh 
 
 within thee ! 
 Talk not of wasted affection, affection never was 
 wasted; ■'-" 
 
 If it enrich not the heart of another, its waters, returning 
 Back to their springs, like the rain, shall fill them full of 
 
 refreshment ; 
 That which the fountain sends forth returns again to the 
 
 fountain. 
 Patience ; accomplisli thy labour ; accomplish thy work of 
 
 affection ! 
 Sorrow and silence are strong and patient endurance is 
 godlike. ''^^ 
 
40 EVANGELINE. 
 
 Therefore accomplish thy labour of love, till the heart is 
 made godlike, 
 
 Purified, strengthened, perfected, and rendered more 
 worthy of heaven ! ' 
 
 Cheered by the good man's words, Evangeline laboured and 
 waited. 
 
 StUl in her heart she heard the funeral dirge of the ocean, 
 
 But with its sound there was mingled a voice that whis-' 
 pered, " Despair not !" '''^^ 
 
 Thus did that poor soul wander in want and cheerless dis- 
 comfort. 
 
 Bleeding, barefooted, over the shards and thorns of ex- 
 istence. 
 
 Let me essay, Muse! to follow the wanderer's foot- 
 steps ; — 
 
 Not through each devious path, each changeful year • of 
 existence ; 
 
 But as a traveller follows a streamlet's course through the 
 valley: ''^^ 
 
 Far from its margin at times, and seeing the gleam of its 
 water 
 
 Here and there, in some open space, and at intervals only ; 
 
 Then drawing nearer its banks, through sylvan glooms that 
 conceal it. 
 
 Though he behold it not, he can hear its continuous 
 murmur ; 
 
 Happy, at length, if he find a spot where it reaches an 
 outlet. ■'" 
 
 II. 
 
 It was the month of May. Ear down the Beautiful 
 Eiver, 
 Past the Ohio shore and past the mouth of the Wabash, 
 Into the golden stream of the broad and swift Mississippi, 
 Floated a cumbrous boat, that was rowed by Acadian 
 
 boatmen, 
 It was a band of exiles; a raft, as it were, from the ship- 
 wrecked ''^^ 
 Nation, scattered along the coast, now floating together, 
 Bound by the bonds of a common belief and a common 
 misfortune ; 
 
EVANGELINE. 41 
 
 Men and women and children, who^ gnided by hope or by 
 
 hearsay, 
 Sought for their kith and their kin among the few-acred 
 
 farmers 
 On the Acadian coast, and the prairies of fair Ope- 
 
 lousas. '50 
 
 With them Evangeline went, and her guide, the Father 
 
 Pelician. 
 Onward o'er sunken sands, through a wilderness sombre 
 
 with forests, 
 Day after day they glided adown the turbulent river ; 
 Night after night, by their blazing fires, encamped on its 
 
 borders. 
 Now through rushing chutes, among green islands, where 
 
 plumelike ''^^ 
 
 Cotton-trees nodded their shadovirjr crests, they swept with 
 
 the current. 
 Then emerged into broad lagoons, where silvery sand-bars 
 Lay in the stream, and along the wimpling waves of their 
 
 margin. 
 Shining with snow-white plumes, large flocks of pelicans 
 
 waded. 
 Level the landscape greV, and along the shores of the 
 
 river, ■"*" 
 
 Shaded by china-trees in the midst of luxuriant gardens, 
 Stood the houses of planters, with negro cabins and dove- 
 cots. 
 They were approaching the region where reigns perpetual 
 
 summer. 
 Where through the Golden Coast, and groves of orange and 
 
 citron. 
 Sweeps with maiestic curve the river away to the east- 
 
 ward. ^«^ 
 
 They, too, swerved from their course; and, entering the 
 
 Bayou of Plaquemine, 
 Soon were lost in a maze of sluggish and devious waters, 
 ^Vhich, like a network of steel, extended in every direction. 
 Over their heads the towering; and tenebrous boughs of the 
 
 cypress 
 Met in a dusky arch, and trailing mosses in mid-air '^'"> 
 Waved like banners that hang on the walls of ancient 
 
 cathedrals. 
 
42 EVANGELINE. 
 
 Deathlike the silence seemed, and unbroken, save by the 
 
 herons 
 Home to their roosts in the cedar-trees returning at sunset. 
 Or by the owl, as he greeted the moon with demoniac 
 
 laughter. 
 Lovely the moonlight was as it glanced and gleamed on the 
 
 water, '''^ 
 
 Gleamed on the columns of cypress and cedar sustaining 
 
 the arches, 
 Down through whose broken vaults it fell as through chinks 
 
 in a ruin. 
 Dreamlike, and indistinct, and strange were all things 
 
 around them; 
 And o'er their spirits there came a feeling of wonder and 
 
 Strange forebodings of ill, unseen and that cannot be com- 
 passed. ''*"* 
 
 As, at the tramp of a horse's hoof on the turf of the 
 prairies. 
 
 Far in advance are closed the leaves of the shrinking 
 mimosa, ■ 
 
 So, at the hoof-beats of fate, with sad forebodings of evil. 
 
 Shrinks and closes the heart, ere the stroke of doom has 
 attained it. 
 
 But Evangeline's heart was sustained by a vision, that 
 faintly ^»s 
 
 Floated before her eyes, and beckoned her on through the 
 moonlight. 
 
 It was the thought of her brain that assumed the shape of 
 a phantom. 
 
 Through those shadowy aisles had Gabriel wandered before 
 her, 
 
 And every stroke of the oar now brought him nearer and 
 nearer. 
 
 Then in his place, at the prow of the boat, rose one of 
 the oarsmen, '''"' 
 
 And, as a signal sound, if others like them peradventure 
 Sailed on those gloomy and midnight streams, b lew a bl ast 
 
 on his bugle. 
 Wild through tEe dark colonnades and corridors leafy the 
 blast rang. 
 
. EVANGELINE. 43 
 
 Breaking the seal of silence and giving tongues to the 
 
 forest. 
 Soundless above them the banners of moss just stirred to 
 
 the music. tss 
 
 Multitudinous echoes awoke and died in the distance, 
 Over the watery floor, and beneath the reverberant 
 
 branches ; 
 But not a voice replied ; no answer came from the darkness ; 
 And when the echoes had ceased, like a sense of pain was 
 
 the silence. 
 Then Evangeline slept ; but the boatmen rowed through the 
 
 midnight, «"" 
 
 Silent at times, then singing familiar Canadian boat-songs, 
 Such as they sang of old on their own Acadian rivers, 
 While through the night were heard the mysterious sounds 
 
 of the desert, 
 Ea,r off,— indistinct, — as of wave or wind in the forest. 
 Mixed with the whoop of the crane and the roar of the 
 
 grim alligator. '^"^ 
 
 Thus ere another noon they emerged from the shades; 
 and before them 
 
 Lay, in the golden sun, the lakes of the Atchafalaya. 
 
 Water-lilies in myriads rocked on the slight undulations 
 
 Made by the passing oars, and, resplendent in beauty, the 
 lotus 
 
 Lifted her golden crown above the heads of the boat- 
 men. ^^^ 
 
 Faint was the air with the odorous breath of magnolia 
 blossoms, 
 
 And with the heat of noon ; and numberless sylvan islands. 
 
 Fragrant and thickly embowered with blossoming hedges 
 of roses, 
 
 Near to whose shores they glided along, invited to slumber. 
 
 Soon by the fairest of these their weary oars were sus- 
 pended. '^^^ 
 
 Under the boughs of Wachita willows, that grew by the 
 margin. 
 
 Safely their boat was moored; and scattered about on the 
 greensward. 
 
 Tired with their midnight toil, the weary travellers slum- 
 bered. 
 
44 EVAKGELINB. 
 
 Over them vast and high extended the cope of a cedar. 
 
 Swinging from its great arms, the trumpet-flower and the 
 grapevine ^'^^ 
 
 Hung their ladder of ropes aloft like the ladder of Jacob, 
 
 On whose pendulous stairs the angels ascending, de; 
 scending, 
 
 Were the swift humming-birds, that flitted from blossom 
 to blossom. 
 
 Such was the vision Evangeline saw as she slumbered be- 
 neath it. 
 
 Pilled was her heart with love, and the dawn of an open- 
 ing heaven "^^ 
 
 Lighted her soul in sleep with the glory of regions celestial. 
 
 Nearer, ever nearer, among the numberless islands 
 Darted a light, swift boat, that sped away o'er the water 
 Urged on its course by the sinewy arms of hunters and 
 
 trappers. 
 Northward its prow was turned to the land of the bison 
 
 and beaver. '''"' 
 
 At the helm sat a youth, with countenance thoughtful and 
 
 careworn. 
 Dark and neglected locks overshadowed his brow, and a 
 
 sadness 
 Somewhat beyond his years on his face was legibly written. 
 Gabriel was it, who, weary with waiting, unhappy and 
 
 restless. 
 Sought in the "Western wilds oblivion of self and of 
 
 sorrow. '^'^^ 
 
 Swiftly they glided along, close under the lee of the island. 
 But by the opposite bank, and behind a screen of palmettos ; 
 So that they saw not the boat, where it lay concealed in the 
 
 willows ; 
 All undisturbed by the dash of their oars, and unseen were 
 
 the sleepers; 
 Angel of God was there none to awaken the slumbering 
 
 maiden. , "*" 
 
 Swiftly they glided away, like the shade of a cloud on the 
 
 prairie. 
 After the sound of their oars on the tholes had died in the 
 
 distance, 
 As from a magic trance the sleepers awoke, and the maiden 
 
EVANGELINE 45 
 
 Said with a sigh to the friendly priest, " Father Felician ! 
 
 Something says in my heart that near me Gabriel wan- 
 ders. !**6 
 
 Is it a foolish dream, an idle and vague superstition ? 
 
 Or has an angel passed, and revealed the truth to my 
 spirit ?" 
 
 Then, with a blush, she added, " Alas for my credulous 
 fancy ! 
 
 Unto ears like thine such words as these have no meaning."' 
 
 But made answer the reverend man, and he smiled as he 
 answered, — "s" 
 
 " Daughter, thy words are not idle ; nor are they to me 
 without meaning. 
 
 Feeling is deep and still; and the word that floats on the 
 surface 
 
 Is as the tossing buoy, that betrays where the anchor is 
 hidden. 
 
 Therefore trust to thy heart, and to what the world calls 
 illusions. 
 
 Gabriel truly is near thee; for not far away to the south- 
 ward, ^^^ 
 
 On the banks of the Teche, are the towns of St. Maur and 
 St. Martin. 
 
 There the long-wandering bride shall be given again to her 
 bridegroom. 
 
 There the long-absent pastor regain his flock and his sheep- 
 ' fold. 
 
 Beautiful is the land, with its prairies and forests of fruit- 
 trees ; 
 
 Under the feet a garden of flowers and the bluest of 
 heavens '"'" 
 
 Bending above, and resting its dome on the walls of the 
 forest. 
 
 They who dwell there have named it the Eden of Lou- 
 isiana." 
 
 With these words of cheer they arose and continued 
 their journey. 
 
 Softly the evening came. The sun from the western 
 horizon 
 
 Like a magician extended his golden wand o'er the land- 
 scape ; 
 
46 EVANGELINE. 
 
 Twmkling vapors arose ; and slsy and water and forest 
 
 Seemed all on fire at the toueli, and melted and mingled 
 together. 
 
 Hanging between two skies, a cloud with edges of silver, 
 
 Floated the hoat, with its dripping oars, on the motion- 
 less water. 
 
 Filled was Evangeline's heart with inexpressible sweet- 
 ness. '*'''' 
 
 Touched by the magic spell, the sacred fountains of feeling 
 
 Glowed with the light of love, as the skies and waters 
 around her. 
 
 Then from a neighbouring thicket the mocking-bird, wild- 
 est of singers, 
 
 Swinging aloft on a willow spray that hung o'er the water, 
 
 Shook from his little throat such floods of delirious 
 music, 
 
 That the whole air and the woods and the waves seemed 
 silent to listen. 
 
 Plaintive at first were the tones and sad; then soaring to 
 madness 
 
 Seemed they to follow or guide the revel of frenzied Bac- 
 chantes., 
 
 Single notes were then heard, in sorrowful, low lamenta- 
 tion ; 
 
 Till, having gathered them all, he flung them abroad in 
 derision, **"" 
 
 As when, after a storm, a gust of wind through the tree- 
 tops 
 
 Shakes down the rattling rain in a crystal shower on the 
 branches. 
 
 With such a prelude as this, and hearts that throbbed with 
 emotion, 
 
 Slowly they entered the Teche, where it flows through the 
 green Opelousas, 
 
 And, through the amber air, above the crest of the wood- 
 land, , _»»s 
 
 Saw the column of smoke that arose from a neighbouring 
 dwelling ; — 
 
 Sounds of a horn they heard, and the distant lowing of 
 cattle. 
 
EVANGELINE. 47 
 
 III. 
 
 Near to the bank of the river, o'ershadowed by oaks from 
 whose branches 
 Garlands of Spanish moss and of mystic mistletoe flaunted, 
 Such as the Druids cut down with golden hatchets at Yule- 
 tide, Si*" 
 Stood, secluded and still, the house of the herdsman. A 
 
 garden 
 Girded it round about with a belt of luxuriant blossoms, 
 Filling the air with fragrance. The house itself was of 
 
 timbers 
 Hewn from the cypress-tree, and carefully fitted together. 
 Large and low was the roof; and on slender columns sup- 
 ported, ^^^ 
 Eose- wreathed, vine-encircled, a broad and spacious veranda, 
 Haunt of the humming-bird and the bee, extended around it. 
 At each end of the house, amid the flowers of the garden. 
 Stationed the dove-cots were, as love's perpetual symbol, 
 Scenes of endless wooing, and endless contentions of 
 rivals. ^"^ 
 ■ Silence reigned o'er the place. The line of shadow and 
 
 sunshine 
 Ean near the tops of the trees ; but the house itself was in 
 
 shadow. 
 And from its chimney-top, ascending and slowly expanding 
 Into the evening air, a thin blue column of smoke rose. 
 In the rear of the house, from the garden gate, ran a path- 
 way . ""^ 
 Through the great groves of oak to the skirts of the limit- 
 less prairie. 
 Into whose sea of flowers the sun was slowly descending. 
 Full in his track of light, like ships with shadowy canvas 
 Hanging loose from theii; spars in a motionless calm in the 
 
 tropics. 
 Stood a cluster of trees, with tangled cordage of grape- 
 vines. ^^° 
 
 Just where the woodlands met the flowery surf of the 
 prairie, 
 Mounted upon his horse, with Spanish saddle and stirrups 
 
48 EVANGELINE. 
 
 Sat a herdsman, arrayed in gaiters and doublet of deerskin. 
 
 Broad and brown was the face that from under the Spanish 
 sombrero 
 
 Gazed on the peaceful scene, with the lordly look of its 
 master. ' "^^ 
 
 Eound about him were numberless herds of kine that were 
 grazing 
 
 Quietly in the meadows, and breathing the vapoury fresh- 
 ness 
 
 That uprose from the river, and spread itself over the land- 
 scape. 
 
 Slowly lifting the horn that hung at his side, and expanding 
 
 Fully his broad, deep chest, he blew a blast, that re- 
 sounded ' '*-" 
 
 Wildly and sweet and far, through the still damp air of 
 the evening. 
 
 Suddenly out of the grass the long white horns of the cattle 
 
 Eose like flakes of foam on the adverse currents of ocean. 
 
 Silent a moment they gazed, then bellowing rushed o'er the 
 prairie, 
 
 And the whole mass became a cloud, a shade in the dis- 
 tance. ^'^^ 
 
 Then, as the herdsman turned to the house, through the 
 gate of the garden 
 
 Saw he the forms of the priest and the maiden advancing 
 to meet him. 
 
 Suddenly down from his horse he sprang in amazement, 
 and forward 
 
 Pushed with extended arms and exclamations of wonder ; 
 
 When they beheld his face, they recognized Basil the black- 
 smith. "J^o 
 
 Hearty his welcome was, as he led his guests to the garden. 
 
 There in an arbour of roses with endless question and 
 answer 
 
 Gave they vent to their hearts, and renewed their friendly 
 embraces. 
 
 Laughing and weeping by turns, or sitting silent and 
 thoughtful. 
 
 Thoughtful, for Gabriel came not; and now dark doubts 
 and misgivings ''■^^ 
 
 Stole o'er the maiden's heart; and Basil, somewhat em- 
 barrassed. 
 
EVANGELINE. 4D 
 
 Broke the silence and said, " If you came by the Atcha- 
 
 lalaya, 
 How have you nowhere encountered my Gabriel's boat on 
 
 the bayous?" 
 Over Evangeline's face at the words of Basil a shade passed. 
 Tears came into her eyes, and she said, with a tremulous 
 
 accent, «*» 
 
 " Gone ? is Gabriel gone ?" and, concealing her face on his 
 
 shoulder, 
 All her o'erburdened heart gave way, and she wept and 
 
 lamented. 
 Then the good Basil said, — and his voice grew blithe as he 
 
 said it, — 
 " Be of good cheer, my child ; it is only to-day he departed. 
 Foolish boy! he has left me alone with my herds and my 
 
 horses. ^^^ 
 
 Moody and restless grown, and tried and troubled, his spirit 
 Could no longer endure the calm of this quiet existence. 
 Thinking ever of thee, uncertain and sorrowful ever. 
 Ever silent, or speaking only of thee and his troubles, 
 He at length had become so tedious to men and to 
 
 maidens, '*^" 
 
 Tedious even to me, that at length I bethought me, and 
 
 sent him 
 TJnto the town of Adayes to trade for mules with the 
 
 Spaniards. 
 Th,ence he will follow the Indian trails to the Ozark Moun- 
 tains, 
 Hunting for furs in the forests, on rivers trapping the 
 
 beaver. 
 Therefore be of ffood cheer: we will follow the fugitive 
 
 lover; ''^ 
 
 He is not far on his way, and the Fates and the streams 
 
 are against him. 
 Up and away to-morrow, and through the red dew of the 
 
 morning. 
 We will follow him fast, and bring him back to his prison." 
 
 Then glad voices were heard, and up from the banks of 
 the river. 
 Borne aloft on his comrades' arms, came Michael the 
 fiddler. "*" 
 
50 EVANGELINE. 
 
 Long under Basil's roof had he lived, like a god on 
 Olyrapus, 
 
 Having no other care than dispensing music to mortals. 
 
 Par renowned was he for his silver locks and his fiddle. 
 
 " Long live Michael/' they cried, " our brave Acadian min- 
 strel !" 
 
 As they bore him aloft in triumphal procession; and 
 straightway ""'^ 
 
 Father Felician advanced with Evangeline, greeting the 
 old man 
 
 Kindly and oft, and recalling the past, while Basil, en- 
 raptured, 
 
 Hailed with hilarious joy his old companions and gossips, 
 
 Laughing loud and long, and embracing mothers and 
 daughters. 
 
 Much they marvelled to see the wealth of the ci-devant 
 blacksmith, "'"* 
 
 All his domains and his herds, and his patriarchial de- 
 meanour ; 
 
 Much they marvelled to hear his tales of the soil and the 
 climate. 
 
 And of the prairies, whose numberless herds were his who 
 would take them; 
 
 Each one thought in his heart, that he, too, would go and 
 do likewise. 
 
 Thus they ascended the steps, and crossing the breezy 
 veranda, "'* 
 
 Entered the hall of the house, where already the supper 
 of Basil 
 
 Waited his late return ; and they rested and feasted together. 
 
 Over the joyous feast the sudden darkness descended. 
 
 All was silent without, and illuming the landscape with 
 silver. 
 
 Pair rose the dewy moon and the myriad stars ; but within 
 doors, "'*'' 
 
 Brighter than these, shone the faces of friend in the glim- 
 mering lamplight. 
 
 Then from his station aloft, at the head of the table, the 
 herdsman 
 
 Poured forth his heart and his wine together in endless 
 profusion. 
 
EVANGELINE. 51 
 
 Lighting his pipe, that was filled with sweet Natchitoches 
 
 tobacco, 
 Thus he spake to his guests, who listened, and smiled as 
 they listened : — »»5 
 
 " Welcome once more, my friends, who long have been 
 
 friendless and homeless. 
 Welcome once more to a home, that is better perchance than 
 
 the old one! 
 Here no hungry winter congeals our blood like the rivers ; 
 Here no stony ground provokes the wrath of the farmer ; 
 Smoothly the ploughshare runs through the soil, as a keel 
 
 through the water. ^^'^ 
 
 All the year round the orange-groves are in blossom; and 
 
 grass grows 
 More in a single night than a whole Canadian summer. 
 Here, too, numberless herds run wild and unclaimed in the 
 
 prairies ; 
 Here, too, lands may be had for the asking, and forests of 
 
 timber 
 With a few blows of the axe are hewn and framed into 
 
 houses. ""^ 
 
 After your houses are built and your fields are yellow with 
 
 harvests. 
 No King George of England shall drive you away from 
 
 your homesteads. 
 Burning your dwellings and barns, and stealing your farms 
 
 and your cattle." 
 Speaking these words, he blew a wrathful cloud from his 
 
 nostrils. 
 While his huge, brown hand came thundering down on the 
 
 table, "»» 
 
 So that the guests all started; and Father Eelician, 
 
 astounded. 
 Suddenly paused, with a pinch of snuS half-way to his 
 
 nostrils. 
 But the brave Basil resumed, and his words were milder 
 
 and gayer: — 
 " Only beware of the fever, my friends, beware of the 
 
 fever ! 
 For it is not like that of our cold Acadian climate, ^""^ 
 
 Cured by wearing a spider hung round one's neck in a 
 
 nutshell !" 
 
52 EVANGELINE. 
 
 Then there were voices heard at the door, and footsteps 
 
 approaching 
 Sounded upon the stairs and the floor of the breezy veranda. 
 It was the neighbouring Creoles and small Acadian 
 
 planters, 
 Who had been summoned all to the house of Basil the 
 
 herdsman. ^"^^ 
 
 Merry the meeting was of ancient comrades and neighbours : 
 Friend clasped friend in his arms; and they who before 
 
 were as strangers, 
 Meeting in exile, became straightway as friends to each 
 
 other. 
 Drawn by the gentle bond of a common country together. 
 But in the nighbouring hall a strain of music, proceed- 
 ing i"i5 
 From the accordant strings of Michael's melodious fiddle, 
 Broke up all further speech. Away, like children delighted. 
 All things forgotten oeside, they gave themselves to the 
 
 maddening 
 Whirl of the dizzy dance, as it swept and swayed to the 
 
 music, 
 Dreamlike, with beaming eyes and the rush of fluttering 
 
 garments. ^"''^ 
 
 Meanwhile, apart, at the head of the hall, the priest and 
 
 the herdsman 
 Sat, conversing together of past and present and future; 
 While Evangeline stood like one entranced, for within her 
 Olden memories rose, and loud in the midst of the music 
 Heard she the sound of the sea, and an irrepressible sad- 
 ness ' ^^'■^^ 
 Came o'er her heart, and unseen she stole forth into the 
 
 garden. 
 Beautiful was the night. Behind the black wall of the forest. 
 Tipping its summit with silver, arose the moon. On the 
 
 river 
 Fell here and there through the branches a tremulous gleam 
 
 of the moonlight, 
 Like the sweet thoughts of love on a darkened and devious 
 
 spirit. i"!!" 
 
 Nearer and round about her, the manifold flowers of the 
 
 garden 
 
EYAJ^GELINE. 53 
 
 Poured out their souls in odours, that were their prayers 
 
 and confessions 
 Unto the night, as it went its way, like a silent Carthusian. 
 Fuller of fragrance than they, and as heavy with shadows 
 
 and night-dews, 
 Hung the heart of the maiden. The calm and the 
 magical i"**^ 
 
 Seemed to inundate her soul with indefinable longings, 
 As, through the garden gate, and beneath the shade of the 
 oak-trees. 
 
 Passed she along the path to the edge of the measureless 
 prairie. 
 
 Silent it lay, with a silvery haze upon it, and fire-iiies 
 
 Gleaming and floating away in mingled and infinite num- 
 bers. . 1"" 
 
 Over her head the stars, the thoughts of God in the 
 heavens. 
 
 Shone on the eyes of man, who had ceased to marvel and 
 worship, 
 
 Save when a blazing comet was seen on the walls of that 
 temple. 
 
 As if a hand had appeared and written upon them, 
 " Upharsin." 
 
 And the soul of the maiden, between the siiars and the fire- 
 flies, i»*5 
 
 Wandered alone, and she cried, " Gabriel ! my be- 
 loved ! 
 
 Art then so near unto me, and yet I cannot behold thee ? 
 
 Art thou so near unto me, and yet thy voice does not reach 
 me? 
 
 Ah ! how often thy feet have trod this path to the prairie ! 
 
 Ah' how often thine eyes have looked on the woodlands 
 around me! , i"^» 
 
 Ah ! how often beneath this oak, returning from labour. 
 
 Thou hast lain down to rest, and to dream of me in thy 
 slumbers ! 
 
 When shall these eyes behold, these arms be folded about 
 thee?" 
 
 Loud and sudden and near the note of a whippoorwil 
 sounded 
 
 Like a flute in the woods; and anon, through the neigh- 
 bouring thickets, ^"^^ 
 
54 EVANGELINE. 
 
 Farther and farther away it floated and dropped into 
 silence. 
 
 " Patience !'' whispered the oaks from oracular caverns of 
 darkness ; 
 
 And, frgm the moonlit meadow, a sigh responded, " To- 
 morrow !" 
 
 Bright rose the sun next day ; and all the flowers of the 
 garden 
 
 Bathed his shining feet with their tears, and anointed his 
 tresses ■""''* 
 
 With the delicious balm that they bore in their vases of 
 crystal. 
 
 " Farewell !" said the priest, as he stood at the shadowy 
 threshold ; 
 
 " See that you bring us the Prodigal Son from his fasting 
 and famine, 
 
 And, too, the Foolish Virgin, who slept when the bride- 
 groom was coming." 
 
 " Farewell !" answered the maiden, and, smiling, with Basil 
 descended ^"^^ 
 
 Down to the river's brink, where the boatmen already were 
 waiting. 
 
 Thus beginning their journey with morning, and sunshine, 
 and gladness, 
 
 Swiftly they followed the flight of him who was speeding 
 before them. 
 
 Blown by the blast of fate like a dead leaf over the desert. 
 
 Not that day, nor the next, nor yet the day that suc- 
 ceeded, i^o 
 ' Found they trace of his course, in lake or forest or river, 
 
 Nor, after many days, had they found him ; but vague and 
 uncertain 
 
 Eumours alone were their guides through a wild and deso- 
 late country; 
 
 Till, at the little inn of the Spanish town of Adayes, 
 
 Weary and worn, they alighted, and learned from the gar- 
 rulous landlord ^"''^ 
 
 That on the day before, with horses and guides and com- 
 panions, 
 
 Gabriel left the village, and took the road of the prairies. 
 
EVANGELINE. 55 
 
 IV. 
 
 Far in the West there lies a desert land, where the 
 
 mountains 
 Lift, through perpetual snows, their lofty and luminous 
 
 summits. 
 Down from their jagged, deep ravines, wiiere the gorge, like 
 
 a gateway, lu^so 
 
 Opens a passage rude to the wheels of the emigrant's 
 
 wagon. 
 Westward the Oregon flows and the Wallewav and Owyhee. 
 Eastward, with devious course, among the Wind-river 
 
 Mountains, 
 Through the Sweet-water Valley precipitate leaps the 
 
 Nebraska ; 
 And to the south, from Fontaine-qui-bout and the Spanish 
 
 sierras, i'"'^ 
 
 Fretted with sands and rocks, and swept by the wind of 
 
 the desert. 
 Numberless torrents, with ceaseless sound, descend to the 
 
 ocean. 
 Like the great chords of a harp, in loud and solemn vibra- 
 tions. 
 Spreading between these streams are the wondrous, beau- 
 tiful prairies. 
 Billowy bays of grass ever rolling in shadow and sun- 
 shine, "^0 
 Bright with luxuriant clusters of roses and purple amor- 
 
 phas. 
 Over them wandered the buffalo herds, and the elk and the 
 
 roebuck ; 
 Over them wandered the wolves, and herds of riderless 
 
 horses ; 
 Fires that blast and blight, and winds that are weary with 
 
 travel ; 
 Over them wander the scattered tribes of Ishmael's 
 
 children, ^''^^ 
 
 Staining the desert with blood; and above their terrible 
 
 war-trails 
 Circles and sails aloft, on pinions majestic, the vulture, 
 Like the implacable soul of a chieftain slaughtered in 
 
 battle. 
 
56 EVANGELINE. 
 
 By invisible stairs ascending and scaling the heavens. 
 
 Here and there rise smokes from the camps of these savage 
 marauders ; ^^'^^ 
 
 Here and there rise groves from the margins of swift-run- 
 ning rivers; 
 
 And the grim, taciturn bear, the anchorite monk of the 
 desert, 
 
 Climbs down their dark ravines to dig for roots by the 
 brook-side. 
 
 And over all is the sky, the clear and crystalline heaven, 
 
 Like the protecting hand of God inverted above them. ^^"^ 
 
 Into this wonderful land, at the base of the Ozark Moun- 
 tains, 
 Gabriel far had entered, with hunters and trappers behind 
 
 him. 
 Day after day, with their Indian guides, the maiden and 
 
 Basil 
 Followed his flying steps, and thought each day to o'ertake 
 
 him. 
 Sometimes they saw, or thought they saw, the smoke of his 
 
 camp-fire ^i^" 
 
 Else in the morning air from the distant plain; but at 
 
 nightfall. 
 When they had reached the place, they found only embers 
 
 and ashes. 
 And, though their hearts were sad at times and their bodies 
 
 were weary, 
 Hope still guided them on, as the magic Fata Morgana 
 Showed them her lakes of light, that retreated and vanished 
 
 before them. ^^^^ 
 
 Once, as they sat by their evening fire, there silently 
 
 entered 
 Into the little camp an Indian woman, whose features 
 Wore deep traces of sorrow, and patience as great as her 
 
 sorrow. 
 She was a Shawnee woman returning home to her people. 
 From the far-off hunting-grounds of the cruel Caman- 
 
 ches, 11^0 
 
 Where her Canadian husband, a coureur-des-bois. had been 
 
 murdered. 
 
EVANGELINE. 57 
 
 Touched were their hearts at her story, and warmest and 
 friendliest welcome 
 
 Gave they, with words of cheer, and she sat and feasted 
 among them 
 
 On the buffalo-meat and the venison cooked on the embers. 
 
 But when their meal was done, and Basil and all his com- 
 panions, 11^5 
 
 Worn with the long day's march and the chase of the deer 
 and the bison. 
 
 Stretched themselves on the ground, and slept where the 
 quivering fire-light 
 
 Plashed on their swarthy cheeks, and their forms wrapped 
 up in the blankets. 
 
 Then at the door of Evangeline's tent she sat and repeated 
 
 Slowly, with soft, low voice, and the charm of hSr Indian 
 accent, ii^** 
 
 All the tale of her love, with its pleasures, and pains, and 
 reverses. 
 
 Much Evangeline wept at the tale, and to know that 
 another 
 
 Hapless heart like her own had loved and had been dis- 
 appointed. 
 
 Moved to the depths of her soul by pity and woman's com- 
 passion, 
 
 Yet in her sorrow pleased that one who had suffered was 
 near her, ^^^^ 
 
 She in turn related her love and all its disasters. 
 
 Mute with wonder the Shawnee sat, and when she had ended 
 
 Still was mute; but at length, as if a mysterious horror 
 
 Passed throu.s:h her brain, she spake, and repeated the tale 
 ,of the Mowis; 
 
 Mowis, the bridegroom of snow, who won and Y^dded a 
 maiden, "*° 
 
 But, when the morning came, arose and passed from the 
 wigwam. 
 
 Fading and melting away and dissolving into the sunshine. 
 
 Till she beheld him no more, though she followed far into 
 the forest. 
 
 Then, in those sweet, low tones, that seemed like a weird 
 incantation. 
 
 Told she the tale of the fair Lilinau, who was wooed by a 
 phantom, ii«s 
 
58 EVANGELINE. 
 
 That through the ^ines o'er her father's lodge in the hush 
 
 of the twilight, 
 Breathed like the evening wind, and whispered love to the 
 
 maiden. 
 Till she followed his green and waving plume through the 
 
 forest. 
 And nevermore returned, nor was seen again by her people. 
 Silent with wonder and strange surprise, Evangeline 
 
 listened i"u 
 
 To the soft flow of her magical words, till the region 
 
 around her 
 Seemed like enchanted ground, and her swarthy guest the 
 
 enchantress. 
 Slowly over the tops of the Ozark Mountains the moon 
 
 rose, 
 Lighting the little tent, and with a mysterious splendour 
 Touching the sombre leaves, and embracing and filling the 
 
 woodland. ^^^* 
 
 With a delicious sound the brook rushed by, and the 
 
 branches 
 Swayed and sighed overhead in scarcely audible whispers. 
 Filled with the thoughts of love was Evangeline's heart, 
 
 but a secret. 
 Subtile sense crept in of pain and indefinite terror, 
 As the cold, poisonous snake creeps into the nest of , the 
 
 swallow. ^^^^ 
 
 It was no earthly fear. A breath from the region of spirits 
 Seemed to float in the air of night; and she felt for a 
 
 moment 
 That, like the Indian maid, she, too, was pursuing a 
 
 phantom. 
 With this thought she slept, and the fear and the phaQtom 
 
 had vanished. 
 
 Early upon the morrow the march was resumed, and the 
 
 Shawnee ^i'*^ 
 
 Said, as they Journeyed along, — " On the western slope of 
 
 these mountains 
 Dwells in his little village the Black Eobe chief of the 
 
 Mission. 
 Much he teaches the people, and tells them of Mary and 
 
 Jesus ; 
 
EVANGELINE. 59 
 
 Loud laugh their hearts with joy, and weep with pain, as 
 they hear him." 
 
 Then, with a sudden and secret emotion, Evangeline an- 
 swered, ii'" 
 
 "Let us go to the Mission, for there good tidings await 
 usP' 
 
 Thither they turned their steeds ; and behind a spur of the 
 mountains. 
 
 Just as the sun went down, they heard a murmur of voices. 
 
 And in a meadow green and broad, by the bank of a river. 
 
 Saw the tents of the Christians, the tents of the Jesuit 
 Mission. i"6 
 
 Under a towering oak, that stood in the midst of the village, 
 
 Knelt the Black Eobe chief with his children. A crucifix 
 fastened i 
 
 High on the trunk of the tree, and overshadowed by grape- 
 vines, 
 
 Looked with its agonized face on the multitude kneeling 
 beneath it. 
 
 This was their rural chapel. Aloft, through the intricate 
 arches ^^"^ 
 
 Of its aerial roof, arose the chant of their vespers. 
 
 Mingling its notes with the soft susurrus and sighs of the 
 branches. 
 
 Silent, with heads uncovered, the travellers, nearer ap- 
 proaching. 
 
 Knelt on the swarded floor, and joined in the evening 
 devotions. 
 
 But when the service was done, and the benediction had 
 fallen ""^ 
 
 Forth from the hands of the priest, like seed from the 
 hands of the sower. 
 
 Slowly the reverend man advanced to the strangers, and 
 bade them 
 
 Welcome; and when they replied, he smiled with benig- 
 nant expression, 
 
 Hearing the homelike sounds of his mother-tongue in the 
 forest, 
 
 And, with words of kindness, conducted them into his wig- 
 wam. ^^^'^ 
 
 There upon mats and skins they reposed, and on cakes of 
 the maize-ear 
 
60 EVANGELINE. 
 
 Feasted, and slaked their thirst from the water-gourd of 
 the teacher. 
 
 Soon was their story told; and the priest with solemnity 
 answered : — 
 
 " Not six suns have risen and set since Gabriel, seated 
 
 On this mat by my side, where now the maiden reposes, ^^"^ 
 
 Told me the same sad tale; then arose and continued his 
 journey !" 
 
 Soft was the voice of the priest, and he spake with an ac- 
 cent of kindness; 
 
 But on Evangeline's heart fell his words as in winter the 
 snow-flakes 
 
 Pall into some lone nest from which the birds have de- 
 parted. 
 
 " Far to the north he has gone," continued the priest ; "but 
 in autumn, ^^"^ 
 
 When the chase is done, will return again to the Mission." 
 
 Then Evangeline said, and her voice was meek and sub- 
 missive, 
 
 " Let me remain with thee, for my soul is sad and afflicted." 
 
 So seemed it wise and well unto all; and betimes on the 
 morrow. 
 
 Mounting his Mexican steed, with his Indian guides and 
 companions, ^^'"' 
 
 Homeward Basil returned, and Evangeline stayed at the 
 Mission. 
 
 Slowly, slowly, slowly the days succeeded each other, — 
 Days and weeks and months; and the fields of maize that 
 
 were springing 
 Green from the ground when a stranger she came, now 
 
 waving about her, 
 Lifted their slender shafts, with leaves interlacing, and 
 
 forming ^^^o 
 
 Cloisters for mendicant crows and granaries pillaged by 
 
 squirrels. 
 Then in the golden weather the maize was husked, and the 
 
 maidens 
 Blushed at each blood-red ear, for that betokened a 
 
 lover, 
 But at the crooked laughed, and called it a thief in the 
 
 corn-field. 
 
EVANGELINE. ^ 61 
 
 ■Even the blood-red ear to Evangeline brought not her 
 
 lover. ^'^^^ 
 
 " Patience !" the priest would say ; " have faith, and thy 
 
 prayer will be answered ! 
 Look at this vigorous plant that lifts its head from the 
 
 meadow. 
 See how its leaves are turned to the north, as true as the 
 
 magnet ; 
 This is the compass-flower, that the finger of God has 
 
 planted 
 Here in the houseless wild, to direct the traveller's jour- 
 ney 1^^" 
 Over the sea-like, pathless, limitless waste of the desert. 
 Such in the soul of man is faith. The bldssoms of passion, 
 Gay and luxuriant flowers, are brighter and fuller 
 
 fragrance. 
 But they beguile us, and lead us astray, and their odour 
 
 is deadly. 
 Only this humble plant can guide us here, and 
 
 hereafter ^^^^ 
 
 Crown us with asphodel flowers, that are wet with the dews 
 
 of nepenthe." 
 
 So came the autumn, and passed, and the winter — yet 
 
 Gabriel came not; 
 Blossomed the opening spring, and the notes of the robin 
 
 and bluebird 
 Sounded sweet upon wold and in wood, ,yet Gabriel came 
 
 not. 
 But on the breath of the summer winds a rumour was 
 
 wafted ^'"" 
 
 Sweeter than song of bird, or hue or odour of blossom. 
 Far to the north and east, it said, in the Michigan forests, 
 Gabriel had his lodge by the banks of the Saginaw Eiver. 
 And, with returning guides, that sought the lakes of St. 
 
 Lawrence, 
 Saying a sad farewell, Evangeline went from the Mis- 
 sion. . ^^^* 
 When over weary ways, by long and perilous marches. 
 She had attained at length the depths of the Michigan 
 
 forests, 
 Found she the hunter's lodge deserted and fallen to ruin ! 
 
63 EVANGELINE. 
 
 Thus did the long sad years glide on, and in seasons and 
 
 places • 
 Divers and distant far was seen the wandering 
 
 maiden;— ^'^*'' 
 
 Now in the Tents of Grace of the meek Moravian Missions, 
 Now in the noisy camps and the battle-fields of the army, 
 Now in secluded hamlets, in towns and populous cities. 
 Like a phantom she came, and passed away unremembered. 
 Fair was she and young, when in hope began the long 
 
 Journey ; i^" 
 
 Faded was she and old, when in disappointment it ended. 
 Each succeeding year stole somethmg away from her 
 
 beauty. 
 Leaving behind it, broader and deeper, the gloom and the 
 
 shadow. 
 Then there appeared and spread faint streaks of gray o'er 
 
 her forehead, 
 iDawn of another life, that broke o'er her earthly hori- 
 zon, 1^60 
 As in the eastern sky the first faint streaks of the morning. 
 
 V. 
 
 In that delightful land which is washed by the Dela- 
 ware's waters. 
 
 Guarding in sylvan shades the name of Penn the apostle. 
 
 Stands on the banks of its beautiful stream the city he 
 founded. 
 
 'ihere all the air is balm, and the peach is the emblem of 
 beauty, i^ss 
 
 And the streets still reecho the names of the trees of the 
 forest. 
 
 As if they fain would appease the Dryads whose haunts 
 they molested. 
 
 There from the troubled sea had Evangeline landed, an 
 exile. 
 
 Finding among the children of Penn a home and a country. 
 
 There old Eene Leblanc had died; and when he de- 
 parted, 1260 
 
 Saw at his side only one of all his hundred descendants. 
 
 Something at least there was in the friendly streets of the 
 city, 
 
EVANGELINE. 63 
 
 Something that spake to her heart, and made her no longer. 
 
 a stranger; 
 And her ear was pleased with the Thee and Thou of the 
 
 Quakers, 
 For it recalled the past, the old Acadian country, ^"""^ 
 Where all men were equal, and all were brothers and 
 
 sisters. 
 So, when the fruitless search, the disappointed endeavour. 
 Ended, to recommence no more upon earth, uncomplaining. 
 Thither, as leaves to the light, were turned her thoughts 
 
 and her footsteps. 
 As from a mountain's top the rainy mists of the morn- 
 ing i^''" 
 EoU away and afar we behold the landscape below us, 
 Sun-illumined, with shining rivers and cities and hamlets. 
 So fell the mists from her mind, and she saw the world far 
 
 below her, 
 Dark no longer, but all illumined with love ; and the path- 
 way 
 Which she had climbed so far, lying smooth and fair in the 
 distance. ^'^'^ 
 
 Gabriel was not forgotten. Within her heart was his image, 
 Clothed in the beauty of love and youth, as last she beheld 
 
 him. 
 Only more beautiful made by his deathlike silence and 
 
 absence. 
 Into her thoughts of him time entered not, for it was not. 
 Over him years had no power; he was not changed, but 
 transfigured; ^'^^^ 
 
 He had become to her heart as one who is dead, and not 
 
 absent ; 
 Patience and abnegation of self, and devotion to others. 
 This was the lesson a life of trial and sorrow had taught 
 
 her. 
 So was her love diffused, but, like to some odorous spices. 
 Suffered no waste nor loss, though filling the air with 
 aroma. . ^'■"''^ 
 
 Other hope had she none, nor wish in life, but to follow. 
 Meekly with reverent steps, the sacred feet of her Saviour. 
 Thus many years she lived as a Sister of Mercy; fre- 
 quenting 
 Lonely and wretched roofs in the crowded lanes of the city, 
 
64 EVANGELINE. 
 
 Where distress and want concealed themselves from the 
 sunlight, li"*" 
 
 Where disease and sorrow in garrets languished neglected. 
 
 Night after night when the world was asleep, as the watch- 
 man repeated 
 
 Loud, through the gusty streets, that all was well in the 
 city, 
 
 High at some lonely window he saw the light of her taper. 
 
 Day after day, in the gray of the dawn, as slow through 
 the suburbs ^"'^ 
 
 Plodded the German farmer, with flowers and fruits for 
 the market, 
 
 Met he that meek, pale face, returning home from its 
 watchings. 
 
 Then it came to pass that a pestilence fell on the city, 
 
 Presaged by wondrous signs, and mostly by flocks of wild 
 pigeons. 
 
 Darkening the sun in their flight, with naught in their 
 craws but an acorn. ^*"'" 
 
 And, as the tides of the sea arise in the month of Sep- 
 tember, 
 
 Flooding some silver stream, till it spreads to a lake in the 
 meadow. 
 
 So death flooded life, and, o'erflowing its natural margin, 
 
 Spread to a brackish lake the silver stream of existence. 
 
 Wealth had no power to bribe, nor beauty to charm, the 
 oppressor; i^''^ 
 
 But all perished alik^ beneath the scourge of his anger ; — 
 
 Only, alas ! the poor, who had neither friends nor attend- 
 ants, 
 
 Crept away to die in the almshouse, home of the homeless. 
 
 Then in the suburbs it stood, in the midst of meadows and 
 woodlands ; — 
 
 Now the city surrounds it; but still, with its gateway and 
 wicket ■ i^io 
 
 Meek, in the midst of splendour, its humble walls seem to 
 echo 
 
 Softly the words of the Lord : — " The poor ye always have 
 with you." 
 
 Thither, by night and by day, came the Sister of Mercy. 
 The dying 
 
EVAISTGELINE. C5 
 
 Looked up into her face, and thought, indeed, to behold 
 there 
 
 Gleams of celestial light encircle her forehead with splen- 
 dour, 1315 
 
 Such as the artist paints o'er the brows of saints and 
 
 apostles. 
 Or such as hangs by night o'er a city seen at a distance. 
 Unto their eyes it seemed the lamps of the city celestial. 
 Into whose shining gates erelong their spirits would enter. 
 
 Thus, on a Sabbath morn, through the streets, deserted 
 
 and silent, '»-» 
 
 Wending her quiet way, she entered the door of the alms- 
 house. 
 Sweet on the summer air was the odour of flowers in the 
 
 ga-rden. 
 And as she paused on her way to gather the fairest among 
 
 them. 
 That the dying once more niight rejoice in their fragrance 
 
 and beauty. 
 Then, as she mounted the stairs to the corridor, cooled by 
 
 the east-wind, ^*^^ 
 
 Distant and soft on her ear fell the chimes from the belfry 
 
 of Christ Church, 
 While, intermingled with these, across the meadows were 
 
 wafted 
 Sounds of psalms, that were sung by the Swedes in their 
 
 church at Wicaco. 
 Soft as descending wings fell the calm of the hour on her 
 
 spirit ; 
 Something within her said, "At length thy trials are 
 
 .ended;" 
 And, with light in her looks, she entered the chambers of 
 
 sickness. 
 Noiselessly moved about the assiduous, careful attendants, 
 Moistening the feverish lip, and the aching brow, and in 
 
 silence 
 Closing the sightless eyes of the dead, and concealing their 
 
 faces. 
 Where on their pallets they lay, like drifts of snow by the 
 
 roadside. ^^'''' 
 
 Many a languid head, upraised as Evangeline entered, 
 
 5 
 
C6 EVANGELINE. 
 
 Turned on its pillow of pain to gaze while she passed, for 
 her presence 
 
 Fell on their hearts like a ray of the sun on the walls of a 
 prison. 
 
 And, as she looked around, she saw how Death, the con- 
 soler. 
 
 Laying his hand upon many a heart, had healed it for 
 ever. ^'^*'^ 
 
 Many familiar forms had disappeared in the night time; 
 
 Vacant their places were, or filled already by strangers. 
 
 Suddenly, as if arrested by fear or a feeling of wonder, 
 
 Still she stood, with her colourless lips apart, while a 
 shudder 
 
 Ran through her frame, and, forgotten, the flowerets 
 dropped from her fingers, ■'■'**^ 
 
 And from her eyes and cheeks the light and bloom of the 
 morning. 
 
 Then there escaped from her lips a cry of such terrible 
 anguish. 
 
 That the dying heard it, and started up from their pillows. 
 
 On the_paUet_before her was stretched the form of an old 
 man. 
 
 Long, and thin, and gray were the locks that shaded his 
 temples ; ^^^^ 
 
 But, as he lay ia the morning light, his face for a moment 
 
 Seemed to assume once more the forms of its earlier man- 
 hood ; 
 
 So are wont to be changed the faces of those who are dying. 
 
 Hot and red on his lips still burned the flush of the fever. 
 
 As if life, like the Hebrew, with blood had besprinkled its 
 portals. i''^* 
 
 That the Angel of Death might see the sign, and pass over. 
 
 Motionless, senseless, dying, he lay, and his spirit ex- 
 hausted 
 
 Seemed to be sinking down through infinite depths in the 
 darkness. 
 
 Darkness of slumber and death, for ever sinking and sink- 
 ing- 
 Then through those realms of shade, in multiplied re- 
 verberatidns, i^^" 
 
 Heard he that cry of pain, and through the hush that suc- 
 ceMed 
 
EVANGELINE. 67 
 
 Whispered a gentle voice, in accents tender and saintlike, 
 
 " Gabriel ! my beloved !" and died away into silence. 
 
 Then he beheld, in a dream, once more the home of his 
 childhood; 
 
 Green Acadian meadows, with sylvan rivers among 
 them, 136'g 
 
 Village and mountain, and woodlands ; and, walking under 
 their shadow. 
 
 As in the days of her youth, Evangeline rose in his vision. 
 
 Tears came into his eyes ; and as slowly he lifted his eye- 
 lids. 
 
 Vanished the vision away, but Evangeline knelt by his 
 bedside. 
 
 Vainly he strove to whisper her name, for the accents un- 
 uttered i^^l" 
 
 Died on his lips, and their motion revealed what his tongue 
 would have spoken. 
 
 Vainly he strove to rise; and Evangeline, kneeling beside 
 him. 
 
 Kissed his dying lips, and laid his head on her bosom. 
 
 Sweet was the light of his eyes; but it suddenly sank into 
 darkness. 
 
 As when a lamp is blown out by a gust of wind at a case- 
 ment, i^''^ 
 
 All was ended now, the hope, and the fear, and the 
 
 sorrow. 
 All the aching of heart, the restless, unsatisfied longing, 
 All the dull, deep pain, and constant anguish of patience ! 
 And as she pressed once more the lifeless head to her 
 
 bosom. 
 Meekly she bowed her own, and murmured, " Father, I 
 
 thank thee !" i'*'" 
 
 Still stands the forest primeval; but far away from its 
 
 shadow. 
 Side by side, in their nameless graves, the lovers are 
 
 sleeping. 
 Under the humble walls of the little Catholic churchyard, 
 In the heart of the city, they lie, unknown and unnoticed. 
 Daily the tides of life go ebbing and fiowinsr beside 
 
 them. "85 
 
68 EVANGELIXE. 
 
 Thousands of throbing hearts, where theirs are at rest 
 
 and for ever. 
 Thousands of aching brains, where theirs no longer are 
 
 busy, 
 Thousands of toiling hands, where theirs have ceased from 
 
 their labours, 
 Thousands of weary feet, where theirs have completed their 
 
 journey ! 
 
 Still stands the forest primeval ; -but under the shade of 
 
 its branches ^■^^^ 
 
 Dwells another race, with other customs and language. 
 Only along the shore of the mournful and misty Atlantic 
 Linger a few Acadian peasants, whose fathers from exile 
 Wandered back to their native land to die in its bosom. 
 In the fisherman's cot the wheel and the loom are still 
 
 busy ; ^''^^ 
 
 Maidens still wear their Norman caps and their kirtles of 
 
 homespun. 
 And by 'the evening fire repeat Evangeline's story. 
 While from its rocky caverns the deep-voiced, neighbouring 
 
 ocean 
 Speaks, and in accents disconsolate answers the wail of the 
 
 forest.