T H E AC AD I A S

S T O RY AN D S O G

N E! V O RL E AN S

F H S EL o PU B L I S H E R S . F. AN L . ,

9 1 8 3 . E n e e d a ccod i n toAct of C on r ess i n 1 3 t r r g g , 93 ,

S T O N O H N S T O N B y W I L L IAM PRE J ,

n h Offi c f h i r n f on r W hi n on D C I t e e ot e L b a i a oC ess as t . . r g , g ,

In Exohange

2 3 1932

AMPRESS THE GRAH

EAN S . N EW O RL C O N T EN T S .

n tr d tion I ou c .

i t i l k t of t e A a di a n s B J on R Fi k l e n or a S e . . . I . H s c ch h c y h c

di a e vi sit e d E x tr a t fr om B a dd e k B I I . Bl d Ac a R . ( c c ). y

l s dl a r n e r C h a r e D u e y W .

’ A a di a n L a nd Fr om H a r r s Ma in B Th e . e a e . I I I . c ( p g z ) y C h a r l e s D udl e y

of L i s n I V . T h e A a di a n s o i a a T e ir S oi a l L if e c u . h c . _

E tr a ts B Al g ae Fd r tié r ( x c ) y .

V T h e A a di a n s of R om a n e E tr a ts fr om E v an e . c c . ( x c g

— lin e E I I n r ll . on fe o ) y e y L g w .

N T RO D U C T O N .

I have been led to undertake the compilation of this little volume by a desire to enlist the interest of the pub lic in the Acadian people of Louisiana . Brought up in their neighborhood and personally acquainted with many t of them , my family learned to respect their modest vir ues and to admire the many excellent qualities that distinguish them ; the courage and honesty of the men and the sweetness , purity and fidelity of the women . In the period of great depression through which Louisiana has passed , all industries languishe d and these unsophisticated peasants felt the touch of want in homes where formerly reigned a rude plenty . It was then that it occurred to us that if their handwoven fabrics of cotton , grown by themselves , could be brought to the attention of the art O loving public , a remunerative field would be pen for their industry . My sister , Mrs . Sarah Avery Leeds , devoted herself to the task of encouraging these humble workers ,

’ and , through the agency of the Christian Women s Ex

of e change New Orleans , found for th m a market for their wares . These earnings have brightened many a

cottage home . This industry has been extending for 6 [ N A CADIA .

some years , and is now illustrated at the Louisiana Build ing in the Columbian Exposition , where their simple handicrafts of spinning and weaving are carried on by

Acadian women in their provincial costume .

The opening of new railroads into their country , the influx of Northern immigrants , the cultivation of rice for export , and the enlightening influences of newly estab li sh e d schools have , within the past few years , wrought a

tu great change in the condition of things . Soon the pic re given in these pages of primitive Acadian life will belong

an to the past , and to preserve it from oblivion has been other incentive that these leaves should be gathered .

The poet Longfellow has made old Acadia immortal , but the plain words of prose give added verity and m i power even to his li n ngs . The Acadians are the offspring of a sturdy stock of French peasantry planted in Nova Scotia in the begin

e ning of the seventeenth century , who wer expelled from

ote d c ou ntr 1 ad , their p ‘ y in 75 5 by the English and scat te re d by the rude hand of military power from Cape l Breton to the Gu f of Mexico . Absorbed or rejected by

' t a other communi ies , number of them found a congenial home in Southern Louisiana . Here preserving their na tional traits , customs and speech , they have maintained themselves in communities distinct from their neighbors and quite separate from the great tide of American thought and progress . . Whatever they may have lost by e this isolation , they hav ! preserved the primitive virtues of N R U I N 7 I T OD C T O . a fine race of peasantry and have gaine d a physical de

l m nt ve op e superior to their ancestors in the old country . Satisfied with the easy conditions of life in a land of plenty , they have lived without ambition and with a l history the least eventful of all p eop e of the United States . k Nevertheless , from their ran s have arisen many men d who have helped to shape the estiny of Louisiana .

Governors Thibodaux and Mouton were justly honored . In our late civil war such leaders as General Alfre d

Mouton , Fournet and others won honored recognition among the soldiers of the South , and in more recent times the names of Poché , Voorhies , and Breaux have given dignity to the bench and bar of the State . In attempting to give to the public in brief form a true picture of this population so remote from the highways of

to the world , I have conceived it be necessary to present a short but well considered account of the Acadians of

Nova S cotia . This has been kindly prepared for this little volume by Professor John R . Ficklen , Professor of

History in Tulane University . In this sketch no indulgence of fancy has been allowed to mar the historical accuracy of the details . The compiler desires here to make ao knole d me nt w g to Professor Ficklen for his generous aid .

To complete the picture of the Acadians in Nova S cotia , ” a leaf has been borrowed from Baddeck , through the complaisance of its distinguished author , Mr . Charles

Dudley Warner , in which he quaintly portrays the remnant of this people in their old home . 8 [ N I . . A CA D A

As has been already stated , the Acadians of Louisiana are a simple and ingenuous people ; no romance hovers around them other than that which clusters about the

- tu . vir ous lives of home loving cottagers As a population , h t ough not enterprising , they are industrious ; the women

Spinning and weaving , the men tilling their farms and h erding their cattle . Many of them live upon the bayous f opening into the Gul and are excellent sailors , giving proof of their Norman and Breton ancestry . O ne of the most pleasing features of their social life is the general

- amenity and the self respect of their bearing . They e xercise an unostentatious hospitality , and the stranger within their gates is kindly welcomed ; but , as French is t h e - only language used among them , the difference of s peech offers an effectual barrier to the outside world . T heir French is not , as is erroneously supposed , a rude

' a toz s p , but conforms very closely to the prevailing dialect of Normandy and is very little removed from a good French

i . vernacular . It varies , however , with different localit es

1 8 8 6 tu In the Spring of it was my good for ne , together l with several members of my fami y , to make a pilgrimage t i nto the heart of the Acadian se tlements with Mr . Charles

Dudley Warner as our guest , and I was thus prepared for his charming article published in Harper ’ s Monthly of

Feb ruary of the following year . His descriptions of what

- we saw are sovivid and graphic that I have asked and obtained permission to reproduce them in part in this com

pil ation . R N 9 IN T OD U C TIO .

Professor Alc é e Fortier O f Tulane University has give n a veracious and na i ve description of a visit to the Acadian

whi c h I . country , from have borrowed most freely My only regret is that the limits of my little volume do not permit me to transfer to these pages his eloquent account

r of the expulsion of the Acadians , in which he goes ove the same ground with Professor Ficklen , but with the

- natural indignation of a fellow countryman to the exiles .

No better idea can be given of the simple , contented lives of the Acadians , both before the tragedy of their ex pulsion from their beloved Basin of Minas and in their new homes on the beautiful bank of the Teche in far

Louisiana , than can be found in the pages of Evangeline . S carcely anywhere is the power of poetic insight better illustrated than in this lovely poem . Longfellow never saw the scenes he describes with such wonderful fidelity . It is said that the descriptions of Louisiana landscape were sent him by a physician living in St . Martinsville , the old

Ye t town he tells of at the headwaters of the Teche . , while preserving an absolute truth to nature in every detail , his genius has cast a glamour and charm over the spread ing prairies and luxuriant forests of the Attakapas , and lent a grace and a glory to the humble lives of its simple

so peasants , that the beautiful and pathetic story of Evan ge li ne and her people possesses a perennial interest and enlists our kindest feelings for their descendants . S o true is the poet to nature that often , in gliding over the dark waters of the winding bayou , I have exclaimed , This [ N A 10 CA DIA .

as t w the home of B asil the blacksmith , and here is the urn where the wide sp e ad i ng live oak dipped its branches festooned with vines into the water and hid Evangeline ’ s ” boat from her lover . With such aids to a vivid conception of the life and character of the Acadians and their environment , no better idea can be given of them than in extracts , often familiar , from the poem that has made them famous ; and it is with these borrowed pictures that I shall place them before my readers . R AR RY O H O MA G E T AV E J N ST N .

e Ma 1 N ew O r l a ns 8 . , y , 93 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE ACADIANS

l B Y J OHN R. F C K L EN

isi ni al k t h th adians oc e c of e .

O understand the story of the Acadians we must first of all transport ourselves to another land than

fair Louisiana , and we must imagine ourselves as tu present in the last cen ry , when a fierce war for dominion

w - was waging bet een those old time enemies , France and

England . The country that once bore the name of Acadia is now calle d Nova S cotia , a name that it received from a certain Sir William Alexander , who for a short period held the province as a grant from James I of England .

’ a ‘l I l l l l t ’ l l

B AS I N O F MI N AS AN D MO U N T B L MI I) O N O . The exact boundaries of the province were for some time a subject of contention between the two nations ; but in the present sketch we shall regard Acadia as the peninsula 1 4 I N A CA DIA . l of r w ying east _ New B unswick , and bet een the B ay of F undy and the Atlantic O cean . This is the land around which Longfellow has thrown the glamour of romance , and if poetry were only history , we should be justified in rechristening the country and c alling it Arcadia . The name Acadia , however , has a

A u od d i e more prosaic origin ; it is derived from q , an

Indian term for a fish called the pollock . Though the E nglish claimed the country by virtue of Cabot ’ s dis c ove r y , its earliest inhabitants were Fren chmen from the coast of France . Its settlement dates back to the time when the hardy fishermen of Normandy and Brittany plied their trade along the coast of Newfoundland and Cape

Breton Island . was The first town founde d in Acadia Port Royal ,

‘ situated on a retired basin that opens upon the great B ay f of Fundy . Here within sound othe mighty tides that n rush through the broad inlet of Fun dy , rising ofte to the height of sixty feet in Chignecto Bay , its northern ex tre mit Pou tri nc ou rt y , a Frenchman named made a small 1 6 0 settlement in 5 , just fifteen years before the Mayflower touched land at Plymouth Rock . The story of the little colony was for many years the same as that of the English - colonies in Virginia and

C . c t North arolina It was a story of vi issi udes , the set tle rs gaining a precarious livelihood from the cultivation

of fishi n . bu t the soil and from g, depending largely upon the supplies sent over at long intervals by the mother c ountry . But there was another circumstance that for more than a hundred years was destine d to retard the prosperity of the Acadian peninsula . It lay just north of th e English colonies that nowform the New England HIS TORI CA L SK E TCH. 1 5

e a rlv States , and these colonies , from times , looked with no good will upon a French settlement which was near enough to prove an important point of departure in case the French government determined to execute its vast plan of sweeping away the English settlers , and extend ing the boundary of New France to the Atlantic se a board .

For many years after the founding of Port Royal , how

was - ever , Acadia merely a pawn on the great chess board th of European diplomacy . During e ascendancy of

Cromwell , New E nglan d forces were sent from B oston and Charleston , and the Aca dians were brought nomi was nally under E nglish rule ; but Charles II , who willing

hi s hi s to barter kingdom to satisfy vices , restore d the

1 6 r . 0 cou ntry to the French In 9 , du ing the reign of ’ W was Massachu illiam and Mary , it again conquered by setts forces , and again restored to France by the treaty of

Ryswick seven y ears later . Then began the War of the

Spanish Succession , in which the Duke of Marlborough humbled the pride of France an d dazzled the eyes of the world by a series of extraordinary victories . During this

a s war the men of Massachusetts , if in scorn of di

lomac p y , had once more sub due d Acadia ; and when Louis ! IV , exhausted by the long struggle , agreed to the peace of Utrecht he made a formal cession of Acadia or Nova S cotia to England . Since that famous treaty the

h a country s never changed hands .

was Doubtless when the transfer accomplished , the

' simple - minded Acadians hoped for tranquillity and a chance to cultivate their rich fields , undismayed by the sound of cannon and musket . But the story of their was woes not yet en ded . Against their will they had 2 I 1 6 N A CA DIA .

been subjected to a foreign domination , and when the t E nglish garrisons were placed over them , they na urally chafed under the government of a people who were aliens both in race and religion . Their lot suggests an analogy with that of the Britons during the Roman occupation .

i s It true that by the conditions of the treaty of Utrecht , the Acadians were to be allowed to emigrate within one year to the other French provinces , and to take with them their movable goods . But as by the same treaty they were granted the practice of their own religion in Nova

S cotia , and as the English government , hoping to make e them good subjects of the English sover ign , did not exercise any pressure , most of the inhabitants elected to remain . At this period their number was small , there being in 1 7 1 3 only some three hundred families in the whole province ; and , of course ; they were not regarded as a serious menace to the provincial government . But it soon became apparent that the Acadian race , like most other poor and simple people that live in country districts , was extremely prolific . Their fecundity was so great that , some years before the expulsion , the population rose to sixteen thousand souls . Though many of these emi grate d to the islands in the Gulf of St . Lawrence and to 1 the French posts , there remained in 75 4 , one year before 0 00 c the expulsion , more than 9 A adians under the super f o . vision the E nglish garrisons This large increase , it seems to the writer , has not been taken fully into con sideration by those historians who condemn the expulsion of the Acadians as an act of unnecessary cruelty . 1 1 When the English government , in 7 3 , took formal possession of Acadia , the old settlement of Port Royal was immediately occupied , and its name changed to Annapolis ,

1 8 I N D I A A CA .

see , the pregnant source of trouble with the English author ities . As soon as this new attitude of the inhabitants was

- reported to the lieutenant governor of Acadia , he denied the right of the ofli c e rs to grant such a concession ; and five years later ( 1 730 ) nearly all the i nhabitants consented to subscribe an oath without any written conditions . It ran as follows J e promets e t j e jure si n c ere me nt e n foi de Chrétien que j e serai e ntié re me nt fid ele e t obéirai vraiment

2. Sa le e le Majesté roi George II , que j reconnais pour ’ ” l Ac a d i souverain seigneur de e ou Nouvelle E cosse . In spite , however , of this written form , the Acadians main tai ne d that a verbal promise was given them by Richard

Phillips , governor at this time , that they should not be required to bear arms against the French or the In dians .

In other words , if the Acadians spoke truly , this oath was as anomalous as the first , and reasserted their neutrality . w s Be that as it may , for t enty year no other oath was required of the Acadians , and when an unconditional oath f was finally o fered them , we shall see that it was offered by a stern , unrelenting governor , and that the people refused to accept it . As to the conduct of the Acadians towards the English

tw . during these enty years , there are conflicting accounts d i s The truth seems to be that , though there was much a content , the great mass of the people dem nde d nothing better than to be let alone by both French and E nglish . Their country was most favorable for the pursuit of agri culture . Though the climate from December to March v tw was se ere , the temperature often falling to enty degrees

a n d t below zero , the summer the au umn were most pro

i . pit ous seasons Breezes , at the same time balmy an d invigorating , encouraged the growth of the crops , and the ’ 1 9 HIS TORICA L S AE T CH .

harvest months were beautiful beyond expression . A

C obe u id range of mountains , called the q , stretched across the peninsula their line of blue summits , and both the slopes and the valleys between were well watered and of extraordinary fertility . The simple farmers dreamed not of the rich coal fields which lay beneath the surface of the

so ground , and which in our day yield abundantly , nor of the gold that h as been discovered in glittering grains on the bottom of their mountain streams . It was enough for was them that the glebe adapted to flowers , fruits and cereals , and that the rich harvests made the golden autumn a season of joy and abundance . If they could only have seen the government of France established once more in

i ts the land and the heretics expelled from borders , their cup of happiness , they doubtless thought , would have been full to overflowing .

They lived in rude huts , and their domestic life seems to have been simple and as pure as life generally was among the humble and ignorant classes of that day .

They were without books and without education . In all my experience of the Acadians , declares a contemp twowho orary , I have never known more than one or could read and write It is a significant fact that in their oath of allegiance nearly all the inhabitants signed their names with a cross . They broke the monotony of their daily lives by squabbling over their boundaries , and bringing petty suits for the redress of grievances .

But , however , peaceable their intentions were , they were not destined to live out their lives in ease and content ment .

Their priests , who owed allegiance to the bishop of Canada , continued to keep the Acadians in a state of 2 0 I N A CADIA .

r unrest . Fea ful lest their flocks , following their interest , would trade with the English and gradually forget their n allegiance to Fra ce , these priests left no stone unturne d t to keep alive the strong antipathy that the Acadians . na ur ally felt towards what they regarded as a domineering an d 1 2 heretical government . Already in 7 9, a priest n amed B re e ley had been expelled from the province on the charge of exercising political i nfluence . Later on one of t his successors , Le Loutre , became famous hroughout the country for his control over the simple - minded Acadians and the fierce tribe of Micmac Indians , whose services in making raids on the English settlements the French r e i n warded liberally . With a religious enthusiasm not fe rior to that of Ignatius Loyola himself , Le Loutre made l himse f the spiritual an d political leader of the Acadians , threatening them with fire and sword if they disobeyed

e him . At the siege of Beaus j our , he could b e seen , i n

- his shirt sleeves , and pipe in mouth , rushing about among his people and encouraging them in the defence of the fort . Sincerity and devotion to the cause of religion are qualities that must always demand a degree of respect ; but as the result showe d , nothing could have been more unwise for the secular welfare of the Acadiansthan the

t re ministration of their priests . Fanning he flame of li iou s i g antipathy , nciting the people not to assimilate in

any way the political i deas of their governors , the Aca dian priests kept alive the suspicions of the English and helped ! to prevent the amalgamation of the two races . No

b ody , said a French contemporary , was more fit than Le Loutre to carry discord and desolation into a coun

try .

O n Cape Breton Island , the strong fort of Louisbourg , A’ E 2 1 HIS TORICA L S T C H .

the Gibraltar of America , had been built by the French at

was an enormous expense , and it a constant menace to the peace of the neighboring province of Nova S cotia .

1 Pe e rre ll But in 745 the New Englanders , under pp , com bi ne d with the English under Warren in a brilliant attack upon the fort , and Louisbourg fell into the hands of the

English . All danger , therefore , from this quarter seemed to be removed ; but three years later , by the peace of Aix

! - ne c e s la Chapelle , George II , yielding to diplomatic ! V sit . y , surrendered the island and the fort to Louis i n This restoration , by increasing the danger of a French

va sion . , affecte d adversely the fortunes of the Acadians

1 f Until the year 749, however , a fairs in Acadia received little attention from the E nglish home government . The

D for soma n e a rs was uke of Newcastle , who , y y , prime min was ister to George II , thoroughly incompetent to perform h fi the duties of i s high of ce . The king used to complain that it was a hard fate which imposed upon him the pre mi e rshi was p of Newcastle , a man who not worthy to be C hamberlain to a petty German prince ; and Macaulay h a s scoffe d at the duke for being ignorant that Cape Breton

was . 1 an island However , in 743 , the E nglish seem to have appreciated the necessity of meeting the danger from the French by the planting of a colony in Nova S cotia . An advertisement in the London Gazette met with a ready i response . Twenty five hundred settlers accepted the n d u ce me nts offered by the government , and to this emigra tion we owe the existence of the town of Halifax . This

0 0 0 i nh abi settlement , in three years , had increased to 4 its tants , and growth caused much disquietude among the

wa s French ; for Canada still in the possession of France , and Louis ! V naturally wished to recapture the lost 2 2 I N A CA DIA .

Acadia . The Micmac Indians were encouraged by Le

Loutre to make raids on the English settlement , an d thus discourage the growth of the colony . O n one occasion the savages took eighteen scalps , for which service Le 1 8 0 0 Loutre was obliged to pay them livres , Acadian money a sum that was afterwards returned to him by the French commander at Louisbourg . The indignation of the English at this savage method of waging war may

e . e well be imagin d The Acadians , also , w re encourage d to disguise themselves as Indians and join in these raids upon the country aroun d Halifax . According to Park man , Many disguised Acadians did in fact join the In dian war parties ; and their doing so was no se cret to the ” E nglish . n In view of all this the new gover or , Cornwallis , declare d 1 e in 749 that the Acadians must acc pt a new oath , which should deny them any exempti on in the matter of bearing arms ; if called upon they must assist the English govern ment against its enemies . While from a sentimental point of view such an oath may seem to us an act of oppression , it may be justified by an appeal to the customs and laws of all countries . Neutrality could not be granted to those who were living under the British flag in the

B ritish possessions , and so near to the hostile Canadian government . Hearing that this unconditional oath was to be ad mi ni s te re d , a deputation of Acadians appeared before Corn wal lis an d asked for a general permission to leave the province . But the governor replie d that until peace were

be firmly established he could not grant such permission , cause as soon as they crossed to the Canadian border they would be compelled to take up arms against the E nglish . ’ 2 3 HIS TORICA L SK ETCH.

Thus we se e that the poor Acadians were betwee n two

was . fires . To escape both no longer possible Their situation must appeal strongly to the sympathy of all who B contemplate it . v race and religion they felt compelled to refuse to take an unconditional oath of all e giance to the K English ing ; while the English government , pursuing that stern policy which has sooften marked its dealings with other nations , was gradually coming to the decision that the Acadians must either take such an oath or be compelled to remove to some country where their presence could no longer menace the peace of the province . Alas for the Acadians that ! uebec did not fall before the vi c toriou s arms of Wolfe in 1 75 4 instead of 1 75 9! With the

English in possession of Canada , it is more than probable that the sad expatriation which we are to describe would never have taken place . t It was , moreover , the peculiar misfor une of the Acadians that within a brief period they passed under the f w control of several di ferent governors . Thus there as no continuity of policy . Cornwallis and his successor Hopson seem to have exercised considerable indulgence

as toward the peasant farmers . Though the strict oath w f several times of ered to the inhabitants , the latter always succeeded in deferring the evil day , and the final alterna tive was not enforced . Far different were the character and the conduct of the 1 man who in 754 assumed the responsibilities of governor .

This was Charles Lawrence , who had been a major in a company of infantry and afterwards chancellor in the cabinet of Governor Cornwallis . Thoroughly out of sympathy with the simple - minded and much harasse d

was m Acadians , Lawrence bent on forcing them to confor 4 2 I N A CA DIA .

to the letter of the English law , or expelling them from the province , and strengthening the power of England by introducing English settlers to occupy their lands . In former years the expulsion of the inhabitants had been several times suggested . It was especially advocated by Sherley , governor of Massachusetts , who wrote many letters on this subject to the Duke of Newcastle . In

1 747 , however , the duke ordered Sherley to inform the r Acadians that as long as they we e peaceable subjects , they should remain in undisturbed possession of their lan ds . This assurance was due partly to the fear of the English that Le Loutre might continue to persuade the

Acadians under his control to take refuge i n Canada , where they would swell the numbers of the French ; and partly to the hope that it would finally be possible to identify the interests of the Acadians with the wishes of the English government . Having decided that it was impossible to attain the end in view by peaceable means , Lawrence determined to resort to drastic measures . Whether or nor he regarded th e Acadians as a standing menace to the safety of the English settlements has been a subject of controversy

u r between two rival historians in O own country . The fact is that Lawrence has left us twoletters on this important point , the contents of which are contradictory . Thus in he writes to the English Board of Trade as follows

! I believe that a very large part of the Acadians wou ld su bmi t 10 a ny ter ms r a t/z er Ma n ta ke up a r ms on ei t/zer ” si d e . 1 But again in 75 5 , just a few months before the

! expulsion , he writes this letter to General Braddock I i n c ase t esteem it my duty to acquaint you that , j of a rup ure h e with France , my forces will no ways in proportion to

I 2 6 N A CA DIA .

been approved by the court of France , the Count of

! Frontenac received the following instructions ! If you

York wh e th e r find among the inhabitants of New , English or Dutch , any Catholics on whose fidelity you consider you can rely , you may leave them in their habitations , after making them take the oath of allegiance to his m ajesty . The officers and principal inhabitants , from

W hom ransoms can be exacted , must be detained in prison . b — Respecting all other inha itants men , women and chil d — ! IV ren His Majesty , Louis , deems it proper that they should be put out of the colony and s ent to such other q uarters as shall be considered expedient , either by land

-or sea , together or in divisions , all according as you shall

th e m b find will best secure their dispersion and prevent , y f tu reunion , af ording enemies an oppor nity to get up ex ” p e d itions against that colony . S uch was the scheme that served as a precedent for the con duct of the English t in Acadia . For unately for America lack of power pre vented its execution . i f , moreover , we examine the position taken by France in regard to the expulsion of the Acadians , we shall be forced to believe that it was n ot considered to be either r ! an act of efined cruelty or apolitical outrage . Not

' " easu s bel/z r even was it a on the pa t of France , declares a recent Canadian historian ; and yet many insignificant and trivial grounds as compared therewith are specifically

su ffi mentioned in the subsequent Declaration of War , cient to show that France fully recognized that England had a perfect right to treat her own subjects when dis ” loyal , as she saw fit . Such are some of the facts that may be set down in ex te nu ation of what otherwise would be looked upon as an HIS TORICA L SK E TCH. 2 7

act of ruthless barbarity . While , however , these facts serve to palliate the harshness of the decree that the

Acadians must go into exile , they by no means excuse the manner in which their expulsion was effected . Here

was there , at least from our modern point of view , a lack of consideration for the material comforts of the exiles , and a disregard of their feelings , which will continue to merit the hearty condemnation of posterity .

as In forming our judgment , however , of the event a

u whole , we must remember that since those aut mnal days whose beauty h as been illuminated by the genius of Long t fellow , nearly a cen ury and a half has elapsed , and that even in this brief period the world has see n a marked ad vance in the cultivation of that noble virtue which we call humanity . Viewed in the present light of this Virtue , the conduct of the E nglish towards the Acadians may seem unnecessarily harsh and stern— far more sothan it appeared to the men of that generation . Hostages , it would seem , might have been demanded of the Acadians ; some overt act of hostility on their part should have been awaited to justify an expulsion which approache d sonearly to perse cu tion ; England should have taxed her resources to throw a strong force into the province , and thus protected he r settlers against the encroachments alike of French and

Acadians . Thus , perhaps , might have been obviated a resort to forcible eviction . Certainly our days have seen the birth of kinder and more humane feelings than ever existed before ; we extend our aid and sympathy to the oppressed in all lands . Let u s hope that the influence of this broad humanity may prevent for all future time a recurrence of those sad scenes i on the coast of Acadia which it s now our task to describe . I 2 8 N A CA DIA .

In pursuance of the plan he had adopted , Governor

Lawrence calle d upon a number of Acadian deputies , who had applied for the restoration of some fi re - arms seized by

alle i the government , to swear an unconditional oath of g K th ance to ing George . At first e deputies refuse d to take the oath ; but when they were summoned before the council the following morning , and learned that their failure to comply would in the eyes of the new governor stamp them as rebels , they yielded to intimidation and consented . They were told , however , that an oath under compulsion could

r r not be accepted . The governor then summoned ep e se ntative deputies from nearly all parts of the province ; but these , trusting to escape the consequences of non compliance as they had been permitted to escape them on i several other occasions , declared that before tak ng the oath they must have a written promise of exemption from bearing arms against their own people . A meeting of the

Nova S cotia council was immediately called , and it was decided , that as it had been determine d before to send all the French inhabitants out of the province if they refused to take the oath , nothing now remained to be considered but what measures should be taken to send them away and

tu where they should be sent to . After ma re deliberation it was unanimously agreed that to prevent as much as pos sible their attempt to return and molest the settlers that may be set down on their lands , it would be most proper to send them to be distributed amongst the several colonies f on the continent of America , and that a su ficient number of vessels should be hired with all possible expedition for ” that purpose .

One of the reasons for this haste , according to Park man , was that the English garrisons were small and at this 2 9 HIS TORICA L S ICE T C H . time there was in Nova S cotia a body of New England troops . These troops had been of great service in the t e cap ure of Beaus jour , a French stronghold on the Aca

a s dian isthmus , and they had been enlisted for only a year , the governor determined to take advantage of their presence and u se them in effecting the expulsion .

wa s e Accordingly Colonel Moncton , who at Beaus j our , was ordered to seize all the able - bodied inhabitants of his neighborhood ; while Winslow , of Massachusetts , with his ” Puritan troops , who had prayers in camp every day ,

as w ordered to march to Grand Pré , just across the penin sula from Halifax . Here he was to follow the example of ofli ce rs Moncton . Similar orders were sent to the English

Fa ll o N ew at Annapolis and Fort E dward . In the f

F r a nce . , by Gerald E Hart , may be seen a fine portrait

C . su r of olonel Winslow , of Massachusetts His fat face ,

c or u mounted by the regulation powdere d wig , and his p lent figure , seem to betray a character loving ease and cheerful surroundings rather than the rough life of the soldier . Indeed he has left on record that the task on which he was now engaged was a most uncongenial one . f Still he was acting under the orders of a superior o ficer , and he faithfully obeyed his instructions . Summoning the inhabitants of Grand Pré , Mines , and River Canard ,

both old men an d young men , as well as all the lads of ” ten years of age , to meet him at the church on a certain

i nte r re day , he stood out before them , and , through the p ters , read to them the instructions sent by Lawrence in the name of the king ' The part of duty I am now upon i s u very disagreeable to my nat ral make and temper , as I know it must be grievous to you , who are of the same i s species ; but it not my business to animadvert , but to N 30 I A CA DIA .

obey such orders as I receive . Therefore without hesita ’ tion I shall deliver you His Majesty s orders and i nstru c

! tions , namely that your lands and tenements , cattle of all kinds and live stock of all sorts , are forfeited to the crown ; with all of your other effects , saving your money and household goods , and you yourselves to be removed from ’ this , his province . I am , through His Majesty s goodness , directed to allow you liberty to carry off your money and

d i sc om household goods , as m any as you can without moding the vessels you go in . I shall do everything in my power that all these goods be secured to you , and that you are not moleste d in carrying them off ; an d also that whole families shall go in the same vessel , and make this remove , which I am sensible must make you a great ’ a d deal of trouble , as easy as His Maj esty s service will mit ; and hope that in whatever part of the world you may fall you may be faithful subjects , a peaceable and happy ’ people . I must also inform you that it is His Majesty s pleasure that you remain in security under the inspection ” and direction of the troops I have the honor to command .

The blow had at last fallen , and so severe was it that its first effect must have been to stun the senses of the listening farmers . When they recovere d and awoke to the true meaning of the words they had heard , they saw that resistance was useless , and they bowed their heads in submission . Elsewhere the English officers were less successful in capturing the inhabitants Many took alarm , an d escap ing to the woods , took refuge in Canada an d in what is now the State of Maine . The fate of these refugees , 0 0 some 35 in all , seems to have excited little sympathy in

Canada . The French provincial government is said to ’ 3 1 HIS TORICA L S AE T C H .

horse fl e sh as have issued to them boiled hides and rations , ‘ and many of them died of sta rva tion fi The whole number secured by the English i s put at 8 8 — — 5 7 men , women and children out of a population amounting to ab out 92 0 0 .

When after a long delay the transports arrived , an hon e st effort seems to have been made to follow the i nstru c tions of Winslow , that whole families should go in the Same vessel ; but that many cases of separation occurred seems to be admitted by all the historians . Such a fate , therefore , might well have overtaken Evangeline and

s . G abriel , Longfellow immortal lovers The English apologists maintain that such separations were unavoidable in view of the fact that members of a family would often escape , and on their recapture would necessarily be put on board the transport that happened to be sailing at the moment . The transports were ordered to distribute the Acadians among the colonies along the Atlantic coast , and letters

re were sent with them to the governor of each colony , questing that the immigrants should be received . In order t that there might be no temptation to re urn , hundreds of hou se s with a rne re d th e , the barns into which had just been g newly harveste d crops , were burned before the eyes of the exiles , while yet the transports lingered in the harbors . A description of their grief must be left to the pen of the poet When the transports arrived at their respective destina tions , the Acadians , homesick and despairing , found them

' ’ " I n H a t c b n f r om h e se e x i le s oh s Fa ll of N e w F a n e a e ma k a l e e i i o t t e r r , r r p t t t ove no of u c u on h n h S a k of h e i con s a n e b e i s oe d Am oh e i s e e g r r ! q t . g t r t g t y p t r t t e f u s a l toob h E n l i h n a ‘ / ’ a n st 11 6 n li sh e y t e s a d sk ZU I Hw h a d not bee n l ed a i [ E ! r g , J y g g 3 32 I N A CA D I A. selves among a people to whom in language and religion they were aliens . Such exiles were naturally a burden to the colonists , and South Carolina and Georgia con su lte d their own feelings i n allowing the Acadians to re turn to Nova S cotia whenever an opportunity presented l itse f . 2 0 0 0 In Pennsylvania nearly were landed , and the hearts of the ! uakers were touched at the sight of their misery . In the records of the Pennsylvania Historical

Society , it is state d that the State government expended for the support of these unhappy exiles the su m of

£ 0 0 . 75 The general court of Boston , however , refused a landing to some of the transports and ordered them to return to Halifax . It seem s to us a bitter piece of irony that the Puritans , who had helped to expel the Acadians

b e e n ~ e x e c te d from Nova S cotia , should have p to welcome them in Massachusetts and provide for their necessities .

Many of the exiles , failing to win a livelihood in the colonies , finally wandered back to their old homes , and became the progenitors of those who are found there at the present day . Others , after incre dible sufferings , pene trate d as as far south San D omingo ; still others , hearing that settlers from beloved France inhabite d what is now the State of Louisiana , traversed the continent till they

a n d reached the mighty Mississippi , , launching their crafts on its swift tide , ultimately found safe harb or at New

Orleans . Here they were joined by refugees from S an

Domingo . Louisiana had just been transferred from the

French to the Spanish government , but the French were still in possession , an d the exiles were everywhere kindly received . Once more they heard the sweet accents of their native tongue , and the religion for which they had

OLD A CA DI A REVI SI TED

( F RO M B AD D EC K J

B Y C HARL ES D U D L E Y W ARN ER.

r f s h s ost on B e mi ss n o u on o. bl r i o H o /z t J / m ( f C P u i e B . y p / g , {fi ,

d adia visii d l e e .

T hi s i s th e forest pri m eval ; but wh e r e a re th e h e art s that b e n e ath i t

h ro e h e e s th e oo th e o of th e L e ap e d l ik e t e e , wh n h ar i n w d l an d v ic e h u nt sman !

W i s th e - ooe e th e oe of A e s h e r e thatch r f d v i l l ag , h m cad i an farm r ,

n ose e s e on e e s e th e oo s Me wh l iv gl id d l ik riv r that wat r w d l an d ,

b s os of e e fl e a e of e ! D ark e n e d y had w arth , but r cti ng an i m g h av e n

! r ose e s s th e e s oe e ! Va st e a e th pl a ant farm , and farm r f r v r d e part e d

s e e s e th e y s s of oe Scatt e r e d l ik e d u t an d l av , wh n m ight bl a t O ct b r ’ o s o r th z e e e e e e e o . Se i th m , and wh i rl th m al ft , an d prin kl th m far c e an ” o e s of th e e of N aught b ut trad iti n r mai n b aut iful vi l l age Grand Pré . — v n E a g el i ne . ET us now turn from the sombre story of old Acadian history to a glimpse of its stage of action at the present u f d ay . We are fortunate eno gh to be able to o fer this from the photographic pen of that observant traveler ,

Mr . Charles Dudley Warner . The following extract from ” hi s i s i n interesting little volume , entitled B addeck ,

se rte d . through the courtesy of the publishers , Messrs

Mifll i n C o. Houghton ,

Mr . Warner , after a picturesque description of the

heroic Madame de la Tour , meanders through Acadian history and geography after the following pleasant fashion

! As we leave the station at Annapolis , we are obliged to put Madame de la Tour out of our minds to make room

sa for another woman whose name , and we might y pres 1 1 V A CA DIA .

ence , fills all the valley before us . So it is that woman continues to reign , where she has once got a foothold ,

a . long after her dear fr me has become dust Evangeline , who is as real a personage as ! ueen Esther , must have been a different woman from Madame de la Tour . If the latter had lived at Grand Pré , she would , I trust , have made it hot for the brutal English who drove th e Acadians

- out of their salt marsh paradise , and have died in her heroic shoes rather than float off into poetry . But if it should come to the question of marrying the D e la Tour

was or the Evangeline , I think no man who not engaged i n the peltry trade would hesitate which to choose . At any rate , the women who love have more influence in the

! world than the women who fight , and so it happens that the sentimental traveler who passes through Port Royal without a tear for Madame de la Tour , begins to be in a glow of tender longing and regret for Evangeline as soon

F r m as he enters the valley of the Annapolis river . o y self , I expected to see written over the railway crossings the legen d ,

! ‘ ’ L ook ou t for E vange l in e whi l e th e B e l l ri ngs. When one rides into a region of romance he does not much notice his speed or his carriage ; but I am obliged to say that we were not hurried up the valley , and that the cars were not too luxurious for the p lain people , priests , clergymen , and belles of the region , who rode in them . Evidently the latest fashions had not arrived in the prov i n c e s tu , and we had an oppor nity of studying anew those that had long passed away in the States , and of remarki ng how inappropriate a fashion is when it has ceased to be the fashion . RE V 3 9 OL D A CA DIA ISITED .

The river becomes small shortly after we leave Annap olis and before we reach Paradise . At this station of n happy appellation we looked for the satirist who amed it , but he h as probably sold out an d remove d . If the effe ct of wit i s produced by the sudden recognition of a remote resemblance , there was nothing witty in the naming of this station . Indeed , we looked in vain for the garden

as appearance of the valley . There w nothing generous in the small meadows or the thin orchards ; and if large trees ever grew on the bordering hills , they have given place to rather stunted evergreens ; the scraggy firs and as saw balsams , in fact , possess Nova S cotia generally we

VI L L AG E or G RAN D P Ré . it— and there is nothing more uninteresting and wearisom e than large tracts of these woods . We are bound to believe h as that Nova S cotia somewhere , or had , great pines and hemlocks that murmur , but we were not blessed with the sight of them . Slightly picturesque this valley i s with its winding river and high hills guarding it , and perhaps a person would enjoy a foot - tramp down it ; but I think he 4 0 I IV A CADIA . would find little peculiar or interesting after he left the neighborhood of the Basin of Minas . B efore we reached Wolfville we came in sight of this b asin and some of the estuaries and streams that run into it ; that is , when the tide goes out ; but they are only muddy ditches half the time . The Acadia College was p ointed out to us at Wolfville by a person who said that it is a feeble institution , a remark we were sorry to hear of a place described as one of the foremost seats of learning ’ in the province . But our regret was at once extinguishe d by the announcement that the next station was Grand Pré l We were within three miles of the most poetic place in

North America .

There was on the train a young man from Boston , who said that he was born in Grand Pré . It seemed impossible

‘ that we should actually be near a p e rson so felicitously i nth . e born He had a justifiable pride fact , as well as in the bride by his side , whom he was taking to see for the

old . first time his home His local information , imparted

ove rfl owe d to her , upon us ; and when he found that we ’ had read Evangeline , his delight in making us acquainted vil with the scene of that poem was pleasant to see . The lage of Grand Pré is a mile from the station ; and perhaps the reader would like to know exactly what the traveler ,

a . hastening on to Baddeck , can see of the f mous locality

e - We looked ov r a well grassed meadow , seamed here ' and there by beds of streams left bare by the receding tide , to a gentle swell in the ground upon which is a not heavy forest growth . The trees partly conceal the street of Grand Pré , which is only a road bordered by common houses . Beyond is the B asin of Minas , with its sedgy shore , its dreary flats ; and beyond that projects a bold

THE A CA D I A N L A N D

A B Y C H R L E S D U D L E Y W AR N E R.

’ Fr om H a r er s Al a a z i ne C o r i ht 1 88 b H a r er ck B r o. p g , py g 7 , y p

he when and T .

N introducing the following passages from Mr . Charles

’ ! ” Dudley Warner s article , The Acadian Land ,

wa s 1 8 8 which published in the February , 7 , number ’ of Harper s Magazine , it may be premised that the route

i s to this region by the Southern Pacific Railroad , from

i s New Orleans to New Iberia , which situated on the Bayou

1 2 m . Teche , 5 iles to the west The chief seat of the Aca dians i s found on and near the Bayou

Teche , though there are consider able settlements i n the lower river parishes , in St . Landry and Avoy elles parishes and in other parts of

i s im ossi Southern Louisiana . It p ble in the extracts which we are kindly permitted by the publishers ’ to u se to do justice to Mr . Warner s sympathetic and photographic pictu res of the Acadian land and people . But perhaps enough i s given to sti mu late curiosity and awaken interest i n them .

The region south and west of the Bayou Teche , a vast plain cut by innumerable small bayous and streams , which have mostly a connection with the B ay of C Ote

V i s a Blanche and ermilion Bay , the home of the Nov

Scotia Acadians . 46 I N A CA DIA .

1 The Acadians in 75 5 made a good exchange , little as they thought so at the time , of bleak Nova S cotia for these sunny , genial and fertile lands . They came into a land S and a climate uited to their idiosyncrasies , and which have enabled them to preserve their primitive traits . In a comparative i sol ation fromthe disturbing current of modern life , they have preserved the habits and customs of the eighteenth century .

iii If the Acadians can anywhere be seen in the pros

e rit i p y of their primitive simplic ty , I fancy it is in the e parish of Vermilion , in the Vicinity of Abb ville and on a the B ayou Tigre . Here , among the intric te bayous that are their highways and supply them with the poorer sort w as of fish , and the fair meadows on hich their cattle p e ture , and where they grow nearly verything their simple a habits require , they have for over century enjoyed a quiet existence , practically undisturbed by the agitations of mo dern life , ignorant of its progress . History makes their departure from the comparatively bleak meadows of

Grand Pré a cruel hardship , if a political necessity . But N they made a very fortunate exchange . owhere else on

' the continent could th ey sowell have preserved their i So primit ve habits , or found clim ate and soil suited to

their humor .

To reach the heart of this abode of contented and per haps wise ignorance we took boats early one morning at while t h e Petite Anse Island , dew was still heavy and the

birds were at matins , and rowed down the Petite Anse

B ayou .

I 5 0 N A CA DIA .

no other interest in or concern about the government .

There is a neighborhood school where E nglish is taught , but no church nearer than Abbeville , six miles away . I

Should not describe the population as fanatically religious ,

- nor a church going one except on Special days . But by all accounts it is moral , orderly , sociable , fond of dancing , thrifty , and conservative . A The cadians are fond of their homes . It is not the fashion for the young people to go away to better their condition . Few young men h ave ever been as far from home as New Orleans ; they marry young , and settle down near the homestead .

The men whom we saw were most of them fine ath l e ti c - a fellows , with honest , dark , sun browned f ces ; some of the children were very pretty , but the women usually

Showed the effects of isolation and toil , and had the com

- mon plainness of Fren ch peasants . They are a self sup porting community , raise their own cotton , corn and

u sugar , and for the most part manufact re their own clothes and articles of household use . Some of the cotton jeans ,

- striped with blue , indigo dyed , made into garments for w men and women , and the blankets , plain yello (from the native nankeen cotton ), curiously clouded , are very pretty

i ‘ and serv ceable . Further than that their habits of living are Simple and their ways primitive , I saw few eccentrici i ties . The pecul arity of this community is in its freedom from all the hurry and worry and information of modern life .

We went home gayly and more swiftly , current and tide with us , though a little pensive , perhaps , with too D I V 1 THE AC A AIV L AI D . 5 much pleasure and the sunset effects on the wide marshes through which we voyaged .

When we landed an d climbed the hill , an d from the rose - embowered veranda looke d back over the strange

We land had sailed through , away to B ayou Tigre , where

was the red sun setting , we felt that we had been in a country that i s not of this world .

THE ACA DI A NS OF LO I SI A NA U .

FROM ARTIC L E B Y ALc éE FOR TIE R .

he adiars o ouisiana z j .

h o s e th s e e s s Ov e r t e j you f a st e udd n d arkn s d e c e n d e d . A was s e o th e s e s e l l il nt w ith ut , and , i l l um in i ng l an d cap w ith ilv r ,

ose th e e oo th e s s oos Fai r r d wy m n and myr iad tar ; but wi th i n d r ,

B e e se s oe th e es of e s th right r than th , h n fac fri n d i n e gl i mm e ring

l ampl ight .

T e o h i s s o o th e e of th e e th h n fr m tati n al ft at h ad tabl , e h e rd sman

Po e o h i s e h i s e oe e e e s o ur d f rth h art an d wi n t g th r i n n dl s pr fu si on . L h i s was fi e s e o e e o o. ighti ng pip , that l l d w i th w t N atch it ch es t bacc

ak

T e e e e e o e s e th e oo oos e s o h n th r w r v ic h ard at d r, and f t t p appr ach i ng fl o f o o th e s s th e ooth e e z . S un d e d up n tair , an d r bre y v e randa

It was th e o C e oes s A e s e n ighb ring r l an d mal l cad i an pl ant r ,

! Vh oe toth os of B th ohad b e e n sum m n d al l e h u e a si l e h e rd sman . M e rry th e m e e ti ng was of anc i e n t comrad e s an d n e ighbors! F ri e n d cl a sp e d fri e n d i n h i s arm s ; an d th ey wh ob e fore w e re as

s e s trang r , e x e e e s as e s toe o e M ee ti ng i n il , b cam traightway fri n d ach th r . h o of o o o o D rawn by t e ge ntl e b n d a c m m n c u n try t ge th e r . h o s of s o B u t i n t e n e ighb ring hal l a trai n mu ic , pr c e e d i ng ’ o th e o s s of e s e oos fi e F r m acc rdan t tring M icha l m l d i u ddl ,

B oe e s e e . A e e e e r k u p al l furth r p ch way , l ik ch i ld r n d l ight d , A ooe es e e e e se es toth e e l l th i ngs f rg tt n b id , th y gav th m lv m add n i ng ” W of th e z z e as s e s e toth e s h i rl d i y d anc , i t w pt and way d mu ic ,

e e e s th e r s of fl e e s. D r e am l ik e , w ith b am i ng y an d u h utt ring garm nt

— ' E t a fl g el i n e . I N A CA DIA .

G rré ! B N his History of Louisiana Mr . aya says e I st 1 1 6 tween the of January and the 3th of May , 7 5 , 6 0 about 5 Acadians had arrived at New Orleans , and from that town had been sent to form settlements in ” Attakapas and Opelousas under the command of Andry . t Many others of the unfor unate exiles came to Louisiana ,

om f r m s e . o the Antilles , but the greater part , in rude boats

m s built by the selves , floated down the treams flowing into the Mississippi and reached New

c Orleans , where they expe ted to find the

white banner of France . Two

i nfa years before , however , the mous treaty of Paris had been be signed , and Louisiana now

longed to Sp ain . The Spaniards had not yet taken possession of the

c f re colony , and the Fren h o ficials

c e ive d most kindly the unhappy strangers . There they were on the levee of New Orleans

with their wives and children , helpless , des

titu te , possessing only a few articles of wearing

apparel , they who a few years before were prosperous farmers with comfortable homes

and fertile fields . But at last their journey was ended and they were again to find a home and lands much more fertile than those which

they had left . About fifty miles above New Orleans the Acadians gave their name to one of the r pa ishes of Louisiana , and the Acadian coast , now called e St . Jam s , was one of the first settlements made by the exiles . Later they Spread all along the Mississippi river

5 8 I N A CA DIA . o After passing another beautiful stream , B ayou B euf , we see a few of the Indian mounds which are so interest

a ing to the arch eologist and the ethnologist , and at Morgan ' e t City we cross the wid and urbid Atchafalaya , the rival of the Mississippi , and which threatens , if not curbed by artificial means , to divert the waters of the great river t from i s present channel . A f ewmiles after passing Morgan City I leav e the train and am soon on a plantation situated on both Sides of the T eche . After dinner I take my little nephews with me and we go to the bayou . There is in front of the house w a drawbridge , hich is opened every time a boat or raft it passes . We S on the bridge and I look on the waters flowing beneath and I can hardly see the direction of the current . A few months before the bayou had been a tor

— t . rent overflowing its left b ank . S Mary parish is one of the most prosperous in Louisiana and everywhere there are central sugar factories with the most modern appli

u a ces , the powerful mills , or the diffusion process , and through this busy scene of progress flow the tranquil

- waters of the Teche , its banks covered with moss grown

- live oaks . Here is the same Spectacle which the poet has

'

. n ow so admirably described It is civilization , but side l a by Side with the primeva forest . Under the st tely oaks the children run and play while I lie upon the grass and u meditate . My tho ghts return to the past , and I imagine what must have been the feelings of the Acadians when they saw for the first time in 1 76 5 the beautiful Attakapas country . Not far from the plantation where I visited is a village called Charenton . It is but a hamlet , but it possesses a church and a convent of nuns . The good Sisters of St . AC AD I AIVS U I THE OF L O SIA N A . 5 9

Joseph have established a school for girls which doe s

great good to the neighborhood . The mother superior ,

a very agreeable and intelligent lady , is a descendant of V the Acadians . ery near the village is a settlement of

as Indians . I observed them with curiosity , they are the

- sole remnant of the Attakapas tribe , the fierce man eaters .

Some of the squaws are handsome , and the men have the

real Indian type , although I am told that the tribe is

rapidly disappearing and mingling with the negroes .

The women make very pretty reed cane baskets , quite different in design from those which the Choctaws sell at the French market in New Orleans ; the men cultivate a little patch of ground and sell fish and game . One hun dred years ago the Indians were numerous on the Teche ; they seem to have melted away without being molested . The mere contact of civilization was su fli c i e n t to cause them to vanish . It seems to have been an inevitable d e s

sa tiny , and we may y in the words of Victor Hugo

! ’ L a chose si mpl e m e nt d e l l e - m em e arriva ’ Io l o n v C omm e l a n u i t se fait r squ e e j ur S e a .

Two miles from Charenton is the Grand Lac , which I

so desired very much to see , one morning at daybreak I started in a light buggy with the oldest of my nephews , a i Sophomore of Tulane University . There s in reality n o route leading to the lake ; we had to pass for several mile s through a forest on the bank of the Teche and it gave me great pleasure to se e the bayou where it appeared mos t wild . After a ride of two hours we left the shore of the Te che and turning toward the interior we soon arrived at

u s the lake . I felt delighted at the sight ; before stretche d ' the blue waters , which a light breeze caused to undulate I N 60 A CA DIA .

two gently , and in the distance could be seen the sails of schooners which seemed to be - the wings of marine birds skimming the surface of the waves . All around the lake is a forest , and on the trees we could see the cardinal bird

- with his scarlet robe , the jay bird with his silver and blue j acket , the blackbird with his golden epaulets , and what

- ad mi r pleased me most , numberless mocking birds , those able songsters , which the impudent English Sparrow is rapidly driving away from our Southern land .

While in St . Mary I had occasion to visit a number of who planters , received me very kindly and who did all in their power to help me in my work . They introduced me to some Acadians and communicate d to me a few characteristic expressions of the Acadian language . I was , however , anxious to see St . Martinsville , and after

t . promising to re urn to St Mary , I took the train an d went It to the oldest town on the Teche . was with real pleas ure that I starte d on my journey ; I had never gone to that

' n part of Louisiana before and everything was ew tome . I passed on my way Jeanerette and New Iberia in Iberia parish . They are both thriving town s, the latter espe c i all y , on account of its proximity to the celebrated salt ’ mines on Avery s Island . It has a handsomme Catholic church , an elegant public high school and so e beautiful private residences . The following extract from Judge Martin ’ s Historyof Louisiana gives a very good idea of the geography of the Teche country

The Teche has its source in the prairies , in the upper part of the settlements of Opelousas , and , during the season l of . high water , flows partial y into the Courtableau As it e nters the settlements of Attakapas , it receives from the right side B ayou Fuselier , which Bayou Bourbeux connects N 6 1 THE A CA DIA S OF L O U ISIA N A .

with Vermilion river . A little more than twenty miles farther , it passes before the town of St . Martinsville and reaches , fifteen miles after , the spot on which the Span i ard s , soon after the cession , made a vain attempt to

was establish a city , to which the name of New Iberia destined ; twenty miles from the mouth of the Teche i s ” the town of Franklin . I may add here that the Teche becomes a noble river Shortly before mingling its waters with those of the rapid

Atchafalaya . From Jeanerette to New Iberia the fields presented the same beautiful crops of cane , rice and corn which I had seen along the route from New Orleans , but after passing New Iberia , cotton begins to be seen , and I noticed in one patch of ground the curious fact of our

— four great staples growing Side by side cane , cotton , rice and corn . Such is the wonderful fertility of our soil .

St . Martinsville does not lie on the Southern Pacific Railroad and it is only lately that it has been connected with the main line by a branch leading to the Teche . This may account for the stagnation of business in the

was . town , which before the war very prosperous I had letters of introduction to several distinguished gentlemen , but I saw on arriving in that Creole town that a Creole m needed no credentials to be well received . I found y sa self among friends , I may y among relations , as all the persons I met knew my family and I knew theirs . French i s essentially the language of the inhabitants and it i s well spoken by the educated class . The latter speak English also , but the lower class Speak the Acadian French mixe d with the Creole patois and a little English . In the interior

a n la r e no i s settlements ( g ) little or English at all spoken , ad and at Breaux Bridge , in St . Martin parish , and in the I N 6 2 A CA DIA .

j oining parish of Lafayette , French is taught together with

E nglish in the public schools . Although we desire to see e very child in Louisiana speak E nglish we wish every one to Speak French also , and I was very glad to see how the people of St . Martin are attached to their French . Among those who have done the most to encourage the study of French in his parish is Mr . Félix Voorhies , a ’ descendant , on his mother s side , of an old Acadian family .

He has established a dramatic society , for which he has written several charming comedies , and although he writes elegant French . he is perfectly familiar with the i n Acadian dialect . I am deeply indebted to him for the te re st he took in my work and the help he kindly gave me .

There is but one hotel in St . Martinsville ; it is a large house with a wide gallery and massive brick columns .

Everything is as in ante - bellum days ; no register awaits im the names of the guests , and the owner seems to have li it p c confidence in the honesty of his boarders .

After dinner I took a walk over the town , and never have I seen a more quiet and orderly place and one where

- h there are so few bar rooms . The life in t at old Creole

’ a ntr e oz s town reminded me of f , as depicted to me many times by my age d friends . There was not much anima tion in business , but order and decency prevailed every where and the people were uniformly affable and polite . m I Spent the evening very pleasantly with yhost , his wife e and his grandmother , conversing with th old lady about the past .

I awoke very early the next morning , and on opening

. the window of my room I saw a pretty Sight ! the bayou . i ts re was just beneath , waters g en with water plants and N N 63 THE A CA DIA S OF L O U ISIA A .

was rushes , and in the distance a prairie , above which

rising resplendent a September su n . A knock was heard

at the door , and answering it I found a little negro girl

bringing me a cup of real Creole coffee .

At a short distance from the hotel is the church , on the n green before which sta ds the statue of the last curate ,

hi s Father Jan , who died an octogenarian , beloved by

i s parishioners . The present priest , Father Langlois , a botanist of great merit who has made important d i scov

i s eries in the flora of Louisiana . He a corresponding ’ l Ath é né e L ou i si anai s member of , and I determined to pay him a visit . He received me very kindly and showed

hi hi s me s admirable botanical collections . I asked per mission to look over the church register , and on turning to the year 1 76 5 I saw the record of the first child born of

Acadian parents in St . Martin , prob ably the first born in

Louisiana . I give here the exact copy , with the original spelling and punctuation as per certified copy kindly made for me by l ’ Abbé Langlois

L an m il l e Se pt c e n t soi x ant e c i n q l e on z e may j e p t f e ll e capuc i n Mi ssi on a i re apostol i q u e cu ré d e l a n e a c c ad i e soss a B a ti se é e l l o u ign é , y p av c e s e s c e r e m n i e s ord inai re s d e l egl i se margu e rit e an n e n é e l a v e i l l e d e l e giti m e ’ Mariage d ol i vi e r th i ba u d au t e t d e magd e l ai n e B rou ssard se s e e e t e e l e e s e e t p r m r parrai n a té R né trahan , l a Mar rai n e Mari e th i b au d au t q u i on t déclaré n e savoi r s ign e r d e ’ c e r eq u i s se l on l ord onn an c e a u x attakapa s le s j ou rs e t an q u e d e ssu s

s . e ( igné) f j an francoi s c . cu ré hi asse An oy u

T hibau d au t Olivier , the father of the little girl born in 1 6 was 7 5 , a descendant of the celebrated meunier Thi

’ b au d au x C hi od Pou tri n u rt , seigneur de p y in Acadia in c o s time . The family i s exceedingly numerous in Louisiana and they have given their name to one of our towns on I N A CA DIA .

Bayou Lafourche . O ne of the Thibodaux was president 1 8 2 of the Senate in 4 , and was acting governor for a few

n . weeks , after the resig ation of Governor Robertson The ’ T hibau d au t s Broussards , the family of Olivier wife , are

hibod au x also very numerous in the State . T , Broussard ,

Landry , Leblanc and Bourgeois are the largest families in Louisiana of Acadian de scent . the In the register of St . Martin church I saw also name of a distinguished Louisianian , a professor in the Orato rian order in France and curate of St . Martin for many years . Etienne Viel translated in beautiful Latin verse ’ ” - T l m the twenty four books of Fenelon s é é aqu e . Lou i si an a may well be proud of a writer of whom Bar ” th l m e e , N émé si s y the , author of the , has said ” Ve u i d e e e o vi r i li sa ose . il , q F n l n g l a pr

. r St Martinsville was the home of a t ue hero , Alcibiade

D B l an - e c . , ex justice of our Supreme Court Not far from the town in Lafayette parish lived another true

u and chivalric Louisianian , Alexandre Mo ton ,

- ex governor and United States senator , who was

the son of an Acadian exile . He died lately at a

very advanced age , and Louisiana could but bless the E nglish for sending her a race that could produce such men as the

governor and his son , the valiant general who fell a victor at Mans

field . The eminent men that have arisen among the Acadians in Louisiana w Show hat good elements there are in that race , but

t . unfor unately , they are , as a rule , lacking in ambition

They are laborious , but they appear to be satisfied if , by

I 6 6 N A CA DIA .

lemonade , but I observed that the favorite drink was black coffee , which indeed was excellent . At midnight supper

chidke n was served ; it was gombo with rice , the national

Creole dish .

Most of the men appeared uncouth and awkward , but

. w the girls were really charming They were elegant , ell dressed and exceedingly handsome . They had large and soft black eyes and beautiful black hair . Seeing how well they looked I was astonished an d grieved to hear that probably very few of them could read or write . On listen ing to the conversation I could easily se e that they had no education . French was spoken by all , but occasionally

E nglish was heard . After supper my friend asked me if I wanted to se e l e

a r e a p u x fi el d s . I followed him without knowing what

’ a d oi ni n th e he meant , and he took me to a room j g dancing c hall , where I saw a number of little hildren thrown on a be d and sleeping . The mothers who accompanied their daughters had left the little ones in the f a r e a ux p et/l s b e saw fore passing to the dancing room , where I them the whole evening assembled together in one corner of the

L e a r e a u x hall and watching over their daughters . p

et/fits p interested me very much , but I foun d the gambling

t - me n room stranger s ill . There were about a dozen at a table playing cards . O ne lamp suspended from the ceiling threw a dim light upon the players , who appeared at first

- Sight very wild , with their broad brimmed felt hats on their heads and their long untrimmed sunburnt faces .

wa s There , however , a kindly expression on every face , and everything was soquiet that I saw that the men were

sa not professional gamblers . I w the latter a little later , in a barn near by where they had taken refuge . About

N L U I I IV 9 THE A CA DIA . S OF O S A A. 6

half a dozen men , playing on a rough board by the light

I u nd rstood of two candles . e that these were the black sheep of the crowd , and we merely cast a glance at them .

I was se e desirous to the en d of the ball , but having been told that the break - u p would only take place at ’ y 4 or 5 o clock in the morning , we went awa at one ’

. wa s a d o clock I well pleased with my evening , and I r mired the perfect order that eigned , considering that it wa s a public affair and ope n to all who wished to come , without any entrance fee . My friend told me that when

wa s the dance over the musicians would rise , and , going out in the yard , would fire several pistol Shots in the air , l ’ crying out at the same time ! l e ba est fi n z . The names of the children in Acadian families are quite as strange as the old biblical names among the e a rlv Puri tans , but much more harmonious . For instance , in one

was D u rad on hi s family the b oy called , and five Sisters

Elfi e En on é e e answered to the names of g , y , M ridi ,

O z éi n r ni a and F oe . A father who had a musical ear

his V Valmore calle d sons almir , , Valsin , Valcour an d

’ e a Val rien , while nother , with a tincture of the classics , hi called s boy D eus and his daughter D é u ssa . n All the Acadia s are great riders , and they and their little ponies never seem to be tired . They often have e x i i n citing races . Living s very cheap the prairie an d the small farmers pro duce on their farm s almost e ve rvthi ng

u they se . At the stores they exchange eggs an d hens for city goods . Several farmers in the prairie still have sugar houses

- with the old fashioned mill , three perpendicular rollers turne d by mules or horses . They have some means . but

' are somu c h a tta c h e d to the old ways that the v will not 7 0 I N A CA DIA .

change . It will not be long , however , before the younger generation replaces the antiquated mill with the won der fu l modern inventions . The Acadians are an intelligent , peaceful and honest population ; they are beginning to

— improve indeed many of them , as already stated , have been distinguished , but as yet too many are without e du cation . Let all Louisianians take to heart the cause of education and make a crusade against ignorance in our country parishes ! Before leaving the prairie I took advantage of my prox imit y to the Gulf to pay a Visit to C Ote Blanche . The coast of Louisiana is flat , but in the Attakapas country r five islands or elevations break the monotony . These a e rugged and abrupt an d present some beautiful scenes . A few miles from the prairie is a forest called Cypremort ; it

' is being cleared , and the land is admirably adapted to n C t sugar cane . The road leadi g to O e Blanche passes for three miles through the forest an d along Cypremort

i s so w Bayou , which shallo that large trees grow in it and the water merely trickles around them . O n leaving the wood we enter on a' trembling prairie over which a road h as C Ote . been built , and we soon reach Blanche It is

e On ne calle d an island , b cause o Side is the Gulf and on the other is the trembling prairie . We ascended a bluff about one hundre d feet high and beheld an enchanting scene . In the rear was the wood whi ch we had just left stretching like a curtain around the prairie , to the right an d to the left were a number of hills , one of which was

fift - e one hundred and y seven feet high , cover d with tall

cane waving its green lances in the air , while in front of us stoo d the sugar house with large brick cmhimneys , the white house of the owner of the place , the s all cottages D N U 1 THE A CA IA S OF L O ISIA N A . 7

of the negroes on both sides of a wide road , and a little farther the blue waters of the Gulf . I approached the ff edge of the blu , and as I looked at the waves dashing against the shore and at the su n slowly setting i n a cloud

! less Sky , I exclaimed Lawrence , destroyer of the

Acadian homes , your cruelty has failed . This beautiful country was awaiting your victims . We have here no

Bay of Fundy with its immense tides , no rocks , no snow , but we have a land picturesque an d wonderfully fertile , a lan d where men are free ; oa r Louisiana i s better than you r A cadia ! ”

h cadia s man e n of o ce.

n N the Acadian land , on the shores of the Basi of Minas ,

G ra n d ~ Pré Distant , secluded , still , the little village of

Lay in the fruitful valley . Vast meadows stretche d to

the eastward ,

Giving the village its name , and pasture to flocks without

number .

Dikes , that the hands of the farmers had raised with labor

incessant , Shut out the turbulent tides ; but at stated seasons the fl ood gates ’ Opene d and welcomed the se a to wander at will o er the

meadows .

West and south there were fields of flax , and orchards and

c or nfield s

’ Spreading afar and unfenced o er the plain ; and away to the northward B lomid on rose , and the forests old , and aloft on the mountains

- Sea fogs pitched their tents , and mists from the mighty Atlantic ’ Looked on the happy valley , but ne er from their station

descended .

its There , in the midst of farms , reposed the Acadian vil

lage . I 7 6 N A CA DIA .

Thus dwelt together in love these simple 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 . to Neither locks had they their doors , nor bars to their windows ; But their dwellings were open as day and the hearts of the owners ;

There the richest was poor , and the poorest lived in abun

dance .

Somewhat apart from the village , and nearer the Basin of

Minas ,

B enedict Bellefontaine , the wealthiest farmer of Grand

Pré , e Dw lt on his goodly acres ; and with him , directing his s hou ehold ,

G entle Evangeline lived , his child , and the pride of the

Village .

W Thus , at peace with God and the orld , the farmer of Grand Pré

Lived on his sunny farm , and Evangeline governed his

household .

Many a youth , as he knelt in the church and opened his

missal , Fixed his eyes upon her as the saint of his deepest

devotion . AC AD I A/VS RO rl/AN 7 7 THE OF C E .

But among all who came young Gabriel only was wel come ;

son Gabriel Lajeunesse , the of Basil the blacksmith

was Who a mighty man i n the village , and honored of all

me n .

was hi s He a valiant youth , and face , like the face of the

morning ,

its Gladdened the earth with light , and ripened thought

into action ,

Sh e was a woman now , with the heart and hopes of a

woman .

1 V t o ‘ od wa r c . 6 G r a n d PY 2 8

’ W IL L O W S IT E or B AS I L O N S FO RG E .

Sunshine of Saint Eulalie was sh e called ; for that wa s the sunshine

a s Which , the farmers believed . would load their orchards with apples ; N 7 8 I A CA DIA .

She too would bring to her husb and ’ s house delight an d

abundance ,

Filling it full of love and the ruddy faces of children . Soon with a soundless step the foot of Evangeline fol

lowed . Up the staircase moved a luminous Space in the da rk

ness , Lighted less by the lamp than the shining face of the

maiden .

sh e Silent passed through the hall , and entered the door

of her chamber .

Simple that chamber was , with its curtains of white , an d

its clothes - press h Ample and high , on whose spacious s elves were carefully folded

tu Linen and woollen s ffs , by the hand of Evangeline

woven . This was the p re c iou sgd owe r She would bring to her hu s

band in marriage ,

as Better than flocks and herds , being proofs of her skill

a housewife .

Pleasantly rose next morn the sun on the Village of Grand Pré ;

Pleasantly gleamed in the soft , sweet air the Basin of

Minas .

was Every house an inn , where all were welcomed and feasted ;

0 1 s For with this simple pe p e , who lived like b rother

together , N I A 7 9 THE A CA DIA S OF RO A N C E .

was All things were held in common , and what one had ’ another s . ’ Ye t un der Benedict s roof hospitality seemed more abun dant ! For Evangeline stood among the guests of her father ;

was S Bright her face with miles , and words of welcome and gladness as Fell from her beautiful lips , and blessed the cup She

gave it . ’ Fairest of all the maids was Evangeline , Benedict s daughter !

was son Noblest of all the youths Gabriel , of the black smith !

n 10 ! Sopassed the morni g away . And with a summons sonorous

its Sounde d the bell from tower , and over the meadows a

drum beat .

Thronge d ere long was the church with men . Without in the church yard

Waited the women . They stood by the graves , and hung on the headstones Garlands of autumn leaves and evergreens fresh from the

forest .

Then came the guard from the ships , and marching proudly among them

E ntered the sacred portal . With loud and dissonant clangor Echoed the sound of their brazen drums from ceiling and casement

Ec hoe cl a moment only , and Slowly the ponderous portal I N 8 0 A CA DIA .

Closed , and in silence the crowd awaited the will of the

soldiers .

‘ u rose th e i r a n d Then p commander , spake from the steps

of the altar ,

Holding aloft in his hands , with its seals , the royal com

mission . ’ You are convened this day , he said , by his Majesty s

orders . Clement and kind has be been ; but how you have a n swe re d his kindness Let your own hearts reply ! To my natural make and my temper

Painful the task is I do , which to you I know must be

grievous .

Yet must I bow and obey , and deliver the will of our monarch ! w ’ Namely , that all your lands , and d ellings , an d cattle of all kinds Forfeite d b e to the crown ; and that you yourselves from this province n u Be transported to other lands . God gra t yomay dwell there ! Ever as faithful subjects , a happy and peaceable people ’ now I Prisoners declare you , for such is his Majesty s pleasure !

Four times the su n had risen and se t ; and now on the fifth day Cheerily calle d the cock ! to the sleeping maids of the

- farm house .

8 2 I N A CA DIA .

Even as pilgrims , who journey afar from their homes and

their country , n Si g as they go , and in singing forget they are weary and

wayworn , 'Sowith songs on their lips the Acadian peasants descended h Down from the churc to the shore , amid their wives and

their daughters .

Half way down to the shore Evangeline waited in Silence ;

Not overcome with grief , but strong in the hour of afll i c tion

sh e a Calmly and sadly waited , until the procession p

roa c h e d p her ,

And sh e beheld the face of Gabriel pale with emotion .

Tears then filled her eyes , and , eagerly running to meet

him ,

Clasped she his hands , and laid her head on his shoulder ,

and whispered , G abriel ! be of good cheer ! for if we love one another

u s Nothing , in truth , can harm , whatever mischances may happen ! ” sh e Smiling spake these words ; then suddenly pause d , for her father

"

Sh e . ! Saw , slowly advancing Alas how changed was hi s aspect !

Gone was the glow from his cheek , and the fire from his

eye , an d his footstep Heavier seemed with the weight of the heavy heart in his

bosom .

Sh e But with a smile and a Sigh , clasped his neck and

embraced him , — / O 8 3 TI I E AC AD I AAS OF R J IAN C E .

Spe a king words of endearment where words of com fort

availed not . ’ ' Thus to the Gaspereau s mouth moved on th a t mournlul

procession .

There disorder prevailed , and the tumult and stir of em

barking . Busily plied the freighte d boats ; an d in the confusion

Wives were torn from their husbands , and mothers , too

saw late , their children

t e n Lef on the lan d , exten ding their arms , with wildest

treaties . Sounto separate Ships were Basil and Gabriel carrie d While in despair on the Shore Evangeline stoo d with her

father .

An d with the ebb of the tide the ships sailed out of the

harbor ,

Leaving behind them the dead on the Shore , and the

Village in ruins .

II . Many a weary year had passed Since the burning of

- Grand Pré ,

When on the falling tide the freighte d vessels departed ,

its Bearing a nation , with all household gods , into exile ,

Exile without an en d , and without an example in story .

Far asunder , on separate coasts , the Acadians lande d ;

S cattered were they , like flakes of snow , when the wind from the northeast Strikes aslant through the fogs that darken the Banks of

Newfoundland . 8 4 I N A CA DIA .

Friendless , homeless , hopeless , they wandere d from city

to city , From the cold lakes of the North to sultry Southern sa

vannas , From the bleak shores of the se a to the lands where the Father of Waters d Seizes the hills in his hands , and drags them own to the

ocean , Deep in their sands to bury the scattered bones of the

mammoth .

Friends they sought and homes ; and many , despairing ,

a - he rt broken ,

Asked of the earth but a grave , and no longer a friend

nor a fireside . Written their history stands on tablets of stone in the

churchyards . Long among them was seen a maiden who waited and

wandered ,

Lowly and meek in spirit , and patiently suffering all

things .

s Sometimes She lingered in town , till , urged by the fever

i i , w th n her 3

Urged by a restless longing , the hunger and thirst of the

spirit , She would commence again her endless search and e n d e avor ; d Sometimes in churchyards strayed , and gaze on the

crosses and tombstones ,

H A D I AIV O F R T E C A S OAI AN C E . 8 7

Sat by some nameless grave , an d thought that perhaps in its bosom

wa s sh e He already at rest , and longe d to slumber beside

h i m. Thus did that poor soul wander in want and cheerless

discomfort ,

Bleeding , barefooted , over the shards an d thorns of exist

ence .

It was the month of May . Far down the Beautiful

River ,

Past the Ohio Shore and past the mouth of the Wabash , Into the golden stream of the broad and swift Missis

i i S pp ,

was Floated a cumb rous boat , that rowed by Acadian boat

men .

It wa s ! as a band of exiles a raft , it were , from the ship wrecke d

Nation , scattered along the coast , now floating together , Bound by the bonds of a common belief and a common misfortune ;

Men and women and children , who , guide d by hope or by

hearsay ,

Sought for their kith an d their kin among the few - acred farmers

O n the Acadian coast , and the prairies of fair Opelousas .

With them Evangeline went , and her guide , the Father

Felician .

’ Onward o er sunken sands , through a wilderness sombre

with forests , Day after day they glide d adown the turbulent rive r ; 8 8 I N A CA DIA .

its Night after night , by their blazing fires , encampe d on

borders .

Now through rushing chutes , among green islands , where plumelike

Cotton trees no dde d their shadowy crests , they swept with

the current ,

’ s Then emerged into broad lagoons , where silvery andbars w Lay in the stream , an d along the impling waves of their

margin ,

- Shining with snow white plumes , large flocks of pelicans

waded . a Level the landsc pe grew , and along the shores of the

river ,

i e Shaded by china trees , in the m dst of luxuriant gard ns ,

Stoo d the houses of planters , with negro cabins and dove

cots . They were approaching the region where reigns perpe tual

summer , e Wher through the Gol den Coast , and groves of orange

an d citron , Sweeps with maj estic cur ve the river away tothe east

ward . e They , too , swerv d from their course ; and , entering the

Bayou of Plaquemine , e S oon were lost in a maz of sluggish an d devious waters ,

w d i re c Which , like a net ork of steel , extended in every

tion . Over their heads the t owering an d tenebrous boughs of the cypress

- Met in a dusky arch , and trailing mosses in mid air V V ave d like banners that hang on the walls of ancient

cathedrals .

l 91 THE A CA DIA N S OF R O / / AN C E .

Deathlike the silence seemed , and unbroken , save by the herons t Home to their roosts in the cedar trees re urning at sunset ,

as Or by the owl , he greeted the moon with demoniac

laughter . Lovely the moonlight was as it glanced and gleamed on

the water , Gleamed on the columns of cypress and cedar sustaining

the arches , Down through whose broken vaults it fell as through

chinks i n a ruin .

Dreamlike , and in distinct , and strange were all things around them ;

’ And o er th e ir spirits there came a feeling of wonder and sadness

Strange forebodings of ill , unseen and that can not be

compassed . ’ As r , at the tramp of a horse s hoof on the tu f of the prai

ries , Far in advance are closed th e leaves of the Shrinking mi

mosa ,

- sad So , at the hoof beats of fate , with forebodings of evil ,

Shrinks and closes the heart , ere the stroke of doom has

attaine d it . ’ was a But Evangeline s heart sustained by vision , that faintly ’

th rou h th Floated before her eyes , and beckoned her on g e

moonlight . It was the thought of her brain that assumed the shape of

a phantom . Through those shadowy aisles had G abriel wandered

before her , 92 I N D I A CA A .

' An d e ve ry strok e of the oar now brought him nearer and nearer ;

Thus ere another noon they emerged from the Shades ; an d before them

su n Lay , in the golden , the lakes of the Atchafalaya .

Water - lilies i n myriads rocked on the slight undulations

Made by the passing oars , and , resplendent in beauty , the lotus Lifted her golden crown above the head s of the b oat

men . Faint was the air with the odorous breath of magnolia

blossoms ,

And with the heat of noon ; and numberless sylvan islands ,

' Fragrant and thickly embowered with blossoming he dges

of roses ,

Near to whose shores they glided along , invited to slumber . Soon by the fairest of these their weary oars were sus

pended .

W ac hita Under the boughs of willows , that grew by the

margin , S afely their boat was moored ; and scattered about on the

greensward , e Tired with their midnight toil , the w arytravelers Slum

bered .

Over them vast and high extend e d the cope of a cedar .

S m i n r the - fl owe r w g g from its g eat arms , trumpet and the grapevine rof ' l Hung their ladde ropes aloft like the adder of Jacob ,

On whose pendulous stairs the angels ascending , de

scending ,

’ » O 95 ID I AIVS R / A C . THE AC . OF J A E

! - fl itte d m Vere the swift humming birds , that from blosso

to blossom . Such was the vision Evangeline saw a s Sh e Slumbered

beneath it .

wa s of Filled her heart with love , and the dawn an open ing heaven Lighte d her soul in sleep with the glory of regions celes

tial .

Nearer , ever nearer , among the numberless islands , ’ Darte d a light , swift boat , that spe d away o er the water , Urged on its course by the si newy arms of hunters and

trappers .

was Northward its prow turned , to the land of the bison

and beaver .

sat At the helm a youth , with countenance thoughtful and

careworn .

hi s Dark and neglecte d locks overshadowed brow , and a sadness Somewhat beyond his years on h i s face was legibly writ

ten .

was Gabriel it , who , weary with waiting , unhappy and

restless , Sought in the Western wilds oblivion of self and of sor

row .

Swiftly they glided along , close under the lee of the

island , O But by the pposite bank , and behind a screen of pal me ttos ;

saw So that they not the boat , where it lay conceale d i n the willows ;

tu All undis rbed by the dash of their oars , and unseen , were the sleepers ; 96 I N A CA DIA .

Angel of God was there none toavxaken the slumbering

maiden .

w Sh a d e S iftly they glide d away , like the of a cloud on

the prairie .

Then , said Father Felician ,

D aughter , thy words are not idle ; nor are they to me

without meaning , Feeling is deep an d still ; and the word that floats on the surface

Is as the tossing buoy , that betrays where the anchor is

hidden . a nd W Therefore trust to thy heart , to what the orl d calls

illusions . Gabriel truly is niz ar thee ; for not far away to the south

ward ,

O n the b anks of the Teche , are the towns of St . Maur and

St . Martin . There the long - wandering bride Shall be given again to

her bridegroom ,

. There the long - ab sent pastor regai n his flock and hi s

Sheepfold .

i i Beautiful is the land , with its pra r es and forests of fruit trees ;

Under the feet a garden of flowers , and the bluest of h e avens

Bending above , and resting its dome on the walls of the

forest . They who dwell there have name d it the E den of Lou ” 1 s1 ana .

' N R O J I AIV E i l ‘J THE A CA DIA S OF C .

With these words of cheer they arose and continu e d

their journey .

u n Softly the evening came . The s from the western hor izon ’ Like a magician extende d his golden wan d o er the land scape ; Twinkling vapors arose ; an d sky and water and forest

at Seeme d all on fire the touch , and melted and mingled

together . w Hanging between two Skies , a cloud ith edges of silver .

i ts Floated the boat , with dripping oars , on the motionless

water .

’ Fille d was Evangeline s heart with inexpressible sweet

ness .

O f Touched by the magic spell , the sacred fountains feel

i n g t )

o as Glowed with the light of l ve , the skies and waters

around her .

- Then from a neighboring thicket the mocking bird , wildest

of singers , ’ Swinging aloft on a willow Spray that hung o er the water .

hi s Shook from little throat such floods of delirious music , That the whole air and the woods a nd the waves seemed

silent to listen . Plaintive at first were the tones and sad ; then so aring to madness Seemed they to follow or guide the revel of frenzied B a c

chantes .

low a Single notes were then heard , in sorrowful , l menta tion ;

h a a Till , aving gathered them all , he flung them bro d in

derision , I I V A CA DIA .

As when , after a storm , a gust of wind through the tree tops Shakes down the rattling rain in a crystal shower on the

branches .

With such a prelude as this , an d hearts that throbbed with

emotion , l S owly they entere d the Teche , where it flows through the

green Opelousas ,

And , through the amber air , above the crest of the wood lan d Saw the column of Smoke that arose from a neighboring dwelling ;

Sounds of a horn they heard , and the distant lowing of

cattle .

as t ou Then , the herdsman urned to the h se , through the gate of the garden S aw he the forms of the priest and the maiden advancing

to meet him .

hi s Suddenly down from horse he sprang in amazement , an d forward Rushed with extended arms and exclamations of wonder ;

' hi s When they behel d face , they recognize d Basil the

blacksmith .

hi s was as hi s Hearty welcome , he le d guests to the

garden . There in an arbor of roses with endless question and a nswer t Gave they vent to heir hearts , an d renewed their friendly

emb races ,

D I V R O A T 1 0 3 THE AC A A. S OF AI AC E .

b L aughing and weeping v turns , or Sitting Silent and h thoug tful .

Thoughtful , for Gabriel came not .

a d a Not th t day , nor the next , nor yet the y that succee de d ,

hi s i n Foun d they trace of course , lake or forest or river ,

Nor , after many days , had they foun d him .

’ W was hi s Gabriel was not forgotten . ithin her heart nn age ,

i n y a s sh e Clothe d the beauty of love and outh , last beheld

him , Only more beautiful made by h i s deathlike silence an d

absence .

e wa s . Into her thoughts of him time enter d not , for it not

ate

him was not n Over years had no power ; he cha ge d , but tra n sfigu re d ;

as one i s He had become to her heart who dead , and not absent ;

a n d Patience and ab negation of self , devotion to others , This wa s the lesson a life of trial and sorrow had taught

her .

wa s to So her love diffused , but , like some o dorous spices ,

no n or n Suffere d waste loss , though filli g the air with

aroma .

sh e nor Other hope had none , wish i n life , but to w of Meekly follo , with reverent steps , the sacred feet her

Saviour . Thus many years sh e live d a s a Sister of Mercy ! f re qu e n fi ng I rV 1 04 A CA DIA .

Lonely an d wretched roofs in the crowde d lanes of the C ity Where distress and want concealed themselves from the

sunlight ,

u Where disease and sorrow in garrets lang ished neglecte d .

9! él6 36 9k i s 9K 9K 9!

was All ended now , the hope , and the fear , and the

sorrow , fi All the aching of heart , the restless , unsatis e d longing ,

u ! All the dull , deep pain , and constant ang ish of patience

sh e And , as pressed once m ore the lifeless head to her

bosom ,

Sh e Meekly bowed her own , and murmured , Father , I thank thee ! ”

Still stan ds the forest primeval ; but under the shade of its branches

Dwells another race , with other customs and language . Only along the shore of the mournful an d misty Atlantic

Linger a few Acadian peasants , whose fathers from exile

Wandered back to their native land to die in its bosom .

’ In the fish e rman s cot the wheel and the loom are still busy ! Mai dens still wear their Norman caps and their kirtles of

homespun , the ’ And by evening fire repeat Evangeline s story ,

i ts - While from rocky caverns the deep voiced , neighbor i ng ocean

' Speaks , an d in accents disconsolate answers the wail of

the forest .

T H E E N D .