Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1895-03-11

pSChiiiiS IVY aityt VIC Odth thcy hud
ken being that of Fidelity" and not of
allegiance. AS matter of fact how
ever, neither side trusted them; the
English were afraid to do so because
they spoke the French language, and
to all intents and purposes were ene-
mics; the French would not, because
the Acadians had taken an oath of "fi-
deity" to the English King They
were called neutral French" and the
difficulty of their position was extreme,
for both sides suspected them of breed
ing trouble. Between 1713 and 1755,
the neutral French" though a simple
agricultural people, were continually
In hot water with both parties, and fin
ally the British Government deter
mined to remove the entire population
of the west coast of Nova Scotia and
disperse them among the other colo
nles of North America.
AS to the number who were thus vio-
lently dispossessed, the historians are
greatly at variance. Some say that the
entire population did not exceed 1000,
and of these no more than 1000 We're
removed. This is the minimum, while
on the other hand there are others who
assert that as many as $4,000 were vio-
lently elected from the homes they
had themselves created and were scat
tered along the coast of North America
For the step itself there may possibly
have been some excuse, for there seems
no doubt that the English Government
was subjected to embarrassment on
S,e fh,> %
pie whom they could not count as
friends nor yet treat as enemies. There
have been instances in which whole
provinces have been dispossessed of
their inhabitants, but very few in which
the wholesale eviction was carried on
with such barbarity, and for the man
ner In which this movement was car
ricd out no justification can be framed.
When the determination was arrived
at to remove the population there was
no hesitation on the score of humanity.
Troops We're brought to the scene and
the French colonists were Informed
that they were to be removed ut once.
They were imprisoned, or rather cor.
rallied by the soldiers; their houses
were burned or blown up with gunpow.
der; their crops were set on fire; their
domestic animals butchered before
their eyes as provision for the fleet. The
embarkation of the population was car
ried on so hurriedly that in many cases
families were separated whose mem
bers never mot again. Evangeline was
probably not the only maiden among
the unhappy French whose lover was
transported in another ship than her
own, and, If the truth were known,
there probably was a score Of just such
"reminiscences us that which Longfel-
low has described. In one village all
the population was gathered In the
church, anC ten men at time were re-
leased to go to their houses and pack
up such portable property as they could
carry; in many places the cattle could
not be gathered from the fields and
were left to starvc, and a number of
years later. when colonists from Con
necticut and England arrived to take
possession of the vacated country,
heaps of bones In protected places in
the fields told of the fate that had be-
fallen the herds of the unhappy Aca-
dians.
After all had been loaded on board,
the fleet set SAIL and, passing down the
coast, deposited the exiles, some here,
some there, distributing. them through
the colonies from Boston to Charleston.
Some prospered, some starved. Exiles
from country where they had done
well, deprived of all resources, left with
no means to purchase the land which to
them was the sole source of employ.
ment, In n country where the language
was strange and where the people re.
gardcd them as foreigners In speech
and manners and in religion, the fate
Of the poor exiles was very sad.
But time Is q wonderful softener of
the asperities, both of nature and of
man. The ruin wrought by human
hands, irreparablo as at the moment 1t
may seem to be, Is soon covered by the
busy fingers of time and the kindly
earth spreads mantle of green alike
over ruins of n castle and over the lit.
tie hillOck that conceals mortal remains
from the view of the survivors. As
Bryant says of the years..
''Thcy gather up again and softly bear
All the sweet lives that late were over
whelmed
And lost to sight, all that in them was
good,
Noble AMI truly great, and worthy of
love-"
The desolated province now bears
few traces of the ruin wrought among
its habitations and ON it's population.
Acadia is one of the most attractive
parts of the Atlantic coast. While its
limits are somewhat undetermined, it
Is generally understood to be coter-
minous with the western coast of Nova
Scotia. 1t extended along the shores
of the Bay of Fundy,. known to every
schoolboy from the well understood
fnct that there are the highest tides in
the world. Although situated In lati
tude where intense cold might be ex-
pected during the winter season, the
climate of Acadia is comparatively
mild. Surrounded as it is by water on
every side, the asperities of n polar