The Acadian Exiles : a Chronicle of the Land of EvangelineDoughty, Arthur G. (Arthur George), Sir
History
The Acadian Exiles : a Chronicle of the Land of Evangeline
Doughty, Arthur G. (Arthur George), Sir
Acadia; Nova Scotia -- History
Presbyterian Church--the Rev. John Lanneau, who afterwards
went as a missionary to Jerusalem, and the Rev. Basil
Lanneau, who became Hebrew tutor in the Theological
Seminary at Columbia.
Among the refugees who put out from Minas on October 13,
1755, were some four hundred and fifty destined for
Philadelphia. The vessels touched Delaware on November
20, when it was discovered that there were several cases
of smallpox on board, and the masters were ordered to
leave the shore. They were not permitted to land at
Philadelphia until the 10th of December. Many of the
exiles died during the winter, and were buried in the
cemetery of the poor which now forms a part of Washington
Park, Philadelphia. The survivors were lodged in a poor
quarter of the town, in 'neutral huts,' as their mean
dwellings were termed. When the plague-stricken people
arrived, Philadelphia had scarcely recovered from the
panic of a recent earthquake. Moreover, there was a
letter, said to have been written by Lawrence, dated at
Halifax, August 6, and published in the Philadelphia
Gazette on September 4, not calculated to place the
destitute refugees in a favourable light. This is the
substance of the letter: We are now forming the noble
project of driving the French Neutrals out of this
province. They have long been our secret enemies and have
assisted the Indians. If we are able to accomplish their
expulsion, it will be one of the great achievements of
the English in America, for, among other considerations,
the lands which they occupy are among the best in the
country, and we can place good English farmers in their
stead. A few days later another letter was published to
the effect that three Acadians had been arrested charged
with poisoning the wells in the vicinity of Halifax.
Their trial, it was stated, had not yet taken place; but
if guilty they would have but a few hours to live.
Robert Hunter Morris, the governor at this time of
Pennsylvania, wrote to Shirley of Massachusetts saying
that, as he had not sufficient troops to enforce order,
he feared that the Acadians would unite with the Irish
and German Catholics in a conspiracy against the state.
He also addressed the governor of New Jersey [Footnote:
Jonathan Belcher, governor of New Jersey and later of
Massachusetts. He was the father of the chief justice of
Nova Scotia.] to the same effect. The governor of New
Jersey, in his reply, expressed surprise that those who
planned to send the French Neutrals, or rather rebels
and traitors to the British crown, had not realized that
there were already too many strangers for the peace and
security of the colonies: that they should have been sent
to Old France. He was quite in accord with Morris in
believing there was a danger of the people joining the
Irish Papists in an attempt to ruin and destroy the king's
colonies.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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