GENTLEMEN

« Thave received from his Excellency Governor Lawrence, the King's Commission, which Ï have in my hand ; and by his orders you are convened together to manifest to you his Majesty’s final resolution to the French inhabitants ofthis his Province of Nova-Scotia ; who, for almost half a century, have had more indulgence granted them than any of his subjects in any part of his dominions ; what use you have made of it you yourselves best know. The part of duty f am now upon, though necessary, is very disagreeable to my natural make and temper, as I know it must be grievous to you, who are of the same species, but it is not my business to animadvert but to obey such orders as ] receive, and therefore, without hesitation, shall deliver you his Majesty s orders and instructions, namely — that your lands and tenements, catile of all kinds and live stock of all sorts, are forfeited to the Crown ; with all other your effects, saving your money and household goods, and you yourselves to be removed from this his Province.

€ Thus it is peremptorily his Majesty’s orders, that the whole French inhabitants of these Districts be removed ; and I am, through his Majesty’s goodness, directed to allow you liberty to carry off your money and household goods, as many as you can without discommoding the vessels you go in. I shall do every thing in my power that all those goods be secured to you, and that you are not molested in carrying them off ; also, that whole families shall go in the same vessel, and make this remove, which I am sensible must give you a great deal of trouble, as easy as his Majesty’'s service will admit ; and hope that, in wha-

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tever partofthe world you may fall, you may be faithful sub- Jects, a peacable and happy people. I must also inform you, that itis his Majesty's pleasure that you remain in security under the inspection and direction of the troops that I have the honour to command.» And he then declared them the King’s prisonets.

The whole number of persons collected at Grand Pre, finally amounted to four hundred and eighty-three men, and three hundred and thirty-seven women, heads of families ; and their sons and daughters, to five hundred and twenty-seven of the former, and five hundred and seventy-six of the latter ; making in the whole one thousand nine hundred and twenty-three souls. Their stock consisted of one thousand two hundred and sixty-nine oxen, one thousand five hundred and fifty-seven cows, five thousand and seven young catile, four hundred and ninety-three horses, eight thousand six hundred and ninety sheep, and four thousand one hundred and ninety-seven hogs. As some of these wretched inhabitants escaped to the woods, all possible measures

- were adopted to force them back to captivity. The Country was laid waste to prevent their subsistence. In the District of Minas alone, there were destroyed two hundred and fifty-five houses, two hundred and seventy-six barns, one hundred and fifty-five out houses, eleven mills, and one church, and the friends of those who refused to surrender, were threatened as the victims of their obstinacy.

In short, so operative were the terrors that surrounded them, that of twenty-four young men, who deserted from a transport, twenty-two were glad to return ofthemselves, the others being shot bysentinels ; and one of their friends, who was supposed to have been accessory to their escape, was carried on shore to behold the destruction of his house and effects, which were burned in his presence, as a punishment for his temerity and perfidious aid to his comrades. The prisoners expressed the greatest concern at having incurred his Majesty’s displeasure, and in a petition addressed to Colonel Winslow, intreated him to detain a part of them as sureties for the appearance of the rest, who were desirous of visiting their families, and consoling them in their distress and misforiunes.=To comply with this request of holding a few as hostages for the surrender of the whole body, was deemed inconsistent with his instructions ; but, as there could be no objection to allow a small number of them to choose ten for the District of Minas (Horton), and ten for the District of Canard (Cornwallis) to whom leave of absence was given for one day ; and on whose return, a similar number were

indulged in the same manner. They bore their confinement, and received theirsentence witha fortitude and resignation altogether unexpected ; but when the hour of embarkation arrived, in whichthey were to leave the land oftheir nativity for ever —to part with their friends and relatives, without the hope of ever seeing them again, and to be dispersed among strangers, whose language, customs and religion, were opposed to their own, the weakness of human nature prevailed, and they were overpowered with the sense oftheir miseries. The preparations having been all completed, the 10 th day of September was fixed upon as the day of departure. The prisoners were drawn up six deep, and the young men, one hundred and sixty-one in number, were ordered to go first on board of the vessels. This they instantly and peremptorilly refused to do, declaring that they would not leave their parents ; but expressed a willingness to comply with the order, provided they were permitted to embark with their families. This request was immediately rejected, and the troops were ordered to fix bayonets and advance towards the prisoners, a motion which had the effect of producing obedience on the part of the young men, who forthwith commenced their march. The road from the chapel to the shore, just one mile in length, was crowded with women and children ; who, on their knees, greeted them as they passed with their tears and their blessings ; while the prisoners advanced with slow and reluctant steps, weeping, praying and singing hymns. This detachment was followed by the seniors, who passed through the same scene of sorrow and distress. In this manner was the whole male partof . the population ofthe District of Minas put on board the five transports, stationed in the river Gaspereaux ; each vessel being guarded by six non-commissioned officers, and eighty privates. Às soon as the other vessels arrived, their wives and children followed. and the whole were transported from Nova-Scotia. The haste with which these measures were carried into execution did not admit of those preparations for their comfort, which, if unmerited by their disloyalty, were at least due in pity to the severity of their punishment.….

… Às the different Acadian settlements were too widely dispersed, to admit of the plan of subjugation to be carried into effect at once ; and as it had but partially succeeded at two of the most populous Districts, only seven thousand of the inhabitants were collected at this time. and dispersed among the several British Colonies. One thousand arrived in Massachusetts’ Bay, and became a public expense, owingin a great degree to an unchangeable antipathy to their situation ; which prompted

them to reject the usual beneficiary, but humiliating establishment of paupers, for their children. The quota destined for Pensylvania was four hundred and fifteen, men women and children. They landed in a most deplorable condition at Philadelphia. The Government of the Colony, to relieve itself of the charge such a company of miserable wretches would require to maintain them, proposed to seli them with their own consent ; but when this expedient for their support was offered for their consideration the Neutrals refused it with indignation, alledging that they were prisoners, and expected to be maintained as such, and not forced to labour. But, notwithstanding the severity of the treatment the Acadians had experienced, they sighed in exile to revisit their native land. That portion of them which had been sent to Georgia, actually set out on their return, and by a circuitous, hazardous, and labourious coasting voyage, had reached New York and even Boston, when they were met by orders from Governor Lawrence, for their detention, and were compelled to relinquish their design.

Haliburton insère à cet endroit de son récit une longue et pathétique pétition adressée par les Acadiens prisonniers en Pensylvanie au roi de Grande-Bretagne.

Dans ce long mémoire rédigé en anglais (probablement par un deleurs protecteurs de Philadelphie), les Acadiens retracent l’histoire de leur colonie sous le régime britannique, depuis le traité d’Utrecht jusqu’à la Déportation,

Avec beaucoup de dignité et de modération, ils insistent sur leur qualité de neutres, affirment leur constante loyauté, et protestent contre le traitement injuste fait à tout leur peuple sous prétexte des fautes commises par quelques-uns.

Nous donnons seulement la conclusion de cet émouvant plaidoyer.

… €Thus we, our ancient parents and grand parents (men of great integrity and approved fidelity to your Majesty), and our innocent wives and children, became the unhappy victims to those groundless fears ; we were transported into the English Colonies, and this was done in so much haste, and with so little regard to our necessities and the tenderest ties of nature, that from the most social enjoyments and affluent circumstances, many found themselves destitute of the necessaries of life ; Parents were separated from children, and husbands from wives some of whom have not to this day met again ; and we were so crowded in the transport vessels, that we had not room even for all our bodies to lay down at once, and consequentiy were prevented from carrying with us proper necessaries, especially for the support and comfort ofthe aged and weak, many of

whom quickly ended their misery with their lives. And even those amongst us who had suffered deeply from your Majesty's enemies, on account of their attachment to your Majesty's Government, were equally involved in the common calamity, of which René Leblanc, the notary publie before mentioned, is a remarkable instance. He was seized, confined, and brought away among the rest of the people, and his family, consisting of twenty children, and about one hundred and fifty grand children were scattered in different Colonies, so that he was put on shore in New York, with only his wife and two youngest children in an infirm state of health, from whence he joined three more of his children in Philadelphia, where he died without any more notice being taken of him than any of us, notwithstanding his many years labour and deep sufferings for your Majesty’s service.

« The miseries we have since endured are scarce sufficiently to be expressed, being reduced for a. livelihood to toil and hard labour in a southern clime, so disagreeable to our constitutions, that most of us have been prevented, by sickness, from procuring the necessary subsistance for our families ; and therefore are threatened with that which we esteem the greastest aggravation of all our sufferings, even of having our children forced from us, and bound out to strangers, and exposed to contagious distempers unknown in our native country.

«This, compared with the affluence and ease we enjoyed, shows our condition to be extremely wretched. We have already seen in this Province of Pennsylvania two hundred and fifty of our people which is more than half the number that were landed here, perish through misery and various diseases. În this great distress and misery, we have, under God, none but your Majesty to look to with hopes of relief and redress : We therefore hereby implore your gracious protection, and request you may be pleased to let the justice of our complaints be truly and impartially enquired into, and that your Majesty would please to grant us such relief, as in your justice and clemency you will think our case requires, and we shall hold ourselves bound to pray », etc.

This memorial had not the effect of procuring them redress, and they were left to undergo their punishment in exile, and to mingle with the population among whom they were distributed, with the hope, that in time their language, predilections, and even the recollection of their origin, would be lost amidst the mass of English people, with whom they were incorporated. Such was the fate of these unfortunate and deluded people...

If Une nouvelle source d'Evangéline :

The Neutral French DE CATHERINE R. WiLLiams.

Le roman Les Français Noeutres, de Catherine Williams, où nous pensons que Longfellow a largement puisé pour la rédaction de sa première partie d’Evangéline, est à l'heure actuelle impossible à se procurer en France. Il doit même être si peu connu en Amérique que ni le titre du volume ni le nom de l’auteur ne sont cités dans The Cambridge History of American literature.

Nos lecteurs nous seront reconnaissants, croyons-nous, de reproduire à cette place les principaux passages des Français Neutres et de leur permettre ainsi de faire les rapprochements que nous avons indiqués.

Extraits de «The Neutral French; or, The Exiles of Nova Scotia, by Mrs Williams, lwo volumes in one, Providence (B. Cranston & Co, Printers) Published by the author, 1841 (Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1841, By C.R, Williams, In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of Rhode-Island.) »