Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1883-03-07
NO. !6

the object for which they were to as
semble was not distinctly stated, bu.
ii was so peremptory as to require i'm
implicit obedience. In response To this
summons. four hundred and eighteen
men assembled at the Church of Grand
Pre-. The doors were closed and barri-
caded, and Colonel Winslow, surround
ed by his officers and guarded by his
men, informed the unfortunate Acadians
thai the Il ny Of England had ordered
that their lanl and tencmcnts, cattle
Of all kinds. and live stock. auI all
fruits aud giai /, were forfeited tn lhe
Crown, and the. merc to ac removed
from the proviuce.n The mretchcd q
people, unconscious of any c4l.~c for
such brutality, received ii IS sentence
with forttude and resignation but,
ben the fatal moment arrived in
which they were to part from their
friends and relatives without hope of
seeing them again in this world, and
to be dispersed among strangers whose
language, religion and customs were
opposed to their own, they were crush
ed by Il full realization of their misery.
The young men were first ordered to
go on board Of one of the vessels; this
they peremptorily refused to do, unless
their families were allowed to accom-
pany them This very natural requess
was refused aud the troops were order
ed to advance upon them with fixed
bayonets, which had the effect of
making them commence their march
The road from the chapel to tho shore
was lined with women and children,
who greeted the miserable procession
with tears and blessings as the prisoners
walked slowly along, praying, and
weeping, and singing hymns The
old man next followed through the
same scene OF sorrow, and thus the
whole male portion of Grand Pre- was
forced on board the transports which
we're to convey them away from their
homes forever The men having been
thus secured, the women and children
were distributed indiscriminately
among the vessels; husbands were
separated from their wives, and chill
dren from their parents, whom in many
eases, they never met again. As these
wretched people sailed away from the
land where they had lived so happily
and innocently, the sight Of their burn
ing homes was the last that met their
eyes. Altogether, seven thousand Of
these poor exiles were thus dragged
from their homes and scattered along
the Atlantic coast, from Maine to
Georgia. Five hundred landed in
Philadelphia, one-half of whom died in
short time, owing to the hardahips
they had endured. Seven hundred
reached Maryland so destitute that
they must have died from starvation,
had not some humane persons provided
for their immediate necessities. The
largest portion of the exiles were taken
to Massachusetts,, where, claiming to
be prisoners of war, they refused to
work, and were distributed as paupers
among the cities and towns Of the
colony.
A. pathetic appeal was made to
George ii. in behalf of these unhappy
people, but without effect; they were
left in their exile and misery, ther
enemies hoping that, in the course of
time, their language, customs, ETC.,
would be lost in the midst Of the En-
glish colonists among whom they were
scattered. The removal of the Acadans
recalls the tender lines of Virgil which
express the lament of the Mantuan
shepherd when driven from his home
by the victorious soldiers of Augustus,
commencing:
go Lycida, riri perre1simus" etc.
| The merciless measures adopted to-
wards the Acadians, and the wanton
destruction of their possessions, form
one of the darkest spots in American
history, and is only paralleled by the
massacre of the Wyoming by the En-.
glish and Indians, twenty-five years
! afterwards All that could throw
light on this dark transaction was care
fully suppressed by the English author
tiles. But later investigation has dis
covered that the iniquitous sentence of
banshment was carried out with brutal
violence. Old men and delicate women
were torn from their homes and left all
night on the shore, exposed to the cold
autumn air, and no roof TO shelter, no
covering to protect them. And, al
though Colonel Winslow had pledged
his word of honor that families should
90 on the same vessel, the aged hus-
band was separated from her who had
been the partner Of his joys and sorrows
for fifty years, the young bride of few
weeks was torn from the protecting
arms of her husband, widows were
separated from their only sons, never
TO meet them again.
Colonel Winslow received eight
hundred pounds sterling from the
British Government for driving the
Acadiaus into exile. His portrait in
the rooms of the Massachusetts, Histor-
ical Society represents q man OF full
face fair complexion, blue eyes and
smiling mouth He died in l773, aged
seventy-three years. His family were
Tories during the American RevolG-
ton, and wero obliged to seek refuge
in Nova Scotia when the British evac-
uated Boston in lI15.
Oaly a mournful tradition remains OF
the beautiful village of Grand Pre-;
few weeping willows mark the spot
where cnce stood the happy home of
EuanGeline, and forever sing the
requiem of her doomed people; while
''Under the shade of their branches
Dwell another race, with other customs and
language"
1t is now claimed that Miss Nye,
of Beaver Falls, was cured by mssmer-
ism instead of by the Waters OF Losr-
des.