Kimball enterprise. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1883, 1883-05-18
E%vANGELINE'S HOME.
From the American.

1.-THE poets dream of an earthly para
disc was ever realized it was in the
home of Evangeline, the lovely heroine
Of Lonefellow's most pathetic poem.
This beautiful land of flowers was truly
the "home of the happy"
"They dwelt together in love these simple
Acadian farmers
Dwell in the love Of God and man.
Neither had they locks to their doors, nor
bars to their windows;
But their dwellings, were open as day and
the hearts of their owners;
There the richest was poor, and the poorest
lived in abundance"
1t is difficult to appreciate, amid the
splendid material PROCESS Of the nine
tenth century, a community 80 seclu-
ded and yet so happy possessing 80 lit
tie, yet so contented. Theirs was not
that state of nature so enthusiastically
advocated by Rousseau, who unnaturaily
abandoned his children to the mercy of
strangers. Theirs was not the stern viz
tue Of ancient Rome, which applauded
q father for butchering his sons. While
not possessing the peculiar" virtues of
Rome, they were also free from its afro
cious vices. Suicide, infanticide and
avarice were unknown among the AGA
dams. Pride, which caused the fall Of
Adam, the ruin Of Greece, and the de-
struction of Babylon and Rome, was
unheard of in the happy Valley of Grand
Pre-, where
"All men were equal, and all were broth
Imagine a people living in peace and
plenty, free from all the cares and anx-
letles Of civilized life, while enjoying all
misunderstanding together as in a
common brotherhood, but without the
moroseness of Sparta,-bright, cheerful,
lively, but without the ~1rivolity of Ath-
ens-a people so good, SO simple, 60
honest that laws were unnecessary and
lawyers unknown! Plato never
dreamed of republic so truly admir-
able an Acadia, while the famous Area
dia Of the ancients did not approach it
in the sweetness, beauty and simplicity
of its pastoral life.
beautiful in British America. The pa
tent industry of the Acadians had re-
claimed it from marsh and sea, and
turned it into fertile meadows. They
lead a simple pastoral ard patriarchal
life, with no desire for wealth and no
ambitious aspirations; their lovely wales
were covered with hocks of sheep and
herds of cattle.
This was Acadia, this the land.
That weary souls have sighed for;
This was Acadia, this the lard
Heroic hearts have died for"
Our own Valley of Wyoming alone
can compare with the Valley of Grand
Pre- in beauty and sorrow.
The happy, pastoral life of this COM
munity must have suggested to Cold
smith some Of the most touching scenes
in the Deserted Village" Young men
and women married early. AS soon as
Ayoung man was old enough to marry,
the community built him a house, cult
waited the lands about it, and furnished
one year. Thither he brought his cho-
sen partner, who contributed her por-
ton in flocks. Longfellow furnishes US,
in his description of E%vangeline, with
an idea Of the loneliness of the Acadian
girls:
s'Fair was she to behold, that maiden OF
seventeen summers;
Black were her eyes as the berry that grows
on the thorn by the wayside:
Black, yet how softly they cleaned beneath
the brown shade of her tresses."
Her eyes were bright, her teeth white,
and red-brown were her cheeks. She
wore Norman cap, a blue kirtle, and
earrings brought in the olden times
from France, that were priced as an
heirloom and handed down from mother
to child through long generations. The
days OF those happy maidens were passed
in simple household duties, spinning fax,
milking, c%hurning, etc, each and.all ac-
%" M rlas1 hu thu {npE{oa lc1la1, IS
France, which were sung with the I'm.
taught pathos of the birds.
By the treaty Of Utrecht, in 1918, the
Acadians became subjects of the English
Crown; but it was expressly stipulated
that. they should not be compelled to
fight against their French c~oufltrymen,
that. they should retain possession Of
their lands, and be permitted the free
exercise of their religion. From that
time they were called the. neutral
French" At first, they we're treated
with some consideration; for the English
wanted their valuable services in the
construction of roads, dikes. forts, and
IN the cultivation of the soil. But in a
few years the %conquerors had established
themselves securely in Nova Scotia, and
were not long in showing that they not
only had the strength but intended to use
IL. u were eXclt1QoQ from hold
Ing office, deprived of the right OF repre-
sentation, and not allowed to appeal to
the courts for the redress of wrongs.
They we're obliged to cut wood for the
building of English forts, failing to do
which they were told that their houses
would be pulled down for the purpose.
They were ordered to furnish pro-
visions, and threatened with the destruc-
ton Of their crops and cattle if they re-
fused. Allthese injustices we're endured
with unfailing patience.
When Charles Edward, in 1745, at
tempted to regain the throne of his an
c%estors, George H., insisted upon the
Acadians taking an oath by which they
were required to become loyal subjects
OF Great Britain-to bear arms against
their countrymen and the IpdiaEc, %
whom they were bound by many +ies of
gratitude and affection. bhs con
sciences OF the Asadians rebelled alta re-
QUESTION $50 repugEant to the feelings
of human nature" Three hundred Of
the younger and more impulsive of their
number resolved to fight rather than to
submit to such terms, and were found in
arms at the taking Of Fort Dean Sejour.
This offered the occasion which was
wanted. The whole of the twenty
thousand neutral French" were made
to suffer for the act of tile three hum
dred. In vain was their protest that
this resistance was contrary to their
wishes, their habits, and eyond their