under the uncertainties and anxieties of their condition. The proffer of French authorities to transport the Neutrals to France was rejected, as not likely to be fairly and fully carried out.
The measure having been decided upon, steps were at once taken to effect it, and different agents were appointed to complete the design at the different villages. The inhabitants of Chiegnecto fled into the woods and kept out of the way. All who could affirm that they had not been in arms against the English, and would at last take the oath, were at liberty to remain. Colonel John Winslow, of Massachusetts, in command at Mines, did his work with resolution and completeness. Of the inhabitants, four hundred and eighteen unarmed men were enticed into their church, on Sept. 5, 1755, as if to listen to a message from the King of England. By a bold ruse they were seized and borne to the waiting vessels. Nearly two thousand were removed from Mines, and eleven hundred from Annapolis. A party of two hundred and twenty-six Acadians seized the vessel in which they were conveyed, made off with it, and were not recovered. About three thousand in all were removed. They were distributed over the provinces, of course as a public charge, a burden and a nuisance to those who were compelled to receive them, forlorn, homeless, wretched, and sick at heart themselves. At intervals of between a few months and several years about two thirds of them, in various ways, got back to their loved Acadia.[1]
Such is the rehearsal of this tragic story as it stands on the pages of authentic history. No morbidness of senti-
- ↑ In dealing with this painful episode, I have been greatly indebted to and have gladly followed the lead of Mr. James Hannay, in his “History of Acadia, from its First Discovery to its Surrender to England by the Treaty of Paris. St. John, N. B., 1879.” The author, most thorough and comprehensive, in his documentary research shows also a judicial and most candid spirit, seeking to present both sides in a harrowing historical incident, and affording his readers of different sympathies the means of strengthening their own from the full and calm statements which he sets before them.
