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Journal
Année
1887
Mois
11
Jour
23
Titre de l'article
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Auteur
Alpha
Page(s)
2
Type d'article
Langue
Contenu de l'article
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 for ever 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 océan. Nought but tradition remains of the beautiful village of Grand Pré. Longfellow. Yet another aspirant to journalistic fame and succcss, cornes to-day to make its bow before an indulgent public, trusting that a long felt want may be supplied by its advent, if not in entirety at least in great part Large and ever increasing is the French-speaking population of the Maritime Provinces. Numbers, amongst this people living in our midst, know no tongue, save the sweet and harmonious language of Sunny France—no other literature, save that which Fénélon and Racine have made famous, and on the Honor- Roll of which so many great names shine. For to-day, from. the smiling fields of Provence or the seft-girt shore of Brittany, (where their forefathers lived and loved) they are scattered; but though no longer beneath the Lilies of the Bourbons, or the Tri-color of the Republic, they have ever cherished as one of their most precious heirlooms, second indeed only to one other in their estimation—the heritage of their mother-tongue. The first aim then of this journal, which to-day salutes both its English and French confrères for the first time, is to weld together into one harmonious whole, by enabling each better to understand and appreciate the other, our two constituent elements of English and French-speaking peoples. This paper will ever strive, through the medium of its columns, to still further increase and strengthen the bonds, which unite the descendants of the old French Colonists to the great Empire, under whose Flag we all live. Confident in the strength and thoroughness of their loyalty to English Institutions and England’s Ruler, our Acadian people wish to march along the road to progress, hand in hand with their Saxon and Irish brethren, ever striving for still greater advancement — intellectual and moral. This, then, is the aim we have in view, and we trust that time will aid us in proving its sincerity and its correctness. A nation that retrogrades or stands still, instead of ever striving after a higher goal, is already marked with the first symptoms of decay, and our young but vigorous Nationality must understand this important and all-necessary truth, before it may hope to take a worthy place among the nations of the earth. Loyalty then will ever pervade and permeate all our pages; but this loyalty will not be the less sincere or active, because it finds a natural outlet for its expression, beneath the sheltering Ægis of Religion or the protecting influence of our mother tongue. Educational efforts amongst our people, whether yet in infancy’s stage or more ambitiously developed, will ever claim our special notice; for without education a man will never fully bring into light, the noble qualities with which an All-Wise Creator has endowed him. Frequent then and diffuse, will be our notices of Educational matters, and we trust that reports of Examinations, Inspectors’ encomiums and whatever else may be of interest, concerning this ever interesting subject, may find its way into our pages. As editing an Acadian Journal, our first and most pleasing occupation, will be the reporting of the progress made by our Holy Mother the Catholic Church, at large in the World, where her field is amongst all Nations, but especially at home, in our own parishes and settlements, where the Hymns that were sung in her honor, two hundred years ago on this same soil, are again to-day chanted by our faithful and obedient compatriots. Love for Mother-church, for whom our fathers suffered and bled, will ever be the key-note of all our utterances; and as faithful children of the most kind and affectionate of all parents, we shall ever bow before the divinely- constituted authority of her Supreme Pastors and his Chief-Assistants—the Bishops of her Fold. Impressed as we are with the marvellous vitality of our Race, we are just as fully convinced, that without clinging to the language, which we have learned in infancy at our mother’s knee, we shall be in danger of falling away, not only from the traditions of our Glorious Past, but also from the protecting influence of the Sunday Prône and the Instructions of learned and indefatigable Pastors. And why shonld we wish to change our language? Ours is no bastard or weakling tongue but one in which some of the greatest Poets to whom the world has ever listened, have sung their impassioned notes; one in which Masters of the noble Art of Eloquence have held audiences riveted as they discoursed; one from which the pen of gifted geniuses have drawn their mightiest inspirations. No, with us, our dear, our cherished mother-tongue will ever be the one of our predilection; and as erstwhile, we sung the lamentations for our departed ones in its plaintive tones, so once again, please God, we shall sing the Te Deum of a new and virile nation in the more majestic utterances of its rolling metre. Religion, Fatherland and Language—those are the rallying-cries of our people and we as exponents and fearless defenders of their cause, shall repeat the magic words, and give them living expression in the columns of L’Evangéline. Ours not to hamper or interfere with the good work, being done in the journalistic field, by others of our race and creed. No, on the contrary, believing that in union lies force, we shall ever strive to put our shoulder to the wheel of the chariot of National Progress and Enterprise, that the object of our lives may be realized—the fusion of the Acadian Race into one harmonious whole—having of course the same Holy Catholic Religion, but also, having only one tongue in the Church, the School and the fireside and that one —“ la belle langue Française!" ALPHA.