The National tribune., 1898-02-17
AMERICAN COLONIAL HISTORY.
TIL. Pathetic story of the Acadian settlers.

| AHS StoTy Oh the Acaufan settlers
The most picturesque of all the ill-fate
American colonies was that of the Frenc
Acadians in Nova Scotia And vet wer
1T not for Longfellow's "Evangeline " W
| should neither know nor care much about il
Among the earliest French colonists seek
ing homes IN the untamed wilderness was
body OF Norman peasants, who settled in TIN
Northeastern peninsula known then as AGA
dla, now Nova Scotia, or New Scotland
The first French settlement was made a
early as 1904, nearly 300 years ago, but
owing to the encroachments of the Englisl
colonists, 1t was failure. For more thai
lOO years the French and English fought 70
possession of the peninsula. In 1921
passed into the possession of the English. bu
soon after the French were again in posses
sion and so they went see-sawing along unit
| TIA, when the English became the final mas;
| ters of the soil
But the English in their treaty with Franc,
were obliged to put proviso that the Aca
dams, who were Catholics, while the English
We're intensely Protestant, might enjoy free
dom of worship and be exempt from bearing
arms The Acadians increased and multi
Piled with the frugal simplicity of the Nor
man peasant; by patient toll and thrift they
developed the land and built themselves com.
Portable and happy though humble homes
FINDING the soil in the low grounds the most
productive, they built dikes. by which the
waters OF the ocean were forced back, con
vertlng solitary marshes into fruitful fields,
where they grew cereals in abundance, while
on the adjacent plains they had fine herds OF
cattle Little attention was given to educa-
ton, but they were devout, and cultivated the
household virtues
FOR nearly half q century following the last
treaty, the Acadans had been English subjects:
but while things were outwardly calm, there
was spirit of unrest in Nova Scotia which
was surely gathering into a desblating hurri-
cane. The English colonists com planned that
the French received all the benefits of the
Government without rendering adequate
service. The erection of q French fort on the
Canadian side, on narrow isthmus con-
Meeting Nova Scotia with the mainland, was
considered menace from the French. Their
complaints having been lodged with the
Government, the English sent an expedition
10 Nova Scotia to reduce the fort, situated at
Beau SejOur, and destroy French influence in
tne colony The sudden appearance at the fort
OF feet of English Regulars, under Col
Moncton, OF Boston, was complete surprise,
and spread CONSERVATION among the Acadians.
some three hundred Of them Joined the forces
III the tort while many took their families
and fed to the woods and fought the invaders
as best they could
linen was begun system of duplicity and
wrong towards the Acadians on the part of
the English which is the blacklist page in the
story of American colonial life Under the
pretext that the Acadians were to be granted
ciemency, they were summoned to appear to
take the oath of allegiance to the English
crown. Then when they were assembled they
We're told that the old treaty, granting them
immunity from bearing arms, with religious
liberation, would no longer hold good The
representatives asked time to consult with
their people before accepting the terms. This
the English granted but accounted their hes
ltancy as disloyalty to the Crown
The peasants went back to their harvest
labors, while the diabolical plot against then,
was maturing. The Provincial Governor.
the British Crown, issued orders
to his military subordinates directing them
to assemble call old men, Young men and
lads OF 10 years of age" Sept 5, 1855. to
hear command promulgated at place
called Grand-P Pre-, popuIous village. snr-
by wel-tlled farms and barns filled
With the recent harvest To the credit of
col. Winslow, of Massachusetts, on duty in
,he Grand Pre- District, it should be said his
leart shrank from the task the English set
or him.
The Acadians were assembled at Grand |
IRE, and sat in fear and apprehension while |
ne orders OF the Governor were being read. |
lot noticing that soldiers were stealthiIy sur |
oundinS the building. The orders were to I
lie effect that the property of the Acadians
vas conllscated to the Crown and that all |
we're to be banisled from the province, leav-
ne behind homes and property, except such
PERSONAL effects as they could carry with them
nd that from the moment of the reading all
resent were prisoners of the crown, and with
heir families doomed to perpetual exile
Escap- was impossible. 1t soon became
osed about among the families of the pris-
ners what had taken place, and the shrieks
the women and the screams of the children
'ere heard along the streets of the quiet
illage. Five vessels had been anc .ored near
he shore at Grand-Pre. and in five DAYS the
rst of the helpless exiles were marched to
ne wharves At o'clock in the morning
ne church bell tolled, and with go men in
tvance the pitiful columns began to move
husbands We're separated from their wives.
lthers from their children, mothers from
leir helpless babes Armed resistance by
he men was impossible, for they had no
eapOns. The men pleaded for the one HUI
zane privilege of taking their families with
lem, but the soldiers drove them on ship
bard with fixed bayonets, while the hateful
runs were beating to drown the prayers and
les.
At every village in Acadia the same scene
as being enacted. Wherever resistance
as made the fate Of the exiles was but the
ore desperate. Some of them fed to the
Gods and found refuge in the wigwams of
10 savages Some of them hid in rocky
yerns or in the fens and marshes, subsist- =
g on fish and living mostly in boats Lit
, bands found resting places on the provin-
ii borders remote from the English settle
ents, and little group fixed their habita-
ms at Madawaska, where they survived in
scribable privatiOns, and to thisday furnish :
untarnshed type OF the Acadian people.
In 1760 a few of the exiles returned to
IVA Scotia and settled on rough and
yged shore on st. Mary's Bay, accessible
ly from the sea through narrow and
bound inlet. A few of them had made :
cir way down the Mississippi and reached
and their descendants are still
md around Bayou Teche, where they have
orded picturesque characters for several of
r fiction-writers.- Loyal Home =
Orkers.
L.H.u. NOTES.