A Great and Noble Scheme: by John Mack Faragher

A Great and Noble Scheme: The Tragic Story of the Expulsion of the French Acadians from their American Homeland by John Mack Faragher




"In 1755, New England troops embarked on a 'great and noble scheme' to expel 18,000 French-speaking Acadians ("the neutral French") from Nova Scotia, killing thousands, separating innumerable families, and driving many into forests where they waged a desperate guerrilla resistance. The right of neutrality; to live in peace from the imperial wars waged between France and England; had been one of the founding values of Acadia; its settlers traded and intermarried freely with native Mìkmaq Indians and English Protestants alike. But the Acadians' refusal to swear unconditional allegiance to the British Crown in the mid-eighteenth century gave New Englanders, who had long coveted Nova Scotia's fertile farmland, pretense enough to launch a campaign of ethnic cleansing on a massive scale."

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 eld, 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.

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.

I think I was in the seventh grade the first time I read these lines. And even at that age, the tragedy and heartbreak was unforgettable. What would make the story even more poignant is when, a few years later, I learned that it was based on a true event. Why was this done? What sort of reason was given, if any? What sort of people would do such a thing? Us sort, it turns out.

Being so invested in the story, I had to read this book. I wanted answer to my questions, and I wasn't disappointed, for the events are told in depth here. Beginning when the French Acadians first colonized the area, to their lives of harmony with the Mìkmaq Indians and their loyalty to their native culture that would be their undoing.

There are very few heroes here, but plenty of villains to go around: the British, who were unwilling to allow anything but absolute obedience, and destroyed the Acadians rather then allow them to return to France; the governor of Massachusetts who devised the scheme, the soldiers of his state who were more than willing to carry out the decree of expulsion, so eager were they for more land; the French, who left their colony completely unprotected while at the same time using French priests to stir up the inhabitants. All three bear their share of blame for this attempt at ethnic cleansing.

We can only be thankful that they were unsuccessful, even though thousands died. And though they were purposely sent to widely dispersed areas, many Acadians would eventually find their ways home, while other, like those who settled in Louisiana and would come to be called Cajun, would create a new culture for themselves in their new homes.

The book is long and extremely detailed. But I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in the history of Nova Scotia or the northeastern area of the US, Cajun history, or in the story "of a people born on the margins of empire who sought a way to live with two master." And who failed.

Still stands the forest primeval; but under the shade of its branches
Dwells another race, with other customs and language.
Only along the shore of the mournful and misty Atlantic
Linger a few Acadian peasants, whose fathers from exile
Wandered back to their native land to die in its bosom.
In the fisherman’s cot the wheel and the loom are still busy;
Maidens still wear their Norman caps and their kirtles of homespun,
And by the evening fire repeat Evangeline’s story,
While from its rocky caverns the deep-voiced, neighboring ocean
Speaks, and in accents disconsolate answers the wail of the forest.