Under them hear they the clang of harpstrings, and angels from

gold clouds

Beckon to them like brothers, and fan with their pinions of

purple.

Closed was the Teacher's task, and with heaven in their hearts and their faces,

Up rose the children all, and each bowed him, weeping full sorely, Downward to kiss that reverend hand, but all of them pressed he

Moved to his bosom, and laid, with a prayer, his hands full of blessings,

Now on the holy breast, and now on the innocent tresses.

EVANGELINE,

A TALE OF ACADIE.

1847.

THIS is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks,

Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the

twilight,

Stand like Druids of old,' with voices sad and prophetic,

Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms. Loud from its rocky caverns, the deep-voiced neighboring ocean Speaks, and in accents disconsolate answers the wail of the forest.

This is the forest primeval; but where are the hearts that beneath it

Leaped like the roe, when he hears in the woodland the voice of the huntsman ?

Where is the thatch-roofed village, the home of Acadian farmers,

Men whose lives glided on like rivers that water the woodlands,

Darkened by shadows of earth, but reflecting an image of heaven?

Waste are those pleasant farms, and the farmers forever departed!

Scattered like dust and leaves, when the mighty blasts of October

Seize them, and whirl them aloft, and sprinkle them far o'er the

ocean.

Naught but tradition remains of the beautiful village of Grand-Pré.

'Druids. An ancient order of priests, chiefly in Great Britain, whose sacred rites were performed mostly in forests. Some of these were also bards.

56

Ye who believe in affection that hopes, and endures, and is

patient,

Ye who believe in the beauty and strength of woman's devotion, List to the mournful tradition still sung by the pines of the

forest;

List to a Tale of Love in Acadie, home of the happy.

PART THE FIRST.

I.

IN the Acadian land, on the shores of the Basin of Minas,
Distant, secluded, still, the little village of Grand-Pré

Lay in the fruitful valley.' Vast meadows stretched to the eastward,

Giving the village its name, and pasture to flocks without

number.

Dikes, that the hands of the farmers had raised with labor

incessant,

Shut out the turbulent tides; but at stated seasons the flood

gates

Opened, and welcomed the sea to wander at will o'er the meadows.

West and south there were fields of flax, and orchards and cornfields

Spreading afar and unfenced o'er the plain; and away to the northward

Blomidon rose, and the forests old, and aloft on the mountains Sea-fogs pitched their tents, and mists from the mighty Atlantic Looked on the happy valley, but ne'er from their station descended.

There, in the midst of its farms, reposed the Acadian village. Strongly built were the houses, with frames of oak and of chestnut,

"Hunting and fishing gave way to agriculture, which had been established in the marshes and lowlands, by repelling, with dikes, the sea and rivers which covered these plains. At the same time these immense meadows were covered with numer ous flocks."-Haliburton.

Such as the peasants of Normandy built in the reign of the

Henries.

Thatched were the roofs, with dormer-windows; and gables pro

jecting

Over the basement below protected and shaded the door-way. There in the tranquil evenings of summer, when brightly the

sunset

Lighted the village street, and gilded the vanes on the chimneys, Matrons and maidens sat in snow-white caps and in kirtles Scarlet and blue and green, with distaffs spinning the golden Flax for the gossiping looms, whose noisy shuttles within doors Mingled their sound with the whir of the wheels and the songs of the maidens.

Solemnly down the street came the parish priest, and the children Paused in their play to kiss the hand he extended to bless them. Reverend walked he among them; and up rose matrons and

maidens,

Hailing his slow approach with words of affectionate welcome. Then came the laborers home from the field, and serenely the sun

sank

Down to his rest, and twilight prevailed.

belfry

Anon from the

Softly the Angelus 1 sounded, and over the roofs of the village Columns of pale blue smoke, like clouds of incense ascending, Rose from a hundred hearths, the homes of peace and contentment.

Thus dwelt together in love these simple Acadian farmers,— Dwelt in the love of God and of man. Alike were they free

from

Fear, that reigns with the tyrant, and envy, the vice of republics.

Neither locks had they to their doors, nor bars to their windows; But their dwellings were open as day and the hearts of the

owners;

There the richest was poor, and the poorest lived in abundance.2

1 Angelus.-The ringing of the church bell, calling to prayer. The celebrated picture of The Angelus," by J. F. Millet, has given an added interest to the subject. 2" Real misery was wholly unknown, and benevolence anticipated the demands of poverty. Every misfortune was relieved, as it were, before it could be felt, without ostentation on the one hand, and without meanness on the other. It was, in short, a society of brethren."-Abbe Reynal.

Somewhat apart from the village, and nearer the Basin of Minas,

Benedict Bellefontaine, the wealthiest farmer of Grand-Pré, Dwelt on his goodly acres; and with him, directing his household,

Gentle Evangeline lived, his child, and the pride of the village.
Stalworth and stately in form was the man of seventy winters;
Hearty and hale was he, an oak that is covered with snowflakes;
White as the snow were his locks, and his cheeks as brown as
the oak-leaves.

Fair was she to behold, that maiden of seventeen summers.
Black were her eyes as the berry that grows on the thorn by the

wayside,

Black, yet how softly they gleamed beneath the brown shade of her tresses!

Sweet was her breath as the breath of kine that feed in the meadows.

When in the harvest heat she bore to the reapers at noontide Flagons of home-brewed ale, ah ! fair in sooth was the maiden Fairer was she when, on Sunday morn, while the bell from its

turret

Sprinkled with holy sounds the air, as the priest with his hyssop1 Sprinkles the congregation, and scatters blessings upon them. Down the long street she passed, with her chaplet of beads and her missal,

Wearing her Norman cap, and her kirtle of blue, and the earrings,

Brought in the olden time from France, and since, as an heirloom,

Handed down from mother to child, through long generations. But a celestial brightness—a more ethereal beauty

Shone on her face and encircled her form, when, after confession,

Homeward serenely she walked with God's benediction upon her.

When she had passed, it seemed like the ceasing of exquisite music.

1 Hyssop.-An aromatic plant mentioned in Psalm lv. 7. Of it is made a sort of brush which the Roman Catholic priest dips into holy water and sprinkles, with his blessing, the congregation.