THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
CANADA BANK NOTE ENGRAVINGS. PRINTING COMPANY (LIMHE o )
THE SCOT
ORTH
t * *
THE SCOT
IN
BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
BY
W. J. EATTEAT, B.A.
VOL. IV.
MACLEAR AND COMPANY.
AM Rights Reserved.
Entered according to the Act of the Parliament of Canada, iu the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty, by MACLEAR & Co., Toronto, in the office of the Minister of Agriculture.
PKEFACE.
£ HE lamented death of the author, whose clear, incisive r^), style, vigorous thought, and painstaking research, have imparted so much interest to the preceding pages, leaving the manuscript of the concluding pages of this vol- ume incomplete, renders apology superfluous for all delay in presenting it to the public. Another hand has completed the unfinished task with the honest endeavour to follow, as far as possible, the lines laid down by the author. A gen- erous, and fair-minded public, will make due allowance for the difficulty of undertaking, at short notice, to deal with a subject demanding accurate historical and geographical knowledge and exactness of statement to do even a measure
o
of justice to the work.
It is eminently fit that a book of the nature of the " Scot in British North America " should include some notice, how- ever fragmentary and imperfect, of the writer, whose early decease has left such a void in the ranks of Canadian liter- ature. The personal details that, had he lived, the modesty which was so conspicuous a feature in his character, would ha,ve prevented his giving, may now appropriately be sup- plied. William J. Rattray was born in London, England, about the year 1835, his father being a Scot and his mother English. The family came to Canada about the year 1848, settling in Toronto, where Mr. Rattray, Senr., was, for many years engaged in trade, being highly respected as a man and a citizen. William J. Rattray entered Toronto University about the year 1854, and devoted himself earnestly to study
iv PREFACE.
especially in the department of metaphysics and philosophy. He soon developed rare intellectual gifts as a profound and acute reasoner. He became Prize Speaker and President of the Literary Society, and his clear and thoughtful utter- ances soon won him a brilliant reputation among the young men of his time. On graduating he won the gold medal in Mental Science. Mr. Rattray was for many years before his death connected with the press of Toronto, his most noteworthy work being done on the staff of the Toronto Mail. A series of articles which appeared weekly during a period extending over several years, dealing with the con- flict between agnosticism in its various forms and revealed religion, excited much attention and were greatly admired by a wide circle of readers. They presented the orthodox side of the question with much force and ability. Mr. Rat- tray's intellect was an unusually active one. His brilliant natural faculties were cultivated by assiduous study and constant reflection. Essentially a many-sided man intel- lectually, he displayed equal power and grasp of his subject in dealing with current political and social topics, as in grappling with the deeper problems of life and eternity, which, of late years, engrossed so much of his thoughts. His style was notable for its lucidity, smoothness, and finish, which made everything he wrote readable, and fas- cinated even where it did not convince. Personally, Mr. Rattray was one of the most loveable of men and though, owing to a somewhat retiring disposition, his circle of intim- ate friends was not wide, there were many who, having but a slight and passing acquaintance with him, felt a pang of sincere sorrow at his untimely death. He died at Toronto on the 26th of September, 1883, after an illness, the long and insiduous approaches of which had considerably im- paired his customary mental force. The readers of the " Scot in British North America " can best realize how great a loss Canadian literature has sustained.
December 13th 1883.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Vol. IV. PAGE.
Preface iii
PART v.- THE SCOT IN THE NORTH-WEST.
CHAP. I. The Country and its early History 931
CHAP. II. British Fur-hunting, and Settle- ment ... 950
CHAP. III. The Rival Companies and Lord
Selkirk 965
CHAP. IV. The Company and Colonization 1014
CHAP. V. The Canadian Pacific Railway 1060
CHAP. VI. The Influx of Settlement 1081
CHAP. VII British Columbia 1101
CHAP. VIII. Journalism and Literature 1122
CHAP. IX. Addenda... .1157
The following are some of the works consulted in the preperation of this volume : Parkman's The Old Regime in Canada ; Parkman's Frontenac ; Garneau's History of Can- ada ; Sir Alexander Mackenzie's General History of the Fur Trade ; Le Moine's Maple Leaves ; Ballantyne's Hudson Bay ; Alex. Ross's The Red River Settlement ; Hargrave's Red River ; Hamilton's The Prairie Province ; Morgan's Celebrated Canadians ; Macdonell's Narrative of Transac- tions in the Red River Country ; Statement respecting the Earl of Selkirk's Settlement ; Murray's British America ; Alex. Rattray's Vancouver Island and British Columbia; Sir George Simpson's Overland Journey round the World; Withrow's Popular History of Canada ; Begg's History of the Red River Rebellion ; Begg's Creation of Manitoba ; The Clerical Guide and Churchman's Directory ; Ma- coun's Manitoba and the Great North- West ; Bryce's Manitoba. Its Infancy, Growth, and Present Condition; Grant's Ocean to Ocean ; Macfie's Vancouver Island and British Columbia ; Dent's Canadian Portrait Gallery ; Mac- donald's British Columbia ; A Guide to British Columbia ; John Gait's Autobiography; The Canadian Parliamentary Companion from 1872 to 1883 ; Chambers' Encyclopedia ; Reports of the Chief Engineer of the Canadian Pacific Rail- way ; &c. Owing to Mr. Rattray's death it is impossible to supply a complete list of the books consulted, or to give more than a general acknowledgement of the many favours received from the friends who have rendered valuable assistance in obtaining information.
PART T.
THE SCOT IN THE NORTH-WEST.
CHAPTER I.
THE COUNTRY AND ITS EARLY HISTORY.
TRETOHING from ocean to ocean, with " cold and piti- less" Labrador at the eastern extremity, and Vancouver Island for its western outpost, lies a broad belt of land, bounded on the south by Quebec, Ontario and the United States, but unlimited northward, save by the icy ramparts which encompass the Polar Sea. All this vast expanse is British territory and forms part and parcel of the Dominion of Canada. Of the eastern portion little will require to be said, except in so far as the Hudson Bay Company's trading operations may invite notice. It is almost uni- formly bleak and barren, whatever may be its mineral value, and is historically interesting only because it has afforded scope for the adventurous trapper and huntsman. It is with the North- West that we have now chiefly to do, including in that term all that region lying from James Bay to the Pacific. It will be found that, as a field for ex- ploration, trade and settlement, this broad -domain has claims upon the consideration of Britons of which the vast majority
932 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
of them have only the feeblest conception. The literature accumulated upon the subject is voluminous enough cer- tainly ; and yet it is not too much to affirm that the surpass- ing value and importance of this noble possession of the Crown are far from being appreciated not only in Europe, but even in the older Provinces of the Dominion. To under- value what is but partially and imperfectly known, especially if it be distant or demand energy and self-denial to secure, has been a characteristic of many nations otherwise suffi- ciently diverse in their tempers and tendencies. It is, so to speak, the wisdom of ignorance, quickened into contempt by the languid energy of indolence and satiety. The cynical Frenchman who consoled Louis XV. for the loss of New France by the sneer at those " few arpents of snow," represented a large class not yet extinct. There are not a few men now who are not much better than he, the only difference being that they laugh at his ignorance, and at the same time re- peat it along with the sneer, when they speak of the Sas- katchewan Valley. The " arpents " are not few, farther west than the courtier dreamed of, but they are only " arpents of snow " after all.
It was Lord Salisbury, if we mistake not, who uttered some pungent remarks concerning the right and wrong use of maps a few years ago. There is need of a similar cau- tion otherwhere than in Eastern concerns. To some men it would appear to be not merely inexplicable, but prepos- terous, that the climate and fruitfulness of a continent, throughout its entire breadth should depend upon anything except the parallels of latitude. They are astonished, if not incredulous, when told that the isothermal line which passes
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 033
below the city of Quebec reaches the Pacific Ocean at almost the sixtieth degree of north latitude, and therefore, that all their preconceptions regarding the North-West are far astray. In European countries, especially in the British Isles, there is no room for tracing these broad climatic laws. It seems startling, therefore, to be told that in and about the Pro- vince of Manitoba, seven hundred miles north of Toronto, as fine, if not finer, wheat is grown than in any part of the rich peninsula of Ontario ; and further, that this fertile breadth of one hundred miles, hemmed in between the northern lakes and the boundary line, expands, like the cornucopia, as it stretches to the Rocky Mountains, until it measures three or four hundred miles. Even north of that fertile belt, about far-distant Hudson Bay, " houses " and " factories," cereals are cultivated regularly and with assured success. Another point deserves notice. It is .constantly urged by the pessimists that, whatever the natural advantages of the North- West may be, it can never compete with the Ameri- can line of overland travel, either for traffic or permanent settlement. Now, in the first place, there is the superiority of the country itself to be taken into account. The Ameri- can Desert is almost entirely south of the boundary line ; in fact it only impinges slightly upon British territory and need not be taken into account. There is no salt solitude on the banks of the Assiniboine, the Saskatchewan, or any of the other generous streams which water our central Ame- rica. Broad prairie, navigable waters — lake and river — and what our neighbours lack, coal almost the entire way from Manitoba to Victoria. The mineral wealth of the North- West has only been vaguely guessed at ; but it is known
934 THE SCOT 1*1 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
that not only in the " fertile belt," but far north, upon the Mackenzie River, even beyond the Arctic Circle, gold, iron, copper, lead, and coal have been found in exhaustless abun- dance. There is another advantage in the climate, notwith- standing the fact that the extremes of heat and cold exceed those of the older Provinces, though not those of Minnesota. The atmosphere is dry, and the temperature in any given season more equable than in other parts of the Dominion. The snow-fall is less heavy, and there is not usually that distressing interchange of frost and thaw, ice and slush, which are so trying elsewhere. Those who have passed the winter in the west as well as the east, express their decided preference for the climate of the former. So lightly does the icy finger of the north press upon the fertile country that horses and cattle are often pastured all the winter upon the long grass on the prairie, without shelter and yet with- out risk. The facilities for the construction of a transcon- tinental railway are as much in our favour as the fertility and well- watered character of the land. Most of the country is comparatively level, or, at worst, rolling prairie, and the engineering difficulties are few, until the Rock}" Mountains are reached. Even there, the passes are at a lower elevation, the snows less threatening, and the work • necessarily less expensive. Add to this, that% through this rich and fertile region, lies the shortest route from Europe to China and Japan, and the reader may form some conception of the glorious future in store for the Canadian North- West.
The pioneers in discovery here were, of course, the French of Old Canada ; but it is to Scotsmen especially, that the world owes the complete exploration of the territory, and
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 9? 5
the first efforts put forth for its settlement and civilization under the British regime. The successors of Champlain, La Salle, Marquette, Joliet, and De La Ve'rendrye — the first white man to lift his eyes upon the snow-tipped summits of the Rocky Mountains — were almost all of them Scots. Some indications of Scottish energy are embalmed in the maps and charts of the country ; yet they inadequately represent the courage and enterprise displayed in the early days by those avant-couriers of trade and exploration. The river nomenclature is usually supposed to afford the best indication of the race earliest at work in any country; and, if that be taken as a mark of Scotch priority, the evi- dence is conclusive. The Mackenzie River — longer than the St. Lawrence, including its great chain of lakes — traced by him whose name it bears to the delta through which it struggles, by various mouths, into the frozen sea, the Fraser River of British Columbia, the Simpson and the Finlay — all afford silent testimony to the indomitable courage and enterprise of the North Briton. Whatever future — and it must needs be a glorious one — awaits this noble British domain, in the past certainly, all the rough, and much that proved thankless, work was accomplished by the stout arm, the strong will, and the hard head of the Scot. Multitudes of diverse nationalities will pour upon those fertile plains, and enjoy the fruits of the Scotsman's labours, without thinking of their benefactor ; still, to the eye of the histo- rian, or even the grateful patriot, in centuries to come, the trials and struggles of the past will assume their fair pro- portions in any panorama of this greater Scotland in the North American continent.
036 TUB SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
During the French period which the graphic pen of Mr Parkman, for the first time, introduced to the notice of the English reader — the fur trade was the be-all and the end-all of colonization. It was the pursuit of skins and peltries of all sorts that more tha"n anything else, fomented the natural antagonism between French and English colonies, aggra- vated the horrors of Indian tribal warfare, and eventually brought about — first, the death-struggle between the powers in the North, and, secondly, by necessary sequence, though indirectly, the American Revolution.* The great aim of the Colonial Governors, both English and French, was to detach the Indian tribes from alliance with their national rivals. When the French were not fighting the Iroquois of the Brit- ish colonies, they were intriguing with them, though for the most part unsuccessfully. The English, on the other hand, strove to destroy the French trade by seducing or crushing the Hurons and Ottawas, who not only served the masters of New France, but commanded their communications with the North- West, both by the Ottawa and the Upper Lakes, and at Michillimackinac (now Mackinaw), the junction of Lakes Huron and Michigan, by the frontier route. It was the settled policy of the French rulers to hem in the British colonies by Gallic settlements on all sides, and if they could not drive them off the continent, at least to concede only a strip of territory, upon the Atlantic. It was with this
• "We come now to a trade far more important than all the rest together, one which absorbed thp enterprise of the colony, drained the life sap from other branches of com- merce, at d, even more than a vicious system of government, kept them in a state of chronic debility— the hardy, adventurous, lawless, fascinating fur- trade. In the eighteenth century Canada exported a moderate quantity of timber, wheat, the herb called ginseng, and a few other commodities ; but from first to last she lived chiefly on beaver-skins. The government tried without ceasing to control and regulate this traffic; but it never succeeded. Park- man : The Old Regime in Canada, p. 303.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 937
object that the heroic La Salle, Father Marquette and other daring explorers, wandered far west and north and south. Fort du Quesne on the Ohio, memorable as the scene of Braddock's defeat, was only one of the cordon of strongholds designed to strangle British North American colonization in its infancy. The claim set up by Frontenac, Denonville and other French viceroys to both shores of the great lakes, and all the territory watered by streams flowing into them, was prompted by no mere lust of national aggrandizement in the way of land, but by a settled determination to secure and maintain possession of the great water highways of the continent.
All those historical episodes, which give so romantic a tinge and shed so sombre an interest over the chronicles of of New France — the surprises, the heroisms, the patience, the endurance and the sufferings of soldier, priest, religieuse and habitan — were occasioned by the Indian intrigues and counter-intrigues in the great struggle for the mastery in trade competition. The mother countries might be at peace, and yet covert, and often open, war was waged between the colonies. Even during the later Stuart epoch, when the honour and fortunes of England were at the lowest ebb, the royal pensioners of France who sat on the throne could not restrain the impetuosity of the Virginia, New York, and New England colonists. The struggle between Denonville and Gov. Dongan of New York may serve to illustrate the internecine conflict which never ceased until the red crass of St. George floated over the castle of St. Louis. The Mar- quis de Denonville, with his predecessor the irascible De la Barre, filled up the space between the two vice-royalties of
988 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
Frontenac. His term almost exactly coincided with the reign of James II. in England. He appears to have been a pious, well-meaning ruler, not without considerable abilities and certainly with strong patriotic feelings. Colonel Thomas Dongan, an Irishman and nephew of the redoutable Earl of Tyrconnel, was a Catholic, and yet no friend either to the Jesuits or the French. He had been strictly enjoined, both by Charles and James, to concede every French demand, to give no countenance to the Iroquois or any Indian tribe hostile to the French ; and yet, either from choice or neces- sity, he violated his instructions in every particular. The Dutch and English settlers were determined to assert their claims to a share in the lucrative fur-trade in the North- West. As this traffic could not be carried on without con- tracting Indian alliances, of which the French were naturally jealous, conflict was inevitable under any circumstances. The Iroquois were not merely friends of both races, but even aspired to hold the balance of power between them. Don- gan was, perhaps unjustly, accused of having incited the Five (or Six) Nation Indians to war ; unhappily, as the whole history shows, they stood in no need of prompting. The scalping-knife was always ready whetted ; it was only to sing the war-dance, brandish the tomahawk, and away to the harvest of death. The French had an astute agent in the Jesuit Lamberville, but they made little progress south of the Lakes. The chief, " Big Mouth," as represented in Park- man's graphic narrative,* was wily enough to palter with the bluff La Barre, and, in spite of his plausible and almost eloquent harangues, little satisfaction was obtained by the
* t'arkman : Frontenac, p. 109.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. \)W
French. The old soldier failed and was succeeded by Den- onville, who, according to Saint Vallicr, always had the Psalms of David in his hands. The Church, no less than the State, hoped much from his piety and administrative skill. He was a soldier of long service, but he had to face a difficult and trying crisis with an empty exchequer and a mere handful of troops. The people of New France were numerically inferior to those of New England and New York ; the flower of their youth were scouring the woods, huckstering with the Indians and worse ; and above all there was a government which was despotic without effec- tive power, strong where it might have been mild, and weak where it ought to have been strong. And yet the task was laid upon Denonville to decide in France's favour the deadly struggle between the French and English colonies.*
Denonville was not disposed to resort to any means which his religious spirit did not sanction. He was a firm ally of the clergy in their inflexible hostility to the traffic in brandy with the Indians; but he could also use religion as a political engine, when French emissaries were needed on British territory. He appeals rather too fervently to Don- gan, as a man "penetrated with the glory of that name which makes Hell tremble, and at the mention of which all the powers of Heaven fall prostrate," to " come to under- standing to sustain our missionaries by keeping those fierce
* " The Senecas, insolent and defiant, were still attacking the Illinois ; the tribes of the North-West were angry, contemptuous and disaffected ; the English of New York were urging claims to the whole country south of the great lakes, ami to a controlling share in all the western fur trade ; while the English of Hudson Bay were competing for the traffic of the northern tribes, and the English of New England were seizing upon the fisheries of Acadia, and now and then making practical descents upon its coast. The great question lay between New York and Canada. Which of these two should gain mastery in the west.— Frontenac, p. 117.
<940 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
tribes in respect and fear." But although Col. Dongan was a Catholic, he was too crafty a bird to be caught in the net spread in his sight. He knew full well what the Jesuits, Lamberville, Engelran, and their associates were about amongst the Iroquois, the Hurons and Ottawas; and he knew his duty as an English governor. He boldly entered the lists against the French schemes. " If his policy should prevail," writes Parkman, " New France would dwindle to a feeble Province on the St. Lawrence ; if the French policy should prevail, the English colonies would remain a narrow strip along the sea."* The " diplomatic duel " which ensued between the two rulers, is diverting at all events, if not edifying. The earnest appeals of Denonville, the rough-and- ready coarseness of retort used by the Irishman, together, give spice to an altogether futile correspondence. Denon- ville complains that Dongan had promised to leave every- thing in dispute to decision by the kings at home, and yet had disregarded the orders of his master. So, he had no doubt, but, with the mental reservation, that he should only obey instructions of which he approved. The Frenchman scolds his neighbour for permitting the sale of New England rum to the Aborigines. " Think you," he writes, " that religion will make any progress, while your traders supply the savages in abundance with the liquor which, as you ought to know, converts them into demons, and their lodges into counterparts of Hell ? " " Certainly," replies Dongan, " our rum doth as little hurt as your brandy, and, in the opi- nion of Christians is much more wholesome."-f- The New York Governor scouted the idea that " a few loose fellows
Ibid,, p. 119. t Ibid., pp. 127, 128.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. ffl
rambling amongst Indians to keep themselves from starv- ing gave the French a right to the North-West." As for the plea drawn from the French Jesuit missionary, he sneer- ingly remarks " The King of China never goes anywhere without two Jesuits with him. I wonder you make not the like pretence to that kingdome."* In short, Dongan utterly repudiated the French claims either to territorial ownership or the exclusive right to trade.
This brief glimpse of the relations between the colonies touching the fur trade and the Indian tribes, may serve to illustrate the deadly conflict which was almost unintermit- tently waged between the two nationalities. It remains to give a slight glance at French progress in the North- West. In the peltry traffic, as elsewhere, the Royal authorities, the King, his Minister, the Governor and the Intendant, attempted to inspect everything with their administrative microscope and manage everything with their official tweezers. The Bourbon system was, above all things, paternal — the exact antipodes of any government a Scot or an Englishman could either frame or endure. Colbert, the great minister of Louis XIV., wrote to the ablest and best of the Quebec Intendants, in 1666, after assuring him that the King regards all his Canadian subjects as his own chil- dren, desires the Sieur Talon " to solace them in all things, and encourage them to trade and industry." To this end he was instructed to " visit all their settlements, one after the other, in order to learn their true condition, provide as much as possible for their wants, and, performing the duty of a good head of a ffimily, put them in the way of making some
Ibid., p. 101.
942 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
profit."* How this unwieldy system was manipulated from Paris may be seen in the three volumes of the Royal Edicts and Ordinances reprinted in Canada^ by the Provincial Gov- ernment in 1854. A glance at the indexes at the end of the third volume will, of itself, give some idea of the minute care exercised over the mint, anise and cummin of Canada, while the weightier matters of the law were being dealt with as avarice or love of adventure might suggest on the " few arpents of snow " lining the St. Lawrence. It will be be found that whilst all sorts of petty arrangements were solemnly made in Paris to bind Canadians, not merely such as we are accustomed to consider within the purview of government, but matters commercial and purely personal of the most trivial character, the inherent weakness of this scheme of centralized despotism would early have manifested itself in any case, but it became clearly apparent the moment free Anglo-Saxon energy became a competitor in the race. The fur-trade was, of course, taken, so far as possible, under the fatherly care of the rulers at Paris, Quebec, and Mon- treal, but to begin with, their hands were not clean. Syste- matic jobbery pervaded the entire governmental system. The taxes were farmed to the highest bidders, and of the small portion which passed nominally into the coffers of the State, far too much stuck to the fingers of the Governors, Inten- dants, and those creatures to whom New France was simply a place of exile, where rapid fortunes were to be made by the greedy and unscrupulous. The mother country was early depleted of men and treasure by its vast and expensive
* Park man : Old Regime, p. 209.
t Edits, Ordonnanceg Royaux, Declarations et Arrittdu. Conseil d-Etatdu Roi, cancer- iiant le Canada. Quebec, 1854.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 943
wars, and as the Canadian officials were poorly paid and supported, they were compelled to make a competence, and often a bare livelihood by engaging in trade, and not seldom by barefaced extortion, peculation and fraud. Whilst the minister at Paris and his master were framing edicts against profane swearing, deciding where the officials should sit at church, how many horses a farmer should keep, and how large a house he might build, &c., the men high in place were plundering all alike with admirable impartiality. Bigot, the last and far the most infamous of the Intendants, al- though he robbed right and left, was so solicitous about the morals of the people that he forbade those residing in the country to remove into Quebec, lest they should be cor- rupted by city life.* The paralyzing hand of absolutism was everywhere, meddling even with the bread a man ate and the texture of his coat ; and, as for freedom of speech, Intendant Meules accurately expressed the prevailing view when he said : " It is of great consequence that the people should not be left at liberty to speak their minds."-f*
So far as trade was concerned, the French policy may be summed up in one word — monopoly. Early in the sixteenth century, Cardinal Richelieu chartered " The Company of the Hundred Associates," ceding to them all French North Ame- rica on the usual terms of feudality. After being about thirty years in active operation, the Associates, who had dwindled down to forty-five, surrendered their charter in 1663. This Company possessed governmental and even royal powers, but, when it disappeared, a regular system of
* Old Rfgime, p 279.
t For a general view of the Civil and Ecclesiastical Government of Canada see Bell's Garncau : Hittory of Canada, B. III. Chaps III. and IV.
944 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
administration was established. In 1664 the monopoly of trade was given to the West India Company for a period of fifty years, and at about the same time the feudal system was regularly and definitely introduced. M. Talon, the first and best of the Intendants, under the new colonial system, amongst other wise and beneficent measures, urged and obtained a relaxation of trade from Colbert, by which the people were allowed to import their own goods, and buy furs and peltries from the Indians, subject to a royalty pay- able to the all-devouring Company. The traffic in furs was, however, from the first, almost beyond the control both of the government and the monopolists. It was, in lact, the only safety-valve for the pent-up energy, enter- prise and spirit of adventure, which lay within the breasts- of the Canadian Youth. Companies and farmers of taxes might mulct the owners of beaver-skins, at Montreal, Three Rivers or Quebec, but they had little or no control over the Indians who trapped the fur-bearing animals, or the middle- men who traded both with the aborigines and with the merchants of New France.
The Coureurs des Bois or Wood-coursers, as the middle- men came to be called, soon formed a distinct class of the Canadian population. As the discoverer of the Mackenzie River says, they were "a kind of pedlars, and were ex- tremely useful to the merchants engaged in the fur- trade, who gave them the necessary credit to proceed in their com- mercial undertakings. Three or four of these people would join their stock, put their property into a birch-bark canoe, which they worked themselves, and either accompanied the natives in their excursions, or went at once to the country
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 945
where they knew they were to hunt. At length these voyages extended to twelve or fifteen months, when they returned with rich cargoes of furs, and followed by great numbers of the natives. During the short time requisite to settle their accounts with the merchants, and procure fresh credit, they generally contrived to squander away all their gains, when they returned to renew their favourite mode of life, their views being answered, and their labour suffi- ciently rewarded, by indulging themselves in extravagance and dissipation during the short space of one month in twelve or fifteen."* There was much to attract the roman- tic spirits of New France in this novel and adventurous life and if they had been amenable to the control of the Gov- ernment and the Church, their hardiness and power of endurance might have made the Coureurs of use to their country in its conflicts with any enemy, red or white. Un- happily, instead of proving a source of strength to the colony, this class became a running ulcer through which all the vigour and vitality of Canada ebbed gradually away. The monopolists were the first to take the alarm, though not at all on moral or political grounds. The interlopers were lessening the profits of the West India Company, and although under Colbert's regulations, the whole population became more or less interested in the fur-trade, they had organized power at their command. The consequence was an unsuccessful effort " to bring the trade to the colonists, to prevent them going to the Indians, and induce the Indians to come to them. To this end a great annual fair was
* Sir Alex. Mackenzie's General history of the Fur Trade from Canada to the North- West prefixed to his Voyages to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans in the Years 1789 and 1793. London, 1801.
946 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
established, by order of the king, at Montreal."* Another fair was afterwards established near Three Rivers ; but neither of them served the purpose. The people were too wary to submit to the paternal scheme, and they soon learned to form settlements further west and north, to intercept the Indians, and negotiate with them as they pleased. It was now, through the coureurs and squatters, that brandy was introduced to facilitate trade with the red men, and the fearful train of evils which followed, against which the Church uniformly protested in no uncertain terms At last, although the curse of the traffic was sufficiently apparent, the New England rum was made the excuse for the sale of French brandy and vice versa.
Gradually the attractive life of the Coureurs den Bois absorbed all the best youth of the country, and, in the end, instead of civilizing the Indians, it seemed not improbable that the French would themselves be barbarized by contact and admixture with the Indians. Against the lawless ad- venturers, the king and his officers strained every nerve. Duchesneau, Denonville, and other viceroys complained bitterly of the fearful demoralization of the young men. Instead of cultivating the soil, they permitted it to go to waste ; they would not marry the fair Frenchwomen and do their part in the building up of the colony ; but preferred the lawless, sensual and degraded life of the woods and the wigwam.-f The colony was, as nearly as possible, in the
* Old Rt'yiint, p. 303. Mr. Parkman gives a graphic account of one of these Indian gatherings in the passage directly following these words.
t " Out of the beaver trade," observes Parkman, " rose a huge evil, baneful to the growth and morals of Canada. All that was most active and vigorous in the colony took to the woods, and escaped from the control of intendants, councils, and priests, to the savage freedom of the wilderness. Not only were the possible profits great ; but, in pursuit of them there
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 947
condition it would have been, if all its adult males had been drafted away upon foreign service. Farms, wives and chil- dren were deserted by these adventurers who moved off occasionally in organized bands.* The government was at its wit's end. At times it ordered whipping, branding, and the galleys, to be inflicted upon all who went to the woods without license ; at others, it tried coaxing and promises, and promised amnesties.-f- It was all to no purpose, and the work of demoralization continued up to the conquest by Great Britain.
Meanwhile, by the various agencies at work, the area of the hunting-grounds was being gradually extended until it reached nearly two thousand five hundred miles from the citadel at Quebec. It may be well to note" here the names of the chief explorers with the dates of their voyages. To the great Samuel Champlain belongs the credit of first tracing out the Ottawa and Lake Huron route to the North- West. In 1615, with only four voyageurs, and an inter- preter named Etienne Brule*, he ascended the Ottawa River, visited Lake Nipissing, descended the French River, em- barked upon the broad waters of the Georgian, and returned by Matchedash Bay, the Huron country and Lake Simcoe, not homewards, but to fight the Iroquois with the Hurons
w»8 a fascinating element of adventure and danger. The bush rangers or eoureurt des bois were to the king an ohject of horror. They defeated his plans for the increase of the popu- lation, and shocked his native instinct of discipline and order. Edict after edict was di- rected against them ; and more than once the colony presented the extraordinary spectacle of the greater part of its young men turned into forest outlaws. Old Rijime, pp. 309, 310.
* " The famous Du Shut is said to have made a general combination of the young men of Canada to follow him into the woods. Their plan was to be absent four yean, in order that the edict* against them might have time to relent." Ibid. p. 310.
f One of these "Acts of Grace" will be found in the Quebec edition of Editn.Ordennan- ces, &c.( vol. ii. p. 551.
948 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
and Algonquins on the Genesee River. In 1GG5 Father Allonez explored the shores of Lake Superior and established a mission there. At Sault Ste Marie the renowned Mar- quette formed a settlement in 1668, and in 1670 the Fathers Allonez, Dablon and Marquette had heard of the Mississippi and were on the high road to the great North- West. In 1671, Marquette established a Huron settlement at Michillimack- inac at the junction of Lakes Huron and Michigan, and the first steps on the threshold of the unknown land were tra- versed. Dreams of a short route to China and India were floating through the minds of laymen like Joliette and La Salle when they turned their eyes to the west. The story of the intrepid La Salle does not fall within the purview cf this work ; yet his exploration of Lake Erie, the building of the first vessel above Niagara — the wonderful description of the Falls by Father Hennepin, and the fortification of the line which still constitutes a frontier between nations, is always fresh to the reader, and may be thus incidentally referred to. Towards the close of the French regime — in Canada, the last of the great French explorers, the Sieur De La VeVendrye attempted — now that early fancies had been dissipated — to reach the Pacific by the overland route. Twelve years did that patient and courageous adventurer spend, in company with a brother and two sons, in exploring the country west of Lake Superior. The entire country to the west, including the vast extent of territory from the Sas- katchewan down to the upper Missouri, and the Yellowstone Rivers were faithfully examined, and in 1743, sixty years before any British traveller came that way, the Rocky Mountains were sighted by De la VeVendrye's son and bro-
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
949
ther. This was the last expiring effort of French exploring energy, and the scene opens upon British effort in a region which was destined to be for all time to come an English- speaking land.
CHAPTER II.
BRITISH FUR-HUNTING AND SETTLEMENT.
the second of May, 1670, King Charles II. granted a charter to his "trusty and well-beloved cousin," the renowned Prince Rupert, son of the King's aunt, Eliza- beth and Frederick of Bohemia, the Duke of Albermarle, Arlington, Ashley and others, under' the name of "The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trad- ing in Hudson Bay." This famous and long-lived corpor- ation was ostensibly established, in the words of the Char- ter, " for the discovery of a new passage into the South Sea, for the finding some trade for furs, minerals and other con- siderable commodities," and also for the Christianization of the Indians. Concerning the last of these objects, perhaps, the less said the better ; it was, however, a habit in those days to cover the selfishness of trading schemes with a thin veneering of religion, and perhaps no one was either de- ceived or sought to be deceived thereby. A large portion of the continent was certainly explored by the agents of thia and other companies, " but this new passage to the South Sea " was not discovered by them. On the other hand, the fur-trade proved lucrative beyond the most sanguine expec- tations of these " adventurers." The charter had granted them a monopoly of trade, with plenary powers, executive and judicial, in and over all seas, straits, lands, &c., lying
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 951
within the entrance of Hudson's Straits, and the rivers en- tering them, "not already occupied by any other English subject or other Christian Power or State. In return they were to yield and pay therefor two elks and two black beav- ers, whenever his Majesty or his heirs should set foot in the territory.
It is more than probable that neither the King nor the Company had any idea of the extent of territory thus handed over to the latter. The two branches of the Saskatchewan cover all the fertile belt from the Rocky Mountains, and their waters reach Hudson Bay by Lake Winnipeg and the Nelson River. Towards the United States the Assiniboine, with its tributaries, the Qu'Appelle and the Souris unite at Winnipeg or Fort Garry with the Red River which rises far south of the boundary line, and all these waters flow also into Lake Winnipeg. The early operations of this great monopoly were confined to the vicinity of Hudson Bay and the pear-shaped inlet known as James Bay which forms its apex. The profits of the fur- trade were enormous. " Dur- ing the first twenty years of its existence, the profits of the Company were so great that, notwithstanding considerable losses sustained by the capture of their establishments by the French, amounting in value to £118,014, they were enabled to make a payment to the proprietors, in 1684, of fifty per cent., and a further payment in 1 G89 of twenty-five per cent. In 1690, the stock was trebled without any call being made, besides affording a payment to the proprietors of twenty-five per cent, on the increased or newly created stock. From 1692 to 1697 the Company incurred loss and damage to the amount of £97,500 from the French. In 1720
952 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
their circumstances were so far improved that they again trebled their capital stock, with only a call of ten per cent, from the proprietors, on which they paid dividends averag- ing nine per cent, for many years, showing profits on the originally subscribed capital stock actually paid up, of between sixty and seventy per cent, per annum, from the year 1G90 to 1800." *
Meanwhile the authorities of New France could hardly be expected to look with patience upon this invasion of their domain from the back door. Towards the close of the seventeenth century they were threatened by Britain and her colonies on every side. The New England fishermen menaced Acadia and the Gulf ; the Dutch and English of New York disputed French supremacy on the great lakes and the Ohio River ; and the Hudson Bay Company was gradually, but surely infringing upon French territory from the north and north-west. It was not unnatural that the pioneers and missionaries of New France who had made the North- West their own by exploration should resent the intrusion of the British by sea. Both by the Ottawa and the great lakes they had established routes for trade and
travel into " the great lone land." Moreover, the French
i laid claim to all the territory to the Arctic Ocean as their
own, and contended that it had been granted, as a portion of New France to the company of merchants in 1603, to the Company of One Hundred Associates or Partners, under Richelieu, in 1G27, and finally to the West India Company in 1664. Their rulers argued that as the King of France had
* Eighty Yean Progress in British North America. By various authors :— " Commerce and Trade," by H. Y. Hind, F. R. O. S., p. 279.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 953
claimed this vast domain in these several charters, there was no room for the Hudson Bay Company in 1G70, sseing that Charles II. had estopped them from occupying " any terri- tory already occupied by any other Christian Prince or State." In addition to all this, Charles I. had by the treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye, distinctly confirmed the French claim to the Hudson Bay Territory in 1G32 ; and many years after, two Canadians, De Groselliers and Radisson, made their way thither to establish trade. Failing to enlist the French court in their enterprise, these adventurers assisted the young English company, which, towards the close of the century, possessed four forts, one near the mouth of the Nelson, and three others, Forts Albany, Hayes and Rupert, at the southern end of the Bay.
Denonville, the Governor of New France, whose piety and patriotism were in wondrous accord, resolved, in 1680, to try conclusions with these intruders. The two countries were at peace, it is true, but that was not a consideration of much weight in the wilds of North America ; and besides, the French rule was sorely tried by the masked warfare of Dongan and his Iroquois allies. Early in the spring he accordingly despatched the Chevalier de Troyes with four or five score of Canadians, from Montreal, to strike a blow at the English trading-posts. Working their way up the Ottawa, by river and lake, they at last arrived at Fort Hayes, the nearest of the English depots. " It was a stockade, with four bastions, mounted with cannon. There was a strong block house within, in which the sixteen occupants of the place were lodged, unsuspicious of danger."* The surprise
* See Parkinan : Frontenac, pp. 132-135.
954 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
was complete, and the inmates of the fort were captured in their shirts. Fort Rupert, forty leagues along the shore, was also taken after a slight resistance, and Troyes then turned his attention to Fort Albany on the other side of Fort Hayes, at the south-west angle of James' Bay. Here there was no surprise, for the French doings at Fort Hayes were known at th& mouth of the Albany River. Henry Sargent and his thirty men made an attempt to defend the place, but they were attacked both from the land and water sides. The French had ten captured pieces of ord- nance with them, and soon succeeded in making the place untenable. Satisfied with these triumphs, Troyes, after razing the forts to the ground, sent his prisoners home in an English vessel, and returned to Montreal with his booty. Of course Louis XIV. and Jantes II. engaged in some con- troversy, and finally agreed to enjoin strict neutrality upon their colonial representatives.
Amongst those who were engaged in the raid upon the Hudson Bay forts were the two brothers Iberville and St. He*lene, and they were destined to reap still further glory in the struggle of France for supremacy.* Iberville had been engaged in the conquest of Newfoundland in 16^)7, when he received peremptory orders from France, through his brother Serigny, to attack the English in Hudson Bay. The two
* "No Canadian, under the French rule, stands in a more conspicuous or more deserved eminence than Pierre Le Moyne d'lberville. In the seventeenth century, most of those who acted a prominent part in the colon}' were born in Old France ; but Iberville was a true -MI of tliis soil. He and his brother a, Longueuil, Serigny, Assigny, Maricourt, Sainte-Helene, the two Chilteaugays, and the two liionvillcs, were, one and all, children worthy of their father, Charles Le Moyne, of Montreal, and favourable types of that nobltsgi, to whose ad- venturous hardihood half the continent bears witness." Fronlenac, p. 388. See also an interesting ace mnt of the several members of this illustrious family in Le Moine: Maple Leaves, 1st s-crie*, chap. viii.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 955
brothers had captured Fort Nelson, or Fort Bourbon as they called it, three years before, but it had been retaken during the summer of 1698. In July, 1697, Iberville and his bro- ther left Placentia with four vessels of war and one store- ship, bound for the Arctic Seas. When the little fleet entered the Bay it was at once entangled in the ice. The store-ship was crushed and lost, and Iberville, who was on the Pelican, lost sight of his three consorts. He had nearly reached Fort Nelson, when three sail appeared, and the gallant Frenchman prepared to welcome his missing com- rades. They turned out to be armed English merchantmen mounting altogether one hundred and twenty guns. A furious battle ensued, from which Iberville finally emerged victorious, through his superior seamanship. The Pelican, however, was badly damaged, and she finally stranded, parted amidships, and was a total loss. Notwithstanding all his misfortunes, however, the brave Iberville captured Fort Nelson, and returned homeward in triumph.*
The interval between the close of the seventeenth century and the treaty of cession in 1763, may be passed over with- out remark. The French continued their explorations in the North-West to the Saskatchewan and the Rocky Moun- tains ; but they never again attempted to dispossess the Hudson Bay Company by force of arms. New France had fallen upon evil days, and was compelled to contract her lines and concentrate her strength for the deadly struggle in which she was foredoomed to be the loser. A few years
' * " Iberville had triumphed over the storms, the icebergs, and the EiiglUh. The North had seen his prowess, and another fame awaited him in the regions of the sun ; fur he be- came the father of Louisiana, and his brother Bienville founded New Orleans." FronUnac, i>. 393.
956 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
after Canada passed into British hands a number of Mon- treal merchants, chiefly Scots, conceived the idea of re-open- ing the North- Western fur-trade on the old French routes. It was in 1766, according to Sir Alex. Mackenzie,* that the trade was recommenced from Michillimackinac (Mackinac) at the junction of Lakes Huron and Michigan. At first, the adventurers only travelled to the mouth of the Kaministi- quia on Lake Superior, and to the Grand Portage thirty miles further down. The pioneer who first resolved to penetrate to the furthest limits of the French discoveries was Thomas Curry, a Scottish merchant. With guides and interpreters, and four canoes, he made his way to Fort Bourbon, an old French post at Cedar Lake, on the Saskat- chewan. Mackenzie observes that " his risk and toil were well recompensed, for he came back the following spring with his canoes filled with fine furs, with which he pro- ceeded to Canada, and was satisfied never again to return to the Indian country."-|- The first who followed Curry's example was James Finlay, another Scot, who made his way to Nipawee, the last French settlement on the Saskat- chewan (lat. 53 i°, long. 103 \V.). His success was equal to that of Curry, and from that time the fur-traders gradually spread themselves over that vast and almost unknown region. Meanwhile the Hudson Bay Company had not advanced far from the waters to which they owed their name. It was in the year 1774, " and not till then," writes Mackenzie, that the Company thought proper to move from home to the east bank of Sturgeon Lake, in latitude 53° 56" North,
* Voyages :— general History of the Far Trade, p. viii. t Ibid.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 957
and longitude 102° 15' West, and became more jealous of their fellow- subjects, and perhaps with more cause, than they had been of those of France."* Our author has a strong feeling against the Hudson Bay Company and com- plains bitterly that they followed the Canadians from settle- ment to settlement, annoying and obstructing them. It may be well to note here a fact which will appear more clearly hereafter, that not only the Canadian traders, but most of the Hudson Bay Company's servants, were from an early period Scots, and have always remained so up to the present time.'f-
The half-breeds are scattered over most of the North- West, from Hudson Bay and Algoma to the Rocky Moun- tains. Principal Grant in his entertaining volume, " Ocean to Ocean " (p. 157), remarks of this class : " They are farm- ers, hunters, fishermen, voyageurs, all in one ; the soil is. scratched, three inches deep, early in May, some seed is thrown in, and then the whole household go off to hunt the buffalo. They get back about the first of August, spend the month in haying and harvesting, and are off to the fall hunt early in September. Some are now so devoted to farming that they only go to one hunt in the year. It is astonishing that, though knowing so well ' how not to do it/ they raise some wheat, a good deal of barley, oats and potatoes." It is neccessary here to notice the marked distinction between the Scottish and French half-breeds or Metis, as they are
* Ibid. p. ix.— misprinted xi.
t " It is a strange fact that three-fourths of the Company's servants arc Scotch Hiirhland- ers and Orkney men. There are very few Irishmen and still fewer Englishmen. A great number, however, are half-breeds and French Canadians, especially among the labourer» and nifidii, um." Slid/ton's Bay. By R. M. Ballantyne: London, 1867, p. 42. Sir. Bullait. t viic is a Scotsman, who spent six years in the H. B. Co.'s service.
D58 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
•called. The contrast, which has been often noticed by tra- vellers, is so marked as to merit particular attention, since it serves to illustrate what has been said of the sterling worth and persistency of the Scottish character, even under the most trying of all tests — contact and admixture with an inferior race. The Frenchman, like the Spaniard, of more southern latitudes, always sinks in the scale of civilization by intermarriage with the Indians. "His children," says Dr. Grant, " have all the Indian characteristics, and habits, weaknesses, and ill-regulated passions of nomads." When .a Frenchman weds a squaw, " her people become his people but his God her God," and he gradually sinks to her level. When a Scotchman married a squaw, her position, on the •contrary, was frequently not much higher than a servant's. He was ' the superior person ' of the house. He continued Christian after his fashion, she continued a pagan. The granite of his nature resisted fusion, in spite of family and tribal influences, the attrition of all surrounding circum- stances, and the total absence of civilization ; and the wife was too completely separated from him to raise herself to his level. The children of such a couple take more after the father than the mother. As a rule, they are shrewd, steady and industrious. A Scotch half-breed has generally & field of wheat before or behind his house, stacks, barn, and provisions for a year ahead in his granary. The Me*tis has a patch of potatoes or a little barley, and in a year of scarc- ity draws his belt tighter or starves. It is interesting, as one travels in the great North- West, to note how the two old allies of the middle ages have left their marks on the whole of this great country. The name of almost every
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 950
river, creek, mountain or district is either French or Scotch."* It is the intelligence, industry, and perseverance born with the Scot, often the only, and yet the noblest, heritage be- queathed him by his forbears, that makes him the most valuable settler in any land where his lot is cast. That even when far removed from the refining influences which encompass him in his native land, and thrown into intimate- relations with inferior and uncivilized tribes, both he and his children of a mixed race should still exhibit the provi- dence, dignity and self-respect which seem innate in the Scottish people, is surely a crucial instance of " the survival of the fittest."
During the later years of the eighteenth century, the prospect of serious rivalry from Canada stimulated the Hudson Bay Company, as already observed, to renewed exertions. The irregular way in which the fur-trade was carried on by the Canadians led to many abuses, and after a few years, it became unprofitable and almost ruinous to the adventurers. They had the great Company well-organized, and possessing ample governmental powers to contend with ; the Indians were, for the most part, hostile and always untrustworthy, and the time had obviously arrived for a co-operative efforts by the Montreal traders. Accordingly, in the winter of 1783-4, the Canadian merchants united to- gether in a body corporate, known as the North-West Com- pany, and the battle between it and the Hudson Bay people began, which continued for thirty-eight years. At its head as managers were placed Messrs. Benjamin and Joseph Frobisher, partners in one house, and Mr. Simon McTavish,
* Ocean to Ocean, pp. 175, 176.
960 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
a, name which occupies a conspicuous place in the subse- quent history of the North-West. Unfortunately, there was considerable disagreement over the shares allotted to some of the partners in the new company, and one of them, for a time, succeeded in detaching Messrs. Gregory and Macleod from their fellow adventurers. In the counting-house of the former, a clerk had served for five years, and was in 1784 seeking his own fortune at Detroit. This young settler was Alexander (afterwards Sir Alexander) Mackenzie, the explorer of the Nortn and West of British North America. Mackenzie was a native of Inverness, born about 1760, who early emigrated to America, and found employment at Mon- treal with Mr. Gregory. He was now asked to become a partner in the trading venture, and, having made his arrange- ments, set out for the Grand Portage in the spring of 1785. The dissensions amongst the partners, the superior organiz- ation of the new company, and its determined hostility to the recalcitrants, proved serious obstacles in Mackenzie's way; but in 1787, the differences were healed, and a union effected, much to the satisfaction of all parties.
The North- West chiefly followed upon the tracks of the old French traders. These, as the reader will remember, traversed two routes, the one by the lakes, by Fort Fron- tenac (Kingston), Niagara, Detroit, Mackinac and the Grand Portage ; and the other by the Ottawa, the French River, St. Mary's (the Sault Ste Marie), and so westward to the same point on Lake Superior. Sir Alex. Mackenzie boasts that, after the union in 1787, the " commercial establishment was founded on a more solid basis than any hitherto known in the country ; and it not only continued in full force,
TBE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 961
vigour and prosperity, in spite of all interference from Can- ada, but maintained at least an equal share of advantage with the Hudson Bay Company, notwithstanding the supe- riority of their local situation " (p. xx). " In 1788, the gross amount of the adventure for the year did not exceed forty thousand pounds ; but, by the exertion, enterprise, and indus- try of the proprietors, it was brought in eleven years to triple that amount and upwards; yielding proportionate profits and surpassing, in short, anything known in America " (p. xxii). It has been estimated that in 1815 this company had four thousand servants in its employment, and occupied sixty trading posts. A new route was opened on an old Indian trail from Penetanguishene and Lake Simcoe to Lake Ontario at first to the Humber Bay, and subsequently down Yonge Street, the military road constructed by Col. Simcoe to York (now Toronto) the Capital of Upper Canada. West- ward the Company's operations extended to and beyond the old French establishments on the Saskatchewan. Sir Alexander Mackenzie names five chief factories on that river — Nepawi House, South-branch House, Fort George House, Fort Augustus House, and Upper Establishment (p. Ixix).
But trading was not the only occupation of these adven- turous Scots. They were the great explorers of Western North America to the Pacific and Arctic Oceans. Mackenzie himself was engaged in two great expeditions, during the years 1789 and 1793. In the former year he started from Fort Chipewyan at the western extremity of Lake Atha- basca or the Lake of the Hills, as he terms it in his " Voy- ages " with a little band of retainers, Canadian and Indian.
962 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
Travelling in a generally north-western direction by the Slave River, the party entered the Great Slave Lake. Thence with some vicissitudes of fortune, Mackenzie traversed the chain of lakelets and streams to the Great Bear Lake, and so to the great river which bears his name to the Arctic Sea. In October, 1792, from the same starting-point, the explorer ascended the Unjigah or Peace River which he explored to its source, crossed the Rocky Mountains, and made his way to the Pacific Ocean. The journey was full of perils and perplexities, and at times even the brave High- land heart of' Mackenzie seems to have sunk within him. The story, as told by himself, in the simple and unaffected language of his " journal " is full of information regarding the country, as it was when visited by him and his friend Mackay. At the end of his weary journey of nine months, he erected a simple memorial of his achievement. " I now mixed up some vermillion in melted grease," he says, " and inscribed, in large characters, on the south-east of the rock on which we had slept last night, this brief memorial : ' Alexander Mackenzie, from Canada, by land, the twenty- second of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety- three.' " He reached Fort Chipewayan, and safely relieved %
Roderick Mackenzie, whom he had left in charge, and
" resumed," as he modestly observes, " the character of a i
trader," " after an absence of eleven months."
The character of the class which achieved so much for British progress in the North-West could hardly be better given than in the words of Mr. S. J. Dawson, then M.P.P. for Algoma, uttered in the Ontario Legislature in 1876. " At the formation of this (the North- West) Company, there
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 963
were in Canada a number of men remarkable for their energy and enterprise. Many of those whose fortunes had been lost at Culloden, and even some of the Scottish chiefs who had been present at that memorable conflict, were then in the country. They were men accustomed to adventure, and had been trained in the stern school of adversity. They joined the North-West Company, and soon gave a different complexion to the affairs of the North-West. Under their management, order succeeded to the anarchy which pre- vailed under the French regime. Warring tribes and rival traders were reconciled. Trading posts sprang up on the Saskatchewan and Unjiga; every post became a centre of civilization, and explorations were extended to the shores of the Arctic Sea, and the coasts of the Pacific Ocean. It has been the custom to ascribe to the Hudson Bay Com- pany the admirable system of management which brought peace and good government to the then distracted regions of the North-West ; but it was due to these adventurous Scotchmen. Sir Alexander Mackenzie traced out the great river which now bears his name, and was the first to cross the Rocky Mountains and reach the Pacific Ocean. Fraser followed the river now called after him, and a little later, Thompson crossed further to the south, and reached Oregon by the Columbia." It may be added that Vancouver explored the British Columbian archipeligo, and gave his name to its largest island in 1797, four years after Mackenzie's overland journey. Simon Fraser — a name illustrious in war as well as discovery — sailed down his river in the year 1808. Thompson, who discovered the Columbia, which rises in
964 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
British territory, gave his name to the Thompson River in British Columbia.
All would have gone well with British trade and ex- ploration, if the jealousies of the two rival companies and of a third, the X. Y. which split off from the North-West Company had not caused incessant turmoil and some blood- shed throughout the territory. The Hudson Bay Company had the prior claim in point of time, and were not prepared to tolerate competititors in the fur-trade, even in regions where their employees had never set foot. Still less could they brook the presence of intruders on the Assiniboine and Red Rivers or Lake Winnipeg. The results of the jealousies and animosities of these competing corporations were emi- nently disastrous in every aspect. The fur- trade was almost ruined, the Indians bought over and coaxed into alliance •by both parties and thoroughly demoralized. Mr. Hind, in the work already cited (p. 280) observes that " the interests of the Hudson Bay Company suffered to such an extent that between 1800 and 1821, a period of twenty-two years, their dividends were, for the first eight years, reduced to four per cent. During the next six years they could pay no dividend at all, and for the remaining eight they could only pay four per cent." It will now be necessary to give some account of these unhappy feuds, and also of the esta- blishment of the Red River settlement by Lord Selkirk and the troubles which arose in consequence.
CHAPTER III.
•
THE RIVAL COMPANIES AND LORD SELKIRK.
fN the year 1811, the bitter struggle between the Hud- son Bay Company on the one hand, and the North- West and X. Y. Companies on the other, was brought to a climax by an attempt to form the Red River settlement. Thomas Douglas, Earl of Selkirk, obtained, in that year from the Hudson Bay Company, a grant of land extending from Lake Winnipeg to the height of land supposed to sepa- rate the waters running into the Hudson Bay from those of the Missouri and Mississippi.* Of the troubles which ensued it is somewhat difficult to give an impartial account, the story of the skirmishing and bloodshed which ensued having been fully and rather acrimoniously narrated by those interested on both sides. As the belligerents were almost all of Scottish birth, it will be necessary to enter into the controversy at some length, but, so far as possible without bias, or prepossession. Certainly the perfervidum ingenium Scotorum, of which George Buchanan spoke, never glowed at a whiter heat than in these untoward events.
The central figure in this historical tableau is, of course, Lord Selkirk, and concerning his motives and course of
* See Ballantyne: Hudson's Bay p. 99; Alexander Ross: The Red River Settlement, pp. 8, 9 ; and Jos. J. Hargrave, F. R. O. S. : Red River, p. 70. J. C. Hamilton : The Prai- rie Province, p. 194.
696 THE SCOT IN BRITISH bORTH AMERICA.
action, an angry war of words has been waged even down to our own day. To his friends and partizans he appears as a disinterested, self-sacrificing patriot, having but one pur- pose in view — the elevation and advancement of his High- land fellow-countrymen ; whilst his enemies are in the habit of pourtraying him as a crafty, self-seeking and unscrupu- lous adventurer. The North-Western episode in his career was the only stirring period in an otherwise uneventful life, too early brought to a close. The few facts recorded about him may be briefly given here.* Thomas Douglas, fiftty Earl of Selkirk, Lieutenant of the Stewartry of Kircud- bright, was the youngest of five sons — all of whom attained adult age — of Dunbar, the fourth Earl, who died in 1799. Thomas was born in 1774, and in 1807 married a Miss Col- ville — a lady who became the mother of one son and two daughters, and was with him during all his wanderings. That he was a man of great vigour of mind, and indomitable energy and perseverance, is clear both from his life and writings. He is stated to have been exceedingly gentle and affable in his manners, and whatever other virtues may be denied him, he certainly was not wanting in goodness of heart. In 1805, his Lordship's attention had been called to the wretched condition of the Highlanders, and the result was a work which reached a second edition in the following
o
year, entitled " Observations on the Present State of the Highlands." His active mind was at once set to work upon a scheme by which the pitiful, and almost degraded lot of the Gaelic race might be ameliorated ; and he was soon con-
* See Morgan : Sketches of Celebrated Canadians aud persons connected with Canada, P. 272
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 907
vinced that the remedy he sought was to be found in emi- gration. He was a large shareholder in the Hudson Bay Company, and as many Highlanders had already been in- duced to enter its service, he conceived the idea of forming a Highland colony in some fertile district of the North- West. With him to form a plan was to take imme- diate steps towards its realization, and he therefore, after inquiry and deliberation, entered into negotiations with the Company for the purchase of the district he secured in 1811. " About this time," writes Mr. Hargrave,* a compulsory exodus of the inhabitants of the mountainous regions in the County of Sutherland was in progress. The history of the expulsion of a vast number of the poorer tenantry from the estates of the Duchess of Sutherland, in which they and their ancestors had vegetated in much idleness, semi-barbar- is-m and contentment, from a traditionary era, to make way for the working of the sterner realities of the system of land management which prevails on great estates in this prosaic nineteenth century, is to this day fresh in the recol- lection of the remaining population of the extreme north of Scotland. The pain with which the homeless exiles saw the roofs which had sheltered them through life, removed from the bare walls of their deserted habitations by the merciless edict of irresistible power, has been retained in the memory of the peasants of the north, and doubtless, the adventures of many of the expatriated ones, after their entrance on the untried vicissitudes of life in other lands are known, and held in interest by the children of their kindred in the country whence they came.
* Red River, pp. 72, 73.
968 THE SCOT IN BR1TISU NORTH AMERICA.
It was from these evicted peasants, whose abodes in Sutherlandshire Lord Selkirk had visited, that he chiefly re- cruited what has been called " the first brigade" of his Red River colonists. In the autumn of 1811 they reached the shores of Hudson Bay, and wintered, in a season of excep- tional severity, at Churchill, one of the Company's posts on the western coast, in latitude 58°55" N. When the spring of 1812 opened, the emigrants proceeded inland to their destin- ation on the Red River, where they arrived, after much suf- fering, only to be called on to face danger in another form. Lord Selkirk had taken the precaution to submit the validity of his title to the highest legal opinion in England, and it was pronounced unimpeachable by Sir Samuel Romilly, Scarlett, Holroyd, and other eminent counsel.* In accord- ance with his stipulations, his Lordship ultimately concluded a treaty with the Chief and warriors of the Chippeway or Saulteaux and Cree nations, by which the Indian claims upon the settlement were extinguished/I* Mr. Ross states that the Saulteaux had no claim there at all, being aliens and in- truders, since the Crees and Assiniboines "are, and have been since the memory of man, the rightful owners and inhabit- ants of this part of the country." Lord Selkirk probably desired only to provide for the security of his colony, and was prepared to make terms with all Indian claimants ; still the jealousy of the Crees led to some disagreeable squabbles.
* This opinion is given in full as Appendix A in the " Statement respecting the Earl of Selkirk's Settlement upon the Red River, in Ntrth America," Ac. London: John Mur- ray, 1817. For the loan of this work and others, as well as some interesting MS. letters of Lord Selkirk and the Hudson Bay Macclonells, the writer has to express his thanks to Win. J. Macdonell, Esq., French Consul at Toronto.
t The full text will be found in Ross's Red River Settlement, p. 10, and is noteworthy be- cause it probably formed the model for the compacts entered into, of late years, with the Indian*.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 9C9
The Highland settlers, with some few Norwegians and French, who drop out of the story thereafter, arrived at head- quarters, the nucleus of the new settlement on the Red River near its junction with the Assiniboine, in the summer of 1812. This spot, which Lord Selkirk named Kildonan, in compliment to the Sutherlandshire colonists, stands on the fiftieth parallel of north latitude, and as will be seen im- mediately it at once became the centre of a deadly struggle between the rival companies.
That the North-West Company had valid grounds for sus- pecting mischief from the colonization of the Red River dis- trict seems clear. Their factors and servants met there face to face with those of the Hudson Bay Company, and the interests of Lord Selkirk and the latter were undeniably identical. It was therefore not unnatural that the Canadians should view with apprehension the establishment of a set- tlement, supplied with means of defence and claiming full control over a region stretching from Lakes Winnipegoos, Winnipeg, and the smaller chain to the eastward, far beyond what was afterwards settled to be the United States bound- ary line by the Convention of 1818. They were thus shut out from the great prairies of the west, and their hunters could only repair thither by sufferance. Instead of isolated posts, forts, or factories, they were threatened with an or- ganized government, established, as they believed, for the sole purpose of ruining their trade in furs. The statement of Lord Selkirk that he had no end in view but the welfare of his countrymen and of the Indians, and the permanent foundation of a British Province over against the growing and aggressive Republic to the south, the North-West Com-
970 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
pany regarded as a blind to conceal the insidious purpose which really lay beneath. It was in vain that the Earl pro- tested the purity of his motives, pointed out the fact that the buffalo and most of the fur- bearing animals had disap- peared from the district, and displayed the preparations he had made for bona fide settlement.* The North- West Com- pany at once repudiated the authority of Lord Selkirk and his Governor, Miles Macdonell, formerly a Captain in the Queen's Rangers, who came out in charge of " the first bri- gade " of Highlanders. They denied that the Hudson Bay Company had any jurisdiction in the Red River country, or that if they had, their jurisdiction could be delegated to any individual or corporation. As already mentioned, Lord Sel- kirk had taken care to fortify himself with legal advice ; to use his own words in the " Memorial," he " had previously consulted several of the most eminent counsel in London, who concurred in opinion that the title was unquestionably valid ; and he has good reason to believe that a similar opin- ion has been expressed to his Majesty's Government by the Attorney and Solicitor-General of England."^ Acting on the
* Lord Selkirk, in his " Memorial to the Duke of Richmond, K.G., Governor General of Canada," &c., bearing date October 1818, says,— "By the terms of the conveyance, your memorialist was bound to settle a specified number of families on the tract of land con- veyed to him : and your memorialist as well as all persons holding land' under him were debarred from interfering in the trade. Notwithstanding this restriction, your memo- rialist was early apprized that any plan for settling the country would be opposed with the most determined hostility by the North-West Company of Montreal ; and threats were held out by the principal partners of that association in London, that they would excite the native Indians to destroy the settlement," p. 3. For this "memorial," printed In Montreal (1810), (he writer is also indebted to the kindness of Mr. \V. J. Macdonell.
t It la proper to observe, however, that the opinion of counsel did not extend to the dis- puted questions of civil and criminal jurisdiction delegated to Lord Selkirk ; still they are virtually covered by the right of the Company to appoint officers for the purpose, and Mr. Miles Macdonell received his appointment from the Hudson Bay authorities directly, and was therefore legally the Governor of Assiniboia. See the " statement " before quoted p. 2, Rosa's Red River Settlement, p, 26. Hargraves Red River, p. 74.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA, 971
assurances thus given of his authority, Lord Selkirk, ii> order to be on the safe side, named Mr. Miles Macdonell the Company's Governor in the district as superintendent of the settlement. Obviously, therefore, whatever consti- tuted governmental authority there was in Assinoboia was vested in him, and commanded obedience until the Charter of the Hudson Bay Company was pronounced invalid by due process of law. Certainly the North -West Company had no claims to any jurisdiction, civil or criminal, either by charter or statute. It was simply a voluntary association- of merchants — a co-partnership with nothing to back it but the capital, energy and enterprise of its members.* It would therefore seem to have been the duty of its proprietors and servants to bow at once to any regularly constituted execu- tive which had a prima facia claim to authority under the crown.
But it was exactly here that the North-West Company was met with an embarrassing selection between two alter- natives. If the civil and military authority of the Hudson- Bay Company and its agents, and grantees were admitted even for a season, all the mischief they had to fear might be- wrought. The great objection entertained by the Canadian fur-traders was not so much to the legal status of the colony as to its formation in any shape, particularly under the aus- pices of the Hudson Bay Company. According to the " Statement," published on Lord Selkirk's side (pp. 7-10), the-
* Sir Alexander Mackenzie, himself a North-Wester, frankly writes in his Oeneral Hit- tory of the Fur Trade (p. xx.):— "It assumed the title of the North- West Company, anil was no more than an association of commercial men, agreeing; among themselves to carry on the fur trade, unconnected with any ether business, though many of the partners en- gaged, had extensive concerns altogether foreign to it."
972 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
proprietary of the North- West Company protested against any attempt at colonization, first on the sentimental ground that the settlers would be placed " out of the reach of all those aids and comforts which are derived from civil society, and secondly, because colonization is at all times unfavour- able to the fur-trade." The pamphlets published by the North- West Company appear to admit that this second objection was, after all, the one which influenced them. In the " Narrative of Transactions in the Red River Country" written by Mr. Alexander Macdonell, and published in 1819, although reference is made to Lord Selkirk's " real, though concealed purpose to transfer to himself, on the premedita- ted ruin of the North-West Company, the monopoly of their trade," stress is laid upon the incompatibility of agricultural settlement with fur-trading. Mr. Miles Macdonell's de- scriptions of the sufferings of the party that landed at Churchill in 1811, are enlarged upon, and the hope expressed that people will, in future, be deterred " from completing the measure of human misery, by embarking in this wretch- ed and hopeless (!) speculation of Lord Selkirk's." But the only serious objection to the settlement is very plainly set forth in these words — where the writer is speaking of a Royal Proclamation of fifty years before — " a Proclamation issued under the full conviction of the evils which must al- ways attend any attempt to reconcile the interests of the agriculturist with the feelings and jealousies of the Indian Hunters. These must retire from the country, which it is necessary should be occupied by the farmer ; and it will be sufficient time (i.e. when Lord Selkirk's title should be ad- judicated upon) to entertain the question of policy. How
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 973
far it may be desirable to force agricultural establishments in the Indian country, west of Lake Superior, when the wild, unproductive lands of Upper Canada, are cultivated and settled ? "* It is scarcely necessary to point out more directly the ansivers of the North- West proprietary ; at worst they only did what the earlier monopoly strove earnestly to effect during the major part of the century — keep out the settler, retard the march of British civilization, and maintain, in all its primaeval wildness, their vast game-preserve in the North-West.
It must be remembered in justice to the North- West Com- pany, that its trade had been built up in the face of deter- mined opposition from the Hudson Bay Company, and that, at every step of their progress, the Montreal traders had been dogged and obstructed by the jealousy of their rivals. Al- though it was no doubt true, as Mr. Alexander Macdonell avers, that in 1809, all was peace at the points where the outposts of the companies met, there was far from being any cordial friendship, and there had previously been some sea- sons of bitter contention. Lord Selkirk's advent did not al- together come like a peal of thunder from an azure sky. But it unquestionably gave definite point to the conflict, and brought the trade struggle to a rugged crisis. A glance at the map prefixed to the " Narrative " already quoted, will give some idea of the awkward and threatening predicament in which the proprietors of the North-West Company found themselves suddenly placed by the arrival of the settlers.
* Prefotcf, pp. xviii. xix. This volume with oiher documeits relating to these troubles AS well as some \aluable additional information in MSS., have been kindly lent to the wriUr by Messrs. Allan and Alexander Macdonell, L'sqra., near relatives uf the North-West pro- prietor who wrote the "Narrative.''
974 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
Throughout the entire region conveyed to Lord Selkirk in the Hudson Bay territory, the Montreal association had establish- ed posts already upon every river and lake. Commencing at its N. W. angle in Lat. 52" N., and above it from Swan Lake to Red River, on the Swan, Qu'Appelle, Souris, and Assini- boine Rivers, they had a chain of not less than a dozen posts ; there was Fort Dauphin, the old French station on the lake of that name ; at the N.E. angle of the Selkirk tract, the Com- pany had two forts on each side of Lake Winnipeg ; the en- tire country from Fort William by the Rainy Lake and the Lake of the Woods was in its hands, and so was the whole course of the Red River from the frontier to its mouth. The Hudson Bay Company held only one fort of any import- ance, Fort Douglas, situated within a short distance of the North-West Company's post of Fort Gibraltar, at the Forks, i.e. at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, where the city of Winnipeg now stands. In short, the whole region thus made over to an individual by a parch- ment deed had for more than a quarter of a century been the field in which the enterprise of the Scots of Montreal had been displayed and from which its reward had been garnered in ; and, therefore, it was not at all astonishing that they should resent the intrusion of the strangers, and resolve to expel them, if possible, from a territory they had come to consider as their own, by possession and prescription. It was not in the nature of man, especially of that sturdy, energetic and high-spirited type of humanity which had scoured the western wilds, with true Scottish enterprise to the Arctic and the Pacific, to submit to what they regarded, justly or unjustly, as a conspiracy against their rights and privileges.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 975
On the other hand, there is not the slightest ground for crediting the allegations made in hot-blood against the hon- our and veracity of Lord Selkirk. Upon a calm review of the story as told on each side, it seems impossible to hold the Earl guilty of any worse offence than that of too great eagerness in prematurely pressing forward an enterprise purely honest and philanthropic, so far as he was concerned.* His sympathy with the woes of the Highlanders was, be- yond all question, deep, hearty and sincere, and it must have been no ordinary love of his fellows which induced him, to take his faithful and affectionate wife from the comforts of home civilization, and travel along with her to the far-dis- tant prairies of the west, solely to be with his poorer coun- trymen to advise them, to stimulate, to admonish, and to en- courage. All his writings, public and private, breathe the same spirit of broad humanity and brotherly kindness ; and so far as appears, although he was too high-spirited to sub- mit to insult, he was not implacable in his resentments. When his task was at length accomplished, he only retired, whilst yet in his prime, to yield up his life under a milder sky. He died at Pau, in the south of France, aged forty -six, in the year 1320.f To this slight view of the Earl's char- acter, may be added the fact that so early as 1803, his Lord- ship figured as a promoter of Highland colonization. In
* See an admirable summing up of the case for and against his Lordship in ROM'S Bed River Settlement, pp. 16-20.
t In a letter, dated from Montreal, Dec. 1st, 1815, lent to the writer by Mr. W. J. Macdonell, his Lordship gives ample proof both of his shrewd intelligence in choosing his settlers, and his willingness to share all their hardships and dangers. A sentence or two must suffice :— " I propose early next spring to go up with these people myself, which may serve as an answer to any one who apprehends danger from tho Indians ; I think these men will te i-atisfled when they know that they will be exposed to no danger, but such as I must share
with ihein." MS. Letter addrewd to 31 r. Wm. Jotinnon Macdor.elL
976 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
that year, "he carried over to Prince Edward Island an im- portant colony of 800 Highlanders. He made the necessary arrangements with so much judgment that the settlers soon became very prosperous, an<J with the friends who have since joined them, now (1840) amount to upwards of 4,033." *
It is somewhat difficult to disentangle the truth from the contradictory accounts given by the rival interests of the struggle which ensued after the landing of Lord Selkirk's settlers. It may be remarked here that most of the modern writers on Red River history take part with his Lordship, and therefore, it may be as well to give their version of the story first. Mr. Miles Macdonell, Governor of Assiniboia, arrived, as already stated, at the Forks, in 1812, with his " first brigade," and they were at once met by unmistakable signs of hostility. How far these menaces were carried, or who the parties were that threatened the settlers, is not very clear. Ballantyne states that the Indians were friendly ; Hargrave alleges that they were hostile ; and Ross seems to be of opinion that many of them were disguised servants of the North- West Company, f Well-nigh overcome with fa-- ticnie and starvation, they consented to accept their enemies as a convoy, and to remove to Pembina. Some childish
* An Historical and Descriptive account of British Americ%, by Hugh Murray, F.R.S.E. (American Edition, 1856), vol. ii. p. 95.
t Ballantyne : Hudson's Bay, p. 99. Hargrave : Red River, p. 74. Ross : Red River Settlement, p. 21. From the last-mentioned author the following may be quotsd : " But a few hours had passed over their heads in the land of their adoption when an array of armed men, of grotesque mould, painted, disfigured, and dressed in the savage costume of the country, warned them that they were unwelcome visitors. These crested warriors, for the most part, were emplojes of the North- West Company, and as their peremptory mandate to depart was soon aggravated by the fear of perishing, through want of food, it was re- solved to seek refuge at Pembina, seventy miles distant, whither a straggling party, whom they first took to be Indians, promised to conduct them. Lord Selkirk, in his "Memorial" to the Duke of Richmond (p. 4) does not hesiiate to affirm that these troubles were caused by the North-West Company, who succeeded in an attempt " to excite the Jealousy o' the Indians."
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 97f
practical jokes were played upon them en route, but no real harm done, and they reached Pembina in safety. Here the new settlers lived in huts or tents during the winter, their food being the product of the chase. The Indians proved friendly, and when, in May 1813, the settlers again set out for the colony, they left their red friends with regret, con- vinced that they would not be hostile to white strangers, if left to themselves. In 1813, the Kildonan settlement con- tained one hundred persons. In June, 1814, fifty more arrived, and in the following September, they amounted to two hundred. From the commencement of the winter of 1814-15 the colony was unmolested; the Indians became friendly, but the Metis, Bois Brute's, or French half-breeds, were sullen and disobliging. According to the " Statement" already quoted, attempts had been made during all this time " to instigate the natives against the settlers," but as that plan did not succeed, more incisive measures were adopted. The growth of the settlement, and the anticipated arrival of eighty or ninety additional emigrants from the Highlands precipitated matters. In the summer of 1814, an annual meeting was held of the North -West Company's partners at Fort William, at which it was resolved to destroy the Sel- kirk settlement, Messrs. Duncan Cameron and Alexander Macdonell being specially detailed to put the scheme in execution.* They arrived in due time at the Forks, and es-
* The following letter, written by Mr. Alex. Macdonell to a gentleman in Montreal, is quoted in the "Statement" p. 11:-" You see myself and our mutual friend, Mr. Cameron, so far on our way to commence open hostilities against the enemy in Red River. Much is exjxsctcd from us, if we believe some— perhaps too much. One thing is certain, that we will do our best to defend what we consider to be our rights in the interior. Something serious will undoubtedly take place. Nothing but the complete downfall of the colony will satisfy some, by fair or foul means— a most desirable end if it can be accomplished. So here Ls at them with all my heart and energy." Mr. Alex. Vacdonell's version of the whole affair will be given presently.
<)78 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
tablished themselves at Fort Gibraltar, which was the North- West Company's post there. Mr. Cameron is represented as the active spirit in the movement — as ingratiating himself with the Highlanders, talking Gaelic with them, and excit- ing their apprehensions by false stories of Indian hostility. He is also charged with calling himself a captain in the Voyageur Corps which had been disbanded two years before. The proposition was made on behalf of the North- West Company, to give the settlers a free passage to Canada (gen- erally to Montreal), a twelvemonths' provisions gratis for themselves and their families, an allotment of two hundred acres of land, and every other encouragement they could hope for.* This strategy proved, to a considerable extent, successful, but the colony still remained, although depleted in population. Lord Selkirk had provided some small pieces of artillery and other arms, in case of attack, and the first step was to obtain possession of these. Accordingly Mr. Cameron sent a peremptory missive ordering them as "Cap- tain, Yoyageur Corps," to be surrendered.^ Failing this, an armed party, which had been lying in ambush, rushed into the Governor's House, whilst the fortnightly allowance of provisions was being served out, seized the guns, and car- ried them off in triumph to the North- West depot. This was the signal for open rupture between the settlers who
* Statement, p. 16. Lord Selkirk's Memorial, p. 5.
t 1 his missive, addresser! to Mr. Archibald Macdonald, acting in the absence of Mr. Miles Macdonell, ran thus: "As your field-pieces have already been employed to disturb the peace of His Majesty's loyal subjects in this quarter, and even to stop up the King's high- way, I have authorized the settlers to take possession of them, and to bring them over here, not with a view to make any hostile use of them, but merely to put them out of harm's way. Therefore, I expect that you will not be so wanting to yourself as to attempt any useless resistance, as no one wishes to do you or any of your people any harm." State- tM«nl, p. 19.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 979
had resolved to remain, and those who had closed with the offers of the North-West Company, and the latter went off with the Government muskets, the arms Lord Selkirk had provided, and his implements of husbandry At this time Mr. Miles Macdonell returned, and was met by a warrant issued on the information of one of the partners of the Company, Mr. Norman McLeod, charging him with feloni- ously taking a quantity of provisions, the Company's pro- perty. The Governor refused to acknowledge its validity, and events began to assume a serious turn. Mr. Alexander Macdonell brought down a number of Cree Indians, and these, with the half-breeds and North- West servants, pre- pared an attack. Most of the settlers abandoned the colony and formed a camp down the river. On Sunday, June llth (Statement, p. 25), muskets were served out of the stores to the Company's servants, and soon after the force fired from a neighbouring wood, upon passers-by. The surrender of Mr. Miles Macdonell was demanded, and he, to save the effusion of blood, voluntarily surrendered, and was carried off to Montreal to be tried, although no trial ever took place. Finally, towards the end of June, 1815, the colony was com- pletely brken up, and the remaining settlers escorted by friendly Indians to a trading-post of the Hudson Bay Com- pany at the other end of Lake Winnipeg. On the following day the North- West Company's servants " fired the houses, the mill and other buildings, and burned them to the ground." A large portion of the " Statement " is taken up with evidence that, although the Company attempted to throw the blame of this raid exclusively upon the Indians,
it was planned, executed, and afterwards applauded, and its
4
080 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
chief agents rewarded by them. To this statement of the- Red River case may be added a few additional points urged by Mr. Ross.* He alleges that the ire of the North-West Company was excited by a proclamation, issued by Gover- nor Miles Macdonell in 1814, which forbade the appropria- tion of provisions of all sorts for any use but that of the colonists. This, it is urged, was necessary as a precaution against famine, and was provoked by the treatment the emigrants had received at Churchill. • From that moment, pillage and violence were the order of the day on both sides ; " provisions were taken and retaken," and affairs went from bad to worse, until the struggle culminated in the destruc- tion of the infant colony after a series of encounters in which several persons were wounded, Mr. "Warren killed, and Governor Macdonell made prisoner.
It is now time to turn to the other side of the story, as it is detailed by Mr. Alexander Macdonell in his " Narrative." He asserts that Lord Selkirk and and his coadjutors were from the first hostile to the North- West Company, and fel- low conspirators, with the Hudson Bay Company against it. So far from its being true that he and his fellow-partners were unkind to the settlers, Mr. Macdonell says that he pitied the poor people who had passed such a severe season of cold and want, and supplied them with provisions from the stores. He declares that Mr. Miles Macdonell was not satisfied with what he saw at the Forks, and that he volun- tarily made choice of Pembina as his head-quarters ; that he assisted his namesake with advice as to the erection of buildings ; and frequently supplied his people with provis-
* Red Hirer Settlement, pp. 24-29.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 981
ions frem the stores. He affirms further, that, so far from inciting the Indians, who were enraged at what they consid- ered the intrusion of the settlers, he endeavoured to appease them. The movement to Pembina Mr Macdonell represents as a necessity, however the colonists found it impossible to snbsist at the Forks. He charges Mr. Miles Macdonell with trading, though one Frangois Delorme, in peltries with the natives, " contrary to his own repeated and voluntary pro- fessions of not interfering with the Far Trade.*
Mr. Miles Macdonell is there accused ot base ingratitude. So soon as the winter was at an end, the Governor is repre- sented as trying to pick a quarrel with the company, be- cause he knew they were embroiled with , the Americans, and also because he thought he could now be independent of their assistance. After the removal from the Forks in May, both Mr. Alexander Macdonell and the Hon. William McGillivray continued to aid the colonists in every way. In 1814, news having arrived of the capture of the British fleet on Lake Erie in September of the previous year, Mr. Miles Macdonell, according to the " Narrative," aimed a deadly blow at the Company by the proclamation already mention- ed. The traders were alarmed at the prospect of being cut off from Canada by the Americans, and this step on the part of the Governor increased their embarrassment. At the
* To this the author adds : " I mention this circumstance, not because we had any right to object to Lord Selkirk's agents carrying on the fur trade although they mi (lit have ab- stained from opposing us at the particular place and moment when we were straining every nerve to feed, protect and support the wretched emigrants who had been deluded by the falsehoods published in Great Britain, to leave their homes on this desperate undertaking, but because I have heard it stated that his Lordship views were completely and entirely unconnected with objects of trade ; whereas they have always appeared to us in the coun- try, from the measures adopted since his Lordship's connection with the Hudson Bay Company, as the principal inducement that led to that connectkn.— Narrative,, <£«. pp. 11, 12.
!>82 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
same time he is charged with seducing some of the North- West clicks, notably one Aulay McAulay, who told the men under him the Governor was appointed by a great lord, and that if he ordered it, the settlers had a right to demand the Company's provisions. There were spies in every fort, and the Govemer is charged with the design of seizing all the Company's stores and provisions. He is charged further with planting his cannon on the river, with a view of inter- cepting and plundering two bateaux laden with provisions. Not content with that he obstructed the highroad, took as prisoners Canadian hunters and half-breeds quietly pursuing their ordinary avocations. And so on runs the " Narrative" of Mr. Alexander Macdonell over a long list of grievances and outrages it is not necessary to give in detail.
The dispersion of the Colony in 1815, the author of this brochure lays entirely at the door of th'e Governor. He affirms that on the 10th of June — and this was only the last of many similar unprovoked attacks — a party of Half-breeds returning to their camp were assailed wantonly by the colo- nists and Hudson Bay Company's servants. They replied by firing a volley, and were only kept from perpetrating a general massacre, by Mr. Alexander Macdonell's expostula- tions. He solemnly denies that either he or Mr. Donald Cameron had anything to do with the attack. He admits that some of Mr. Cameron's men dug a closer ditch round the settlement ; but that was only to protect those detailed to serve the warrant on Mr. Miles Macdonell, from the fire of the colonists. His conclusion, so far as the affair of 1815 is concerned, seems to be briefly condensed in one paragraph (p. 39) : — " The burning of some buildings afterwards, and
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 983
the dispersion of the few settlers who remained, were entirely the acts of the injured and irritated Half-breeds, who now considered the colony as hostile to their tranquillity."
To return now to the statement issued by the Selkirk party. So soon as quiet was restored, the settlers who had removed to Lake Winnipeg, with a dogged persistence char- acteristic of their race, made their way back to their lands and made preparations for re-establishing the colony. Dur- ing the previous year vague rumours had reached Lord Sel- kirk of impending danger to the settlement from the Indians. He immediately set out to support the settlers by his pre- sence, and had reached New York, when he received intel- ligence of " the dispersion of the colonists and the destruc- tion of the settlement." On his Lordship's arrival at Mont- real, he "ascertained that the Indians had not been at the bottom of the troubles ; he found that those settlers who had confided in the promises of the North-West Company had been deceived ; and learning that the other settlers had re- turned to Kildonan, he despatched a letter promising his presence and assistance. His messenger, however, was way- laid and robbed of his papers. The Earl's next step was to endeavour to procure from Sir Gordon Drummond, the Ad- ministrator of the Government of Canada from 1811 to 1810, a small military force for the protection of the colony, but without success. In the spring of 1816, affairs having again assumed a threatening aspect, a second application was made with no better result.* The Administrator appears to have thought, probably with justice, that there had been faults
* A lengthy correspondence took place between the Earl and his Excellency which will be found in the Statement pp. 53-57 .
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on both sides, and he was backed by Lord Bathurst, the Colonial Secretary, in refusing to interpose. Lord Selkirk protested that the outrages had not been " mutual," as had been alleged, " but all on one side," and urged upon the au- thorities the imminent danger there was of bloodshed ; but in vain. Sir Gordon Drummond disbelieved the Earl's ver- sion of the story, made light of his apprehensions, and plainly took the Company's part.*
The indefatigable founder of Red River settlement being thus thrown upon his own resources, at once began to collect an efficient band of settlers, with a view, at the same time " of materially adding to its strength and security," he en- listed in its service, and supplied with arms, about a hundred disbanded officers and soldiers who had served in the Amer- ican war. He had only reached the Sault Ste. Marie with his men, when his advance party fell back with the intelli- gence that a massacre had taken place, and that the settle- ment was, for the second time, broken up. Under the pro- tection of the Hudson Bay Company, the settlers had been brought back a distance of three hundred miles from the north end of Lake Winnipeg to Kildonan. At this juncture a fresh body of Highlanders arrived by way of Hudson Bay, and, as Mr. Ross remarks,-f " gloomy and portentous was the prospect before them. The smoky ruins, the ashes scarcely yet cold, were all that remained to mark the progress
* In a letter to the Montreal partners, his Secretary, Col. Harvey was instructed to say that his queries had been " answered in such a way by Mr. McQilli vray in such a manner as would have removed from his Excellency's mind all traces of any impression unfavour- able to the honourable character, and liberal principles of the North-West Company, had any such impression existed," pp. 55, 56. The Hon. Mr. McOillivray was at this time a member cf the Lower Canada Executive Council— a sworn adviser of Sir Gordon, and in his confidence.
\Red River Settlement, p. 32.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERLOA. 985
of their unfortunate predecessors, and from the gensral ap- pearance of things around them, they had but little reason to expect a better fate." The arrival of this new batch of immigrants, as well as the return of the old settlers, natu- rally re-kindled the strife of the former year. The colonists were allowed no rest ; in place of quietly settling upon the lands allotted, they were harassed and driven to Pembina, to prairie lands on the Missouri, or to the shores of the great lakes. Still a remnant clung, with desperate pertinacity to the Red River, and it seemed necessary to* take strong mea- sures to dislodge them. If the " statement " is to be believed, the complicity of the North-West proprietors and servants in these untoward events is clear.* In spite of all their pro- testations to the contrary, it is quite evident that all the dependents of this Company rejoiced at the assembling of the Bois BruUs, and that some of them instigated it. One clerk, Cuthbert Grant, himself a Half-breed, wrote, " The Half-breeds of Fort des Prairies and English River are all to be here in the spring, it is to be hoped we shall come off with flying colours, and never see any of them again in the colonizing way at Red River " (p. 73). The affidavits of Painbrun and Blondeau (Append, p. xxxiii. and xliv.), if they are not rank perjury, distinctly fasten the charge of collect- ing the Half-breeds upon Alexander Macdonell, Norman
* The following passage in a letter written by Mr. Alex. Macdouell from river Qu'Appello 4o Mr. Duncan Cameron at the Forks is quoted ; it bears date 13th of March, 1816 : " I re mark with pleasure the hostile proceedings of our neighbours, I say pleasure, because the more they do, the more justice we will have on our side. A storm is gathering in the North ready to burst on the rascals who deserve it ; little do they know their situation. La,->t year was but a joke. The nation under their leaders are coming forward to clear their native soil of intruders and assassins. Glorious news from Athabasca," p. 71. The " glo- rious news " was an unfounded rumour that a band of H idson K u Company's traders iu Athabasca, had almost perished from jtarvation, and had bjeu compelled to resort to can- nibaliam, p. 72.
086 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
McLeod, Alexander Mackenzie, John Duncan Campbell, and John Macdonald of the North- West Company. The first- named on the other hand, pronounces these affidavits abso- lutely false and accuses Lord Selkirk of being guilty of subornation of perjury.
Governor Semple, of the Hudson Bay Company, arrived at Red River in the spring of 1816. In April, he sent Mr. Pambruri to the Hudson Bay post on the Qu'Appelle ; when he arrived, he found the " Bruits " collected in force at the adjacent fort of the North- West Company. On the 12th of May, whilst proceeding down the river with a large quan- tity of furs and pemican, the property was seized and the crews made prisoners, as Pambrun affirms, by the order of Mr. Alex. Macdonell — an order which he did not hesitate to avow. The same party, reinforced by others, in all about seventy, set out to attack Red River ; and on the 20th of June a messenger came in from its leader, Cuthbert Grant, " who reported that his party had killed Governor Semple with five of his officers, and sixteen of his people; upon which Macdonell, Seraphim Lamar, and all the other officers, shouted with joy."* The unfortunate Governor was on the point of returning from Red River to York Factory when he met his death. He had received information of the intended assault from two Cree Indians who had escaped from the attacking party, and took some precautions against a sur- prise. On the 19th of June, according to Mr. Pritchard, who escaped, tidings were brought of the approach of the half-
' The writer of the " Statement " (p. 79) goes on to say : " Macdonell then went to the rest of the men who had remained with him, and announced to them the news in language (as sworn to by Mr. Pambrun) which we will not attempt to translate : " Sacre nom de Dieu !
Bonnes nouvelles ! Vingt-deux Anglois de tu6s ! " "Good news, twenty-two English
killed."
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 98T
breeds. The Governor presuming, naturally, that they were- about to attack the settlement, said, " We must go out and meet these people ; let twenty men follow me." Finding the half-breeds more numerous than he had supposed them to be, he ordered out a field-piece. The enemy, on horseback, had their " faces painted in the most hideous manner, and in the dresses of Indian warriors, they came forward and surrounded us in the form of a half-moon."^ Both parties were now on what was known as Frog Plain, between Fort Douglas and Kildonan. Governor Semple called out, "What do you want ? " The answer was, " We want our fort ! " to which the Governor rejoined, " Go to your fort." Both Boucher, the half-breed spokesman, and Mr. Semple were close together by this time, and Pritchard failed to catch, what followed. The Governor, however, laid his hand on. Boucher's arm, and immediately shots were fired on both sides, though which began the murderous work seems inde- terminable. " With the exception of myself," says Pritch- ard, " no quarter was given to any of us. The knife, axe or ball, put a period to the existence of the wounded ; and on the bodies of the dead were practised all those horrible bar- barities which characterize the inhuman heart of the savage. The amiable and mild Mr. Semple, lying on his side (his thigh was broken), and supporting his head upon his hand " (p. 84), asked Mr. Cuthbert Grant to try and get him to the fort, as he was not mortally wounded. The unfortunate gentleman was left in charge of a Canadian, who afterwards told how an Indian came up and shot the Governor through the breast. Out of a band of twenty-eight, twenty-one
Pritchard s testimony in the " Statement," p. 82, 83.
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were killed and one wounded. It is unnecessary to attempt an analysis of the trials which subsequently took place at York, now Toronto, in October and November, 1818. Paul Brown and F. F. Boucher were indicted for murder, John Siveright, Alexander Mackenzie, Hugh McGillis, John Mac- donald, John McLaughlin, and Simon Fraser as accessories, and John Cooper and Hugh Bannerman for stealing field- pieces, the property of the Earl of Selkirk. All the prison- ers were acquitted by the juries which tried their respective cases. Finally, at a Court of Oyer and Terminer held at Quebec, by Chief Justice Sewell, on the 2Gth October, 1819, " appointed for the investigation of cases from the Indian Territories," Arch. McLeod, Simon Fraser, James Leith, Alex. Macdonell, Hugh McGillis, Arch. McLellan, and John Sive- right, of the North-West Company, " who were under accu- sation by the Earl of Selkirk, as private prosecutor, for great crimes and offences " appeared and demanded a trial, " which they could not obtain because the private prosecu- tor was not ready."*
Mr. Alexander Macdonell, in his Narrative, points tri- umphantly to the result of the York trials, and urges the prompt acquittal of all the prisoners as strong proof that the Company and its servants were not to bl&me. These proceedings were certainly conducted with great patience and the strictest regard to justice, and the juries could hardly have come to any other verdicts considering the mass of conflicting evidence laid before them. Only one thing seems certain, amidst a maze of bewildering uncer- tainty, and that is that the French half-breeds, at all events ,
Report oj the Proceedings, &c., from minutes taken in Court. Montreal, 1819.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 989
had very little regard for the sanctity of an oath. There was a great deal of false swearing, doubtless, on both sides; and an impartial reader can hardly fail to come to the conclusion that both sides were grievously in the wrong from the first. A large number of exceedingly arbitrary acts are charged against Mr. Miles Macdonell and his party in the Narrative, and their mode of administering such gov- ernmental and judicial powers as they claimed to possess was, beyond question, harsh and arbitrary at times. Still the apology offered in the Preface of the Narrative is, to some extent, serviceable for the one party as well as the other. With regard to the closing scene, Mr. Alexander Macdonell stoutly denies the party encountered so unhap- pily by Governor Semple had any hostile design. He states that Cuthbert Grant's party of half-breeds were detailed by him to convey provisions to a point twelve miles or more below the Colony (p. 75). His instructions were to proceed down Red River to Passage, a place nine or ten miles above the settlement, to secrete the canoes, load the carts with the provisions, and proceed by land to their destination. They were to behave " in an orderly and peaceful manner, avoid- ing if possible, being discovered or seen by the Hudson Bay people and settlers ; to keep at as great a distance as possi- ble from Forts Gibraltar and Douglas ; to avoid the settle- ment in like manner, and upon no account to molest any of the settlers " (p. 76). Mr. Macdonell affirms, and points to the evidence on the trials in proof, that his injunctions were strictly obeyed by Grant and the party, and the detour they actually made is indicated on a map of the district. He maintains that the unhappy events of the 19th of June were
990 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
occasioned by an unprovoked and unlocked for attack upon Cuthbert Grant and his people by Mr. Semple and his fol- lowers. He adds that " His Majesty's Commissioner, who lately visited Red River, has ascertained by his enquiries and examinations, who were the aggressors and assailants on that deplorable occasion." * It would be useless as well as unprofitable, to attempt to reconcile these conflicting accounts or strike a balance between them. Mr. Ross states thait, " in the country where the murders took place, there has never been a shadow of doubt, but rather a full and clear knowledge of the fact that the North-West party did unquestionably fire the first shot, and almost all the shots that were fired," -f- but that is, after all, a question of comparatively little importance. Both parties were no doubt excited beyond control, and the fatal issue was not foreseen, or even desired by either of them. Governor Semple's ad- vance, with so small a force, was certainly imprudent, al- though it serves to show that he never conceived the san- guinary design attributed to him. The North-West Com- pany were unquestionably hostile to the colony, and that for reasons solid and substantial enough, apart from the notion that settlement was merely a mask, to cover rivalry in the fur-trade. Colonization and the fur- trade, as the partners saw plainly, could not co-exist in the same region, and the North- Westers only inaugurated the policy afterwards
* Mr. Alex. Macdonell, without directly noticing the charge advanced by Mr. Pambrun against himself personally (Statement, p. 79), quoted in a previous note, admits that an ex- clamation of burprise something like that alleged may have been uttered, but it must have been one of surprise, not of exultation (Naivative, p. 78). The " bonnes nouvelles," good news however, drop out ; and singularly enough Mr. Macdonell says nothing about the letters alleged to have been written before the conflict.
t Red River Settlement, pp. 36, 37.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 991
adopted by the Hudson Bay Company all over the North- West. Moreover, some natural jealousy was excited at see- ing an organized government, the title of which was dis- puted, set up under the auspices of the rival monopoly in territory which the North-West Company had hitherto re- garded as peculiarly their own. It would appear that the rule of the first Governor was not of a mild and conciliating type, and that, on both sides, there was an amount of irrita- bility and an uncomprising temper which boded ill for the peace and prosperity of the country. Causes of quarrel na- turally arose day after day ; charges and recriminations were exchanged ; then followed arbitrary arrests, the seizure of property, and the obstruction of business and travel, until the climax was reached in the lamentable catastrophe of June, 1816. It would not be just to scan too closely, or gauge by too rigid a standard the moral character of the agents in these turbulent scsnes. Removed far from the comforts, as well as the discipline of civilized life, both the trader and the colonist are entitled to indulgent con- sideration. The toil, suffering and hardship which made their daily lot, were stern tutors in whose curriculum the milder arts of civilization found no place. In daily contact with savages, and the hardly less untrustworthy half-breeds, it was inevitable that they should be affected by the rough and unruly freedom of their environment. Between the parties, there was probably not much to choose ; the burden of responsibility for the unhappy struggle of these early years can not be adjusted by the men of to-day, and they may be well content to forget the errors of those early pio- neers in admiration for the invincible energy and persever-
902 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
ancc which distinguished those hardy Scots on both sides, and secured for the Empire that broad and priceless Domi- nion which stretches from sea to sea.
It only remains to gather the threads of the narrative, up to the final pacification. The commissioner whose report is appealed to so triumphantly by Mr. Alex. Macdonell, was the Hon. Wm. B. Coltman, who like Mr. McGillivray, the North-West partner, was a member of the Executive Council of Lower Canada.* A report from that source could hardly be regarded as satisfactory by the colonists, and it is not surprising to find in the ' Memorial' by Lord Selkirk, somo severe strictures upon " His Majesty's Commissioner." He- is charged with starting the theory that the acts of the half-breeds were only " venial irregularities," and not " rob- beries, felonies and murders, in the usual acceptation of these words."^ It was not antecedently probable that a col- league of Mr. McGillivray who was himself concerned on/ one side should find sufficient evidence to lay blame upon: the other side ; but his report is necessarily less satisfactory on that account, and by no means entitled to the weight Mr. Alex. Macdonell accords it.
Lord Selkirk had lost his " mercenaries" at the Sault Ste. Marie ; but after sending a strong report of the massacre to Sir J. C. Sherbrooke, the Governor of Lower Canada, he at once made his way to Red River. A calm, comparatively speaking, had succeeded the storm ; but the affairs of the
* Major Fletcher, Police Magistrate and Chairman of Quarter Sessions at Quebec, was also of the Commission ; but he either did not go up to the North-West, or was a cipher. All the references in Lord Selkirk's Memorial are to Coltman, and, as already seen, Mr. Alex. Macdonell speaks of " one Commissioner only."
t Memorial : pp. 62-68.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 993
colony were in a deplorable condition. The immigrants had been almost constantly in a state of migration from the settlement to Pembina, to the Missouri, or to Norway'House,
and other forts or factories of the Hudson Bay Company
>
and back again. His lordship, it seems, set himself to the task of restoring order. He called a meeting of the people, " on the west bank of Red River, some two miles below Fort Garry, and in consideration of the losses, hardships, and mis- fortunes they had from time to time suffered, he made them several concessions." Those who had lost all received fresh grants of land and immediate relief. Buildings were erected, including a mill, and an edifice which served the double pur- pose of church and school-house. Roads, bridges, &c., were settled, and seed-grain distributed to the necessitous. Hav- ing thus started the colony, which had cost him so much in means, as well as anxiety, once more on the path of progress, Lork Selkirk took his final leave of it, and retired as we' have seen to die in a foreign land.
The settlers who had crops upon their land met with the bounteous return which nature yields in that fertile region ; but, unfortunately, too little seed had been sown, and, as win- ter approached, rather than consume all, and ruin their pros- pects for the next year, many of the colonists again left for Pembina to live by the chase. There they suffered hardship in another shape, but they returned again to their old homes in the spring. The year 1818 was an unfortunate one, in all respects. " Food was scarce, their hitherto precarious de- pendence on fish, herbs and roots, became hopeless, for all
•
those failed ; and their misfortunes were crowned by an act of lawless violence on the part of the North -West people, who
•994 TI1E SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
forcibly carried off Mr. Sutherland to Canada."* Still agricul- ture began to progress henceforward. In July, 1818, how- over, just when the crops were ripening to the harvest, a •cloud of grasshoppers appeared from the west, darkening the air ; in one night " crops, gardens, and every green herb in the settlement had perished with the exception of a few •ears of barley, gleaned in the women's aprons. This sudden And unexpected disaster was more than they could bear. The unfortunate emigrants, looking up towards heaven, wept."t There was nothing for it but to return with heavy hearts to Pembina and pass the winter there as best they could. Early in the spring of 1819, the hardy and perse- vering Scots left their families behind and returned to sow their land. They had no seed save the scanty supply saved by the women. Again their hopes were blasted, this time by the swarms produced from the larvae deposited in the prev- ious year. By the latter end of June the country was cov- ered with them, for, " they were produced in masses two, three, and, in some places near water, four inches deep. The water was poisoned with them Along the river they were to be found in heaps, like sea- weeds, and might be shovelled with a spade. +
Again the land was desolated, and the settlers were forced to return to the precarious life of Pembina. There they re- solved to provide seed. Wheat in abundance at all events and men were dispatched to Prairie du Chien on the Missis-
• Ross, p. 47, Mr. Sutherland had been ordained an Elder of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland, and, in the absence of a settled pastor had been specially licensed to celebrate marriages, administer the sacraments and officiate at burials. Hia abduction, therefore, was not only an outrage, but a very seritms deprivation to the colony.
. 48. } Ibid. p. 49.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 995
sippi to obtain it. They returned with 250 bushels, and, then, making their way back in flat-boats to the colony ; the settlers finally found rest there in June, 1820. " From that day to this," writes Mr. Ross, in spite of the grasshoppers and other evils, Red River has not been without seed for grain. The troubles of the colonists were not yet over, but a sufficiently ample sketch of their trials and struggles has been given to enable us to judge what the Scot can do, and endure, and has effected in the heart of the American continent. Should any one be disposed to make light of the dogged perseverance, the exhaustless energy, the long- suffering patience and thrift of the Scot, one has only to refer him to the history of Red River settlement.
Meanwhile the fur companies went on in their ruinous career of competition and rivalry until they had between them almost ruined the trade, and brought the treasuries to bankruptcy. What with plots and counter-plots with the Indians, the stirring up of the half-breeds to rapine and in- solence, and the constant overlapping of their operations, these corporations had made the fur trade so precarious, that it had ceased to be profitable. The Hudson Bay Com- pany pointed to its charter, and stigmatized the North- Westers as poachers, or at least interlopers upon their dor main. The Montreal Company on the other hand denied the validity of the Charter, and pleaded that so far it had been virtually voided by non-user. It may be observed that it had periodically been a matter of dispute whether the granting of such a charter came within the Royal Prero- gative. The Company, at its inception, had evidently sup- posed that it required parliamentary sanction, since an 5
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Act, which was never renewed, had been passed, confirming- Charles's grant for seven years and no longer. In 1749, a bold attempt was made in the House of Commons to destroy the monopoly on the ground that the Company had failed to attempt the discovery of a North- West passage, but the mo- tion did not prevail.* Still the North- West Company had certainly a right to dispute the validity of so sweeping a grant, and the contest then begun was continued down to the purchase of the Company's exclusive rights in 1870. Meanwhile, everything was in a state of confusion and un- certainty, and both Companies were almost on the verge of bankruptcy, when, by a lucky inspiration, the plan of amal- gamation was devised and put into execution in 1821.
* Hugh Murray : British. America, Vol. II,, p. 186.
CHAPTER III.
THE UNION OF THE COMPANIES.
fHE more serious difficulties of the Red River settle- ment had now disappeared The importation of seed-wheat, which had cost Lord Selkirk no less than £1,040 sterling, and the cessation for the time of the grass- hopper plague, had left the colonists in greater ease and contentment than they had known in their native land. The prolonged period of suffering from that first terrible winter at the mouth of the Churchill, the conflicts, the want a^nd the constant Sittings to and from Pembina, were over, and the sturdy Highlanders at last enjoyed peace and plenty in the land of their adoption. But the jealous rivalry of the Companies still raged with unabated viru- lence, and it speedily became evident that unless some scheme of conciliation were devised, each of them would ruin the other. The Hon. Mr. Coltman, the commissioner referred to in the last chapter, urgently advocated a con- solidation of the concerns and their interests, as the only method of improving the deplorable state of things then prevailing. The strife so long carried on was, says Mr. Murray, perhaps the most furious ever waged "between two mercantile bodies, destructive alike to the interests of* both, and most demoralizing to the savage aborigines."*
' Hugh Murray : Rrltinh America, Vol. II. p, 235.
998 TEE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
The North- West Company, whatever be thought of its somewhat unscrupulous eagerness to advance and extend the trade it directed, was unquestionably the more enter- prising and adventurous of the two. Until the Montreal traders began to appear in the field, the Hudson Bay peo- ple never made much progress beyond those great inland waters which were peculiarly their own. The North- Westers on the other hand, struck at once boldly across the fertile belt, and descended by the Fraser, the Thomp- son and tht Columbia to the Pacific. They were the great explorers of British Columbia, and whatever zeal in the path of discovery its rivals afterwards displa}^ed, was due mainly to the new energy infused into the body corporate by their old antagonists. But the North-West Company had attempted too much with its limited capital, and was no match for the old establishment. The conse- quence was that both parties were disposed to concur in any plan of coalition, framed upon an equitable basis.*
The arrangement by which the Companies were united in March, 1821, was exceedingly fair and acceptable to both parties. The North- West made over its property to the Hudson Bay Company, and in return, the members of the former became partners, and its servants taken into the em- ployment of the consolidated Company. The X. Y. Com-
•* Mr Murray writes : ' ;At length the North- West Company, in consequence of their over- strained exertions, became involved beyond their capital; and being obliged to yield to their rivals, they obtained in 1821 an honourable capitulation.'1 This seems hardly fair to the North- West Company, for both parties in fact capitulated to the invincible force of * necessity. The same author quotes from Mr. Harmon, a North-Wes-t clerk, some account of the extent of this Company's trade. Harmon, who was an American, crossid to the Peace River and Athabasca districts in 1308. There at Fort Dunvegan, he was visited by three of the Scottish pioneers, Messrs McLeod, Fraser and Stuart, "on tht ir way to and from the establishments lately formed by the Company in Now Caledonia" — as it might still be cilled — " on the western side of the Rocky Mountains.'1 Ibid. ii. pp. 199-206.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 999
pany had combined with the North-West years before, so that now at last there was an end both to rivalry in trade and to deeds of rapine and violence. An Imperial Act was passed by the Parliament, at the instance of Mr. Ellice — a name familiar in Hudson Bay annals — in which the rights and privileges of the new Company were defined and the territory east and west of the Rocky Mountains not in- cluded in their charter was granted for a period of twenty- one years.* The first Governor of the Hudson Bay Com- pany after the union was Mr. (afterwards Sir) George Simp- son, who filled that responsible office for nearly forty yeara from 1820 until his death in 1860.
There were two persons, near relatives named Simpson — both Scotsmen — who played a conspicuous part in the North- West. Thomas Simpson was a scientific man and an explorer of no mean order, whose career seems to deserve special notice here. After the termination of Captain Back's extended voyage of discovery, Mr. Dease, the chief factor, and Mr. Thomas Simpson, were commissioned by Governor Simpson to explore the northern coast in 1836. Thomas Simpson had been previously engaged on missions of a simi- lar description, and he was now instructed to " spend the ensuing winter at Fort Chipewyan on Great Slave Lake ; and in the beginning of summer, five of the party were to proceed to the north-west end of Great Bear Lake and there prepare accommodation and provisions for their next winter quarters. The remainder were to employ the favourable season in descending the mouth of the Mackenzie River, and thence along the coast until they reached the point
* Hargrove : Rtd River, p. 79.
1000 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
where Captain Beechey had been arrested."* Provision was made for the possible contingency of travel after aban- doning their boats, and at the approach of winter, they were to repair to their winter quarters already in readiness for them. In 1838, the Coppermine River was to be crossed, and the party were to make their way to Points Turnagain and Richardson. On the 9th of July, 1837, the first part of the plan was accomplished, when the party reached the Mackenzie River, and on the 20th they arrived at Foggy Island Bay, the furthest point attained by Franklin. Thence- forward all their progress was in the path of new discover}'. After finding a new branch of the Rocky Mountains, their path lay along the shore which was low and composed for the most part of frozen mud, on which were seen the mouths of several large rivers. At length, when they could only advance at the rate of four miles a day, the plan of the party was changed. Thomas Simpson, with a party of five men, resolved to perform the rest of the journey on foot. Carry- ing with them a portable canoe for crossing rivers, they made their way, with the occasional assistance of an Esqui- maux " comiak " when they came to a broad inlet. Early in August they came in sight of Point Barrow. " The ocean, extending to the southward, presented so inviting a pros- pect that, had such been their object, they would not have hesitated, in their skin canoe, to have made for Cook's Inlet.""f The remainder of this Arctic expedition was equally fruitful in results. But, unhappily, poor Simpson met his fate, not long after, whilst returning with the valu-
* Murray: British America, vol. ii. p. 233. t Ibid., p. 234.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1001
able results of his arduous labours. In the latter end of 1839 or early in 1840, several of a party of Red River half- breeds, with whom he had set out with a view of crossing
7 O
the plains to St. Louis, Mo., returned to the Settlement and stated that Mr. Simpson had, in a fit of insanity, killed two of his men and then shot himself, and that they had buried him on the spot where he fell. The theory of suicide for some time prevailed, but those who knew the unhappy tra- veller best entirely rejected the idea. His former friends .and companions did not hesitate to express their conviction " that he did not kill himself, and that this was only a false report of his murderers."* He appears to have been of a reserved and somewhat haughty disposition, and, on that account, was not liked by the half-breeds, at whose hands, in all human probability, he met his tragic end.
George Simpson was born in Ross-shire, in Scotland ; but, •while still a youth, he removed to London where he was engaged in commercial pursuits for nearly eleven years. The ability, shrewdness and energy of young Simpson had marked him out for a wide sphere of labour, and under a far-distant sky. In 1819, when the Companies were still battling furiously, Mr. Simpson was invited to cast in his lot with the Hudson Bay Company. Early in 1820, there- fore, he sailed from England for Montreal, by way of New York, and in May he was on the road from the Canadian city to the North-West. During the winter of that year he was stationed at Lake Athabasca, where he endured many
x Hudson's Bay, pp. 112, 113. Mr. lUllantyne adds: " Besides, it is not probable th»t a man who had just succeeded in making important additions to our geographical knowledtrc »nd who might reasonably expect honour and remuneration upon returning to his native land " (and he was on his way thither) would, without any known or apparent cause, first commit murder and then suicide. By his melancholy death the Hudson Bay Company lost a faithful servant, and the world an intelligent and enterprising man.
1002 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
hardships and privations, although he managed to carry on the rivalry in the fur-trade with conspicuous tact and energy. The Ross-shire lad of twelve years before had already made his mark, and assured for himself future fame and fortune ; and, when peace was at last concluded by the amalgamation, Simpson's talent had indicated him as the best man to preside over the vast operatioas of the united company. After serving a short time as Governor of the Northern department, he received his appointment, and be- came Governor-in-Chief of Rupert's Land, and general superintendent of the Hudson Bay Company's affairs in North America.
Mr. Simpson's qualifications for the responsible post he so long occupied were two-fold. He was a man of consummate tact and address, and, at once, S3t about healing up old wounds, reconciling discordant interests, and removing old prejudices and jealousies from amongst the people of the Territory. Besides that he was the first Hudson Bay Gov- ernor who fulfilled, on behalf of the Company, that duty imposed, as a condition, by the charter — the task of explo- ration and geographical discovery. Governor Simpson, al- though as keenly alive to the material interests of his em- ployers as the most unreasonable shareholder could expect, never lost sight of the higher claims of science upon his time, as well as energies. To his skilful direction and the eagerness with which he assisted Franklin, Richardson , Ross, Back and other explorers, the most valuable results were due. It was he who sent out Dease, Thomas Simpson, Rae, Anderson, and Stewart upon the path of research, and at every fort or factory, controlled by the Governor, any ex-
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 100»
plorer was sure of shelter, supplies, information and advice. There is scarcely a book on Arctic travel which does not express gratitude for assistance from Hudson Bay factors, and almost every one of the names mentioned is Scottish.*
During Sir George Simpson's long tenure of office, not only were the interests of geographical discovery well looked after, but the profits of the Company steadily increased year after year. The amalgamation with the North-West con- cern had placed the entire country north of the boundary- line in the hands of the Hudson Bay people, and the num- ber of their posts, sensibly augmented in 1821, continued to increase. In 1840, according to Mr. Ballantyne,f there were about one hundred and ten forts or factories — thirty-four in. the northern, or old Hudson Bay Department, twenty-eight in the southern, thirty-one in the so-called Montreal district and seventeen west of the Rocky Mountains, including a depot in the Sandwich Islands.^: All the published itinera-
* As bearing upon the general character of the Scots, as well as upon Mr. Simpson's ac- tive career, the following from Murray's British America (ii. p. 238), may find a place here :— " Four-fifths at least of the Company's servants are Scotsmen, and chiefly from the northern districts. They are reckoned the hardiest, the most active and enterprising, anil the least liable to bad habits. . . The journeys performed by these officers, and the ad- ventures they have met with, would exhibit scenes and incidents as striking an most of those fictitious ones which so much interest the public. Mr. Simpson, the present (1840) resident Governor, has performed, during his stay in that country, upwards of 100,000 miles of canoe navigation. The chief officers, including the Governor himself, often endure hard- ships which, to those accustomed to the comforts of civilized life, must appear almost in- credible. They frequently spend months without seeing the inside of a house, going to sleep at night in the most sheltered spot they can find, wrapped in their cloaks, and a blanket which has served during the day as a saddle-cloth. Unless fortunate in the chase, they have no means of obtaining food, and are sometimes obliged to kill their dogs and horses to re- ieve hunger. Yet these hardy Scotsmen will find a livelihood in districts so desolate that even the natives sometimes perish for want. . . Yet, amid all these hardships, such is their zeal in the occupation that a complaint scarcely ever escapes their lips."
t Hudson Say, p. 40.
'. The Hudson Bay Company made no attempt at colonization in British Columbia until 1843, when Victoria was founded on Vancouver Island. In 1849, the Island was granted t<v the Company " under the stipulation that thry should colonize it." Alexander Rattrty,. M.D., F.R.S.E,:"Vrancoi<i;fj' Inland and British Columbia, London, 1862, p. 8.
ries, whether of travellers or Hudson Bay employe's, supply abundant evidence of the presence of the ubiquitous Scot all •over this vast region. The early part of Sir George Simp- son's Overland Journey is so full of references to Scottish agents, that a brief sketch of it may be of service in this re- Jation.* The Governor, it may be remarked, takes credit for himself as the first traveller who ever accomplished an overland journey round the world. His route lay from London to Montreal, thence to Vancouver and Sitka, and "thence by New Archangel, and the Aleutian Islands to 'Ochotsk ; across Russian Asia, through Yakutsk, Irkutsk Tobolsk, Moscow, and St. Petersburgh, and so home by the Baltic. On the journey from Irkutsk to St. Petersburgh, forty-one days were spent, the nights being passed thus : thirty-six in the carriage, one at Tomsk on a sofa, two at Ekaterineburg on the floor, one at Kazan on a sofa, and only one — at Moscow — in a bed.*f*
The Governor, on his arrival at Lachine, made prepara- tions for his trans-continental journey. Along with him were to travel, as far as Red River, the Earls of Caledon and Mulgrave, who were bound upon a buffalo-hunting expedi- tion. Sir George took the old French route up the Ottawa and the Matawa, by Lake Nipissing and French River to the Sault Ste. Marie. Here the first western post of the Hudson Bay Company, under the charge of Mr. J. D. Cam- eron, was reached. At Michipicoten, the Governor held a temporary council for the Southern Department, Mr. Cam-
* An Overland Journey round the \corld, during thr. years 1841 and 1842. By Sir George Simpson, Governor in-Chief of the Hudson Bay Territories (Amer. Edit.
* /& p. 22
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1005
eron, Mr. George Keith and Mr. Cowie being the councillors.* There was no Dawson route in those days, and when the party arrived at Fort William, preparations were made for canoe-work and portage. Pointe de Meuren, the first halt- ing-place, was a memorial of the old time of feuds, since there had been a Hudson Bay fort established there to keep the North-Westers of Fort William in check. At Red River, Sir George established himself with the inevitable Scottish factor, a Mr. Finlayson, and sent his noble companions off to hunt the buffalo under the direction of no less a person than the half-breed, Cuthbert Grant — the hero of the battle of Frog Plains. A vivid picture is given in this interesting volume, not merely of the difficulties in the way of the tra- veller in getting to Red River, but its isolation from the civilized world, The accounts given by Sir George only serve to heighten our admiration of the daring courage and perseverance of Lord Selkirk and the tough fibre of the set- tlers, who suffered so much from their landing on the bleak shore at Churchill, until peace and plenty at length removed the protracted period of toil, privation and disaster in every shape.-f- The testimony Avhich a Hudson Bay Governor could give to the motives of the founder of that settle- ment twenty years after the noble Earl had found repose
* A curious case of the Paulteanx Indians' belief in a Special Providence is recorded here : At a moment of perplexity, when the provisions of a party were exhausted, and nothing could be got without risking life upon a sea, that was neither open water, nor trustworthy ice— the probable alternatives being starving or drowning— an old man thus sjK>ke : " You know, my friends, that the Great Spirit gave one of our pquaws a child yes- terday. Now He cannot have sent it into the world to take it away again directly ; and I would, therefore, recommend our carrying the child with us, and keeping close to it as an assurance of our safety." This counsel was adopted, but sad to say, the whole party to the number of twenty-eight perished (p. 83).
i The relative position of Red River Settlement is a far more interesting feature in the case, than its absolute place on tin- map. The nearest homes of dvilization are the village of Sault Sic. Marie, which itself has a reasonable share of elbow-room, St. Peter's at the
1006 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
in the grave ought to be quoted here. " To mould this seclu- ded spot into the nucleus of a vast civilization was the ar- duous and honourable task which Lord Selkirk imposed on himself. That nobleman was born a century and a half be- hind his time. Had he lived in the days of the first three Stuarts, when Britain, as the destined mother of western nations, began to pour forth in her peaceful fleets a north- ern hive that loved not the sword less, but the ploughshare more, he would most probably have rendered the name of Douglas as illustrious for enterprising benevolence on some fair coast of the new world as it had already become for chivalrous valour in the annals of his own rugged land. His was a pure spirit of colonization. He courted not for him- self the virgin secrets of some golden sierra ; he needed no outlet for a starving tenantry ; he sought no asylum for a persecuted faith : the object for which he longed was to make the wilderness glad and to see the desert blossom as the rose " (pp. 42, 43).
One of Sir George Simpson's attache's, named Mclntyre, an active and intelligent Highlander, picked up on board the ocean-steamer, who possessed moreover, " the peculiar re- commendation of being able to communicate with me in one of the unknown tongues, the Gaelic of the north of Scot- land," came within a little of ending his own journeyings and his life, by being pitched violently on his head from the back of a horse, endowed with too exuberant spirits. The guide was also a Scot, George Sinclair. After a weary jour-
Falls of the Mississippi, which is merely the single island in a vast ocean of wilderness, and lastly York Factory on Hudson Bay, where our annual ship anchors after a voyage of nearly two months, even from the Ultima Thule of Stromnes< (p. 42). He adds that this solitary home is farther removed in point of time " from any kindred dwelling than Liverpool is from Montreal, and nearly as far as London is from Bombay."
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1007
ney, the party at length reached Norway House on Lake Winnipeg, having suffered severely from fatigue, want of wholesome provisions, and a number of distressing casual- ties. Taylor, Sir George's faithful servant, with a companion had gone in pursuit of a red deer on the way, and had wan- dered astray. In a short time, their ammunition ran out, and they were without resource out on the boundless prairie. With feet torn by thorns and prickly grass they strayed on, greedily devouring roots, bark, bird's eggs, or anything that seemed likely to assuage their hunger. After the lapse of fourteen days, they were strongly tempted to lie down and die. Fortunately at length, famished and lacerated, they reached, or rather crawled to the Company's establishment on Swan River, where they were received kindly, and then forwarded to Norway House by Mr. McDonell, the factor. The Governor's journey next lay along the Saskatchewan, the nearest station being Carlton House. Sir George here gives some particulars of an expedition under Messrs. Mac- kenzie and Rowand, in 1822, to ascertain whether the re- ports of gold on the Bow or South Saskatchewan River were well-founded. That expedition returned to report that that the gold was all moonshine, and, of course, the Governor was not much wiser in 1841.
Sir George's accounts of the Indian tribes and of the scenery and productions of the countrjT show that he was a keen observer. After describing the appearance, nature and habits of the buffalo, he relates that in 1829, he saw as many .as ten thousand putrid carcases of buffaloes, " lying mired in & single ford of the Saskatchewan, and contaminating the air for many miles around." Travel in those days was not
1008 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
without its rude alarms. It was not altogether agreeable to be awakened from sleep by the cry of " Indians are coining," and only consolatory to learn after the cocking of muskets that the visitants were only a lot of Crees, " who, as their tribe had no reputation that way, were allowed to remain with us all night " (p. 65). The extreme heat in July was no surprise, but hailstones like those Sir George encounter- ed in 1837, near Lac la Pierre, and measured in presence of Messrs. Finlayson and Hargrave, of York Factory, were an unmerciful visitation. A hailstone five inches and a half round is something more than a surprise. " Throughout this country," states the Governor, "everything is in extremes — unparalleled cold and excessive heat, long droughts, balanced by drenching rain, and destructive hail" (p. 67). That, however, is not the experience of settlers or even passing tourists now-a-days, and although no one would doubt Sir George's general impressions, it would certainly seem clear, either that the discomforts of locomotion in those days super- induced a resolution to record only the foul weather, because it was noteworthy, or else the climate has been modified considerably during the past thirty years.
Of course there was no Battleford in those days, with it- enterprising newspaper editor or printer ; so the next sta- tion was Edmonton, the last fort this side of the Rocky Mountains. Here the party were entertained not only by the factor, Mr. Rowand, but by the. Rev. Mr. Rundle, who- was unostentatiously doing his Master's work in the wilds, of the far North- West as a Wesleyan missionary. He ap- pears also to have been an acute observer of nature, skilled in more than one of the natural sciences, and full of valuable
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
information. Sir George Simpson continued to ascend the river until he reached the watershed at the height of some " seven or eight thousand feet above the level of the sea, while the surrounding peaks appeared to rise nearly half that altitude over-head." At Athabasca Portage the scenery was wild and grand ; the road, " only a succession of glaciers, runs through a region of perpetual snow, where nothing that can be called a tree presents itself to enliven and cheer the eye " (p. 78). It is here in a gelid pool or lake, that both the Columbia and the Mackenzie — one bound for the Pacific, the other for the Arctic Sea — take their rise.* Here for the first time in a twenty years' wandering in America, the Governor thought that he had discovered the very heather of his native Scotland ; but on afterwards comparing the specimens he pre- served with the genuine article, he found that they were not identical. A purely indigenous sample of the western fauna, however, gave him much trouble; it was a troublesome and venomous species of winged insect, " which, in size and appearance, might have been taken for a cross between the- bull-dog and the house-fly."
During his progress from Edmonton, Sir George Simpson- struck a south-westerly course to the Kootonais or Kootanie River and Flat-bow-Lake, thus approaching close to the boundary line. From Mr. Macdonald, at Fort Colville, fresh guides were sent in advance to him. That post was reached by the Macdonald River, and a chain of lakes connected with the Kootanie. Here the change of temperature was at once
* Here, says Sir George, " the relative positions of the opposite waters is such as to have hardly a parallel on the earth's surface, for a small lake, appropriately enough known as the Commit tee's Punch-bowl, sends its tribute from one end to the Columbia, and frctn the other to the Mackenzie."
1010 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
remarked, the climate being many degrees milder than to the east of the mountains. Fort Colville, a rather pretenti- ous work of defence for the locality, was found to be con- structed of cedar, enclosed with pickets and bastions. About a mile away the Columbia, about three-quarters of a mile wide, flowed between flat and monotonous banks of sand, the scanty vegetation upon which had been withered by a protracted drought. At this time the Indians of the interior were in a state of dangerous excitement. During the previ- ous winter Mr. Black, who was in charge of Thompson's River, had some trifling dispute with a chief at the Kam- loops post. When the latter returned to his lodge or camp, he took sick and died ; and his tribe at once attributed his •death to Mr. Black's magic. The avenger of blood was at once put on the unfortunate factor's track, and he was shot in the back and killed while quietly crossing his apartment. The savage escaped, but was at last hunted down and de- spatched, on the banks of the Fraser River, by his own peo- ple. The existing disquiet was caused by the relations of the chief, who now demanded vengeance for the two deaths in the tribe, caused, as they contended, by the whites. At the Wallawalla, a tributary of the Columbia, Mr. McKinlay had charge of the Company's post, and there Sir George en- countered an American missionary, named Munger, whose complaints concerning the country were loud and bitter. He also had a professional grievance to annoy him : the Indians were not tractable, and instead of embracing the Gospel eagerly, as he had been led to expect, he found them a bigot- ed, superstitious, and jealous people (p. 99). Some distance below the party passed two conspicuous basaltic rocks, some-
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1011
thing like chimneys supported by a truncated pyramid ; these " needles," or whatever they might be called, had been named after two adventurous Scots — Mackenzie's and Ross's Heads. . '
The Governor was now passing through a country in which he had been threatened with trouble, when exploring with Mr. McMillan and Dr. Todd in 1829. On this occasion, although there was some anxiety about the probable atti- tude of the tribe, no untoward event occurred. Sir George Simpson was on what was afterward declared to be American territory, and crossing the Straits he made his way to Vancouver, where he was hospitably received by the afterwards well-known Mr. Douglas, then temporarily in charge during the absence of his chief Mr. McLaughlin The next stage was to Sitka in Russian America, whither he sailed in the Beaver from Fort Nisqually, the captain, McNeill being, like most white men in these parts, a North Briton. So far north as Dease's Lake, sixty miles from Fort Stickeen and one hundred and fifty from the sea, there was then a Hudson Bay fur trading-post with Mr. Camp- bell as the Company's factor, and further south, with a land- locked bay on the coast stood Fort Taco, superintended by Dr. Kennedy. With Sir George's further progress we are not now concerned, and this sketch of his journey across the continent is simply introduced to give some conception of the rough country over which the Hudson Bay Com- pany's operations extended, its vast extent, and the over- whelming preponderance of Scots among the white men en- gaged either in trade or exploration.
1012 THE MOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
Although Governor Simpson's name will recur in the fol- lowing chapter, it may be well to round off his biography here. He was not only an indefatigable explorer, but a thorough man of business, and his services were naturally and properly given, along with his sympathies, to the Com- pany he so long served or controlled. In the disputes re- garding the validity of its charter, and in all that concerned its interests, he was the staunch advocate of the trading monopoly in British North America. During his later years he resided chiefly at Lachine, although so long as he was able, he periodically visited the territory. In 1860, he diverted the Prince of Wales, with a picturesque canoe expedition which started from Isle Duval near Lachine, and his last public act was the reception of His Royal High- ness as a guest at his home on the St. Lawrence. During that year he was seized with apoplexy and paralysis but had so far recovered as to prepare for a visit to Red River. This he was not fated to accomplish ; for, while driving home from Montreal he was again stricken with apoplexy and expired on the 7th of September, I860.*
In a subsequent chapter, when the great west is viewed at a later stage in its history, reference will be made to travels in recent years, having for the object either pleasure or the survey of the country for railway or telegraphic pur- poses. Meanwhile, a glimpse has been given of the vigorous activity of the Scottish race in that vast, untamed wilder- ness during the latter part of the eighteenth, and the first half of the present century. To enumerate all the promin- ent Caledonians engaged over that broad expanse of British
* Morgan : Celebrated Canadians, p. 490-1.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1013
territory would be out of the question within the limits of this chapter. It is impossible to take up any of the books cited here, or others, such as a work by Mr. John McLean entitled " Twenty-five Years in the Hudson Bay Territory," quoted by some of our authorities, without being satisfied that the great West of British North America was taken possession of by the Scot at an early date, explored by his indomitable perseverance, and first drawn towards and within the pale of civilization by his wondrous energy and intelligence.
CHAPTER IV.
THE COMPANY AND COLONIZATION.
this chapter it is intended to bring the history of British settlement in the North-West down to the present time, including the disputes regarding the Charter of the Hudson Bay Company, the purchase of its vested rights, the formation of the Province of Manitoba, the Red River rebellion, and other matters of more recent date. After the union of the Companies, as already stated, the settlers met with a new enemy, against which forts and ammunition were futile, the grasshopper. But there was still another fruitful source of trouble and loss which at intervals marred and retarded the progress of the colony. In 1826, and much more recently, in 1852 and 1861, the sudden thawing of the snows upon the banks of the great rivers which form the arteries of the North-West, caused wide-spread desolation by floods, on some occasions covering hundreds of square miles. The year 1826 was one of the most disastrous in the history of the Settlement. It was ushered in with a terrible season of want and suffering amongst the hunters, the story of whose appalling destitu- tion on the plains seemed to indicate a sum of misery beyond the power either of the Company or the colony to do more than slightly alleviate with their slender resources. The prospect was not less desperate than the cry of India
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA, 1015
for help a short time ago. Mr. Donald Mackenzie was Governor of the colony at that time, as well as the Com- pany's representative at Fort Garry, and what could be accomplished was cheerfully set about, but the success of any relieving movement was not so much problematical as hopeless. The starving people were scattered over great distances ; the snow was unusually deep, and there was no mode of conveyance but by dog- sleighs, and this was tedious and difficult. Sympathy and assistance were freely extended to the poor creatures, and all that thought or pity could suggest was promptly put in execution. The scenes on the road from Pembina to the colony were harrowing in the extreme, and the feeling of utter despondency which pre- vailed was only dispelled by a great calamity at the colony itself.
The severe frost,, and the fearful snow-storms which had wrecked the hopes of the hunters, killed their horses, and starved or chilled to death many of themselves, their wives and children, soon wrought mischief in another shape when the iron rule of winter was broken by the summer sun. There had been drifting snows of unusual depth ; the ther- mometer had fallen to 45° below zero ; the ice measured five feet seven inches in thickness, and, when on the 2nd of May the great thaw came, there was an alarming inundation On that day, just before the ice started, Red River rose nine feet in the twenty-four hours — an unprecedented occurrence even in the traditions of the Indians. Soon the whole coun- try appeared like a vast lake. Human lives were destroyed, cattle, horses and every living thing that encountered the flood was swept out of existence ; the houses were demol-
1016 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
ished, the movable property, with the debris of buildings, carriages, furniture, and all " were seen floating along over the widely extended plain, to be engulfed in Lake Winni- peg." The height to which the water had risen above its ordinary level was fifteen feet. When it subsided, the tale may best be told in the language of the prices current. " Wheat, which had fallen to 2s. per bushel at the com- mencement of the disaster, now rose to 15s. ; beef from £d. per pound to 3d." It was not until June 13th that the colonists were again able to draw near to the site of their old habitations.*
During these early years of peace, several events occurred of considerable importance to the struggling colony. The distresses of the settlers had placed them more or less at the mercy of the Hudson Bay officers, and the result was an immense amount of extortion, either in- the shape of over- charges or of usurious interest. Mr. Halkett, one of Lord Selkirk's executors, put a stop to this nefarious system. Armed with a decision pronounced by Lord Ellenborough, he compelled the local Governor to strike off five per cent, from all accounts, and to withdraw the claim of five per cent, for interest altogether " as a fraudulent and illegal transaction."-f- In future, English goods imported at York Factory were to bear 33£ per cent, on their prime cost, and 25 per cent, on their arrival at the colony, and nothing additional. Mr. Halkett also discovered that, in order to enhance the price of provisions, the Company's servants had
* Hargrove : Bed River, p. 81. Also in Ross : Red River Settlement, pp. 101-106, where a graphic account of the inundation is given by an eve-witness.
t See Ross, p. 68, where the Lord Chief Justice's judgment on this point is given.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1017
secreted large quantities in their depositories. Two experi- ments were tried at this period which resulted in financial collapse. The first was the formation of the " Buffalo Wool Company, " a joint-stock concern by which everybody at Red River was to be suddenly enriched. The idea was that, as owing to the prevalence of wolves at the time, sheep- raising was precarious, a substitute must be found for wool, -and the speculators proposed the shaggy hair of the buffalo. Counting the raw material as nothing, they soon reared many financial castles in the air. Expensive machinery was imported, and an extravagant establishment set up. Hides rose in price, and agriculture was set aside in favour of buffalo-hunting. Had the visionary scheme succeeded, a step backward into barbarism would have been taken ; but the result proved to be an ignominious collapse.
The other scheme was of a different stamp, but was also foredoomed to failure. Lord Selkirk, who well knew the rude sort of husbandry his Highlanders had been accustomed to, had projected an experimental farm and dairy. The " Hay Field Farm " was placed in charge of a Scotsman of great agricultural experience named Laidlaw, specially brought out for the purpose ; " but," says Mr. Ross (p. 77), " in this, as in every other attempt to benefit the colony in those early days, mismanagement, disappointment and ruin, were the only result. Expensive buildings were erected, good labourers and servants employed ; " and yet all the time there was not an ox to plough or a cow to milk." Finally, the manor-house or mansion, which had cost £600 was acci- dentally burned, just at its completion, in a drunken orgy. M After several years' labour, waste and extravagance, every
1018 TEE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
vestige of property on the farm had disappeared " — the experiment having sunk £2,000 of Lord Selkirk's money. In view of all that had thus befallen the settlers, it may surely be said that the most patient and unyielding perse- verance was never so sorely tried before ; and it speaks volumes for the singular energy and persistence of the Scot, that, after so many years of loss, suffering, hardship and disappointment in every conceivable form, they continued to hold on with dogged pertinacity until they at last achieved a complete victory for themselves and for civiliz- ation.
The union of the Pembina settlers with the colonists of Red River, was another event worthy of note, inasmuch a& it placed in juxtaposition the Scottish, the French-Canadi- ans, and the half-breeds, in much the same relation to each other as they still remain. When all the immigrants were united they numbered about 1,500 ; and the French, finding their old occupation gone, and being also in dread of the Sioux raid, betook themselves to the colony. These alien elements did not mingle well together ; the French half- breeds " squatted" on the land, but they never attempted cultivation — the Indian penchant for hunting, fishing and a roving life generally, being too strong to be eliminated. The Scottish settlers, who retained the strong religious feelings they had brought from home, felt disquieted about the fu- ture of their children, liable, as they were, to contamination from the semi-savage influences about them. A separation was resolved upon, the Scots remaining on their lands at the centre of the colony ; the French were settled in one parish-, St. Boniface, now the seat of the Roman Catholic Arch-
TEE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1019
bishopric; whilst the half-breeds, under Cuthbert Grant, were removed to " White Horse Plains," twenty miles up the Assiniboine ; the Forks being the common centre. Mr, Ross (p. 81) is probably right in his opinion that this sepa- ration was, on the whole, a mistake. The Canadians and half-breeds gradually grew together, and although they and the Scots have generally lived on passable terms, there has- never been a cordial understanding, and party spirit has cont'inued to grow more intense from that day to this.
Meanwhile agricultural progress, though slow, was con- tinuous. Successive importations of cattle had raised the quality and amount of the stock, and Governor Simpson gave a powerful impetus to the settlement by promising to take all the Company's supplies from the colony. This- stimulated the people to extraordinary exertions, with the unfortunate result that, after the Company's wants were supplied, there was no market for the surplus. Prices rap- idly fell, and Red River suffered from all the consequences- of an evil heard of in later times and more settled communi- ties— that of over-production. But the want of markets was not the only difficulty in the path of the farmers. There were not the necessary appliances for ordinary agricultural operations. At that time there was not to be found in the whole colony, it is said, either a smut-mill, or fanning ma- chine, to clean the grain, and but few barns to thrash it in, and still fewer kilns to dry it ; much, therefore, of the grain had, of necessity, to be thrashed on an ice-floor, in the open air, during all weathers, and then ground, in a frozen state, and immediately packed off in casks of green wood, furnish- ed by the Company itself. It was the same with butter and
1020 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
all other products of the dairy and farm. It was no wonder that the difficulties of their situation, with lack of experience and judgment, should have caused many failures. The Orkney men, a frugal and industrious people, from whom sprang such hardy explorers as Dr. John Rae, who first as- certained positively the fate of Sir John Franklin — were wanting still more than their mainland brethren in agricul- tural skill and resource ; they were poor and could not pro- cure the necessary conveniences, and yet they toiled on and prospered in the land.
A bare reference to Governor Simpson's attempt to estab- lish a second experimental farm, under Chief Factor Mc- Millan, will suffice. It was a failure, and cost the Company X3,500 sterling ; worst of all the Governor, whose hobby it had been, lost his self-control, and exclaimed in the bitter- ness of his heart : — " Red River is like a Lybian tiger, the the more I try to tame it, the more savage it becomes ; for every step I try to bring it forward, disappointments drag it two backward." Then followed the " Assiniboine Wool Company," in which the sheep was to take the place of the buffalo; but the views of its projectors were too extravagant, and the new project followed its predecessor into the limbo of abortive speculations. This was also a device of Governor Simpson's , and that it failed, was not his fault. He desired to divert the people from over-pro- duction in grain, and if his agents had only earned out the scheme reasonably, it might have succeeded ; but, as a resi- dent there remarks, " The people of the Red River grasp at anything new, as hawk pounces upon a bird, and then abandon it without waiting with patience for the antici-
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1021
pated result." The catastrophe, in this case, resulted from over-eagerness at the outset, and want of constancy in the sequel.
In 1835 and 1836, a change took place in the manage- ment of the Red River Settlement. After Lord Selkirk's death his executors attempted to direct its affairs ; but find- ing the task impracticable they transferred the government to the Company. The time arrived when this anomalous state of things was to be succeeded by the Company's rule as proprietors of the colony. In 1834, it may be as well to note, the first outbreak of the half-breeds, thoughtless, thriftless, and dependent as usual, startled both the Company and the colony ; but no great harm befell the latter except the necessity of submitting to extortionate charges and de- mands. The Hudson Bay officers had thus two totally different sorts of people to deal with. The half-breeds re- quired support, control and advice at every turn, whilst the colonists, true to their national genius, were proud, self- reliant, impatient of restraint, and passionately fond of freedom and independence. The former were always in a state of tutelage, expected everything from the Company and complained vigorously if they were denied what they sought. The Scots, on the other hand, could not work the paternal system, and rebelled against the leading-strings of the Company. Notwithstanding the honest desire of Gov- ernor Simpson, and many of his subordinates, to assist the colony, Hudson Bay rule was always galling to the true- born Briton, and in addition to that irregular, arbitrary, and capricious.
1022 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
As the representatives of Lord Selkirk took little or no active interest in the progress of the settlement, the Hud- son Bay Company offered to purchase their proprietary rights in the colony. Altogether, the Earl had expended no less than £85,000 upon his scheme — three times as much, says Mr. Ross, as the whole colony would have brought if put up at auction at any time in the first twenty years of its existence. In 1836, an agreement was come to under which the Company paid the heirs of his lordship £84,000 in full satisfaction of their claims, proprietary or otherwise, saving only the rights of those who had purchased lands be- tween the years 1811 and 1836. Strange to say this trans- fer was effected without consultation with the people of the colony, who were made over as unceremonously as French Alsace or Turkish Bosnia to a power they were not by any means attached to.* This step, and more especially the se- cret manner of it, only tended to widen the breach already open between the Company and the colonists. Under the new regime, a Council was constituted, and a brief code of laws, fiscal, judicial and administrative was drawn out. These changes might, of themselves, have aroused the sus- picions of the colonists, had not the country been under the Company as representing Lord Selkirk's represen- tatives for some years past. That the Company desired to conceal the transfer of the Selkirk rights is clear from the
»" During all these political changes, the colonists were kept in the dark never having been put in possession of their intellectual right", by knowing what was going on, or to whom the coKny belonged. Nor was it till many years after the sett lenient became virtually the Company's own property, that the fact was made known to the people, and then by mere chance. Till this eventuality the people we- e under the persuasion that the colony still belonged to the executor* of Lord Selkirk, and were often given to understand so. By this political finesse, or shall we rather call it, political absurdity, the Company preserved themselves clear of all respr nsibility, whatever transpired." Ross: Red River, pp. !"?.-».
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1023
fact that when the Church of England chaplain — the only Protestant minister at hand — refused any concession to Presbyterian feelings touching the Liturgy, the answer to their remonstrances was an evasive reference to Lord Sel- kirk's executors, who had no longer any more to do with the matter than the President of the United States.
The history of the colony during succeeding years, was one of considerable fluctuation ; still no temporary check to its prosperity stayed the march of progress. The few inci- dents, it may be well to mention, may be compressed into a paragraph. The first petit jury under the new code was empannelled on the 28th of April, 1836, to try a prisoner for theft. The unfortunate, who attained a bad eminence on this occasion, was Louis St. Denis, and one part of his sentence consisted of a public flogging. A German wielded the " cat" on this occasion, and he was permitted to perform his novel task without molestation. But he had no sooner stepped out of the ring than the mob began to raise cries of " stone him," and he was marked out for public execration under the name of " Bourreau," the hangman. So unaccus- tomed were the people to the execution of a legal sentence, and so venial an offence were theft and violence in their eyes, that the punishment of St. Denis seemed to the French a gross violation of the liberty of the subject. At an early period (1839), a Scot named Thorn — Judge Thorn, as he was popularly called — became Recorder of Rupert's Land. He was a lawyer of ability; but there were two objections to him. He had been no favourite with the French party of Lower Canada during Papineau's rebellion, and therefore the French portion of the population at Red River were pre-
1024 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
judiced against him from the start. Besides that, he was interested in the prosperity of the Company, was its officer during pleasure and therefore, in any case between the Com- pany and the colony, he was looked upon as an interested party. Although Mr. Ross, from whose work these facts are taken, was no admirer of the Company's procedure in many respects, he was clearly of opinion that the monopoly of trade was decidedly a benefit to the population, and more especially to the Indians. He regards the cry of the French and half-breeds " Le commerce est libre" — " Trade is free" — as merely a pretence used by lawless and ungovernable men to cover rapine and violence. Into these disputes, as well as the controversies concerning Judge Thorn's decisions and Major Caldwell's method of administration, it would be be- side the present purpose to enter. It may not be amiss, however, to notice here once more the striking contrast, ap- parent to eveiy visitor, between the frugal, provident and intelligent Scots and the other colonists or quasi colonists around them. One illustration in the shape of a scrap of conversation between Mr. Ross and a friend with whom he was riding about on a tour of inspection may suffice. At "a place called the middle- church, my friend made a halt, and turning to me observed, ' This part of the colony we have just passed, is the thickest settled I have yet seen ; and, if we may judge from outward appearances — horses, barn-yards, parks and inclosures — the hand of industry has been indeed busy.' 'Yes,' said I, 'these are the Scotch set- tlers, the emigrants sent hither by Lord Selkirk ; the people who have suffered so much, and to whose fortitude and perseverance the colony owes that it is what you see it this
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1025
day.' ' This spot,' he rejoined, ' is really full of interest.' " (p. 201).
The predominance of the Scot during the early years of the settlement did not, of course continue, as new elements were introduced by immigration from other branches of the English-speaking people.* They broke up the soil and planted it; others reap the fruit of their honest toil and patient en- durance. The glory of having first raised the standard of religion and civilization, in these western solitudes, is theirs. The Scots were the advance guard of that peaceful British army of colonization, which has followed them to see the fertile land, and to possess it. The assumption of the North- West by the Crown and its incorporation into the Domi- nion, have made new work for Scotsmen, not quite so heavy and disheartening, but still hard enough to try the sterling Caledonian mettle. Up the valleys of the Assiniboine, along the branches of the Saskatchewan, on the Peace and the Qu'Appelle, the avant couriers of North Britain, are making their way, making the crooked straight and the rough places smooth for the settlers of years and centuries yet to come. If the Scot has lost ground at Red River, there is still a greater Scotland ready to his hand in the boundless prairies far beyond.
This is not the place to enter into the events which led to the purchase of the Hudson Bay Company's proprietary
* The writer, already quoted so often, remarks this) fact with a touch of patriotic regret: The first ten years of their sojourn in the colony, the Scots were almost the only settlers ; the next ten years they were the majority" (of course the French and half-breeds are taken into account here) ; but the last ten, they have been the minority ; and, by a combi- nation of untoward circumstances, they can hardly now be eaid to retain their nationality, being a mere fraction in the mass of the community It is as if they had come to Qed River merely to endure i>s hardships, and as trusty pioneers to bear the burden and heat of the day, where a people of less hardihood and perseverance must necessarily have suc- cumbed. "—Red River Settlement, r-.143.
1026 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
rights. The causes of discontent amongst the settlers were manifold. They were hampered by the paternal restraints of the monopoly, which without being absolutely unfriendly, was deeply impressed with the truth of the North- Wester's maxim that " colonization is at all times unfavourable to the fur trade." The Hudson Bay people did not, like the Mon- treal traders plot " the downfall of the colony, by fair means or foul," but, however kindly disposed such Governors as Sir George Simpson might be, their interests were distinctly opposed to any expansion of the area of settlement.. In -addition to the natural discontent, of the Colonists at being governed by a trading Company, through an irresponsible Oouncil, the regions to the west were becoming better known in Canada, in the United States and in Europe. Moreover, the period during which the Hudson Bay Company were licensed to hold the territory was to terminate in 1859, and a vigorous agitation was commenced to oppose its renewal. This license had been granted by Act of Par- liament in 1821 ; it expired and was renewed in 1838 for twenty-one years ; and strong efforts were early put forward to prevent any extension of the term. The people of the colony, and above all the Canadian Parliament set about collecting information, [procuring legal opinions, and urging the assumption of the whole territory by the Crown, and its annexation to Canada. A voluminous literature was accumulated upon the subject, but so far as its object was to impeach the validity of the old charter, the result was a failure. It is true that the Act confirming the grant by Charles II. had long since expired by effluxion of time ; but as the law-officers of the Crown showed conclusively, it had
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1027
been cited in a number of statutes passed at different times and thus confirmed by the Imperial Parliament over and over again. Canada despatched Chief Justice Draper to England to present her case against the Company, and. in 1857-58, an exploring expedition was sent out under Messrs. Dawson and Hind, to make a careful survey of the territory. Meanwhile a Committee of the House of Commons had in- vestigated the subject minutely in all its bearings. Its re- port was, on the whole, favourable to the Company, but although it did not recommend a renewal of the exclusive license to trade, no conclusion was come to as to the future government of the North-West, and matters remained as they were.* In 1868, however, the subject was finally set at rest. In that year, the Hon. (afterwards Sir) George E. Car- tier and the Hon. William Macdougall, were despatched to England by the Canadian Cabinet in order to negotiate with the Home Government for the transfer of the territory to the Dominion. The validity of the charter had perforce to be admitted, and all that remained was to come to terms with the Hudson Bay Company. By the terms of the agreement thus concluded the sum of £300,000 sterling was to be paid to the Company, as well as grants of land around its trading-posts, amounting in all to fifty thousand acres. In addition to this, it is to have, so _soon as the territory is surveyed and laid out in townships, one-twentieth of all
* The whole spirit of the report returned to the House of Commons was such a* to justify the Company and its friends in believing that no serious fault had been found with its man- agement. The inquiry, however, produced no immediate effect. The Committee recom- mended that a bill should be introduced by the Government embodying their views with reference to a change in the management of the country, and expressed a hope that such grave interests being at > take, all parties would approach the subject in a spirit of con- ciliation and justice, but the recommendation has never been acted on,"— Hargrave'u Red Rivtr, p. 141.
7
1028 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
the land in the great fertile belt south of the north branch of the Saskatchewan. The privilege of trade is, of course' retained, but the monopoly exists no longer.*
These terms were absurdly liberal to the Company ; it was certainly not entitled to anything approaching so extra- gant a land-grant as was thus conceded to it. Already the grant at Red River is an obstruction quite as injurious to the progress of the district as if the lands were locked up in mortmain. The impropriety of the grant will appear more evidently year by year, as the Saskatchewan valley is filled up, but expostulation with the Imperial Government, or the Company, was vain. Canada was determined to have the region as part of the new Dominion at all hazards, and was compelled to pay for it at an exorbitant rate. In April, 1869, the Dominion Parliament fulfilled that part of the compact which related to the indemnity, and constituted a provisional government for the entire country, under the name of the North-West Territory. On the first of the following December, a formal surrender of the region was to take place, and affairs were put in train for taking pos- session. Suddenly an unforeseen trouble supervened, which, for the time, caused great excitement and alarm, and also temporarily kept the Dominion out of its newly acquired possessions. The history of these events will be found fully detailed in works specially devoted to Canadian history in general or of this region in particular. Still a brief account of the so-called Rebellion seems necessary in order to com- plete the sketch attempted here of the colony .f
* See A Popular History of Canada : By the Rev. W. H. Wi throw, M,A., p. 637.
t See Begg's History of the Red River Rebellion, and also Wilhrow's History, chap, xlvii. where an admirable concise account of the episode is given.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1029
In the month of September, the Hon. William Macdougall who had been appointed first Governor, approached the territory by way of the United States in order to enter upon the duties of his office.
The events which followed have been variously inter- preted by those who have undertaken to relate them, and perhaps it is even now impossible to apportion the blame justly to the different parties concerned. Much of the .excitement at Fort Garry was unquestionably due to a mis- understanding largely the fruit of ignorant fears on the part of the Metis or French half-breeds. Some time before the arrival of Mr. Macdougall the storm had been brewing, and it, at first, took the form of sullen apprehensions and visible uneasiness. A party of surveyors, under Col. Dennis, had been sent from Canada to run lines for roads, and lay out townships. Mr. Begg states that the half-breeds at once took the alarm, and, although they made no overt attack upon the surveyors, had very grave suspicions of Canada's purpose. Their alarm was caused by a suggestion that it was the intention of the new Governor and Council to dispossess them of their lands, and a causeless panic ensued, such as has been witnessed in more civilized countries in connection with railway enterprise. The Company's friends deny that its officers had anything to do with the feverish state of public feeling. It is their contention that all the trouble which ensued was the fruit of mischievous agitation got up by the Nor- Wester, a rather lively little paper pub- lished in the settlement, and by a few turbulent spirits recently imported into the colony. These men, it is alleged, went about exciting discontent with the Company, and, by
1030 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
their overbearing conduct, causing profound distrust amongst the half-breeds. Hitherto the settlement had been at peace, happy in its ignorance of politics and party spirit, and con- tented under the benign rule of its Hudson Bay guardians. Moreover, the surveyors and others are charged with " squat- ting upon " or rather claiming without any attempt at occu- pation, all the vacant lands they can get at.*
On the 20th of October, Mr. Macdougall was met near the boundary line by an armed "force, and compelled to with- draw again to Pembina in the State of Minnesota. The discontent of the half-breeds had culminated in open revolt; a provisional government was appointed under the guidance of Louis Kiel, who acted as Secretary with John Bruce as President. The Hudson Bay Governor, at this time, was Mr. William Mactavish, a well-known name in the annals of the North- West. Donald Mactavish, a native of Strath- erick, Scotland, was as already noted, one of the partners of the North- West Company. For about a quarter of a cen- tury he was employed in trade and exploration, visiting and conciliating the Indians, with whom he was in great favour, and in promoting generally the interests of his co-partnery. He had projected an expedition with the object of striking a route across the continent for trade with China, and after much hardship and danger, had reached the mouth of the Columbia River when he and six companions were lost near Cape Disappointment in the North Pacific, on the 22nd of May, 1815/f- Governor William Mactavish had been resi-
* l-e;o? : The Creation of Manitoba, or A History of the Red River Troubles, chap. i. It may be remaiked that this work exhibits a strong bias in favour of the Company, and lays the entire responsibility upon the malcontents at the Settlement, Mr. Macdougall and the Canadian Government. The statements in it, therefore, must be taken with consider- able reserve.
I Morgan : Celebrated Canadians, t c., p. 153.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1031
dent ruler of Assiniboia for some years when the Kiel usur- pation at once relieved him of further trouble for a season. Fort Garry was seized, with all the stores, rifles, cannon and ammunition ; and, that having been done, the party met Mr. Macdougall, as already stated, near the border, and forced him to withdraw.
The Hon. William Macdougall, though a Canadian, bear a name which clearly proclaims his Scottish origin. Accord- ing to Morgan's Parliamentary Companion his grandfather, John Macdougall, was a Scot by birth, and a U. E. Loyalist attached to the British Commissariat service during the American Revolution. After the termination of hostilities, he settled in Nova Scotia, but subsequently removed to Upper Canada. William Macdougall was born in Toronto, and has taken an active part in public affairs for many years past. He was early connected with the press, both agricul- tural and political, having conducted the Canada Farmer and the Canadian Agriculturist in the interest of the till- ers of the soil, and a Reform journal, the North American, for a period of seven years, until its absorption by the Globe with which he was connected also for some years. In 1847 he had already been admitted as an attorney; but only applied for and obtained a call to the Bar in 1862. He has been a prominent member of several Canadian administra- tions, a member of the Ontario Legislature for South Simcoe, and, once more, of the Dominion Parliament, as M.P. for Halton. The check which the new Governor and his party met on the frontier, although it had been threatened, was hardly expected ; but it completely overturned Mr. Macdou- gall's plans for the development of the country. It is much
1032 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
to be regretted that this should have been the case. The hon. gentleman possessed the requisite abilities for the oner- ous task he had undertaken ; he was active, intelligent, and well-fitted by his tact and acquaintance with public affairs ; and it must have been deeply mortifying to him to have fallen a victim to the ignorant passions of an unruly mob, before the opportunity had been given him to delare his intentions and to unfold his policy at Fort Garry.
Col. Dennis was a Canadian officer of volunteers, and so soon as Mr. Macdougall had met the armed force of rebels and retreated, the gallant Colonel was commissioned to organize a loyal force to suppress the revolt. Forty-five of the men, however, were taken prisoners by the malcontents at Fort Garry and committed to prison; and thenceforward Kiel and his associates were masters of the position. At a con- vention on Feb. 7th a new government was formed with the noted French half-breed as President ; a bill of rights was drawn up, in which local self-government was demanded, together with a general amnesty. An attempt to quell the disturbances was made by Major Boulton, with some hun- dreds of men. Fort Garry was to be attacked ; but as Rie released the prisoners, the movement was abandoned ; but the Major, who was arrested with his followers on their way home, was, after a mock trial, sentenced to death. He was with difficulty saved from his fate ; but afterwards, a less fortunate prisoner, named Thomas Scott, was brutally murdered, in spite of the exertions of the Rev. George Young, the Wesleyan minister, and Mr. Donald A. Smith, of the Hudson Bay Company. The wide-spread horror which prevailed throughout Ontario precipitated matters. In May
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1033
an Act was passed by the Dominion Parliament creating the Province of Manitoba out of the Red River Settlement, and it was admitted as a member of the Confederation on the 16th of July, 1870. The remaining, and, of course, far the larger portion of the territory, was to be governed by the Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba, assisted by a Council of eleven members.
Riel's early success had evidently turned his head, and his conduct throughout was arbitrary, unjust and vindictive. Even after Mr. Macdougal's departure from Pembina east- ward (18th December), the half-breed President was never at ease. He managed to raise supplies by forced levies upon the Company and the settlers ; arrested Governor Mactavish, and abused him in violent language, whilst confined to bed by illness ; put Mr. Halkett in irons ; imprisoned Dr. Cow- an ; and threatened Mr. Bannatyne who endeavoured to act as peacemaker ; strove to deprive Mr. Donald A. Smith of his credentials as Commissioner; and was guilty of other acts suggested by a violent and impulsive nature. One of his officers, in fact, his judiciary, was James Ross, a Scottish half-breed, the son of Alexander Ross from whose works extracts have been made in former pages. He was a young man of considerable ability, arid his early promise attracted the special attention of the Bishop of Rupert's Land when studying at St. John's College, Red River. In 1853 he entered the University of Toronto, and graduated with honours in 1857. In 1860, on the retirement of Mr. Buck- ingham (late Deputy-Minister of the Interior) from the proprietary of the Nor- Wester, Mr. Ross entered into part- nership with Mr. William Coldwell, the remaining member
1034 THE SCOT IN BRITISH KORTH AMERICA.
of the" firm. In 1864 Dr. Schultz, M. P., purchased Mr. Ross's share, and the latter left for Canada, where he was engaged at Tpronto for a considerable time upon the staff of the Globe. Mr. Ross had always taken strong ground against the Company, and he was not more favourable to the scheme of government proposed to be set up by Canada. His sympathies were, therefore, to a constitutional extent with Riel and his followers ; but he had no share in the violent and arbitrary acts of the so-called President. The provisional government appointed him Chief Justice, and he is said to have drawn up the petition of right. When at the Universit}", he appeared to his fellow-students to com- bine the steady, plodding and cautious character of the Scot, with the fertility of resource and the quiet reserve of the Indian, and the pride of both races. He was cut off in his prime, and perhaps it may not seem unkind, especially for a fellow-graduate of their common Alma Mater, to say that a life which might have been of essential service in his native settlement was marred by being involved in its turbulent, yet altogether insignificant party strifes.
In the month of June Col. Garnet Wolseley, who after- wards succeeded in a tougher task under the Equator, start- ed with a force of twelve hundred men to oust Louis Riel from the government of the country. With the exception of a company or two of the (iOth Rifles, this body was composed of Canadian volunteers. On the 24th of August, after con- siderable difficulties had been surmounted, the expedition arrived at Fort Garry, only to find that Riel had abdicated and left his staff of office to anyone who might choose to assume it. Early in September, the Hon. Adams George
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1035
Archibald arrived, and assumed the duties of the Lieutenant Governorship.* Mr. Archibald, however, speedily resigned, preferring the Lieutenant-Governorship of Nova Scotia, his native Province, to the vice-royalty at Red River. He was succeeded by the Hon. Alexander Morris, the son of a Scot, who fills a considerable figure in the history of Ontario, and especially of the eastern portion of it. He was born at Perth, a little jnore than half a century since, and wa& educated partly at the Scottish University of Glasgow, and partly at our Canadian University of Montreal, which wa& founded by a Scot, the Hon. Peter McGill. He has served as President of the St. Andrew's Society at Montreal, and as Trustee of the Presbyterian University of Queen's Col- lege. Mr. Morris attracted notice, as a young man by his pen, and amongst the subjects which attracted his attention, nearly twenty years before, was the future of the Great North- West, over which he was now called upon to rule. Mr. Morris did not leave Canada and arrive a perfect stran- ger at Winnipeg as Lieutenant-Governor, since he had already been Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba, — its first Chief Justice in fact, — for some months previously.
No survey of Scottish work in the North-West, however cursory, can be complete, which fails to give special promi- nence to the interests of religion, and its foster-sister, edu- cation. In the introduction an attempt was made to limn in outline those broad and salient features of the national character as it has been moulded by nature and by man. That sketch will have been drawn in vain, if it has not
• See Withrow's " Popular History,' pp. 541, 642.
1036 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
proved conclusively that the Scot is by virtue of his descent, and must always of necessity be, a religious man in bent and bias, if not in practice. An old legal maxim, the cause of much international strife, affirms that no man can put off his country, as if it were a discarded suit of clothes. In the jurists' sense this dictum has been happily abandoned 5 but it remains irrefragably true, as applied to individual characteristics, be they physical or intellectual, moral or spiritual. If, as we know, both from science and Scripture, the transgressions of an ancestor are visited upon posterity, with the unfailing sequence of cause and effect, so also are his endowments, whatever they may be, and his qualities and tendencies for good or evil, transmitted to the latest generation. The newest born infant is no isolated atom of humanity, but the last link formed in a living chain whose other extremity is lost in the impenetrable mists and dark- ness of the past. What he is, historical and congenital tendencies have made man ; it is in what he shall become that his responsibility lies.
It is not necessary to recapitulate the combination of cir- cumstances which formed the religious nature of the Scot. That they have succeeded in moulding a very strong and earnest type of spirituality, is beyond question ; its foes have termed it rugged and stern, mainly because they failed to comprehend it, but that it is a main feature of the national character, no one affects to deny. The head or the heart may have too often rebelled in many a Scotsman, and there are always traces of the inherited bias. Mr. W. R. Greg, who evidently regards intellect as the antagonist of faith, says that " Mr. J. S. Mill would have been a great Christian
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1037
if he had not been a great thinker," an involuntary compli- ment to the strength of Scotland's spiritual grasp upon the natures of all her sons. Even the unbelief of such men as David Hume, or George Combe is not like that of Boling- broke, Voltaire, or Strauss. And in the moral world, though many a Scot has fallen away from the straight path, there is the crucial instance of Burns to prove that underlying wo- ful errors there may slumber ever and anon to av-'aken re- provingly— a strong religious nature.
The Scottish character was strongly marked in those Su- therlandshire Highlanders who wintered at Fort Churchill in the cruel winter of 1811. In the new and untamed wilderness to which they had removed, everything around them tended to deepen their feelings of dependence on the Father of all, and their religious trust in Him. Nature and man were against them there as they had been to them and to their fathers during many centuries in their native land ; and they craved for those religious ordinances which had been the strength and the solace of those who had gone be- fore. Unhappily, the first generation at Red River had pas- sed away before the settlement saw their fervent desire fulfilled. Many circumstances combined to defer their just expectations. Lord S- "irk had stipulated, at any imte with the settlers of IS" , that a Presbyterian minister should accompany them. One was actually chosen in the person of the Rev. Donald Sage, for whom the settlers had a natural preference, since he was a son of the Rev. Alexander Sage, parish minister of Kildonan in Sutherlandshire. At his father's request, a delay of twelve months was granted to enable the young missionary to perfect himself in the Gaelic
1033 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
language. Whether the difficulties of the Celtic tongue, or the disturbed and uncertain state of the colony deterred him, it is not easy to learn ; but, for some cause or other Mr. Sage never crossed the ocean, but settled down finally as parish minister of Rosolis, in Oomarty.
Lord Selkirk, nevertheless, in his anxiety to satisfy the spiritual wants of his people, at their request, authorized Mr. James Sutherland, who had been appointed an elder in Scot- land, and was one of the settlers, to marry and baptize ; and he was gratefully received by the Scots as a substitute, meanwhile, for the pastor they were not destined to see for thirty-five years thereafter. Mr. Sutherland was, without doubt, the first preacher of the Gospel in the Great North- West.* He appears to have been a man of great natural endowments, though he could not be called a learned man, and his services were welcomed, not merely by his own peo- ple, but also by the Company's officers and servants of all creeds. " Of all men," says Mr. Ross, " clergymen or others, that ever entered this country, none stood higher in the es- timation of the settlers, both for sterling piety and Christian conduct, than Mr. Sutherland." (p. 31.) Unfortunately, as if to crown their many other misfortunes, the settlers lost the serwces of this excellent man in 1818, when he was car- ried off forcibly to Canada by the agents of the North-West Company. Wearied out with the heart-sickness of hope
' Mr. Ross is highly, but not unnaturally, iadignant that the author of Hochelaga, and Bishop Mountain should seek to deprive the Presbyterian Church ot this honour. He points out that ei^ht years before the Rev. Mr. West, missionary of the Church of Eng- land, and Hudson Bay Company's Chaplain. " crossed the Atlantic, baptism was admin- istered, marriages solemnized, prayer-meetings established, and the pure gospel proclaim- ed both by Presbyterians and Catholics." Red River Settlement, pp. 277-8. Probably the reply would be that neither of these denominations preached the ".pure Gospel," and that Mr. Sutherland's ministrations were irregular and imcanonica'.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1039
deferred,* and no communication having been received from Lord Selkirk's agent, the settlers, appealed to Mr. Alexander Macdonell, recently appointed Governor, for as- sistance, but in vain. He was a Catholic, and therefore, says a writer, " did not take much interest in Presbyterian politics ; but told the Scotch, by way of consolation, that they might live as he himself did, without a church at all. ' The next step was an earnest petition to the Rev. John Mac- donald, of Urquhart Ross-shire, a minister well known to them, asking him to ascertain Mr. Sage's intentions, and, in the event of his deciding to remain in Scotland, urging his good offices. It would appear that this appeal was never received, as no answer ever reached the distressed colony.
It cannot be said that Lord Selkirk, who was now no more, was in any way responsible for the spiritual destitu- tion of which the settlers complained. Not to speak of the perpetual struggle in which he was engaged, the web of violence and litigation in which his opponents involved him, or were involved along with him unwittingly on both sides, his Lordship's good faith was conspicuous in the matter of re- ligious worship. It was not his fault that the people were shepherdless ; he had obtained them the services of Mr. Sutherland, and it was not he who abducted him. And he had marked out land, chosen by the settlers as the site of a church and school-house, giving those who had already ob- tained the lots an equivalent elsewhere.
In October, 1821, the Rev. John West, A.M., an ordained
* It is almost difficult for readers in more favourid times and localities to appreciate fully the yearning for religious ordinances, evident in the letters and document* of this period, and much later. Much more, indeed, than the war of the Companies, religion con- stituted the politics and the daily life of these poor Highland settlers. See Ko?a, Chap. v.
1040 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
minister of the Church of England arrived in the colony. It is hardly surprising that his advent was the signal for dis- content rather than rejoicing. There may, perhaps, have been a score of English churchmen in the colony, but nearly all the Protestants were steadfast Presbyterians. Nor did the natural Scottish aversion to prelacy cause all the trouble. They hated Episcopalian ordination. There it stood before them surpliced as of old ; they could not away with " the mass-book," and Mr. West refused to yield an inch in the matter of the liturgy ; there was besides the trouble that he spoke in English, and they longed to worship and to hear their own native Gaelic from the pulpit. It was for this they had waited, yearned and hoped during eight long and troublous years, and here was the upshot of it all. As will be seen immediately, the settlers, Highlanders as they were, proved not to be the bigoted creatures, Scots Presbyterians are sometimes represented, and it is not un- likely that, if Mr. West had been a Highlander, and could have read the liturgy and preached to his flock in the old Celtic tongue, they might have submitted, with some grim- ace perhaps, but still submitted with Christian resignation to kneeling at communion, and the cross in the baptism. No compromise was attempted, and the complaints of the Scots who regarded Mr. West's intrusion as a flagrant breach of the Selkirk stipulation were met, for the time, by the as- surance that Mr. West would soon be replaced by a clergy- man of their own Church. It must be remembered, by the way, that the building employed for public worship had been erected by the efforts of the settlers, and mainly with
TEE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1041
their money arid labour.* Mr. West, finding that he could not bend the stubborn will of the Scots, confined himself to missionary labours at the Company's outposts and returned to England in 1823.f
Notwithstanding their want of success, the Church Mis- sionary Society sent out another clergyman, the Rev. David J. Jones, and in 1825, another, the Rev. William Cochran : who was destined to exercise much greater influence dur- ing his prolonged career of forty years.:}: The two Anglican clergymen laboured together for some years, Mr. Jones hav- ing established another station some miles further down the river. During a short visit to England this gentleman added fuel to the fire by some remarks which appeared in the " Missionary Register" of December 1827 : " I lament to say that there is an unchristian-like selfishness and nar- rowness of mind in our Scottish population ; while they are the most comfortable in their circumstances of any class in our little community." Whether these " comfortable cir- cumstances," considered from an offertory point of view, deepened Mr. Jones' lamentations over the "unchristian selfishness" of the Scots, is not clear ; he certainly seems to
* The Rev. gentleman appears to have reciprocated the feelings of the coli.nkts, for he remarks in his journal : "I cheerfully giye my hand, and my heirt to perfect the work. I expected a willing co-operation from the Scotch settlers ; but was disappointed in my sanguine hopes of their cheerful and persevering assistance, through their prejudices against the English Liturgy, and the simple rites of our communion." Mr. West, appar- ently, knew nothing of Scottish ecclesiastical history, or, if he did, it was to little pur- pose.
t Hargrave : Red River, p. 101 ; Ross : p. 74.
{ Mr. Ross, who writes with too obvious a Presbyterian bias, referring to the period when Mr. Jones was alone, says, " the Rev. Mr. Jones was the only officiating clergyman among the (Protestant) Europeans, although be belonged to the English, and they to the Scotch Church. It was rather anomalous, in this section cf the colony, an English clergyman without a congregation of his own creed, and a Scotch congregation without a minister. " p. 81. One is tempted to ask, what was the old mother Kirk of Scotland about all this time.
1042 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
have been quite unconscious that the charge of narrow-
• mindedness might be retorted by the recalcitants with at
least equal reason.
At any rate, the settlers addressed the Governor more than once, demanding the fulfilment of Lord Selkirk's pro- mise ; but all proved vain. Unhappily, some indiscreet member of the Church Missionary Society still further ex- asperated the Scots, by writing to a friend, " Red River is an English colony ; and there are two English missionaries there already ; and if the petitioners were not a set of cant- ing hypocrites, they might very well be satisfied with the pious clergymen they have got."
The Rev. Mr. Jones, however attached to his communion, was essentially an amiable and charitable man ; at this time, therefore, he " became extremely kind and indulgent to the Scots, and among other things laid aside such parts of the Liturgy and formula of the Episcopalian Church as he knew were offensive to his Presbyterian hearers. He also held prayer-meetings among them after the manner of their own Church, without using the prayer-book at all, which raised him higher than ever in their estimation, especially as they understood that he could only do so at the hazard of forfeit- ing his gown. His own words were, " I know I am doing good ; and so long as I can do good to souls, the technical forms of this or that Church shall not prevent me." * The Rev. William (afterwards Archdeacon) Cochran was not so conciliating at this period. According to Mr. Ross, he said,
* His fellow-labourer, the Rev. Mr. Cochran, was not inclined, at first, to follow Mr. Jones in his laudable efforts at conciliation. The latter's apology, which is too long for insertion (see Ross, p. 131, 132), proves him to have been not merely a man of tact and judgment, but a clergyman of an earnest, devout, arid truly missionary spirit.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH: NORTH AMERICA. 1043
with some warmth, " I will preach to them the truths of the Gospel, and they must listen to me ; they have nothing to do with our forms, I will not allow them an inch of their will." The settlers, however, admired the rev. gentleman, in spite, perhaps unconsciously because, of his stubbornness, coupled as it was with transparent candour and fervent zeal as a minister ; and from that time until the close of his long work (1865) he remained a great favourite with the Scots. Nevertheless, another application was made to Governor Christie, and the answer was the cool suggestion to make an application to Lord Selkirk's executors, who, as the Company well knew, had ceased to have anything to do with the Colony.*
Meanwhile, so deeply rooted was the love of the Scots for their Church, that continued disappointment seriously affected their industrial energies — about 114 left, in one year, for the United States. Mr. Cochran, who was a pious and earnest man, followed Mr. Jones's example and all went on well, until two fresh labourers appeared in the field to undo the work and set the clergy and their Presby- terian flocks by the ears. Fresh from head-quarters, and knowing nothing about the Colony, they imme- diately upbraided Mr. Cochran with faithlessness to the Church, and he, giving way in a moment of weakness, kindled the old discontents once more. Matters were in a more or less unsatisfactory state, until the arrival of Mr. Finlayson, as Governor, at Red River. The new ruler was a man of great intelligence and active business habits,
* Mr. Christie, it is proper to note, was himself a Presbyterian, and an exceedingly kind and affable man.
8
1044 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
shrewd, honest, and impartial. The Presbyterians at once resolved to lay their case before him and ask his counsel and assistance. Having listened to their complaints, he ex- pressed his conviction that they had been badly treated ; at the same time, as the matter rested with the Directors of the Hudson Bay Company, he advised them to draft a petition which he undertook to forward to Sir George Simpson, the Govemor-in-chief of Rupert's Land. This petition was signed by forty-three heads of families, at the head of the list being the name of Alexander Ross, the author of the work so frequently cited. It contained a temperate state- ment of their grievance, with a reference to Lord Selkirk's stipulation.* This document which was transmitted in June, 1844, was violently assailed by the opponents of Presbytery, but those who had signed it waited patiently till June 1845, when an answer came from London. The Secretary of the Company was instructed to state that the Company knew nothing of any such stipulation, and that, had any such engagement of the Scots been, in fact, entered into by Lord Selkirk, it was singular that he had taken no steps to carry it out. It was declared to be without pre- cedent that the Company should maintain a Presbyterian minister at Red River, and the only concession that could
* This petition, together with all the correspondence and affidavits, will be found in Ross* work, pp. 342-361. One clause of the first seems worth inserting, because it expresses, in mild terms, the deep-seated anxiety of the settlers upon the subject " That the attention of your petitioners has long been turned with painful solicitude to their spiritual wants iu this settlement, that widely as they are scattered among other sections of the Christian family, and among many who cannot be considered as belonging to it at all, they are in danger of forgetting that they have brought with them into this land, where they have sought a home, nothing so valuable as the faith of Christ, and the primitive simplicity of their own form of worship ; and that their children are in danger of losing sight of those Christian bonds of union and fellowship which characterize the sincere followers of Christ.'*
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1045
be made was a free passage for any clergyman the settlers might choose to engage and undertake to pay. In reply, the petitioners entered into the facts of the* case from the outset and forwarded two explicit affidavits. The first having reference to the agreement with Lord Selkirk, the attempt to engage the services of Mr. Sage, the temporary ministrations of Mr. Sutherland, and the repeated applica- tions to every successive Governor, was signed by Angus and Alexander Mathieson, two of the settlers of 1815. The second proved the assignment of two new lots to Alexander McBeath and his son, John, one of the deponents, by Mr. Alexander Macdonnell, th.e Governor, at the instance of Lord Selkirk, these lots being set apart for a Presbyterian Church and a school. The only reply vouchsafed to these representations from the Hudson Bay House was the in- formation the Company " can neither recognize the claim therein advanced, nor .do anything more towards the object you have in view, than they have already expressed their willingness to do." This curt note was dated 6th June, 1846, fully two years after the original petition had been drafted and nearly a twelve-month later than the communi- cation to which it replied.
The settlers expecting this result from the tone of the Company's first answer turned for assistance to another quarter. Stirring events had occurred in the old land within a year or two. The Disruption of 1843 had infused new life into the decaying spirituality of Scotland, and the mar- vellous zeal and energy which piled together the Sustentation Fund seemed to betoken the dawn of a new era in the history of Presbyterianism. The Red River Settlers were
1046 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
perhaps scarcely so strongly impressed with the non-intrusion controversy as their brethren over the sea ; indeed they felt too forlorn and desolate to care much about patronage. They at once, however, appealed with hope to the Free Church in a letter, accompanied by all the correspondence with the Company and other documents, addressed to the Rev. Dr. Brown, of Aberdeen, Moderator of the General Assembly. ' Owing to delays and miscarriages of letters, no reply was received until the Summer of 1849, when the Rev. Dr. Bcnar, Convener of the Colonial Committees wrote expressing his regret that all efforts to secure a suitable minister had hitherto failed. A dispute followed regard- ing the Church and school lots, which had long been occupied -by the English Missionaries ; the result was a sort of informal offer of arbitration by Governor Colville, one of the terms of which was that the dissidents should be paid off, and suffered to have their own Church and burial ground.
At length, by the efforts of the Rev. Dr. Burns, Rev. Mr. Rintoul and others, the long-promised Missionary arrived on the 19th of September, 1851, in the person of the Rev. John Black, late minister of Kildonan, in the Province of Mani- toba. The joy with which the first clergyman of their Church — the pastor for whom they had been looking and longing in vain during thirty -three years — was welcomed it is easy to imagine. So soon as he set foot in the settlement three hundred Presbyterians left the English Church in one day, and were at last restored to the Communion of their fathers. The final decision of the Committee on the Church property question was so far in favour of the settlers, that neither
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 104T
Church nor churchyard were to be consecrated, but left open to all. In 1853, however, the Presbyterians erected a handsome stone edifice at Frog Plains or Kildonan, and were at home at last.
The Rev. John Black, or Dr. Black, as he is entitled to be called, deserves a more extended notice inasmuch as he was not only the first Presbyterian Minister at Red River, but has approved himself by twenty years' faithful service, the model of all that a Christian Missionary in a new and unsettled country should aspire to be. By the kindness of the Rev. Dr. Reid, who has furnished the facts, the following account of Dr. Black's life and services are laid before the reader.* He was born in 1818, in the parish of Eskdale Muir, Dumfrieshire, Scotland, whence his family removed to Kirkpatrick. When John Black was about twenty- three years of age, the family emigrated to the United States. With them he resided for some years, in the State of Delaware, employing himself, as most young Scots do in the " auld land," both in teaching and study. Amongst his pupils, who rose to eminence, were the Hon. W. Murray, Judge of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, and Dr. David Murra/, Superintendent of Education in Japan. Even before leaving Scotland, Mr. Black had conceived a desire of entering the the ministry, and a residence in the United States had not only deepened that aspiration, but given it definite form. He loved his native land and its Church, and with that truly Scottish form of patriotism he
* The writer desires to make a general acknowledgment here to this indefatigable Agent of the Preshyterian Church in Canada, for much assistance in preparing the portion of this work devoted to religious progress in the Dominion.
1048 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
had inherited, his religion and his love of country seemed to have been inextricably mingled together. The train of thought in such a mind — not difficult to follow — led M r. Black to look towards Canada, where his connection with Scotland, and some members of the Presbyterian family of churches would be more intimate than was possible 'in the United States. It was after the disruption had done its work in Canada (1844) that, in correspondence with the Rev. Mr. Stark, of Dundas, first Moderator of the Presby- terian Church in Canada — the Free Church branch of Can- adian Presbyterianism — he learned of a provision in the making, to train young men for the ministry in Knox Col- lege, then on the eve of organization. At the opening of the first session of Knox College, in the Autumn of 1844, Mr. Black presented himself as a student, and, after having prosecuted the course of study prescribed in the curriculum of the College, and passed the required examinations, was licensed, in due form, as a preacher of the gospel. For a considerable period, the Rev. Mr. Black was engaged in the work of French evangelization ; and it was in the midst of these labours that he was summoned to step higher, and become the first Presbyterian minister of the Red River Settlement. This sudden call to a sphere of labour almost boundless in extent, and rich in opportunities for mission- ary usefulness, must have impressed Mr. Black with a full sense of its value, as well as its difficulties. The first Pres- byterian minister in the great North- West had a wide door opened to him, but to enter in meant the sacrifice of much which an ambitious man holds dear. The fame and the
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 3049
emoluments of the city clergyman are not for him ; nearly all the comforts and pleasant companionship of society life in settled communities must be left behind ; and, taking his cross upon his back, he must encounter all possibilities in missionary life, to do the work of his Master — no human mentor by his side ; alone, yet not alone. It can hardly be ambition which tempts a man to undergo danger and dif- ficulty in the missionary field ; it i.3 certainly not hope of earthly reward, nor even love of adventure which stimulates the explorer, which prompts the pioneer missionary to undertake the work. Whatever Mr. Black's feelings may have been, or whencesoever his inspiration and strength were drawn, he set about his mission with the determina- tion of an ambassador who was not without credentials. The Scots settlers grouped about him enthusiastically ; but be- yond their little oasis, lay a vast Sahara of spiritual desert. Mr. Black's first step was to make sure of his own ground. From the first, he resolved to keep aloof from politics, and adhered to that resolution throughout. During the pro- longed struggle with the Hudson Bay Company, he held aloof, firmly persuaded that the mission of the clergyman ran upon a higher plane, and in a purer atmosphere, than that of the agitator, or the conservative, however sincere. Even at the unhappy period when the Anglican clergymen whom the Company had championed,opposed it, to the moral destruction of one of them, Mr. Black, whose church the reigning authorities had persistently opposed, stood aloof from the agitation of the malcontents.
The Rev. Dr. Black, throughout a distinguished career, endeavoured to promote solely the religious and educa-
1050 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
tional progress of the people. When they found themselves excluded from the schools, it was he who founded and set in operation the germ of Manitoba's educational system. In early years, he had, " in addition to his usual clerical duties at both stations, to teach a French and Latin class ever since Bishop Anderson prohibited Presbyterian pupils from at- tending his schools."* At this time Mr. Black's stipend, we are informed, amounted to only £150 per annum, £50 of which were subscribed by the Hudson Bay Company. The rev. gentleman, however, did not stop there. The Kildonan station on Frog Plains, had been supplemented by another, fourteen miles further down, now apparently termed " Lit- tle Britain." It was to his untiring energy that the first systematic attempt to christianize the Indians, owed its origin. To the Rev. Mr. Cochran, afterwards Archdeacon, much praise is due for fruitful efforts in that direction. Per- haps as the pastor of the Hudson Bay Company, he felt that they had hitherto made no effort to fulfil one of the primary conditions of their charter ; most certainly as a Christian pastor, he did what he could, not as a hireling of the monopoly, but as the faithful servant of a Diviner Master. Dr. Black died in 18S2.f
In 1862, much of the Rev. Dr. Black's labour and anxiety was removed by the advent upon the field of the Rev. James Nisbet, the second Presbyterian minister at Red River, and the first missionary especially set apart for labour amongst the Indians. A native of Glasgow, Scotland, he came with
* Ross, p. 860. Of course, our author is alone responsible for a view of Bishop Ander- son's course, of which the writer of these words would be sorry to judge ex parte.
t It should be mentioned that the Rev. Dr. Black's degree of Doctor was bestowed upon him, as was fitting, by the University of Queen's College, Kingston, in 1876.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1051
his father and family to Canada in early life. " Like Dr. Black," the Rev. Dr. Reid informs us, "he was one of the first fruits of Knox College." After his ordination, he was appointed minister of the church at Oakville, where he laboured diligently in the sacred calling for twelve years, from 1850 to 1862, and in addition to his ordinary pastoral duties was constantly engaged in the Home Missionary work of his Church. In 18G2, he was invited to assist Dr, Black in the work at Red River, and cheerfully undertook the duty. During the two years of his co-operation with Dr. Black, he was in preparation for his special work, and, in 1864, he was formally designated as a Presbyterian mis- sionary to the valley of the Saskatchewan, and at once en- tered upon the arduous duty assigned him. He was accom- panied by Mr. George Flett, and Mr. John McKay, both natives of the North-West, and well versed in the Cree lan- guage. The mission received the name of Prince Albert, and there for ten years, Mr. Nisbet pursued his work, with zeal and devotedness, although in the midst of grave diffi- culties and much discouragement. He died at Kildonan, worn out prematurely by his evangelical labours on the 30th of September, 1874, only a few weeks before the death of his wife, who together with him had been spent in the arduous work given them to do, leaving four orphan chil- dren. The testimony Mr. Nisbet left behind him might be coveted by many an ardent seeker after posthumous fame, " he was a singularly unselfish and devoted missionary, and all felt that his heart was in his work."
Of the other Presbyterian ministers engaged in the North-
1052 TUB SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
West, only brief notice can be taken. The Rev. Alex. Mathe- son, a Scot, by parentage, is a native of Red River. He also was educated at Knox College, and for somo time la- boured at Lunenburg on the St. Lawrence. Returning to his native Manitoba, he became, and is now, the Minister of "Little Britain," at the Lower Fort Garry. The Rev. G. Bryce, M.A., is also a Scots- Canadian ; he graduated* in the University of Toronto, and pursued his theological studies at Knox College. In 1871, he was placed at the head of the College of Manitoba. The Rev. Thomas Hart, M. A., pro- fessor in the same institution is from Perth, Ontario, and also of Scottish extraction. His degree was obtained from Queen's University. One of the latest additions to the cler- ical strength of the Presbyterian Church in Manitoba, is the Rev. James Robertson, of Knox Church, Winnipeg. He studied at University College, Toronto, and took a theolo- gical course at Princeton, N. J.
The best general view of the work of the Church of Eng- land in the North- West will be found in Hargrave's Red River, chap ix. The position in which Episcopalian minis- ters were placed, was anomalous. The Rev. Archdeacon Cochran is justly regarded as the founder of that branch of the Church of England which now boasts of no less than five bishoprics in the North- West. It was he who, in 1836, made the first attempt at Indian evangelization, amongst the semi-civilized aborigines by founding the Indian Set- tlement, or Parish of St. Peter. Mr. Cochran was apos- tolic to the letter, for he "laboured with his hands" at the little edifice designed for instruction and worship.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1053
He was pastor, teacher, architect, builder, and mechanic combined ; what is pleasing to learn is he did not toil in vain, since what there is of civilization and settled life amongst the Indians of the Province of Manitoba may be justly traced to his early labours. It was no wonder that he was beloved by the natives and warmly esteemed by the Presbyterians, against whom, in the days of ignor- ance, he had sternly set his face. He was too near akin to them in the national characteristics of fervour, persistence and devotion to the highest interests of his fellow-men, to be permanently estranged from their hearts by differences in form or discipline. In their former foe they learned long before the termination of his forty years' ministry to re- cognise one of their closest friends. Of the other Anglican clergymen who took an active part in the work of early days, may be mentioned the Rev. John McCallum and the Rev. James (afterwards Archdeacon) Hunter.
The present Bishop of Rupert's Land — a diocese consti- tuted in 1849 — was, and is, the Most Reverend Robert Machray, D.D., the son of a Scottish advocate. He was born at Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1832. Educated in the first place at King's College in his native city, he graduated with honours in mathematics at Cambridge. He was elected Foundation Fellow of his college (Sidney) in 1855, and, in the year following ordained as Deacon and Priest successively by the Bishop of Ely. Having been honoured by other Uni- versity appointments, he was for a short time Vicar of a par- ish near the University town. In 1865 he was consecrated Bishop of Rupert's Land at Lambeth, by the Archbishop of
10.H THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
Canterbury, the Bishops of London, Ely and Abardeen, as well as his predecessor the Rt. Reverend David Anderson.* The diocese, as originally established, included the entire area now embraced in the Province of Manitoba and the North-West Territories. Bishop Machray entered upon the arduous duties of his extensive charge in the true missionary spirit. He fearlessly encountered the perils and privations of the wilderness, in the visitation of the distant and widely- scattered mission stations of his diocese, and for several years pursued a career of almost continued hardship and endurance, travelling thousands of miles by canoe and dog- sleigh, to the remotest confines of the then little-known region under his spiritual charge, in order to familiarize himself with its needs. When owing to the influx of settlers, it became necessary largely to extend the work of the Church, his practical knowledge of the country and its religious requirements enabled him to present the case earnestly and successfully to the Church in Canada and in England. In order to meet the continually increasing necessities arising from the progress of settlement, the diocese was subdivided by the constitution of other bishoprics, the See of Rupert's Land since 1874, comprising the Province of Manitoba, with a portion of the district of Cumberland, and the districts of Swan River, Norway House, and Lac La Pluie. On the sub-division of the diocese, Bishop Machray was appointed Metropolitan. His zeal and energy in the pioneer work of religious and educational organization are recognised, not
* Some of these biographical facts, as well as others which follow, are taken from The Clerical Guide and Churchman's Directory, edited by Mr. C. V. Forater Bliss, and pub- lished at Ottawa.
TEE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1055
only by his fellow-churchmen, but by all interested in the moral and intellectual advancement of the North-West. Bishop Machray's sterling qualities of head and heart, have won the respect of all classes. His pulpit style is direct and practical rather than ornate, and is oft times characterized by the eloquence which glows with the warmth of earnest conviction, though it may not glitter with the tinsel of rhetorical embellishment. He holds the position of Chan- cellor and Warden of St. John's College, Manitoba, and Pro- fessor of Ecclesiastical History in the Theological College.
Another of the pioneer prelates of the North- West, claims Scotland as his native land. The Right Reverend John Mc- Lean, D.D., D.C.L., was born at Portsay, Banffshire, in 1828. He graduated at Aberdeen University in 1851. He came to Canada shortly afterwards, and in 1858 was ordained by the Bishop of Huron. His first charge was the curacy of St. Paul's Cathedral, London. He removed to the North- West in 1866, where he was appointed rector of St. John's Cathedral, and Divinity Professor of St. John's College, Winnipeg. A few years later he became archdeacon of Assi- niboia. In 1871, he received the degree of D. C. L., from the Universities of Trinity College, Toronto, and Bishop's College, Lennoxville, and that of D.D., from Kenyon College, Ohio. When the Diocese of Saskatchewan was constituted in 1874, the ripe scholarship and marked executive abilities of Dr. McLean, were recognised by his nomination to the new See. He was consecrated at Lambeth the same year by the Archbishop of Canterbury — and has since laboured with assiduity and success to meet as far as possible the rapidly
1056 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
increasing spiritual needs of the extensive and fertile region under his charge, to which so large a proportion of the influx of settlement has been directed.
When the record of North-Western evangelization is com- plete, and Christianity has gone hand in hand with civili- zation, in reclaiming the land from desolation and pagan barbarism, no name in the list of those who laboured and suffered for this glorious consummation will be held in greater honour or more affectionate remembrance, than that of the Rev. George McDougall, Methodist missionary to the Indians, who crowned a life of heroic struggle and self-sa- crifice by a martyr's death, at his perilous post of duty. But little information can be obtained as to his early antecedents. Born of a hardy sea-faring ancestry belonging to the north of Scotland, he combined a hereditary courage and love of adventure, which enabled him cheerfully to brave the dangers and hardships of life on the prairies, with a singular gentleness and refinement, and an overflowing kindliness of disposition which drew all hearts towards him. Early in life he became convinced that duty called him to a career of missionary effort among the Indians of the North- West. He began his labours about the year 1850, travelling westward through the wildest and most desolate regions of what was then an almost unknown land, establishing mission stations, familiarizing himself with the languages of the Indian tribes, and carrying the light of the Gospel into the haunts of heathen darkness. In the winter of 1875-6, he was stationed . at Morleyville, Bow River, in the Rocky Mountain region, where he proposed to establish an orphanage for the support
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1057
and education of destitute Indian children. Letters which he wrote a few weeks before his death to the Hon. James Fer- rier, superintendent of the St. James'-street Sabbath-school, Montreal, which had largely aided his schemes by contribu- tions, give a vivid and interesting picture of his work and its glorious results. Speaking of his journey westward from Victoria to Fort McLeod, he says : " We were guided by the Stony interpreter, James Dixon, a very remarkable man, who for years has been the patriarch of his people. James, in a five days' journey could point out every spot of interest ; now showing us the place where more than twenty-five years ago, the venerable Rundle visited them and baptized many of their people — a little further on, and the location was pointed out to us, where his father was killed by the Black- feet, then again from a hill our friend pointed out the spot where a company of German emigrants, while crossing from Montana to the Saskatchewan were murdered — not one left to tell the painful story. This occurred seven years ago. How wonderful the change ! We can now preach the Gospel to these very people, who, but a few years ago sought the life of every traveller coming from the American side." The destitution of many of the Indians, owing to the disappear- ance of the buffalo, on which they were almost entirely dependent, excited his deepest commiseration and redoubled his determination to make some provision for the physical necessities of the young and helpless, while imparting toge- ther with a Christian education, such an industrial training as would fit them to become self-supporting under the new order of things. " November 6th," he writes, " we reached
1058 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
the encampment of our friend Dixon. There were 380 Stonies present. Next morning we held a service, and though the frozen grass was the best accommodation we could offer our hearers, yet no sooner was the announcement made, than men, women and children gathered round us, and sang with great energy, ' Salvation, Oh, the joyful sound.' Here I counted over 100 boys and girls who ought to be attending school, and who I hope will be as soon as we can get a place erected sufficiently large to accommodate them." To effect his plans he laboured steadily with his own hands at the work of building. " At -present," he sensibly says, " if your missionaries would succeed, they must not be afraid of a little manual labour."
Unfortunately this valiant and stout-heaited soldier of the Cross was never destined to put his benevolent project into operation. On the 24th of January, 1876, while hunting* buffalo about thirty miles from Morley ville, to procure a sup- ply of meat for the mission, he started to return to camp in advance of his party. It was a wild, stormy night, and a fierce wind swept the prairie laden with drifting snow. Mr. McDougall missed his way, and as a protracted search by his friends proved fruitless, the painful conclusion that he had perished from cold and exhaustion forced itself upon them. Twelve days afterwards his body was found by a half-breed, stretched in death on the snow-covered prairie, the folded hands and placid expression of the features, showing that the intrepid soul of the missionary had met death in the spirit of calm and trustful resignation —
" Like one who draws the drapery of his couch Around him, and lies down to pleasant dreams."
CHAPTER V.
THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY.
APPY is the nation that has no history," is an aphorism that has lost much of its force by the adoption of more rational and instructive historical methods. It was strictly true in the days when popular history was a mere record of battles and sieges, treaties made and violated, the pomp and parade of courts and the intrigues of diplo- matists. But in an age when historical research and con- temporary observation are brought to bear upon the life of the people, upon institutions and manners and industries, upon progress in the arts and sciences, and intellectual and religious advancement, the eras of peaceful development offer the widest scope and entail the most arduous labours upon the historian. The interest of the narrative is no longer centred upon a comparatively small group of leading figures — upon a few salient actions of overshadowing importance. It is diffused over a wider theatre where many diverse move- ments are in progress. There is no great crisis — no pivotal point of national destiny towards which all energies are bent and all eyes directed. But the minor events and influ- ences which make up the sum of national life are so scat- tered as to area and so involved in their relations to each other, that the field-glass of the chronicler of the times of
storm and pressure needs to be exchanged for an instrument 9
3060 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
at once telescopic in range and microscopic in closeness of vision. The recent annals of North- Western progress are a record of peaceful and rapid advancement, in which, among the active and energetic spirits who have been the directing forces of settlement, there are many whose names are wor- thy of honourable .mention — few who loom up so largely as to throw the rest into shadow. The preservation of the due historical perspective is therefore a matter of difficulty.
Canadians have been backward in realizing the grandeur and value of their national heritage. Accustomed for genera- tions to the contrast between the narrow limits of Old Can- ada, and the vast expanse of half a continent to the South, the possession of which has done so much to form the Ame- rican character, both as regards its faults and its virtues, it is not surprising that, for some time after the annexation of the North-West territory, public opinion failed to appreciate the new acquisition at anything like its true value. This was, no doubt, owing fully as much to the lack of anything like jeliable information concerning the real character of the coun- try and its fitness for settlement, as to the Canadian habit of self-depreciation — which, by the way, is a habit of thought rather . than of speech. The empire, upon the possession of which Canada had entered, was literally a terra incognita.
Great spaces yet untravelled, great lakes whose mystic shores
The Saxon rifle never heard, nor dip of Saxon oars ;
Great herds that wander all unwatched, wild steeds that none have tamed,
Strange fish in unknown streams, and hircU the Saxon never named,
Deep mines, dark mountain crucibles where Nature's chemic powers
Work out the great Designer's will — all these ye say are ours !
It was not until the observations of travellers and the researches of men of science, corroborated by the actual experience of the pioneers of settlement, established beyond
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1061
a doubt the existence of large areas of fertile arable land, that public sentiment rose in some measure to a due esti- mation of the resources and possibilities of the North- West. Prominent among those whose keen perception and graphic descriptive powers have contributed to bring about this result is the Rev. George M. Grant, to whose book, " Ocean to Ocean," reference has already been made. In 1872, Mr. Sandford Fleming, chief engineer of the Canadian Pacific Railway, determined to undertake a journey across the con- tinent in order to familiarize himself with the general fea- tures of the route laid down by the preliminary surveys of the previous year. He was accompanied by Rev. Mr. Grant in the capacity of secretary ; and Dr. Arthur Moren, of Halifax, Prof. John Macoun, of Belleville, and Mr. Charles Horetzky, an ex-Hudson Bay Company official, were also of the party. " Ocean to Ocean " was the outcome of this expedition. The party left Toronto on the 16th of July, reached Prince Ar- thur's Landing by steamer from Collingwood, and travelled to Winnipeg over the Dawson road. The writer bears frequent testimony to the prevalence of the Scottish element in the few and far between stopping-places and settlements along this route. The first halt after leaving Thunder Bay was made at " fifteen mile shanty," in charge of Robert Bowie, an Alloa man, of whom it is gratefully recorded that he gave the party the best dinner they had enjoyed since leaving Toronto. The station at the Matawan was in care of Mr. Aitken from Glengarry, who in two months had converted a fire-swept desert into a comfortable and prosperous home. A Scot who accompanied the party on one stage of their journey as teamster from the North-West Angle, was earning
1062 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
$30 per month and board, and saving four-fifths of his wages with the intention in a few months of buying a farm on the Red River. At White Birch River they found the keeper of the station, a Scotsman " like the rest," and a very intelli- gent man, able to furnish much information about the coun- try. After the usual vicissitudes of canoe and waggon travel, over this picturesque but rough and desolate region, Winni- peg was reached. The writer notes the prosperity of the Selkirk settlement, owing to the thrifty habits of the High- landers and their descendants. At " Silver Heights," six miles up the Assiniboine, the residence of Mr. Donald A. Smith, the travellers received a veritable Highland welcome, and met, among others, Mr. Christie, a short time before chief factor at Edmonton, Mr. Hamilton, of Norway House, and Mr. McTavish.
The party commenced the journey across the prairies with a full equipment of Red River carts, saddle horses and buck- boards. Shortly after leaving Winnipeg they fell in with Rev. George McDougall, the intrepid Methodist missionary, whose lamented death a few years later left such a gap in the ranks of .missionary enterprise. Mr. McDougall accom- panied the party to Edmonton, where he was at that time stationed. They found a little village on the site of what is now the thriving town of Portage la Prairie, and at Rat Creek, ten miles further west, the houses of several settlers. The names of Grant and Mackenzie sufficiently indicate the origin of the two prosperous farmers, recently from Ontario, at whose houses the travellers dined. From this point on- wards Mr. Grant was impressed with the wonderful richness and fertility of the prairie land, and puts on record his-
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1063
amazement that so little should have been done to open up these vast and productive areas for settlement. Crossing the Assiniboine at Fort Ellice, the party turned their course towards the North Saskatchewan, by way of the Touchwood Hills, passing through a region of rolling prairie, the beauty and luxuriance of which delighted them. From Carlton they proceeded along the valley of the Saskatchewan, by the trail on the north bank of the river. At Victoria they visited the mission established by Mr. McDougall among the Crees and half-breeds. He had been assigned to another post at Ed- monton, and his successor was Mr. Campbell. The teacher of the Sunday-school was Mr. McKenzie, and the interpreter Mr. Tait. The observations made during this portion of the journey as to the general character of the country, and its fitness for settlement, are the most valuable part of the work — as a vindication of the soil and climate of the North- West from the prejudices of unreasoning ignorance and the malignant aspersions of American railroad and land agents. Summing up his experiences of the route traversed as far as Edmonton, the writer says : —
" Speaking generally of Manitoba and our North- West, along the line we travelled, it is impossible to doubt that it is one of the finest pasture countries in the world, and that a great part of it is well adapted for cereals. The climato- logical conditions are favourable for both stock-raising and grain-producing. The spring is nearly as early as in Onta- rio, the summer is more humid and therefore the grains, grasses, and root crops grow better ; the autumn bright and cloudless, the very weather for harvesting ; and the winter has less snow and fewer snow-storms, and though in many
1064 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
parts colder, it is healthy and pleasant because of the still dry air, the cloudless sky and the bright sun. The soil is almost everywhere a peaty or sandy loam resting on cla}r. Its only fault is that it is too rich — crop after crop is raised without fallow or manure." After considering fairly the objections raised as to the scarcity of fuel and water in some parts, otherwise adapted to settlement, and the summer frosts which occasionally nip the grain in the higher lati- tudes— though, as he takes care to explain, the thermometer is by no means a guide as to the effects of cold in this region — " it is impossible " he continues " to avoid the conclusion that we have a great and fertile North-West, a thousand miles long and from one to four hundred miles broad, capa- ble of containing a population of millions."
The revelations of yesterday are the commonplaces of to- day. These passages seem now but the merest truisms — the presentation of a story which has grown stale, and hackney- ed by the reiterations of the tourist and the newspaper correspondent, the lecturer and the politician. But they were far from being truisms when first published, or for some time later. The researches of Prof. Macoun, who with Mr. Horetzky, separated from Mr. Fleming's party at Edmonton, and proceeded to the Peace River, did much to dispel popular prejudice as to the climate. But misconceptions of this sort die slowly. His report published in 1874, showing from the flora of that region, that the summer climate of Peace River in 56° north latitude is equal to, if not better than, that of Belleville in latitude 44°, was much criticized and his state- ments ridiculed as extravagant. Even in 1877, when sur- veys had been pushed in all directions, the Minister of Public
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA, 1065
Works, in asking the Professor to present a report on the country, thought it necessary to caution him not to draw on his imagination, and the latter knowing the incredulity which existed as to the productive capacity of the North- West, dared not present the conclusion he arrived at, from careful estimates that the country comprised fully 200,000,- 000 acres of agricultural land — fearing that the figures would appear altogether incredible — " As a salve to my con- science," he writes, " I kept to the large number of 200,000,- 000 acres, but said that there were 79,920,000 of arable land, and 120,400,000 acres of pasture, swamps and lakes." *
The Fleming party continued their expedition to British Columbia, by way of the Yellow Head Pass, reaching Vic- toria on the 9th of October, after a journey of nearly three months. Mr. Grant on his return home by way of the Union Pacific, was struck with the contrast between the arid alka- line plateaus of Utah, Nevada, Wyoming and Eastern Ne- braska, the parched earth for hundreds of miles barely yield- ing support to a scanty growth of sage-brush, and the rich, warm soil of the Canadian prairies clothed everywhere with a luxuriant vegetation. Yet while population had been at- tracted to the great American desert and enterprise had car- ried thither the railroad and the telegraph, the fertile belt remained unpeopled and unproductive. The great essential precursor of civilization in its westward march, the railway, was yet in the future.
The tendency of public opinion during the early phases of the Canadian Pacific Railway enterprise, was to regard this undertaking rather in the light of a political necessity than
* Macoun'a Manitoba and the great North- West, p. 609.
1066 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
a factor of prime exigency in the work of populating the North-West. The scheme was urged as essential to the maintenance of British institutions in regions to which a large influx of population from the southward, was likely to be attracted ; it was accepted as a corollary of Confederation ; but not generally recognised as an undertaking likely to be materially remunerative. To the spirit of patriotic emula- tion excited by the giant strides of railway development in the United States, and to the tenacity with which the Bri- tish Columbians in framing the terms of union insisted upon this material link as a sine qua non, more than to any gene- ral conviction of the practical commercial utility of the en- terprise was its inception due. The engineering difficulties in the way were regarded by many as insuperable. Capt. Palliser who in 1857 had explored the country, as the head of an expedition sent out by the imperial government had decisively declared communication between Canada and the Pacific slope through British territory impracticable. " The time " he said " has forever gone by for effecting such an ob- ject, and the unfortunate device of an astronomical boun- dary line has completely isolated the central American pos- sessions of Great Britain from Canada, in the East, and also almost debarred them from any eligible access from the Pa- cific coast on the west." With this official condemnation of the scheme on record it is not surprising that when the con- ditions of the bargain with British Columbia were an- nounced the opinion widely prevailed that the stipulation for the construction of the road within ten years, was likely to remain a dead letter. It was reserved for the consum- mate scientific ability, the tireless energy, the thorough-go-
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 10G7
ing assiduity and indomitable resolution of a Scot to demon- strate the falsity of Capt. Palliser's conclusions, as it lias since been for the enterprise, commercial sagacity and ex- ecutive capacity of a company of Scotsmen to crown the work.
When the preliminary work of survey was undertaken in 1871 the position of chief engineer was assigned to Mr. Sandford Fleming, a name that will always be closely asso- ciated with the greatest public undertakings of the Dominion. Mr. Fleming was born at Kirkcaldy in Fifeshire, Scotland, on the 7th of Januarj7, 1827, his father being a mechanic named Andrew Greig Fleming. The maiden name of his mother was Elizabeth Arnot. During his school days his mind exhibited a decided bent in the direction of mathe- matics and at an early age he was placed under articles with an engineer and surveyor. Having acquired a practical knowledge of the profession he emigrated to Canada at the age of eighteen. His progress in his adopted country was slow at first as he was for some years unable to obtain any position which would afford him the opportunity of gaining recognition for his abilities. During a portion of this period of weary waiting for professional advancement he resided in Toronto, where he was one of the first to take an interest in the Canadian Institute. In 1852 he was appointed one of the engineering staff on the Northern Railway, at that time known as the Ontario, Simcoe and Huron Railway. His attainments quickly won him promotion and in a few years he became chief engineer of the line. During his con- nection with this company his services were also sought in the promotion of other public works. He subsequently
1063 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
visited the Red River Settlement to ascertain whether it would be practicable to build a railroad connecting it with old Canada. In 1863 the inhabitants of the settlement ad- dressed a memorial to the Imperial government praying for railway communication with Canada through British terri- tory, and Mr. Fleming was entrusted with the mission of urging the construction of the line. He had several inter- views on the subject with the Duke of Newcastle, then Colonial Secretary, but the project did not at that time assume any definite shape. On Mr. Fleming's return from England he was entrusted with the task of making a pre- liminary survey of a line of raihyay to connect the maritime provinces with Canada. The scheme was not pushed until the accomplishment of Confederation in 1867 rendered the construction of the Intercolonial Railway imperative upon the Canadian Government — when the work was carried to a successful issue under the direction of Mr. Fleming as Chief Engineer — and formally opened on the 1st of July, 1876. The triumph thus achieved over physical obstacles of no ordinary character placed him in the front of his pro- fession and singled him out as pre-eminently fitted for the yet more important and responsible charge of opening up a highway for commerce between the East and West over swamp and prairie, river and muskeg, across the towering barrier of the Rockies, winding among British Columbia's " sea of mountains," through passes deemed impassable, bridging chasms that yawn destruction and tunnelling cliffs that frown defiance, onward, slowly, toilsomely but resist- lessly onward to where the Pacific portal invites the com- merce of the East and the perpetual westwar^ surge of
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1069
humanity culminates in paradox as the pioneer confronts the Mongolian.
Mr. Fleming's connection with the Canadian Pacific con- tinued until 1880 when he resigned his position on rinding himself unable to agree with the Government as to the loca- tion of the railway. His great public services have been fitly recognised by his receiving from Her Majesty the honour of being created a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. In 1880 he was elected Chancellor of Queen's University, Kingston. He is an able and volu- minous writer on topics connected with his profession. In addition to the valuable official reports of the various enterprises with which he has been connected he has pub- lished a history of the Intercolonial Railway and has fur- nished many instructive contributions to the Canadian Journal and other scientific publications. In 1855 he was united in marriage to Miss Ann Jean Hall, daughter of the late Sheriff Hall, of the County of Peterborough.
When British Columbia entered the union the practicabil- ity of the Pacific Railway was still an unsolved problem. No time was lost in setting on foot the work of survey in the summer of 1871. On July 20th, the day on which the union was formally consummated, a party left Victoria for the mountains, operations having been begun in the East some weeks before. The quarter to which attention was specially directed was the Yellow Head Pass in the Rocky Mountains which it was supposed might offer an available- route. On examination it was found that no insuperable obstacle existed to the construction of a road through this- pass to Kamloops in the interior of the Province. The main
1070 THE SCOT IN BRITISH bORTH AMERICA.
question was settled. The Canadian Pacific was a practic- able scheme and henceforward it was merely a choice between longer and shorter, easier or more difficultroutes. The immen- sity of the enterprise, which had hardly been fully considered in the anxiety to make terms with the British Columbians, began to be more fully realized during the toilsome and tedious years of exploratory survey that followed. The dif- ficulties encountered, the fatigues and perils endured by those engaged in this work are deserving of more recognition than they have received or are ever likely to receive at the hands of the country in whose service these brave soldiers on the skirmish line of the advancing forces of civilization toiled and suffered and not unfrequently died — for if " peace hath her victories not less renowned than war," she has also her tragedies, — her killed whose names find place in no bulletins and to whose memories no lofty monuments are reared, and her wounded who go unpensioned and undecorated. The total list of lives lost in connection with the survey up to the year 1878, by various " moving accidents of flood and field " numbered thirty-eight. The names of Sinclair, Ma- theson, Spence, Hamilton, McMillan, Scott and others -which appear on the death-roll indicate that Scotland can claim as her sons a very large proportion of the men to whose faith- ful and arduous service in the face of the dangers and hard- ships of the wilderness, Canada owes so heavy a debt of gra- titude. The vast amount of information concerning the physical features of a region of which nothing was accur- ately known excepting along the routes followed by the few travellers who had left their observations on record, gained by the exhaustive and elaborate system of surveys carried
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1071
out under Mr. Fleming's direction is indicated by the state- ment made by him in a paper read before the Colonial In- stitute on the IGth of April, 1878, that the total length of explorations made during the preceding seven years ex- ceeded 47,000 miles, no less than 12,000 'miles having been measured by chain and spirit-level, yard by yard.* The ex- pense of these surveys amounted to about three and a half million dollars, and the engineering force employed number- ed about a thousand men of all grades.
Meanwhile the chances and changes of political conflict had resulted in material alterations in the character of the scheme. As we have seen, the Conservative policy was to secure the construction of the road by private enterprise, stimulated by lavish subsidies of money and land. Mr. Mackenzie's administration undertook to build and operate it as a government work. There is much to be said on either side of the argument as between these two systems. It must be admitted that there is a growing public opinion in favour of the resumption by the state of the control of the public lines of traffic and communication, implied in the old phrase the " king's highway." This feeling has been in- tensified by the oppressive and arbitrary conduct of the American railway magnates, whose position has aptly been compared to that of the robber-barons of the Rhine in feu- dal times. In a country where the great food-producing districts are separated by long distances both from the mass of home consumers and the nearest points of shipment to the foreign market, the railway king holds industry and com- merce by the throat. It is not surprising that the unscrur
» Report of Canadian Pacific Railway, 1878 p, 88.
€072 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
pulous use of this power in regulating tolls according to the rule of " what the traffic will bear," and the frequent con- temptuous disregard of the public interest, have given rise to a strong agitation in favour of state interference. Many -consider that the histoiy of railroad construction and man- agement in the United States was well calculated to serve as a warning rather than an example for imitation, in the matter of entrusting large corporations with monopoly privi- leges. On the other hand, the danger of leaving a gigantic •enterprise like the Canadian Pacific to be owned and worked by a government which would always be under the temp- tation to use it as a political machine, was calculated to im- press Canadians more forcibly than an evil of which their own experiences had been comparatively slight. Moreover, the .success of the Mackenzie administration in the work of con- struction had not been such as to influence public sentiment in favour of government railways. The progress made had been slow. True, the painstaking and elaborate system of prelim- inary surveys, so indispensable to the success of the under- taking, had been pushed forward with creditable thorough- ness and energy ; but the public are apt to judge by tangible results, visible on the surface, ponderable by scales or steel- yard, measurable by tape-line or yard-stick, computable in current coin of the realm. The actual mileage of railway completed during the Mackenzie regime was but 227 miles, comprising sections from Selkirk to Rat Portage and from Fort William to English River. The rich prairie region, to the value of which the country was now thoroughly aroused, had not been opened up. Sir John Macdonald, on his return to power, adopted for the time being the policy of his pre-
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1073
decessor, with the object of securing the settlement of the country as speedily as possible. The work of construction was hastened. Additional contracts were let, including that for the connecting link between English River and Rat Port- age, so as to complete the summer route to Winnipeg by way of Lake Superior, and the Pembina branch was finished, effecting a connection with the American railway system. The route west of Winnipeg, which, as originally laid down, took a north-westerly direction, crossing the narrows of Lake Manitoba, and traversing the low-lying lands at the base of Duck Mountain, was deflected considerably to the southward, in order to open up a country better fitted for settlement. On the Pacific slope the road was put under contract from Yale to Kamloops, a distance of 127 miles, the Burrard Inlet route, via the Yellow Head pass and Tete Jaune Cache, of which Mr. Fleming was a strong upholder, being adopted. In 1880, the number of miles under construction was 722.
Such was the position of matters when the Syndicate con- tract was entered into in pursuance of the original policy which the Conservative administration had all along kept steadily in view. That at length, after repeated attempts to interest capitalists in this great work a successful issue was reached, the completion of the line assured, the government re- lieved from its vast responsibilities, and the country from the risk of continuous and indefinite losses in the subsequent working of the road, is due to the foresight, shrewdness and enterprise of the association of Scotsmen, who, when others hesitated or shtwnk back appalled at the magnitude of the venture, realized the immense possibilities held out by the offer of the government, and grasped the opportunity let slip
1074 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
by less energetic or more timorous competitors. And here brief biographical notices of the leading members of the Syndicate may be given.
Mr. George Stephen, of Montreal, the leading spirit of the enterprise, is a native of Ecclefechan, Dumfries-shire, noted as being also the birthplace of Thomas Carlyle, — a locality of which he evidently entertained the same opinion as Daniel Webster did of his native New Hampshire, that it was " a good place to emigrate from," as at an early age he left it for the British metropolis. There he entered the employ of the extensive mercantile house of J. M. Pawson &; Co., St. Paul's Churchyard, and in this practical training school soon acquired a thorough knowledge of commercial life. Dissat- isfied with the prospect of rising in the world afforded by the business outlook of the Old Country, he emigrated to Canada about the year 1853, on the advice of his relative, the late William Stephen, senior member of the firm of W. Stephen & Co., Montreal. He entered the warehouse of the firm, and in a few years obtained a junior partnership, hav- ing by his assiduity and fidelity to their interests made him- self indispensable. Mr. Wm.- Stephen died in 1862, and his interest was purchased by the subject of this sketch, who, on obtaining an ascendency in the business, engaged exten- sively in the cloth manufacturing industry. This new de- parture proved a highly profitable one — so much so, that he soon withdrew from the wholesale business and devoted his attention exclusively to manufacturing. He was chosen a director of the Bank of Montreal, in which 'he was a large shareholder, and when the presidency was resigned by Mr. King, was elected to fill the position. Mr. Stephen's first
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH A MERWA. 1075
connection with railway enterprise was his joining a syndi- cate for the purchase of the interest of the Dutch holders of the bonds of the St. Paul and Pacific Railway, which gave them control of the partially constructed line. Realizing the importance of this road as a link in the chain of railway communication with the North-West via the Pembina branch of the Canadian Pacific, they carried the work of construc- tion rapidly forward, and soon found themselves in posses- sion of an exceedingly profitable line. They were in a posi- tion to control not merely the entire traffic of the Canadian North-West, but to render tributary a large area of Minne- sota and Dakota. The income of this monopoly they de- voted to widening the sphere of their operations by con- structing connecting lines in various directions, making St. Paul the focal point for their system. They re-named their line the St. Paul and Manitoba Railway, as until the section of the Pacific along the north shore of Lake Superior is- completed, it will, for half the year, remain the only outlet for the now vastly increased trade of the Canadian North- West. Mr. Stephen is a cousin of Hon. Donald A. Smith, associated with him in the St. Paul and Manitoba and Canadian Pacific railway companies. His adopted daughter was united in marriage to the son of Sir Stafford Northcote,. during the sittings of the Joint High Commission which negotiated the Washington Treaty, young Northcote serving as an attach^ at the time. Mr. Stephen exercises a lavish hospitality, but is pre-eminently a man of affairs, and more at home in the office or at a directors' meeting than in so- cial festivities.
Mr. Duncan Mclntyre, as the name indicates, is of Celtic 10
1076 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
origin, and was born in the Highlands of Scotland not far north of Aberdeen. He came to Canada in the year 1849, settling in Montreal, where he obtained employment as a •clerk with the well-known mercantile firm of Stuart & Mclntyre, in whose service he remained for many years. His duties necessitated his travelling a good deal in the Ot- tawa Valley, and his observations of the locality impressed him strongly with its great natural advantages. During his intervals of leisure, he frequently joined hunting parties, and in this way travelled through the wilder and less ac- cessible portions of the Ottawa district. He thus acquired a minute topographical knowledge of the country, which after- wards stood him in good stead in connection with railway matters. Mr. Mclntyre had a prosperous business career. He acquired a partnership in the firm of Stuart & Mclntyre, and as the other members retired, found the concern in his own hands. His thoughts were, however, turned in other directions, by his interest in the development of the Ottawa Valley. From the first he believed in the future of the Canada Central Railroad, of which he became one of the directors.' He embarked with Mr. Foster, President of the road, in the Canada Central Extension scheme, taking a share in the contract for construction — and by a succession of transactions, into the details of which it is not necessary to enter, became president and virtual owner of the Canada Central. Mr. Mclntyre's foresight as to the important char- acter of this road, is amply justified by its natural position as a link in the great inter-oceanic chain.
Mr. Robert B. Angus, like his colleagues, is a Scot by birth as well as by blood — Bathgato, near Edinburgh, being his
TEE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1077
native place. He was one of four brothers, all remarkable for the early developed brilliancy of their talents. His scholastic education was received at Edinburgh, and his business training in a bank at Manchester, for he left his native country when quite a youth. When he arrived in Canada in 1852, he looked for similar employment. From the position of junior clerk in the Bank of Montreal, he speedily rose to more responsible trusts. -He was for a time in charge of the Chicago branch, and after Mr. .King had at- tained the position of general manager, Mr. Angus became assistant manager. He succeeded his chief in the manage- rial post, which after a time he quitted to take a share in the St. Paul and Manitoba syndicate. Mr. Angus is regard- ed as a shrewd man of business and strict in his dealings. He is, however, none the less popular, as he has many ami- able qualities, being a typical instance of that dual nature which is not uncommon especially among Scotsmen, com- bining rigid adherence to the letter of a bargain and close calculation of expenditure in business matters with open- handed generosity in social intercourse.
Mr. Donald Alexander Smith was born in Scotland in the year 1821 and early in life came to the North-West in the service of the Hudson Bay Company. Few men have been as closely identified with the progress of civilization in the North-West as Mr. Smith, who has held many important and responsible positions and been connected with various enterprises for the development of the country. He rose to the post of resident governor and chief commissioner of the Hudson Bay Company, and in 1870 was appointed a member of the Executive Council for the North-West terri-
1078 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
tories. He was a special commissioner to enquire into the causes, nature, and extent of the Kiel rebellion. For three years he represented Winnipeg and St. John in the Manitoba Legislative Assembly, resigning his seat in 1874. When Manitoba was admitted into the Union in 1871 Mr. Smith was returned as a member of the House of Commons for the constituency of Selkirk and was re-elected on several occa- sions. In politics he is a Conservative. The estimation in which he is held by the people of Manitoba has been testified by his election as president of the Provincial Agricultural Association, of the Selkirk St. Andrew's Society, and vice- president of the Dominion Rifle Association. He is a direc- tor of several banks and commercial companies and a mem- ber of the Board of Management of the Manitoba College (Presbyterian). He married Isabella, daughter of the late Mr. Richard Hardisty, at one time of the British army but subsequently like himself an official of the Hudson Bay Company.
It would obviously be out of place in a work of this character to enter into any detailed account of the progress of the Canadian Pacific since it was handed over to the Syn- dicate. It is sufficient to say that under their energetic management the entire prairie' section of the road has been completed so that to-day Canada is in possession of a line of communication reaching from Thunder Bay to the Rocky Mountains. The remaining sections of the road are being vigorously pushed forward. The link to the North shore of Lake Superior, connecting Thunder Bay with Callender, the former terminus of the line as originally laid out, is under construction and the work is being carried on as fast as the.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1079
physical obstacles in the way will permit. The Company having acquired the Canada Central and amalgamated it with the Pacific, Montreal will be the Eastern terminus of the line and the outlet for the great volume of North- Western traffic. The route through the Rocky Mountains to Kam- loops is as yet undetermined. This is the piece de resistance of the undertaking and further surveys of the region are yet in progress to ascertain the most available line. It can- not be doubted that the same energy, decision, and adminis- trative capacity which have already accomplished so much in grappling with the difficulties of this immense enterprise, will be equal to the yet more formidable difficulties to be encountered, and that in a very few years the debt which Canada owes to Scottish resolution and force of character will be still further augmented by the successful completion of the great trans-continental railway.
CHAPTER VI.
THE INFLUX OF SETTLEMENT.
(HERE is no feature of our national life more creditable to the Canadian people than the contrast afforded by the state of society during the transition periods of early settlement, to that which prevailed in the United States un- der similar circumstances. Not only has the treatment of the Indians by the pioneers of colonization from the days of the Pilgrims down to the present time, been a foul blot upon the American name, but the general lawlessness and disre- gard of social and religious restraints which as a rule obtain in the newer American settlements have become proverbial. In these communities ruffianism tempered by lynch law is generally in the ascendant, life and property are insecure, and a low tone of morality prevails. It is years before the lagging forces of religion, law, education and social refine- ment overtake the crude rough elements of material progress, and establish a civilization worthy of the name. In the opening up of the Canadian North-West, law and order have been maintained from the outset to a degree perhaps unpre- cedented in the history of colonization in modern times. The missionary and the teacher have preceded the settler, to be followed by the mounted policeman. Crime is as rare as in any part of Canada, and lynch law unknown, because the arm of justice is strong and far-reaching. The wise provi-
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1081
sion excluding intoxicating liquor from the North-West Territories has conduced in no small measure to the good order to which all travellers through the country unite in bearing testimony. Even in Winnipeg where this restraint is not in force, and" where the feverish excitement of land speculation, attracted an extensive floating population, many of whom suddenly found themselves in the possession of large amounts of money, there was never any parallel to the scandalous license and flaunting depravity of the mushroom cities of the American frontier, where the vices of civiliza- tion are intensified by the law-defying recklessness of border life. To the wholesome influence of the Scottish element which enters so largely into the directing forces of society in the North West, this favourable condition of public morality is greatly due. The Scottish respect for constituted autho- rity, for the ordinances of religion, and the Christian code of morality, which is instinctive with many of the old settlers as well as the more recent arrivals, has fortunately proved a strong barrier against the disintegrating and unsettling in- fluences of a sudden influx of settlement.
When the Government resolved on the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, it was foreseen that unless steps were taken to conciliate the Indians, and afford them reason- able compensation for their land, serious troubles were likely to arise. By the loss of their hunting-grounds, the Indians would be deprived of the means of subsistence, and would seek to appease at once their hunger and their resentment by raids on the more exposed settlements. Retaliation by the whites would be certain to follow, with the inevitable result of protracted and bloody border wars. In pursuance
1082 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
of the truly wise and statesmanlike policy of even-handed justice, which has made the Indians of Old Canada the firm friends and staunch defenders of British institutions, the Government undertook to extinguish the Indian title to the land by inducing the various tribes to voluntarily surrender their claims in return for annuities and other benefits. Be- tween the years 1871 and 1877, a series of treaties were ne- gotiated with the Ojibbeways, Crees, Saulteaux, Blackfeet and other tribes, the effect of which was to secure from all the Indians, inhabiting the regions to be thrown open for settlement between Lake Superior and the Rocky Moun- tains, a formal cession of their rights in the soil, with the exception of the reservations set apart for their occupation. Nearly all of those engaged in the delicate and responsible task of conducting the treaty negotiations with the abori- gines were of Scottish birth or extraction. Mr. Wemyss Mc- Kenzie Simpson, as Indian Commissioner, acting in conjunc- tion with Lieutenant-Governor Archibald, was instrumental in concluding treaties with the Indians of Manitoba, by which the. aboriginal title to that province, and a large ad- jacent region was extinguished. The subsequent treaties with the Indians occupying the country further west, were the work of Lieu tenant-Governors Morris and Laird, assist- ed by a number of gentlemen whose knowledge of the coun- try, and acquaintance with Indian peculiarities rendered their services of great value. Prominent among these were Hon. W. J. Christie, a retired factor of the Hudson Bay Company,.the late Hon. James McKay, himself partly of Indian extraction, and Mr. Simon James Dawson. And here a few biographical details may be given concerning one
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1083
whose name will always be closely associated with the sup- pression of the Kiel insurrection in 1870, and the early in- flux of settlement.
Mr. Dawson is a Scot by birth, and connected through both parents with historic Scottish families. By profession he is a civil engineer. He came to Canada at an early age, and in 1851, received an important appointment in connec- tion with the construction of extensive works on the St. Maurice River, for opening up the lumber regions dependent on that stream as an outlet. He carried out the plan suc- cessfully, and in 1857 was commissioned by the government to explore the country between Lake Superior and the Sas- katchewan, to ascertain its fitness for settlement, and the practicability of opening up communication with it. This task being finished, he engaged in the lumber trade on the St. Maurice for some years. In 1868 he was entrusted with the work of constructing a road to Red River, available for travel, until the completion of the railway should offer a speedier and more convenient means of access. The engi- neering difficulties in the way were very great — the avail- able resources small. The total distance is about 530 miles — forty-five of which at the eastern, and a hundred and ten at the western end can be travelled by waggons. The in- tervening three hundred and eighty miles comprises a line of water communication through a maze of lakes and rivers, the navigable portions of the route being frequently separated by rocky ridges or necks of land, across which canoes or other vessels have to be portaged. In 1870, when the ex- pedition under Col. Garnet Wolseley was sent against the insurgents, this route, then far from complete, afforded the
1084 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
only possible means of access to Red River through Canadian territory, and but for the energy, determination and profes- sional skill displayed by Mr. Dawson, in combating the phy- sical obstacles to the march through the wilderness, the bloodless victory achieved by the mere presence of the troops must have been very considerably delayed. Mr. Dawson represented Algoma in the Ontario legislature, from 1875 until 1878, and in the latter year was returned for the same constituency to the Dominion House of Commons — being re- elected in 1882. He is independent in politics, but has usuall}- voted with the ministry on important questions.
Hon. W. J. Christie was born at Fort Albany, East Hud- son Bay, on January the 19th, 1824, his father being a Scots- man and a chief tactor of the Hudson Bay Company at the time of its amalgamation with the Nor'- West Company. He was sent to Scotland for his education, returning to this continent with Sir George Simpson in 1841, and entering the Company's service at Lake Superior. In 1843 he went to the northern department, and was one year at Rocky Mountain House engaged in trading with the Blackfeet. After holding responsible positions for many years at York Factory, Fort Churchill and Fort Pelly, he was promoted to the charge ot the Saskatchewan District, which he retained fourteen years. In 1872, upon the reorganization of the Company's business, he was appointed chief factor and super- visor of the country from Fort Garry to the Arctic circle' After making a tour of inspection, he resigned the following year, after thirty-one years' active service, and settled in Brockville, Ontario— where he now resides. Mr. Christie's tact and good management were specially conspicuous dur-
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 108&
ing the Kiel insurrection, when he was in charge of the Sas- katchewan District, and saved the Company the enormous losses which would have resulted had the insurgents as- sumed a hostile attitude towards them. He was appointed a commissioner for the purpose of effecting the treaty with the Plain District Crees in 1874. and was nominated a mem- ber of the North-West Council. During his long career he did much to promote the explorations and opening up of the North- West, his services being acknowledged in very com- plimentary terms in Capt. Palliser's report of the expedition of 1858-9, and in other official documents.
For several years the Dawson route continued to afford settlers the readiest means of access to the North- West. It was not until 1879 that the Pembina Branch provided rail- way communication by way of the United States. Never- theless, great progress was made in the settlement of the country by the steady influx of settlers attracted by the rich prairie lands or anxious to participate in the prosperity evinced by the rapid growth of Winnipeg. In 1870 that city was a village of some 215 inhabitants. It had about 500 in 1871 and progressed continuously during the decade until in 1881 it had attained a population of 7985. Then came the " boom " of 1881-2, when under the influence of increased facility of communication and the rush of emigra- tion, business and population went up with a sudden bound. The land speculation craze attracted capital from all quarters and sent lots on the leading thoroughfares up to Chicago prices. The inflation has since subsided and business has got down to a healthier and less speculative basis. The present population is estimated at about 30,000.
1086 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
Emigration into Manitoba and the North-West which up to 1875 had only numbered a few thousand received a de- cided impetus during that year when upwards of six thou- sand were added to the population from this source. There was a large influx of settlers the year following and the area of colonization extended beyond the Pembina Mountains, the land adjacent to the international boundary line being largely taken up. The year 1877 witnessed the founding of Rapid City on the Little Saskatchewan and the following year population began to pour into the surrounding country. In order to supply the settlements on the River Assiniboine the attempt was made to ascend the river by steamboat as far as Fort Ellice. This had previously been considered impracticable on account of the rapids ; but in May, 1879, the trip was made successfully by Captain Webber of the steamboat Manitoba. Communication to this point being secured, a considerable immigration to the region Eastward from Fort Ellice took place, and the town of Birtle was founded as a distributing centre for this section. The Souris Plain also attracted many in search of farming lands. The total number of immigrants for that vear reached eleven
O »7
thousand. In 1880 it numbered about fifteen thousand — the region of Shell River considerably to the North of Fort Ellice being opened up for settlement.
When the Syndicate bargain was consummated an im- petus was at once given to North- West development. Im- migration was stimulated, business increased immensely, the prices of real estate rose, and every one accepting the ratification of the contract as a guarantee that the future of the country was assured essayed to discount its coming
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 108T
prosperity. Cities and towns sprung up everywhere — at stations, or points which it was rumoured were likely to be stations of the line — at places where it crossed rivers — at the intersection of streams because of the facilities for water communication in different directions — beside rapids be- cause the obstruction offered the advantage of being at the head of navigation — on rising ground because of the benefits of an elevated site and a commanding prospect — and in the middle of the broad prairie for the very obvious reason that they would have plenty of room to grow. Cities here, there, and everywhere —
Thou canst not find one spot Whereon no city stood.
says Shelley's " Queen Mab," and though there may be doubts as to its strict accuracy as a general observation, few who had any experience of the Manitoba boom will be dis- posed to question its truth as applied to that province These embyro communities, it is true, were for the most part destitute even of the rudimentary blacksmith shop and tavern that form the traditional nucleus of the Chicagos of the future. Nevertheless, their lots were held and not unfre- quently sold at prices which, as compared with the cost of the land a year or two before, offered a sufficiently favour- able augury of their destiny to allure investors. The moral of the "boom" of 1881-2 is as old as the story of human credulity. Speculation ran high in connection with Winnipeg property, but in that case there was a tangible basis of actual value — it was simply a question of the probable extent and rapidity of the growth of a city with an assured future. In the case of the " paper cities," however, the very names of
1088 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
which have now been forgotten by all except the luckless investors, no man of ordinary foresight and intelligence ought to have been deluded into supposing that such invest- ments possessed any real value beyond the trifle which the land would fetch for farm purposes. As a matter of fact not many even of those who lost money were so deceived. The question of permanent value was the last thing they consid- ered. They valued their purchases simply as counters in a gambling transaction and their only delusion was in enter- taining the idea that the public would keep up the game long enough to enable them to win.
Along the line of the Railway, however, a number of cities and towns grew up, the prosperity of which rested upon a more enduring basis. The Syndicate altered the course of the line to a more Southerly route than that at first pro- jected — tapping a rich agricultural region. Portage la Prairie was reached in the spring of 1881, and by the close of that year the population had risen from about 800 to 2,700. In September of the same year the railway reached Brandon, 145 miles West of Winnipeg, and its developement received a sudden impulse. The city of Emerson is another place which has made substantial progress owing to its natural advantages of location and the enterprise of its lead ing men. It had no existence before 1874 and the following year the population numbered abount a hundred. It ob- tained railway communication with St. Paul in 1879, set- tlers at once began to flow in, and in 1881 the population had increased to about 2,500.
According to the census returns the population of Mani- toba has increased from 18,995 in 1871 to 65,954 in 1881
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1089
Of the latter number 16,500 are of Scottish origin and 2,868 were born in Scotland. The Scottish element is consider- ably larger than any other as the English by descent number 11,503, the Irish 10,173, the French 9,949, the German 8,652, and the Indians 6,767. Of the 7,985 credited to Winnipeg, 2,470 are of Scottish origin, 2,318 English, and 1,864 Irish. The population of the North-West Territories is given by the census of 1881 at a total of 56,446, of which 49,472 are Indians. Of the 6,974 whites, 1,217 are of Scottish blood.
What Manitoba owes to the influence of the IScot, cannot be over-estimated. Her institutions are leavened by Scottish feelings ; her public sentiment moulded by Scottish habits of thought ; her business carried on largely by Scottish capi- tal and enterprise ; her leading merchants, her foremost poli- ticians, the larger proportion of her principal professional men, bankers, professors, clergy — the men of thought as well as those of action — the guiding, governing brain forces of the nucleus from whence radiate the lines of settlement and traffic, are of that sturd}7", indomitable North British stock, which, wherever the English language is spoken, is to be found in the van of the march of civilization — pioneer and path-finder for those that shall follow. Prof. Bryce, in his admirable work on " Manitoba, Its Infancy, Growth and Present Condition," bears the following testimony to the powerful Scottish sentiment which prevails in the Province, and the tenacity with which the Manitoba Scots adhere to the time-honoured observances of their forefathers, and cher- ish their national spirit.
" While true to their Canadian nationality, the strong attachment for British institutions among the people of
1090 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
Canada's youngest province is seen in the vigorous main- tenance of their national societies. The most active of these is the St. Andrew's Society. This is maintained to assist their indigent fellow-countrymen, and cultivate Scottish literature and customs, not only by Scotchmen, but as the constitution provides by the Sons of Scotchmen, as well. Burns' Anniversary, the Caledonian Games, and St. Andrew's Day Festival, are maintained with the perfervidum ingenium characteristic of the nation."*
The Scottish ascendency in politics of which those of other nationalities are sometimes disposed to complain — forgetful that where political honours are conferred by the people, such a complaint is an arraignment of the intelligence and discrimination of the electors — is equally noticeable in Mani- toba as in the older provinces. Men of Scottish race mingled in not a few cases with a strain of aboriginal blood, the dis- cendants of Hudson Bay officers and the Selkirk settlers together, with later arrivals of the same stock from Canada and the old land, form a very large proportion of the repre- sentatives of this mixed community. Since the admission of the Province to the Union, about one-half of the Manitoba members have been Scots by birth or descent. Reference has already been made to Hon. John Sutherland, Hon. Donald A. Smith, and Mr. Robert Cunningham — the latter a new- comer, and the two former old settlers. The leading features in the careers of some other Scotchmen, who have repre- sented the Prairie Province in the Dominion Parliament may here be briefly given.
* " Manitoba, Its Infancy, Growth and Present Condition," p. 358.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1091
Hon. Andrew Graham Ballenden Bannatyne was born in 1829, in South Ronaldshay, Orkney Isles ; his father being James Bannatyne, an officer of the Fishery Department. He came to Canada at the age of twenty, and engaged with the Hudson Bay Company, in the service of which he remained until 1851. Mr. Bannatyne held office in' the provisional government of Louis Riel, and has also been Post-office In- spector for the Province, a member of the Council of Assini- boia, and at a later period a member of the Executive Coun- cil for the North-West Territories. He was elected to the House of Commons for Provencher by acclamation, on the 31st March, 1875, Kiel, who was previously elected, having been declared an outlaw, and a new writ issued. Mr. Bannatyne retired from parliamentary life in 1878.
Among the newer men in Manitoba public affairs, is Mr. Arthur Wellington Ross, M.P., for Lisgar. He is a Scottish- Canadian, being a son of Donald Ross, of East Williams, Middlesex County. His grandfather, Arthur Ross, of the 78th Highlanders, was one of the first settlers in the Town- whip of Adelaide. A. W. Ross, was born on the 25th March, 1846, in the Township of East Williams, and completed his education at Toronto University. He was Public School Inspector for the County of Glengarry, for about three years, ending November, 1874, and during this period married Miss Jessie Flora Cattanach, of Laggan, in that county. On tak- ing up his residence in Winnipeg, he applied himself to legal study, and was admitted as a barrister-at-law of the Pro- vince. During the era of real estate speculation, he invested largely in land, and as his operations were conducted with
foresight and prudence, they proved extremely profitable, 11
1092 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
and Mr. Ross soon ranked as one of the wealthiest men in Winnipeg. He represented Springfield in the Manitoba Legislature, from 1878 until 1882, when he resigned in order to become a candidate for the House of Commons. In poli- tics, Mr. Ross is a Liberal.
Two of Mr. Ross's co-representatives in the Commons from Manitoba are also Scottish-Canadians, and like him new members. Mr. Robert Watson, member for Marquette, was born in Elora, Ontario, in 1853, his father being an Edin- burgh man. He is a millwright by trade. Mr. WTatson went to Manitoba in 1876, and engaged extensively in grain dealing and contracting, his ventures proving highly suc- cessful. His political views are Liberal. Mr. Hugh McKay Sutherland, was born in New London, P.E.I., on the 22nd of February, 1843, his family having originally come from Sutherlandshire. His parents removed to Oxford County, Ontario, when he was quite young. He was engaged as Superintendent of Public Works in the North-West, from 1874 until 1878. In the latter year he settled in Winnipeg, and went into the lumber trade. He is a member of the Liberal party.
The prevalence of the Scottish element has been equally marked in Provincial as in Dominion politics. On the or- ganization of the Province of Manitoba, the class of old re- sidents comprising the Hudson Bay Company officials — active or retired — and their descendants, together with the Scots of Kildonan, furnished most of tl>e available legislative material. The Scottish predominance in the management of the affairs of the Hudson Bay Company, has already been fully dwelt upon. It was some years before the newer
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1093
•
arrivals secured the ascendency in Manitoba politics, and largely displaced the Hudson Bay connection, and the na- tive North-Westerners as popular representatives. It is sig- nificant that this change, so far as it has been accomplished, still leaves men of Scottish blood in the foremost political positions, as shown by the salient circumstance that three out of the five Manitoba representatives in the Dominion Parliament are Scottish Canadians of recent immigration.
Though the effect of the influx of population has been to change the complexion of the Manitoba legislature, it is noteworthy that the premier of the province is one of the old regime. Hon. John Norquay, is of mixed Scottish and Indian blood, the latter element being strongly manifested in his aboriginal cast of features, while the qualities of his paternal ancestry have been conspicuously manifested in his career. On his father's side he is of Orcadian descent, his grandfather having come to the North-West from the Island of South Ronaldsay. His father also named John Norquay,. was a native of Red River. The Hon. John Norquay was born on the 8th of May, 1841, and received as good an edu- cation as the settlement afforded, taking a scholarship at St. John's academy in 1854. He was returned as a member of the first Manitoba Parliament, for the constituency of High Bluff, and in December, 1871, was appointed to a cabinet position with the portfolio of Minister of Public Works and Agriculture. He resigned along with his colleagues in July, 1874, but did not remain long out of office. He joined the administration of Hon. R. A. Davis the following year, and was assigned to the post of Minister of Public Works in May, 187G. Upon the defeat of the Davis ministry in Octo-
1004 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
ber, 1878, he was called upon to form a new administration in conjunction with Hon. Joseph Royal. Mr. Norquay became Premier and Provincial Treasurer. A disagreement shortly afterwards occurred between the Premier and his colleagues, Messrs. Royal and Delorme, which led to the re- signation of the two latter. Several changes were subse- quently made in the personnel of the ministry. TheNorquay administration was sustained in the general election of Octo- ber, 1879 — a re-distribution of constituencies having previ- ously been made. It was considerably strengthened by the accession of Senator Girard and Hon. Maxime Goulet, repre- senting the French element, and has since remained in power. Mr. Norquay, since 1874, has represented the constituency of St. Andrew's. The most important measures of his admi- nistration have been the introduction of municipal organiza- tions, the adoption of an extensive system of drainage, by which large districts of swampy and low- lying lands have been reclaimed, and the extension of the provincial boun- daries, which has given Manitoba the area of a first-class province. Mr. Torquay's course in connection with the latter question, in its more recent phases, has excited a good deal of feeling against him in Ontario. In commenting upon his course, however, it must in fairness be remembered that as Premier of Manitoba, he has acted strictly in the interests of the province, whose welfare he is pledged to advance, and to whose people alone he is responsible. It does not fall within the scope of the present work to enter into the ela- borate technical details of the vexed Boundary Award ques- tion, and the respective rights of the authorities which have come into collision on this debateable ground. But, whatever,
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1096
be the upshot, the representatives of Manitoba cannot reason- ably be blamed for taking advantage of party dissensions at Ottawa and Toronto, to increase the territory of their pro- vince. The current political morality of the most enlight- ened nations has never risen to the lofty plane of volun- tarily renouncing an advantage, because its acceptance in- volved an injustice to other communities. The Golden Rule finds no place among the maxims of diplomacy and, judged by the ordinary standards of political ethics, Mr. Nor- quay has acted strictly within the line of his duty to his province in pushing her claims. If the final settlement of the question results to the detriment of the strong, but divided Province of Ontario, the Manitoba Premier at any rate will stand guiltless of treachery to a cause to which he owes no allegiance and professed no devotion.
The political lines have not been very strictly defined in Manitoba until the last few years. The tendency at first was to subordinate party divisions to the interests of the province, and for some time the designations of Conservative and Reformer sat loosely upon many of the public men of the province. Of late, however, the identification of the interests of the Norquay administration with those of the Conservative ministry at Ottawa, and the strong party feel- ing of many of the new settlers from the older provinces, have drawn the lines of party more tightly. The Norquay administration is now strictly Conservative, and the poli- tical lines of cleavage in local matters coincide with the divi- sions of Dominion politics. Some of the more prominent of those of Scottish origin, who have taken part in provincial affairs, may now be sketched in outline.
1096 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
Hon. James McKay was the eldest son of Mr. James Mc- Kay, of Sutherlandshire, who was for many years in the service of the Hudson Bay Company. He was born at Edmonton House, Saskatchewan, and received his education at the Red River settlement. He was for some time in the employ of the Hudson Bay Company and afterwards went into business on his own account as a contractor. He super- intended the construction of a portion of the Dawson route. On the creation of the Province of Manitoba he was called to the Legislative Council, occupying the Speaker's chair for several years. He was appointed a member of the first pro- vincial administration, organized in January, 1871, with the office of president of the Executive Council — which office he retained until the resignation of the ministry in December, 1874. Shortly afterwards he became Minister of Agricul- ture in the Government formed by Hon. R. A. Davis, from which post he retired in 1878 owing to the lingering illness from which he died on the 3rd of December, 1879. Owing to his known integrity and straightforwardness of character and his thorough acquaintance with the aboriginal nature he possessed great influence over the Indians and half-breeds which enabled him to render valuable services in connection with the various treaties by which the Indian title to the country was extinguished. He was married in June, 1859 to Margaret, the third daughter of Chief Factor Rowan of the Hudson Bay Company.
Another prominent member of the Manitoba Legislature who has passed away was Hon. Donald Gunn, a Scot by birth and descended from the clan whose name he bore. Born in the parish of Falkirk, Caithness-shire, in September, 1797, he
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1097
came to the North- West in 1813 to engage in the service of the Hudson Bay Company in which he remained ten years, being stationed at York Factory, Severn and Oxford House. In July, 1819, he married Margaret the daughter of Mr. James Swain, of York Factory. On resigning his position in 1823,he settled at Red River. For upwards of twenty years he was one of the Judges of the Court of Petty Sessions, a portion of the time being president of the court. He was an unsuc- cessful candidate for the Manitoba Legislature in the con- stituency of St. Andrew's at the general election of 1870 and was nominated to the Legislative Council when that body was instituted. He held his seat until the abolition of the Council in 1876. Mr. Gunn was an enthusiastic naturalist, and by years of close observation and study had rendered himself thoroughly versed in the natural history of the North- West. He contributed numerous papers on this sub- ject to the " Miscellaneous Collections of the Smithsonian In- stitution," and other publications. He was a corresponding member of the latter body and of the Institute of Rupert's Land, and a member of the Board of Management of Mani- toba College. He died at St. Andrew's on the 30th of No- vember, 1878.
Hon. Colin Inkster, who succeeded Hon. James McKay as Speaker of the Legislative Council and President of the Ex- ecutive Council, is another representative of the class which supplied so large a proportion of the public men of Manitoba during the early days of the province. His father, John Inkster, was a native of the Orkney Isles and a Hudson Bay official, who in 1852 was appointed a Councillor of Assiniboia. Colin Inkster was born in the Red River settlement in 1843.
1098 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
He contested Lisgar unsuccessfully in the Conservative in- terest in 1871, and on the organization of the short-lived Legislative Council, was appointed one of its members. He resigned office in 1876 to accept a shrievalty.
Alexander Murray, M.P.P., for Assiniboia, is the only son of the late Mr. James Murray, one of the original Selkirk settlers, and was born in Kildonan on April 18th, 1839. He received his education at St. John's College, where, in 1857, he took a scholarship. Mr. Murray who is a Conservative in politics and a strong supporter of the Pacific Railway policy of the present administration, was first returned to the leg- islature for St. Charles in 1874, and has been a member ever since, excepting during a short interval in 1878, when he occupied the position of Police Magistrate for the County of East Marquette.
Hon. Gilbert McMicken, who occupied the position of Speaker of the Legislative Assembly from 1880 until the general election of 1883, was born in Wigtonshire, Scotland, in 1813. He came to Canada in his nineteenth year, and has occupied numerous responsible public positions in On- tario. He was for many years a resident in the Niagara District where he held several municipal offices, and repre- sented Welland County in the Legislative Assembly of Can- ada from 1857 to 1861. Mr. McMicken's scientific attain- ments enabled him to effect two important improvements in telegraphy, which were patented in 1847. He was also the first to span the Niagara River with a wire. He was ap- poinied Stipendiary Magistrate for Canada West during the American Civil War, receiving the special thanks of Lord Monck for the efficient discharge of this responsible duty.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1099
During the Fenian excitement he was Commissioner of Po- lice for the Dominion, and his arrangements for discovering the plans of the Fenians contributed greatly to the repulse of the raiders in 1870. He performed a similar service in connection with the contemplated Fenian attack on Fort Garry, during Lieut.-Governor Archibald's term. He had charge of the Dominion Lands office in Manitoba from the time it was opened, and held the position of Assistant Re- ceiver-General and other official posts until superannuated in 1877. Mr. McMicken was returned for Cartier as a Con- servative in 1880, and held his seat until the last general election. ,
Hon. John H. McTavish, one of the members of the first Manitoba Parliament, is Scottish Canadian, having been born at Graf ton, Ontario, in 1837.* He came to Red River in the service of the Hudson Bay Company, at the age of nineteen. During Riel's insurrection, he had charge of the business of the Company at the settlement. He was return- ed for St. Anne by acclamation at the first general election, and retained his seat until April 3rd, 1874, when he was ap- pointed a member of the Executive Council for the North- West Territories. In politics, he takes the Conservative side.
Among other ex-members of the Provincial Legislature of Scottish origin, may be mentioned, Mr. Kenneth McKenzie, a native of Inverness-shire, who represented Portage La Prairie between 1874 and 1880 ; John Gunn, son of the Hon. Donald Gunn, who sat for North St. Andrews from 1874 to 1878 ; David Spence, who represented Poplar Point,
1100 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
in the first Legislature; William Robert Dick, 'a Scot- Canadian, bom in Ernesttown, Ont., elected for Springfield, in 1874 ; Angus McKay, a brother of Hon. James McKay, and member for Lake Manitoba for the years 70-78 ; John Taylor, of Orcadian descent, representative of Headingly, 1874-78 ; and John Aldham Kyte Drummond, son of the late Lieut.-Col. Drummond, of Kingston, who sat for High Bluff for 1878-80.
Hon. Alexander Macbeth Sutherland, the present Attorney- General of the Province, is the third son of Senator Suther- land. His mother Jeannette Macbeth, was a daughter of the late. John Macbeth, one of the early Selkirk settlers. He was born at Point Douglass in 1849, and completed his edu- cation at Toronto University, where he graduated in 1876. He was returned for Kildonan in 1878, and has represented that constituency in the legislature ever since. Mr. Suther- land entered the Norquay cabinet as Attorney-General, in September, 1882.
Among the accessions to the legislature at the last elec- tion, are Charles Hay, Member for Norfolk, born in the Ork- ney Islands, in 1843, who settled in Manitoba in 1862, a member of the mercantile firm of Campbell, Hay & Boddy, of Portage La Prairie, an Independent, and Finlay McNaugh- ton Young, who represents Turtle Mountain, born in Cha- teauguay County, Quebec, of 'Scottish parentage, who is op- posed to the Norquay administration.
CHAPTER VII.
BRITISH COLUMBIA.
tHE designation of " New Caledonia," formerly applied to the British Columbia mainland, and the frequent recurrence of distinctively Scottish names in the local no- menclature, might seem to imply that the Pacific Province would prove especially rich in material for the purpose of the present work. Such, however, is not the case. There is no other Province of the Dominion where the Scottish element of the population is, both actually and relatively, so small as in British Columbia, where, out of a total popula- tion of 49,459, according to the last census returns, but 3,892, all told, were of Scottish origin. A due regard for perspective, therefore, requires the curtailment of this chap- ter to within comparatively narrow limits. Moreover, many of the achievements of the Scot in British Columbia, both as regards early explorations and the Pacific Railway enter- prise, have already been largely treated of in previous chapters.
British Columbia is a region of wide extent and varied characteristics. It presents many remarkable contrasts in climate and productions in regions not far apart, owing to the modifying influence of the ocean and the mountain ranges with which it is seamed. Between the Cascade range
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and the sea the climate is temperate and moist ; the sum- mers beautiful, the winters mild. Vancouver Island is sub- ject to similar conditions. Eastward of the Cascade moun- tains the extremes of climate are more pronounced. The more southern portion is heavily timbered, and vegetation grows luxuriantly. The yield of grain crops and other agri- cultural produce is very large, though irrigation is often required. Farther to the northward the country becomes 1 drier, colder, and less thickly wooded. On the upper portion of the Eraser River the winter is very changeable, and the cold often very severe, The agricultural region proper ter- minates in the neighbourhood of Alexandria, the country showing large tracts of fine pasturage interspersed with some arable land. From this point north-eastward to the mountains is the mining region, the principal source of the wealth of British Columbia. In the south-eastern corner of the Province another marked change occurs. The rich, fer- tile soil of the same latitude further west, is replaced by an arid, sterile tract, sometimes almost tropical in its character- istics and partaking largely of the nature of the great American desert which stretches away to the southward. The elevated plateau between the Cascade Range and the Rocky Mountains averages 3,000 to 4,000 feet above the level of the sea. Near the Rocky Mountains it is broken by the spurs and offshoots of this great continental range, which, with their alternations of ridge and chasm, snow-capped summit and deep-cut river-bed, present a succession of the wildest and most majestic scenes. There are numerous lakes, occupying deep depressions in the uneven surface ; the rivers
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1103
flow through precipitous gorges, and through the rough, broken mountainous districts, in many directions, sweep broad, undulating stretches of low, sheltered land. The Montenegrin peasantry have a curious legend respect- ing the origin of the mountains which have given a name to their country. They believe that when the Creator was distributing mountains over the surface of the newly- formed earth, the bag in which they were contained burst
i
just over Montenegro, giving them rather more than their share. To a mind in the anthropomorphic stage it would not require any very great stretch of imagination to lead to the be- lief that some similar accident must have occurred in British Columbia, so lavish has nature been in the bestowal of her wilder features. Inequality of physical outline appears to be the distinguishing characteristic of the country. The sea- board both of Vancouver Island and the mainland is as broken and indented by harbours and inlets as the interior is rugged and uneven.
The history of British Columbia as a land inhabited by civilized men is a brief and, excepting for the transforma- tion scenes of the gold excitement, an uneventful one. De- spite its natural advantages, the progress of the colony has been retarded by its isolated ' position. Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes tells a good story about a party of Bostoniansmeetinga settler in the backwoods of Maine, who, on learning that his visitors hailed from " the Hub," remarked in a tone of won- derment, " I don't see how you fellers down to Boston kin afford to live so fur off." The humour of the story of course lies in the inversion of the point. Literally speaking, there
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are not many who can "afford to live so far off" as British Columbia. Hence her sparse and scattered population. It is only by the establishment of railroad communication with the eastern portion of the Dominion that the immense re- sources which await exploration will be rendered available, and the mere handful of population increased by influx from Europe and Eastern Canada.
The question of which of the early navigators who ex- plored the Pacific coast of North America is entitled to the credit of having first entered the waters of British Columbia is a much disputed one. Sir Francis Drake, in an expedi- tion which sailed from Plymouth in 1577, reached the 48th parallel of latitude in prosecuting his search for a north-east passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and laid claim to the country between that point and the 43rd parallel, nam- ing it " New Albion/' In 1625 a narrative was published in England by Michael Lock, concerning the adventures of Juan de Fuca, whose true name was Apostolos Valerianos, a Greek pilot, said to have been sent by the Viceroy of Mexico, in 1592, with three vessels on a voyage of explora- tion northward along the coast. He claimed to have sailed through the channel separating Vancouver Island from the mainland of British Columbia: The inaccuracies in the nar- rative of his alleged discoveries, exposed by Captain Cook and other explorers, led to its being subsequently discredit- ed, and doubts even thrown on the existence of the old Greek sailor. Nevertheless, whether he or another is rightfully entitled to the honour of being
' ' — the first that ever burst Into that silent sea,"
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1105
the name of Juan de Fuca Strait preserves the memory of that ancient mariner. Other expeditions were subsequently fitted out by the English and Spaniards, in search of the North-west passage between the two oceans. It is often the case that the search after the unattainable, the impossible, and the non-existent, results in discoveries of tangible and permanent value to mankind. As alchemy was the pa- rent of chemistry, and astrology gave birth to astronomy, so the search for the North-west and North-east passages car- ried on for years by the maritime nations at great sacrifices/ though futile as to the immediate objects in view, did much to enlarge the sphere of geographical knowledge. The dis- coveries of Captain Cook and others disclosed the general trend of the coast line. Captain Kendrick, an American, is another for whom the credit of being the first to sail through the gulf between Vancouver Island and the mainland, has been claimed. He is said to have made this voyage in 1788. It was during this year that Captain Meares, who was as- sociated with Captain Douglas in a voyage of discovery un- der the auspices of an association of merchants in Bengal, reached the Straits of Fuca, which had not been found by Cook, ascended the channel about thirty leagues in a boat, and formally took possession of the country in the name of the Crown. He was not, however, able to land, as the na- tives made an obstinate resistance and compelled the party to return to their vessel. Difficulties shortly af tewards arose between the English and the Spaniards as to their respective rights in the Pacific coast. To adjust this dispute Captain Vancouver, formerly a lieutenant serving under Captain
HOG THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
Cook, was commissioned in 1790 to negotiate with a Span- ish commission at Nootka Sound, and in addition was -charged with the duty of making an examination of the •coast, in order to throw further light upon the problem of a passage between the two oceans. After some exploration in other directions Vancouver entered the straits of Juan de Fuca in 1792, and after encountering many obstacles suc- ceeded in piloting his ships through the archipelago of the Gulf of Georgia and reaching the Pacific by way of John- stone's Strait — thus clearly establishing the mythical char- acter of the North-east passage supposed to exist in that dir- ection. During a portion of this voyage the expedition had remained in company with a Spanish exploring party whom they encountered in the straits, and out of compliment to the Spanish commander the name originally bestowed upon the island — the existence of which was for the first time definitely established — was the " Island of Quadra and Van- couver." The first portion of this cumbrous designation was soon abandoned and the name fixed as Vancouver Island, in honour of the real discoverer.
"While Vancouver Island and the Pacific coast was little by little becoming known by the discoveries of maritime ex- plorers approaching it from the West, the interior of British Columbia was being penetrated from the East by the same enterprising and dauntless class of pioneers, who were the avant couriers of civilization in theNorth-West Territories. The part taken by the adventurous Scots, Sir Alexander Mac- kenzie, Fraser and Thompson — whose names borne by three majestic rivers will perpetuate for all time the memory of
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their daring and endurance — has already been set forth in the pages devoted to the early history of the Fur Trading Com- panies. These discoveries were turned to practical account in ] 806, when the first fur-trading post, founded in British Columbia, was erected a short distance from the great Fraser Eiver, by Simon Fraser. The Hudson Bay Company shortly afterwards established a post at Stuart's Lake, and the coun- try was soon dotted with the establishments of the rival North-West and Hudson Bay companies. It was not until this time that the designation of " New Caledonia,'' which had previously been indefinitely used in connection with the coast line, was generally applied to the entire region of the British Columbia mainland.
The rival fur trading companies were united in 1821, under the title of the Hudson Bay Company, and in the same year obtained a charter guaranteeing them the exclu- sive trade of the region — a monopoly of which they re- mained in possession until the discovery of gold rendered it necessary to establish a colonial government, and throw the country open for settlement. It was not until 1843 that the Hudson Bay Company established themselves on Vancouver Island. At that time Mr. (after Sir) James Douglas was chief agent of the company for all their territory, west of the Rocky Mountains. His headquarters were for some time in Fort Vancouver, Oregon Territory — under his direction a party of forty men, in charge of a Scottish official of the company, named Finlayson, landed at Victoria,- then called by the natives Tsomus, from the name of the tribe. They met with no opposition from the Indians, from whom Mr. Douglas purchased the site for the contemplated fort. They
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at once set about the erection of the buildings, which were completed during the following year. In 1846, when by the Treaty of Oregon, Fort Vancouver was embraced in the terri- tory of the United States — the Pacific headquarters of the company were transferred to Victoria. The fort, and the little settlement which, gradually opening up around it, con- tinued to be for many years the only spot on the Island re- claimed from the wilderness.
Before proceeding further with the narrative of the settle- ment of British Columbia it will be advisable to present a few biographical details in relation to the strong and salient character just introduced upon the scene, whose after career exercised so powerful an influence upon the fortunes of the colony. James Douglas was born at Demerara, in the South American colony of British Guiana, on the 14th of August, 1803. His father, who had emigrated from Scotland to British Guiana a short time previously, was in poor circum- stances. Young Douglas was left an orphan at an early age, and in 1815, when but twelve years of age, accompanied an elder brother to push his fortune as so many others of his nationality have done in the great North-West. The rivalry between the Hudson Bay and North -West companies was. at that time extremely keen. James Douglas entered the service of the latter, bringing to his avocation remarkable physical strength and powers of endurance, an iron constitu- tion, and a bold, resolute spirit. As he grew to manhood these qualities were developed and strengthened by the character of the arduous service in which he was engaged, and he soon began to display those rare intellectual qualities of prudence, determination, and executive capacity which
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1109
early marked him a born-leader of men. His business facul- ties and the tact he exhibited in his intercourse with the Indians secured his rapid advancement to posts of increased responsibility. After the amalgamation of the companies he became chief factor, in which capacity he visited the remotest outposts of the company. His wanderings were attended with many formidable perils. Once he was made captive by a tribe of British Columbia Indians and detained for many weeks. He contrived at length to effect his escape, and after enduring severe hardships succeeded in reaching one of the forts of the company in an exhausted condition. His re-appearance was hailed with mingled delight and astonishment for he had long been given up as dead. In 1833 he was appointed to the Chief Agency for the region west of the Rocky Mountains, and as we have seen, planted the first settlement on the shores of Vancouver Island ten years later. In 1851 he became Governor of the infant colony established under the auspices of the Hudson Bay Company, his commission being renewed fov a further period of six years in 1857. When Vancouver Island was consti- tuted a Crown Colony in 1859, with Victoria as its capital Mr. Douglas was appointed Governor and received the dignity of a C. B. British Columbia having been organized as a colony in 1858, the Governorship was also vested in Mr. Douglas. How admirably he exercised his arduous and re- sponsible functions, in this double capacity, in the face of circumstances requiring the most delicate tact, the firmest resolution, and the clearest judgment the narrative of the colony's progress will show. In 18G3 he received the honour of Knighthood as a recognition by the Imperial
1110 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
Government of his inestimable services. He withdrew from public life in 1864, when his commission as Governor expired, and after making the tour of Europe returned to spend the evening of his days in the land whose best inter- ests he had spent his life in advancing. He died at Vic- toria on the 2nd of August, 1877, in his seventy-fourth year. Sir James married in 1827 Miss Connolly, a daughter of the Chief Factor of the Hudson Bay Company, at Red River, by whom he had a numerous family. Mr. James W. Doug- las, his eldest and only surviving son, was for some years a representative of Victoria in the Provincial Legislature. Let us resume the thread of the narrative of the rise of the colony of Vancouver Island, which in 1848 comprised merely the Hudson Bay Company's fort on the site of the present city of Victoria. The company applied to the British gov- ernment and obtained a charter granting them the absolute control of the island for a term of ten years from January, 1849. This privilege was granted on the condition that they should establish a colony, and use exertions to attract population. Mr. Richard Blanchard was sent out from Eng- land as the first governor, but after two years returned to England, being succeeded by Mr. Douglas in November, 1851. His first official action was one eminently character- istic of the man, and in strict accordance with the just and politic conduct towards the aborigines, which has been the secret of the remarkable success of the Hudson Bay Com- pany in maintaining the serviceable friendship of the Indian tribes. He assembled all the natives in the neighbourhood of Victoria and paid them in full for the lands appropriated by the whites. The wisdom, as well as the humanity of
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this policy, is apparent. The Indians were then both pow- erful and warlike, and on frequent occasions it required all the prudence and decision of character possessed in such large measure by Governor Douglas to avert the horrors of savage warfare. It was necessary while treating with the Indians with fairness and honesty, to impress upon them the lesson that attacks upon the lives and property of the set- tlers would be firmly punished In the winter of 1851, a shepherd was murdered by Indians at Christmas Hill, the perpetrators of the crime taking refuge at Cowichan. An expedition was sent in pursuit, consisting partly of sailors from Her Majesty's .ship Thetis, and partly of volunteers from the settlement. On the arrival of the avengers, one of the murderers was given up. The other fled and was fol- lowed to Nanaimo, where he was finally captured, and both were shortly afterwards executed. A similar expedition organized not long afterwards for the capture of an Indian who had shot and severely wounded a white man at Cow- ichan, nearly involved more tragical consequences. The tribe at first refused to surrender the offender, who, embold- ened by their support, levelled a musket at the governor. The small force at the command of the latter prepared to fire on the natives, and nothing aparently could avert a bloody conflict. The murderer drew the trigger but without effect, and was at once seized by the tribe, delivered to the expedi- tion, and hanged with all the due formalities of the law. Lessons such as these speedily impressed the red men with a wholesome respect for the authority of the government, which during the exciting times of the gold fever, did much to re- strain lawlessness and disorder. The troubles between tl, e
1112 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
different tribes of Indians, and their collisions with the colo- nists frequently threatened to result in a general outbreak, but the vigilance of the Governor always averted the crisis. Attempts were made by the savages from time to time to pos- sess themselves of the fort, but the resource and decision of character displayed by Governor Douglas baffled the schemes of the Indians, who were conciliated, while at the same time overawed. The proverbial hand of iron in the glove of velvet was never more forcibly exemplified than in his dealing with the natives of Vancouver Island.
The work of colonization proceeded very slowly. In 1853 the white population of' the Island only numbered about 450, two-thirds of these being at Victoria. The total quan- tity of land applied for up to the end of that year was 19,- 807 acres, of which only 1,696 acres was then in occupation by individual settlers. These figures are taken from a de- scription of Vancouver Island by Col. W. Colquhoun Grant, whose nationality is sufficiently indicated by his name, and who is described as the " first colonist." This paper was read before the Royal Geographical Society of London on the 22nd of Juno, 1857 — and its references to the various under- takings for the development of the Island seemed to indicate that a large proportion of these early settlers were Scotch- men. Speaking of the mineral resources, Col. Grant states that coal was first discovered at Nanaimo in 1850 by Mr. Joseph McKay, who was directed to it by the Indians of the neighbourhood. He notes that the efforts to find workable coal at Beaver Harbour, the most Northern settlement, proved unsuccessful, although " a shaft was sunk to the depth of ninety feet by the Messrs. Muir, the miners who
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were first sent out from Scotland by the Hudson Bay Com- pany." A Mr. Gilmour is also mentioned in connection with mining operations. Nanaimo is described as " a flour- ishing little settlement with about 125 inhabitants, of whom thirty-seven are working men, the remainder women and children ; there are about twenty-four children at a school presided over by Mr. Baillie." In fact almost every name mentioned has a distinctively Caledonian ring. The first white man to accomplish the feat of crossing the Island dia- gonally from Nimpkish River to Nootka Sound was Mr. Hamilton Moffatt, who undertook an exploratory tour in 1852, and reported favourably as to the character of that region for settlement.
In the year 185G representative institutions were granted to the colonists, and the first Parliament, comprising seven- teen members, assembled on the 12th of June. Governor Douglas, in his inaugural speech, aptly comparing the growth of the colony to that of its native pines as being slow but hardy. The organization of this embryo legislature is nota- ble as the first instance in which representative institutions had been established in a British colony at so early a stage of its development.
By the discovery of gold in large quantities on the main- land, the circumstances of the colony were completely al- tered, owing to the sudden influx of miners and the large class of adventurers of all kinds who always throng to a newly-discovered El Dorado. As early as 1850 the precious metal had been found in Queen Charlotte's Island, but only in small quantities; and some time before the actual discov- eries which caused the excitement it was understood that
1114 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
gold existed on Fraser River and throughout the Central Cascade Range in this direction. The first to bring to light these hidden treasures, and communicate to the world the richness of the gold-producing region, were Scotsmen. In 1854 Capt. McClelland in charge of the survey for the mili- tary road from Fort Walla- Walla to Fort Steilacoom, on Puget Sound, through the Nachess Pass, unearthed gold in considerable quantities, his men sometimes obtaining two dollars' worth a day with the pan. The first official an- nouncement of the existence of valuable gold deposits was made in a letter addressed by Governor Douglas to the Colonial Secretary, on April 16th, 1856, in which he "stated that Mr. Angus McDonald, clerk in charge of Fort Colville, one of the trading-posts on the Upper Columbia district, had reported to him the finding of gold in quantities sufficient to yield from £2 to £8 daily to those engaged in the digging. The news spread rapidly. Prospecting parties soon started out in all directions, and met with encouraging success in their explorations. Then came an immigration of gold- seekers from abroad, to which nearly every civilized nation, as well as many uncivilized, contributed its quota, the greater proportion, however, coming direct from the gold-fields of California and the adjoining American territories. Explora- tions in Vancouver Island were only moderately successful* and the more extensive discoveries on the Fraser River made this the objective point of the influx. As Victoria was the nearest considerable settlement, and the centre of supply, its growth at once received a tremendous impetus. The excite- ment reached its climax in the season of 1858, when fully twenty thousand people landed at Victoria, on their way to
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 111&
the diggings. Both house accommodation and the supplies of provisions and other necessaries were quickly exhausted, and a period of inflation set in. Prices rose to almost in- credible figures. Flour was held at thirty dollars per barrel ; lumber brought one hundred dollars per thousand feet. The lack of buildings was supplied temporarily by the erection of tents, which rose in all directions around the city. Build- ing operations, went forward with great rapidity, and over two hundred houses were erected in the course of a month. Speculation in real estate rose to a high pitch. Extravagant prices were asked and paid for town lots, and rents were enormous. The value of property went ,up fifty-fold in a few weeks. The speculative craze at Victoria rivalled, for a time, the gold excitement on the banks of the Fraser. The fate of those who went forward to the gold fields was the usual one of treasure-seekers. The difficulties in the way of transportation were very great. The country tributary to the Fraser resembles other mountainous countries in the same latitude, where the streams begin to swell in June and reach their lowest ebb in the winter. The few who reached the scene early in the spring succeeded in obtaining large amounts of gold from the banks not yet covered by the periodic rise of the waters. The bulk of the miners, who did not arrive until later in the season, found the rich- est mining lands submerged. Many returned, crestfallen and disappointed, to Victoria, and the story of their re verses broke the spell under which Victoria had risen like a crea- tion of enchantment. Miners and speculators alike returned to California by thousands ; the days of inflation were over
1116 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
and a period of commercial depression succeeded. The popu- lation of the city fell as low as 1,500.
Meanwhile the few hundred miners who persevered in spite of all obstacles and pressed on undeterred by the ill- success of the thousands who had turned back discouraged, were subjected to the greatest hardships and perils in mak- ing their way through a region hitherto untravelled by
•
white men, and destitute of roads and habitations. Mr. Macfie, in his book on British Columbia, thus describes the dangers an'd difficulties of the river trail to the gold fields of the Fraser :
" Before the line for the Lillooet route was generally known, parties of intrepid miners, anxious to be the first to reap its benefits, tried to force their way through all the dif- ficulties opposed to them. The misery and fatigue endured by them was indescribable. They crept through underwood and thicket for many miles, sometimes on hands and knees, with a bag of flour on the back of each ; alternately under and over fallen trees, scrambling up precipices, or sliding down over masses of sharp projecting rock or Wading up to their waists through bogs and swamps. Every day added to their exhaustion, and worn out with privation and sufferings one knot of adventurers after another became smaller and smaller, some lagging behind to rest or turning back in despair."
The few who were able to surmount these obstacles fre- quently realized the hopes which had prompted them to the undertaking. Over half a million of gold was shipped from Victoria in the three months ending with October, 1858, a
*Macfle's "Vancouver Ibland and British Columbia," p. 70.
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sufficient indication of the richness of the mines. The fol- lowing year the tide again set in, though not in such large volume, and the gold mining industry began to be steadily pursued. In 1861, according to the correspondent of the London Times, 5,000 persons were engaged in mining, and the yield amounted to $6,700,000. In 1862 the discovery of the Cariboo* mines gave a renewed impulse to the rush of immigration, and the scenes of 1857 were repeated. Specu- lation again ran riot in Victoria, and the wave of eager gold hunters again surged eagerly onward through a rugged and almost impenetrable wilderness. Cariboo was four hundred miles inland, the only road being an old Indian trail over the rivers, among the mountains, and through dark, and tangled forests. Again the result was bitter disappointment to the great majority, who returned to civilization footsore, ragged and often utterly broken down in constitution, while a few reaped a rich reward for their toils.
In 1858 a government was organized on the British Co- lumbia mainland, Mr. Douglas being appointed Governor. He found himself placed, in a most embarrassing and difficult situation. A large influx of the rough mining population of California rendered it necessary to use every precaution to prevent the lawless spirit which long made that State a by- word for turbulence and disorder gaining the ascendency on British soil. Roads and bridges were urgently required, and the revenue raised from customs duties proved totally in- sufficient for the purpose. In 1862 the only method of trans- portation was by mule-trains. Freight to Cariboo was one dollar per pound. The commonest necessaries of life were hardly obtainable at any price. The Governor, in order to
1118 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
provide the means of carrying on the work of administra- tion, imposed taxes which at the time created a great deal of discontent, and for which he has since been severely cen- sured, on the ground that such restrictions tended to check immigration and to retard the development of the colony. Two dollars, head-money, was charged on each immigrant, each miner was required to pay a royalty of five dollars, every trader was obliged to obtain a permit, for which a charge was also made, and numerous like imposts were en- forced. It is easy to condemn this policy and that pursued in connection with sales of land as restrictive and illiberal. But, practically, Governor Douglas had no other alternative. A revenue must be had somehow, if the laws were to be en- forced and the most ordinary requirements of civilized gov- ernment introduced into a suddenly populated wilderness. Time has amply vindicated Governor Douglas' beneficent policy. By his foresight and determination the worst of the evils usually attendant upon a. rush of gold-seekers to anew country were avoided. There was some violence and disorder among the miners, as well as occasional collisions with the Indians, but on the whole life and property were remarkably secure, and the law was respected as it never has been under similar circumstances in the United States.
Despite the unwelcome taxes imposed the revenue was unequal to the construction of roads to the mines at Cariboo. This was accQmplished at length by raising a loan of £100,000 in England and giving companies the right of levying tolls for constructing some of the more important roads and bridges of the system. The work was completed in 1863, when it became possible to send freight forward by waggon
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instead of on the backs of mules. The effect was at once apparent. Supplies being obtainable at reasonable rates, population flowed in, and the mining industry of British Columbia, divested of its spasmodic and uncertain character, settled down upon a steady and permanent basis. The con- struction of these roads, which have done so much for the prosperity of British Columbia, is justly regarded as the crowning achievement of Governor Douglas, who shortly afterwards terminated his public career, not without having given to the world such an ample vindication of his course that the public opinion of the colony prorlounced unmistak- ably in his favour. Not the least memorable feature of the last few years of his term of office was the part he took in 1859 in the peaceful settlement of the San Juan difficulty, when war seemed almost unavoidable. By his coolness and discretion the matter was settled for the time by an agree- ment arrived at between himself and General Scott, as American Commissioner, for a joint occupation of the island until the matter could be finally disposed of by arbitration. In 1866, the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia were united under the latter designation, and on the 20th July, 1871, the union with Canada was accom- plished, concerning which full details have already been given. How that measure has conduced to the prosperity of British Columbia may be gathered from the census re- turns which show that the population exclusive of Indians, has increased from ten to twenty-three thousand within the decade. But the full realization of the advantages of union are yet to come, as her future prosperity is bound up with the completion of the railway which will bring her into com-
1120 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
munication with Eastern Canada and direct the flow of im- migration to her rich agricultural and mining lands.
Reference has previously been made to some of the British Columbia representatives in the Dominion Parlia- ment of Scottish origin. Another name, which is deserv- ing of mention is that of Robert Wallace, one of the first members elected from the Pacific slope on the accomplishment of the union. He was born in the City'of Glasgow in 1820. Mr. Wallace is a commission merchant in Victoria, and took a prominent part in the movement in favour of union with Canada. He was president of the convention of delegates of the Confederation league held at Yale in Septembsr, 1868, for the purpose of accelerating the admission of British Col- umbia into the Dominion. He was returned for Vancouver Island as a Conservative in December, 1871, but only occu- pied his seat during one session, being succeeded by Sir Fran- cis Hincks.
A large proportion of the members of the provincial legis- lature since the union have been of Scottish origin. Hon. John Robson, a member of the present administration is a Scottish Canadian ; he was born at Perth, Ontario, on the 14th of March, 1824. Mr. Robson was mayor of New West- minster in 1866, and held the position of paymaster of the Canadian Pacific Railway in British Columbia from 1875 until that office was abolished in 1879. He represented New Westminster and Nanaimo in the legislative council of Bri- tish Columbia from 1866 until 1875. He was elected to the legislative assembly for New Westminster at the last gen- eral election of July, 1882, and in January, 1883, became a member of the administration of Hon. W. Smithe, with the
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portfolio of the provincial secretary and minister of finance and agriculture. He is a Conservative in his political views
Among the Scots who have held seats in the assembly of late years but are not at present members, are Jarnes W. Dougjas, eldest son of the late Governor Douglas, born in Victoria in 184G, who represented the City of Victoria in the legislature of 1875-8 ; Dr. William Fraser Tolmie, a Scot by birth, who sat in the Vancouver Island Assembly before the union, and represented Victoria District between the years 1874-8 ; William A. Robertson, born in Perthshire, Scotland, who was elected in 1 874 for Victoria District ; William Mor- rison, a Scotsman, who came to British Columbia in 1862, and was returned for Lillooet in 1875 ; and Donald McGil- livray, a Scottish Canadian from Glengarry, born in 1838, a representative of New Westminster between 1878 and 1882.
The present House includes among its members William Monroe Dingwall (Comox), whose ancestors were farmers near Dingwall, Ross-shire, where he was born in 1851, and who came to British Columbia in 1876, and is now in business at Comox as a general merchant ; Robert Duns- muir (Nanaimo), born in Hurlford, Ayrshire, in 1825, an extensive proprietor of coal mines, and George Archibald M'Tavish, (Victoria District), born at New York in 1856, of a family from the Island of Islay, a seed grower and stock breeder, and formerly president of the Agricultural Society of the Province. All these are of Conservative opinions and supporters of the Smithe administration. Judging by the names there are several other legislators who might be entitled to a notice here were the data as to their birth or parentage obtainable.
CHAPTER VIII.
JOURNALISM AND LITERATURE.
[HERE is no sphere of the intellectual life of Canada in which Scotsmen have from the first been more pro- minent than that of journalism and literature. It will be impossible within the limited space now remaining at our command, to give as comprehensive a survey of this field as would be desirable, but this is to be the less regretted as a great portion of it has already been traversed in connection with the political history of the country. Most of the leading journalists of the past have been keen politicians, and active participants in public life, as is usually the case in a new country where the process, known to the political economist, as subdivision of labour, and to the scientist as differentia- tion of functions, has not been carried to the same degree as in older communities. Political writers and speakers hold much the same relative positions as attorney and counsel. The latter functions, separated in England, are nearly always united here, and so to a large extent with the former. True the process of social evolution is rapidly bringing about a change, but in the exciting struggles of the past it was frequently the case that those who framed the pleadings and worked up the case for the respective parties, also urged it viva voce before the parliamentary
TEE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1123
tribunal, and the supreme court of the hustings. The journalists who remain to be dealt with, therefore, are those who have either not taken a conspicuous part in active political life, or who have entered it subsequently to the issue of the preceding portion of this work.
There is probably no man on the press in Canada to-day possessing a larger measure of that indefinable quality known as " newspaper sense " than Mr. John Gordon Brown, who succeeded his brother the late Hon. George Brown as editor of the Toronto Globe. The public have never yet realized to how great an extent the success of the Globe was due to the sound judgment and rare executive capacities of the younger brother. Hon. George Brown as ostensible and virtual leader of the Reform party attracted so large a share of the public attention, and his reputation as a public man was so indisso- lubly linked with the name of the journal upon which he held the leading position, that the intrinsically important part taken by his relative in the less obtrusive sphere of journalism proper was necessarily thrown into shadow. John Gordon Brown was born in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, on the 16th of November, 1827, being the junior of his bro- ther by some six years. He received his education partly in Edinburgh and partly in New York, to which latter city he came with his parents in his eleventh year. Some five years later he arrived in Toronto. He was connected with the Globe from the time of its foundation, excepting during com- paratively short intervals. He edited the Quebec Gazette for about a year during one of these periods and also travel- led a good deal in Europe from time to time. In 1851 he
visited the great International Exhibition in London, con- 13
H24 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
tributing a very comprehensive and interesting series of de- scriptive letters to his newspaper. From the time of his return the editorial department of the Globe was mainly under his control, subject of course to the broad general lines of policy laid down in respect to its political course. Hon. George Brown for very many years before his untimely death concerned himself but little with the every-day details of editorial management, devoting himself almost altogether to the commercial department and political matters not directly connected with the newspaper. It was Mr. Gordon Brown's close and practical supervision and forcible pen which during these years maintained and extended the well won prestige of the Globe. When his brother fell by the hand of a murderer, many people who were in ignorance of the real relation in which Mr. Gordon Brown stood to the journal, expected a marked falling off in vigour and interest. But as time wore on it became plainly evident that its old- time reputation was destined to be fully sustained by his formal elevation to the position he had long virtually occu- pied. Mr. Brown's leading idea was to make the Globe be- fore all things a newspaper, and while remaining faithful to the traditions of Liberalism to assert a wider liberty of expression than the narrow trammels of party convention- alities had previously permitted. His attitude towards the Liberal leaders was not unlike that of the public man who when accused of disloyalty to the Sovereign, replied that he could never so far forget his duty to His Majesty as even to entertain a disloyal thought, but that he did not consider him- self bound to be loyal to the king's "man servant and his maid servant, his ox and his ass." Mr. Brown was of too indepen-
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1125
dent a spirit to permit every ward politician, pettifogger and on-hanger claiming to be an adherent of the party, and to speak in its name to sway his course or use the columns of the Globe for their personal advantage. At the same time he spared no pains or expense in improving the paper, and developing that feature of many-sidedness which had not previously been a characteristic of the Canadian press. It would be out of place here to enter into the cause, or rather the combination of causes, which resulted in Mr. Brown's retirement from the control of the journal to the develop- ment of which he had devoted his life's best energies. Suf- fice it to say that of all concerned directly or indirectly in the matter, Mr. Brown has least reason to fear full publicity. Shortly after the change he was appointed Registrar of the Surrogate Court in Toronto. Mr. Brown possesses a thor- oughly cultivated mind and a vast store of general informa- tion, the result of a remarkably wide range of reading. He has been a keen student ever since boyhood, and in addition to diligent perusal of the abundant standard works of literature has kept en rapport with the spirit of modern thought and research. He is an excellent judge of character, and to this intuitive knowledge of the dispositions and capacities of men, his success in a position requiring large administrative ability was in no small measure due. There are few men in this country who possess an equally full and accurate know- ledge of the politics of Continental Europe as he has acquired by his personal observations as a tpurist followed up by ex- tensive reading.
Mr. John Cameron, Mr. Brown's successor in the editorial chair of the Globe, is a Scottish Canadian. He was born in
1126 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
Markham Township, Ontario, on the 22nd of January, 1843, his father being from Argyllshire and his mother a native of the North of Ireland. Removing when a boy to London, Ontario, he learned the printing trade in the office of the Free Press, Immediately on the expiration of his apprenticeship Mr. Cameron, then about twenty-one, conceived the bold idea of establishing an evening paper in London. He had no means, and the paper, in order to live, would have to pay its own way from the start. Such an undertaking now-a-days would be utterly Quixotic, but at that time the demands of the public in the way of news, were much less exigent and expenses in every department much smaller than to-day. The Evening Advertiser was accordingly launched on the 27th of October, 1863, and fortune smiled propitiously upon the venture from the out- set. The paper was at first of very small dimensions, but it really in the language of the prospectuses " filled a long felt want," and grew in circulation, size and prestige year by year until it ranked among the prominent dailies of the province. Morning and weekly editions were published, and a valuable newspaper property built up. Of course this was not accomplished except by long years of persistent, unremitting labour on the part of Mr. Cameron and his brother William, who was associated with him in the enter- prise. A specialty of the paper is the short, crisp, pungent paragraphs in which the politics of the day are discussed — a style of writing a good deal less common when first adop- ted by the Advertiser than it has now become. During his editorship of that paper, Mr. Cameron visited Great Britain and the European Continent, giving his impressions in a
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1127
series of graphically written letters to his journal which were afterwards republished in book form.
Mr. Cameron became editor and general manager of the Globe in December, 1882, his position on the Advertiser being taken by Hon. David Mills as editor, while Mr. Wil- liam Cameron assumed the business management. Under Mr. John Cameron's direction, a policy of rigid economy was adopted in the Globe office, many expenses deemed super- fluous being cut off. The prevailing idea in the arrange- ment of news matter is that of brevity and condensation in place of the extended notice formerly bestowed on matters of secondary importance. Mr. Cameron has always been a Liberal of somewhat advanced views, and an advocate of temperance reform and the enlargement of the sphere of woman. He is essentially a man of tact, shrewdness and resource, and though criticism has not been silent as to the effect of the change upon the style of the great newspaper, the destinies of which have been entrusted to his keeping, it must be admitted that he has, on the whole, borne well the trying ordeal of comparison with his veteran predecessor.
Mr. William Houston, the recently appointed Librarian of the Ontario Parliamentary Library, was born in the County of Lanark, Ontario, on the ninth of September, 184)4. He is of Scottish ancestry, his father being an Orcadian from Mainland, near Stromness, and his mother of mixed High- land and Lowland origin from Glasgow. Both parents came to Canada in youth with the early settlers of Lanark, and were subjected to the hardships and privations incidental to that period. Mr. Houston received only a common school education in his boyhood, in Lanark and Bruce counties, to
U28 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
which latter he went at the age of thirteen, shortly after the region had been thrown open for settlement. Here he spent some years in school teaching. Determined to obtain a thor- ough education he went to the University of Toronto, at an age somewhat later than the usual period of college life and graduated with honours in 1872. He entered immediately upon the profession of journalism obtaining a position on the staff of the Toronto Globe. He continued in connection with that newspaper for eleven years, with the exception of brief intervals when his services were engaged by the St. John Telegraph, and the short-lived Toronto Liberal. In the latter part of 1883, he was appointed to the office he now holds for which he is well fitted by his intimate knowledge of Canadian political history, no less than by his literary in- formation and the painstaking accuracy which is so marked a feature of his character. His journalistic career was marked by great assiduity and a thorough grasp of the questions with which he undertook to deal. His style is not ornate, but his points are always clearly and forcibly put from a practical common sense standpoint. In short he has the national characteristics of soundness and clear-head- edness in an eminent degree.
Mr. Christopher Blackett Robinson, the editor and proprietor of the Canada Presbyterian newspaper, is a Canadian by birth, of partly Scottish and partly English descent, the former element predominating. His father was born in London, but was educated and for many years resided in Scotland. His mother was of Highland extract- ion, belonging to the Clan Gunn. Mr. Robinson was born in Thorah Township, in the County of Ontario, in 1S37.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1129
He engaged in journalism in his twentieth year, editing the Canadian Post, then published in Beaverton, for a couple of years. In 1861 the paper was removed by Mr. Robinson to the rising town of Lindsay, where he continued to publish it for about ten years. It was greatly superior to any newspaper ever previously issued in that section of the province, and, under Mr. Robinson's able management, soon became a valuable newspaper property, taking high rank among local weeklies. In 1871 Mr. Robinson parted with the Post and removed to Toronto, where he commenced the publication of the Canada Presbyterian, which, under his energetic and prudent control, speedily attained a marked success. Without seeking to be in any sense the official organ of the Presbyterian Church, the Presbyterian has won for itself appreciation as a fearless and forcible exponent of the general public opinion of that body, and the recognised vehicle of intelligence specially affecting its interests, and indicative of its progress. Mr. Robinson has also built up a large and flourishing book and job printing establishment, and is the publisher of The Week, the new literary journal just issued under the editorial charge of Mr. Charles Goodrich Roberts, whose poetical talents have been widely recognised.
Mr. Thomas McQueen, the founder and for many years the editor of the Huron Signal, published at Goderich, was a shining instance of the aptitude frequently displayed by the sons of the Scottish peasantry for rising to positions of eminent usefulness and honour. He was "self-made" in the best sense of that much abused phrase by the cultivation of all his intellectual faculties. Born in Ay rah ire about the
1130 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
year 1803 of humble parentage his school education was ex- tremely limited, as he was early necessitated by the pressure of poverty to contribute by his labour to the support of the family. The turning point of his life was an accident sus- tained in boyhood, which rendered him permanently lame and afforded him the opportunity for indulging his natural bent for study and reflection. He became a stone mason by trade and soon distinguished himself as an eloquent and brilliant advocate of the rights of labour. While continuing to work at his trade he threw himself with intense and con- suming earnestness into the vanguard of the ranks of labour reform, as orator and writer. He was a poet of no mean or- der and published several volumes of poems which largely partook of the tendency of his prose writing, being instinct with the spirit of progress and liberalism. Mr. McQueen arrived in Canada in 1842 settling in the County of Ren- frew, where, for a short time he pursued his original calling. But his strong political feelings were speedily enlisted in the struggle for responsible government and the allurements of journalism were too powerful to be long resisted. The County of Huron appeared to offer a desirable field for the establishment of a liberal newspaper and the first number of the Signal was issued on the 4th of February, 1848. It quickly obtained a leading position among the journals of that period, owing to the vigour, incisiveness and soundness of the articles from Mr. McQueen's prolific but always careful pen. He remained steadily devoted to this undertaking during the remainder of his busy and influential career with the exception of a period of about two years during which he occupied a position on a Hamilton newspaper. In 1854,
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1131
after he had returned to Goderich, he became a Parliamen- tary candidate for the County of Huron, in the Reform in- terest, but was defeated. His labours in the liberal cause were unceasing and to the last he continued to cherish a warm interest in the class from which he sprang and to work for their intellectual and moral advancement. He was no mere partizan valuing success and the prizes of office more than consistency. To him success was worthless ex- cepting as it resulted in advancing the principles which he had so deeply at heart. His death which took place on the 25th of June, 18G1, left a void not easily or soon replaced in the ranks of local journalism.
One of the best known writers on the Ontario press is Mr. John Maclean, who was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on the 10th of April, 1825, his grandfather, of the same name, hav- ing corne from the Island of Mull. He is descended by his mother's side from the Cu turnings of Galloway shire. He came to Canada in 1838, but it was not until 1802 that he turned his attention to journalism being for many years en- gaged in commercial pursuits. For four or five years he was the Hamilton correspondent of the Globe, and an edi- torial writer for the Hamilton Times and other Reform journals. Though a thorough Liberal, he was convinced of the necessity of a protective policy, which he advocated from time to time as opportunity offered. In 1867 he took the mattei up in a more comprehensive manner, and wrote a pamphlet entitled " Protection or Free Trade," four thousand copies of which were old by subscription. Two years after- wards Mr. Maclean started the People's Journal for the ad- vocacy of protective principles. It was published for about
1132 THE SCOT IX BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
a year in Hamilton, but in 1870 the office was removed to Toronto. After full and repeated exchange of views with the leaders of both political parties Mr. Maclean made up his mind that he could no longer remain connected with the Re- form party as it appeared indissolubly wedded to Free Trade principles. He accordingly gave his support to Sir John Macdonald solely on the ground that the cause of protection
•
seemed likely to be taken up by the Conservatives. The publication of the Peoples Journal was discontinued early in 1872, the editor being engaged on the staff of the Toronto Mail with the understanding that the paper was to advo- cate protectionist principles. Here he remained for upwards of six years during which he made his influence powerfully felt in the agitation for the adoption of the National Policy. After the restoration of the Conservatives to power Mr. Maclean was engaged for two years in Ottawa in special statistical work for the Minister of Finance, and acted for some months as Secretary to the Board of Appraisers of the Customs Department. He returned to journalism in 1881 when he became editor of the Canadian Manufacturer on its removal to Toronto — a position he still holds. He is also a frequent editorial contributor to the Toronto World. Mr. Maclean's style is clear and vigorous, and his articles show a thorough mastery of the class of questions with which he principally deals, while surprisingly free from the limitation of view which too often accompanies the concentration of thought into particular channels. Although a specialist he retains a broad outlook on political and social life.
The pen-name of " The Whistler at the Plough " has been familiar to the reading public of Britain for nearly half a
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1135
century, and during later years has become widely known throughout Canada. Alexander Somerville, was born on the fifteenth of March, 1811, in the parish of Oldhamstocks, Had- dington-shire, being the youngest child of James and Mary Orkney Somerville. He is of Norman descent by his father's side and draws through his maternal ancestry a strain of Scandinavian blood. His early training was of the kind which has developed so many sterling qualities among the Scottish peasantry, and secured a foremost place in the world for such a large proportion of those who leave their ranks to push their fortunes in other countries. His body was nourished by homely fare and strengthened by rus- tic labour while his intellectual faculties were stimulated by reading of a substantial character. From infancy he dis- played that love for the beauties of nature and enthusiasm for rural life and scenery which distinguishes his writings. The earlier years of Mr. Somerville's manhood were passed in military service, and in 1832, he became the central tigure in an episode which excited a great deal of public indigna- tion. For a slight breach of discipline at the military rid- ing school, in Birmingham, he was tried by court-martial and according to the inhuman code then in force was sen- tenced to receive two hundred lashes. Half of this punish- ment was actually inflicted. The alleged violation of mili- tary rule was a mere pretext, the real cause of the brutality of the authorities being Mr. Somerville's refusal to become a political informer. The agitation which ensued upon the carrying out of this shameful sentence had a beneficial ef- fect in mitigating the injustice and severity of military dis- cipline. During the years 1835-37, Mr. Somerville served in
1134 THE^SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
the Auxiliary Legion in Spain, under Gen. Sir De Lacy Evans, as colour-sergeant in the 8th Highlanders. His su- perior officers have testified in strong terms as to his bra- very and efficiency in the performance of his duties. After leaving the army he turned his attention to newspaper wri-> ting and his graphic descriptive sketches under the signa- ture of the " Whistler at the Plough " full of local colouring
o o
and written in a readable sketchy vein soon attracted wide- spread attention. During the twenty years between 1838 and 1858, Mr. Somerville represented several leading metro- politan papers, travelling all over the United Kingdom, de- scribing local industries and institutions, sketching the con- dition of the people and describing, in short, everything note- worthy that came within ths range of his keen powers of observation. These letters were largely reproduced by the British provincial press, and became a powerful factor in moulding public opinion upon current political questions- " I know nothing in the English language," wrote the late Mr. Cobden, " which for graphic narrative and picturesque description of places, persons and things surpasses some of the letters of Alexander Somerville, the ' Whistler at the Plough.' " He rendered efficient aid to the agitation in fa- vour of Free Trade, and in the years 1848-50 wrote a " History of the Fiscal System," and various other papers for the Financial Reform Association of Liverpool. Mr. Somerville was not at any time a dogmatic advocate of Free Trade in all commodities. In Canada he soon observed that the conditions of manufactures and commerce were not the same as in Britain. During the last twenty-three years he has travelled extensively in Canada, sending to many Eng-<
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1135
ish journals vivid and interesting pen-pictures of our natu- ral scenery, and Our industrial conditions. His writings have- undoubtedly done much to familiarize the British people with the realities of Canadian life, and to disabuse their minds of the misapprehensions respecting this country which so long prevailed. His is an industrious and a facile pen and few journalists have had a more active and varied experience of, or are more familiar with, life in all its phases than the " Whistler." He has for some years been a resident of Tor- onto, having adopted Canada as his home.
Among the new members returned to the Dominion Par-
O
liament in 1882 were two leading representatives of the local press of Ontario — both Scotsmen. James Innes was born in Huntley, Aberdeenshire, on the 1st of February, 1833. He began life as a school-teacher in his native land, but on arriving in Canada, in 1853, adopted the vocation of journal- ism. In 1862 he became editor and publisher of the Guelph Mercury, which has a high standing among the Reform news- papers of Western Ontario. Mr. Innes has been a High School Trustee for a number of years, is chairman of the Guelph Board of Education, and has taken an active interest in many public enterprises. He was always on the Reform side of politics, and was returned in that interest for South Wellington at last general election. James Somerville is also a life-long Reformer. His parents came from Fifeshire, Scotland, about half a century ago, settling in Dundas, where he was born, on the 7th of June, 1834. After receiv- ing a good education at the public and grammar schools of his native town, he acquired a knowledge of the newspaper business, and in 1854 established the Ayr Observer. In
1136 TEE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
1858 he disposed of this journal, and returned to Dundas, where he started the True Banner, which he has success- fully conducted ever since. For many years Mr. Somerville has been prominent in municipal matters, having occupied the position of Warden of Wentworth County and Mayor of Dundas, as well as many less important trusts. He repre- sents North Brant in the House of Commons.
Alexander Whyte Wright is well known in connection with journalism and political agitation though not at present actively engaged in either direction. He was born in Mark- ham Township, at what is now the village of Elmira, about the year 1845, his father being from Glasgow and his mother from Fifeshire. He was engaged for several years in the woollen and carpet manufacturing industries in Preston and St. Jacobs. In 1874 he became regularly connected with the press, though, for several years previous he had from time to time contributed fugitive articles to various journals. He edited, with marked ability and power, the Guelph Herald, Orangeville Sun, and Stratford Herald; and, in 1876, came to Toronto and took charge of the editorial department of the National. He took a prominent part in the National Policy agitation, supplementing his jour- nalistic labours by the delivery of numerous speeches throughout the country in favour of a protective tariff. Being an apt, ready speaker, well-versed in the details of the question and the practical needs of Canadian indus- tries, and having unusual powers of repartee and illustra- tion, his services on the stump were greatly in demand during the campaign of 1877. After the triumph of the National Policy, Mr. Wright turned his attention to other
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1137
and less popular reforms, advocating the adoption of a na- tional paper currency with the same zeal and enthusiasm which had animated him in the struggle over the tariff ques- tion. In the fall of 1880 he came forward as a candidate for West Toronto for the House of Commons on a platform embracing national currency, and other measures. His views, however, did not meet with general acceptance. Shortly afterwards Mr. Wright withdrew from journal- ism, and became Secretary of the Manufacturers' Associa- tion, and also of the Niagara Steel Works. As a popular orator, Mr. Wright holds a leading position. He is a man of marked individuality, not afraid to reason from first prin- ciples, and totally devoid of that slavish deference to auth- ority and conventional opinion which has done so much to sap the intellectual vitality of Canadian life, and render much of the journalistic field an arid waste of platitude in- terspersed with oases vivid with a tropical luxuriance of in- vective. He has given much thought to the social question, in its various phases, and is an unswerving advocate of the rights of labour.
The name of " Cousin Sandy " will be remembered by a great many of our readers in connection with the press of a dozen years ago, many telling prose contributions and poeti- cal squibs appearing in different journals over that signa- ture. Their author was Mr. John Eraser, a Scot either by birth or descent, who, prior to emigrating to Canada achieved a considerable reputation in England in connection with the Chartist movement. He possessed great power of sarcasm and invective, which found full scope for their ex- ercise in that memorable struggle for the rights of the peo-
1138 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
pie. His original vocation was that of a tailor, which he followed for a considerable time at Stanstead, in the Prov- ince of Quebec, indulging at the same time those literary pursuits for which he had a natural gift. He afterwards accepted the position of canvasser for a prominent book- publishing firm in Montreal, and in this capacity his travels
•
extended widely throughout Canada. His versatile talents and genial disposition secured him a wide circle of friends and acquaintances wherever he went. He distributed his contributions among a number of newspapers, mostly of the Liberal school of politics, many of his clever satirical verses appearing in the Montreal Herald. . He met his death by accident at Ottawa, in the early part of June 1872, by fall- ing down the precipice in rear of the Parliament Buildings. He struck- the rocks in his descent and was instantly killed. Mr. George Maclean Rose has been so long and promi- nently associated with the development of Canadian litera- ture that his name may well be introduced in this connection. He was born in Wick, Caithness-shire, Scotland, on the 14th of March, 1829, and learned the printing trade in the office of the John 0' Groat Journal. A year after he had attained his majority the family settled in Canada. He entered the employ of Mr. John C. Beckett, of Montreal, who was then engaged in the publication of the Montreal Witness and other journals. After the death of his father, which took place in 1853, the care of the family devolved upon him. The means at his command were but scanty, but in partner- ship with his elder brother, Henry, he started a small job printing office. By strict industry and economy they ob-
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1139
tained a fair measure of success. In 1856 they dissolved partnership, George having become convinced that Western Canada offered more scope for his energies than Montreal. In connection with Mr. John Muir he established the Chron- icle, in the village of Merrickville, but he did not remain there any length of time. Among his other engagements about this period, was that of city editor of the London Prototype. In 1858, he came to Toronto as manager of the printing office of Mr. Samuel Thompson, for whom he pub- lished the Toronto Atlas, started in opposition to the Colo- nist, which had taken ground adverse to the government of the day. Mr. Thompson having obtained the contract for government printing, Mr. Rose was assigned to take the management of the office in Quebec, whither he removed in 1859. This arrangement did not long continue. Mr. Thomp- son found himself unable financially to carry out his con- tract 'alone, and a company was organized for the purpose, including Mr. Rose and Mr. Robert Hunter, an experienced accountant. Mr. Thompson retired from the business alto- gether soon afterwards, leaving it to the new firm of Hunter,
o ' o *
Rose & Co., who completed the contract and secured its re- newal. On the removal of the seat of Government to Ottawa in 18G5, the firm of course followed. A large and lucrative business was soon built up, and in 1868, a branch was established at Toronto, the firm having secured a ten years' contract for the printing of the Provincial Govern- irient. In 1871 their relations with the Dominion Govern- ment terminated, and the business was consolidated in Toronto. The firm now entered extensively into the busi- ness of .publishing Canadian reprints of English copyright 14
1140 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
books, principally the popular novels of living writers, for which a ready market was found. The firm honestly com- pensated the authors whose works they reproduced, although" this of course placed them at a disadvantage as compared with the piratical publishers of the United States. Another and probably a greater service to the intellectual progress of the country rendered by this enterprising firm, was the publication — at first for others, but latterly at their own risk — of the Canadian Monthly, the last and by far the best literary magazine ever issued in this country. This venture unfortunately did not prove pecuniarily successful, ' and though sustained for many years with a liberality and public spirit highly creditable to the publishers, was at length discontinued. In 1877 the death of Mr. Hunter left Mr. Rose the sole member of the firm, and a year afterwards he took his brother Daniel into the concern, the well-known firm name being still retained. Widely as Mr. George M. Rose is known to the Canadian people as a successful and enterprising publisher, he has acquired a still more extensive reputation by his unselfish exertions in the cause of temper- ance and moral reform. A life-long total abstainer and pro- hibitionist, he has taken an active part in temperance work in connection with various organizations. He has attained the highest offices in the gift of the Sons of Temperance in the Dominion, having been several times chosen to fill the chair of Grand Worthy Patriarch of the Order both in Que- bec and Ontario, and has also held the second highest posi- tion conferrable by that Order for the whole continent, hav- ing been Most Worthy Associate of the National Division of America. His heart and purse are always open to .the ap-
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1141
peals for the advancement of the temperance cause, which he regards as being of vastly more importance than mere party issues. Though a Liberal politically he regards all public issues from the standpoint of temperance reform. Personally Mr. Rose is genial, sociable and unassuming. As his career shows, he has abundant business capacity, and the enthusiasm which forms so strong a feature of his character is well regulated by a fund of practical common sense.
Mr. David Wylie, of Brockville, known as the " father of the Ontario Press," was born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, Scotland, his parents being William and Mary Orr Wylie, on the 23rd of March, 1811. He evinced a taste for reading at an early age. In January, 1826, he was apprenticed to the printing trade in the office of Stephen Young, Paisley, where he remained for upwards of three years, finishing his term of apprenticeship at the University Printing office, Glasgow. He .first commenced to write for the Greenock Advertiser, to which he contributed some short stories and sketches in addition to ordinary journalistic work. He afterwards held a situation on the Glasgow Guardian for about a year and a half. Subsequently he went to Liver- pool where he became reporter and proof reader on the Mail, remaining in that employment for about eight years. After a period spent in Manchester on the Anti-Corn-Law Cir- vdlar, the organ of the Free Traders, Mr. Wylie returned to his native land taking the management of the Fife Herald, published in the town of Cupar, at that time edited by the celebrated Mr. Russell afterwards of the Edinburgh Scots- man. In the year 1845 he was offered a situation in Mon- treal by Mr. John C. Becket, then publisher of the Witness
1142 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
and several other serials. He accepted the proposition and for several years remained in Mr. Becket's employ. In 1849 he became parliamentary reporter for the Montreal Hcr<t!<l besides doing a great deal of miscellaneous work for the press of Montreal. Later in the same year he came to Brockville and took charge of the Recorder which under his able management soon became noted as a powerful Reform journal and commanded a wide-spread influence in that sec- tion of the Province. He continued to edit the Recorder for nearly thirty years. During the last few years of his pro- prietorship he issued a daily edition which met with encour- aging success. Mr. Wylie is a poet of marked ability and taste, and in 1867 issued a collection of his poems under the title of " Waifs from the Thousand Isles " which met with deserved acceptance at the hands of the public. He revisited Scotland in 1870, being commissioned by the Ontario Gov- ernment to present the claims of Canada as a field for settle- ment to the Scottish people. He delivered numerous ad- dresses on that subject in addition to writing a series of letters to the Glasgow Herald, in which the advantages held out by Canada to intending emigrants were fully set forth. While resident in Montreal Mr. Wylie became connected with the volunteer force with which he has ever since been associated, having risen to the rank of Lieut-Colonel and Pay- master of Military District No. 4. For upwards of twenty years he has been Chairman of the Board of School Trustees and has taken an active interest in many public enterprises. Evan MacColl, who has gained a wide celebrity both as a Gaelic and an English poet, was born at Kenmore, Loch Fyne-side, Scotland, on the 21st of September, 1808, in
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1143
which neighbourhood he was known as " Clarsair-nam- beann " or the Mountain Minstrel. He was the child of par- ents in a humble walk of life, though boasting a long lineage his paternal ancestors being the MacColls of Glasdruim Glen- creran. .His mother belonged to the Clan Cameron and the poetic faculty of MacColl was inherited from her. Evan received a fair education, his father, though ill able to afford the expense, engaging a tutor for him in order that he might have advantages superior to those which rthe village school could afford. He soon acquired a decided taste for literature and read with avidity such books as came in his way. The perusal of Burns' poems and some of the standard English classics g-ive a marked impetus to the literary bent of his mind and when hardly out of his boyhood he began to com- pose poetry. He was during his youth employed in farming and fishing, but though the nature of his avocations retarded they did not suppress his intellectual development. Evan MacColl was not destined to be a mute inglorious Milton, and chill penury did not "freeze the genial current of his soul." In 1837 he became a contributor to the Gaelic Magazine then published in Glasgow. His poems excited much interest and speedily won a reputation for the youth- ful author. Before long a collection of his Gaelic poems was published under the title of "Clarsach nam Beann," or " Poems and Songs in Gaelic." This was followed by another collection under the title of " The Mountain Minstrel, or Poems and Songs in English." This publication won him fresh laurels and many competent literary authorities were loud in his praise. Dr. Norman McLeod, editor of Good Words, wrote as follows : " Evan MacColl's poetry is the pro-
1144 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NOETH AMERICA.
duct of a mind impressed with the beauty and the grandeur of the lovely scenes in which his infancy has been nursed. We have no hesitation in saying that the work is that of a man possessed of much poetic genius. Wild indeed and sometimes rough are his rhymes and epithets, yet there are thoughts so new and striking — images and comparisons so beautiful and original — feelings so warm and fresh that stamp this Highland peasant as no ordinary man." Mr. Mac- Coil's family emigrated to Canada in 1831 but he remained behind, and in 1837 procured a clerkship in the customs at Liverpool. Here he remained until 1850, when his health having became impaired he visited his friends in Canada. Here he met with Hon. Malcolm Cameron, then in office and was by him offered a position in the Canadian Customs at Kingston which he gladly accepted. He remained in this post for thirty years being superannuated about the year 1880. He has written numerous poems, chiefly of a lyrical character, during his residence in Canada, one of the most noted of which is his Robin, written for the occasion of the Burns Centennial celebration in Kingston, the easy and melodious expression of which is in excellent imitation of Burns' own style. He has been for many years the bard of the St. Andrew's Society of Kingston, and his anniversary poems are greatly appreciated by all Scotsmen. Mr. MacColl is a thorough Scot in his tastes, sympathies and character- istics. His nature is simple and sincere and his many ami- able qualities have won the sympathy and esteem of a wide circle of friends. His poetic gifts have been transmitted to his daughter, Miss Mary J. MacColl, who recently published
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1145
a meritorious little volume of poems entitled " Bide a wee," highly commended for their sweetness and delicacy.
An old time journalist who, in his day, did excellent ser- vice in the cause of political and religious freedom, is Mr. Jarnes Lesslie, whose family took a prominent part in the commercial and public life of the then town of York. His father was Edward Lesslie, a native of Dundee, Scotland, who carried on an extensive book and stationery business in that town for many years. Mr. Edward Lesslie had a family of twelve children, and rightly considering that their prospects in life would be improved by emigration to the New World, determined to settle in Canada. In 1820 John Lesslie, one of the sons, came out in advance of the rest of the family, and selected the town of York as a good field
for commercial enterprise. It was then little more than a %
village, the buildings being of wood, and the streets chroni- cally in the condition which earned it the soubriquet of " Muddy Little York." John Lesslie began business in a two story house opposite the English Church, at that time a wooden structure on the site of the present St. James' Cathedral. In accordance with the customary practice at that time, he kept a general stock of goods, but his speci- alties were books and drugs, in which lines he had for some time a monopoly. William Lyon Mackenzie, who arrived at York shortly afterwards, found employment for a time with Mr. Lesslie, and in 1821 was entrusted with the manage- ment of a branch store opened in Dundas. The other mem- bers of the Lesslie family came out in 1822, and the follow- ing year, making their home in Dundas. The business of " Lesslie & Sons " was extended, another branch being
1146 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
opened in Kingston. Mr. Edward Lesslie died in 1828, and some years afterwards the firm was reorganized, John re- taining the Dundas branch, and the interests of the others being concentrated at Toronto under the name of " Lesslie Brothers." The partnership continued until the death of Mr. William Lesslie, in 1843. Mr. James Lesslie took a leading part in many social and public movements of a moral and intellectual character. He was President of the " Young Men's Society," organized in 1833 on a basis somewhat similar to the Young Men's Christian Association of to-day, and Secretary of the Mechanics' Institute established in the same year. "When the town of York became the city of Toronto in 1834, Mr. Lesslie was chosen alderman for St. David's ward. In 1836 he took a leading part in conjunc- tion with James Hervey Price, James Beaty and others in establishing the House of Industry, and about this time made his influence strongly felt in combating the Church of England ascendancy in public affairs. He was appointed cashier, and afterwards President of the " Bank of the Peo- ple," a joint stock institution, established in 1835, in oppo- sition to the chartered banks under Family Compact con- trol. This bank successfully passed through the trying ordeal of the crisis of 1836, and in 1840 was merged in the Bank of Montreal. In February, 1836, Mr. Lesslie was cho- sen in connection with Mr. Jesse Ketchum to deliver to Sir Francis Bond Head the celebrated " rejoinder " to the official reply of His Excellency to an address presented by the citi- zens— a proceeding which being contrary to official etiquette required no little tact, and was adroitly accomplished. When the insurrection of 1837 broke out, James and Wil-
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1147
liam Lesslie, whose influence had been thrown on the side of law and order, were subjected to imprisonment simply be- cause they were known as staunch advocates of civil and religious liberty. Their premises were occupied and plun- dered by the disorderly militia — a proceeding said to have been ordered by Attorney General Hagerman. After ex- amination by the Commissioners of Treason, both brothers were released. "William shortly afterwards started on a journey to be married, and was again arrested on the stage when near Kingston, and without any legal formality thrown into jail at that town, and treated as a convicted felon. The matter was brought to the notice of Sir Francis Bond Head, but he refused to interfere. Such outrages were perpe- trated with great frequency at this time by the official party. The extent of this persecution of the friends of constitu- tional reform, led James Lesslie to transmit a strong memo- rial to the Imperial Government through Sir Henry Par- nell, then the representative of Forfarshire in the House of Commons. It formed the subject of a dispatch from the Colonial office to Lieutenant-Governor Head, who, in his published correspondence, stigmatized the Lesslies, |and all constitutional Reformers as " notorious republicans." Very many left the province, as political progress and redress of existing wrongs appeared for a time hopeless, and the Family Compact intrenched the more firmly in power by the abortive attempt to overthrow them. A scheme for a general emigration to some of the newer territories of the United States was ^set on foot, and a society formed for this purpose, entitled "The Mississippi Emigration Society," of which Mr., now Sir Francis Hincks, was secretary. Three
1148 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
delegates were chosen to proceed to the Far West and select a site for the proposed Canadian colony, viz. : — Mr. Peter Perry, representative of Whitby, in the legislature; Mr. Thomas Parke, member for Middlesex, and Mr. James Lesslie. They selected Davenport, Iowa, then a small village, as the most promising location. Mr. Lesslie suffered from a severe attack of bilious fever, owing to the hardships en- dured by the party in their travels through a wild and un- civilized region. The scheme eventually fell through owing partly to the conciliatory course of Lord Durham, and the prospects held out by him of speedy reform.
About 1844, James Lesslie purchased the Examiner newspaper, published in Toronto, from Mr. Hincks, who then went to Montreal and became editor of the Pilot. His brother, Mr. Joseph Lesslie, assisted him in the editorial conduct of the paper for a year or more, when he gave it up, James Lesslie carried on the paper successfully, and his able pen rendered it a powerful factor in the conflict for religious equality. In 1854, the question was forever set- tled by the abolition of the State Church, when he sold out the paper to Mr. Brown, of the Globe. In 1855, he disposed of his book, stationery and drug business, and two years later purchased the homestead of Hon. James Hervey Price, near the village of Eglington, where he now resides having passed his 80th year. His brother John, also an octogenarian, lives in Dundas with his unmarried sister, Helen.* Two other sisters, Mrs. John Paterson and Mrs. Robert Holt, widows, also reside in that town. Charles Lesslie, who went to Davenport, Iowa, in 1839, is resident there, but in feeble health.
* John Lesslie has since died.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
Mr. Daniel Morrison was for a long time connected with the Toronto press and obtained a high reputation as a powerful and sarcastic writer. He was the son of Rev. Mr. Morrison, of Inverness, Scotland, and came to Canada at an early age. For some time he was engaged in farming in Went worth County, and subsequently edited the Dun das- Warder, in which capacity he speedily achieved a reputa- tion as an able journalist. He afterwards obtained a posi- tion on the Toronto Leader. In conjunction with Mr.George Sheppard he purchased theColonist from Mr. Samuel Thomp- son and continued to edit that journal until 1859, when he was appointed by the government one of the provincial arbitrators. The year following he resigned his office and accepted the editorship of the Quebec Morning Chronicle, In 1861 he had charge of the London Prototype and shortly afterwards went to New York, where he was engaged on the staff of the Tribune and other journals. He returned to- Canada some years afterwards, having accepted the position of editor of the Toronto Telegraph. He died about the year 18G9. In 1858 he married the talented Canadian actress, Miss Charlotte Nickinson, who survives him.
Reference has already been made very briefly to Mr. John Gait, the father of Sir Alexander T. Gait, and known as a distinguished Scottish novellist and the founder of the city of Guelph. Mr. Gait was born in Irvine, on the 2nd day of May, 1779. The following year his father, who was the captain of a ship in the West India trade, left Ayr- shire and took up his residence in Greenock, in which town John Gait received his education. He early manifested a strong predilection for study and literary composition, which
1150 TI1E SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
was fostered by congenial associations. During his youth he was engaged in mercantile pursuits. In 1804 he quitted Greenock for London, where he started in business on his own account, in partnership with a young man named McLachlan from the same part of Scotland. While engaged in this venture, Mr. Gait published an epic poem on the battle of Largs, and continued to pursue his literary studies with indefatigable industry, especially in the direct- ion of metaphysics, political economy, and belles lettres. In the course of two or three years his business affairs became heavily involved, and insolvency followed. Mr. Gait then went abroad for his health. At Gibraltar he made the acquaintance of Lord Byron, then in the first flush of his literary triumphs, and his friend Mr. Hobhouse, and for some time accompanied them on their tour. He afterwards visited Sicily, Malta, and Greece, where he renewed his acquaintance with Byron, and had an interview with Ali Pacha. Constantinople and the Black Sea were also visited. The literary fruits of this tour were a series of Letters from tliz Levant, which attained considerable success. Mr. Gait during the period of his absence from England, also outlined several dramas, which were afterwards completed and published. The Ayrshire Legatees, issued in 1820, was, however, the work which thoroughly established his re- putation, in the line particularly his own, of a graphic delineator of the provincial life of Scotland. He followed up this vein by The Annals of the Parish, a book of superior power, which appeared in 1820. Having made his mark in literature and secured a wide circle of admirers, his works .succeeded each other rapidly. Sir Andrew Wylie, The
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1151
Recital, The Steamboat and The Provost, followed in suc- cession. .Mr. Gait was not so successful in the direction of historical romance, to which he next turned his attention. liingan Gilhaize, a tale of the Covenanters, was the first of his essays in this line. It was succeeded by several others which, though comprising many effective scenes, and some brilliant descriptive writing, were nevertheless, uneven and lacking in the naturalness and sustained interest of his previous books. The Last of the Lairds was published just before he left England for the scene of his labours in Canada, in 1826. His connection with Canada was brought about by his appointment as agent to urge upon the Im- perial Government the claims of Canadians who had sustained losses by the American invasion during the war of 1812. The negotiations and investigations that ensued, led to the organization of the Canada Company for the acqui- sition and settlement of a large tract of land in the Western Peninsula of Upper Canada. The company procured a grant of 1,100,000 acres in one block. A scheme for emigration on a large scale was adopted. Mr. Gait was appointed superintendent, and began the work of colonization by selecting a site for a town. The spot upon which Guelph now stands was fixed upon as the most eligible, and on the 23rd of April, 1827, Mr. Gait set out from the town which bears his name — bestowed upon it by Hon. William Dixon, before his arrival in the country — accompanied by the eccentric Dr. Dunlop, Mr. Prior, an employe* of the company, and a couple of labourers. A large maple tree was selected which was cut down, when the party with due formality, drank prosperity to the city of Guelph. The present im-
3152 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
portance of that rapidly growing commercial centre vindi- cates the foresight of Mr. Gait. In view of its recent admission to the civic status the following passage from Mr. Gait's autobiography is of interest — " In planning the <:ity," he says, " for I will still dignify it by that title, though applied at first in derision, I had, like the lawyers in establishing their fees an eye to futurity in the magnitude of the parts."* He reserved sites for Catholic, Episcopal, and Presbyterian churches upon rising ground, which have been long since adorned with handsome edifices. The building of a school-house was undertaken by the company. The road work and other improvements undertaken, soon attracted an influx of settlers, and the new community grew rapidly, and the price of land speedily rose. Shortly after- wards Mr. Gait undertook an extended voyage on Lake Huron, and visited Detroit, Buffalo and other localities in the United States. The Canada Company's affairs did not prosper despite the energy of Mr. Gait. The stock of the company was heavily depreciated, and various troubles and disagreements occurred. The indefatigable superintendent still pursued his plans for opening up the land for settle- ment on a large scale. He caused a road nearly a hundred miles in length to be constructed through the dense forest, with which the Huron tract was then covered, by which an overland communication was, for the first time, established between Lakes Huron and Ontario. The labourers em- ployed were paid partly in money and partly in land. Mr. Gait's relations with the directors of the company becoming unsatisfactory, owing to their considering the outlay
* Autobiography of John Gait, Vol. II. 51. Am. Edition.
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1153
incurred in these improvements extravagant, his connection with the company terminated in 1829, when he returned to England, and recommenced his literary labours. He shortly afterwards produced a novel entitled Laurie Todd, which was followed by SoiUliennan, a romance of the days of Mary Queen of Scots. A Life of Lord Byron which excited a great deal of angry criticism ran through several editions. In 1834 Mr. Gait published Literary Miscellanies, in three volumes. His health, shattered by a very arduous and wearying life, shortly afterwards broke down completely, and he returned to end his days in his native Scotland, dying at Greenock on the llth of April, 1839, after several attacks of paralysis. The best vindication of the wisdom of Mr. Gait's course as superintendent of the Canada Com- pany is the success which ultimately attended this enterprise, consequent upon his exertions.
There are several other journalists worthy of an extended notice concerning whose careers, we would gladly present a few details were the requisite data accessible. Among them we may mention Messrs. John Dougall and James Redpath Dougall, of the Montreal Witness — a journal which takes a deservedly high rank, no less as an enterpris- ing and well-edited newspaper than a staunch advocate of social and moral reform, especially the cause of Temperance. Mr. John Dougall has been the principal proprietor of the Witness for many years, his controlling idea being to es- tablish a daily paper in which the spirit of earnest, practi- cal religion should pervade every department. In the face of many obstacles he succeeded in what a great many people considered a hopeless experiment. A similar venture in
1154 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
New York did not prove equally satisfactory, and after a hard struggle the New York Daily Witness was discon- tinued. The weekly issue, however, still flourishes, Mr. John Dougall devoting his principal attention to the New . York establishment, while his son, Mr. J. R. Dougall, has charge of the Montreal publications.
Alexander McLachlan, poet and lecturer, is the son of a Scottish mechanic, and was born in the village of Johnstone, Renfrewshire, in the year 1820. He is largely self-educated, his schooling having been very limited ; but being of a stu- dious and thoughtful disposition he early gained an extensive knowledge of English literature. He followed for some years the trade of a tailor, and during his youth took a leading part in the Chartist movement, which at that time flourished in Britain. His poems are largely tinged with the spirit of this agitation, Mr. McLachlan having through life retained a strong sympathy for the victims of social in- justice and oppression. In 1840 he emigrated to Canada, quitting the needle for the axe and the plough. He settled in the backwoods, and his rich experience in the hardships and struggles, triumphs and pleasures of life in the bush, furnished the material for some of his most characteristic poems. Mr. McLachlan published several volumes of poe- try, the last, which embraced the cream of his previous writings as well as many new poems, appearing in 1 874. In the same year he revisited Scotland, where he delivered many lectures and addresses, dealing with Canadian life, and literary and philosophical subjects. Much of Mr. Mc- Lachlan's poetry is well worthy of a place beside the utter- ances of more celebrated British bards, who, by the acci-
THE .SCO 7' 7.V IHHTISn NORTH AMERICA. 1155
dent of residence near the heart of the empire, have attained a renown which no Canadian, no matter how deserving, could hope to acquire. He is pre-eminently one of the poets who, according to the old proverb, are " born, not made." His style is simple and natural. There is no straining after effect, no attempt to simulate a poetic fervour that is not genuine and heartfelt. He is no mere rhymester dealing in pretty conceits and elegant trifling, but appeals to the strongest and most deeply-seated emotions of human- ity. The clearness and simplicity of his writings are in marked contrast to the involved sentences and confused meaning of the " incomprehensible " school of poetic thought so much in vogue. He is a poet of the people, and has much of the freshness and spontaneity, as well as the force and beauty of Burns, whose influence, as well as that of Wordsworth, appears traceable in McLachlan's mode of thought and expression. His poems breathe an intense love for nature and the freedom and freshness of rural life, and he has given some of the finest descriptions of the glorious scenery of our forests, rivers and lakes. His most notice- able fault is a tendency to repeat the same phrase somewhat too frequently. In dealing with the great problems of life and thought he evinces broad sympathies with humanity and faith in its noblest aspirations. In private life Mr. McLach- lan, who is still engaged in farming, is one of the most ge- nial and loveable of men. He has rare conversational pow- ers, and when in congenial society his native eloquence and humour impart a vivid interest to every subject upon which he touches. Alexander' McLachlan has received but scant
justice at the hands of those who assume to be the special 15
1156 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
guardians and promoters of Canadian literature. The devo- tees of that superficial " culture " which regards form of expression more than the underlying thought, have extended to his poetic genius such a cold and grudging recognition as that which drew from the indignant heart of the poet Burns his scathing satire upon the literary precisians and preten- ders of his day :
— " An' syne they think to climb Parnassus By dint o' Greek ? "
Had the Ayrshire bard himself appeared in the present generation would he have been appreciated by these stick- lers for poetic formalism ? It is very doubtful. Apart alto- gether from the verdict of this class of critics, it is not creditable to the Canadian people that a singer of the power and pathos of Alexander McLachlan, should not have met with wider and more general appreciation than has been accorded him. True, his is by no means a singular experi- ence, and much of the best literary work of Canada has been but poorly rewarded. The people who take no pride in their poets and who pass over really able and meritorious home writers in favour of foreigners, are yet very far from the attainment of a robust national and patriotic feeling :
" Spoke well the Grecian when he said that poems Were the high laws that swayed a nation's mind —
Voices that live on echoes —
Brief and poetic proems, Opening the great heart-book of human kind.
" Songs are the nation's pulses, which discover ]f the great body be as nature willed.
Songs are the spasms of soul
Telling us what men suffer. Dead is the nation's heart whose songs are stilled ! "
CHAPTER IX.
ADDENDA.
{N a work of the present character and extent, it was al- most impossible, while pursuing the slight thread of historical continuity which we have tried to keep in view, to avoid the omission of names of many who are entitled to a notice in these pages. In the scanty space yet remaining at our disposal the endeavour will be made to rectify this de- fect as far as may be, by brief sketches of those Canadian Scotsmen of note who have hitherto been passed over alto- gether or received a merely casual mention.
Probably the man who above all others has done most for the commercial development of Canada was the late Sir Hugh Allan — to whom but scanty reference has already been made in these volumes. Sir Hugh came of a seafar- ing family, his father being Captain Alexander Allan, a ship- master engaged in the trade between the Clyde and Mon- treal, and two of his brothers being also sailors. He was born 'at Saltcoats, in Ayrshire, Scotland, on the 29th of September, 1810. The nautical associations of his earlier years made a powerful impression upon him. He was con- stantly thrown into the company of sailors ; and familiarity
1158 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
with maritime life resulted in that strong predilection for the water described by Byron's well-known lines —
And I have loved thee, Ocean ! and my joy Of youthful sports was on thy breast to be Borne like thy bubbles onward, from a boy I wantoned with thy breakers— they to me Were a delight, and if the freshening sea Made them a terror— 'twas a pleasing fear For I was as it were a child of thee, And trusted to thy billows far and near.
There is little doubt that his future career as the foun- der of the line of vessels that perpetuates his name was largely determined by his early training and surroundings. His scholastic education was but scanty, and at the age of thirteen Hugh Allan entered the employ of Allan, Kerr & Co., a shipping firm of Greenock. Here he remained for about a year acquiring some knowledge of the business for which he displayed a decided aptitude. Acting on the ad- vice of his father he resolved to emigrate to Canada, and arrived at Montreal in the spring of 182fi. The difficulties and delays experienced by his father's vessel, the Favourite, in making the passage up the St. Lawrence on this trip, in- dicate the then primitive state of the now extensive shipping interest of our commercial metropolis. A strong head wind prevailed, and the solitary steam-tug which then sufficed for the commerce of the port, was unable to tow the ship up the St. Mary's current. The services of a dozen yoke of oxen were called into requisition, but even this additional power was unavailing, and it was not until a large gang of men from a shipyard at Hochelaga had lent their aid that the vessel was enabled to drop anchor opposi te Montreal There •were no wharves at that time. The bank shelved down in
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1159
its natural condition and landing cargoes by means of a long gangway was a difficult and tedious process.
The future steamship king obtained a situation with the firm of William Kerr & Co., dry goods merchants, which he retained for three years, acquiring an excellent knowledge of business methods. He also mastered the French language and endeavoured to remedy the defects of his lack of educa- tion in boyhood by assiduous study. He determined to revisit for a while his native land, but previous to doing so took a trip through Upper Canada and New York State. After spending a few months in the old country Mr. Allan returned to Canada in the spring of 1831, and obtained a situation with the firm of James Millar & Co, Montreal, shipbuilders and commission merchants. Here he was en- gaged for some time in buying and shipping wheat, and he turned his knowledge and experience to such good account and devoted himself so thoroughly to the interests of the firm that after four years of service in a subordinate position lie was admitted to a partnership in the year 1837. When the rebellion of 1837 broke out he joined the Fifth Batta- lion as a volunteer and was speedily promoted to a cap- taincy. The death of the senior partner in 1838 resulted in a change of the style of the firm to that of Edmonston & Allan. The business continued steadily to develop in both its branches. In 1841 the firm were employed by the Gov- ernor-General, Lord Sydenham, to build a steam frigate which bore his name. They also constructed a small screw steamer for the Government called the Union, notable as one of the first vessels of that description built in the coun- try. The following year the firm turned their attention to
1160 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
the improvement of the navigation facilities of the port — building a powerful tug-boat and several barges to lighten vessels up and down the river. About 1845 they temporarily discontinued ship-building, devoting themselves for some years to the management of their vessels and other commer- cial interests. About this time Mr. Allan's younger brother, Andrew, acquired an interest in the firm, which after some other changes of nomenclature eventually adopted the style of Hugh & Andrew Allan. In 1851 the ship-building branch of their business was resumed, owing to the pro- posals of the Government with a view to the establish- ment of a line of iron screw steamships between Liver- pool and the St. Lawrence. The first contract was given to a Glasgow firm, but after a trial of a year and a half, the arrangement with them was abandoned as unsatis- factory, and the Allans succeeded in making terms with the Government. The first vessel built for this line was the Canadian, which made her first trip in 1853. The mail service was commenced the following year, the trips being fortnightly between Liverpool and the St. Lawrence during the season of open navigation, and monthly to Portland dur- ing the winter. The firm surmounted great difficulties and sustained heavy losses at the outset of this great enterprise, but by perseverance, energy, and judgment, succeeded at length in obtaining public confidence and placing the Allan Line on a firm and profitable basis. The four vessels at first engaged in the service were before long supplemented by ad- ditional ones. In 1857 the public demanded more frequent mail communication with England, and the Government determined that the service should be weekly throughout
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1161
the year. Four larger steamships were built, and the weekly mail service set on foot on the 1st of May, 1859. This great enterprise gave an immense impetus to the commerce of Montreal, and in connection with the other undertakings of the Allans did more than any other cause to give Canada a high place on the roll of maritime nations. The firm also established a line of steamers plying between the St. Law- rence and Glasgow. The improvement of vessel architecture seriously engaged their attention, as they were determined to spare no pains or expense to attain the style best adapted . to secure the safety and convenience of their passengers. They were the first to build steamers for the Atlantic ser- vice with the spar or flush deck now generally conceded to be a great improvement in construction, though strongly op- posed at the time of its first introduction. The Allan fleet is one of the most numerous and important on the globe, and is managed upon a strict system of organization and dis- cipline by which regular promotion is secured to competent and deserving employe's, and nothing left undone to secure thoroughness and efficiency in every detail. In 1881 the Allans owned twenty-four ocean steamships with an aggre- gate of 76,130 tons and thirteen Clyde-built clippers with a tonnage of 19,016. On more than one occasion the Imperial Government have availed themselves of the company's steamers for the transportation of troops in war time.
The remarkable business enterprise and foresight of Mr. Hugh Allan found scope in many other directions than that of his maritime undertakings. He has been identified in one way or another with nearly all the important commer- cial enterprises of a corporate character undertaken in Mon-
1162 THE SCOT IN BRIT IS U NORTH AMERICA.
treal during his time. He was a leading promoter and a' director of the Montreal Telegraph Company, a member of the directorate of the Atlantic Cable Company, and largely interested in many banking and other mercantile organiza- tions. And wherever his good judgment was largely called into requisition in the conduct of such undertaking, they were almost uniformly crowned with success. His connec- tion with the unfortunate Pacific Scandal, which has been already fully explained, is an exceptional feature in a career almost uniformly characterized by creditable public spirit and sound discretion. When Prince Arthur visited Canada in 1869 he was entertained by Mr. Allan in right royal style at his mansion of Ravenscraig, in Montreal, and at Belmere his summer residence on the beautiful shores of lake Memphremagog. In recognition no less of his eminent services to the commercial interests of Canada than cf his hospitality to the Prince he received the honour of knight- hood at the hands of Her Majesty in the year 1871. Sir Hugh was married on the 13th of September, 1844, to Matilda, second daugther of Mr. John Smith, of Montreal, by whom he had a numerous family. He died towards the close of 1882, leaving a fortune estimated at about six mil- lion dollars.
A prominent figure in the early annals of the Bay of Quinte* District was Rev. Robert McDowall, the pioneer of Presbyte- rianism in that section of the country. His parents emigra- ted from Dumfriesshire, Scotland, and settled in the State of New York. Robert McDowall was born in Saratoga County, on the 25th of July, 17G8, received his education at Wil- liam's College, Schenectady, N.Y., was ordained as a minister
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of the Reformed Dutch Church at Albany. In response to a requisition from Canada he was sent over the border by that body as a missionary in 1798, making Fredericksburg his headquarters. He had a widely extended field of labour among the then scattered and isolated settlements along the frontier. His labours were incessant and he was exposed to all the hardships and perils of travel through a wilder- ness destitute of roads, and infested with beasts of prey and hostile Indians. He usually journeyed on horseback, but sometimes afoot, and made many voyages in Indian canoes, braving with extraordinary courage the dangers by land and water. These journeys extended as far east as Quebec, and on jone occasion at least he travelled as far West as Middle- sex County. Mr. McDowall was of a robust physique, lithe and muscular, qualities which often stood him in good stead in encountering perils to which a man of weaker physical frame must inevitably have succumbed. He was a welcome visitor in the lonely cabins of the settlers. He preached to congregations hastily assembled in the open air or in some available barn or schoolhouse, and held his auditors entranced by the power and soul-stirring eloquence of his discourses. His ready humour, lively wit and cordiality of manner in social intercourse rendered him almost univer- sally popular. For years he was the only available minis- ter in a large district for solemnizing the rites of marriage and baptism, and his advent would often be the signal for the assembling of numerous candidates for the matrimon- ial estate or ad mission to the visible church, the ceremon- ial having been perforce deferred for sometime until his arrival. As money was then very scarce his services in
1164 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
celebrating the marriage rite were often gratuitous, and sometimes the contracting parties testified their apprecia- tion by offering what would now be considered out of place. It is stated that one grateful bridegroom paid his tribute in the form of a load of pumpkins. It is recorded in Dr. Can- niffs history of the " Settlement of Upper Canada " that on one occasion Mr. McDowall walked all the way from the Bay of Quinte* to York following the lake shore and swim- ming the rivers that could not be forded. In 1837 he was appointed by the Synod a member of a committee in- structed to consider the propriety of sending a deputation to Scotland forthe object of establishing a Collegiate Theo- logical Institution and took a deep interest in the work pre- liminary to the establishment of Queen's College and Uni- versity at Kingston. An interesting relic of his ministry is hisrecord of marriages and baptisms now in the possession of his grandson, Mr. R. J. McDowall, of Kingston, which con- tains about 3,000 entries. Mr. McDowall was an earnest temperance reformer and probably the first public advocate of total abstinence in this country. This veteran pioneer in the cause of religion closed his long and useful life on the 3rd of August, 1841. He left a widow and family, having at an early period of his ministry married Hannah Wash- burn, daughter of Ebenezer Washburn, M. P., and sister of Hon. Simeon Washburn, Senator.
Lachlan McCallura, of Stromness, for many years M. P. for Monck, was born in Argyllshire, Scotland, on the loth of March, 1823, and emigrated to Canada in 1842. He settled in Haldimand County where he engaged extensively in contracting and ship-building. He received several con-
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1165
tracts from the Government for the construction of harlours on Lakes Ontario and Erie.
During the Fenian raid of 1866, Mr. McCallum command- ed the Dunnville Naval Company at Fort Erie. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the representation of Haldimand in the Canadian Assembly at the general election of 1862, but was more fortunate in 1867, when he was returned for the Dominion House of Commons for Monck. He represent- ed the same constituency in the Ontario Legislature for a year, resigning in 1 872, when dual representation was abolished. He was a candidate for the Commons in 1872, but was de- feated by Mr. J. D. Edgar, but in 1874 he was again elected over the same opponent, though the following year he was unseated for bribery committed by his agents. He was, how- ever, re-elected the same year, and defeated Mr. Edgar again in 1878. Mr. McCallum is a Conservative in politics, and his practical common sense and technical knowledge made him a useful member of the House.
Hector Cameron, Q.C, and member of the Dominion House of Commons for the North Riding of the County of Victoria, is the son of Assistant Commissary-General Ken- neth Cameron, and was born at Montreal, on the 3rd of June, 1832. By his father's side, he is descended from the Glen Dessary branch of the Clan Cameron of Inverness-shire. His mother was the daughter of Mr. Robert Selby, of North Earl, Northumberland, England. The family returned to England during Hector Cameron's boyhood, and he was sent to King's College, London, and afterwards to Trinity College Dublin, where he graduated in 1851. Returning to Canada the same year, he took the degree of M. A. at Toronto Univer-
1166 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
sity. General Cameron was subsequently assigned to duties in connection with the Commissariat Department in Montreal, where he died in 1855. After Hector Cameron had com- pleted his University studies he entered upon the study of the law, with his distinguished namesake, Hon. J. Hillyard Cameron, and was called to the bar in 1854', when he at once commenced the practice of his profession. In the year 1858 he entered into partnership with Hon. Adam Crooks. This connection was dissolved the following year, when Mr. Cameron received into partnership the late Mr. Thomas Moss, who afterwards rose to the position of Chief Justice. In 1864 Mr. Moss retired, Mr. Cameron practised alone until 1876, when he became the leading member of the firm of Cameron & Appleby. His practice has for many years been large and lucrative, as he sustains an excellent reputation as a skilful and profound lawyer. He was created a Queen's Counsel in 1872. A large share of Mr. Cameron's practice is in connection with railway and telegraph companies, for several of which he has a standing retainer. He has also taken a prominent part as director in several railway under- takings. For many years he has taken an active interest in politics. He contested South Victoria unsuccessfully for the House of Commons in 1867, and was again on the losing side in 1874, when he received the Conservative nomination for the north riding of the same county. Better success attended him in a subsequent contest in the latter constitu- ency the year following, his temporarily triumphant oppo- nent, Mr. McLennan, having been unseated. Although the second contest was at first decided in favour of Mr. McLen- nan, a scrutiny of votes gave the seat to Mr. Cameron, and
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 116T
he has since retained it, being returned at the two last gen- eral elections. His course in Parliament has been consistently Conservative, and he is a hard-working and useful member. He has occupied the responsible position of chairman of the Private Bills Committee. When he takes part in the debates of the House it is generally in relation to some legal point, his professional standing giving great weight to his views upon all such questions. Mr. Cameron was married, in 1860, to Clara, eldest daughter of Mr. William Boswell, barrister, of Cobourg, by whom he has two children.
William Clyde Caldwell, member of the Provincial Legis- lature for North Lanark, and a prominent man in Ipcal affairs, was born in the village of Lanark, on the 14th of May, 1843, his parents being Alexander and Mary Ann Campbell, both natives of Scotland. He was educated at Queen's College ,Kingston, graduating in 1864. He engaged in the lumbering industry, which was also his father's prin- cipal business. His operations during late years have been very extensive, the out-put of his saw-mills amounting to about 6,000,000 feet annually, of which a large proportion is shipped to Oswego, in New York State. Mr. Caldwell is also a miller, and has devoted considerable attention to farm- ing. He is known in his locality as an energetic and public- spirited man, and has held a number of municipal offices. A vacancy occurring in the representation of North Lanark in the Provincial Legislature, in 1872, owing to the resignation of Mr. Daniel Galbraith, Mr. Caldwell was elected in the Reform interest. He sustained a defeat in the general elec- tions of Ib75, but was again i-eturned in 1879 and in 1883. His name has become familiar to the public of late years, by
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reason of the constitutional conflict over the passage of the Rivers and Streams "Bill by the Local House, and its dis- allowance by the Dominion Government, the question as to the right of the proprietor of land, through which a navigable stream flows, to prevent its use by parties owning timber limits on the upper waters, having been first raised in con- nection with his lumbering operations. In politics, Mr. Cald- well is a Reformer.
James Hall, of Peterborough, a former member of the Can- adian Parliament, both before and after Confederation, was born in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, in 1806, his father being a merchant of the same name. He received his educa- tion in the grammar school of his native town, and studied the profession of civil engineer in the office of his brother, Francis Hall. In 1820, the family came to Canada, settling in the Township of Lanark, then a wilderness. Their house was, in fact, the first built in the township. After remaining for some time on the farm, James Hall, junr., started a store and distillery which he sold in 1830, going to Halifax, N. S., where for about two years he practiced his profession as a civil-engineer and surveyor. Returning to Lanark, he engaged for a short time in the tanning business, first in Lanark and afterwards in Peterborough, to which town he removed in 1834. Here he was also concerned in extensive commercial operations, buying wheat largely, and shipping flour to Montreal and lumber to New York State, being the first man in the neighbourhood to engage in those enterprises. He was elected as Parliamentary representative of the united Counties of Peterborough and Victoria in 1848, and retained his seat until 1852. He gave up business in 1856, and in
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the same year was appointed Sheriff of the united Counties. The separation of the counties took place in 1863, Mr. Hall retaining the shrievalty of Peterborough until 1872, when he resigned, and again went into politics, being elected mem- ber of the Dominion House of Commons for East Peter- borough in 1873. He remained in public life until 1878. He was a consistent Reformer during his parliamentary career. Mr. Hall has also held several municipal offices, in- cluding that of Mayor of Peterborough, and has always maintained a lively interest in anything tending to promote the moral and intellectual welfare of the community, having been President of the Peterborough Literaiy Club and Mech- anics' Institute, and an active Sunday school worker. He married, in 1830, Jane Albro, daughter of Samuel Albro, of Dartmouth, N. S., who died in 1868, and by whom he had a large family. James Albro Hall, his eldest son, succeeded to the shrievalty of Peterborough on his father's resignation, and one of his daughters is the wife of Mr. Sandford Fleming. Mr. Hall was re-married, his present wife being the daughter of Fergus Ferguson, of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Donald Guthrie, Q. C., of Guelph, who for several years represented South Wellington in the House of Commons, is a native of Edinburgh. The date of his birth is May 8th, 1840. His father, Hugh Guthrie, was in business for many years in the Scottish capital. Donald Guthrie came to Canada when about fourteen years of age, and was articled as a law student to Hon. Oliver Mowat. He completed his legal education in the offices of Mr. John Helliwell, Tor- onto, Hon. A. J. Fergusson-Blair and Mr. John J. Kingsmill, Guelph. He was admitted to practice as an attorney in
1170 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
1863, called to thejbar in 1866,and created a Queen's Coun- sel in 1876. Mr. Gutlirie is a senior partner in the firm of Guthrie, Watt & Cutten, of Guelph, and has a brilliant reputation as a forensic orator. He is Solicitor for the County of Wellington and the City of Guelph, and holds other important and responsible positions. In 1876 he was elected to Parliament for South Wellington, on the resi<ma-
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tion of the sitting member, Mr. David Stirton, and in 1878, which proved a year of disaster to many Reform representa- tives, was re-elected. Mr. Guthrie is one of the leading
O
citizens of Guelph. His wife, to whom he was .united/ in 1863, is a sister of Rev. Dr. D. H. MacVicar, Principal of the Presbyterian College at Montreal.
Hon. Peter Gow, .of Guelph, Sheriff of the County of Wel- lington, and formerly a member of the Ontario Ministry, is a native of Johnstone, Renfrewshire, where he was born on the 20th of November, 1818, being a son of John Gow, a boot and shoe manufacturer. His mother's maiden name was Agnes Ferguson, and she came from Argyllshire. He assisted in his father's business until his departure for Canada in 1S42. After spending a couple of years in Brock- ville, he came to Guelph, where he built a tannery and kept a leather store. He continued this business until about the year 1868. During this period he also built a woollen and oatmeal mill, and engaged in other enterprises. Before Guelph attained the dignity of a city, Mr. Gow took an ac- tive part in municipal affairs. In 1866, after a lengthened period of service in' the town council, he was elected Mayor, an office which he filled with credit to himself and advan- tage to the citizens, who, on his retirement, showed their ap-
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1171
preciation of his labours in their behalf by presenting him with a service of plate. He was the first representative of South Wellington in the Ontario Parliament when it was organized in 1867 — and was re-elected by acclamation in 1871. When the administration of Hon. John Sandfield Macdonald was overthrown in the same year, Mr. Gow en- tered the Cabinet organized by Mr. Blake, with the port- folio of Provincial Secretary. He did not remain long in office,however, retiring with his chief in 1872, though he re- tained his seat until 1876, when he was appointed Sheriff of Wellington County. Mr. Gow married, in 1857, Mary Max- well Smith, of Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, and has a family of nine sons and one daughter.
David Stirton, Postmaster of Guelph, was born in Forfar- shire, Scotland, in 1816, his parents, James and Janet Stir- ton, emigrating to Canada when David was about eleven years of age. The family settled in the bush about five miles from the present city of Guelph. At that time there were no schools in the neighbourhood, so that, with the ex- ception of the rudiments of instruction, which he had ob- tained before leaving Scotland, David Stirton's education was entirely self-acquired. He shared in all the labours of "" roughing it " in the bush, and for forty-five years, as man and boy, toiled as a farmer in the townships of Guelph and Puslinch. He was long connected with the municipal affairs of the latter township. For nineteen consecutive years, ending with 1867, he represented South Wellington in the old Canadian Parliament, and for nine years after Confederation retained a seat in the House of Commons for that constituency. It is very seldom that any representa- 16
3172 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
tive of the people can show such a long-continued and un- broken term of service. Mr. Stirton retired from Parlia- mentary life in 1876, upon his appointment to the office of Postmaster of Guelph. He has been twice married — in 1842 to Miss Mary Beattie of Puslinch, and in 1847 to Miss Henrietta M'Gregor — having children by both marriages. His brother, Mr. William Stirton was the first male child born in Guelph.
Col. John Walker, of London, was bom in Argyleshire, Scotland, in 1832. He was educated in Stirling, and had been for several years engaged in business in Leith and Glasgow, when, in 1864, his abilities attracted the attention of a number of Scottish capitalists, who were in want of an agent to look after their interests at Both well, Canada West, where they had purchased some oil lands and other property from Hon. George Brown. Col. Walker soon found that he had no easy task, as the petroleum excitement had attracted to Bothwell a large number of adventurers, in- cluding a lawless element, which required to be kept in order. He received a special appointment as magistrate, and his firmness and decision of character in that capacity were of much service in checking the incipient tendency to dis- order. In 1867 he took up his residence in London, and entered upon extensive operations in the manufacture of sulphuric acid and oil refining. He speedily became one of the most prominent citizens, and acquired a great influence in public affairs. He has been concerned in a great many important commercial enterprises, and in various ways has contributed to the progress and prosperity of the city with which his interests are identified. At the time of the Fen-
TEE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1173
ian raid in 1866, Col. Walker raised a company of volunteers in Bothwell, and afterwards in 1870, when danger was again apprehended from this source, he was assigned to the com- mand of the militia forces at Windsor, having in the mean-
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time attained the rank of major in the 7th Battalion. In 1877 he was advanced to the rank of Colonel, and has since commanded the battalion. Col. Walker is a member of the Council of the Dominion Rifle Association, and one of the vice-presidents of the Ontario Rifle Association. In 1874 Col. Walker received the nomination of the Reformers of London for the House of Commons, his opponent being Hon. John Carl ing. The contest, which was a very keen one, resulted in Col. Walker's being returned, but the election was controverted, and after a trial which created intense interest throughout the country, he was unseated. He en- tered upon another contest in 1878, but Mr. Carling was again successful. Col. Walker has been president of the London Mechanics' Institute, and also of the St. Andrew's Society.
Lieut.-Col. Alexander Allan Stevenson, of Montreal, was born in the parish of Riccarton, Ayrshire, in January, 1829. The family came to Canada in 1846, and he was apprenticed to the printing trade in Montreal, serving the latter part of his time in the Herald office. In partnership with two others, he started the Sun newspaper in 1853. His venture proved successful, the paper gaining a wide-spread popular- ity. Subsequently, he embarked in a general printing busi- ness, which he continued to conduct until the year 1879. Early in his business career, Mr. Stevenson joined the Mon- treal Mechanics' Institute, of which he was for many years
1174 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
a most active member, having at one time or other held every office in the list. He was connected with the Board of Arts and Manufactures for Lower Canada, which, after Confederation, became the Council of Arts and Manufactures for the Province of Quebec. He has held the position of President of the Council, and is at present Treasurer of the Permanent Exhibition Committee for Quebec, which is com- posed of members of the Council of Agriculture and Arts. Mr. Stevenson is, perhaps, more generally known to the public in connection with military affairs than in any other capacity. In 1855 he assisted in organizing the celebrated Montreal Field Battery of Artillery. He was promoted to a Lieutenancy in 1856, and in the same year succeeded to the command, which position he has since retained. In 1858 this corps had the honour of participating in the great mili- tary celebration held in New York in connection with the laying of the first Atlantic Cable. The Montreal Field Battery is the only British military organization that has carried the Union Jack through the streets of New York since the evacaution of the British, a cen- tury ago. Col. Stevenson became a Free Mason in 1856, holding various subordinate offices in the fraternity, until, in 1868, he attained the highest position it was in their power to. confer, being chosen Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Canada. This office he held for three successive years. He was also appointed by the Prince of Wales, as head of the Knights Templars, Knight Commander of the Temple. He was one of the founders of the Caledonian Society of Mont- real, established in 1855, being chosen Secretary, and after- wards occupied the presidential chair for many years. In
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1176
1870, Col. Stevenson formed one of a delegation from that society to the convention in New York, which resulted in the organization of the North American United Caledonia Association, which exercises a continental jurisdiction over affiliated clubs and societies. He was also an active mem- ber of the St. Andrew's Society of Montreal, of which he was elected president in 1878. In this capacity he received the Marquis of Lome and the Princess Louise at the St. Andrew's ball held in their honour on their arrival in Canada. He was elected to the City Council in 1861, serving for six years, during part of which time he officiated as Acting Mayor. In 1882 he was again chosen to a seat in the Coun- cil, where he has been of great service to the city. Colonel Stevenson has taken an active part in politics on the Con- servative side. In 1874, without his knowledge or consent, he received the Conservative nomination, as a candidate for the House of Commons, for the constituency of Montreal West. His opponent was Mr. Frederick McKenzie, who headed the poll on election day, though, on the petition of Col. Stevenson, he was afterwards unseated on the ground of bribery by agents. Col. Stevenson has been put in nomi- nation as a representative on two other occasions, but in both cases declined the honour.
"Rev. Matthew Witherspoon Maclean, pastor of St. Andrew's Church, Belleville, was born in Glasgow, on the llth of June, 1812, and completed his education at the University of that city. While a divinity student, he visited Canada in 1802, and decided to make this country the field of his labours. He entered the Divinity Hall of Queen's College, Kingston, where he studied two years, afterwards attending a session
1176 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
of Princeton Theological Seminary, New Jersey, where he graduated in 18GG. Returning to Canada in that year, he was licensed by the Presbytery of Niagara in connection with the Church of Scotland. His first pastoral charge was St. Andrew's Church, Paisley, in Bruce County. Here he found abundant scope for his zeal and energy. The country was newly settled, and the spiritual wants of the people had been but inefficiently and irregularly supplied. Mr. Maclean found himself the only pastor belonging to his denomination within forty miles. His work extended over the large area of five townships, and, in addition to daily pastoral visits, he travelled, every Sabbath, from twenty to forty miles, preach- ing three times a day. His church increased so rapidly that it became necessary to provide additional accommoda- tion for what had previously been a sparse and dwindling congregation. Three mission-stations were organized at different points in the neighbourhood. After five years of persistent and effective labour in this place, Mr. Maclean ac- cepted a call to the Mill Street Presbyterian Church at Port Hope, where he remained for two years. In 1873 he went to Belleville, where he became pastor of St. Andrew's Church, which is the oldest Presbyterian Church in the city, and comprises among its members and adherents a very large proportion of the most substantial and cultivated people of the city. Since his acceptance of the pastorate of St. An- drew's, Mr. Maclean filled the office of Clerk of the Presby- tery of Kingston, in connection with the Church of Scotland, up to the time of the union of the Presbyterian Churches of the Dominion. Mr. Maclean is an able and scholarly preach - er, and most zealous in the discharge of the various duties of
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his high office. He is also highly successful as a platform speaker, uniting elaboration of thought with fluency and grace of expression.
George Ralph Richardson Cockburn, for upwards of twenty years Principal of Upper Canada College, is a native of Edinburgh, his natal day being the 15th of February, 1834. He was educated at the Edinburgh High School and University, and at his graduation in 1857 took the Stratton Prize. He subsequently prosecuted his classical studies in Germany and France. In 1858 he commenced his Canadian career, having been appointed by the Council of Public In- struction to the Rectorship of the Model Grammar School for Upper Canada. He was shortly afterwards commis- sioned by the Government to inspect the higher educational institutions of the Province. The results of this investiga- tion, which extended over a period of two years, were given to the public in two comprehensive reports, in which the condition and needs of higher education were elaborately set forth. Mr. Cockburn then visited a number of the prin- cipal institutions of learning in the United States in order to familiarize himself thoroughly with their methods. In 18C1 the Government appointed him Principal of Upper Canada College and a member of the Senate of Toronto University. He has had a long and successful career as an instructor of youth, and under his able management Upper Canada College has obtained a high reputation both for the thoroughness of its teaching and the excellent moral influ- ences prevailing within its walls. There are few men who have done more for the cause of Canadian education than Principal Cockbum. The celebrated Dr. Schmitz of Edin-
1178 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
burgh said of him, that he was no ordinary scholar, but a thorough philologist, possessing a good insight into the structure, the relations and affinities subsisting between the ancient and modern languages of Europe, and also character- ized him as one of the best Latin scholars that Scotland has produced.
Judge Henry Macpherson, of Owen Sound, is a son of Lowther P. Macpherson, barrister, and grandson of Lieut. - Col. Donald Macpherson, who commanded the fort at King- ston in the beginning of the war of 1812, being afterwards removed to Quebec. Donald Macpherson was the son of Evan Macpherson of Cluny, the chief of the clan Macpher- son, who took part in the rising in favour of Prince Charles in 1745. Henry Macpherson was born at Picton, Prince Edward County, in 1832, his mother being a daughter of Lieut.-Col. Allan McLean, of Kingston, for sixteen years Speaker of the old Canadian Assembly. He was educated at Kingston Grammar School and Queen's College, graduat- ing from the latter institution in 1851. He studied law with Mr Thomas Kirkpatrick, of the same city, and was admitted as an attorney in 1854 and called to the bar the following year. Mr. Macpherson practised his profession at Owen Sound for about ten years, and in 1865 was made Judge of the County Court of the County of Grey. In 1879 he received the additional appointment of Surrogate Judge of the Maritime Court. Judge Macpherson is a leading Freemason, and has held several important positions in the Order. He is Past Senior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of Canada. He takes a heartfelt interest in local enterprises, and has identified himself with many organiza-
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tions of a practical as well as a social character. He was united in marriage in May 1875 to Miss Eliza M. McLean, daughter of Allan N. McLean, of Toronto.
Sir Alexander Campbell, though of English birth is of Scottish descent. He was born in 1821 in the neighbour- hood of Kingston-upon-Hull, Yorkshire, his father being Dr. James Campbell. His parents came to Canada when he was very young, first settling in Lachine, and afterwards remov- ing to Kingston, where young Campbell completed his educa- cation at the Royal Grammar School. He then turned his attention to the study of the law under Mr. Henry Cassidy, a leading Kingston practitioner, and upon his death, which occurred in 1839, entered the office of Mr. John A. Macdonald. He was admitted to practice in 1842, when he was taken into partnership by Mr. Macdonald, which continued for many years. In 1843 he was called to the bar. Mr. Campbell1 now entered upon a very successful and profitable course, the firm receiving a very large practice. The beginning of his distinguished public career was his election as an alder- man in 1851. He served in this capacity for two years. In 1856 he was created a Queen's Counsel. Tha Legislative Council having been made elective, Mr. Campbell, in 1858, came forward as the'Conservative candidate for the Catara- (jui Division and obtained the seat by a handsome majority. He speedily attained a leading position in Parliament by his ability and tact, and in 1863 was elected Speaker of the Council for the remainder of the Parliamentary term. He was now regarded as one of the foremost men in public life, and during the ministerial crisis of March, 1864 was sent for by the Governor-General and requested to organize a cabinet.
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He did not feel sure enough of his position to accept the re- sponsibilities of leadership, but took the Commissioner-ship of Crown Lands in the Tache'-Macdonald administration. This cabinet fell to pieces before long, but Mr. Campbell re- tained his port-folio in that which succeeded it. When the Confederation scheme came up for consideration Mr. Camp- bell strenuously supported it. He was a member of the Union Conference which met in Quebec, in 1864, and during the parliamentary discussion of the subject was its foremost •advocate in the Upper Chamber. One of the happiest and most forcible utterances of Mr. Campbell's career is the notable speech which he delivered on the 17th of February, 1865, in reply to the antagonists of Confederation. Upon the organization of the Senate in 1867, Mr. Campbell was nomi- nated as one of the members, and has since been the leader of the Conservative party in that body. He took office as Postmaster-General in the first ministry organized after Con- federation and retained that position for about six years. In 1870 he went to England in connection with the negoti- ations which resulted in the Treaty of Washington. In 1873 he became Minister of the Interior, a post which he did not retain long, as in November of the same year the govern- ment of which he was a member was driven from office on
•
account of the Pacific Scandal revelations. Mr. Campbell was leader of the Opposition in the Senate during Mr. Mac- kenzie's five years tenure of office, and upon the return of the Conservatives to power in 1878 became Receiver-Gen- eral, a position which he exchanged for his old port-folio as Postmaster- General the year following. In May 1879, he was created a Knight of the order of St. Michael and St.
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George. He was appointed Minister of Militia in 1880, but a readjustment of offices, which took place in November of that year, restored him to the head of the Post Office Depart- ment. Sir Alexander Campbell is a hardworking and use- ful public official, and an influential party leader. He is not brilliant or eloquent but eminently clear-headed, sound and far-seeing. The unvarying moderation and courtesy of his speeches have done much to elevate the tone of public dis- cussion. In 1855 he married Miss Georgina Frederica Locke, daughter of Mr. Thomas Sandwith, of Beverley* England.
Another Senator of English birth and Scottish blood is Hon. James Skead, who was born on the 31st of January, 1816, in Cumberland — his father William Skead being a Scot. James was about ten years of age when his father emigrated. He remained on a farm near Montreal for some years, and aftenvards removed to Ottawa. James Skead grew up with very few educational advantages, and is almost entirely self-instructed. He engaged in lumbering in 1840' and for thirty years had a course of almost uninterrupted prosperity, though more recently he sustained some reverses In 18G2 Mr. Skead was elected as a representative of Rideau Division to the Legislative Council, and retained that posi- tion until Confederation, when he was called to the Senate. He contested Carleton unsuccessfully for the Local Legisla- ture in 18G7. He was chosen President of the Conservative Convention which met in Toronto in 1874. Among the public and commercial positions which he has held are those of President of the Dominion Board of Trade, of the Ottawa Board of Trade, of the Ottawa Liberal Conservative Associ- ation and of the Agricultural and Arts Association of On-
1182 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
tario. He is largely interested in a number of commercial and railway enterprises and has done a great deal in various directions to promote the progress and welfare of the locality where his wealth has been acquired. He married in 1842 Miss Rosanna McKay, a native of the North of Ireland, and has a large family.
Allan Macdonell was born in Toronto, about the year 1810, and was admitted to the bar in 1832, having studied law in the office of Mr. H. J. Boulton, then Attorney Gen- eral. In the following year he entered into partnership with the late Sir Allan N. Macnab. Shortly previous to the rebellion of 1837, he was appointed to the shrievalty of the Gore District. When the outbreak occurred, Sheriff Macdonell raised a troop of cavalry, arming and equipping them at his own expense an outlay for which he was never re- imbursed. This corps originally enrolled for six months, re- mained in service for a considerably longer period. Mr. Mac- donell resigned the Gore shrievalty, after holding the posi- tion for about five years. In the winter of 1846, he obtain- ed from the Government a license for exploring the shore of Lake Superior for mines, and with the aid of friends fitted out a prospecting expedition. At that time, Lake Superior was but little known. There were naither steamers nor sailing vessels upon its waters and the only available mode of transit was by canoe or open boat. The expedition con- sisting of eleven men with the necessary provisions and equipments, and an open boat of good size started early in the spring of 18.47. They experienced a good deal of diffi- culty in obtaining guides and voyageurs, as the Hudson Bay Company claimed the exclusive control of the Lake Superior
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1183
region. Mr. Macdonell was told that he must report the ex- pedition at the Hudson Bay forts along the coast, but he refused to do this, and his enterprise was regarded with a good deal of jealousy by the Company. He was followed by another party of raining prospectors headed by Mr. Shephard, who represented the interests of a number of Montreal investors. The latter body afterwards organized as the Montreal Company, were on a friendly footing with the Hudson Bay Company, and had the advantage of their assistance in the enterprise. Mr. Macdonell, continued his explorations with good success until November, when he proceeded to Montreal and reported his discoveries to the Government. The result of his expedition was the form- ation of the Quebec Company, in which he merged his inter- est in the locations secured. Mining operations were carri- ed on successfully for several years. A good deal of diffi- culty was experienced, owing to the disregard of the rights of the Indians to the soil. In selling the lands occupied by the Quebec Company, which were then in the occupation of the Aborigines, the Government altogether overlooked the claims of the Indians for compensation. The matter was repeatedly brought to their attention. Deputations of the Chiefs of the band were sent to the seat of Government to urge their claims. Mr. Macdonell, who was impressed with the necessity of dealing justly with the Indians, accompani- ed them on two occasions. The Chiefs had an interview with Lord Elgin, and one of them plainly told him that unless their rights were recognised and compensation awarded them they would drive the miners from their lands. Lord Elgin promised that a treaty should be made with them under
1184 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
which their interests would be secured. Mr. Macdonell, subsequently had two or three interviews with Hon. Robert Baldwin, the then Premier, who authorized him to assure the Indians that they should have every justice, and that commissioners would be sent without delay to negotiate a treaty. This was done shortly afterwards, but owing to the incompetency of the commissioners appointed, no under- standing was arrived at. The result was that the Indians put their threat into execution and resumed possession of their property, closing the mines and driving off the work- men to the number of about 150, without, however, doing any injury either to persons or property. In this course they were supported by Mr. Macdonell, who felt that in no other way could they obtain their rights. A military expedition was sent up to the mines to restore order, and Mr. Macdonell and two of the Indian chiefs were arrested and brought to Toronto. On being taken before the Chief Justice under a writ of Habeas Corpus, they were at once released, and the sum of $400 was paid the Indians as compensation. The question of the Indian title to the lands was finally settled in 1850, when the Government appointed Hon. William B. Robinson to negotiate a treaty under which the Indians re- ceived $20,000 down and a further annual payment of $4,000 to be increased in proportion to the sales of land, in return for the surrender of their title to all the region extending Northward from Lake Superior to the height of land.
Mr. Macdonell continued for several years longer con- nected with mining and other interests in the Lake Superior region. In 1850 he projected the construction of a canal around the Sault Ste. Marie on the Canadian side, and had
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1185-
the requisite surveys and estimates prepared, and a com- pany formed to undertake the work. The charter was re- fused by the Government, however, being opposed by the Lower Canadians. The want was supplied a year or two later by the construction of a canal on the American side of the Sault. Mr. Macdonell afterwards applied to Parliament for a charter authorizing the construction of a railway westward from the head of Lake Superior to the Pacific Ocean. In his explorations of the country lying west of the Lake, he had acquired from Indians and voyageurs whom he met a good knowledge of the country and its capabilities, and at that early date published a series of letters in the Toronto newspapers advocating the scheme of a Pacific Jlailwa)''. The application to Parliament was not successful, as the Railway Committee threw out the bill on the ground that it was premature. Mr. Macdonell, however, continued to devote himself to the object of opening up communica- tion with the North West, and in 1858 procured from Par- liament the charter of the North West Transit Company, conferring upon them very extensive powers including rail- road and canal construction, and the improvement of water courses in any portion of Canada, west of Lake Superior, or north of that Lake or Lake Huron. Sir Allan Macnab was at one time President, and Mr. John'Beverley Robinson, Sec- retary of the company, which, however, did not prove a suc- cessful institution, and after some years ceased to exist. Mr. Macdonell is now a resident of Toronto.
The name of Mrs. Moodie is well-known, both to Cana- dian and to English readers in connection with her descrip- tive writings — Roughing it in the Bash, a book depicting
1186 THE SCOT I2V BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
the difficulties of a settler's life half a century ago is the most popular of her books. Mrs. Moodie is English by birth and parentage, being a member of the celebrated Strickland family. Her husband, Mr. J. W. Dunbar Moodie, was of ancient Orcadian stock. The name was originally spelled Mudie, and is of Scandinavian origin ; being de- rived from the old Norwegian Earls of Orkney. His great grandfather, Captain James Moodie of the Royal Navy, was A distinguished officer who rendered important services to his country in Spain where he succeeded in relieving the town of Denia when it was closely besieged by the French. He was selected by the government after the death of Queen Anne to convey her successor, King George I., to England, and was murdered in the streets of Kirkwall, Orkney, in 1725, at the age of eighty, by Sir James Stewart, an adhe- rent of the Pretender.
The murderer was afterwards brought to justice through the instrumentality of the son of his victim, who was only nine years of age when his father was killed ; but deter- mined to revenge his death, and many years afterwards delivered the assassin who had again taken up arms for the Pretender over to the authorities. Sir James, however, committed suicide in the Tower. J. W. Dunbar Moodie was the fourth son of Major James Moodie of Melsetter, in the Orkney Islands, where he was born on the 7th October, 1707. He entered the army as second Lieutenant of the R. N. B. Fusiliers or 21st Regiment of foot in 1813, when about sixteen years of age. He had an early experience of the horrors of war, being engaged in the night attack at Bergen - op-zoom on the 8th of March, 1814, when after entering
TEE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1187
the works with a small party of soldiers in the midst of darkness and confusion he succeeded in forcing open one of the gates and lowering the drawbridge. On this occasion he sustained a severe wound in the left wrist from a musket ball which disabled his hand and arm. He shortly afte'r- wards retired from the service on half-pay. In 1810 Mr. Moodie joined his elder brother Benjamin who had emigrated to South Africa, and remained in that coun- try about ten years. On his return to England in 1829, •he met at the house of a friend in London, Susanna Strickland, whom he shortly afterwards married. Mrs. Moodie is the daughter of Thomas Strickland, of Rey- don Hall, near Southwold in Suffolk, several of whose family became widely known as popular writers. Miss Agnes Strickland, an elder sister of Mrs. Moodie's, pub- lished a large number of poetical, fictitious and histori- cal works, the most extensive and best known of which is her Lives of the Queens of England. Some years previous to her marriage with Mr. Moodie, Susanna Strickland had united with her sister Agnes in the pub- lication of a volume of Patriotic Songs and had writ- ten several other books. In 1832, Mr. Moodie emigrated to Canada West and took up land as a half-pay officer, in the Township of Douro, near 'Peterborough. The experience of the family, like that of very many others whose previous training has not been such as to fit them to encounter the hardships or endure with equanimity the rough as- sociations and coarse surroundings of backwoods life, was extremely disheartening. The stoiy of their strug- gles to gain a livelihood upon a bush fann for seven 17
1188 THE SCOT IN DRITISU NORTH AMERICA.
years is graphically told in Mrs. Moodie's work entitled Roughing it in the Bush, which won for its talented authoress a wide spread reputation. The book is a narra- tive of plain facts sot forth in a telling, vivacious style, and while it does not in any way belittle the real advan- tages presented by Canada as a field for emigrants accus- tomed to hard manual labour, emphasizes a truth that it is well should be known and heeded by intending emi- grants, namely, that persons delicately reared, accustomed to a life of luxury, and dependent upon the services of others, in the household, do not as a rule succeed in obtaining either pleasure or profit from a farmer's life in Canada. Of course the circumstances have vastly altered since Mrs. Moodie's book was written, and many of the hardships to which the Moodies were subjected are now greatly mitigated even on the outskirts of civilization, but the experience of thousands of later emigrants goes to confirm their experience that the in- bred instincts and long established habits, such as fit a man for a professional career in England, do not impart the qualifications needed for a practical farmer in Canada. It would have been better both for the country and for those who have made the mistake of attempting a mode of living for which they were in no respect adapted, had this been more generally understood in Britain.
On the breaking out of the rebellion in 1837, Mr. Moodie immediately offered his services to the Government, and served for several months during the winter of that year in the Provincial Militia at Toronto, and afterwards on the Niagara frontier holding the rank of Captain in the Queen's Own Regiment. In the fall cf 1838 he was appointed cap-
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1189
tain and pay-master to sixteen companies of militia distribut- ed along the shores of Lake Ontario and the Bay of Quinte. In November, 1839, he was appointed by Sir George Arthur to the shrievalty of the District of Victoria, now the county of Hastings. This position he held until 1863, when he re- signed. Colonel Moodie had decided literary tastes, and pub- lished several volumes principally relating to his travels nnQ adventures. Ten Years in South Africa was issued in England in 1835, favourably received by the press and public, and in 1866 a book from his pen entitled Scenes and Adventures as a Soldier and Settler, including a num- ber of miscellaneous sketches some of which had previously appeared in serial form was published in Montreal. Col. Hoodie's death occurred on the 22nd October, 1869. His widow is still living, at an advanced age and is a resident of Toronto. A revised edition of Roughing it in the Bush was issued in Toronto in 1871. Among her other works are, Life in the Clearings, Flora Lindsay, Mark Hurdlcstone, The World before Them, Matrimonial Speculations, and Geoffrey Monclon.
Dr. Daniel Clark, Superintendent of the Provincial Luna- tic Asylum, Toronto, was born in Granton, Inverness-shire, Scotland, on the 29th of August, 1835. His father, Alexan- der Clark, was a native of Morayshire. The family came to this country in 1841, and settled near Port Dover, in the County of Norfolk, where his father engaged in farming. In 1850 Daniel went to California, where he realized a large amount of money by placer mining. Returning to Canada the following year, he at once set about obtaining an educa- tion. After attending the Simcce Grammar School for some
1190 THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
time, he pursued classical and medical studies at Toronto, graduating from the Victoria University Medical Depart- ment in 1858. He then went to Europe, and took a course of lectures at Edinburgh University, and visited the London and Paris hospitals. After an extended European tour, he
returned home in the summer of 1859, and commenced the practice of his profession at Princeton, Oxford County. In.
18G4) he joined the Federal armies of the Potomac and the James, being attached to the Surgeon -general's depart- ment as a volunteer surgeon. He returned to Princeton at the close of the war. Dr. Clark was, for many years, a frequent contributor to periodical literature, especially to- the Medical Journal, Stewart's Quarterly, the Maritime Monthly, and the Canadian Monthly. He is the author of a work entitled Pen Photographs, comprising descrip- tive sketches of eminent persons, essays, and scenes of travel, published in 1873 ; and also of a novel, dealing with the Canadian Rebellion of 1837, called Josiah Garth. In addition to his miscellaneous literary work, Dr. Clark has written considerably upon professional subjects' In- 1872 he was chosen a member of the Medical Council of Ontario, and was re-elected to the position in 1875. Dur- ing the two following years he filled the Presidential chair of the Council1 Among other positions occupied by Dr. Clark, which testify to, the estimation in which he is held by the medical profession, have been those of Exam- iner in Chemistry for the College of Physicians and Sur- geons of Ontario, and Examiner in Obstetrics and Medical Jurisprudence for Toronto University. In December, 1875, ne was appointed to the arduous and responsible post, which
THE SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1101
he now holds, of Superintendent of the Provincial Lunatic Asylum at Toronto. This step was taken in accordance with the general desire of the medical profession, as unani- mously expressed by the Medical Council and other organi- zations representing that body. The result has more than justified the opinion then formed of Dr. Clark's exceptional qualifications for the charge. As a specialist in the treat- ment of insanity he has no rival among the profession in
Ontario.
Our task is done. It would be an easy matter to prolong it indefinitely, as there are many Scotsmen who have taken minor, though still important and noteworthy parts in the public, professional, and commercial life of the Dominion, the story of whose lives would further illustrate the na- tional characteristics of determination, prudence, and integ- rity. But our limitations as to space will not permit us to follow up the practically limitless vistas which broaden out upon all sides. The line of discrimination between those in- cluded and the greater number whose personal stories remain untold may be deemed an arbitrary, perchance an erratic one ; nevertheless, it was essential to draw it somewhere, lest the narration should " stretch out to the crack of doom."
The history of the Scot in British North America has virtually been the history of the country since its occu. pancy by the British. In politics, especially,- the Scot has been, unquestionably, the most prominent of the varied elements which have gone to the making of our national life. By all the qualities of statesmanship, of leadership, of diplomacy, men of Scottish origin have proved their claim to the foremost place among those who have laid the founda-
1192 TUB SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
tions of Canadian nationality. The splendid intellectual and moral gifts of the race have lost nothing by transplant- ation to an alien soil, but have rather become strengthened by the strenuous conflict and pressure of unaccustomed so- cial conditions, and the action and reaction of new forces. The influence of Scottish opinions, associations, and habits of thought upon the future of Canada must be one of the- most potent forces in forming and moulding the national character now in process of evolution. The strong religious- instincts, the keen moral perceptions, the resolute will, tire- less energy, and acute logical faculty of the Scot, tempered and modified by the qualities of the peoples who share our national heritage, will enter very largely into the fibre of the coming race.
Modern linguistic and ethnological research has exhausted its ingenuity in the only partially successful endeavour to trace back the threads of race origin which make up the warp and woof of the composite Anglo-Saxon people. A document which should show, with measurable precision ,. the respective proportions of the elements which, since the time of the Saxon invasion, have mingled their blood in the now homogeneous English people, would be deemed of price- less scientific value. It may well be that at some future day, when the Canadian has become a well-defined national type among the races of the earth, blending indissolubly, the characteristics of the ancestral stocks, something more than a mere historical or antiquarian interest may attach to the record of the SCOT IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
THE END.
INDEX.
PAGE i
Adam, Jean vol. i. 176 j
Ainslie, Hew vol. i. 227
Albany Duke of vol. i. 212
Alexander, Hon. George, vol. iii. 738
Alexander, Sir William vol. i. 231
Allan, Hon. G. W vol. iii. 730
Allan, Sir H. vol. iii., 765; vol. iv. 1157
Allan, Hon. Wm vol. ii. 410
Allen, Ethan vol. i. 258
Angus, Robert B vol. iv. 1076
Annand, Hon. W vol. iii. 667
Archibald, Lt -Gov. A. G. vol. iv. 1034 Argyll, John Campbell. Duke of,
vol. i. 162
Argyll, Marquis of vol. i. 159
Armstrong, Lieut.-Gov vol. i. 292
Arnold, Benedict vol. i 258
Arthur, Sir George vol. ii. 480
Auchmuty, Robert vol. i. 293
Aylmer, Lord vol. ii. 498
B-«llie, Joanna vol. i. 18")
Baillie, Lady Grisell vol. i. 174
Bain, Thomas vol. iii. 740
Baliol vol. i. 67
Ballantyne Thomas vol. iii. 801
Bannatyne, Hon. A. G. B. vol. iv. 1091
Bannerman Sir Alex'r. . .vol. iii. 704
Barbour, John vol. i. 89
Barclay, Capt. R. H voL ii. 37 1
Bayn Rev. Dr vol. iii. 907
Beaton, Cardinal vol. i. 100
Bell, Rev. Dr. George. . . .vol. iii. 908
Bell, Hon. Herbert vol. iii. 718
Bennett, James Gordon . . .vol. i. 227
Bethune, James vol. iii. 757
Bathune, Bishop vol. iii. 874
Bethune, Rev. John vol. iii. 878
Bethune, Rev. Dr. J vol. iii. 876
Bishop, Archibald vol. iii. 802
Black, Rev. Dr. John.... vol. iv. 1040
Blaiu, David ,. vol. iii. 741
Blanchard, Gov. Richard, vol. iv. 11 10
Brock, Gen., vol. i., 313 : vol. ii. 331
Brown, Hon. Geo vol. ii. 562
Brown, Hon. Sta'ey vo'. iii. 668
Brown John Gordon vol. iv. 1123
Br*wn, Lt.-Col. James,, .vol. iii. 742
PACK
Brown, Peter vol. ii. 563
Bruce, John vol. iv. 1030
t'ruce, King Robert vol. i. 74
Bryce, Prof. George, vol. iii., 848
vol. iv. 1052
Buchan, Earl of vol. i. 209
Buchanan, Hon. Tsaac vol. ii. 540
Burnet, Rev. Robert vol. iii. 873
Burns, Rev. Dr. R. F. . . .vol. iii. 862
Burns, Rev. Dr. R., . . . . vol. iii., 854
Caldwell, W. C voL iv. 1167
Cameron, Bishop John.. .vol. iii. 845
Cameron, Hector vol. i v. 165
Cameron, John voL iv. 1125
Camer.m, Hon. J. Hilly'd..vol. ii. 560
Cameron, Hon. Malcolm . . vol, ii. 530
Cameron, Hon. M. C vol. ii. 604
Campbell, Sir Alexander, .vol. iv. 1179
Campbfll, Sir Archibald. ..vol. ii. 514
Campbell, Colin (.Shelbunie)vol.i. 318
Campbell, Sir Colin vol. ii. 507
Campbell, LieutcCol. C. J..voL iii. 678
Campbell, Sir Donald vol. iii. 70.3
Campbell, George vol. iii. 927
Campbell, Major vol. i. 163
Campbell, Hon. Stewart. . vol. iii. 682
Campbell, Sir William vol. ii. .459
Campbell, Vice- Admiral. ..vol. i. 288
Carleton, Gov. Guy voL i. 256
Carnegie, John vol. iii. 759
Cathcart, Earl vol. ii. 606
Caven, Rev. Principal. ...vol. iiL 82fi
Chtlmers, George voL i. 227
Champlain, Samuel vol. iv. 947
Chi-tholm, Daniel B vol. iii. 742
Chi*h' 1 n, Kenneth vol. iii. 801
Christie, Hon. David vol. ii. 602
Christie, Hon. W. J vol. iv. 1084
Claverhouse, Graham of — vol. i. 132
Clark. Dr. Daniel vol. iv. 1189
Cochran, Archdeacon voL iv. 1052
Cochrane, Rev. Dr vol. iii. 866
Cockburn, Alison vol. i. 177
Cockbura, G. R. R vol. iv. 1177
Cockburn, Hon. James. .. vol. iii. 72H
Co'ebrooke, Sir William, .vol. iii. 685
Collins, Francis '. . . vol. ii. 461
1194
INDEX.
PAGE
Coltman, Hon. Wm. B...vol. iv. 992
Cook, Capt vol. iv. 1105
Cook. Rev. Dr. John vol. iii. 905
Copeland, Thos & Alex. . ..vol. i. 279
Cormack, Mr vol. i. 287
Craig, Sir Jas. . vol. i. 303. vol. ii. 4()i;
Crooks. Hon. James vol. ii. 349
Crookshank, Hon. Geo vol. ii. 350
Cross, Judge Alex vol. iii. 923
Cunningham, Robert vol. iii. 744
Currie, Hon. J. G vol. iii. 760
Curry, Thomas vol. i v. 956
Dalhousie, Earl of vol. i. 282
Dalhousie, Lord vol. ii. 493
Davidson, James vol. i. 273
Davidson, William vol. i. 265
Dawson, Prof. J. W '. . vol. iii. 818
Dawson, S. J vol. iv. 1082
DeLevis, Gen vol. i. 249
Dennis, Col vol. iv. 1032
Dennistoun, Judge voL iii. 914
Denonville, Marquis De. . . voL iv. 937
De Ramsay, Commandant, vol. i. 247
Dick, Wm. R vol. iv. 1100
Dickson, Hon. Walter H . . vol. iii. 730
Dingwall, W. M vol. iv. 1121
Dongan, Go v vol. i v. 937
Dougall, John vol. iv. 1153
Dougall, James Redpath .. vol. iv. 1153
Douglas, Comte de vol. i. 248
Douglas, Capt vol. iv. 1105
Douglas, Sir Howard vol. i. 269
Douglas, James W vol. iv. 1121
Douglas, Sir James vol. iv. 1107
Douglas, Rev. President, .vol. iii. 841
Doull, Robert vol. iu. 681
Drake, Sir Francis vol. iv. 1104
Drummond, Sir Gordon. ..vol. ii. 381
Drummond, J. A. K vol. iv. 1100
Duff, Commodore vol i. 288
Duff, Hon. Charles vol. iii. 926
Duff erin, Lord vol. iii. 765
Dunbar, William vol. i. 89
Dunlop, Dr. William vol. ii. 445
Dunsmuir, Robert vol. iv. 1121
Durham, Lord vol. ii. 484
Eckford, Henry vol. i. 759
Edgar, J. D vol. iii. 744
Elgin, Lord vol. ii. 608
Elliott, Jean ' vol. i. 91
Fairbairn, T. Me. C Vol. iii. 757
Fergusson, Hon. Adam . . . vol. ii. 537
Fergusson-Blair, Hon. A. J.vol. ii. 538
Ferrier, Lieut-Col. A. D. vol. Hi. 756
Ferrier, Hon. James vol. ii. 602
Findlay, James vol. iii. 751
Finlay, Hugh voL ii. 406
Finlay, James vol. iv. 956
Fleming, Gavin vol. iii. 752
Fleming, Sandford vol. iv. 1067
Forbes, Dr vol. i. 321
Fraser, Hon. C. F vol, iii. 758
Fraser, de Berry, Hon. J . . vol. i. 263
vol. iii. 761
PAGE
Fraser, Hun. James voL i. 264
Fraser, John vol. iv, 1137
Fraser, Hon. J. J vol. i. 319
vol. iii. <;:ir> Fraser, Simon (explorer), .vol. iv. 963
Fraser Simon vol. i. 236
Fraser William vol. i. 276
Fuca vol. iv. 1104
Fyfe, Rev. Principal vol. iii. 843
Galbraith, Daniel vol. iii. 752
Gait, Hon. Justice vol. iii. 910
Gait, John. vol. iv. 114!t
Gait, Sir Alex. T vol. ii. f,!K>
Gibson, Lieut.-CoL J. M. vol. iii. 794
Gibson. Thomas vol. Hi. 7%
Gordon, Hon. Daniel.... vol. iii. 718
Gordon, Gen. Patrick vol. i. 216
Gore, Governor vol. i. 313
Gosford, Lord vol. ii. 501
Gourlay, Robt.Fleming vol. ii 417, 645
Gow, Hon. Peter vol. iv. 1170
Grahame, Thomas vol. iii. 756
Graham, Capt. Lord J vol. i. 288
Grant, Cuthbert vol. iv. 985
Grant, Donald vol. iii. 680
Grant Daniel vol. i. 316
Grant, Rev. Dr. G. M. vol. iii. , 829 ;
vol. iv. 1061 Grant, Dr., James Alex. .vol. iii. 746
Grant, Gen. , U. S vol. 1. 226
Grant, Col. W.,Colquhoun vol. iv. 1112
Grant, Sir William vol. i. 313
Grant, William vol. ii. 406
Gray, Joseph vol. i. 316
Grei?, Samuel vol. i. 217
Gunn, John vol. iv. 1099
Gunn, Hon. Donald vol. iv. 10%
Guthrie, Donald vol. iv. 1169
Haggart, John G. vol. i>i. 753
Hall, James vol. iv. 1168
Hamilton, Hon. John vol. ii. 539
Hampton, Gen. vol. ii. 375
Hart, Rev. Thomas vol. iv. 1052
Hay, Charles vol. iv. 1100
Hay, David D vol. iii. 796
Hay, Robert vol. iii. 810
Head, Sir Edmund W . . . . vol. iii. 688
Head Sir Francis B vol. ii. 470
Holmes, Hon. John vol. i. 321
vol. iii. 6N3
Hope, Hon. Adam vol. iii. 737
Houston, William vol. iv. 1127
Howard, Allan McLean. ..vol. i. 319
Howe, Hon. Joseph vol. iii. 650
Hull, Gen vol. ii. 333
Hunter, Archdeacon vol. iv. 1053
Hunter, J. H vol. iii. 802
Hunter, Gen. Peter vol. i. 311
Iberville, Pierre LeMoyne.vol. iv. 954
Innes, Rev. Canon vol. iii. 882
limes, James vol. iv. 1135
Inkster, Hon. Colin vol. iv. 1097
Irving, ^Emilius vol. i. 31 5
Irving, Hon. Jacob M vol. L 314
INDEX.
1195
PAGE
Irving, Col. P. JE> vol. i. 314
Jack, Wm. Brydone vol. in. 839
Jennings, Ke\f. Dr vol. iii. 858
Johnston, Hon. J. W vol. iii. 672
Jones, Rev. David vol. iv. 1041
Keith, Hon. Alex vol. iii. 676
Keith, Marshal vol. i. 21!)
Kempt, Sir James vol. ii. -4'.O
Kerkt, Sir David vol. L 233
Kirk, Col vol. i. 322
Kuox, John vol. i. 102
Lang, Rev. Gavin vol. iii. 871
Lainjf, Rev. John vol. iii. 870
Laird, Hon. Alex vol. iii. 714
Laird, Hon. Alex., jr vol. iii. 716
Laird, Hon. David vol. iii. 714
Lauderdale, Lord vol. i. 127
Leach, Archdeacon vol. iii. 881
Lees, William vol. iii. 799
Leslie, Hon. James vol. ii. 539
Lesslie, Edward vol. iv. 1145
Lesslie, James vol. iv. 1145
Lesslit?, John vol. iv. 1145
Lesslie, William vol. iv. 1146
Letellier, Lieut.-Gov vol. iii. 779
Livingston, James .voL iii. 802
Lizars, Judge D. H vol. iii. \\'1'1
Lymburner, Adam vol. ii. 398
Lyndsay, Sir David vol. i. 90
Me Adam, Hon. John vol. iii. 697
McCallum, Rev. John.... vol. iv. 1053
McCallum, Lachlan vol. iv. 11G4
McCosh, Re v. Dr vol. i. S27
McCulloch, Rev. Dr vol. ii. 505
McDonald, Hon. Donald.. vol. iii. 731
McDonald, Hon. James.. vol. yi. 670
McDonald, Hon. Hugh. ..voL iii. 669
McDonald, Wm vol. i. 322
McDougall, Rev. Geo vol. iv. 1056
McDouall, Major-Gen. .. .vol. ii. 357
McDowall, Rev. Robt vol. iv. 111'.'.'
McEachran, Bishop vol. i. 286
McEwan, Capt vol. ii. 33!)
McEwen, Hon. Arthur. .. .vol. i. 319
McGill. Hon. James vol. i. 313
McGill, Hon. James vol. ii. 355
McGill, Hon. John. vol. ii. 350
McGill, Hon. Peter vol. ii. 355
McGill, Hon. William.. ..vol. iii. 717
McGillivray, Donald voL iv. 1121
McGregor, Rov. Dr vol. i. 278
Mclntyre, Duncan vol. iv. 107;.
Mclnnea, Hon. T. R vol. iii. 736
Mclntyre, Lieut vol. ii. 339
Mclntyre, Bishop Peter, .vol. iii. Mil
Mclntyre, Dr. Peter A., vol. iii. 720
McKay, Angus vol. iv. 1100
McKay, Donald vol. i. 228
McKay, Col. Hugh vol. i. 317
McKay, Hon. James vol iv. 10%
McKay, John vol. i. 317
McKay, Lieut. Col voL ii. 383
McKellar, Hon. Arch vol. iii.
McKenna, Duncan vol. i.
McKenna, Hon. G vol. L
McKenzie, Kenneth (Manitoba),
vol. iv.
McKim, Robert vol iii.
McKinnon, Bishop vol. j.
McKinnon, John. . vol. i.
McKinnon, Hon, John . .vol. iii. McKnight, Rev. Princip'l, vol. iii. McLachlan, Alexander. . .vol. iv.
McLean, Gen. Allan vol. ii.
McLeau, Archibald .. vol. i., 2(55,
McLean, Donald vol. ii.
McLean, Chief Justice vol. ii.
McLean, Col. (13th Hussars) vol. ii. McLean, Hon. James R. . .voL i.
McLean, Bishop John vd. iv.
McLean, Gen. Lachlan... .vo'. ii.
McLean, Hon. Neil vol. ii.
McLeod, Capt. Martin vol. ii.
McMicken, Hon. Gilbert, vol. iv. McMurrich, Hon. John.. vol. iii.
McNab, Allan vol. ii.
Mci^ab, Sir Allan N., vol. ii., 347,
McNeal, Capt vol. ii.
McNeill, Archibald vol. iii.
McNeill, W. S vol i.
McNeill, William vol. i.
McNutt, Alex vol, i .
McQuarters. Sergt. Hugh. .vol. i.
McQueen, Ihomaa voL iv.
McTavish, Geo. Arch'd,. .vol. iv.
McTavish, Hon. John vol. iv.
McVicar, Rev. Principal, vol. iii.
Macaulay, Sir J. B vol. ii.
MacColl, Evan vol. iv.
Macconochie, Major vol. ii.
Macdonald, Hon.Arch. J.vol. iii.
Macdonald, Judge A vol. iii.
Macdonald, Hon. D. A . . . vol. iii.
Macdonald, Flora vol. i.
Macdonald, Judjre, H S. .vol. iii. Macdonald, Sir John A... vol. ii. Macdonald, Jno. (Toronto) vol. iii. Macdonald, Hon. J. S. . . .vol. ii. Macdonald. Hon. Win. J. vol. iii.
Macdonald, Judge. K vol. iii.
Macdonald, Vicar-Gen.. . .vol. iii.
Macdonell, Allan vol. iv.
Macdonell, A.(Red River) vol. iv. Macdonell, Bishop Alex. .vol. iii.
Macdonell, Rev. D. J vol iii.
Macdonell, Lieut. -Col. G. vol. ii. Macdonell, Lt.-Col. John, vol. ii. Macdonell, Gov. Miles. . . .vol. iv Macdouvall, John Lorn.. vol. iii. M:i ilougall, Hon. W v.»l. ii.
vol. iv.
Macdougall, W vol. iii.
MacFarlane. Hon. Alex.. vol. iii. MacGeorge, Rev. Dean. ...vol. iii. MacGre/or, Rev. Alex.. .vol. iii. M:u-(iillivray, Angus. .. .vol. iii.
Machray, Bishop vol. iv.
Mack, William vol. iii.
PAGE
788
317 317
1099 802 BU 318 87fi 839
1154 342 318 366 343 342 319
1055 343 343 358
1098 733 347 532 366 721 321 321 270 2(iO
1129
1121
1099 835 340
1143 384 719 915 747 151 916 543 807 523 736 915 895
1182 980 888 867 3i;-_> 337 976 806 584
K ••_".»
748 683 888 902 928 1053 800
1196
INDEX.
Mackay, Alex vol. iii. ti7'.>
Mackay, Hon. Judge vol. iii. 924
Mackenzie, Sir Alex vol. iv. 9(iO
Mackenzie, Hon. Alex vol. ii. 577
Mackenzie Donald vol. iv. 1015
Mackenzie, Hope F vol. ii. 578
Mackenzie, Rev. John. ...vol. iii. 879
Mackenzie, Judge K vol. iii 913
Mackenzie, Wm. Lyon vol. ii. 451, 646 Mackerra?, Prof. J. H. ..vol. iii. 833
MacLean. Gen. Allan vol. i. 320
Maclean John vol. iv. 1131
Maclean, Gen. Francis vol. i. 320
Maclean, Sir Lachlan vol. ii. 341
MacmasteV, Donald vol. iii. 804
Macnab, Rev. Dr. Alex... .vol. iii. 883
Macoun, Prof vol. iv. 1064
Macphewon, Hon. D. L. .vol. iii. 731
Macpherson, Judge H vol. iii 918
Miit-queen, Judge D. S...vol. iii. 917
Mactavish, Donald vol. iv. 1030
Mactavish, Gov. Wm vol. iv. 1030
Marshall, Hon. Robt vol. iii. 698
Martin, Abraham vol. i, 235
Marquette, Rev. Father. . .vol. iv. 948
Mary Queen of Scotta vol. i. 105
Mathieson, Rev. Dr vol. iii. 851
Matheson, Rev. Alex vol. iv 1052
Matheson.Hon. llodrick . . vol. iii. 734
Mears. Capt vol, iv. 1105
Melville, Andrew Vol. i. 112
Metcalf , Lord . vol. ii. 565
Mitchell, Hon. Peter vol. iii. 693
Monro, George vol. ii. 540
Montcalm, Gen vol. i. 240
Montgomery, Hon. Donald, vol. i., 321
720 321
vol. iii. Montgomery, Daniel vol. i.
Montgomery, Col. Richard. vol. i. '258 Moodie.Col J.VV. Dunbar.vol. iv. 1186
Moodie, Mrs Susanna vol. iv. 1185
476
Nelson, Dr. Wolf red vol. ii. 502
Nisbet, llev. Jame-» vol. iv. lo.'.o
Norquay, Hon. John vol. iv. 1093
Ogilvie, Lieut. -Col vol. i. 322
vol. iii. 764, 803 Oliver, Thomas vol. iii. 74'.i
Pagan, John vol. i. 273
Paterson, William vol. iii. 750
Patterson, Robert vol. i. 273
Patton, Archdeacon vol: iii. 880
Patton. Hon. James vol. ii. 598
Proctor, Gen vol. ii. 372
Pringle, Judge J. F vol. iii. 921
Proudfuot, Vice-Chanc — vol. iii. 112
Ramsay, Andrew M vol. i. 21£
Ramsay, Judge vol. iii. 925
Reid, Kev. Dr. W vol. iii. 864
Riel, Louis vol. iv. 103'V
Ritchie. Chief Justice vol. iii. 692
Ritchie, Hon. J. W vol. iii. 671
Robertson, Alex vol. iii. 802
Robertson, Dr. David vol. iii. 800
Robertson, Rev. James. . .vol, iv. 1052
Robertson, Hon. J. G, vol. i., 322
vol. iii. 761
Robertson, Hoii Robert . . . vol. i. 318
Robertson, Wm vol. i. 318
Robertson, Wm. A vol. iv. 1121
Robinson, C. Blackett vol. iv. 1128
Kobson, Hon. John vol. iv. 1120
Rollo, Col. Lord vol. i. 285
Rose, Geo. Maclean vol. iv. 1138
Rose, Sir John vol. ii. 597
Ross, Lt.-Col. A. M vol. iii. 798
Koss, A. W vol. iv. 1091
Ross, George W vol. iii. 753
Ross, Rjev. Prof. J vol. iii. 837
Ko38, Hon.J. J vol. iii. 763
Ross, Jas. (Red River) .... vol. i v. 1033
Moodie, Col vol. ii.
Morris, Hon. A vol. iii. 738, i Ross, James vol. iii.
vol. iv. 1035 Koss, Judge W. A vol. iii.
Morris, Hon. James vol. ii. 536 ' Roy, Rev. James vol. iii.
Morris, Hon. William. ..vol. ii. 364-535
Morrison, Angus. vol. iii. 748
Morrison, Daniel vol. iv. 1149
Russell, Hon. Peter vol. i.
754 920 901 311
Sage, Rev. Donald vol. iv. 1037
Mori-icon, Hon. J. C vol. ii. 594 | S tlaberry, Chas. Michel de, vol. ii. 37t>
Morrison, Col. Joseph W. .vol. ii. 380 j Sanderson, Robert vol. ii. 402
Morrison, William vol. iv. 1121
Mortimer, E Iward... vol. i. 280
Mowat, Hon. Oliver, .vol, ii. 58 »,
vol. iii. 725
Muir, Capt vol. ii. 333
Muirhead, Hon. Wm vol. iii. 696
Scott, Judge A. F vol iii. 919
t<cott, Col. Her jules vol. ii. 387
Sco t, Thomas vol. i v. 1032
Scott, W. H vol. iii.
becord. Mrs vol. ii.
Selkirk, Earl of vol. iv.
Munro, Rev. Andrew H. . vol. iii. 903 i Semple, Governor vol. iv.
Murray, Alex vol. iv. 1098
Murray, Gen. James, .vol. i. 249, 296
Murray, Gen. John vol. ii. 371
Murray. Regent 109
Nairne, Baroness vol. i. 179
Nairn. T. Mel voL iii. 797
Napier family vol. i. 198
Neilson, Hon John vol. ii. 489
793
965 986
Sharp, Archbishop vol. i. 132
Shaw, Major-Gen. /Eneas, vol. ii. 332
Simcoe, Governor vol. i. 311
Simpson, Sir George vol. iv. 1001
Simpson, Hon. John vol. iii. 735
Simpson, Thomas vol. iv. 999
Simpson, Wemyss M vol. iv. 1082
Sinclair, Donald vol. iii. 799
Sinclair, Judge, J. S vol. iii. 922
INDEX.
119r
PAGE
Sinclair, Hon. Peter vol. iii. 717
Skinner, James Acheson. vol. iii. 812
Smith, Donald A vcl. iv. 1077
Smyth, Gen vol. ii. 360
Somerville, Alex vol. iv. 1132
Somerville, James vol. iv. 1135
Spence, David vol. iv. 1099
Starnes, Hon. Henry vol. i. 322
St. Clair, Major-Gen. A. ..vol. i. 225
Stephen, George vol. iv. 1074
Stevens, Judge, J. G vol. iii. 929
Stevenson, A. A vol. iv. 1173
Stevenson, Hon. B. R vol. iii. 699
Stewart, Hon. Alex vol. iii. 177
286 285
Stewart, John vol. i.
Stewart, Judge vol. i.
30! I
Stobo, Major R vol. i.
Strachan. Bishop vol. ii. 427, 645
Strange, Dr., O. S
Stuart, Andrew vol. ii. 489
Stuart, Sir James vol. ii. 487
Sutherland, Alex. M vol. iv. 1100
Sutherland, Rev. Dr. A. ..vol. iii. 897 Sutherland, Hugh McK. .vol. iv. 1092 Sutherland, Elder James. .vol. iv. 1038 Sutherland, Hon. John . . .vol. iii. 735
Sutherland, Lieut vol. ii. 333
Sydenham, Lord vol. ii. 518-522
Taylor, Rev. Dr. Lachlin vol. iii. 899
Tecumseh vol. ii. 374
Thorn, Judge vol. iv. 1023
Tolmie, Dr. W. F vol. iv. 1121
Topp, Rev. Dr vol. iii. 860
Torrance, Hon. Judge. . . .vol. iii. 926
Ure, Rev. Dr vol. iii. 865
Van Egmond, Gen vol. ii. 476
Vancouver, Capt vol. iv. 1105
Van Renseelaer, Gen vol. ii. 334
Verendrye, Sieur De La. .vol. iv. 948
Vetch, Samuel vol. i. 288
Wallace, Admiral Sir John. vol. i. 288
Wallace, Robert vol. iv. 1120
Wallace, Sir William vol. i. 69
Watson, Robert vol. iv. 1092
Waugh, Well wood vol. i. 275
Wedderburn, Alex vol. i. 319
Wedderburn, Hon. Wm.. . .vol. i. 319
vol. iii. 699
West, Rev. John vol. iv, 1039
Wightman, Hon. Joseph, .vol. iii. 719"
Wilkie, Rev. Dr. D vol. iii. 904
Willis, Rev. Dr. Michael.. vol. iii. 823
Wilmot, L vol. iii. 684
Wilson, Alexander vol. L 228
Wilson, Chief Justice vol. ii. 596
Wilson, Prof. Daniel vol. iii. 814
Wishart, George vol. i. 101
Wolfe, Gen vol. i. 239
Wolseley, Col. Garnet vol. iv. 1034
Wright, Alex. W vol. iv, 1136
Wylie, David vol. iv. 1141
Young, Hon. Charles vol. iii. 712
Young, Fiulay McN vol. iv. 1100
Young, Prof. G.P ....... vol. iii. 821
Young, James vol. iii. 750
Young, Hon. John vol. ii. 600
Young, John vol. i. 262:
Youn^, Sir William vol. iii. 6C4
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NOW READY <9HE IRISHMAN IN (©ANADA.
One Large Handsome Demy Octavo Volume, 7O8 Pages.
Price, Cloth extra $3.5O.
Sent by mail on receipt of price.
This Book is dedicated by permission to His EXCELLENCY THE EARL OF DUF- FERIN, and has a general and a special interest. Amongst IRISHMEN alone Mr. Davin cannot fail to have a large audience. But as history is above party, and as the book shows without sectarian or political bias what a great branch of the Aryan race has done for and in Canada, his audience must be swelled by all who take an interest in historical pursuits.
In the introductory portions, the writer having dwelt on the characteristics of this GREAT DOMINION shows what are the Irishman's antecedents, reviewing in a graphic manner the HISTORY OF IRELAND, and bringing out features of that history hitherto ignored. A reader of that portion of the work will have a more accurate view respecting IRISH HISTORY than he would bring away from half-a-dozen popular or unpopular histories. Slanders are refuted, and pictures of successive ages placed in a true light. The two great periods— the purely Celtic and the mixed period — are distinguished, and by reference to political and ethnological facts, prejudices are shown to be unfounded, and events ex- plained.
WHAT IRISHMEN HAVE DONE FOR THE BRITISH EMPIRE, IN WAR, IN ART, IN POLITICS, IN LITERATURE — a large subject too frecmently slighted — is dwelt on, and the great facts noted. THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF IRISHMEN ON THE CONTIXKNT OF EUROPE, IN THE AMERICAN COLONIES, AND SUBSEQUENTLY IN THE UNITED STATES, are recounted.
The chapters which immediately follow are entitled, " LAYING THE FOUNDA- TION OF CANADA." It is not generally known that that foundation was laid by the genius and statesmanship of an Irishman, and the intelligence and energy of Irishmen of various classes co-operating. Other chapters will, we believe, prove to be full of novelty and instruction to all, and worthy of being studied, apart from attractions of style, which, according to a leading journal, is so much MR. DAVIN'S OWN, that his anonymous articles might as well be signed.
The chapters dealing with the IRISH SETTLER will surprise the reading pub- lic of Canada. Canadians generally, have little idea how early, how extensive, and how successful have been the IRISH SETTLEMENTS. In these chapters the
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Character of the Irish settler, the admirable qualities he brought with him to the hush, his adversities and successes, are all described. The careers of the leading settlers are portrayed ; and the HISTORY of every TOWN AND TOWN- SHIP from which reliable data could be obtained, where the Irishman has figured, is before the reader in the most pleasant and suggestive manner.
" The salient points of the war of 1812 are treated in masterly style ; fitting prominence being given to Fitzgibbon and other Irish heroes. Irish immigra- tion from 1815 to 1837, is exhaustively treated, and the author has evidently spared no pains in bringing to light the history of all the families whose names are familiar words with us to-day. The Blakes, very properly, occupy a fore- most place, and many, who are not Irishmen, will feel grateful for the account of the Hon. W. H. Blake, and his distinguished son. With 18H7, Mr. Davin, enters on the finest portions of his book ; Responsible Government." The pages describing the character, and unfolding the career of Robert Baldwin are well worth careful consideration. Almost equally well written are the portraits of Sullivan, Hincks and Draper.
"The'great men in our Canadian history who boast of Irish birth or origin, from Sir Guy Carleton to Lord Dufferin, may be termed, as the most brilliant •of them, Judge Sullivan, once called himself and his party — ' Legion, for we are many.' — In this elaborate volume they are all examined and sketched singly and as they pose themselves in groups, one generation after another. The churches, the professions, art, science, literature, commerce, agriculture, and the press, each supplies its Irish notabilities in prolific abundance. The wars and the rebellion gave superfluous additional evidence of the traditional bravery of Erin's sons. In our political life, the names cf Carleton, Baldwin, Blake, Hincks, Daly, Sullivan and McGee, are familiar to us all. Of the strug- gle for Responsible Government, Mr. Davin writes with great fulness and ac- curacy, and the movement fir Confederation is full of valuable historical fact, of anecdote and practical illustration, and we take pleasure in acknowledging our own obligations to Mr. Davin, and also to his publishers, for this handsome and useful addition to our Canadian literatuie."
ead the following extracts from opinions of the press. It is noticeable that •not an unfavourable criticism has been made. We could use as many more, but as .the following embrace leading newspapers of (on ordinary occasions) the most di- venjent views, we think they will suffice to satisfy the most sceptical that this is really " a great work "
' • • " To give even the faintent idea of its contents would far exceed the space we can allot to the sufjcct . . . Mr. Davin brings to his work and labour of love unbounded enthusiasm and intense sympathy with the people whose story he relates . . . Open where we may the greatest affluence of reference and amplitude of record are manifest." . . . — Toronto Globe.
' ' ' " There never has been such a formal assertion of the greatness of •the Irish race. . . . It is a great work if only the amount of labour ex- pended on it is taken into consideration, not to speak at all of the literary skLl and the erudition it displays. . . . One of the largest literary undertakings •conceived and carried out in Canada. We are convinced that it will have an assured place in standard historical literature." . . . — Toronto Mail.
" It is extremely difficult, within the brief space at our command, to give an •adequate idea of this work, extending as it does over seven hundred pages, and literally crammed as it is with fact, description, anecdote and reflection. If we succeed in conveying to the reader a general idea of its character, and in commending it to his attentive perusal, we must be content. There are two fea- tures in the book which are specially notable— THE AUTHOR'S FAIRNESS TO
OTHER NATIONALITIES AND TO THEIR SHARE IN THE WORK OF BUILDING UP THE
DOMINION, and his tact in d<aling with those unhappy contentions which have
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*<o long divided a high Bpirited, generous and gifted people. It may be that Eng- lishmen and Scotchmen will take exception to srme < f the claims asf erted for Irishmen by Mr. Davin ; but they caniot allege that he has failed TO GIVH AM- PLE CREDIT TO MEN OF ALL ORIGINS WHENEVER THHR \VOR|:S AND DEEDS HAVE BEEN CONNECTED \vl ill 1IH.SK WHO AHE HIS 1MMI DIATE C< NCERN . . . The
amount of research is as astonishing as the information afforded is valuable and interesting . . . The events antecedei-t to the rebellion, the brief struggle itself and the subsequent contest for Responsible Government, could hardly have been better drawn . . . There are yet unmentioned the distinct de- part ments of professional eminence attained by Irishmen, their position in the Churches, in the Educational interests, and in pur history ; political, social, and industrial to the present hour. We do not think it will be found that one Irishman of distinction has been lost bight of. Let us add that Mr. Davin's stj le is exceedingly lively and entertaining, flowing smooihly and pleasantly alonp, from title page to that word which comes at last to men and books alike — " Finis." The volume is a i redit to both author and publishers, and its priiit- ing, bindinar- its mechanical execution generally— are creditable to all con- cerned. ' The Irishman in Canada," to sum up, is a splendid vindication of its subject and a n-ost complete account of him and his work in the Di minion. To any patriotic Irishman it. ought to be a household book, and by Canadians of other races it will be found an accurate and valuable repertory of informa- tion."— Canadian Monthly Mayazine.
ENTIRELY PKEE FROM ANYTHING APPR ACHING BIGOTRY. We cordially con- yratnlate Mr. Davin on having done his woik— no easy OLC— so well. The in- formation contained iu the volume is most valuable.
THERE is NOT AN OKFKXSIVK EXPRESSION IN THE WHOLE OF IT, EITHER OF NA- TIONALITY OR RhLiGiON. Its plan is admirable, its btyle that of a scholar and a thinker "... — Montreal Gazelle,
. . . " Remembering the disadvantage at which Ireland stands in many particulars, as compared with Great Britain, we are really led to wonder that in the pulpit, at the bar, and in politics the Irish should have taken so promi- nent a position. The style of the work is clear and vigorous and the book will be found both entertaining and instructive." . . . — Christian Guardian, Toronto.
. . . Brilliant we were ready to suppose it would be ; scholarly we v/ere ready to auppose it would be ; eloquent we were ready to suppose it would be ; and we were not unprepared to find that it possesses all those qualities in even a high degree. But judging by the more ephemeral effoit" incident to his ordi- nary labours as a Hterateur, we did not expect that Mr. Davin's book would have shown such research and industry. . . . lt< fina writing shows pains; its arrangement shows patierce ; its breadth of facts shows labour ; its applica- tion of those facts elaborate thought, whose touch of loving warmth but takes off the chill without disturbing the judicial temper of the historian. . . . — Irith Canadian, Toronto.
A pleasing mosaic of Canadian life, histo) y and manners illustrating the toil some experience and courageous energy of the pioneer of the wilderness, as well as the material processes and political changes whereby the country has arrived at its present > talus. . . . The book commences with an historical survey of Ireland and its people, » nd recounts with just pride their deeds of valour and wi.-e statecraft in other climes ; traces repiesentatives of Irish familiea, great and little, to Canada, and shows how they plunged into the forest and battled against the many obstacles and discouragements which beset backwoods life.
. . . --London Free Press.
About seven hundred pages are filled with sketches of prominent Irish Cana- dians, and with a record of their words and deeds in the press, the Parliament, the pulpit, and in every department of social and public Life. Mr. Davin is to be congratulated on having given ( 'anadians a book both readable and insti uc- tive. . . . — Ottawa Free Presf.
We have little doubt that many of the readers of this volume will, by means of it, be led to a deeper study of Canadian History than they have ever pre- viously made.— St. John, N.B., Tilt graph.
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. . . We have to congratulate Mr. Ravin on the work before us as a cre- ditable evidence of his ability ami a graceful tribute to his countrymen in Canada. . . . The volume is a handsome one, as to paper and typography, and the binding, in every style, reflects much credit on Toronto workmanship. Messrs. Maclear & Co , may be congratulated on the creditable manner in which they have performed their share of the work, and Mr. Davin is to be felicitated on his choice of publishers.— Tribune, Toronto.
. . . " Equal in rank with Green's history of the English people." . . . — St. John, (N.B.), Watchman.
. . . In reading Mr. Nicholas Flood Davin on the " Irishman in Canada," one learns their indebtedness to the many talented men who have left the Emerald Isle in past days to make Canada their home. . . . Mr. Davin is to be congratulated on having given Canadians a book both readable and in- structive." . . . — London Advertiser.
. . . " It gives us sincere pleasure to add our meed of praise to a work which bids fair to take a place among the finest works ever published in Canada. ... It should oe in the hands of all classes of the population."
. . . — Hamilton Spectator.
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FROM THE REV. ALEX. SANSON, Incumbent of Trinity Church, Toronto.
" This is a commendable and successful attempt, almost in the very words of Scripture, to make Bible history more intelligible and more interesting to the young.
"It will form an admirable text book for parents and Sunday School teachers in the all important work of instructing their youthful charge, and should find a place in every Sunday School Library. It will doubtless be read by the young themselves with no less pleasure than profit. I trust it will have a wide and extensive circulation."
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FROM THE REV. E. WOOD, D.D., AND THE REV. A. SUTHERLAND, Secretariet of the Methodist .Ifissionary Society, Canada Conference.
" The Story of the Bible " is truly admirable, both in design and execution. The author has performed his task conscientiously, presenting all the salient features of the historical and biographical books, while in the case of the Epis- tles he contents himself with a very general statement of their scope, without discussing their doctrinal drift. The book is one which will be read with in- terest by children and with profit by alL"
FROM THE RIGHT REV. T. U. DUDLEY, D.D., Assistant Bishop (Protestant Episcopal^) of Kentucky, U. S. '
'• I have tested the Story of the Bible by having it read to a little child, and from this experiment have formed the opinion that it is a most valuable contribution to our religious literature. Perfectly accurate in its statement of the ' Bible story,' it is yet so perfectly simple in language and arrangement that the young intelligence can with its help ge"t a connected idea of the great events, which some of us older students find it hard to keep always in their proper order and succession. "
We have received others in the same strain from the clergymen and laymen whose names are given below, but as those of the Rev. Messre. Sanson, Wood, Sutherland and Dudley, give an epitome of the whole, and wishing to be as con" cise as possible, to avoid repetition we merely publish extracts. An apology is therefore due to those gentlemen, whose writings indicate such an earnest de- sire for the success of the book, but which for the reason stated we have not given in full.
" Sound in its teachings." " Well calculated to please and profit." " In one continuous narrative, actually intelligible to young children.'" " It is not childish, though childlike." " The rich store of illustrations would alone render it of untold value in every household." " Daily the little ones clamour for the reading of a chapter." " We earnestly recommend this the first book of the kind ever published." " Jhe work has been a labour of love stimulated by a desire to foster the word of God." " / hope to introduce it as a text book into my schools." " My little daughter six years old is delighted with its simple and interesting story.'" " It is a good book and should be in every family where there are children, <Lc., <fcc."
RIGHT REV. ARTHUR SWEATMAN, Lord Bishop of Toronto.
VERY REV. H. J. GRASETT, B.D., late Dean of Toronto.
REV. W. S. RAINSFORD, B.A., late of St. James' Cathedral, Toronto.
REV. W. CAVEN, D.D., Principal Knox College, Toronto.
REV. W. GREGG, D.D. , Professor of Church History, Knox College.
REV. JOHN POTTS, D.D., Pastor Elm Street Methodist Church, Toronto.
REV. J. H. CASTLE, D.D., Pastor Jarvis Street Baptist Church, Toronto.
REV. H. D. Powis, Pastor Zwn Congregational Church, Toronto.
REV. GEO. D.'BOARDMAN, D. D., Pastor of the First Baptist Church, Phila delphia.
REV. JOHN GADSDEN, Principal of the holy Communion Church Institute (Prot. Fpis.) Charleston, S.C.
REV. JOHN W. DULLES, D. D., Editorial Secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Publication, Philadelphia.
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REV. J. K. SHYROCK, Superintendent of the Southern Publishing Society, Philadelphia.
RIGHT RKV. J. H. D. WINGFIELD, Missionary Bishop (Protestant Episcopal) of Northern California.
These commendations could be extended to an indefinite length, FUK ALL
WHO HAVE SEEN THE BOOK ARE PLEASED WITH IT. Anxious to bring the work
before the public at as early a date as possible, in preparing our revised Cana dian edition, we had only sufficient time to show it to a few clergymen in the city of publication who, without exception, spoke and wrote encouragingly. These gentlemen, however, are well known, and represent the leading Protestant denominations in Canada.
It has been predicted that this book will be found in every Christian house- hold, second only to its great original.
A MORE SUITABLE CHILDREN'S PRESENTATION BOOK CANNOT BE PURCHASED.
Do not fail to order when called upon. This work cannot be had in book- stores.
Price : Home edition, bound in finest English cloth, 1 thick and gold stamp on
side, $3.00- Presentation edition, full dark leather, gilt
edges, black and gold stamp, $6.00.
MACLEAR & Co., Publishers, Toronto.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.
Form L9-100m-9,'52(A3105)444
1035 The Scot in ^l4&2™British North
v.I; America
F 103*
v.U