[ganong] origins of SETTLEMENTS IN NEW BRUNSWICK 3S 



tion of Aeadiajis from the peninsula of Nova Scotia to the mainland, 

 •then practicallly Frencli territory, as well as to the French possessions 

 at Isle St. John and elsewhere. The emigration was favoured by the 

 'French authorities, and in 1750 it reached considerable proportions, 

 'culminating in the total abandonment and destruction by the Acadians 

 themselves of their large and prosperous settlement of Beaubassin, 

 ^and their retirement north of the Misseguash into the present New 

 Brunswick. This emigration was important for New Brunswick, 

 ïor it greatly increased the Acadian population in that Province, not 

 only (temporarily) in the settlements near Fort Beauséjour, and at 

 Memramcool', Petitcodiac, and ShepodiJ, but as well it sent" many of 

 them to reside on the St. John, to Shediac, and perhaps also to Mira- 

 niichi and possibly other points along the North Shore. 



h. The Expulsion of the Acadians. In 1755 the British became 

 masters of all Acadia, including the present New Brunswick, and, turn- 

 ing to the x\cadians, still vastly outnumbering them and intensely loyal 

 to France, gave them one more opportunity to take the oath of allegiance 

 asi British subjects. This tlie Acadians refused, and the English, at war 

 with France, and feeling British rule in Nova Scotia menaced by the 

 presence of a great body of sympathizers with the enemy, resolved upon 

 and carried out a drastic war measure, — the expulsion of the Acadians 

 from the country, and their transiportation to the other British colonies 

 fwhere their presence would not be a danger.^ 



' This was the real origin of the expulsion of the Acadians. It was simply a 

 war niensure. horribly cruel, because that is the nature of war, but justified by the 

 first liiw of nations, national self-preservation. From the earliest times down to 

 this day the necessity for self-preservation has been held by all nations to justify 

 a resort to the extremest measures when these seem necessary. It is of course an 

 entirely separate question whctliei- tliis measure (the expulsion of the Acadians) 

 was really necessary ; it is very easy to be wise after the event, and, in these peace- 

 ful times, to prove to our satisfaction that the expulsion was quite needless on this 

 ground. But this is not the point: the vital consideration is this, that it did seem 

 to the rulers of Nova Scotia to be necessary, and therefore they did it. It is a 

 hor)o1e'sl\- rarrow view of the course of history which can see such an event as 

 the Expulsion inspired primarily by a cruel hatred of the British for the Acadians, 

 or by a selfish desire for the possession of their lands and property. The springs 

 of the British action l;\y deeper, very far deeper, than this. It is not Lawrence, 

 nor the British of his day, who are to be blamed for the cruelty of the Expulsion, 

 but the implacable spirit of war which inspired them to it. This spirit is not 

 yet extinct, but even to this day dominates the policy of nations, which, with 

 little liumour and iiuuli liypocrisy, claim to be ^ront, civilized and (Christian. Let 

 us at least be honest with ourselves, and lay the blame for such events as the Ex- 

 pulsion where it belongs, not upon the enemy of the moment, but upon the war 

 spirit which we still permit to dominate us. 



