Gabriel (according to other legends):
The Persians call Gabriel “the angel of revelations,” because he is so frequently employed by God to carry His messages to man.
The Jews call Gabriel their enemy and the messenger of wrath; but Michael they call their friend, and the messenger of all good tidings.
In mediæval romance, Gabriel is the second of the seven spirits which stand before the throne of God, and he is frequently employed to carry the prayers of man to heaven, or bring the messages of God to man.
Longfellow, in the Golden Legend, makes Gabriel “the angel of the moon,” and says that he “brings to man the gift of hope.”
Gabriel Lajeunesse, son of Basil the blacksmith of Grand Pré, in Acadia (now Nova Scotia). He was legally plighted to Evangeline, daughter of Benedict Bellefontaine (the richest farmer of the village); but next day all the inhabitants were exiled by order of George II., and their property confiscated. Gabriel was parted from his troth-plight wife, and Evangeline spent her whole life in trying to find him. After many wanderings, she went to Philadelphia, and became a sister of mercy. The plague visited this city, and in the almshouse the sister saw an old man stricken down by the pestilence. It was Gabriel. He tried to whisper her name, but died in the attempt. He was buried, and Evangeline lies beside him in the grave.—Longfellow, Evangeline (1849).
Gabrielle (Charmante), or La Belle Gabrielle, daughter of Antoine d’Estrèes (grand-master of artillery and governor of the Ile de France). Henri IV. (1590) happened to stay for the night at the chateau de Cœuvres, and fell in love with Gabrielle, then 19 years old. To throw a veil over his intrigue, he gave her in marriage to Damerval de Liancourt, created her duchess of Beaufort, and took her to live with him at court.
The song beginning “Charmante Gabrielle ...” is ascribed to Henri VI.
Gabrielle (von Dohna). Brought up by her widowed father in singleness of heart and happiness until when she is over twenty he is again betrothed, and his fiancée persuades him to send his daughter to visit a relative, the Countess von Kronfels. She is a selfish old woman who adores her dog, and slights her invalid son. Gabrielle is dutiful to the old countess, and an angel of mercy to her son, although for awhile she dislikes and fears him. Finally, she tells the crippled man:
“You are a greater hero in my eyes than if you were leading men to battle. You may send me away if you will, but you will break my heart.”