At the time when our story opens, events in Acadie were fast ripening
to that unhappy issue known as "the expulsion of the Acadians," which
furnished Longfellow with the theme of "Evangeline." The Acadian
peninsula, now Nova Scotia, had been ceded by France to England.
The dividing line between French and English territory was the
Missaguash stream, winding through the marshes of the isthmus of
Chignecto which connects Acadie with the mainland. The Acadians had
become British subjects in name, but all the secret efforts of France
were devoted to preventing them from becoming so in sentiment. What is
now New Brunswick was still French territory, as were also Prince Edward
Island and Cape Breton. It was the hope of the French king, Louis XV,
that if the Acadians could be kept thoroughly French at heart Acadie
might yet be won back to shine on the front of New France.
As the two nations were now at peace, any tampering with the allegiance
of the Acadians could only be carried on in secret. In the hands of
the French there remained just two forces to be employed--persuasion
and intimidation; and their religion was the medium through which
these forces were applied. The Acadians had their own priests. Such of
these as would lend themselves to the schemes of the government were
left in their respective parishes; others, more conscientious, were
transferred to posts where their scruples would be less inconvenient.
If any Acadian began to show signs of wishing to live his own life
quietly, careless as to whether a Louis or a George reigned over him,
he was promptly brought to terms by the threat that the Micmacs, who
remained actively French, would be turned loose upon him.
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