PREFACE

[v]Inthe following traditionary Tale, a very imperfect narration of which has come to the author of this, the reader will perceive the attempt to embody the history of a people long since extinct as a nation (1), though found still, in scattered fragments (2), in various parts of the British provinces in North America (3), in the «disputed territory », and sometimes incorporated with the Indian tribes.

(1) Cf. Evangeline, v. 15 :

Nothing but tradition remains of the beautiful village of Grand-Pré. (2) Ibid , v. 12-13 :

Waste are those pleasant farms, and the farmers for ever departed ! Scattered like dust and leaves.

Ibid., v. 671 :

Scattered were they, like flakes of snow...

(3) Ibid., v. 1392-1394 :

Only along the shore of the mournful and misty Atlantic

Linger à few Acadian peasants, whose fathers from exile Wandered back to their native land to die in its bosom.

In giving a history of the forcible expulsion of the Acadians or Neutral French from the province of Nova Scotia, or New Scotland, we shall be compelled to dwell upon scenes to which the history of the civilized world affords no parallel (1)...

[vi] It is painful to dwell upon such scenes, though perhaps salutary. If there is no gratitude in republics, there is no good faith or honesty in monarchies (2)...

It is useless, at this time of day, to pretend that a few interested and avaricious individuals were alone culpable in the: affairs of the Neutral French, for full proof even yet exists, that they did what was done by the authorily of the English King George the second, and under his hand and seal (3); and that when, after the deed was completed, and the remnant of those who survived drew up a memorial of their sufferings in the land whither they were banished, and sent it onto his successor, George the third, it was rejected with cool indifference, and they left to perish, or exist by the charities of those they were among, as chance might direct (4).

In collecting the facts given in the historical part of this book, the author has been much assisted by reference to the manuscript papers in the library of the fassachusetts Historical Society, to which she had access, and was politely permitted not only to peruse, but take notes from, and for which she takes this opportunity of tendering them her very sincere thanks. Some facts have been gained from William Lincoln, Esq., of Worcester, who has lately lectured on this subject before the Rhode Island Historical Society. His lectures contained a vast deal of information, and some excellent remarks. Some other facts, also, have been obtained from the kindness and research of Mr. Williamson, [vu] author ofthe History of Maine. From Haliburton we have drawn largely, and by the politeness of M. Bigelow, Secretary of State forthe Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have been assisted to obtain from the papers in his office some of their later history.

(1) Cf. Evangeline, v. 669 :

Exile without an end, and without an example in story. (2) Ibid, v. 53-54 :

.. Alike were they free from Fear, that reigns with the tyrant, and envy, the vice of republics. (3) Cf. Ibid., v. 430 et suiv.

Then uprose their commander,… Holding aloft in his hands, with its seals, the royal commission. Ibid., v. 997 :

No King George of England shall drive you away from your homesteads… (4) Voy. plus haut. Extraits d'Haliburton.

[1x] .… Our readers are at perfect liberty to believe any part of the Ta here narrated, embellished, as they choose, it is a matter of great indifference to us ; but not so with the historical facts connected with it. We shall give in it a true, though faint description of that people whose sufferings and virtues we are about to commemorate — of their oppressions, persecutions, . privations, exactions, and so forth, previous to, and at the time

of, their banishment from their beloved and beautiful Acadia, and as far as we can come at the particulars of their desolation, suffering, and abandonment after their arrival in the States, the thousandth part of which can never be known. Their slories, for the most part, have gone down to the grave with them, and will never be rescued fram oblivion (1).

Alas ! alas! for a people once so happy, so comfortable, so innocent and unoffending ; for a people who, since the days of the patriarchs, have been the only families of betievers who have lived in perfect simplicity, whithout any of those cravings after riches that mars the peace, distracts the mind, and sullies the conscience of all other people upon the civilized earth. The goadings of ambition and envy (2) as a necessary accompaniment to the thirst for gain, were unknown tho them. Blessed privilege ! happy people !.…

[x] There is, however, a prevailing belief, and a very gratifying one, that the author of this will be a pioneer in hunting up the history of this much injured people, and she cannot but flatter herself that some Paulding, perhaps an Irving, whose means of information may be more extensive than her own, may drag

: forth from the lumber of ages, some important facts connected with them, as yet unsung, and present them in a fairer form.