The weekly messenger. [volume] (St. Martinsville [i.e. St. Martinville] La.) 1886-1948, 1891-01-24

OF ACADIA RETOLD- HISTORICAL FACTS CON
cERSING WHAT HAS BEEN GENERALLY REGARDED
AS POETIC FICTION.
"Givc MS the land where the ruins are spread.
And the living tread light on the graves of the
dead.
Give US the land that hath leeeads and lays.
That tell of the memories oflong-vanished days.
Give us land with grave in each spot,
And names on the graves that shall ner be for
got;
Give us the land of the wreck and the tomb.
There's grandeur IN graves there's glory in
glDom."
The thousands who have been thrilled by the
beautiful poem of Longfellow. "A Tale of Aca-
rla." know but little. perhaps. of the subject of
il, and the circumstances that led to its produc-
ton. The story here is that the son Of a veal
thy Acadian, who was n classmate Of Longfel-
low, gnye the legend to him, and in after years
he used it AZ the subject of the poem. The first
time read the poem. cntranced by its beauty,
but saddened by the mournful story of Evange-
line little thought | should ever visit the
land and stand upon the ground where her sa-
cred ashes mingle with parent dust In the
quiet. quaint old French town of ST. Martinville
on the banks of the Teche, where Evangeline
met her lost lover. after her long, weary jour-
ney. under the shadow of the walls Of st. Mar
tins church. the unfortunate girl sleeps the
last. long, unbroken sleep.
The Acadians came to the now world before
the landing Of the Pilgrims on Plymouth Rock,
,,,l Lof 4 tba NJ in Viz.
gina. They settled in the peninsula of Nova
Scotia. and. az all readers of colonial history
know. Nova Scotia was ceded by France to Eng
land in 17l3. The inhabitants refused to ac-
knowledge the English monarch, and believed
they would again be reunited with France. An
expedition was fitted ont by the English in 1755
which sailed from massachusetts on the Goth of
May, of that year. under the command of Gen.
Moncton. They soon conquered the whole of
the peninsula. The English required the Aca-
dians. who sympathized with their country
men OF French descent to take the oath OF ale
glance to the monarch of England. and those
who refused were driven on board OF the Eng
lish ships, and without knowing their fate or
destination, were transported to Louisiana
then province OF France. and landed upon
the marshy shores, inhabited only by the most
barbarous savagas and will beasts. Among
these was Louis Arceneau, the legendary lover
of Evaugelne Of st. Gabriel the native place Of
the unfortunate lovers. Descendants Of these
exiles from Acadia, in Nova Scotia. are still TO
be found in Southwest Louisiana, and more
quiet and hospitabl+ people exists nowhere
hive ever been. 80 much for the historical
facts upon which the poem OF Longfellow was
founded.
And now for the logend of Evangeline.
1t war told rue by Col. Felix Voorhies. OF st.
Martinville-by the way. second cousin to the
Tall Sycamore Of the Wabash" and who visit
each other occasionally. Col. VOORHEES, had the
story from his mother, and she from her grand
mother. Mrs. Bordat, who accompanied Evange-
line in her wanderings to that land, described
to her by Father Felician:
Beautiful is the land with its praries, and for
ests of fruit trees;
Under the feet garden Of flowers and the blu
eat of heavens
Bending above, and resting its dome on the
walls of the forest,
They who dwell there have named it the Eden
of Louisiana.
give the legend in my own words instead Of
those Of Mrs. Bordat, which il plentifully inter-
spcrsed with French words and phrases:
Evangeline is no mythical character. Though
considerable poetical license is used by Long
sellow. the poem is founded on facts which. in
a great measure, are as follows: The true name
Of Evangeline Emmeline Labiche. Her
parents had died when she was n small child.
and she had been brought mp by Mrs. Bordht.
upon whose statements the story OF her life IL
founded. She is described sweettempered
child who grew to wOmanhood with all the at
fractions Of her sex, and while not beauty, in
the usual sense given to that word, was looked
upon az the handsomest girl in st. Gabriel.
Eyengeline, or Emmeline Labiche, had COM
pleted her sixteenth year and was betrothed to
Louis Arceneau. Their nuptials were to be
celebrated in short time, when their beautiful
Acadia was ravaged by the English soldiers. and
all who refused allegiance to England were hur-
ried on board the English ships. In the hurry
of emlarkation friends and families were separ-
ated and never raw each other again until their
exile was accomplished and they met in the
wilds Of Louisiana. And some never met again
on earth. Louis Arceneau refused to leave his
native home. and resisted his enemies with rage
and despair, until severely wounded, when he
was taken I'D and carried aboard the ship. En-
incline witnessed the whole scene, and when the
white sails of the ship which bore her lover
away faded in the distance, she uttered pierc-
ing scream and fell senseless upon the beach
When she recovered her senses she clasped Mo
ther Bordat in her arms, exclaiming in broker
words: Mother. mother! He is gone; the!
have killed him. What will become Of me!'
The remembrance Of her lost lover remained
enshrineti in her young heart. never to he con
taminated with love for another. She livet
among her friends. sweet-tempered. but wit!
sadness depicted On her countepance. and smile
SO sorrowful that they came to look upon he
as their guardian angel. 40 that, where she dwell
no harm could come; and for these angeli
tro;,s thev agreed to call her no longer Emms