The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1854-08-31
For the National Era
The NEUTRAL FRENCH In MASSACHUSETTS,

For the National Era.
The NEUTRAL FRENCH IN MASSACHUSETTS,.
PART L
No tale of fiction was ever composed. tina
breathes more of the spirit Of romance thar
the history of the people of Acadie; and it Il
somewhat singular that more has not beer
written on this subject, when it presents SO at
tractive field to repay the labor of those
whose tastes lead them to engage in historical
research. The publication of Mr. Longfellow'.
Eysngeline, indeed, drew the attention of many
to Acadian history; and to such, il is hoped, Q
comparatively brief account of the condition
after their removal, Of those Of the Neutral
French who were transported to Massachusetts
may prove not uninterestipg.
Little can be said to excuse the cruelty oil
our ancestors in expelling the Acadisns from
their country; but there is much to palliate
the apparently harsh treatment which they re-
ceiyed after their dispersion among the Colo
MES; and whom the. reader of this article il
excited to a just Indignation, as he hears OIL
pesceable people being forbidden to travel
from place to place, without written permits.
sion from the selectmen of the towns in which
they resided, under penalty of the Jail and the
whipping post, as was the case with the Neu.
trail French in Massachusetts, or as be hears
of q deliberate proposition, made by Province
of King George, to sell fellow Christians with
their own consent, as was the case with the
Neutral French in Pennsylvania, let him re.
member that those things took place hundred
years ago, and that they were no worse cruel
ties than we now practice daily in our South
ern States.
A fall biography of William Shirley, for so
many years Governor of Massachusetts Bay.
would have been q valuable addition to the
records of our Provincial History. In eyery
great event in America, for all the fifteen years
from 174l to 1856, he had some share. The
siege OF Louisburg, the Baron Dieskau's defeat,
braddocks expedition to Fort da Quesne, the
exradition of the Acadians, are but few Of the
many important incidents of the time while be
was seated in the gubernstoriaI chair. His
life was one long drum-beat ever brick and
stirring. Now at the Province House, planning
with VIM. Pepperell the attack on Louisburg
now thousand miles away, consulting with
Gen. Braddock for the expulsion of the French
from the continent now in the council cham.
Der, with his map spread before him, pointing
out the Acadian settlements to Col Winslow-
ccmmander-in-chief of all King Georges forces
in America, Governor of the most powerful
Province of the Crown, Commissioner under the
treaty of Aix-la-Ch apelle-evcr active, ever
earnest, ever anxious to promote the welfare
and sustain the power Of England and its Col
onies.
In O,tober, 1747, Shirley published proc
lamation to the AcsdfaDs, from which this is
an extract:
al do hereby declare in his Msjesty's name,
that there is net the least foundation for apy
apprehension Of his Msjesty's intending to re-
move them, the said inhabitants of Nova SEQ
tia, from their settlements and habitaticns
within the said Province but that, on the con.
trary, it is his Msjesty's resolution to protect
and maintain all such Of them as have adhered
to and shall continue in their duty and allegi-
ance to him, in the quiet and peaceahle poo
session of their respective habitations and set
Elements, and in the enjoyment of their rights
and privileges as bis subjects
In less than eight years from the date Of this
proclamation, the Neutral French were ex-
PEELED from their country, under the orders of
the representatives of King George, by an army
raised by Governor Shirley.
By the treaty of Utrecht, negotiated between
England and France in 17l3, Acadia was
ceded to Eogland, and ever after there was O
constant dispute between the two Powers as to
what territory wa embraced under that name
until further agitation of the question was rem
dsred unnecessary by the conquest by England
of all the Northern French Provinces in Amer
lea, and the subsequent confirmation of her
possession by treaty.
Beyond question, the peninsula of Nova SEQ
tia was included in Acadia; but the English
claimed all the territory down to the Penob-
scot, and even to the Kcnnebeck while the
French wished to conhne their cession within
narrower boupdaries and to limit it at least by
the river of st. John. The people known as the
Neutral French mostly inhabited that portion
of Nova Scotia which is washed By the Bay of
Fundy, and their principal settlements were at
Grand-Pre, and other places around the bor-
ders of the Basin of Minas. Upon their SUBJ
lection to Queen Anne, they had taken an
oath Of submission to England, accompanied
by a declaration from the English Governor.
the effect of which was to enable them to main.
tain state of neutrality during the contests
between that country and France. Still, all
their sympathies were with the French. They
professed the Roman Catholic religion, they
spoke the French language, they had relatives
and friends across the ocean, in France, from
whence their ancestors came, and they re-
nounced with reluctance their allegiance 70 the
French King, and lived on in hopes that the
chances of war or some trick of diplomacy,
would throw them again under bis protection
The French settlements in Acadia had al
ways been objects of jealousy and dread to the
New Englanders, and particularly to the
people of Massachusetts. Even after their &C.
QUESTION by England, the same feeling oontin-
that the Acadians would seize the first favora-
bic opportunity to resume sgain their former
French connections. The cid national ami
mosities had found their way across the At
lantic, and were as strong and bitter here as
in the Old World. The Puritanical sternness
of the New England character was far from
being softened, and law still kept its place
on the statute book of Massachusetts, forbid
ding Roman Catholic priest to enter the
Province, under penalty of death.
At no time during the eighteenth century
was this hatred of the French more intense
than between 1850 and 1860. AS an ilustra-
ton Of the popular disposition, We extract the
following sentence from q Boston paper of
May, 1855:
"Perhaps the oldest man in Great Britain
has not known 30 general an aversion to the
French nation as at this time. TO curb their
pride and mortify their ambition, is what high
and low, rich and poor, among us, eeem to
make point Of view"
With this angry feeling fully excited, the
English colonists were little disposed to look
upon the Acadians, although they
were nominally subjects Of King George; and
occasion was eagerly sought for, and readily
found, for destroying their settlements.
Near the close Of the year 1854, Governor
Shirley received letters from England, instruct
ing him. in concert with Lieutenant Governor
Charles Lawrence, of Nova Scotia, TO take
measures for capturing and removing the gar
risons Of the French forts in that Province;
and shortly after, Col. Robert Moncton came
with proposals from Lawrence for raising two
thousand men, to be employed in the expedi-
lion. The Legislature acquiesced in the cnlist- |