said, "I love my Acadia, and you will learn to love it
also, when you shall have been made acquainted with the worth of its
honest and noble inhabitants; besides," added she, with a sad smile,
"the gloomy and sombre part of my story remains to be told. When you
shall have listened to it, you will then understand why it is that I
feel sad and weep, when the remembrances of the past come crowding in
my heart. But to resume, contiguous to the village ground lay the
pasture grounds, well fenced in, and which were known as the common.
In these grounds, the cattle of the colonists were kept, and thus
secured in that safe enclosure, our herds increased every year. Thus
you see, petiots, we lacked none of the comforts of life, and although
not wealthy, we were not in want, as our wishes were few and easily
satisfied.

"Plainness and simplicity of manners are the mainsprings of happiness,
and he that wishes for what he may never have or acquire, must be
miserable, indeed, and worthy of pity. Alas! that this simplicity of
our Acadian manners should have already degenerated into extravagance
and folly! Ah! the Acadians are losing, by degrees, the remembrance of
the traditions and customs of the mother country, the love of gold has
implanted itself in their hearts, and this will bring no happiness to
them. Ere you live to be as old as I," she would say shaking her head
mournfully, "you will find out that your grandmother is right in her
prediction.

"In Acadia, as we prized temperance, sobriety and simplicity of
manners more than riches, early marriages were highly favored. Early
marriages foster the virtues which give to man the only true
happiness, and from which he derives health and longevity.

"No obstacle was thrown in the way of a loving couple who desired to
marry. The lover accepted by the maiden obtained the ready consent of
the parents, and no one dreamed of inquiring whether the lover was a
man of means, or whether the destined bride brought a handsome dowry,
as we are wont to do nowadays. Their mutual choice proved satisfactory
to all, and, indeed, who better than they could mate their hearts,
when they alone were staking their happiness on the venture? and,
besides, it is not often that marriages founded on mutual love turn
out badly.

"The bans were published in the village church, and the old curate,
after admonishing them of the sacredness of the tie that bound them
forever, blessed their union, while the holy