The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1901-04-13

The following address on the Aca-
dams by DR.. ]. w. Fowler appears in
our esteemed contemporary, the Ken
lucky 1rish-American. 1t was recent
ly delivered before the Catholic Union
at st. Mary's hall, Louisville, and is
quite interesting.
Ladies and Gentlemen: I have been
invited by your distinguished presi-
dent to address you tonight on the
subject of Evangeline and her people
the Acadians of America. I feel
somewhat abashed by the presence OF
several eminent students Of Acadian
history who have distinguished them
selves in the field Of letters upon this
subject, but as 1 have traversed the
ground where Evangeline first saw the
sunlight of heaven, in the far north
ern harbor of Grand Pre-, Nova Scotia,
and have stood on the banks Of the
languid Teche, where the old town Of
st. Martinsville dreams amid the pro-
found stiffness that lies above the
heart of "the Eden of Louisiana" pos
sibly my discourse may prove Of inter-
est even to them.
In the early part of the eighteenth
century large body of French Cath
i olics emigrated from the fair province
of Normandy, in France, and estab-
lished a colony on the Atlantic coast,
at the mouth of the Gasperean river,
J in Nova Scotia. They brought with
them all the beautiful Catholic tradi-
tions of their native land and built a
typical Catholic village, with the
church, surmounted by the cross, in
the center of the town, and called it
Grand Pre-. No language can describe
it so we'll as that of Longfellow:
"Solemnly down the street came the
parish priest, and the children
Paused in their play to kiss the hand
he extended to bless them.
Reverend walked he among them; and
up rose matrons and maidens,
Hailing his slow approach with words
of affectionate welcome.
Then came the laborers home from the
field, and serenely the sun sank
Down to his rest, and twilight prevail
ed. Anon from the belfry
Softly the Angelus sounded, and over
the roofs of the village
Columns of pale blue smoke, like
clouds of incense ascending,
Rose from a hundred hearths, the
homes of peace and contentment.
Thus dwelt together in love these SIM
pie Acadian farmers,-
Dwelt in the love of God and of man.
Alike were they free from
Fear. that reigns with the tyrant, and
envy. the vice Of republics.
Neither locks had they 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
Thus the lives Of the Acadian col
. onists flowed along in harmony with
all that was pure and good until the
fateful autumn of 1855, when feet
of English men-of-war entered the har-
Dor. seized the Acadlans and their
goods and transported them to distant
climes. Historians agree that the
deepest stain ever attached to the
British empire was the deportation of
the peaceful Catholic colony of Acadi-
ans in Nova Scotia. and scattering
them far asunder. from the cold lakes
of the North to sunny Southern sa-
vannas. as Longfellow says:
Bearing nation with all it's house.
hold gods into exile, an exile without
example in story.
In order that one may fully under
stand the situation at the time it may
be well to state that England and
France were engaged in a deadly from.
tier struggle for supremacy in the new
world. The Acadians were neutral,
preferring peace to war. Braddock