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 .lOIlN FKEDKKIC IIKKBIN, H.A. 
 
GRAND PRE 
 
 A i^RETCfl tyr THIi ACAUIBK vKTlMMTrON OP TUK 
 SnOKKS OF THE fiAslN'oF MIN'AS 
 
 B <^ul^c tor dounote 
 
 rt It < jr#* f 
 
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 •^- or THE ExTiri) Vmn.% now l,jv-fN<j. 
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■*'ai»nK«:'A"i.^ 
 
 \^m*^ l'«Ei>iCKl< ftEKBlN, II \. 
 
 -v,-. 
 
GRAND-PRE 
 
 SKETCH OF THE ACADIEN OCCUPATION OF THE 
 SHORES OK THE HASIN OF MINAS 
 
 THE HOME OF LONGFELLOW'S *' EVANUELINE" 
 
 H (Bui&c for (Tourtete 
 
 BY 
 
 IThe Only Descendant of the Exiled People now Living 
 IN THE Land of His Forefathers 
 
 JOHN FREDERIC HERBIN, B.A. 
 
 Author of ** The Marshlands" 
 Wolfville, N.S. 
 
 .-■■.«• *i 
 
 
 ! '^ MAR 2b 1957 
 
 fc-> 
 
 TORONTO . / . 
 
 ■ I 
 
 \A/^ILLIAM BRIGGS ' - 
 
 Wesley Buildings 
 
 MONTREAL: C. VV. COATES HALIFAX: S. F. HUESTIS 
 
 lS9vS 
 
 ■.y 
 
F 
 
 Entrrbd occonling to Act of Ihe Parliament of Canada, in the year one 
 thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight, by William Briooh, at the Deitartment 
 of Agriculture. 
 
. 
 
 S)eMcate5 to 
 
 XTbe HcaMcn people. 
 
 . t» 
 
 ^ 
 
THE RETURNED ACADIEN. 
 
 Along my fathers' dykes I roam again, 
 
 Among the willows by the river-side. 
 
 These miles of green I know from hill to tide, 
 And every creek and river's ruddy stain. 
 Neglected long and shunned our dead have lain, 
 
 Here where a people's dearest hope had died. 
 
 Alone of all their children scattered wide, • 
 
 I scan the sad memorials that remain. 
 The dykes wave with the grass, but not for me ; 
 
 The oxen stir not while this stranger calls. 
 
 From these new homes upon the green hill-side. 
 Where speech is strange and a new people free, 
 
 No voice cries out in welcome ; for these halls 
 Give food and shelter where I may not bide. 
 
 — J. F. Herhin. 
 
 i*l* 
 
 'D i 
 
\ ; 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 "Ai. 
 
 i 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I. Introduction — Dtsscription - - - . . 
 
 II. Acadie— Port Royal— Minas Visited— The Micniac 
 Indians. (1504-1671) - - - . . 
 
 III. Minas Settled— Geology of Minas— Dyke- building- 
 
 Churches at Minas— Church's Raid. (1671-1710) 
 
 IV. Lfjss of Port Royal by the French— Treaty of 
 
 Utrecht— Governors Vetch, Nicholson, Caulfield, 
 Doucette, Philipps, Armstrong, Philipps. (1710- 
 1730) -.--..... 
 
 V. French Neutrals— Armstrong— Mascarene. (1730- 
 1747) 
 
 VI. Noble at Grand-Pre— March of Coulon— Attack at 
 Grand-Pr^— Capitulation of the English— Re- 
 taking of Grand-Pro. (1747-1748) - 
 
 VII. Halifax Founded— Cornwallis-Hopson-Lawrence 
 (1749-1766) 
 
 VIII. Minas before the Deportation. (1755) 
 
 PAQR 
 
 7 
 11 
 18 
 
 28 
 
 45 
 
 60 
 
 63 
 83 
 
VI 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CAPrKR ^^^^ 
 
 IX. Wiimlow at Grand -Pre — Proclamation iHsued— 
 Fii-8t Embarkation— Second Embarkation— Final 
 Embarkation. (1755) <)0 
 
 X. Acadiens in Exile— The Return. (1756-17«(;) - 108 
 
 XI. The English Settlers at Minas . - . - 113 
 
 XII. The Origin of " Evangeline "—What to See— Hints 
 
 to Tourists 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 The Author - - - - . . 
 
 Cape Blomidon 
 
 Plan of Winslow's Camp .... 
 
 Grand-Pre Meadows ..... 
 Acadia University and Seminary . 
 Evangeline (From the paintimj by Thus. Faed) 
 
 FvoHtispiece. 
 
 118 
 
 24 
 
 90 
 
 98 
 
 11(5 
 
 122 
 
 / 
 
 li 
 
 i 
 
f 
 
 GRAND-PRE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 i> 
 
 Introduction — Description. 
 
 In view of the fact that Longfellow's beautiful 
 poem " Evangeline " has given more or less fame to 
 Nova Scotia, and particularly to Grand-Pr^ as the local 
 of that sad story, there is a conviction very general 
 that but for this happy circumstance the Province 
 would receive little notice. This is, perhaps, in a great 
 measure correct. Yet the pages of Acadien story are 
 peculiar and unique facts of history. The events con- 
 nected with its making are thrilling and picturesque. 
 The two great nations of Europe, England and France, 
 were striving for supremacy in America Violence, 
 hatred, and jealousy never ceased till they culminated 
 in the expatriation of a people who had occupied the 
 Province for one hundred and fifty years. It was the 
 supreme moment of despotic government when the 
 expulsion of a people was given the name of an act of 
 necessity ; when the acquisition of land was excused 
 under the guise of national safety ; when savage war- 
 fare made men forget the higher and finer instincts of 
 their nature. 
 
 J 
 
QUAND.PR£. 
 
 The poem " Evangeline " is a remarkably correct 
 page of history. Since its appearance in 1847, because 
 the odium of the act of the expulsion seemed to rest 
 on the English Government, a great deal has been 
 written in an attempt to show that the Acadiens were 
 in themselves wholly to blame for the fate that befell 
 them. Had all the facts been known, much of it 
 would not have been written. Haliburton in 1811, 
 only fifty -six years after the French were taken away, 
 wrote a history of Nova Scotia. At that time, many 
 were alive who had lived through the scenes of the 
 expulsion. Richard in 1895 published "Acadia: Missing 
 Links of a Lost Chapter in American History," with 
 the aid of everything that could throw light on the 
 subject. To-day, history is practically reconstructed ; 
 and only within a few years has it been possible to 
 give all the facts in regard to that much mooted 
 (juestion, the expulsion of the Acadiens. Records 
 were lost or destroyed ; facts in favor of the people 
 were made to appear against them ; and following the 
 plan of writers who made a special study of the period, 
 with a preconceived prejudice many have followed 
 their course, adding to the accumulation of writings 
 that tended to perpetuate the error that has so dark- 
 ened the memory of an unfortunate people. At no 
 place was the work of the deportation carried out so 
 thoroughly, and of no place is there so full an account 
 in de^ as of Grand-Pr^. Winslow's work was as 
 fuil^ ^^rformed as his account of it was written. - 
 
 The portion of this country first occupied by the 
 French, called Mines, or Minas, on the south and west 
 
 
1 
 
 ORAND-PK£. 
 
 i 
 
 i> 
 
 
 i 
 
 of the Basin of Minas, has become noted both for the 
 richness of its soil and the loveliness of its farms and 
 orchards. Its natural scenery has made it famous. 
 But perhaps its greatest claim for attractiveness, 
 coupled with its great and varied beauty, is the fact 
 of its being the home of Longfellow's greatest creation, 
 " Evangeline." The poet's description of the country, 
 glowing as it is, does not usually disappoint the 
 stranger who comes to Grand-Pr^ with the lines of 
 the poem still fresh in his memory. Wolfville, only 
 three miles away, is the centre about which cluster 
 the points of beauty, and from which radiate the 
 lines of road which communicate with them. Directly 
 in front lies the blue stretch of Minas Basin. The 
 distant hills of Cumberland are cut off, and relieved 
 on the west by the bold and nearer outline of Cape 
 Blomidon. Numerous large and beautiful streams 
 empty their v^^aters into the Basin, which in turn 
 flows into the Bay of Fundy. Cape Blomidon 
 terminates the range of mountains which lies on the 
 north side of the Annapolis Valley. The eastern 
 extremity of this valley is the Canard and Habitant 
 of the Acadiens, now the Cornwallis Valley. These 
 are seen to best advantage from Look -Off, a point on 
 the North Mountain about four hundred feet above 
 the level of the valley. This overlooks a varied 
 and extended scene of great beauty. Look -Off is 
 about twelve miles from Wolfville, and the road 
 thither lies through the finest of the orchard country. 
 This is the favorite drive, as it presents a fine variety, 
 and the distance is easy. 
 
 / 
 
10 
 
 QRANDPRt. 
 
 ' 
 
 South of Wolfville lies the famous valley of the 
 Gaspereau. The river flowing through it empties, 
 after many curves and turns, into the Basin. Several 
 miles up its length, fresh and salt water mix together. 
 Half a mile from the outlet, the Acadiens were taken 
 on board the transports. Here lie the wonderful 
 marshlands, those fertile plains which first drew the 
 Acadiens to Minas Basin. On these hillsides the 
 prosperous people dwelt. At Grand-Pr^ they were 
 made prisoners. From here they were removed and 
 made exiles. 
 
 A short distance south of Wolfville, the hill com- 
 mands a good view of the Basin of Minas, the 
 Grand-Pr^ meadows, and the bold outline of Cape 
 Blomidon. From the red bluffs of Pereau to the 
 Gaspereau Valley, along the banks of the rivers in the 
 foreground, and east beyond the range of vision, lie 
 the many villages of the Acadiens. Many of the 
 homea seen to-day are occupied by the descendants 
 of New Englanders. Here the famous apple, the 
 Giavenstein, is grown, classed among the finest in 
 the world. 
 
 ' 
 
 ■,-f 
 
 1 1 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 
 Acadio — Port Ilf)y{il — Minas ViHited — The Micinac TiuliaiiH. 
 
 1504-1671. 
 
 As early as 1504 the waters about Nova Scotia 
 were visited by French fishermen, and its shores were 
 well known ; yet a century passed before any perman- 
 ent settlement was made in Acadie. In 1604, De 
 MoNTS, a nobleman of the French court of Henry IV., 
 came to Acadie for the purpose of colonization. With 
 him were Champlain, Poutrincourt and Pontgrave, 
 names frequently mentioned in the following years in 
 connection with the history of New France. The 
 history of La Cadie, or L' Acadie, as the country was 
 called, began with the founding of Port Royal, now 
 Annapolis, in 1605, a grant of this portion of it having 
 been made to Poutrincourt by De Monts. 
 
 The first Europeans who touched upon these shores, 
 meeting with the native Indians for trade in furs, 
 heard frequently the sound " Cadie," which forms the 
 terminal of many Micmac words. This word became, 
 eventually, the name of the country inhabited by 
 them ; and while it applied more particularly to the 
 peninsula, it included a part of the mainland. This 
 word, affixed to many name^ means, in Micmac, " the. 
 
 / 
 
12 
 
 GRAND.PR£. 
 
 place of," or " abounding in." Shubenacadie, Tracadie, 
 names of places, are still in use. The Melicites of 
 New Brunswick pronounced the word " Quoddy," and 
 to-day we have Passaniaquoddy, etc. Acadia, or 
 Acadie as it was known in its earlier history, formed 
 a part of the French dominions in America, called 
 New France, comprising what are known as Upper 
 Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, the islands of 
 Prince Edward and Cape Breton, and part of New- 
 foundland. Acadie embraced Nova Scotia, New 
 Brunswick and a large part of the State of Maine. 
 
 A few houses having been erected at Port Royal 
 IN 1605 established it as the oldest permanent set- 
 tlement of Europeans in eastern America, after St. 
 Augustine. In 1G07, Jamestown in Virginia was 
 founded. In 1013, an expedition under Argall from 
 Virginia broke up the colony and destroyed Port 
 Royal. Thus did this rapacious New Englander begin 
 the strife which ceased not till French power died 
 in America. There were a few Frenchmen scattered 
 along the Annapolis River ; but for twenty years 
 there was little mention of Acadie till 1621, when 
 New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were ceded to Sir 
 William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, by the King of 
 England, under the name of Nova Scotia. A few 
 Scotch families were sent out ; but in 1632 these were 
 merged in the French population, when Acadie was 
 restored to France. Port Royal existed as a quiet and 
 obscure colony until D'Aulneyin 1636 selected it a^a. 
 suitable place for his headquarters as Lieutenant- 
 Governor. Fired by the ambition to control all 
 
GRAND-PRf:. 
 
 13 
 
 i 
 
 Acadie, whose bounds were as yet vaguely defined, his 
 frequent conflict with others of liis countrymen de- 
 feated for a long time any attempt at permanent set- 
 tlement. Dyke-building was begun about this time 
 to keep the tides off the marshes. In 1654, Acadie 
 was again taken from the French by a fleet sent by 
 Cromwell to capture New Holland. There was now 
 a large population along the coast from Virginia to 
 Machias, Boston being the most important town. In 
 1G67, France by treaty again acquired Acadie, and it 
 was put under the governorship of Grandfontaine. 
 With all the sacrifice of time and money there were 
 but 400 French in the country, over 300 being at Port 
 Royal. There were, besides, a goodly number who had 
 joined with the Indians, some having intermarried 
 with them and taken up their mode of life. The cen- 
 sus of this period is confined to forty-seven families. 
 In 1671 began the history of Les Mines, or Ml N as, to 
 which this sketch is chiefly devoted. 
 
 Various points in Acadie had been settled by the 
 French before these beautiful lands sloping to the 
 waters of Minas Basin became the scene of civilization. 
 Yet report of their wonderful richness, their seclusion 
 and beauty, had made Minas known a century before 
 it received a permanent settlement. The Grand-Pre 
 — the great prairie — and the broad sheet of basin re- 
 ceiving into its bosom a hundred streams, fine stretches 
 of forest, the vast acres of marshlands, hold blutts and 
 undulating hills lay like a garden, the haunt of Mic- 
 macs and the retreat of an occasional pirate or corsair, 
 until the beginning of its history in 1671. 
 
14 
 
 QHANDPM. 
 
 In 1604, De Monts sailed up the Bay of Fundy on 
 an exploring expedition. He visited the mines of 
 pure copper at Cape D'Or (Golden Cape), also called 
 Cap des Mines. These mines were undoubtedly 
 known to the Indians, for aniong their remains found 
 on the shores of the Basin, pieces of copper are 
 sometimes met with. 
 
 De Monts sailed into the Basin to Partridge Island, 
 where the captain of one of the ships found a large 
 specimen of Amethyst. The stone was broken in 
 two pieces, and De Monts received one of them. On 
 their return to France the specimens were cut and 
 mounted in beautiful settings, and presented to the 
 king and queen. This stone is rarely met with now 
 on the island touched by these hardy explorers, and 
 only in small and poorly colored specimens. The 
 writer has obtained fine pieces at Blomidon, which 
 when cut and polished compare well with the best 
 stone obtainable. ^ J 
 
 On the lookout for a suitable place for settlement, 
 De Monts was not favorably impressed with the stern 
 appearance of the rocky bluffs of Blomidon and the 
 north shores. He missed the rich lands but a few 
 miles farther south. He then continued his passage 
 along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy, at that 
 time called Baie Francaise. The word Fundy is 
 derived from fond, the end, or top of the bay. 
 
 With the establishment of Port Royal began the 
 friendly relations that continued so long between the 
 native Indians and the French. A profitable trade in 
 beaver and other furs sprung up. 
 
 MiNAS, Manis, Menis, as it has been variously 
 
 < 
 
 
GRANDPR6. 
 
 15 
 
 r» 
 
 called, was named by the French Les Mines, and 
 referred to the south shore of Minas Basin, from which 
 the name was derived. Mines, later Minas, owes its 
 name to the veins of pure copper at Cape D'Or, called 
 also Cap des Mines. Hence the adoption of the names 
 Minas Basin ; Minas the region ; Minas, the French 
 settlement south of Minas River (the Cornwallis 
 River). In general terms, Minas may be said to include 
 all the shores or land bordering on the Gaspereau, 
 Cornwallis, Canard, Habitant and Pereau rivers. 
 This includes the present territory of Avonport, 
 Hortonville, Grand-Pr^, Gaspereau, Wolfville, Port 
 Williams, New Minas, Starr's Point, Canard, Corn- 
 wallis and Pereau. The French settlement at Pizi- 
 quid (Windsor) was for a time included in Minas. 
 
 When the French came to Acadie they found that 
 the Indians had a name for every sea, basin, lake, 
 river, brook, headland and hill in the country. It 
 was the home of the Micmacs, and they knew every 
 part of it. Their language is beautiful and poetic. 
 The oldest names we have are theirs. We know 
 nothing of the origin of the word " Mic-mac." In 
 time the French gave beautiful and suggestive names 
 to many parts of the country. Many of these have 
 been changed to English names. In Micmac tradi- 
 tion, Glooscap is the Great Spirit. He once lived 
 in Nova Scotia, but they do not know where he now 
 is. He was like other men in his way of living ; but 
 he never died, never was sick, and never grew old. 
 He lived in a large wigwam. Blomidon bears his 
 name, in Micmac, Glooacap-tveek (Glooscap's home). 
 Minas Basin was his beaver pond. The dam was at 
 
16 
 
 OHANDPR^. 
 
 I 9 
 
 Capo Split, the extremity of North Mountain. Tliis 
 ho cut open, leaving a passage way for the tides. 
 Spencer's Island was his kettle, made of a stone. Two 
 rocks near by were his dogs. All these places have 
 Indian names expressive of their connection with the 
 legend. When the white men came, Glcx)scap was 
 displease<l with their treachery, and turning his kettle 
 over, and changing his dogs to stone, he departed from 
 the country. He is expected to return some day. 
 
 There is evidence to show that there were MiCMAC 
 VILLAGES IN MiNAS ill early times. Game and fish 
 were abundant, and the extensive flats supplied great 
 quantities of shell-fish. In several places on the west 
 side of the Basin, at Starr's Point and at Canard, their 
 remains have been found, showing where they had 
 their villages, landing-places, and trails. Through 
 the use of these places by successive generations of 
 tribes, large tracts were cleared of wood, and were 
 ready for the Acadiens when they sailed up the Basin 
 on the lookout for suitable places for their homes. 
 At Starr's Point, a few years ago, Indian skeletons 
 were found, seeming to point to the existence of an 
 Indian burying-ground there. Various stone imple- 
 ments and arrow-heads have been found in the same 
 locality. Near that place a Kitchen- Midden, with its 
 heap of large clam-shells, bones of various animals and 
 pieces of copper, hand implements of stone, axes, adzes 
 and arrow-heads of stone, chipped into shape, from 
 material obtained at Blomidon. rude pottery in frag- 
 ments showing crude attempts at ornamentation— all 
 these have been found buried under several inches of 
 soil. 
 
 ' ,< <ir>ii»*i i i 
 
OHANDVRf:. 
 
 17 
 
 Tht^Hc reiiuiinH show to a remarkahlu iluj^ree the 
 condition of tho 'vlKH'ij^incH of this country when tlio 
 French nnHHionarie.s bcj^an their work anion^ them. 
 The Micniacs were an honest and intelligent race, and 
 always maintained their friendship for tho French. 
 Much of our history was inrtuenced by these natives. 
 Harsh and a<^gressive treatment never secured their 
 friendship. The Micmacs were called SoiLrlquois till 
 the eighteenth century. 
 
 Occasional visits of the French to Minas for trade 
 made known the richness of the country, »nd later, 
 when Port Royal had grown too large to furnish tho 
 youth with land, these virgin fields became se^*^led. 
 
 Here the rivers were unobstructed by dyke or ford. 
 The red tides rose and fell, flooding the marshes and 
 mixing with the crystal waters of the many streams. 
 Only the coarse salt hay moved in the flow of the sea 
 where now stretch out the broad hay meadows of tho 
 Basin of Minas. No horses or cattle grazed on the 
 slopes. No sheep fed in pasture or clearing. No 
 smoke but of Micmac camp or bark wigwam rose in 
 the air. No church spire pointed to heaven and told 
 of the Son of God. Over the whole extent of tho 
 waters no ship spoke of man's industry and of a 
 people's commerce. Here waited a rich heritage 
 ready to reward toil and peace, a very haven of 
 refuge. But through what a fire of persecution and 
 woe was it to be brought about ! By what tyranny 
 and injustice ! Through what pools of blood, over 
 what devastation of homes is the foundation of a 
 nation's greatness laid ! 
 2 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 ^ 
 
 Minas Settled — Geology of Minas — Dyke-building- Churches 
 
 at Minas— Church's Raid. 
 
 1671-1710. 
 
 The chief founder of Minas was a rich inliabitant 
 of Port Royal, Pierre Terriau, who probably settled on 
 Habitant River in 1671. Associated with him were 
 Claude and Antoine Landry, and Rene Le Blanc. 
 Terriau had wealth and much wheat which he had 
 raised at Port Royal, and he distributed it among the 
 others without interest. 
 
 Here was the hoped-for retreat. Those at Port 
 Royal were under the eye of the fort, the prey of 
 every evil chance. Minas was without protection, 
 save that of isolation, yet it grew rapidly after the 
 pretensions of La Villiere, in command of Acadie, who 
 claimed Minas, were laid aside three years later. His 
 policy had tended to obstruct settlement. Minas 
 under the Seigneur La Bor^ne received no assistance 
 from him. Annapolis had at this time a population 
 of 361. The Acadiens were mostly descendants of 
 colonists broughu out to La Have on the south shore 
 of Nova Scotia, and to Port Royal, by Isaac de Razilly 
 and Charnisay, between 1633 and 1638. They came 
 
1 
 
 G RAND-PR f:. 
 
 19 
 
 )rt 
 of 
 
 Ihe 
 no 
 [is 
 
 from Rochelle, Saintonge, and Poiteau, a limited area 
 on the west of France — a country of mai>>hes. 
 
 In 1671, the agricultural population confined itself 
 more and more to the land. Every im.iiigrant, every 
 disbanded soldier became a farmer. Thus land be- 
 came necessary, and as the boys grew up many had to 
 look elsewhere for homes. Sometimes whole families 
 migrated. From this time settlements increased rap- 
 idly in different parts of Acadie, on the best available 
 land. 
 
 From 1671 to 1686, the population of Acadie had 
 more than doubled. This growth was due largely 
 to immigration. Minas had now 57 souls, 10 fam- 
 ilies, 83 acres tilled, 90 horned cattle, 21 sheep, 67 
 swine, 20 guns. Among the settlers was Pierre Mel- 
 anson, called La Verdure, aged 54, born in 1632, and 
 Marie Muis D'Antremon, his second wife, aged 30, l)orn 
 in 1650. Tlieir nine children were from one to twenty 
 years old. Pierre Melanson came from Port Royal. 
 His name was affixed to the marriage settlement of 
 La Tour and Madame D'Aulney in l()o3. The story 
 of the rivals and bitter enemies. La Tour and D'Aul- 
 ney, makes Acadie's most thrilling chapter. In 1654, 
 Melanson was Captain Commandant of the king at 
 Port Royal, and tutor, as well, to the children of the 
 then dead D'Aulney, proprietor of the country. As 
 will be seen later, the surnames of the nine families at 
 Minas increased rapidly. They were Aucoin, De la 
 Boue, La Roche, Pinet, Terriau, Rivet, Boudrot, He- 
 bert, Landry. Aucoin, Terriau, Boudrot, Hebert and 
 Landry became the most numerous of the names we 
 
^ 
 
 20 
 
 GRAND-PR^. 
 
 find on the list of the Aea( liens at Minas in 1755. 
 These settled near the head of the tide on the Canard 
 and Habitant rivers. Le Blanc was not on the census 
 of l()8f), but the name became numerous later on the 
 south side of Minas River (the Cornwallis). The Mel- 
 ansons also were located there, and a village on the 
 Gaspereau had this name. 
 
 Acadie's history gives an account of disputes and 
 attacks everywhere else, but for some years Minas is 
 seldom mentioned. It grew quietly in retreat. From 
 the silence of history regarding it, we may infer the 
 ambitions that actuated the habltans. The great re- 
 sults disclosed later, when base motive was not want- 
 ing to look upon them as enemies, can be creditcl to 
 those quiet days of thrift and industry that made the 
 small nation of Acadien peasantry a prosperous and 
 contented people. From 1070 to 1710 Port Royal was 
 besieged five times. Minas was visited and made to 
 suffer but once. Reports of the rich extent of the 
 marshes attracted many to its borders. Thousands of 
 acres awaited the building of dykes to make their 
 owners rich. 
 
 Geology teaches us that at an early date following 
 on the Carboniferous or coal age, the North Mountain 
 did not exist, and the waters of the ocean lay over 
 the whole of the Annapolis Valley from the South 
 Mountain eastward to the Cobeijuid hills, and north to 
 New Brunswick. The connnon action of rivers, tides, 
 frost, rain and sun upon the carboniferous limestone, 
 slate and sandstone, and other rocks which made up 
 the surface of the earth and the beds of streams and 
 
 T 
 
J 
 
 1 
 
 GRAND-PRf:. 
 
 21 
 
 seas, formed immense deposits of mud and sediment 
 which were laid down h^vel under the water and be- 
 came rock. Then occurred a warping, or change, in 
 this deposit, and what is known as the red sandstone 
 was in many places exposed to view. Along the 
 shores of Minas it can be seen, as well as on the shores 
 of Cumberland and Annapolis basins. The action nar- 
 rowed the Bay of Fundy to somewhat like its present 
 limits. In many places can be traced the channels of 
 long extinct rivers and waterways at a great altitude 
 above sea-level. 
 
 Following this change of feature came the great 
 internal force that rent the earth, and poured forth 
 a mass of molten matter which spread over the sand- 
 stone and was piled up from Five Islands in Cumber- 
 land to the western limit of Digby County. The 
 North Mountain was thus formed, and at Blomidon 
 can be seen the trap or volcanic rock overlying the red 
 sandstone. 
 
 To the geologist the study of this region is of 
 unending interest. With the subse(iuent cooling of 
 the trap rock, great seams and cracks appeared 
 throughout the mass, which were eventually filled up 
 with the chemical elements in crystalline forms, such 
 as zeolites, amethyst, calcites, etc., found in more or 
 less abundance along the extent of !^he mountains. 
 Between Blomidon and Partridge Island, about five 
 miles, is the great passage way of the tides which rise 
 and fall in filling and discharging the immense body 
 of water that passes in and out twice in twenty-four 
 houi*s. The continuity of the mountain of trap is 
 
22 
 
 GRAN DP Rf:. 
 
 broken here, unless it extends under the water. 
 Dijt^by Gap is anotlier break in tlie mountain wall. 
 
 Now the marsh building begins. The great streams 
 where the broad marshes now lie were open seas at 
 high tide ; and at low tide great g«iping basins and 
 channels through which long rivers flowed from hun- 
 dreds of valleys. Mountain rivers, swollen to torrents, 
 carried down earthy matter fed to them by rains or 
 torn from their own banks and channels ; and all this 
 rich sediment poured into the tidal waters was in 
 great part at once checked in its onward movement, 
 and fell to the bottom of tlie slower moving salt water. 
 About the time of high tide the upland streams, losing 
 almost all motion, gave up their freights of marsh 
 material, which, mixing with the sea elements, were 
 laid down to become in the course of centuries the 
 richest and most productive of land. Many broad 
 valleys were filled up in this way, only a long, winding, 
 and comparatively narrow channel remaining for the 
 escape of the mountain streams. Doubtless a certain 
 proportion of this accumulation of marsh was supplied 
 by the incoming tide, moving rapidly upward to the 
 heads of its source, and there throwing down the fine 
 particlesof material heM suspended while its movement 
 was rapid. 
 
 At cei-tain periods the tides are higher than at 
 others. At present only these higher tides cover the 
 marshes that have not been dyked. The deposition 
 of material is yet taking place ; for the most part, 
 probably, changing place. This is shown in many 
 places by the comparative height of the land inside 
 and outside the dykes, there being a difference of 
 
 1» 
 
it 
 
 le 
 
 In 
 
 t. 
 
 Iv 
 le 
 
 If 
 
 GRAND-PI{£:. 
 
 23 
 
 t 
 
 « 
 
 several feet. The whole soil has a reddish color, due 
 to the presence of iron. 
 
 It must be understood that the first attempts made 
 by the AcADlKNS AT DYKE-BUlLDlNfi were conniien- 
 surate with their small numbers. Dykes were thrown 
 up to enclose small areas of marsh, alongside the 
 upland, often from ^ 'nt to point of land. As the 
 population grew larger these small dykes increased, 
 until the people were of sufficient numbers to run a 
 dyke across the river from shore to shore. This 
 refjuired concerted efibrt and great skill, especially in 
 putting down an (iboifcau, or sluice, in the bed of the 
 river channel, to let out the fresh water from within, 
 and to keep out the salt water. This word aboiteau 
 (spelled in many different ways) has come down to us 
 from the French. It is of uncertain origin. Whether 
 from the Norman ahuter, to clog, or from the French 
 ahattre, to beat back, is a doubtful question, though 
 the latter seems to be the more acceptable. 
 
 The Acadiens performed a great work in building 
 the dykes. On the Canard River and at Grand- Prc^i 
 are many traces of their labor. Dykes stretched across 
 the Grand-Prti meadows to Long Island. The greater 
 nund)er of these protecting walls of earth required 
 also the construction of nboiteaux in the bottom of 
 river channels. On the Gaspereau alxjut all the 
 marsh was dyked in. Wolfville, Port Williams, New 
 Minas and Kentville had dykes in early times. A 
 very interesting work may be seen on the road to 
 Look-Off. The bridge crossing the former channel of 
 Canard Riv^er lies on the broken ends of tlie old 
 French dyke, over where the aboiteau lay. After 
 
M 
 
 GRAND PR fJ. 
 
 the expulsion, the dyke was broken by a high tide, 
 and the English built another ">nly a few yards west, 
 till the great work of constructing the Wellington 
 dyke was done, nearer to the Basin. 
 
 The District of Minas included the parish of 
 St. Joseph at Canard River, and that of St. Charles 
 at Grand-Prd The churches were of wood, with 
 towers from which, twice a day, came the sound of 
 L' Angel us. We have an interesting account of a 
 visit to Grand-Pr^, or Minas as it was called, in 1686, 
 by Bishop Valliers of Quebec. We learn from him 
 that the inhabitants were young men, well built, and 
 hf.i'd working. They had left Port Royal to settle 
 there. They were draining the marshes and building 
 dykes. They were without spiritual guidance, and 
 the Bishop stopped a day to minister to them, giving 
 them instruction ; hearing confession and giving com- 
 munion in the morning; and in the afternoon he 
 baptized some children, and settled some differences 
 between them. They had been without religious 
 instruction for some time, and they pleaded for a 
 priest to be given them, promising not only to support 
 him, but to build a church and a parochial house. 
 Where now stand the French willows and the old 
 well so much visited every year, was then known as 
 an island, being yurrounded by water at high tides. 
 This strip of land was offered by the owner as a site 
 for the church and house, either the whole or a part 
 of it. Here, eventually, the church and priest's house 
 were built. The burying ground was also near by. 
 The location of these may be seen to-day. This spot 
 was in 1755 used by Colonel Winslow for himself and 
 
 
 V! 
 
o 
 w 
 
 5 
 
 i< 
 
^ 
 
 . i 
 
 I 
 
GRAND-PRf]. 
 
 25 
 
 his regiment when tlie Acadiens were being deported 
 — a sad coincidence. 
 
 The first missionary at Grand-Prd was le pere 
 Claude Mireau, Recollet, who wrote the first acts in 
 the registers, 25th of June, 1694. As only part of the 
 parish registers remains, there is no complete list of 
 the prie* fcs of Minas. The list of missionaries or cures, 
 of whom we know, is: Bonaventure Masson, Recollet, 
 1707-1710; Abbe Gaulin, 1711-1717; Felix Pain and 
 Justinian Durand, 1717-1 738 ; L'Abbe de la Goudalie, 
 1739-1748; I/Abbe Chavreulx, Grand-Pr^, and Abbe 
 Daudin, Canard River, removed in 1755. 
 
 From 1690 to 1710 hostilities scarcely ceased be- 
 tween the New Englanders and the French. Pillage 
 surprises and ambushes were the order of the day. 
 All the cruel nature of the Indians was excited to 
 barbarous deeds. The hatred of the two peoples grew 
 to its highest, and no act seemed too bloody or cruel. 
 
 The Acadiens, meanwhile, were being bound by 
 closer ties, as the newer arrivals at Minas married the 
 daughters of the older settlers. Relationship, religion 
 and a common nationality bound the whole people 
 in one great family. 
 
 In 1693 Minas promised to become the most popu- 
 lous and flourishing settlement in Acadie. Its people 
 numbered 297, with 360 acres of land under cultiva- 
 tion, 461 horned cattle, 390 sheep, 314 swine. Port 
 Royal had lost in population and wealth. In 1701 
 there were 490 souls ; in 1714, 878, in Minas. 
 
 In 1701 the Governor of Acadie passed through the 
 country. He visited Minas and found the people very 
 comfortable and independent, posseG^ed of a great 
 
I 
 
 26 
 
 GRAND- PR f:. 
 
 number of cattle, and able to export 700 or 800 hogs- 
 heads of wheat yearly, beyond their own consump- 
 tion. They lived like republicans, acknowledging no 
 royal or judicial authority. Tiie Governor afterward 
 had to send Bonaventure, naval connnander of the 
 coast, to bring them to terms. They engaged to make 
 a road through the woods to Port Royal, a distance of 
 ten leagues, as soon as the harvest was over. Only a 
 trail existed at this time between the two centres. 
 Many Indian trails ran over the peninsula, but the 
 waterways served as the principal means of passing 
 from one part of Acadie to another. Minas Basin 
 received the waters of many long rivers, navigable for 
 small craft. 
 
 We learn that for the purpose of defence both from 
 the English and from pirates and privateers, there 
 was a company of militia at Minas. La Verdure, 
 whom we have mentioned, was captain. He was the 
 chief man at Minas ; honest, poor, a debtor to the extent 
 of 1,400 livres. All Governmental addresses were 
 sent to him for execution. The cure had a salary of 
 about $150. 
 
 In 1704, about the end of May, an expedition left 
 Boston to ravage the coast against the French and 
 Indians. About 550 men, including some Indians, 
 embarked in two gunboats, 14 transports, 36 whale- 
 boats and a shallop. The expedition was under the 
 coi-aand of Colonel Benjamin Church, a celebrated 
 partizan, who had in 1G96 burned and pillaged settle- 
 ments of the French and killed their cattle. He 
 passed up the coast, killing and making prisoners as 
 he went. At Fundy, Church with the smaller vessels 
 
 J 
 
 I* 
 
 I 
 
1 
 
 URANDPRf:. 
 
 tt 
 
 I 
 
 went to Minas, to attend to the lighter and more con- 
 genial work of robbery, leaving the remainder to 
 attack the fort at Port Royal, which, by the way, was 
 not attempted. At Minas, C'hurch caused the dykes 
 to be cut, thus flooding the marshlands and destroy- 
 ing them for crops. Ruin and desolation followed 
 his route. Having met with .some resistance, he de- 
 stroyed three populous villages, plundered the inhab- 
 itants and killed their cattle. His instructions from 
 Governor Dudley were to burn houses and make what 
 spoils he could. A better agent could not have been 
 chosen. He had been sent in a spirit of retaliation, 
 because the Indians had been attacking the English 
 settlements, instigated, it is said, by the French of 
 Canada. One writer describes Church as being ener- 
 getic, impetuous, and bull-headed. He was so fat that 
 when pushing through the woods he kept a stout ser- 
 geant by him to hoist him over the fallen trees. He 
 was now sixty-five years old, and must have outgrown 
 the valor that had made him a noted Indian fighter ; 
 for on his visit to Minas he liad treated the innocent 
 people there in a despicable manner. Public opinion 
 in Massachusetts branded him as a coward, though he 
 received the thanks of the Goveriunent. 
 
 In 1705, Bona venture, the Governor, sent four sol- 
 diers to Minas to bring back the king's bark, La 
 Gaillarde, loaded with wheat. He presented to the 
 church there, as a royal gift, an ostensorium, a pyx, 
 a chalice, and complete ornaments for the Eucharist. 
 This was probably to replace what had been taken 
 off by Church in the previous year. It is apparent 
 that only one church had been pillaged. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 
 LoHH (»f Port Royal l)y tho Froncli — TroHty of Utrecht — Govor- 
 norH Vetch, Nicholson, Caultieltl, Doucette, PhilippH, Arin- 
 Htrong, PhilippH. 
 
 1710-1730. 
 
 On October lOtli, 1710, Port Royal was surren- 
 dered TO THE English, after a determined tiglit of 
 nineteen days. It never went back to France again. 
 The terms of capitulation referred to Port Royal and 
 the territory within three miles of the fort. The 
 people within that radius were allowed two years to 
 pass out of the limit into French territory, binding 
 themselves to allegiance for that time if they re- 
 mained. During the next year the fort was in a weak 
 condition and in danger of attack. Minas remained 
 in French territory until the Treaty of Utrecht in 
 1713. But meanwhile the fort was blockaded by the 
 French. Abbe Gaulin, parish priest at Minas, tried 
 to organize an expedition to aid the French, and suc- 
 ceeded in getting together 200 men, and entrusted 
 them to Saint Castin, who had been named Lieuten- 
 ant of the King in Acadie. The enterprise was not 
 carried out. 
 
 Port Royal was now Annapolis ; and Acadie, Nova 
 Scotia. The Province had a population of about two 
 thousand. 
 
 I 
 
i 
 
 GKANlt-FRf:. 
 
 SO 
 
 • 
 
 T»E Tkeaty of Uthkciit pivo Anulio, exct'ptin^ 
 Louisbur^, to En^luml. Thu AciuHeiiH had lilx-rty to 
 reniovc thcinselve.s ami all their movable effects to 
 any place within a year. 'J'jjose who were willing to 
 remain mi<j^ht do so as subjects of Great Britain, and 
 should enjoy the free exercise of their reli<rion as far 
 as the laws of that country allowed. They had also 
 the privilejj^e of selling their lands and estates in the 
 country if they wished to remove. 
 
 The Acadiens determined to leave the country 
 rather than take the oath of allef^iance, which mi^ht 
 at any time compel them totakeuparmsa<^ainst their 
 own countrymen. In 1713 they had sent a deputation 
 to Louisbur^, l>ut found the soil of Cape Breton of in- 
 ferior quality, wooded, and w^ithout natural meadows. 
 Yet they had determined on leaving. Lands in Prince 
 Edward Island had been ottered them. Colonel 
 Vetch, who was in command at Annapolis, would not 
 permit them to go, on the pretext that he was only 
 Lieutenant-Governor, and they must wait for the 
 arrival of Governor Nicholson. His coming dates after 
 the year stipulated by the treaty had expired. 
 
 The following letter from Felix Pain, missionary, 
 
 Recollet, to the Governor of Cape Breton, is to the 
 
 point : 
 
 "MiNAS, 23rd Sept., 1713. 
 
 " A summary of what the inhabitants have answered 
 
 me : 
 
 " ' It would be to expose us manifestly to die of 
 
 hunger, burthened as we are with large families, to 
 
 quit the dwelling places and clearances from which 
 
's 
 
 J 
 
 30 
 
 GRAND-PM. 
 
 we derive our usual subsistence, without any other 
 resource, to take rough new lands, from which the 
 standing wood must be removed, without any advance 
 .\ or assistance. One-fourth of our population consists 
 of aged persons, unfit for the labor of breaking up 
 new lands, and who, with great exertion, are able to 
 cultivate the cleared land, which supplies subsistence 
 for them and their families. Finally, we shall answer 
 for ourselves and the absent, that we will never take 
 the oath of fidelity to the Queen of Great Britain, to 
 the prejudice of what we owe to our king, to our 
 country and to our religion ; and that if any attempt 
 were made against one or the other of these two 
 articles of our fidelity, that is to say, to our king and 
 to our law, that in that case we are ready to quit all, 
 rather than to violate, in the least thing, one of those 
 articles. Besides, we do not yet know in what manner 
 the English will use us. If they burthen us in 
 respect of our religion, or cut up our settlements to 
 divide the land with people of their nations, we will 
 abandon them absolutely. We know further, from 
 the exact visit we have made, that there are no lands 
 on the whole Island of Cape Breton which would be 
 suitable for the maintenance of our families, since 
 there are not meadows sufficient to nourish our cattle, 
 from which we draw our principal subsistence.' " . . 
 
 Felix Pain gives us definite information as to the 
 POPULATION OF MiNAS in a census dated October 5th, 
 1714. There was a total of 1,290 souls. The families 
 give us fifty-four surnames, viz : 
 
 Aucoin, Babet, Braillot, Benoit, Blanchard, Bodart, 
 
 wmmm 
 
GRAND.PRf:. 
 
 31 
 
 Boutin, Boucher, Boisseau, Bourg, Bourq, Boudrot, 
 Brasseaux, Breau, Chauvet, Commeau, Coperon, 
 D'Aigre, D'Arois, Douaron, Doucet, Dugas, Dupuis, 
 Forest, Gautereau, Girouard, Godet, Grang^, Hebert, 
 Jasmin, Landry, Laroche, Leblanc, Lejeune, Leprince, 
 Martin, Melanson, Michael, Mouton, Perrine, Pinet, 
 Rembaud, Richard, Rieul, Roy, Saunier, Sire, Teriot, 
 Thibodeau, Toussaint, Trahan, Vincent, Voyer. 
 
 The following letter will show why Vetch did not 
 let the Acadiens depart. It was written to the Lords 
 of Trade, England : 
 
 "London, Nov. 24th, 1714. 
 "My Lords, — 
 
 " In answer to Your Lordships' Queries, delivered to 
 me by Mr. Secretary Popple, upon the 23rd of this 
 instant, my most humble opinion is as follows : 
 
 "As t the number of the family s of French Inhabi- 
 tants in die countrys of L'Accady and Nova Scotia, 
 by the best account I could get during the space of 
 three years and more 1 had the honor to connnand 
 there, they were computed to be about five hundred 
 family's, at the rate of five persons to a family, which 
 makes two thousand five hundred souls. 
 
 " As to the next. How many of them it is supposed 
 will remove ? By the last advices from thence, they 
 had obliged themselves under their hands all to remove 
 save two family's, viz., one Mr. Allen and one Mr 
 Gourday, both of which had lived in New England 
 formerly. 
 
 "As to the 3rd Querie, How many family's may be 
 upon Cape Breton ? That I cannot pretend to be so 
 
32 
 
 GRAND-PRf:. 
 
 
 exact in. But according to the best advices, I could 
 learn they are said to be now about five hundred 
 familys, besides the garrison, which I consider 
 consists of 7 companys already. The French 
 King, to encourage them to settle the place, gives 
 them eightf>tn months' provisions, and assists them 
 with ships and salt, to carry on the Fishery. 
 
 "As to the 4th, What may be the consequence of the 
 French moving from Nova Scotia to Cape Breton ? 
 They are evidently these : First, their leaving that 
 country entirely destitute of inhabitants. There being 
 none but French and Indians (excepting the Garrison) 
 settled in those parts ; and as they have intermarried 
 with the Indians, by which, and their being of one 
 Religion, they have a mighty influence upon them ; so 
 it is not to be doubted but they will carry along with 
 them to Cape Breton both the Indians and their trade, 
 which is very considerable. And as the accession of 
 such a number of inhabitants to Cape Breton will 
 make it at once a very populous colony (in which the 
 strength of all the Country consists), so it is to be con- 
 sidered that one hundred of the French, who were 
 born upon that continent and are perfectly known in 
 the woods, can march upon snowshoes and understand 
 the use of Birch Canoes, are of more value and service 
 than five times their number of raw men, newly come 
 from Europe. So their skill in the fishery, as well as 
 the cultivating of the soil, must inevitably make the 
 Island, by such an accession of people, and French, at 
 once the uost powerful colony the French have in 
 America, and of the greatest danger and damage to 
 
 SBHBl.-, 
 
GRAND.PR£, 
 
 33 
 
 as 
 the 
 at 
 in 
 to 
 
 all the British Colony's, as well as the universal trade 
 of Great Britain. ... 
 
 "As to the next question, which relates to the time 
 of the French's removing from Nova Scotia with their 
 effects ; I am informed several of them, who have no 
 very great substance, are already removed thither 
 this summer, and that the rest design to do so next 
 summer, as soon as their harvest is over and the grain 
 got in. As to the number of the cattle they may carry 
 away (if permitted) and what will be the consequences 
 of the same, I have been informed when upon the 
 place, that there may be about five thousand Black 
 Cattle, besides a great number of Sheep and Hoggs, in 
 all that country, the greater part of which, no doubt, 
 they will carry off, if permitted. 
 
 " The consequences are evidently these : First, it will 
 Intirely strip that Colony of the above cattle of all 
 sorts, and reduce it to its primitive state. To replenish 
 which at the same rate (it now is from New England, 
 the nearest Colony to it, which is one hundred and ten 
 leagues) at a moderate computation of freight only 
 for the transportation of such a number of Black 
 Cattle and a proportionate numberof Sheep and Hoggs, 
 will cost above forty thousand pounds, besides the 
 long time it will require to stock that country. . . . 
 
 " As to the last Querie that comes under my cog- 
 nizance, viz., the consequence of allowing the French 
 to sell their lands in those parts : First, as it would 
 entirely disappoint the settlement of that valuable 
 country ; because it is never to be supposed that any 
 persci will go to buy land in a new country, when in 
 
T 
 
 34 
 
 GRA ND-PE6. 
 
 all His Majesty's plantations abroad there is such 
 encouragement, of land gratis, to such as will come and 
 settle in them. 
 
 "Secondly. It would be a breach of the Public faith, 
 contained in Her Majesty's Royal instructions, when 
 the reduction of the place was undertaken, by which 
 the lands are promised away to the Captors, for their 
 encouragement to reduce the same. Nor is there any 
 article in the treaty of peace that entitles the French 
 to any such privileges. Nay, moreover, I am of the 
 opinion that by tlie treaty the French inhabitants are 
 either allowed to remove, if they designed it, or at 
 least to make a demand of the same, in a year's time 
 after tlie ratification of the treaty, neither of which 
 was done. Nor would the inhabitants have offered to 
 go, had they not been not only importuned but threat- 
 ened by the French officers, in the French king's 
 name, to be treated as Rebels if they did not remove, 
 which, how far that is consistent with the Treaty, is, 
 with the foregoing particulars, most humbly submitted 
 to Your Lordships' consummate wisdom by, 
 
 " May it please Your Lordsliips, 
 
 "Your Lordships' most humbly devoted Servant, 
 
 "Samuel Vetch." 
 
 Nicholson arrived in Port Royal in July, 1714, and 
 the matter of the departure of the Acadiens came up 
 before him. They were waiting, ready to depart on 
 his permission. He was made to realize very soon 
 what a loss the Province would sustain if the Acadiens 
 were permitted to go ; and to save time he referred 
 
GRAND-PBt:. 
 
 35 
 
 id 
 
 P 
 n 
 
 n 
 
 iS 
 
 ' 
 
 the affair again to the Queen, altliough she had stated 
 that they had the privilege of leaving the country if 
 they so wished. Unfortunately, the Queen died in 
 August of the same year, and the matter was never 
 settled. Delay after delay followed with pretext and 
 subterfuge, fraud and deception. The people of Minas 
 did not sow their lands in 1715, having enough grain 
 to live on for two years, and so sure were they of de- 
 parting. They were refused transportation in English 
 vessels. French vessels were forbidden to enter 
 Acadien ports. When they built their own vessels 
 they were refused permission to buy rigging at Louis- 
 burg or Boston ; and finally their vessels were seized. 
 Later they were threatened that if they left the 
 country all their property would be taken from them, 
 and they would be left but a little provision. It is 
 too plainly apparent that the Acadiens were not to 
 leave the country with the consent of the governors. 
 From 1713 to 1730 every effort was made to compel 
 the Acadiens to take the oath of allegiance. The 
 events of these few years are the key of the whole 
 Acadien question, over which there has been so much 
 dispute, and about which so much has been writtexi. 
 The facts have come to light only within a few years ; 
 nor has any attempt been made to controvert them, 
 though many volumes of misrepresentations and trav- 
 esties on history have been written. It is painful to 
 read of the events which follow. In view of all the 
 circumstances, the Acadiens were remarkably faithful 
 to the government under which they lived. They 
 were kept in the country that they might serve their 
 
ORAND-PM. 
 
 masters. If, at times, they were wrongly influenced 
 by their own countrymen, it was a natural and 
 spontaneous movement on the part of these harassed 
 people, and had everything to excuse it. Their in- 
 dustry and skill made them a part of the country. 
 Their patience was almost beyond belief, in toleration 
 of the harshness, tyranny and fraud practised upon 
 them. Their nature was calm and peaceful. Who 
 will blame them because they looked fondly to the 
 flag of their country and to the home of their religion, 
 since they were always looked upon with suspicion, 
 and treated as slaves and enemies by their petty 
 rulers ? 
 
 Caulfield became Governor in 171 5. He sent two 
 officers, Peter Capoon and Thomas Button, to Minas, 
 to proclaim King George, and to tender the oath to 
 the Acadiens. We have their reply to these officers : 
 
 " We have the honor to signify to you that no one 
 can be more thankful than we are for the kindness of 
 King George, whom we recognize as the lawful sov- 
 ereign of Great Britain, so graciously shows us, under 
 whose rule it will be for us a real joy to remain, 
 as he is such a good prince, if we had not since last 
 summer made engagements to return under the rule of 
 the King of France, having even given our signatures 
 to the officer sent in his name, contrary to which we 
 cannot act until their two Majesties of France and 
 England have disposed of us otherwise. However, 
 we bind ourselves with pleasure and gratefulness, 
 while we remain here in Acadie, to do or undertake 
 nothing against His Britannic Majesty King George, 
 
GRAND- PR A 
 
 37 
 
 of whose proclamation to the Crown we are witnesses, 
 which was made by you, sirs, in presence of the in- 
 habitants of the said places, at Minas, this 12th of 
 March, 1715, we, the undersigned, acting and being 
 authorized by all the inhabitants to act, according to 
 the power of attorney which they have given us. — 
 Jacques Le Blanc, Antoine Le Blanc, Charles Babin, 
 Jessemin, Philippe Melanson, Claude Landry, Pierre 
 Terriot, Ren^ Le Blanc, Pierre Richard, Jacques Le 
 Blanc, Francois Rimbaut, Germain Terreau, Jean Le 
 Blanc, Martin Aucoin," etc., etc. 
 
 This shows the determination of the Acadiens to 
 depart, though reluctant to do so, as soon as it was 
 possible to go with the consent of the Crown. This 
 was their desire the next year. 
 
 At this time Minas was the only grain plantation, 
 and was supplying the garrison at Annapolis, which 
 was almost destitute and without credit. 
 
 The condition of affairs was changed under the next 
 Governor, Doucette, in 1717. While the French were 
 ready to leave the country, the Indians were friendly ; 
 but when it appeared that the Acadiens, tired of the 
 delay in the settlement of affairs regarding their leav- 
 ing, or remaining in, the country, were disposed to re- 
 main on terms of peace with the English Government, 
 the Indians began to threaten them. Doucette de- 
 manded of them the oath, which they had refused up 
 to this time because it tied them to the country. They 
 claimed the right to depart with their property. If 
 they were to remain it would be on condition that 
 they were to be protected from tne Indians, and their 
 
mm 
 
 38 
 
 ORAND-PM. 
 
 oath was not to compel them to bear arms against 
 their own countrymen. Tliis was tlie stumbling-block 
 in the way of a peaceful settlement of the matter. The 
 governors expected the Acadiens to take an unquali- 
 fied oath of allegiance, and the people never did so. 
 
 We have the following account and description of 
 Minas, written in 1720 : 
 
 " Minas, called by the French Les Mines, has its 
 name from the copper mines which are said to be 
 about it, especially at one of the capes, which divides 
 the Bay of Fundy, and is called Cap Des Mines, or 
 Cape Dord This town* lies thirty leagues by sea 
 and about twenty- two by land east-northeast from 
 Annapolis Royal, on the same side of the Bay of 
 Fundy. The harbor there, or rather the road, is very 
 wild and insecure. The vessels trading there, which 
 seldom exceed forty or fifty tons in burthen, take the 
 opportunity of the tide, which commonly rises nine or 
 ten fathoms, and run up the creek (Dead Dyke) to the 
 town (Grand-Prd), where, when the tide leaves them, 
 they lye on a bank of mud, which stretches five or six 
 miles before it meets low-water mark. This place 
 might be made the Granary, not only of this Province, 
 but also of the neighboring Governments. There is 
 a flat of meadow (Grand-Pr^ Dyke) which stretches 
 along for near four leagues, part of which is dam'd in 
 from the tide, and produces very good wheat and peas. 
 
 " The rest of the meadows might be with some 
 labor dam'd in also, and if peopled with industrious 
 Inhabitants, might be of very great advantage, not 
 
 •Grand-Pr^. 
 
QBAND.PRf:. 
 
 39 
 
 only in regard to this Province, but as is mentioned 
 above, for the supply of the neighboring Governments. 
 
 " The houses, which compose a kind of scattering 
 Town, lie on a rising ground along two Cricks, which 
 run betwixt it and the meadow, and make of this last 
 a kind of Peninsula. This place has great store of 
 Cattle and other conveniences of life, and in the road 
 they catch white porpoises — a kind of fish, the blubber 
 of which turned into oil yields a good profit. 
 
 " The Inhabitants of this place and round about it 
 are more numerous than those of the British River 
 (Annapolis River), besides the number of Indians 
 which often resort here, and as they have never had 
 any force near them to bridle them, are less tractable 
 and subject to command. All the orders sent to them, 
 if not suiting to their humors, are scoffed and laughed 
 at, and they put themselves upon the footing of obey- 
 ing no Government. It will not be an easy matter to 
 oblige these Inhabitants to submit to any terms which 
 do not entirely square to their humoi's unless a good 
 force be landed there, and a Fort or redoubt of earth 
 be thrown up, well ditched, friezed and pallisaded, till 
 a more durable be built. This redoubt must have four 
 pieces of cannon (sakers) and command the meadow, 
 which is their treasure. The force sent for that pur- 
 pose must be three or four hundred men, the reason 
 of which will appear when it is considered when 
 the wildness of the harbor will not make it safe for 
 any Ship of force to remain there to give countenance 
 to such an undertaking, and that even if she could 
 anchor safely it must be at the distance of twelve 
 
40 
 
 GRAND-Flif:. 
 
 miles from the place where the sai<l redoubt is to be 
 built, and that any other vessels which must be em- 
 ployed to carry the troops and workmen must lie 
 ashore dry sixteen hours, at least, of the twenty-four, 
 and may be liable to be burned, and thereby cut off 
 the retreat of those employed in this work, unless 
 they are able to defend themselves and to make head 
 against the Inhabitants and Indians, who will never 
 suffer it to go on if not kept in awe by a sufficient 
 force. The redoubt should be capable to receiving a 
 hundred and fifty men, which will be enough to curb 
 the Inhabitants till they grow more loyal, or better be 
 put in their stead." 
 
 In 1729 General Philipps took the reins of power 
 at Annapolis. He at once issued a proclamation to 
 the Acadiens to take the oath without reserve, or 
 leave the country within three months. At the same 
 time he prohibited them from selling, disposing of, or 
 taking away, any of their effects. He believed that 
 this action of his haughty temper would bring about 
 the desired result, that of binding the Acadiens to the 
 country by means of the oath. They refused to do so, 
 however, as they had always done, stating that the 
 Indians were threatening them with revenge if they 
 were omitted from the reservation. They were 
 willing to retire from the country, and asked that 
 they might wait till the seed they had put in should 
 mature, as they now had very little to sustain their 
 families. They asked permission to carry it away 
 with them in vehicles they had or they would make. 
 Philipps interpreted the clause of the treaty that gave 
 
(fHAND PHf:. 
 
 41 
 
 them tlie ri^ht to carry awjiy tlieir movable ettVcts, 
 cattle, etc., to mean simply to sell or dispose of them. 
 They faced the difficulty, and set about preparing to 
 depart by the only way left, without sacrificing every- 
 thing, and that was by land. To do this a road was 
 necessary ; so they began to make one from Minas to 
 Annapolis. Very soon the Governor issued the 
 following proclamation : 
 
 "I do further forbid any persons to quit their 
 habitations clandestinely and without my leave." A 
 special order was sent to Minas, " Not to cut any such 
 road without having His Excellency's leave in writing." 
 The reasons assigned for this further obstruction of 
 the Acadiens was that they had design to molest 
 Annapolis, or to drive off their cattle and effects to 
 settle at Beaubassin, now a fortified position and in 
 possession of the French, to stand in defiance of the 
 Government. Their real purpose was divined, but 
 it was not the intention of the Governor to allow 
 them to leave the country. Philipps speaks of the 
 Acadiens as being ungovernable, headstrong, and 
 directed by bigoted priests. He says further, " We 
 cannot let them go just now ; their departure would 
 render our neighbors too powerful ; we need them to 
 erect our fortifications, and to j^^'ovislon our forts, 
 till the English are powerful enough of themselves to 
 go on, and they must not withdraw before a consider- 
 able number of British subjects be settled in their 
 stead. If they withdraw in spite of us a great many 
 fine possessions will become vacant. I believe it 
 will not be difficult to draw as many people almost 
 
42 
 
 GiiAND-rnP.. 
 
 from New Enjjfhiiid as would Hiipply tlieir room, if it 
 were not rohhiiijL^ a iHM^lil)()rint; colony, without 
 gaininj( much hy the oxchanj^«3 ; therefore I hope 
 there are schemes forminjij at home to settle the 
 country with British subjects in the spring, before 
 which time these inhabitants do not think of moving, 
 having the benefit of enlargement of time I granted. 
 What is to be apprehended in the resettling of these 
 farms is disturbance from the Indians, who do not 
 like the Acadiens going oft* and will not want 
 prompting mischief." 
 
 Doucette was again Governor from 1722 to 1725, 
 when he was succeeded by Armstrong, a man of 
 harsh temper and violent action. The records show 
 that this man was at variance with everybody within 
 his reach, at one time or other, inhabitants, officers, 
 soldiers or priests. His arrival caused the departure 
 of some of the French families, and the others were 
 resolved to depart. This demanded a change of 
 demeanor, as, with the other governors, he felt how 
 important it was to keep the people in the country. 
 By affirming that the laws of Great Britain did not 
 permit a Roman Catholic to serve in the army, he 
 succeeded in getting the Acadiens of Annapolis to 
 take the oath of allegiance. The rest of the Province, 
 about three-fourths of the population, were yet to be 
 brought to terms. Two officers whom he sent to 
 Minas, failed to make them British subjects. Sub- 
 sequently Armstrong sent a young officer named 
 Wroth, with ample powers, to deal with the people as 
 the case 'demanded. 
 
 i 
 
 • 
 
ORAND-PRf:. 
 
 48 
 
 id 
 
 IS 
 
 i 
 
 Copy of the oath, as ohtaiiuMl by Wroth : 
 
 " I do .sincorely proniiso aii<l Hwcar tliat I will he 
 faithful and hear true allef^danc*^ to His Majesty King 
 George the Second, so help nie God." 
 
 Articles granted to the inhabitants of Minas : 
 
 "1, Robert Wroth, etc., etc , promise and grant in the 
 name of the King, etc., etc., to the inhabitants of 
 Minas, etc., the articles here below that they have 
 requested of me, namely : 
 
 " 1. That they shall be exempt from taking up arms 
 against anyone, so long as they shall be under the 
 rule of the King of England. 
 
 "2. That they shall be free to withdraw whitherso- 
 ever they will think lit, and that they shall be 
 discharged from this signo« 1 agreement as soon as they 
 shall be outside the dominiuns of the King of England. 
 
 "3. That they shall have full and 'entire liberty to 
 practice their religion and to have Catholic, Apostolic 
 a!id Roman priests." 
 
 The Governor accused Wroth of making too free 
 use of his power, and when the matter came up before 
 the Council, the oath was declared null and void ; but 
 the inhabitants were held as being British subjects. 
 
 We have now come to an important chapter in the 
 account of the Acadiens. The Lords of Trade in 
 England were not pleased with the result of Arm- 
 strong's dealing with the question of the oath. 
 Philipps was called upon again to act as Governor. 
 Knowing the people he had to deal with, he was well 
 prepared to treat with them. He was well received 
 in the Province, and a short time after he arrived at 
 
 I 
 
44 
 
 GRAN DPR f:. 
 
 Annapolis, in December of 1729, the people of that 
 place took the oath of allegiance. It wa.s too late in 
 the season to go over the country to visit the other 
 French centres, but by April of the following year 
 the inhabitants of Minas had also become British 
 subjects. Philipps allowed the restrictive clause by 
 a verbal agreement, which exempted the Acadiens 
 from bearing arms and fighting against the French 
 and Indians. Philipps realized the impossibility of 
 compelling the people to fight against their own 
 countrymen ; and to compromise in the difficulty, the 
 qualifying clause was not embodied in the copy of 
 the oath. No threats or attempts to compel the 
 people were used. Although they had increased 
 greatly in population, they showed themselves ready 
 to yield to proper treatment, so long as their confi- 
 dence was gained and no harsh measures were adopted. 
 The people drew up a certificate, attested to by their 
 priest, Charles de la Goudalie and the king's receiver, 
 their notary, Alexander Bourg, called Bellehumeur. 
 This document was addressed to the Minister of 
 Foreign Affairs in Paris as a record of the act. 
 
 4 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 French Neutrals — Armstrong — Mascarene. 
 
 1730-1747. 
 
 From this date, 1730, the Acadiens were known as 
 French Neutrals. This was the first real step 
 taken by the people that would have led up to their 
 full allegiance to the British Crown, had the proper 
 methods been taken later in dealing with the people. 
 They were slowly realizing that their only hope of 
 safety lay with England, and in being united with the 
 Englisli colonies, although there was so poor a repre- 
 sentation of power at Annapolis, until the founding 
 of Halifax. The show of power, dignity and hauteur 
 on the part of the Government did not always inspire 
 confidence, when backed only by a half-starved and 
 weak garrison and a tumbledown fort. The French 
 of Canada, on the other hand, always claimed them > 
 but, on several occasions, they refused to obey the 
 French, even when strong influence and harsh threats 
 were brought to bear against them. The Acadiens 
 were not more illiterate than many isolated sections 
 of New England. They were hard working and 
 skilful in their special labors. They knew the value 
 
 * 
 
 ii 
 
 ) 
 
4(5 
 
 GRAND-PRP:. 
 
 I 
 
 of money, and learned where their trade interests 
 were best. A high moral standard was always char- 
 acteristic of the people as a whole. The strength of 
 their religious, national and domestic attachment 
 cannot be denied. To be left unmolested was the 
 great desire of these simple and honest peasants. 
 Social equality ruled them, and their domestic morals 
 cannot be questioned. 
 
 Now that the vexatious question of the oath was 
 settled, the people of Minas were left in comparative 
 quiet, and increased rapidly in strength and wealth. 
 For twenty years they enjoyed a certain measure of 
 comfort and happiness in their increasing prosperity. 
 Armstrong became Governor again in 1731, and re- 
 mained at the head of affairs for nine years. He com- 
 mitted suicide in 1739. Armstrong was of an irritable of tlie m 
 and jealous disposition, and was seldom at peace even ous rule 
 with his own officers and people. Fortunately Minas removed 
 was some distance away from him, and in direct com- .the Fren 
 munication with Annapolis only about half the year, and had 
 the Government being represented by the notary position 
 Alexander Bourg, who was receiver of the rents and which fit 
 revenues of the Crown. In 1732 Armstrong wished called up 
 to establish a fort at Minas, but was prevented by the j^et of sti 
 Indians. At another time he wished to force on the ! France 
 people a priest. Father Isidore, who had been inter- Was very 
 dieted for some offence by the ecclesiastical authori- ^nd it wi 
 ties. He effected Ins purpc.ie, with the result that tlie the Acadi 
 people refused to attend church. Then, to punish and later 
 them, Armstrong refused them a priest altogether. events pre 
 
 It Vi 
 ACADI] 
 
 of Masi 
 No ne\ 
 or Arm 
 Protest 
 and tli€ 
 At Mil 
 dyked 
 divided 
 pelled 1 
 ^ This sta 
 ; account 
 \ necessar 
 I would 01 
 
(iRAND-PRf:. 
 
 47 
 
 srests 
 
 char- 
 
 th of 
 
 Linent 
 
 s the 
 
 sants. 
 
 aorals 
 
 h was 
 rative 
 irealth. 
 jure of 
 
 It will be interesting to note the condition of the 
 AcADiENS with regard to their land at the beginning 
 of Masearene's administration as Lieutenant-Governor. 
 No new grants of land hid been made under Philipps 
 or Armstrong, as unappropriated land was granted to 
 Protestants oidy. Acadien families had grown up, 
 j and the population had increased to a great extent. 
 I At Minas nearly all the available land had l)een 
 dyked oft*. All the farms had been divided and re- 
 divided as became necessary. Some had been com- 
 fpelled to remove to other parts of the Province. 
 This state of affairs led more or less to litigations on 
 perity. ; account of unsettled boundaries, as land became more 
 ,nd re- necessary, and retarded them in the progress they 
 [e com- would otherwise have made. It gives us also an idea 
 •ri table of the patience with which they tolerated the rigor- 
 f»e even ous rule of their governors. This difficulty was never 
 Minas removed. Masou,vene did much to gain the respect of 
 it com- |the French. He was the son of a French Protestant, 
 le year, and had won his way by his own merit to the high 
 notary position he now held. He possessed qualifications 
 its and which fitted him well for the trying position he was 
 wished called upon to fill —courteous, humane, dignified, firm, 
 by the yet of strong and noble character. 
 
 I on the France and England were at war in 1744. France 
 inter- Was very desii'ous of regaining Acadie ; and to this 
 Luthori- 6nd it was believed by the authorities in Canada, that 
 that the the Acadiens would at once lend their aid. A new 
 punish ^nd later generation had s[)rungup, and, assubsecpient 
 bher. events proved, the English had little to fear from the 
 
 I 
 
48 
 
 GEAND-PRf:. 
 
 Acadiens, with all the influence and threats they were 
 suljjected to. Mascarene was not without doubt as to 
 which V ay the people might turn. Acadie was in- 
 vaded four times by the French, and every effort was 
 made to secure the assistance of the hfthitans, but 
 without avail. This was the order issued by the com- 
 mander of the first expedition : 
 
 " We order you to deliver up your arms, ammuni- 
 tion .... and those who contravene these or- 
 ders shall be punished and delivered into the hands 
 of the Indians, as we cannot refuse the demands these 
 savages make for all those who will not submit them- 
 selves." 
 
 The reply to this was : 
 
 " We, the inhabitants of Mines, Grand-Pr(^, River 
 Canard, Piziquid and the surrounding rivers, beg that 
 you will be pleased to consider that while there would 
 be no difficulty, by virtue of the strong force you 
 command, in suppl3'^ing yourself with the quantity of 
 grain and meat you have ordered, it would be quite 
 impossible for us to furnish the quantity you demand, 
 or even a smaller, without placing ourselves in great 
 peril. 
 
 " We hope, gentlemen, that you will not plunge 
 both ourselves and families into a state of total loss ; 
 and that this consideration will cause you to with- 
 draw your savages and troops from our districts. 
 
 " We live under a mild and tranquil government, 
 and we have all reason to be faithful to it. We hope, 
 therefore, that you will not separate us from it, and 
 that you will grant us the favor not to plunge us into 
 
GRAND-PUE. 
 
 49 
 
 utter misery. This we hope from your goodness, 
 assuring you that we are, with very much respect, 
 " Your very humble and obedient servants, 
 " Acting for the communities above mentioned, 
 
 Jacques Le Blanc, 
 
 PiEKRE Le Blanc, 
 
 Francois Le Blanc, 
 
 Ren^ (X) Granger, his mark, 
 
 Claude Le Blanc, 
 
 Jacques Terreau, 
 
 Antoine Landry, 
 
 Joseph (X) Granger, his mark, 
 
 Pierre Richard, 
 
 Ren6 Le Blanc." 
 
 The expedition being unsuccessful at Annapolis, 
 it was proposed to winter the soldiers at Minas, but 
 the people objected so strongly they were obliged to 
 withdraw. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Noble at Grand-Pre — March of Coulon — Attack atdrand-Pre — 
 Capitulation of the English — Retaking of Grand-Pre. 
 
 1747-1748. 
 
 France was particularly unfortunate in her at- 
 tempt TO RETAKE AcADiE. She had lost Louisburg, 
 the greatest fortress in America, and in 1747 she sent 
 a large fleet to recover it, and get possession of Acadie. 
 As was natural, great excitement was caused by the 
 report of these proceedings. In Canada it was be- 
 lieved that the Acadiens would assist the undertaking 
 and rise against English rule. There were but two 
 hundred and twenty soldiers at Annapolis, but New 
 England took active measures to protect the territory, 
 and companies of militia were soon drafted and sent 
 to the Province. A detachment of troops was sent 
 from Quebec to co-operate with the French fleet, under 
 the command of Chevalier de Ramesay. He arrived 
 at Chebucto, now Halifax, early in the spring of 1747. 
 The ships not having arrived, he proceeded to An- 
 napolis. Hearing no tidings of the French, he began 
 the long journey back to Quebec by way of Minas, 
 Beaubassin, St. John. Meanwhile, part of the fleet 
 arrived at Chebucto, and orders were sent to Ramesay 
 
GRAND-PTif:. 
 
 'A 
 
 to return, which ho did, makin<^ the te(hous inarch 
 back to Annapolis in Septond)er. Here he waited in 
 vain for the fleet to appear, till, losing hope, he for 
 the second time be^an the toilsome march to Quebec. 
 Storm and plague had destroyed the lartjest fleet 
 France had ever sent across the waters. Mascarene 
 at Annapolis had sent to Massachusetts for aid. In 
 response to this appeal Shirley, Governor of that State, 
 sent 500 volunteers under the command of Colonel 
 Arthur Noble. This officer had already seen service 
 as Lieutenant-Colonel of a regiment at the siege of 
 Louisburg, in 1745, and had shown conspicuous brav- 
 ery in leading an attack. He had been home but a 
 few months when he was called again to go to Nova 
 Scotia. New England felt that it would be a serious 
 menace to its interests to lose the Province. Farming 
 and trading had made a fortune for Colonel Noble. 
 On a considerable area of land on the Kennebec he 
 had a palisaded fort to protect his estate from the 
 savages. 
 
 Arriving at Annapolis in the autumn of 1747, the 
 first detachment of men was sent to Minas by water. 
 Severe weather turned them back, however, and in 
 November about one hundred men marched overland, 
 the ground being frozen. These were quartered on 
 the inhabitants. The remainder sailed for the same 
 place in ships with their cannon and munitions of war, 
 and the frame of a blockhouse. Storms, drifting ice, 
 and the strong tides of the Bay of Fundy, made their 
 passage so dangerous and difficult that Noble resolved 
 to finish the journey by land. On the 4th of Decem- 
 
 
52 
 
 GRAND-PR^. 
 
 n 
 
 ber the force disembarked at French Cross, or Morden, 
 about forty miles from their destination. Snow cov- 
 ered the groimd, and the whole country was a forest. 
 Without paths and without guides, the party crossed 
 the North Mountain and pushed their way across the 
 country towards the road from Annapolis which led 
 them to the French settlements farthest up the Corn- 
 wallis. Their course lay through the populous villages 
 of the Habitant and Canard rivers, across Minas 
 River and along the south bank between Greenwich 
 and Grand-Prd Eight days and nights they toiled 
 along the broken country, each man carrying provision 
 for fourteen days. Noble found the village ready to 
 receive him. The ships arrived safe, having gone on 
 with the stores. Grand-Prt^ was the principal village 
 of Minas, only one mile and a half from the landing 
 place at the mouth of the Gaspereau, and in a com- 
 manding position. It overlooked the surrounding 
 country, and was on the road running between 
 Annapolis and Piziquid. 
 
 Twenty-four houses had been selected along the 
 highway in which to quarter the soldiers. The ground 
 was too much frozen to attempt to put up the block- 
 house, and it was stored in outbuildings of the place. 
 The vessels, together with their stores, ammunition, 
 five small cannon and the supply of snowshoes, were 
 left at the landing-place for the winter. 
 
 The village and surrounding country was under 
 military rule, with Noble in command. He did not 
 realize the danger of his position, although he kept 
 scouting parties out over the country. The rest of 
 
GRAND-riifJ. 
 
 53 
 
 the men were takinj^ their ease, living' on the provi- 
 sioiiH of tlie villages, and on friendly terms with the 
 inhaV)itantH. The British Hag had been hoisted on the 
 church steeple, much to the horror of the Acadiens. 
 
 Winter had now set in, and the ships were held fast 
 in the ice. Huge masses of brown-colored ice covered 
 all the flats and river banks, and floated up and down 
 with the changing of the tide. Navigation was 
 stopped for the winter, and there was nothing to be 
 done till spring. The nearest of the enemy were at 
 Beaubassin, at the head of Chignecto Bay, on a neck 
 of land connecting Nova Scotia with New Brunswick. 
 Ramesay controlled the isthmus, liaving built a fort 
 there. It was Noble's intention, as soon as it was 
 practicable, to march on this point and drive off the 
 French. 'J'here was no road by land, a' id a passage 
 there was impossible by water. The snow lay deep 
 over the country. Two hundred miles of dense forest 
 lay between Noble and Ramesay. Several ice-blocked 
 rivers guarded the way between Grand-Prt^ and Beau- 
 bassin. Noble thought himself absolutely safe from 
 attack, for the diflficulties he saw that made his 
 moving on Beaubassin impracticable would also 
 protect him from attack. Yet his scouts were ever 
 on the alert, and guards were made to do (hity. Near 
 the centre of the village was a stone building in which 
 Noble had placed the cannon, and to which he attached 
 the main guard previously doing duty at his own 
 quarters. 
 
 Meanwhile word had reached Ramesay of the 
 arrival of the troops at Grand-Pre, and he learned 
 
 !. 
 
54 
 
 GRAN DPR fJ. 
 
 Ill 
 
 that it was Nolile'.s intention to niarcli aj^ainst liiin in 
 the .si)rin<^. Hut he was nii.sinfonncd as to the number 
 of soldiers under Noble. He was told that there were 
 two hundred and twenty, which was less than half. 
 Raniesay had already made two arduous but fruitless 
 march(is to Annapolis. On the return from the last 
 of these he had severely hurt his ktiee, and was unable 
 to march. Calling a council of his ofKctn's, he pro- 
 posed a bold enterprise, to which they gave eager 
 assent. The propcjsal was to attack the enemy by a 
 rapid march and night attack on Grand- Pre. As 
 Ramesay was unable to lead the party, the command 
 fell to the gallant (captain Coulon l)e Villiers. 
 Immediate preparations were made for the march. 
 Provisions were collected, snowshoes and sledges 
 prepared, and in a short time the party was ready for 
 the start. There was but one way to reach Grand- 
 Vv4, and that was by making the distance through 
 the woods, and across the rivers near their head. 
 The snow was over three feet deep, and the long 
 march would aftord but little shelter to these hardy 
 warriors. In four da^^s all arrangements were com- 
 plete. Coulon had under his command two hundred 
 and forty Canadians and twenty Indians, Here was 
 the flower of the warlike Canadian noblesse — Coulon 
 De Villiers, who, seven years later, defeated Washing- 
 ton; Beaujeu,theheroof future fights —a bold and deter- 
 mined warrior, without the appearance of it; the 
 Chevalier de la Corne, Saint Pierre, Lanaudiere, 
 Saint-ours, Desligneris, Courtemanche, Repentigney, 
 Boishebert, Gaspe, Colonibiere, Marin, Lusignan. 
 
OR AN DP Hf:. 
 
 55 
 
 + 
 
 On the 21st of January the company started on its 
 lon<^ inarch. Mile after mile they (h-a<^((e(i their snow- 
 Hle(l<^eH along, each with its provisions. There could 
 he no vvaverinj^ now. Th ii* lon<^ winding track was 
 as the trail of a serpent whose instinct led it to its 
 prey. Over hills and through valleys and swamps 
 they moved, till night overtook and compelled them 
 to rest, and slumber came to their weary bodies. 
 Through storms of snow and wind, or in the sharp 
 frost of the Acadien forests they marched in the day- 
 time. At night they were often glad to rest in holes 
 scooped out of the soft snow, in such shelter as the 
 forests offered. Many a meal they ate, thawing the 
 frozen food in their mouths. Over the mountains and 
 gorges of the Cobecjuids they tramped. At the head 
 of tfie Bay they were met by messengers who brought 
 them intelligence as to the exact number of the English 
 at Grand-Pre, and what had been done there. This 
 was startling news, but it did not deter them. They 
 were able to procure provisions at villages they were 
 now passing through, and recruits were added to their 
 ranks. On reaching the River Shubenacadie, near the 
 head of the Basin of Minas, they found it impassable 
 from floating ice. Coulon resolved that the river 
 must be crossed by a small party at this point to 
 guard the road to Grand-Pre, so that intelligence 
 might not be carried to the English of their approach. 
 They were in territory now where the French were 
 more favorable to the English. Boishebert, with ten 
 Canadians, crossed the river in a canoe through the 
 drifting ice, and was in great danger at times. The 
 
50 
 
 GHANit rnf:. 
 
 iimin Ixxly continued ui) tlio rivur i'or throo dayslx^forc 
 tlicy could croHH. Makinj^ thoir way tlirou^^h what i.s 
 now Hants County, they were joined in a few «hiy.s by 
 Boi.sliebert ; and at hist, on tlie 9th, they reached 
 Pizi(|uid, a lar^e Acadien settlement. 
 
 Tlie greatest caution was now observed, as they 
 were but fifteen miles from Grand-Prt^*. Having 
 traversed tlie distance from Beaubassin in safety, 
 there must be no blunder now. Everything was in 
 their hands; and to prevent failure, Coulon placed 
 guards on every road leading to Minas. They rested 
 till noon of the 10th, when they began their march 
 again through a storm of snow. They moved slowly 
 until they reached the Gaspereau River, almost south 
 of the present village of Grand- Prd They were 
 divided into ten parties, to attack as many houses, 
 which should be selected for the purpose. They were 
 now but a mile and a half from their destination. 
 Half frozen in the storm, they had to wait an hour 
 for nightfall before they went any farther. When it 
 grew dark they approached the village of Melanson, 
 on the bank of the Gaspereau. Each of the parties 
 took possession of one of the houses, and in a short 
 time the shivering men were enjoying the warmth 
 of fires made in the great fireplaces of the Acadien 
 peasants. Where Coulon, the leader, found shelt^^^ 
 wedding feast was going on. The arrival of i .e 
 armed men, and the prospect of bloodshed, wa. a 
 violent interruption to the happy proceedings. 
 Coulon soon obtained all the information he desired 
 as to the location of the English, and in what houses 
 
 f 
 
 { 
 
I ^ 
 
 auAND-ruf:. 
 
 57 
 
 I 
 
 !' 
 
 \ 
 
 they were lodj^iii^. Ho learned that Nuhlo had 
 divided Ids men into twenty-four ))aitieH, each in 
 itH own liouse. Tliese houses were alon^ the main 
 road centrin*^ on CJrand-Pre, and scattered over a 
 distance of a nnle and a half. 
 
 Calling his officers together, Coulon arran<;ed tho 
 details of the attack. The Frencli were not stron^^ 
 enouj^h to attack all the houses; lience it was deter- 
 mined to divide the party into ten hands for sinnil- 
 taneous attack on the principal lod^a*ments of the 
 En^lisli. The French now numhered three liundred 
 and forty-six men. The principal party, under Coulon 
 lumself, consisted of al)out fifty men, and included 
 15caujeau, I)esli»;neris, Mercier, Lery and Lusi^nan, as 
 his officers. This party was to attack a stone house 
 where the main guard was placed, in a central position 
 in the villa*^'e. This buildin<^ was lar<^er than the rest, 
 and more strongly defended. The ne.\t house to this 
 was occupied by Colonel Noble, his brother. Ensign 
 Noble, and several other oH^icers. This was to be 
 attacked by a smaller division of men commanded by 
 La Corne, with lligauville, Lagney and Villemont. 
 'J'he remaining parties w^ere to attack the other houses 
 selected. To make sure of the houses, guides were 
 pressed into service, but in several cases they did not 
 reach the right houses, and eventually they luid to 
 depend on the knowledge they gained of their positions 
 before the attack. 
 
 About tw^o o'clock in the morning, the whole body 
 was drawn up on the road leading over the hill to 
 Grand-Pre. Everything was ready for the march. 
 
58 
 
 GRAND-PR^. 
 
 
 It was snowing steadily, as it had done for thirty 
 hours. All the roads were impassable, except on 
 snowshoes. The largest party, under Coulon, was to 
 attack the stone house, but in the darkness of the 
 night, made still more obscure by the thick-falling 
 snow, they went astray, and about three in the morn- 
 ing they found themselves near a small house, where 
 a guard was posted. The snow deadened every 
 sound, and they were able to approach within a short 
 distance of the building without being observed. The 
 men were dashing forward to the attack, and the 
 alarm was given before Coulon discovered that it was 
 not the stone building. It was too late, however, to 
 retreat, for the English were aroused from their sleep 
 by the sentinel's alarm and the shot that killed him a 
 moment later. Immediately from the house came the 
 report and flash of muskets, and Coulon fell, ;i3verely 
 wounded. The young cadet, Lusignan, was also hit, 
 but he pushed on till a second ball shattered his thigh. 
 This did not stop their advance, and in a short time 
 they had captured the house, all but three of the 
 defenders falling in the engagement. 
 
 The wounded officers were taken back to Melanson 
 village, where the surgeon had been left. La Corne, 
 who was second in command, had attacked the house 
 where Noble was lodged. Here were Ensign Noble, 
 Captain Howe, Lieutenants Pickering and Lechniere, 
 who were ill, and Jones. They were aroused from 
 their beds by the firing, and the French were on them 
 before they could dress. The guard was small, as the 
 main guard had been removed to the stone house. 
 
ORAND-PRfl, 
 
 59 
 
 " 
 
 «<■ 
 
 , 
 
 i 
 
 where Noble had intended to take up his quarters. 
 Noble received two musket balls in his body, but con- 
 tinued firing his pistols. The French called to him to 
 surrender, promising quarter ; but he refused, and on 
 the next discharge h^ was struck in the forehead by 
 a bullet and instantly killed. His brother was also 
 shot, with the two lieutenants, while Captain Howe 
 was wounded and made a prisoner. 
 
 There was sound of firing, far and near, till day- 
 light. The French had taken several houses, includ- 
 ing the buildings in which was the frame of the 
 blockhouse. All the English not made prisoners had 
 crowded into the stone house, which La Corne was 
 blockading. Beaujeau and his party had been called 
 to his assistance, and found him firing on the enemy 
 from the house in which Noble had been killed. The 
 English were now commanded by Captain Goldthwait. 
 Some of his men made a sally, but could do nothing 
 in the deep snow. Howe, who was bleeding to death, 
 begged permission of Ija Corne to send for an English 
 surgeon. Early in the afternoon a French officer with 
 a flag of truce was sent to the English with a note 
 from Howe, and remained as a hostage while the sur- 
 geon dressed the wounds of the Englishman. On the 
 return of the men, the truce was prolonged till the 
 next morning. 
 
 The courtesy of the French in the treatment of 
 Howe led up to the surrender of the English. 
 The stone house was crowded to suffocation by three 
 hundred and fifty men. They had five small cannon, 
 but no ammunition except what each carried with 
 
60 
 
 GRANDPRA 
 
 him, and that was much reduced by the hours of 
 firing. All their supplies were now in the hands of 
 the French. 'J hey had, moreover, but one day's pro- 
 visions, and little prospect of improving their condi- 
 tion. At the expiration of the truce, the English 
 commander and one of his officers, with a white flag, 
 CL.me to the French to propose terms of capitulation. 
 Howe acted as an interpreter, and the terms were 
 soon arranged. The French were victorious in one of 
 the most gallant exploits in French-Canadian history. 
 The English were to march for Annapolis with the 
 honors of war within forty-eight hours. The Indians 
 were to keep the plunder they had taken. The pris- 
 oners of the French should remain in their hands. 
 The English sicl: and wounded should be left at the 
 Canard River till they recovered, protected by a 
 French guard. None of the English should bear arms 
 durino; the next six months within the districts of 
 Minas or Chignecto. 
 
 The English loss was one hundred killed, one 
 hundred and fifteen wounded and fifty captured. 
 The French loss was seven killed and fifteen wounded. 
 The assailing force numbered three hundred and fifty 
 men, while the English had about five hundred and 
 twenty-five men. Eleven of the twelve houses 
 attacked were taken. 
 
 Howe soon recovered from his wound, and was 
 exchanged for five Canadians some time later. He 
 finally fell a victim to Indian treachery at Beaubassin. 
 Coulon left Minas by the 12th of February. He caused 
 the blockiiouse to be destroyed and tlie cannon made 
 
 ' 
 
GRAND-FRA 
 
 61 
 
 ,. 
 
 i 
 
 useless. At the foot of the bank alongside the present 
 road leadinjT to the French well and willows, a grave 
 was dug and all the dead buried, except Colonel 
 Noble and his brother. These officers were interred 
 on the right of the road, farther up the hill, on what 
 is now Mr. Laird's property, between two large apple 
 trees. To-day nothing marks the spot where these 
 brave men were buried. 
 
 Colonel Noble was defeated thi'ough a false idea of 
 the security of his position. He had been warned by 
 the Acadiens at Minas that the French would attack 
 him. He did not believe the French could reach him, 
 and made but little preparation for defence. 
 
 The French were now in possession of Minas, a part 
 of Acadie, and De Ramesay at once proclaimed that 
 the Acadiens owed submission to France. In the state 
 of perplexity this left them in, they wrote to Mascar- 
 ence. Ramesay had written to the Governor of Que- 
 bec and the Bishop of Quebec for confirmation of his 
 proclamation ; then he issued a new proclamation in 
 the name ( f the King of France, ordering them to take 
 up arms against the English. All this did not materi- 
 ally affect the condition of affairs at Minas. Captain 
 Rous, sent by Shirley of Massachusetts, came with a 
 24-gUTi brig, two armed schooners and three hundred 
 men. One hundred and fifty men were landed, and a 
 flag hoisted at the stone house. The force remained 
 four days and then retired. In August of 1748, a 
 quantity of goods was sent around to Minas, in a 
 sloop convoyed by two armed schooners and H. M. S. 
 Port Mahon, in payment for the provisions furnished 
 
 ill 
 
 , (t 
 
GRAND-PRt:. 
 
 in 1746 to Colonel Noble. The value was £3,200, 
 Massachusetts currency. The ^oods were molasses, 
 salt, sugar, linen, striped calico, cloth, scythes and 
 wood axes. There is a full account of the settlement 
 of the transaction, and receipts. These last were 
 signed by the ancients of Minas, Ren^ Le Blanc, Jac. 
 Terriot, Fras. Le Blanc.. — Dougas, and by the deputies 
 of Minas, Bern. J^aigre, Fras. Boudrot, Mich'l Le 
 Blanc, Paul Oquine ; and by the deputies of River 
 Canard, Jean Terriot, Oliver Deglass, Jean Granger, 
 Michael Richard. Canard at this time included all 
 the territory north of the Minas River. Piziquidwas 
 included in the transactions. 
 
 I 'li^t 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Halifax Founded — CornwalliH— Hopson — Lawrence. 
 
 1749-1755. 
 
 In 1749 there were probably 10,000 Acadiens in 
 the Province, living in Annapolis, at Minas, Piziijnid, 
 at Cobequid, and at Beaubassin. To anticipate the 
 deportation, it may be stated here that there were 
 about 6,000 persons removed in 1755, two-thirds of 
 these from Minas and Piziquid. Of the 1,000 who 
 escaped into the woods, many were afterwards taken 
 and sent out of the Peninsula. About 3,000 had made 
 their way into the country to the north. 
 
 During the few years preceding the expulsion, since 
 the Acadiens had increased so rapidly in numbers 
 there was frequent mention of them in Government 
 documents. The English Government on numerous 
 occasions urged the necessity of just treatment of the 
 French Acadiens, recommending such acts as should 
 eventually make the people wholly in sympathy with 
 the local rulers. They were to be assured that no 
 effort would be put forth to remove them from the 
 Province. They were to be left in quiet possession of 
 their property, and to enjoy the free txercis^ of their 
 religion. During the war the people had been deeply 
 
 1 i 
 
 If 
 
64 
 
 GRAND-PM. 
 
 i 
 
 agitated over the report that Shirley, Governor of 
 Massachusetts, proposed to take some of their land 
 and to intersperse Protestants among them, granting 
 certain privileges to those French who would come 
 over to Protestantism. He had written to England 
 describing a scheme whereby the French Catholics 
 might be made Protestants. As may be supposed, 
 this report left them very uneasy. 
 
 In 1749, Halifax was founded and became the 
 seat of Government, with Edward Cornwallis as 
 Governor. Between Halifax and Minas there was 
 only a trail, but in a few days Jean Melanson from 
 Canard, and Claude Le Blanc from Grand-Pr^, pre- 
 sented the respects of their people tu Cornwallis. 
 They then learned that a proclamation to the 
 Acadiens had been drawn up, and they were ordered 
 to make it public in their districts. By this document 
 they were called upon to take the oath without 
 restriction, and to despatch deputies to Halifax within 
 fifteen days with their resolution. At the time 
 appointed, deputies from all the French districts, 
 representing over 10,000 people, appeared before 
 Cornwallis. In all their behavior they were respect- 
 ful, yet determined to the point of obstinacy in their 
 requests. Cornwallis informed them that no exemp- 
 tion would be allowed in taking the oath, and that all 
 the people would have to swear allegiance by the 26th 
 of October, or forfeit all their rights and possessions in 
 the Province. The deputies again departed to make 
 this known to the people, and returned with the 
 reply in a few weeks. They brought a paper to the 
 
GRAN D- PR f:. 
 
 65 
 
 Governor, signed by a thousand inhabitants. This 
 referred to the oath they had ah*eady taken, and of 
 the privileges they had enjoyed under other Gov- 
 ernors, and of the reliance they had placed in His 
 Majesty, having rendered service without a wish or 
 attempt to violate the oath. It spoke of the danger 
 they were in from the Indians. They would take 
 the old oath as given to Philipps. If this were 
 refused them they were resolved to leave the country. 
 
 Cornwallis was in error in his estimate of the 
 Acadiens. Finding that they could not be moved as 
 he desired, he became haughty and harsh, and in- 
 dulged in threats which he did not carry out. " It 
 is only out of pity to your inexperience that we con- 
 descend to reason with you, otherwise the question 
 would not be reasoning but commanding and being 
 obeyed." He then wrote to the Lords of Trade, 
 stating what had transpired, and his purpose to make 
 the Acadiens as useful as possible while they stayed. 
 At the same time he placed every obstacle in the 
 way of their leaving the Province. 
 
 The French at this time were building a fort at 
 Beausejour, and every effort was made through Abbe 
 le Loutre, Micmac missionary, to get the Acadiens 
 over to the territory that was claimed by the French. 
 The Acadien centres were in a state of agitation and 
 excitement. The people were in serious doubt as to 
 what would be the next move taken by Cornwallis. 
 His arbitrary action and harshness were not conciliat- 
 ing them to English rule. As Cornwallis w^as too 
 much taken up with affairs at Halifax to move against 
 
 5 
 
66 
 
 GKAND-PEfJ. 
 
 Beausejour, the efforts of the French led a number of 
 the Acadiens to act against the English, with the 
 Indians. It v/as now late in the year for a general 
 departure, yet some families joined their countrymen. 
 To check any unexpected move, an English force was 
 sent to Minas under Captain Handfield. As it was 
 too late in the season to build barracks they enclosed 
 three houses in a triangular picketing, with half 
 bastions. The situation was low and flat, commanded 
 by a hill, and so exposed that in the deep snow of 
 winter it was often possible to walk over the palisades. 
 A blockhouse had been taken from Annapolis and 
 erected within the enclosure. This fort became known 
 as ViKUX LoGis. Handfield had under his command 
 three subalterns and a hundred men. The people 
 assisted the soldiers, and supplied provisions. They 
 also aided the poorer settlers in building their houses 
 in Halifax, and cleared a road to that place from 
 Minas, eighteen feet wide. 
 
 Minas was now under military guard, to which it 
 submitted quietly. I cannot do better than quote 
 from an article by a Canadian writer : 
 
 " For forty years after the Treaty of Utrecht they 
 increased and prospered, and had England treated 
 them from the commencement with fairness, and kept 
 in the Province sufficient force to show them she was 
 not to be trifled with, and there was no prospect of 
 France regaining her old dominions by the sea, they 
 might have been gradually won from their fidelity to 
 the land of their origin, and taught to pay willing 
 allegiance to their new masters, who, under all circum- 
 
 ' 
 
 .'.K 
 
GRAND-FRfJ. 
 
 tr 
 
 stances, had treated them with great consideration and 
 at the same time with obvious weakness. Had they 
 been allowed to remain in the country, under tlie 
 checks of a sufficient military force and populous 
 English settlements, the ten thousand Acadien Frencli 
 that occupied the fertile districts of the Province in 
 the middle of the last century would eventually have 
 increased to a very large number, and exercised a 
 most important influence on the social, religious and 
 political conditions of Nova Scotia, even while remain- 
 ing loyal to England. In other words, Nova Scotia 
 might have been another French Canada." 
 
 In October of this year, three hundred Micmacs and 
 St. John Indians, instigated by the French, block- 
 aded the fort at Miiias, for the purpose of giving the 
 Acadiens an opportunity to leave the country, and 
 take oft' their cattle and property. Finding the 
 people fixed in their resolve to wait till they should 
 learn from the Governor what was to be done with 
 them, the Indians departed. They had surprised a 
 detachment under Captain Hamilton, consisting of 
 eighteen men, and with these prisoners, and the 
 notary Le Blanc, they left the country. No one 
 had been killed by the engagement, although the 
 firing had been kept up for several days. The 
 prisoners were released some time later. 
 
 In 1750, the English had firm control of the French 
 centres of the Province. Another fort had been built 
 at Piziquid, which, with the garrison at Minas and at 
 Annapolis, protected the Acadiens and kept them in 
 touch with Halifax. Cornvvallis was still demanding 
 
 ' n 
 
68 
 
 GRAND-PR^:. 
 
 of the Acadiens to take the oath, and they never 
 ceased to plead for permission to leave the country 
 with their property. It is needless to dwell on the 
 particulars of the administration of Cornwallis. Cause 
 after cause was assigned why the Acadiens should 
 not leave the Province. 
 
 When HoPSON succeeded Cornwallis the Acadiens 
 were raising great crops, much more than they 
 required for their own use. The fort, Vieux Logis, 
 had fallen into decay, and it was not deemed advis- 
 able to repair it. In consecjuence of this, the garrison 
 was sent to Fort Edward, at Piziquid. Hopson, more 
 humane than Cornwallis, saw how difficult it would 
 be to force the people to tike the oath, which had 
 been the cause of so much trouble. He knew how 
 valuable the people were to the country. He was 
 able in a short time to make a treaty with the Indians 
 of the east coast, and would have done much to soften 
 the condition of the Acadiens, if ill health had not 
 compelled him to retire from the position, but fifteen 
 months after he became Governor. The Acadiens had 
 passed through the period of excitement and agitation 
 caused by the founding of a large English town in 
 the Province. The following order from the Governor 
 gives us a good idea of the condition of affairs at this 
 time. For a time, at least, they were not to be treated 
 like slaves : 
 
 " You are to look upon the Acadiens in the same 
 light with tlie rest of His Majesty's subjects, as to the 
 protection of the laws and Government, for which 
 reason nothing is to be taken from them by force, or 
 
 i' 
 
GRAND. PR6. 
 
 I 
 
 any price set upon their (^oods but what they them- 
 selveH agree to; and, if at any time they should 
 obstinately refuse to comply with what His Majesty's 
 service may reijuire of them, you are not to redress 
 yourself by military force, or in any unlawful manner, 
 but to lay the case before the Covernor and wait his 
 orders thereon. You are to cause the followin<^ orders 
 to be stuck up in the most public part of the fort, 
 both in English and French : 
 
 " 1st. The provisions or any other commodities that 
 the Acadiens shall bring to the fort to sell, are not to 
 be taken from them at any fixed price, but to be paid 
 for according to a free agreement made between them 
 and the purchasers. 
 
 " 2nd. No officer, non-commissioned officer or soldier 
 shall presume to insult or otherwise almse any of the 
 Acadiens, who are upon all occasions to be treated as 
 His Majesty's subjects, and to whom the laws of the 
 country are open, to protect as well as to punish. 
 
 " At the season of laying in fuel for the fort . . ." 
 
 It is refreshing to read this after the heartless and 
 haughty manner of the earlier governors. What 
 might not a few years of firm and kindly government 
 have done with these unfortunate people ? It was 
 not to be. Hopson sailed for England after his short 
 rule. 
 
 The last, the most famous, the most infamous, of all 
 the governors of Nova Scotia is now before us, who 
 is to introduce the last act in the Acadien drama. 
 This is Charles Lawrence, the man who will ever 
 be remembered for his connection with the deporta- 
 
 I : 
 
 ! 
 
70 
 
 GRAND-PRf:. 
 
 tion of tlie AcadieiiH. Ho was a noMitir, bold and 
 active, kcoii and intidlij^ent, Imt and>itious and 
 un.scrupnlous to the Iji^hest de«^n5e. His antecedents 
 were liunible, but ])einf^ endowed with more than 
 ordinary ability, without the restraints of a refined or 
 noble nature, he ^ave way, when opportunity ottered 
 for hi^h purpose and niardy action, to the baser and 
 more sordid impulses which .seem to have ruled his 
 life. He was, moreover, haughty and disdainful in 
 manner. Without real friends, his acts received sup- 
 port from his agents and from those who were unable 
 to resist him. Of low cunning, a consununate flatterer 
 of the higher, an oppressor of the weak, with false 
 promises and every effort to accomplish his own 
 personal ends, Lawrence has the unenviable distinc- 
 tion of having caused the expatriation of the Acadiens, 
 and of having done it with great cruelty. These facts 
 have come to light only within a few years, through 
 the researches of French writers. Many State docu- 
 ments relating to the administration of Lawrence 
 have been lost, or, as it is now believed, intentionally 
 destroyed. 
 
 The Acadiens had been threatened with various 
 forms of punishment by almost all the governors, and 
 had learned the lesson of humility and patience, all 
 to no purpose — or perhaps to great purpose, when the 
 bitterness of their days was on them in their homeless 
 wanderings. In the light of later facts thrown upon 
 their condition, it is almost beyond belief that a 
 people should be so patient and quietly persevering 
 in their effort to remain upon their lands under all the 
 
 I 
 
 v\ 
 
OBANfJ-Plifj. 
 
 71 
 
 6 
 
 iinpo.sition pnietisLMl upon tliein. If iii(livi<limls>icttMl 
 at^ainst tlie peact) of the country, a most cruel perse- 
 cution followed the vvliole people, thinly diHguiHed 
 under various pretexts. The treatment accorded the 
 people had hecome a matter of practice long estab- 
 lished. Unfortunately for them, they were found too 
 submissive. Their homes were their all, and they 
 bore insult and indignity for forty years in the vain 
 hope that a time would come when they would be 
 finally secure on the lands their fathers had taken 
 from the sea, and made beautiful and rich beyond any 
 other in America. Every act of obedience to govern- 
 mental order and demand seemed to leave them more 
 at the mercy of men who, from national prejudice or 
 lack of human feeling, preyed upon their weakness, 
 and for many years left them in the power of whim 
 and circumstance. Every argument has been made 
 in our own day to influence opinion against these 
 people, and to excuse or palliate the brutalities 
 of men because of their connection with the British 
 Government. 
 
 Lawrence had only been provisional Governor till 
 1745. The scheme of the deportation of the Acadiens 
 had been maturing in his mind ; but now, with fuller 
 power, his purpose took more definite shape. Many 
 documents and reports show a fixed resolve on his 
 part to get rid of the Acadiens. Complaints were 
 frequent, and every possible reason assigned to show 
 that it was necessary to remove the people. The acts 
 of individuals were charged to the whole people 
 What was done at Beaubassin was punished at Minas, 
 
 V . 
 
72 
 
 GHAND-PRi:. 
 
 f 
 
 in 
 
 ?* i 
 
 I ; 
 
 as well as at. other Acadien centres. It must be here 
 understood that when finally the people were taken 
 fro:n their homes, it was done ivithcut the sanction 
 of the English Government, and was so carried oat 
 because of the length of time required to carry- 
 messages across the water betv/een England and the 
 Province ; and that orders forbidding this action 
 luere received too late to prevent it. 
 
 Hopson's humane orders were revoked : " If they 
 should fail to comply, you will assure them that the 
 next courier will bring an order for military execu- 
 tion." 
 
 " No excuse will be taken for not fetching fire- 
 wood, a,nd if they do not do it in proper time the 
 soldiers rliall tak'j tlieir liouses for fuel." Such were 
 the brutal onlers of La.wrence. 
 
 The English were now in position to control the 
 Acadien centres of Nova Scotia. The French fort 
 at Beausejour ha<l fallen, a few hundred Acadiens wlio 
 had through persuasions and threats assisted the 
 French with their presence, when tigl\ting began, 
 refused to assist their countrymen. Tliere were over 
 10,000 in the Province who had refused to I .ive their 
 homes, under all the pressure of every inliuence that 
 could be brought to l)ear upon them, and in the face 
 of every provocation arising out of the attitude n.nd 
 behavior of Lawrence. The failure of the Acadiens 
 to assist tlie French was assigned as the cause of their 
 defeat. There was now no ground for fear. The 
 Acadiens proved themselves poor soldiers. Their only 
 desire was to be left unmolested on their lands. 
 
 t 
 
GRANI)-PM£:. 
 
 73 
 
 \ 
 
 I 
 
 On tlu> 6tli of Juno, one hundred nioii Troni Fort 
 Edward, Windsor, and fifty from the garrison at 
 Halifax, came to Minas. The party reached Grand- 
 Prt^ in the evenin<^ and distributed tliemselves two in 
 a house. At midniglit tliey seized all the arms 
 AND AMMUNITION tlicy could Hnd. This was acconi- 
 plislied without resistance. The soldiers met at 
 Grand- Prti in the morning and plact;d the arms on 
 board a boat which, had been sent for the purpose, and 
 tliey were carried to Fort Edward. The real purpose 
 had not been made known until the outrage was 
 committed, not because of fear of tlie Acadiens, but 
 that as many of their arms as possible should be 
 secured. Yet only about one-lifth of the whole 
 number was found. Shortly after this an order was 
 issued demandino; of the Acadiens the surrender of all 
 their arn).s, under ])enalty of being treated as rebels. 
 The result was that about 2,900 were given up. The 
 people then addressed a petition to Lawrence, couched 
 in respectful terms, and showing in all fairness in 
 what position they stood : 
 
 " We, the inhabitants or Mines, Pizi(piid and the 
 River Canard, take the liberty of approaching Your 
 Excellency for the purpose of testifying our sense of 
 the care which the Government exercises over us. 
 
 " It appears, sir, that Your Excellency doubts the 
 sincerity with which wo have promised to be faithful 
 to His Britannic Majesty. 
 
 "We most huuibly beg Your Excellency to consider 
 our past conduct. You will see tliat, very far from 
 violating the oath we have taken, we have maintained 
 
 ; i! 
 
74 
 
 GRAND-riif:. 
 
 it ill its entirety, in spite of the solicitations and tlie 
 dreadful threats of another power. We will entertain, 
 sir, the same pure and sincere dis])osition to prove 
 under any circumstances, our unshaken fidelity to His 
 Majesty, provided that His Majesty shall allow us the 
 same liberty that he has granted us. We earnestly 
 beg Your Excellency to have the goodness to inform us 
 of His Majesty's intentions on this subject, and to give 
 us assurances on his part. 
 
 " Permit us, if you please, sir, to make known the 
 annoying circumstances in which we are placed, to 
 the prejudice of the traiKjuillity we ought to enjoy. 
 Under pretext thfit w^e are transporting our corn or 
 otht"' provisions to Beausejour and the River St. John, 
 we are no longer permitted to carry the least (juantity 
 of corn by water from one place to another. We beg 
 Your Excellency to be assured that we have never 
 transported provisions to Beausejour or to River St. 
 John. If some refugee inhal)itants from Beausejour 
 have been seized with cattle, we are not on that 
 account by any means guilty, inasmuch as the cattle 
 belonged to them as private individuals, and they were 
 driving them to their respective habitations. As to 
 ourselves, sir, we have never offended in that respect ; 
 conse(iuently, we ouglit not, in our opinion, to be pun- 
 ished; on the contrary, we hope that Your Excellency 
 w^ill be pleased to restore to us the same liberty that 
 we enjoyed formerly, in giving us the use of our 
 canoes, eitlier to transport our provisions from one 
 river to another, or for the purpose of fishing ; thereby 
 providing for our livelihood. This permission has 
 
 t 
 
GRAND-PBt:. 
 
 75 
 
 ^ 
 
 never been taken from us except at the present time. 
 We hope, sir, tliat you will he pleased to restore it, 
 specially in consideration of the number of poor inhab- 
 itants who would be very ^-lad to sup{K)rt their families 
 with tlie fish tliat they would be able to catch. More- 
 over, our t^uns, whicli we regard as our own personal 
 property, have been taken from us, notwithstandinor 
 tlie fact that they are absolutely necessary to us, to 
 defend our cattle which are attacked by the wild beasts, 
 or for the protection of our children and ourselves. 
 Any inhabitant who may have his oxen in the woods, 
 and wdio may need them for purposes of labor, would 
 not dare expose himself in going for them without 
 being prepared to defend himself. It is certain, sir, 
 that since the Indians have ceased frequenting our 
 parts, the wild beasts have greatly increased, and that 
 our cattle are devoured by tliem almost every day. 
 Besides, the arms that have been taken from us are 
 but a feel)le guarantee of our fidelity. It is not the 
 gun which an inhabitant possesses that will induce 
 him to revolt, nor the privation of the same gun that 
 will make him more faithful; but his conscience alone 
 must induce him to maintain his oath. An order has 
 appeared in Your Excellency's name, given at Fort 
 Edward, June 4th, 1755, by which we are connnanded 
 to carry guns, pistols, etc., etc., to Fort Edward. It 
 appears to us, sir, that it would be dangerous for us 
 to execute that order before representing to you the 
 danger to >vhich this order exposes us. The Indians 
 may come and threaten and plundr'r us, reproaching 
 us for having furnished arms to kill them. We hope. 
 
76 
 
 GRAND- PR f.. 
 
 sir, timt yoii will be pleased, on the contrary, to order 
 that those taken i'roni us be restored to us. By so 
 doin<r you will att'ord us the means of preserving botli 
 ourselves and our cattle. 
 
 " In the last place we are grieved, sir, at seeing our- 
 selves declared guilty without being aware of having 
 disobeyed. One of our iidiabitants of the River 
 Canard, named Pierre Melanson, was 'seized and 
 arrested in eliarge of his boat, before having heard any 
 order forbidding that sort of transport. We beg Your 
 Excellency, on this sul>ject, to liave the goodness to 
 make known to us your good pleasure before confis- 
 cating our property and considering us in fault. This 
 is the favor we expect from Your Excellencys kind- 
 ness, and we hope you will do us the justice to believe 
 that very far from violating our promises, we will 
 maintain them, assuring you that we are, very 
 respectfully, 
 
 " Sir, your very humble and obedient servants." 
 
 Hearing that the Governor looked upon the petition 
 as impertinent, they drew up another on June 24th, 
 1755, disclaiming any intention of being without 
 proper respect for the Government, and that they all 
 shared the same intentions and feelings in the matter 
 They ack now (edged being embarrassed in his presence 
 and begged to be excused for their timidity, and if 
 anything seemed hard in their petition, they asked 
 permission to explain their intention. This was 
 signed by forty-four inhabitants in the name of Minas, 
 Canard and Piziquid. 
 
 As might be expected, the answer given shows the 
 
 
GBAND-PRf:. 
 
 77 
 
 Governor's intention to find offence in everytlnnf:^ the 
 Acadiens represented to him. " The memorial of the 
 lOtli of June is highly arrogant and insidious, and 
 deserves tlie highest resentment." 
 
 In view of the chart^es that have been made ajjainst 
 them, let us review the situation a moment. The 
 people had been accused of aiding the Iiidians, 
 when, in point of fact, the Micmacs had left the Pro- 
 vince and were in New Brunswick. The Indhins had 
 been for some time a menace and a danger to them, 
 and they were glad to be separated from them. At 
 the building of Vieux Logis, at Grand-Prd, the 
 Acadiens had been harassed l)y them because of their 
 seeming sympathy with the English, and because they 
 had not endeavored to prevent it. The Acadiens had 
 repeatedly, moreover, given valuable intelligence to 
 the British. They had warned Noble previous to the 
 attaciv of Grand-Pro. But few of the Minas people 
 had gone over to the French ; and these, with the 
 Acadiens of other parts of the Province who had taken 
 up arms, were compelled to do so against their own 
 wishes, under penalty of death. For forty years they 
 had been refused titles to their land, and the priv- 
 ilege of taking up new land, or of extending their 
 own. They had always been thrifty and industrious, 
 performing great labor in dyke-building, and in setting- 
 out orchards which, after one hun<lretl and forty-three 
 years, are yet bearing fruit. Their lands in most 
 cases had be«:n divided and subdivided amontr the 
 children. Yet they pi'oduced more than was needed 
 for thfi whole Province. They had two beautiful 
 churches and abundance of iroods. 
 
78 
 
 GRAND-FRk. 
 
 We now return to the delegates wlio were in Halifax. 
 Lawrence requested them to take the oath. The}^ 
 begged to be allowed to consult with their people 
 again. Lawrence refused this, giving them twenty- 
 four hours to decide. Their answer given next day 
 was that they could not do so without meeting with 
 their own people to determine for, or against, the 
 oath. This refusal caused them to be treated as 
 prisoners. 
 
 Instructions were at once sent to Murray, at Pizi- 
 quid, to demand of the Acadiens of Minas new dele- 
 gates, and if the oath was not taken, the Government 
 would set about to remove them from the Province. 
 It appears certain that Lawrence projected the depor- 
 tation early in 17o5, and had carefully worked out the 
 details of the scheme. All tlie arms of the Acadiens 
 were in the hands of the Government, without which 
 they could make but little resistance. Their priests 
 and archives were carried off. He had concealed his 
 purpose from the English Government till too late for 
 their intervention. Boscowan, in command of the 
 fleet which had supported the movement against the 
 French at Beausejour, had been induced to favor 
 the scheme, as well as the Council at Halifax. In 
 intimating to the Lords of Trade that he purposed 
 demanding of the Acadiens an unqualified oath of 
 allegiance, and if they re^ ' it, stating he 
 intended to send them out of t •oui)tri/ to France, 
 he was plainly deceiving the Lords of Trade. Mean- 
 while, three months would be necessary to receive an 
 answer from England. 
 
G RAND-PR fJ. 
 
 79 
 
 On July ')th, one hundred delegates appeared before 
 Lawrence, in obedience to his demand, and delivered 
 their potitiouH. Those of Grand-Prt^ and vicinity in 
 their petition, signed by two hundred and three, 
 referred to the oath taken by them in Philipps' time, 
 and of their intention not to take any other. " Char- 
 ity for our detained inhabitants' and their innocence, 
 oblige us to beg Your Excellency to be touched by 
 our miseries^ and to restore to them their liberty, witli 
 all possible submission and the most profound respect " 
 
 The deputies were imprisoned, with those already 
 confined, and kept so till late in the year when the 
 whole people were deported. The following state- 
 ment of events by Abbe Daudin will be read with 
 interest : 
 
 " For a long time the English never spoke to the 
 Acadiens except to announce their ruin in the near 
 future. They were told that they would be mere 
 slaves, that they would be dispersed by the Irish ; in 
 short, everything foreboded the destruction of their 
 nation ; there was talk of nothing else but burning 
 the houses and laying waste the fields. However, the 
 inhabitants were not discouraged, as is jjroved by the 
 most abundant harvest that was ever seen in the 
 country. Prayei- was the only wea[)on they used 
 against the English. After the taking of Beausejour, 
 they made a show of commanding the inh.ilntants on 
 holidays to go to the fort and sharpen all tlieir in- 
 struments of war, telling them these weapons were 
 to destroy them after they had cut to piec<^s their 
 brethren who were refugees with the French. 
 
 i| 
 
80 
 
 GRAND'PRf]. 
 
 fi 
 
 " When the Grand-Prei delegates liad started for 
 Halifax, there came to AnnapoliH an order, etc., etc. 
 
 " Wlien the delegates from all parts had arrived to 
 the number of about one hundred, they were called 
 before the Council, when they were immediately told 
 that no propositions or explanations would be received 
 from them . . . He put the following very plain 
 (juestion to them : * Will you or will you not swear to 
 the King of Great Britain that you will take up arms 
 against the King of France, his enemy ?' The answer 
 was not less laconic than the question. ' Since,' they 
 said, ' we are asked only for a yes or no, we will 
 answer unanimously, No ; ' adding, however, that what 
 was re(juired of them tended to despoil them of their 
 religion and everything else. 
 
 " Immediately the Governor gave orders to transport 
 them on a small island, distant as far as a cannon-ball 
 would carry from Halifax, whither they were con- 
 ducted like criminals, and where they remained until 
 the end of October, fed on a little bread, deprived of 
 receiving any assistance as w^ell a-s of speaking to any 
 one. 
 
 " The Governor imagined that this harshness would 
 soften their courage ; he found them as firm as ever. 
 He took the resolution of betaking himself to the 
 aforesaid island with a numerous retinue, accompanied 
 by all the instruments of torture, in order to try to 
 soften their courage at the sight of this spectacle. In 
 the midst of this display befitting a tyrant, he asked 
 them if they persisted in their answers. One of them 
 replied, 'Yes, and more thaJi ever; we have God for 
 
GRAND-PRf:. 
 
 81 
 
 us and tliat iH enough. * Tlic (jiovernor drew his sword 
 and said : * Insolent fellow, you deserve that I ahould 
 run my swoi-d tlirough your body.' The peasant pre- 
 sented his breast to him, and, drawing nearer, said : 
 ' Strike, sir, if you dare ; I shall be the first martyr of 
 the band ; you can kill my body, but you shall not 
 kill my soul.' The Governor, in a sort of frenzy, asked 
 the others if they shared the feelings of that insolent 
 fellow wlio had just spoken. All with one voice 
 exclaimed : ' Yes, sir ! Yes, sir ! . . . ' 
 
 " After carrying off the priests, the English raised 
 their flag above the churches and made the latter into 
 
 barracks when their troops passed there 
 
 The missionaries reached Halifax with this fine accom- 
 paniment, drums beating. They were led out on the 
 parade, where they were exposed for three-quarters of 
 an hour to mockery, contempt and insults." 
 
 It was evidently the desire of Lawrence that the 
 Acadiens should not take the oath. He acted 
 promptly. Everything was ripe for the undertaking. 
 New England troops were in the country, having 
 assisted in the capture of Beausejour. In a letter to 
 the commandant, Moncton, he informed liim that the 
 French of that place were to be removed at once, as 
 soon as transports, which had been ordered, should 
 come up the Bay. Very full particulars were given 
 as to the removal of the people and the seizure of 
 property and cattle. Not the slightest trace of pity 
 or compunction is apparent in the orders he issued to 
 the officers in command at the different centres. If 
 the people had been animals or wild beasts, and likely 
 6 
 
 t 
 
82 
 
 GBAND-PRt. 
 
 to escape in spite of liis vigilnnce, he could not have 
 been more merciless in working out the soulless 
 scheme of the deportation. He gave positive orders 
 again and again to secure the cattle of the people. In 
 herding the people together to prevent any from 
 escaping, the utmost ettbrt was to l)e made. 
 
 Colonel Winslow, who was at Beausejour, received 
 orders to embark with his regiment, consisting of 
 three hundred men, and sail for Grand-Prt^. He 
 arrived at Minas on the loth of August, whence he 
 proceeded to Windsor to consult with Murray, in 
 command at Fort Edward, as to the details of ^he 
 work they were about to perform. 
 
 Winslow in his journal has given us a full account 
 of his stay at Grand-Prd Let us make a brief review 
 of the Acadiens on the eve of departing from their 
 homes, to which they were never to return. All too 
 thoroughly was the work carried out at Minas, as we 
 shall see. 
 
CHAPTHR VIII. 
 
 Minas before the Deportation. 
 1755. 
 
 Tn 1758, TFIE POPULATION of tlic Acadieu section of 
 Minas was about 4,500. From f^Ioniidoii on the north 
 alon<^ tlie shores of Minas Basin, and up all the rivers 
 emptying into it, to the Gaspereau in tlie south ; and 
 from Avonport on the east to New Minas in the west, 
 the country of Minas lay with village after village 
 nestling near the meadows the people liad reclaimed 
 from tlie sea. The church at Grand-Prt^ and at 
 Canard made two centres around which clustered the 
 happy homes of a peaceful people, homes that had 
 been theirs and their forefathers for eighty-four years. 
 Doubtless some of the ancients remembered when the 
 chief founders had come to Habitant and Canard, and 
 later to Grand-Pre. The people were as a rule long- 
 lived. During the years of their occupation of Minas 
 many rows of willows had grown up. Scattered over 
 the country orchards marked the places of their thrift 
 and labor. Miles of dyke made rich meadows, on 
 which at this time their harvests were ripening ; and 
 prosperity, which seemed to smile upon them, made 
 the parting all the more cruel when they had to 
 
 l-l 
 
€%. 
 
 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 
 
 ^^ 
 
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 I.I 
 
 '^ lii 12.2 
 t lis 12.0 
 
 11.25 ■ 1.4 
 
 iiim 
 
 1.6 
 
 
 /a 
 
 
 '/ 
 
 Hiotographic 
 
 Sciences 
 
 Corporation 
 
 33 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. 145(0 
 
 (716) 872-4503 
 

 
84 
 
 GRANDPRE. 
 
 depart from so lovely a land. Many families were in 
 grief because of the absence of those who were 
 prisoners at Halifax, but no thought of the awful fate 
 that was to be their own came to them. No words 
 can paint the horror that was to follow. 
 
 In the summer, the men of Minas were employed 
 in husbandry, having their dykes and farms to att'^nd 
 to. In winter they cut timber, fuel and fencing. 
 Fish and game were abundant. The Acadiens were 
 honest, sober and frugal; the women virtuous and 
 industrious, and engaged chiefly in carding, spinning, 
 and weaving wool, flax and hemp, which they pro- 
 duced in abundance. They had, besides, the fur of 
 numerous animals, such as bear, beaver, otter, fox, 
 marten, moose, and cariboo. This made them hand- 
 some clothing, or was traded with the English and 
 French for such articles as they needed. Their dyes 
 were ordinarily black and green. Scarlet they 
 obtained by carding and spinning the English duff*el, 
 which they wove in stripes to decorate the women's 
 garments. They had long ago learned the necessity 
 of mnVing use of the natural conditions of their sur- 
 rou aumgs, so that their habits and customs were 
 characteristic of the country. It was all the harder 
 for them when the conditions were changed by being 
 driven away from their own country, to begin life 
 anew in places entirely diflerent from what they had 
 known. Many of them had been born to the lives 
 they were now living, and, so to speak, they had 
 become part of the soil. 
 
 The country of Minas was abundant in provision 
 of all kinds which it produced. An ox could be 
 
GRANDPR£. m 
 
 bought for five dollars, a sheep for one dollar, and 
 wheat for thirty-five cents a bushel. When a young 
 woman could weave a bolt of cloth, and a young man 
 make a wheel, they might marry. If a couple were 
 to be married, the whole village in which they lived 
 lent a hand to build a house, clear some land ; and 
 supplied them with cattle, hogs and poultry. Large 
 families are characteristic of the people even at the 
 present time Various amusements made the cold 
 winter pleasant. Singing, dancing and open hospi- 
 tality cheered their homes. They lived as one large 
 family, bound by the ties of religion, race and kinship. 
 The following hymns they sang on the last days of 
 their stay in Nova Scotia : 
 
 I. 
 
 Faux plaisirs, vous sonneurn, bien frivoles 
 E^oulez uujourdhui nos adieux : 
 Trop long temps vous ffttes no idoles : 
 Trop long temps vous charmetz nos yeux — 
 Loin de nous la fidele esperance, 
 De trouer en vous notre bonhuur, 
 Avec nous heureux en apparence, 
 Nous partens la chagrin dans la cteur. 
 
 II. 
 
 Tout passe — 
 
 Sous le firmament — 
 Tout n'est que changement — 
 
 Tout passe- 
 Ainsi que sur la glise — 
 Le mond va roulant, 
 En dit en s'ecoulant — 
 
 Tout passe- 
 
86 
 
 ORAND-PRtt!. 
 
 C'oHt 1h inerite 
 HuriiiiH r6teriiit^ 
 
 Tout pHNHe — 
 
 FaJHoiiH valoir I» grace 
 Lo teiiipH uHt preciuux 
 Ouvrez devant iioh yeux 
 
 Tout passe— 
 LcH champs, les rangs, 
 Lo petits ot les grands — 
 
 Tout jmsse — 
 D'nxitren frequent la place 
 Et s'en vaut a leur tour 
 Duns a niurtui sejour 
 
 Tout passe. 
 
 TIT. 
 
 Vive J^Hus 
 
 Vive Jesus 
 Avec la croix son chire portAge — 
 
 Vive Jesus 
 Dans le c<eurs de tout les elus — 
 Sa croix de son cceur — est le gage — 
 Futil au ])lus bel heritage 
 
 Vive Jesus — 
 Portens la croix — 
 Sans choix, wins ennui, sans niurniure. 
 
 Portens la croix — 
 Quand nous en servons aux choix 
 Quoique tres aniere et tres dure — 
 Maigre le sous et la nature 
 
 Portens la croix. 
 
 Ma.iy French willows are standing to-day, living 
 testimony ot the Acadien occupation. All over Minas 
 stand these immense trees, marking the site of roads 
 or houses before 1755. No other memorials save the 
 old dykes tell of the hapless race whose country this 
 
 o 
 
QRANDPR£!. 87 
 
 was, and whose only happiness was here. The willow 
 is extremely tenacious of life. A green limb broken 
 from a tree and thrust into the earth will take root 
 and grow. In this respect it is a fitting memorial of 
 the people who set them out ; a foreign growth that 
 has become indigenous. The tree was brought from 
 France at an early day. 
 
 The French road ran through the present village of 
 Grand-Pr^, north of the main highway, which it 
 joined near Scott's Corner. Thence the road led to 
 Johnson's Hollow just beyond the Academy l)oarding 
 house. Here it diverged and lay near the railroad to 
 Kentville. From the village of Grand-Prt^ to the 
 landing-place on the Gaspereau River was a road. 
 What was known as the Island, where the well and 
 willows are, had a road running its length. From the 
 main village of Grand-Prt^, the road to Windsor ran 
 south over the hill to Walbrook, and crossed the river 
 at that point by a sunken bridge, which could be 
 used only at low tide. We have the names of all 
 the villages, as they were known to the Acadien.s. 
 We have also the names of a great many of the men 
 and boys who were taken away. According to Win- 
 slow the list is : 
 
 Males, from ton yeai*s 44() 
 
 Duputies, prisoners at Halifax .'J7 
 
 Men 483 
 
 Women, niarrietl 387 
 
 Sons 527 
 
 Daughters 52(5 
 
 1,923 
 
 Old and infirm, not mentioned 820 
 
 2.743 
 
88 
 
 GRAND PRf:. 
 
 It is positively known that Winslow did not secure 
 all the people at Minas, as the whole number was 
 greater than here given. 
 
 No. «/ 
 Inhabitantit. 
 
 Location. 
 North of MinHH or C«>rnwHlliH River. 
 
 ruiages. 
 
 De Landry 38 
 
 Clnudu Terriau , . 41 
 
 Des Landry 4 
 
 Granger 44 
 
 Jean Turriau .... 65 
 
 Conieau 74 
 
 Michel 27 
 
 Aucoino 77 
 
 Tmhan 38 
 
 Poirier 20 
 
 Sauhiier 32 
 
 Hrun r)4 
 
 Dupuis 05 
 
 Hebei-t IJ) 
 
 Francois 3 
 
 Pinoiis 7 
 
 Antoine 61 
 
 Claude 80 
 
 HehertCoEro(0 74 
 
 Claud Lmdry 74 
 
 Nftrie 3 
 
 Jean Le Blanc ... 30 
 Pierre Le Blanc. . CO 
 Grand Le Blanc. 42 
 
 Richard 49 
 
 Finonr 2 
 
 Melanson 52 
 
 Michel 57 
 
 De Petit (Gotro) 94 About Grand-Pr^. 
 Landry 15 (< )initted) Canard. 
 
 II 
 
 M 
 II 
 II 
 II 
 II 
 II 
 II 
 II 
 II 
 II 
 II 
 II 
 II 
 •I 
 II 
 II 
 II 
 II 
 II 
 
 South of Minas River. 
 
 M 
 M 
 
 II 
 II 
 
 II 
 II 
 
 M 
 
 II 
 
 GaHpereau. 
 
 II 
 
 i 
 
 
■ 
 
 t 
 
 ORAND.PRt. 89 
 
 ConiiMiu 4 Cannnl. 
 
 Gmnger 4 m 
 
 Pinuo 3 It 
 
 H©*)ort 6 It 
 
 Jean Teriuu 2 n 
 
 La Caste 2 n 
 
 Gnnul-Prd 20 Grand-Pre. 
 
 G(i»i)en'an 41 Gjisporeau. 
 
 All the names except those in italics are the names 
 of individuals or families. They are given here as 
 they were listed by Winslow. 
 
 The principal villages on the south side of Minas 
 River, now the Cornvvallis, sometimes called Minas or 
 Grand- Prt5, were Gotio, Pierre Le Blanc, Michel, Melan- 
 son, Grand Le Blanc, Gaspereaii, Jean Le Blanc and 
 Grand-Pre. On the north side of the same river, the 
 villages of the Canard section, sometimes called Habi- 
 tant and Canard, because the settlements were mainly 
 on the Habitant and Canard rivers, were named: 
 Claude Landry, Antoiiie, Hebert, Dupuis,Brun,Trehan, 
 Saulnier, Poirier and Hebert. The remaining villages 
 had less than twenty inhabitants. 
 
 At Grand-Pre and Gaspereau, and along the south 
 side of Minas, the common names of the Acadiens in 
 the order of their frequency were : Le Blanc, Melanson, 
 Hebert, Richard. On the north side the common 
 names were : Boudro, Comeau, Landry, Aucoine, 
 Granger, Terriau, Dupuis. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Winslo A' at Grand -Prd— Proclamation Tfisued — First Embarkation 
 — Second fimtmrkation — Final Emimi'kation. 
 
 1755. 
 
 We now find Winslow at GRAND-PRr^:. He had 
 arrived on tlio 15th, and took up liis (|uarters on the 
 plain wliere the church and the priest's house were. 
 The tents of the soldiers were pitched about the 
 churchyard, and Winslow occupied the priest's house, 
 which overlooked the encampment on the east. The 
 officers were lodged in a small house near by. The 
 sacred things of the church had been removed by the 
 elders of the village, on the order of the commander, 
 and it became an arsenal and storehouse. Prepara- 
 tions were made at once to surround the camp with a 
 palisade, to prevent surprise, and to protect the 
 position against any possible attack. The place was 
 well chosen. The church was large enough to hold 
 several hundred people, and was in future to serve as 
 a prison for four hundred men, besides a large guard 
 of soldiers. The position, while commanded by the 
 slope and hills on the south, the wealth of the people, 
 the rich meadows of Grand-Prd, lay to the north, east 
 and west. Beyond Long Island stretched the broad 
 
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 ffOAO TO \/ILLACt 
 
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 ROAD TO VILLACE 
 
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ORAND-PRf!. 
 
 
 Basin of MinaN, and in the bine of tlie farther shore 
 Bloniidon loonied. Where the catnp Htoo<l was a jjreen 
 plain lined by willow trees and intersected by roads. 
 This spot had been precious to the Acadiens for many 
 years, for the p*aveyard hehl the many relatives and 
 friends, whose eyes were not to see this last desecration 
 of their most sacred posessions. The comfort of their 
 church was denied them. The spires of St. Charles 
 l)ore the flag which represented justice and humanity, 
 and was to be the guise under which the ends of cruelty 
 and rapacity were to be served ; worked out with the 
 most exacting system, and concealed with the elaborate 
 skill of intelligent minds. On the gentle slope rising 
 to the south lay the village with its scattered houses. 
 On the east and west a continuous line of dwellings 
 marked the hillside. Willows and apple-trees, gardens 
 and pastures, and the fruitful dykelands to the river 
 banks filled the land with visions of beauty and peace. 
 Yet an armed host was within the midst of the people 
 who were without suspicion, and who went al)out 
 their daily tasks unconscious of the impending fate 
 that was to waste their lands, destroy the fruits of 
 their labors, their property and homes. But what was 
 the utter loss of their worldly goods to the sorrow of 
 being separated from the land that had been their 
 home for so many years ! The very tides and airs, 
 and the forests and dykelands were there, and homes 
 could be restored, if only they could return. But this 
 was not to be. The land was for other peoples. The 
 loss of all their wealth was as nothing beside this 
 greatest loss of their lives, never to be made up. 
 
92 
 
 GRANDPnt. 
 
 •fi, 
 
 Colonel John Winslow, in coinnmnd at Oran(l-Pr«^, 
 wan Hprunj^ from the early irovt'rnor.s of Plymouth 
 colony, ha<l seen ccm.si(leral)le military service, and on 
 several occasions had left his MarsliHeld farm to serve 
 the country. He was now fifty-four years of a^e, with 
 little eduwition, though a thorouj^h soldier. When it 
 was decided to attack the position at Beausejour, held 
 by the French, Winslow was commissioned by Shirley, 
 Governor of Massachusetts, to raise two thousand 
 volunteers. He was able to do so in a short time, 
 an<l was made lieutenant-colonel in co^nmand of one 
 of the two battalions which composed it. Farmers, 
 yeomen, fishermen, shopkeepers and various trades- 
 men from all over the country enlisted for the service. 
 
 Winslow found himself pleasantly situated at Grand- 
 Pr<^. The people were not troublesome, and in a short 
 time the soldiers off' duty were given to wandering 
 through the villages, though not on frienvlly terms 
 with the inhabitants. Captains Osgood, Adams and 
 Hobbs were with Winslow. Eighteen miles away on 
 the bank of the Pizicjuid was Fort Edward, where 
 Captain Murray was in command of a garrison of 
 regulars. 
 
 When Lawrence learned that Winslow 's camp was 
 being fortified, he feared that the people would be 
 alarmed, and he urged him not to arouse their mis- 
 trust. Winslow replied that the Acadiens were with- 
 out fear, as they supposed the English would be with 
 them all winter. The people made no trouble, and 
 the friendly feeling was evinced in their behavior. 
 They were called upon at once to bring in supplies of 
 
 ] 
 
 
GRANnrnf:. 
 
 93 
 
 -"^ 
 
 broarl, flour aiul fivsh nu'at. l{ar.sh niPaiiH wouM 
 have 1)0011 iiho<1 to eonipol oIkmIIouco, lia<l it l»oe!i 
 necessary, even \\\i\\ military oxocution. Miiia.s lia<l 
 to .supply Fort Kdwanl as well, at one tiino sixty 
 bullocks l)oin«,' <lonmu<lo(l of the iiiliabitants of Canard 
 and Habitant. No money was paid tlioni for the 
 supplies needed for the troops, as everythinj^ of that 
 kind was claimed by the Government. The sea.son 
 had been a ^ood one, and the harvest large. The 
 wheat was ripe, and but for the wet weather the 
 work of gathering the grain would have been well ad- 
 vanced. It was determined tliat all the grain should 
 be gathered and stored in the granaries, l)arns and 
 cellars before tlie Acadiens should be told of their 
 fate. When all the work wtis done and the people 
 placed on board the transports, everything was to be 
 burned and the country left desolate, so that all the 
 Acadiens should give themselves up, and that none 
 should return to Minas. The transports were an- 
 chored outside, after having l>een uidoaded of supplies, 
 and more ves.sels were expected. Meanwhile, Winslow 
 was getting all the information possible in regard to 
 the villages and the people. The camp was surrounded 
 with a palisade, and regular guards and patrols estab- 
 lished. Card-playing was prohibited as leading to 
 idleness in the camp. Quoit-playing was not per- 
 mitted within the inclosure because of the damage 
 done to the greensward. Masons and diggers were 
 sinking wells, and every preparation was made for 
 the stay at Grand-Pre. On the 31st of August, 
 Winslow, with a party of fifty men, set out on a tour 
 
84 
 
 GRAND- PR It!. 
 
 of inspection, which he reported as taking in two- 
 thirds of Grand-Pr(5. The day was Sunday, and the 
 afternoon was spent in looking over the country. On 
 the next day> Captain Adams, with a party of seventy 
 men, visited the villages of Habitant and Canard ; 
 and on the day following, Captain Hobbs visited the 
 village of Melanson, in the valley of the Gaspereau. 
 On the samo day the country to the south was ex- 
 plored by Captain Osgood. By the reports thus 
 obtained Winslow was able to get the location of the 
 villages and the condition of the crops. At Canard 
 was a beautiful church and a country full of inhabi- 
 tants, with abundance of the world's goods. Reports 
 eijually favorable wore made of the other places 
 visited. Everywhere the Acadiens had plenty of 
 provisions, and a good harvest was being gathered in. 
 Winslow had been visited by Murray, and they had 
 arranged a plan of operations. The only thing lacking 
 was the transports, yet to arrive. The commanders 
 asrreed that the male inhabitants should be summoned 
 to meet at the church at Grand-Prd, to hear the king's 
 orders. Thus they were to be entrapped in the king's 
 name. They had received positive orders from Law- 
 rence to secure the Acadiens by stratagem or force, 
 as circumstances demanded, and not the least atten- 
 tion was to be paid to any memorial or remonstrance 
 from the people. No stronger power than the orders 
 of the king could be used to bring the people to- 
 gether. They looked for a settlement of their affairs, 
 which had long been promised them. Here at last 
 was what they had been looking for. 
 
 ir 
 
 
 
GRAND-PR f:. 
 
 95 
 
 # 
 
 The arrangements were eonH)lete. The captains, 
 Adams, Hobbs and Osgocxl, were swoin to secrecy. 
 When the vessels came, only the time for calling the 
 people together remained to be fixed. On the 1st of 
 September Winslow wrote Murray that he would meet 
 with him on the next day, as three of the transports 
 had arrived. The French were soon on board making 
 inquiries, but as they had been warned not to let the 
 Acadiens know why they had come to Minas, their 
 suspicions were not excited. Eleven more ships were 
 to arrive in a few days. On Tuesday, the 2nd, 
 Winslow set out in a whale boat for Fort Kdward, 
 having with him "])octor Whitworth and adjutant 
 Kennedy, to consult with Captn. Murray in this Crit- 
 tical Conjuncter." So runs his journal. They drafted 
 
 the PROCLAMATION TO THE INHABITANTS, whicll WaS 
 
 translated into French by Deschamps, a merchant of 
 Piziquid. It was as follows : 
 
 *' To the inhabitants of the district of Grand-Pre, 
 Minas River, Canard and places adjacent, as well 
 ancients as young men and lads. 
 
 " Whereas His Excellency the Governor has in- 
 structed us of his late resolution respecting the matter 
 proposed to the inhabitants, and has ordered us to 
 communicate the same in person. His Excellency being 
 desirous that each of them should be satisfied of His 
 Majestj^'s intentions, which he has also ordered us to 
 communicate to you, as they have been given to him : 
 We therefore order and strictly, by these presents, 
 all of the inhabitants as well of the above-named dis- 
 tnct as of all the other districts, both old and young 
 
 
96 
 
 GRANDPRt:. 
 
 i. 
 I 
 I 
 
 men, as well as the lads of ten years of age, to attend 
 at the church of Grand- Prtj, on Friday, the 5th instant, 
 ant, at three in the afternoon, tliat we may impart to 
 them what we are ordered to communicate to them, 
 declarinjj that no excuse will he admitted on any pre- 
 tence whatsoever on pain of forfeiting goods and 
 chattels, in default of real esttite. 
 
 "Given at Grand-Pr(^, 2nd September, 1755. 
 
 "John Winslow." 
 
 We have in Winslow's own words : 
 
 " 1755, September the 4th. This morning sent for 
 Doctor Rodion (?) and delivered him a Citation to the 
 Inhabitants with the Strict Charge to See It Executed, 
 which he Promised Should be Faithfully Done. 
 
 " A Fine Day, and the Inhabitants very busy about 
 their harvest," etc. 
 
 The orders had gone forth, and everything was in 
 readiness for tlie morrow. The guards had been 
 strengthened, and no one was to leave the line of 
 pickets. Powder and ball were served to the men. 
 Besides, the whole camp was under arms. 
 
 With less than twenty-four hours' notice, the 
 Acadiens appeared at Grand-PrJ from all the villages 
 of Minas. From the Canard, Pereau, and Habitant 
 rivens, from the Gaspereau Valley, from Minas in the 
 west to Avonport in the east they came. Four hun- 
 dred AND EIGHTEEN MEN ENTERED THE CHURCH, 
 their own church, which was now their prison. No 
 suspicion of danger had entered their minds. There 
 was no delay. When the people had entered, Winslow 
 
GRAND-PRf:. 
 
 07 
 
 " 
 
 had a table placed in the centre of the church, and 
 accompanied by the officers who were off guard, and 
 by a strong escort, he took his place to deliver His 
 Mrtjestys Jina resolution to the Acadievs. 
 
 Here he took his stand in his laced uniform. Near 
 him were the New Englanders, " strong, sinewy 
 figures, bearing, no doubt, more or less distinctly the 
 peculiar stamp with which toil, trade and Puritanism 
 had imprinted the features of New England. Their 
 commander was not of the prevailing type. He was 
 fifty-four years of age, with double chin, smooth 
 forehead, arched eyebrows, close powdered wig, and 
 round, rubicund brows, from which the weight of an 
 odious duty had probably banished the smirk of self- 
 satisfaction that dwelt there at other times."* Before 
 him were the sons and fathers of Minas. Strong, sun- 
 burnt children of the soil, they waited anxiously for 
 his words, their dark eyes and black hair in sharp 
 contrast with the grey colors of their homespun. 
 Doubtless many a prayer went up from that dese- 
 crated fane before the full horror of their fate dark- 
 ened their lives. It is a sad picture — almost too sad 
 to contemplate. 
 
 Winslow then read to the Acadiens the following, 
 which is taken from his journal : 
 
 " Gentlemen, — I have deceived from His Excellency 
 Governor Lawrence the King's Commission which I 
 have in my hand, and by whose orders you are Con- 
 vened together, to Manifest to you His Majesty's final 
 
 ♦ Note. — His portrait is in the room of the Massiicliusetts 
 
 HiKtoriciil Society. 
 7 
 
98 
 
 aUAND-VKf:. 
 
 resolution to the French Inhabitants of this his 
 Province of Nova Scotia, who for ahnost hali 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 them you yourself Best 
 Know. 
 
 " The Part of Duty I am now upon is what thoh 
 Necessary is Very Disagreeable to my natural make 
 and Temper, as I Know it Must be Orievious to you 
 who are of the Same Sj^ecia. 
 
 " But it is not my business to arniimadvert, but to 
 obey Such orders as I receive, and therefore without 
 Hesitation Shall Deliver you his Majesty's orders and 
 Instructions, Vist. : 
 
 " That your Lands &; Teiniements, Cattle 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 your Selves to be 
 removed from this his Province. 
 
 " Thus it is Preremptorily his Majesty's orders That 
 the whole French Inhabitants of these Districts be 
 removed, and I am Throli his Majesty's Goodness 
 Directed to allow you Liberty to Carry of 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 of them of, and also that whole Family s 
 Shall go in the Same Vessel, and make this remove, 
 which I am Sensable nuist give you a great Deal of 
 Trouble, as Easey as his Majesty's Service will admit, 
 
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GHANU-PRf:. 
 
 99 
 
 and hope that in what Ever part of the world you may 
 Fall you may be Faithful Subjects, a Peasable & happy 
 People. 
 
 " I Must also Inform you That it is his Majesty's 
 Pleasure that you remain in Security under the 
 Inspection & Direction of the Troops that I have the 
 Honr. to Connnand." He then declared them prisoners 
 of the kin^, and all tlieir horses, cattle, sheep, goats, 
 hogs and poultry forfeited, and no one under his com- 
 mand was to hurt, kill or destroy anything of any 
 kind, or to rob orchards or gardens. Winslow now 
 returned to his (piarters at the priest's house, wdiere 
 he was soon followed by a deputation of the older 
 Acadiens, who begged him to consider the condition of 
 many of their families, now that they were not per- 
 mitted to return to their homes, or to let them know in 
 what condition they were in. After consultation with 
 his officers, Winslow decided io permit twenty of the 
 men to return to tlieir homes, ten for each side of the 
 Minas River, to inform their relatives that the w^omen 
 and children would be safe from molestation. They 
 were to bring those who had not come in, the remain- 
 der of the prisoners being held responsible for the 
 return of the absent. The families and friends of 
 those in the church were ordered to supply food for 
 the prisoners. They were permitted to move about 
 the inclosure, but not faither east than Winslow's 
 quarters. "Thus Ended the Memorable fifth of Sep- 
 tember, a Day of Great Fatigue & Troble." 
 
 By the seventh of the month, there were only five 
 transports \n the Basin, not half the number required. 
 
100 
 
 GRAND-PR^:. 
 
 The prisoners were increased to four hundred and 
 twenty-four. Tlie millers were at work, and the 
 people were as comfortable as could be under their 
 sad circumstances, A strong guard was always posted, 
 and every precaution taken to prevent surprise. 
 
 On the 10th of September, only one hundred of 
 the prisoners had been able to return to their 
 homes to spend one night with their families, twenty 
 at a time being allowed the privilege. On this morn- 
 ing, Winslow had received a memorial from the peo- 
 ple, imploring that they should be permitted to go to 
 places where their own countrymen were, and that 
 they should be given time to prepare for departure. 
 They had probably learned the fate of the other 
 French centres. They agreed to pay all expenses 
 incurred. To preserve their religion they were willing 
 to sacrifice everything else. Of coui'se, nothing was 
 done in their favor. Winslow states that on this 
 morning he observed unusual signs of commotion on 
 the part of the Acadien prisoners. As there were 
 five transports idle, he determined to place fifty of the 
 young men on each of the vessels, and thus lessen the 
 danger of his position at Grand- Prt^. He called for 
 Pere Landry, their chief leader, who spoke English, 
 and told him, much to his grief and surprise, that he 
 intended to embark two hundred and fifty of the 
 yoimg men. Landry was ordered to prepare tlie 
 men at once, as the tide served in an hour and they 
 must be taken away before that time. All the 
 soldiers were under arms, and formed in line. The 
 men who were to depart were drawn up in columns. 
 
GHANDVHf:. 
 
 101 
 
 six deep, on the left of tlio whole hoy\y of the Acadiens. 
 Thus they stood, between th«3 two j^»ites, in the rear 
 of Winslow's quarters. The scene that followed is 
 indescribable. Here were all the unmarried young 
 men, from ten years and upwards, who were alxjut to 
 be separated from their fathers and ]>rothers. They 
 had been drawn ofi' from the main body, and were 
 guarded on all sides by the eighty soldiers under 
 Captain Adams. Bayonets were fixed and it w^as 
 dangerous to resist. Yet when the onler was given 
 to march there was no movement of the Acadiens. 
 Every evidence of grief and excitement became mani- 
 fest — cries of anger, tears and pleading for mercy, 
 stubborn refusal to march, calling of father to son, 
 and son to father, of brother to brother. Words can- 
 not paint such scenes. When the boys said that they 
 would not go without their fatliers, Winslow writes 
 that he did not understand the word, and that the 
 king's command was absolute. The order to march 
 w^as again given, and the soldiers advanced with fixed 
 bayonets to enforce the command. They were thus 
 compelled to move, and went off praying, singing and 
 crying. A great many of the people from the villages 
 now lined the road to the landing-place on the 
 Gaspereau, a distance of one and a half miles. Many 
 fell to their knees and prayed as the melancholy pro- 
 cession passed, or follow ?d with wailing and lamenta- 
 tion. From the shore they were soon hurried on 
 board boats, and carried to the ships, where they 
 remained under strict guard for the remainder of the 
 time before the fleet departed. On the return of the 
 
102 
 
 ORAND-PRf:. 
 
 HoMiers, another company of ninety nmrried Acadiens 
 were escorted hy (■a])tain Osgood an<l ei«^lity men. 
 Two hundred and thirty of the French were now on 
 board. 'I'lie faitljful wives and mothers brouglit 
 provisions every day for the captives, the boats 
 coming in at each tide from the vessels that were 
 anchored out in the bay. As many as could go in 
 the b )ats were permitted to board the ships to see 
 their relatives. 
 
 The ARMED FORCE AT Grand-Pri^: Consisted of 
 three hundred and sixty-three men. There was a 
 degree of hatred existing towards the French people, 
 and Winslow had to make stringent regulations to 
 prevent the soldiers distressing the inhabitants. An 
 officer accompanied the soldiers who brought in water 
 for the camp, to prevent them maltreating the 
 French. On one occasion two of the men were 
 Hogged for stealing fowls. 
 
 By the middle of September, Winslow had a list of 
 the Acadiens of the Minas district, and of their live 
 stock of all kinds. Two thousand seven hundred and 
 forty-three people, w^ith five thousand horned cattle, 
 eight thousand six hundred sheep, four thousand 
 hogs, five hundred horses, were the estimates accord- 
 ing to his list. A fine harvest would have blessed 
 the unfortunate Acadiens had they been able to 
 remain in the country. They were now gathering it 
 in for their enemies, or it would be destroyed. 
 It was difficult for the people to realize that they 
 were to be removed. They did not believe it till 
 their lingering hope was broken with the commence- 
 
GHANDPM. 
 
 103 
 
 incDt of their long, sa<l wandering; in a strange 
 country and among a strang<' and unsympathetic 
 people — a wandering that was to leave tliem desti- 
 tute, attacked by disease, worn out and heart-broken 
 with the distress of their lives till nuiny were relieved 
 by death. 
 
 It wjis the 8th of October before the final embarka- 
 tion began. A few more transports liad arrived, and 
 as the season was colder, it became necessary to 
 hasten the disagreeable work. Orders had been sent 
 to the people to prepare themselves to go on board 
 the ships. On the 7th, twenty-four Acadiens escaped 
 from two of the vessels. Suspecting one of the men, 
 Francois Hebert, as the contriver or abettor of the 
 escape, whether guilty or innocent, he was ordered 
 ashore, having gone on board that day with his 
 effects, and his house was burned before his eyes. 
 Notice was then given that if the men who had 
 escaped did not return in two days, all their friends 
 would be served in the same manner and all their 
 household goods confiscated. Through the efforts of 
 Pere Landry, who interceded for them, twenty-two 
 of the men returned quietly to the vessels. Two of 
 them were shot by a search party while trying to 
 escape. 
 
 On the 8th, Winslow wrote : " Began to embark 
 the inhabitants, who went off solentarily {sic) and 
 unwillingly, the women in great distress carrying off 
 their children in their arms ; others carrying their 
 decrepit parents in their carts, with all their goods, 
 moving in great confusion, and appeared a scene of 
 
104 
 
 (iHANl) Vlif:. 
 
 
 woe uiid (listrcsa." (Jrainl-Pre and the (Jaspereau 
 valley were cleared of inhabitants in a short tune. 
 VesHels were at BoiidroH Point, between Canard and 
 Habitant rivers, to receive the people of tlmt part of 
 Minas, but there were not enough to acconnnodate 
 them. They were crowded to suftbcation, and 
 much, if not all, of their goods were left on the 
 shore, where they were brought in carts. When 
 the English settlers came in 1700, the remains of 
 carts, furniture and household goods were found 
 where the poor Acadiens were cojupelled to leave 
 them. Atiairs dragged along slowly and wearily 
 until the 21st of October, when the fleet set sail, 
 and conveyed from Minas as many as it was 
 possible to crowd into the transports. There were 
 thirteen vessels, two convoyed by frigates, in this fleet, 
 an average of two hundred and seven to each vessel. 
 Three were for Philadelphia, one for Boston, four for 
 Maryland and Ave for Virginia. 
 
 From Fort Edward, Winslow sent an account to 
 Governor Lawrence, dated October 27th, of what was 
 being done. " We began to embark the inhabitants 
 and shipped the whole of Grand-Pr^ and Gaspereau, 
 and to expedite the affair sent Capt. Adams with half 
 the party, to encamp between the rivers Canard and 
 Habitant at a place called Boudro Point, where the 
 inhabitants of those rivers, and all of Larure (?) 
 Habitant and Pereau were ordered to be, and in com- 
 pliance of those orders actually came with all their 
 families and eflfects. ... It was concluded to 
 ship as many of the inhabitants as could be sent by 
 
 <' 
 
auANDVUf:. 
 
 105 
 
 the voHHt'ls wo Imd, and forward tlirin to tlic plactvs 
 to wliicli your Excellency assi^^ntMl them, wliicli on 
 tho 21.st was completed, and the tranHjiorts full down 
 under tho convoy. . . . And although I put in 
 more than two to a ton, and the people greatly 
 crowded, yet remains upon my hands, for want of 
 transports, the whole village of Antoine and Landry, 
 and some of the Canard, amounting to ninety-eight 
 families, and upward of six hundred souls, all of 
 which I removed from Boudro Point to (jlrand-Prt^, 
 where I have at present set then^ down in houses 
 nearest the camp, and permit them to be with their 
 families upon their word of benig at any call ready 
 to embark and answering to their names upon the 
 roll-call at sunset in the camp." 
 
 All the inhabitants beintr removed from the north 
 side of Minas River, Winslow ordered the houses and 
 BARNS TO BE BURNED. Tliis was doue ou the (Jas- 
 pereau as well. Enough houses to acconniiodate six 
 hundred and fifty people were left standing in the 
 vicinity of Grand-Pr^, and were not destroyed till 
 December. 
 
 I 
 
 f 
 
 HOUSES BURNT BY WIXSLOW. 
 
 Ilouset. Barns. Outhouset, 
 
 Nov. 2, at Gaspereau 49 39 19 
 
 II 5, Canard, Habitivnt, Pereau 7« 81 33 
 
 M G, „ M 85 100 75 
 
 M 7, M ,! 45 56 28 
 
 Total 255 270 155 
 
106 
 
 GRAND-FRt. 
 
 Houses 255 
 
 Barns 276 
 
 Outhouses 155 
 
 Mills at the several i)laces 11 
 
 Church 1 
 
 Total 098 
 
 Shipment by Winslow 1,510 
 
 ti II Osgood T'^2 
 
 Total 2,242 
 
 On the 14th of November, Winslow set out for 
 Halifax with an officer and fifty men, ninety men 
 having been despatched to Annapolis on tlie 3rd. 
 Captain Osgood was left in command at Grand-Pr^, 
 where six hundred and fifty Acadiens were held till 
 transports should arrive to bear them away. Two 
 vessels sailed with three hundred and fifty of the 
 French on the 13th of December, one for Boston and 
 one for Connecticut ; and on the 20th, the last of the 
 unfortunate people were sailing away from the 
 country that was never again to be their home, two 
 hundred and thirty people in two vessels, one for 
 Boston and one for Virginia. 
 
 I shall not dwell on this closing scene of the 
 Acadien occupation of Grand-Pre and Minas. Harsh 
 words are useless. The chief designei-, Lawrence, has 
 been stigmatized as having brought about the depor- 
 tation of the Acadiens. Of the same blood and race, 
 I have been a dweller of Minas for thirteen years. 
 My home has been in the midst of the dykes and 
 marshes, in sight of the Grand-Pr^, the Basin of Minas. 
 
 ■. 
 
GRAND-PBE\ 
 
 107 
 
 I have vi8ited a great part of the country of Minas 
 once occupied by the Acadiens. Tlie willows set out 
 by them mark many f their former villages. Their 
 orchards still bear fruit, and their cellar walls yet 
 mark the places where they lived and died, many of 
 them, and from which hundreds of them were driven 
 to leave their bones in other places. My ancestors 
 tound their way back to Nova Scotia, and settled on 
 the shore of 8t. Mary's Bay, where their numerous 
 descendants are to-day. By some strange chance I 
 am here, the only Acadien of whom I know, livino- 
 amid the same scenes that knew my people from 1671 
 to 1755. 
 
I 
 
 CHAPTEll X. 
 
 The Acjidiens in Exile — The Return. 
 
 i 1 
 
 1755-17GG. 
 
 ii i 
 
 We have shown how awful in its results was the 
 deportation, both in robbing this country of a pros- 
 perous people, and in depriving those people of a 
 home, and separating families and kindred in widely 
 divided places in New England. Lawrence, the chief 
 mover in the shameful act, gave twenty tliousand acres 
 of land to each of the chief airents. He himself had the 
 liandling of the wealth in products and live stock 
 which the Acadiens left, and the lion's share of that 
 wealth was his. The deportation was worked out in a 
 most heartless manner, to prevent, if possible, the 
 reunion of families, and their return to Acadie. A 
 great many died in a few years, on account of the 
 liardships they had to bear. A small proportion of 
 them found their way back to their former homes. 
 Their descendants number thousands to-day, but the 
 great purpose of the deportation was carried out ; their 
 land was offered to English settlers, and finally taken 
 by them ; and the wealth of the Acadiens was devoted 
 to others. In the course of yeai's many documents 
 that would throw light on the events of 1755 were 
 
GBAND-PR^. 
 
 109 
 
 lost or, as many think, destroyed. The recovery of 
 papers in England led to the reconstruction of 
 Acadien history, and has changed the character of 
 many events of that time. A grudging justice is 
 being done to the unfortunate people who had suffered 
 so much at the hands of merciless men. 
 
 It is not my intention to follow the Acadiens into 
 EXILE, The story of Minas is ended. " Dispersed by 
 the orders of Lawrence, decimated by malady, deprived 
 of spiritual succor and human consolations, received 
 with mistrust and contempt, placed in a desperate 
 situation without any visible way out, crushed under 
 the burden of an overwlielming woe, could they again 
 become attached to life, set themselves once more to 
 work and resume their former hopes ? " 
 
 In other parts of the country the Acadiens met the 
 same fate as those of Minas. Between 1755 and 1763, 
 it is believed that fourteen thousand out of the eighteen 
 thousand Acadiens of the maritime country were 
 removed. Of these at least eight thousand perished 
 through grief, destitution, disease and other causes. 
 
 Only a small number of the people were put ashore 
 in the northern ports of New England, except at 
 Boston, where two thousand were Ijinded. New York 
 and Connecticut received, respectively, two hun- 
 dred and three hui^driMl. The remainder were 
 distributed in Pennsylvania, Maryland, the Caro- 
 linas and Georgia. In Pliiladelphia they were 
 at first forbidden to land, but after being over 
 two months on the vessels, tlie three overcrowded 
 ships gave up their unhappy freight. The last refer- 
 
no 
 
 GHANDPRt;. 
 
 u 
 
 ence to these is in the city records of 1766, when a 
 petition was tabled wliich asked for the payment for 
 coffins provided for the French Neutrals. Death had 
 reduced them from four hundred and fifty to two hun- 
 dred and seventeen. 
 
 South Carolina furnished the fifteen hundred Acad- 
 iens who landed there, with vessels to return. After 
 many hardships and misfortunes, they reached St. John 
 River, on the Bay of Fundy, reduced to half their 
 number. 
 
 Those who reached Georgia were again banished. 
 They were permitted to make boats, and in these they 
 made their way back as far as Massachusetts, when 
 an order from Lawrence caused their boats to be 
 seized and themselves to be made prisoners. 
 
 Others made their way to Louisiana and settled. 
 Their numbers increased by the arrival of others till 
 1788, from San Dominq^o, Guiana, the ports of New 
 England, and from France. Their descendants now 
 number about forty thousand. 
 
 Of those who landed in Massachusetts, Hutchinson, 
 the historian, says : " It is too evident that this unfor- 
 tunate people had much to suff'er from poverty and 
 bad treatment, even after they had been adopted by 
 Massacliusetts. The different petitions addressed to 
 Governor Shirley about this time are heartrending." 
 This condition gradually lessened till they were able 
 to leave the State for Canada. 
 
 Virginia refused to accept the fifteen hundred who 
 were to be landed there. They remained on the ships 
 till at length they were taken to England. 
 
GRAND-PRP.. 
 
 Ill 
 
 d 
 
 y 
 
 lo 
 
 I" 
 
 Four of the twenty ships never readied their destin- 
 ation. One was lost, two were driven by storm to 
 San Domingo, and the fourtli was taken by the 
 Acadiens themselves, and returned to Acadie. 
 
 When peace was concluded between France and 
 Englan^., in 1763, a few thousand of the Acadiens 
 started for Canada, where they settled. Three years 
 later, another band having gathered in Boston, 
 about eight hundred persons began the long march by 
 land for their loved Acadie. Men, women and children, 
 with but little food, toiled on through the forests of 
 Maine, and up the Bay of Fundy to the isthmus of 
 Shediac. Four months had been spent on the way, 
 and at last they found that their former homes were 
 in the possession of others, and Grand- Prd was not for 
 them. Here the greater number of them remained, 
 and their numerous descendants are dwelling there 
 to-day. A small band of fifty or sixty continued 
 round the shores, passing through Beausejour (now 
 Cumberland) Piziquid, and Grand-Pre. Everything 
 was changed. The English had been in the country 
 for six years, and new^ houses stood where the undis- 
 turbed ashes of hundreds of their homes had lain till 
 1760. 
 
 " The children were frightened by them, the men 
 and women were annoyed as by a threatening spectre 
 from the grave, everybody was angry with them, and 
 the poor wretches dragged themselves from village to 
 village, worried and worn out by fatigue, hunger and 
 cold, and a despair that grew at every halting place," 
 till they reached Annapolis. On the deserted shore 
 
112 
 
 QRAND-PRt. 
 
 of St. Mary's Bay they at last found themselves, 
 having tranipcvt a thousand miles, to be driven to a 
 barren country. " Under pressure of necessity, these 
 unfortunate outcasts raised log-huts ; they took to 
 fishing and hunting ; they began to clear the land and 
 soon out of the felled trees some roughly-built houses 
 were put up." Such was the origin of the colony of 
 the Acadiens in Digby County. Here was the home 
 of my ancestors. 
 
 i 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The English Settlers at Minas. 
 
 It is known that all the Acadiens were not removed 
 in 1755. Many of them remained in the country, 
 hiding in the woods, and these were joined by others 
 who returned afterward. When the English came in, 
 six years after, they met with Acadiens who had not 
 eaten bread for five years. For six years the lands 
 remained idle. Canard and Habitant became Corn- 
 wallis Township, and was settled at the same time 
 with Horton. Settlers came from Connecticut and 
 settled in Minas. In 1759 the Government made an 
 effort to secure people. The country had been sur- 
 veyed and laid off in townships of one hundred 
 thousand acres. The land had been viewed by agents 
 for the people who were to come. On the 4th of 
 June, 1760, twenty-two vessels arrived, convoyed by 
 a brig of war. Where they landed, sixty ox carts 
 and yokes were found, which had been left by the 
 Acadiens when they brought their goods to embark, 
 five years previous. In many places the bones of 
 sheep and horned cattle were seen, evidently those of 
 animals that had died for want of food. Everywhere 
 they found the ruins of houses near the little orchards 
 8 
 
114 
 
 GRAND-PRi:. 
 
 '■1 " 
 
 or garden plots. The dykes, neglected for so long, 
 let in the tide, and the settlers were glad to get the 
 assistance of the Acadiens to repair them and build 
 other new ones. 
 
 The other portion of Minas, including Grand-Prd 
 and Gaspereau, and called Horton, comprised one 
 hundred thousand acres. This township was also 
 settled in 1760. Two hundred settlers from Con- 
 necticut were invited to take the lands. The grants 
 were in fee simple, subject to quit-rents. A block- 
 house, called Fort Montague, was built near the site 
 of the old Vieux Logis, overlooking the meadows 
 and the mouth of the Gaspereau. Here also the 
 dykes had been broken by a terrible storm which 
 occurred in 1759. It was some years before the 
 people could repair the dyke, and not till 1810 was 
 the whole meadow shut in from the tide. The 
 settlers brought cattif' with them, and the Govern- 
 ment bore the expense of transporting the people and 
 their goods and animals. They at first sutiered from 
 the severity of the winter, and some of them were 
 provided with provisions by the Government. 
 
 France and England signed a treaty of peace in 
 1764; yet as late as 1765 there were Acadien 
 prisoners at Fort Edward, at one time as many as 
 four hundred. After that time they were permitted 
 to take up land. 
 
 The English Minas increased in population, and 
 many names have come down to us from these early 
 settlers. Missionaries carried on their work in ways 
 peculiar to their times. A letter written ift 1791 
 gives us a picture gf the day ; 
 
 I 
 
ORAND-PBf:. 
 
 115 
 
 in 
 lien 
 
 as 
 bted 
 
 md 
 
 lys 
 '91 
 
 I 
 
 " Ah to the religious opinions and professions of the 
 inhabitants I shall only observe in general that a few, 
 and but a very few, belong to tlie Established Church 
 (Scotland) ; a few, but I believe more than the former, 
 are Presbyterian dissenters. The Methodists bear the 
 sway, most all of them Yorkshire. . . . Those of 
 the original settlers from New England who remain 
 have chiefly become New Lights ; without prejudice it 
 may be said of both sectaries, that being unenlightened 
 by knowledge and united by delusion, animated by 
 party spirit and carried away by a religious-like zeal, 
 they seem to vie with each other in the wildness and 
 the absurdity of their opinions and practices, and 
 they seem to breathe fire and vengeance against each 
 other, and against everybody else." Such were the 
 times. 
 
 The hi .rory of the Rev. George Gilmore, the second 
 Presbyterian minister in Horton, will be read with in- 
 terest. He was born in Antrim, studied in Edinburgh, 
 married and had children in Ireland. Came to Phila- 
 delphia in 1769. Early in the Revolutionary war he had 
 to flee for his life into Canada. In 1785 he was in 
 Halifax making claims for losses resulting from the 
 war, as he had espoused the Loyalist cause. He was 
 granted a farm on a barren hill, and during one 
 winter he and his family lived on potatoes and milk. 
 In his distress he walked to Halifax to mortgage his 
 farm for a barrel of flour, but failed to do so. He 
 continued to preach in Windsor, and finally, in 1791, 
 he came to Horton, where he died in 1811. His grave 
 is in the burying-ground near th© old Covenanter 
 
116 
 
 iiUANDrnf:. 
 
 if 
 
 Churcii at Gniiid-Prd. His grave.stonu is inscribed 
 in Latin. 
 
 The oM Scoteli Churcli at Grand-Prd was built in 
 1804. This relic is very interestin<( ; but, unfortu- 
 nately, nothintr i.s done to preserve it. It is much 
 visited every year. Only two or three services a year 
 are held to prevent the property passint^ out of 
 the hands of the body. Old trees surround it and 
 the graveyard adjoinint^, in which the " forefathers 
 of the handet sleep." The stiff', high-backed pews 
 remain, and overlooking the neglected interior yet 
 stand the lofty pulpit and sounding-board. 
 
 With the growth of Wolfville is naturally associ- 
 ated the development of Acadia University and the 
 increasing strength of the Baptist body in this 
 portion of the country. The first survey of the 
 country provided for the building of towns, but 
 natural conditions favored their growth elsewhere. 
 A small cluster of houses formed near what was 
 called the " Bridge," which since has become Wolf- 
 ville. Before the railway passed through, vessels 
 were loaded alongside the main street. The rich 
 land and a beautiful situation, with other favoring 
 conditions, the chief of which was the establishing 
 of the college here, led to the development of the 
 university town of Wolfville. Waterworks, electric 
 lights, and well laid-out streets and beautiful resi- 
 dences, with all the conditions of a clean town and 
 the promise of continued growth, make this classic 
 centre the rendezvous of tourists who seek Grand- 
 Pr^. 
 
1 
 
 is 
 1 
 
 
 t 
 
 > 
 3 
 
 X 
 
 y. 
 
 
 
 i^ 
 
 d 
 
 ic 
 
I 
 
 
 GRANDVHf:. 
 
 117 
 
 Acadia Collcfjc! sprunj^ into l)('iii<; from the needs of 
 tlio Baptist b(j<ly for an edncational institution at a 
 time vvlien its adliorents were a small factor in Nova 
 Scotia. In 1827 several educated younpf men havinj^ 
 adopted Baptist principles and entered the niinistry, 
 their influence, with the demands of the older minis- 
 try, })rout(ht about the result which has been of so 
 much benefit to Baptist teaching ever since. In 
 March, 1829, the school known as Horton Academy 
 was opened. In 1836 the collet^iate institution was 
 commenced, supported by the Baptists of Nova 
 Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. 
 The university and atllliate*! institutions at the pres- 
 ent time include the College, the Ladies' Seminary 
 and the Academy, or Preparatory School, and the 
 Manual Training School. The energy and faith of its 
 supporters are manifest in the effort that is beiiig 
 made for larger endowments to increase the efiiciency 
 of the schools. Dr. Thomas Trotter is President of 
 the University. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 piR 
 
 li 
 
 The Origin of '* Evangeline "—What to See— Hints to 
 
 Tourists. 
 
 I HAVE been asked many times how it was that 
 Longfellow came to write his poem * Evangeline." 
 The following is a correct account of it. There is a 
 letter in the Legislative Library at Halifax which 
 vouches for a generally accepted account. In 1845, 
 Hawthorne and a Rev. Father Connoly dined one day 
 with Longfellow. After dinner the priest said he 
 had been trying to persuade Hawthorne to write a 
 story based upon a legend of Acadie — the story of a 
 young girl taken from Grand-Pr^ with all her people. 
 In exile she was separated from her lover, and they 
 sought each other in vain until the girl became a 
 Sister of Charity, when, advanced in years she was 
 one day called to nurse a patient who had been 
 brought low with sickness. In him she recognized 
 the lover of her youth. Longfellow wondered that 
 this legend did not strike the fancy of Hawthorne, 
 and said to him : " If you have really made up your 
 mind not to use the story, will you give it to me for a 
 poem ? " Hawthorne assented to this, and promised, 
 moreover, not to treat the subject in prose till Long- 
 fellow had seen what he could do with it in verse. 
 
GRAND-PRA 
 
 119 
 
 a 
 
 It seema that Connoly had been urging Hawthorne to 
 write the story. The priest liad been told tlie facts 
 of the story by Mra. George Haliburton, an aunt of 
 Judge Haliburton, the author of " Sam Slick." This 
 well-known Nova Scotian published, in 1829, a 
 history of Nova Scotia. He knew many of the 
 Acadiens who had returned to the Province after 
 their wanderinofs in New England. Doubtless Longr- 
 fellow made use of this history when writing the 
 poem. The following extracts taken from his journal 
 show the development of the poem : 
 
 Nov. '28, IHJ^h. — I have commenced my idyl in 
 hexameters. I do not intend to let a day pass with- 
 out adding to it a few lines at least. Felton and 
 Sumner do not approve of hexameter verse, but I am 
 of the opinion that it is the only form that is suited 
 to this kind of a poem. 
 
 Dec. 2, 18J/). — I do not know what to name, not a 
 new child that has just been born to me, but my new 
 poem. Which shall it be : " Gabrielle," or " Celestine," 
 or " Evangeline ? " 
 
 Jan. 8, I8J4.6. — Always at work, but alas ! how 
 little the poem advances. One interruption follows 
 another. I wish to go into solitude for a whole 
 season. 
 
 Jan. 22, I84.6. — I hope to be well advanced in 
 " Evangeline " when vacation ends. Two cantos are 
 finished ; this is a good commencement. 
 
 April S, 18J^6. — I have examined to-day a collection 
 of songs. This is a singular book ... I noted the air 
 " Charming Gabrielle." 
 
; I 
 
 120 
 
 GH AN DP lit:. 
 
 V, 
 
 >■' 
 
 July 9, 18^0. — Not any prot^ress lias been made on 
 my much-loved poem " Evangeline." 
 
 Nov. 12, 1 8 46. — I liad hurried to see myself vigor- 
 ously at the work, but as soon as I counted on a day 
 of leisure to leave me free for poetry, certain unex- 
 pected circumstances came to deprive me of it. 
 
 Dec. 15, 18 4.0. — I have worked to-day a little on 
 " Evangeline," sketching the second part, which fas- 
 cinates me. If I can only give it the tone and all 
 the proper expressions. The material for this part is 
 abundant. The difficulty is to make a happy choice 
 and to make a unity of the variety. 
 
 Dec. 17, I84.O. — I have finished the first canto of 
 the second part of " Evangeline." Some of the 
 verses which I composed this morning were written 
 at my office. Just now I am writing in pencil on my 
 lap. I like this way of composing, because it permits 
 me to write in the shade, near the fireplace, and saves 
 my eyes. I see that tliey offer for sale a panorama 
 of the Mississippi. It comes just in time. Instead 
 of going to the river, the river comes to me, and as it 
 may flow over all the pages of my poem, I consider 
 this panorama of the Mississippi a great blessing. 
 
 Jan. 14, I847. — I have finished the last canto of 
 " Evangeline," but the poem is not ended ; there 
 remain two intermediate cantos to compose. 
 
 Jan. 22, I847. — I have pursued the composition of 
 my poem, and walked for a couple of hours. 
 
 Jan. 27, 184-7. — I have finished the second canto 
 of the second part of " Evangeline." Then I exercised 
 myself by rendering a passage in pentameter rhymes. 
 
 T 
 
 i 
 
 K 
 
 1 1 
 
 \ 
 
 i 
 
 III 
 
GRANDPRt:. 
 
 121 
 
 Jan. ^7, 18Jf7. — I bought at the bookstore the 
 " Annals of Phihidelphia," by Watson ; the " His- 
 torical Collection of Pennsylvania," and the " Geo- 
 graphical Description of Louisiana," by Darby. These 
 works will be useful to me in giving a local coloring 
 to the part of " Evangeline," which is yet to be 
 written. 
 
 Feb. i, I84.7. — I have almost finished to-day the 
 third canto of the second part of " Evangeline." 
 
 Feb. 23, 18^7. — My poem is almost ended ; I com- 
 posed the last verse of it this morning. 
 
 April 4, 18J^7. — Sumner and Felton took tea with 
 me ; we were talking of " Evangeline." Sumner 
 appears to me little confident of the success of the 
 poem, and he seems to desire that I should delay the 
 publication of it six months or more. 
 
 April 9, .I847. — My manuscript is in the hands of 
 the printers. Folsom has cut it out almost every- 
 where. How severe he is! But so much the better. 
 
 Oct. 2, 18^7.— V^hy does not Ticnor publish "Evan- 
 geline " ? 
 
 Oct. 30, I847. — " Evangeline " is published. 
 
 Nov. 8, I847. — "Evangeline" is making its way 
 bravely. None of my previous publications was worth 
 so numerous and so warm congratulations. 
 
 Strange to relate, Longfellow never saw Grand-Pr(^. 
 As was natural, certain errors crept into the poem, 
 which only a study of the country could have avoided. 
 I have noted a few discrepancies, topographical and 
 liistorical. The poem is, in the main, correct. The 
 people were made to sufifer all the horrors described. 
 Families and friends were separated. 
 
^^ 
 
 122 
 
 GRAND-PR^. 
 
 % 
 
 "This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and 
 hemlocks." 
 
 Ill the year 1710 a terrible forest fire swept over 
 the country from Gaspereau to the Piziquid. It is 
 probable that tlie extensive forests covering the 
 mountains to the east were also destroyed at the 
 same time. Tlie great quantity of wood which had 
 to be brought to supply the Acadiens must have come 
 from a long distance — as some writers say, from tlie 
 east side of the Avon. Only a small patch at the 
 head of that river remained. When the English 
 settlers came in 1760 they passed laws for the pro- 
 tection of the wood then standing. For many years 
 the new growth was small, and consisted of spruce, 
 fir, white birch, poplar and white pine. It is said 
 that in the previous year a cyclone had laid prostrate 
 the forest from Annapolis to East Hants. Over a 
 great part of this territory, the soil is thin on the 
 mountain, and once the fire started in the next year 
 nothing could stop the fearful march of the flames 
 till it reached the Avon. 
 
 "Naught but trnclition remains of the beautiful village of 
 Grand-Pre." 
 
 Of late years much has been learned of the Aca- 
 diens and of their villages. Grand- Prt^ proper was a 
 very small village. 
 
 " Vast meadows stretched to the eastward." 
 
 The marshes lie chiefly to the north, 
 
er 
 
 is 
 lie 
 
 lie 
 
 CAV<-/// th> 
 
 l>H)ntin,j I,,, 'III, 
 
 'iiiug Fa^ff J 
 
i 
 
 GRAND-PRA 
 
 123 
 
 "but at stated se/isons the flood-gates 
 Oi)ened, and welcomed the sea to wander at will o'er the 
 meadows." 
 
 Gates are not opened to let in the salt water. The 
 land is remarkably fertile, and has been producing 
 crops for many years without renewing. Some of 
 the land is very valuable as hay land, and is rated as 
 high as $400 per acre. After the deportation, in the 
 year 1759, before the Acadien lands were again occu- 
 pied, the dykes were broken and the meadows flooded. 
 Again, in 1828, the extremely high tide broke over 
 the dykes and flooded many thousand acres of land. 
 The famous Saxby tide of 1869 overtopped the 
 highest dykes by some inches, and in many places 
 the protecting walls were broken down and much 
 damage was done by the salt water. On the Wick- 
 wire dyke, near Wolfville, it was several years before 
 the dykes were rebuilt, and a year or so before the 
 productive power of the soil was restored. Salt water 
 has the effect of killing the ordinary vegetation of the 
 meadows, under certain conditions. 
 
 " West and south were the fields . . . 
 Spreading afar and unfenced o'er the jylain." 
 
 There is no plain to the south of Grand-Prt^, for 
 the country is hilly, with gentle slopes, till it falls 
 away to the Gaspereau valley. 
 
 " Benedict Belief ontaine, the wealthiest farmer of Grand -Pre. " 
 
 Oliver Bellefontaine, living in the village of Gas- 
 pereau, is the only one of the name to be found in 
 
124 
 
 ORAND-Plif:. 
 
 U 
 
 Winslow's list. There was no priest in Minas in the 
 autumn of 1755, lie having; heen removed during the 
 summer. 
 
 "Gontlo Evaiiguliiiu livod." 
 
 The only Bellefontaine had no dauj:i^hter, according 
 to the list above mentioned. Gabriel Lajeunesse was 
 not a name known at Minas. 
 
 Rene Le Blanc was the notary. 
 
 "Anon from the belfry 
 Softly the Angelus sounded." 
 
 I'' I 
 
 The troops had taken the church for a storehouse, 
 and it was within the picket inclosure, and under 
 strict guard. 
 
 In the matter of time there is great discrepancy. 
 No doubt the poet had not access to Winslow's jour- 
 nal at the time of writing the poem. 
 
 i 
 
 "Then uprose the connnander, and spake from the steps of the 
 altjir." 
 
 He was seated at a table in the open space of the 
 building, and from there he read the proclamation. 
 
 " Lo I the door of the chancel opened, and Father Felician 
 entered." 
 
 This scene could not have been enacted, as there 
 was no priest in the country. Nor was there a service 
 afterwards. 
 
GiiAND-VUE. 
 
 125 
 
 he 
 he 
 
 as 
 
 iC, 
 
 er 
 
 .. 
 
 *'Thus to the GafiporeHu'H mouth thoy hurried; juul there on 
 
 the sea- bench 
 Piled in confusion lay the household goods of the peasants." 
 
 The men had been taken on board the transports, 
 and were there some time before the rest of the 
 people were ordered to embark. The sad scene on 
 the beach, and tlie substMjuent embarkin*^, are crea- 
 tions of the poet's fancy. 
 
 On the 4th of August, 1755, the cure oi Minas had 
 been ordered to Halifax, and was detained there. 
 On the lOtli, Le Maire, priest of Canard River, was 
 also a prisoner. There was now not a priest left to 
 the French of the Annapolis valley. This was a 
 severe punishment, at all times; for their religion, 
 and the officers of their religious worship they deemed 
 their dearest possession. This movx» on the part of 
 Lawrence left the way open for the use of the church 
 and the priest's house by Winslow, when he came to 
 Grand-Pre. It left them without the guides they 
 placed every confidence in, and, on the other hand, 
 it removed a possible obstacle to a complete trap set 
 for the Acadiens. 
 
 WHAT TO SEE. 
 
 At Grand-Pre. — The French Willows, opposite the 
 railway station. In a line from the east, the burying- 
 ground of the Acadiens, the French Well, the site 
 of the Church, the priest's house. The well and 
 cellar of the priest's house are easily found. The 
 four places mentioned are in a line in the order 
 
m. . 
 
 126 
 
 GRAND-PRe. 
 
 named from tlie oast, betwooii tlu; Willows and tlie 
 railway station. 
 
 The Acadien Roa<l to the villa<^e of Grand-Pr^, 
 running from the Willows up the hill on the south, 
 marked by willows. The Grand-Pre, the great 
 meadow, taken from the sea. 
 
 The Landing Place, where the Acadiens cnnlmrked, 
 one and a half miles east, on the Gaspereau River. 
 
 Site of the old Fort, Vleitx Log is, near the same 
 pi ace. 
 
 The Old Covenanter Church, built in 1804, one- 
 quarter mile south of the station. 
 
 Evangeline Beach, Long Island, with view of the 
 Basin. 
 
 Col. Noble's grave, near first corner south of the 
 railroad. Soldier's grave near by. 
 
 The Basin of Minas. — The Tides. By all means 
 see the tides, the most wonderful in the world. 
 Average height, fifty feet. In places seventy feet. 
 
 " Tide in " and " tide out " from the same point. 
 
 The " Tidal Bore," the advance wave of the coming 
 tide, at times four feet high on the Petitcodiac. 
 
 Cape Blomidon, where amethyst and zeolites are 
 found. 
 
 Herbin's collection of specimens and cut stone. 
 
 The dykes and an aboiteau, or sluice, to let out 
 the water. 
 
 The Gaspereau Valley. — Drive through it, for it is 
 the most beautiful spot in Nova Scotia. 
 
 The Look-Off. — From which can be seen four coun- 
 ties. Tliis drivQ will take you through a country of 
 
 ., 
 
 i, 
 
ORAND-PRf;. 
 
 127 
 
 orchar.ls an,l ,„ar.sl,..s. A v..,-y iH.autiful drivo, an.l 
 h..s oneally u,ter,.sti,.« „.s well, thronj;!, th„ c„„„,,, 
 ot tho Acadicns. 
 
 Wol/vlUe.-N,u,>oa after the Do Wolfs, one of the 
 Old lainilie.s. 
 
 Acadia University, and affiliated institutions. 
 
 i ne Univcisity Museum. 
 
 Herhin's collection of Aca.lien and In.lian relies. 
 
 whir:!.' "'' '"■^"' ""' ''''^ "^y "- 'i^''' '^^ «- 
 A harbor without water. 
 
 walk" ""'''' ^'"°"' "'" "''^' '°""' "^ \V"'fville,a short 
 
 e