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I 


THE 


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IRISHMAN  IN   CANADA, 


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KICnOLAS  FLOOD  DAYIN. 


LONDON- 
SAMPSON  LOW,  MARSTON  4;  CO. 

TORONTO,   ONT.: 
MACLEAR   AND    COMPANY. 


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ILD3 

Entered  Moording  to  the  Act  of  the  ParUament  of  Canada,  In  the  ywr  om  tiunuaDd 
eight  hundred  and  ceventy-seven,  by  Maolkab  &  Co.,  Toronto,  in  the  Offioe  of 
the  Minister  of  Agriculture, 


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Entered  at  Stationers'  HaU. 


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HIS   EXOELLENOT 


THE  RIGHT  HON. 


\ix  ^Ydttkh  |cmpl^  |ktooo4  fart  of 

K.P.,  K.C.B., 
GOVERNOR-GExVERAL  OF  CANADA. 


THIS  BOOK 


l*in, 


IS,  BY  PERMISSlOxX,  RESPECTFULLY  DEDICATED, 


<^S  TO  ONE 


WHO  EMBODIES,  IN  KARE  AlfD  HAPPY  OOMBINATIOW. 

THE  VARIETY   OF  GIFTS 
HAVfl  BROUGHT  TO 


;VIC3 


OF  THE 

EMPIRE. 


'     i 


I  ll 


M 
5 


PREFACE. 


f 


An  old  friend  of  mine,  Mr.  Joseph  Hatton,  writing 
in  Tinsley's  Magazine  says  : — "  Still  at  the  bottom  of  all 
thought  and  speculation  as  to  the  future,  there  is  a  strong 
layer  of  old  English  sentiment  outside  the  Province  of 
Quebec.  The  great  pioneers  of  Canada,  the  English  and 
the  Scotch  look  across  the  broad  waters  of  the  Atlantic, 
and  think  of  home.  They  feel  proud  of  the  flag  which  is 
not  only  to  them  a  national  symbol,  but  a  link  between  . 
the  far-off"  settlement  and  the  churchyard  where  their 
forefathers  sleep  beyond  the  sea."  Scarcely  anybody  in 
England  knows  anything  of  Canadian  history,  and  Mr. 
Hatton  cannot  be  blamed  for  not  being  aware  that  the 
majority  of  people  in  Ontario,  as  compared  with  other 
nationalities,  are  Irish.  The  population  of  Ontario  is 
1,620,831 :  of  these  559,44?  are  Irish,  328,889  Scotch, 
439,429  English  ;  and  in  the  four  Provinces  of  Ontario, 
Quebec,  New  Brunsw^ick  and  Nova  Scotia,  the  Irish 
number  846,414,  as  compared  with  706,369  English,  and 
549,946  Scotch.  The  Irishman  was  here  as  early  as 
others  ;  he  fought  against  the  wilderness  as  well  as 
others ;  his  arm  was  raised  against  the  invading  foe  as 
well  as  that  of  others;  and  when  a  man  who  was  not  Irish 
lifted  the  standard  of  revolt,  and  another  who  was  not 
Irish  betrayed  his  country  and  his  flag,  who  more  faithful, 


VI 


PREFACE, 


who  more  heroic,  than  the  countrymen  of  Baldwin  and 
Fitzgibbon  in  putting  down  that  rebellion  ?  That  a 
literary  man  like  Mr.  Hatton  should  wholly  ignore  the 
Irish,  therefore,  shows  that  there  was  need  of  such  a  book 
as  the  present.  Who  to-day  are  more  truly  attached  to 
British  connexion  than  the  great  majority  of  Irishmen 
all  over  the  Dominion?  Amongst  ourselves  also,  the 
Irish  have  been  too  much  ignored ;  chiefly  because  the 
follies  and  absurdities  of  a  few  make  hundreds  averse 
from  an  assertion  which  would  be  only  the  reasonable 
expression  of  self-respect.  There  is  a  great  dissimilar- 
ity in  culture  between  the  Irish  cotter  and  the  Irish 
gentleman,  between  the  Irish  labourer  and  the  Irish  pro- 
fessional man,  but  not  more  than  there  is  between  the 
Scotch  laird  and  the  Scotch  gillie,  or  between  the  Eng- 
lish squire  and  the  English  peasant.  Why  then  is  it  that 
Irishmen  of  the  more  cultivated  class  are  sometimes 
found  to  run  down  the  less  cultivated  class  of  Irish,  so 
that,  as  somebody  has  said,  whenever  an  Irishman  is 
to  be  roasted,  another  is  always  at  hand  to  turn  the 
spit  ?  "  My  grandmother,"  says  the  Earl  of  Beacons- 
field,  "the  beautiful  daughter  of  a  family  who  had 
suffered  mucjli  from  persecution,  had  imbibed  that  dislike 
for  her  race  which  the  vain  are  apt  to  adopt  when  they 
find  they  are  born  to  public  contempt.  The  indignant 
feeling  which  should  be  reserved  for  the  persecutor,  in  the 
mortification  of  their  disturbed  sensibility,  is  too  often 
visited  on  the  victim."  Something  like  this  process  has 
taken  place  in  the  minds  of  Irishmen  of  a  certain  class. 
But  let  any  Irishman  who  reads  these  lines  ponder  what 
I  say  : — You  can  never  lose  your  own  respect  and  keep 


PREFACE. 


Vll 


the  respect  of  others ;  you  can  never  be  happy  and  dreas 
yourself  solely  in  the  glass  of  other  men's  approval ;  you 
may  as  well  seek  to  fly  from  your  shadow  as  to  escape 
from  your  nationality.  If  you  find  any  men  mistaken, 
or  low  down  in  type,  or  in  popular  esteem,  it  is  your 
duty  to  raise  them,  especially  if  they  have  on  you  nation- 
al or  family  claims. 

I  had  not  intended  to  write  a  preface,  and  I  have  said 
enough  in  the  opening  chapter  to  indica,te  the  objects  1 
have  kept  before  me.  The  history  of  Canada  cannot  be 
written  withoul  the  history  of  the  Scotchman,  the  Eng- 
lishman, and  the  German  in  Canada  ;  the  Frenchman  in 
Canada  has  found  his  historian.  *'  The  Scotchman  in 
Canada  "  is  in  the  hands  of  a  writer  capable  of  doing 
justice  to  a  great  theme  and  an  extraordinary  race,  whose 
deeds  here  as  elsewhere  are  illustrious  with  such  episodes 
as  the  Red  River  settlement,  planted  under  the  guidance 
of  Lord  Selkirk,  by  men  with  a  determined  bravery  com- 
parable to  that  of  the  German  troops  at  Gravelotte,  again 
and  again  attempting  the  hill,  studded  with  rifle  pits, 
which  guarded  the  French  left.  Even  the  Mennonite 
settlements  will  come  within  the  purview  of  the  histor- 
ian, and  he  will  have  to  deal  with  a  later  American 
immigi^ation  than  the  U.  E  Loyalist — an  immigration 
composed  mainly  of  men  who  entered  Canada  intending 
to  settle  in  Michigan,  but,  who,  when  they  saw  the  splen- 
did stretches  of  oak  near  London  and  the  neighbouring 
counties,  settled  here.  Among  these  settlers  were  the 
Shaws,  the  Dunbars,  and  the  Goodhues.  There  was  an 
eastern  settlement  of  ^he  same  class,  in  which  we  find 
the  Burnhams,  the  Horners,  the  Keelers,  the  Smiths,  the 


•  •  • 

vni 


PREFACE. 


Perrys.  Some  of  these  were  led  to  come  to  Canada  by 
inducements  held  )ut  by  the  Government  of  the  day  to 
construct  roads  and  build  mills.  Hence  in  many  instan- 
ces we  find  American  immigrants  the  great  patentees 
where  they  settled. 

In  the  index  I  do  not  give  every  name,  but  only  the 
leading  names. 

1  have  in  the  notes  thanked  Mr.  Charles  Lindsey  and 
the  Hon.  C'hristopher  Eraser  for  their  assistance  in  plac- 
ing books  at  my  disposal.  I  have  to  thank  Chief  Jus- 
tice Harrison  for  the  loan  of  books,  and  Mr.  Justice 
Gwynne  for  the  loan  of  books  and  old  files  of  newspa- 
papers.  To  Mr.  Allan  McLean  Howard  my  thanks  are 
also  due  foi'  books  which  could  not  well  have  been  pro- 
cured elsewhere.  To  Dr.  McCaul  for  books  and  hints 
respecting  the  university,  I  must  likewise  express  my 
obligation.  My  thanks  are  due  to  my  friends  through- 
out the  country  who  sent  information,  and  to  the  agents 
employed  by  my  publishers.  Particularly  are  my  thanks 
due  to  Mr.  Sproule,  of  Ottawa,  who,  though  an  Orange- 
man, has  visited  a  large  number  of  Roman  Catholic  pre- 
lates and  clergymen,  in  regard  to  this  book,  and  got  me 
more  Roman  Catholic  information  than  has  come  from 
all  other  sources  whatsoever.  In  a  special  manner,  my 
thanks  are  due  to  Sir  Francis  Hincks,  who,  both  by  word 
and  letter,  helped  me  to  understand  the  great  period  of 
which  he  could  truly  say — pars  magna  fui.  For  esti- 
mating the  character  and  genius  of  Sullivan,  he  gave 
me  invaluable  data.  From  Mr.  Thomas  Maclear,  and 
Mr.  Thomas  A.  Maclear,  I  have  received  much  assist- 
ance in  collecting  infc^  ^mtion  for  the  settler  chapters, 


PREFACE. 


IX 


and  in  revising  the  proofs.  Last  though  not  least,  Dr. 
Hoflgins,  Deputy  Minister  of  Education,  claims  my  thanks 
for  books  and  pamphlets  connected  with  his  department. 
I  have  in  places  departed  from  rules  usually  observed 
in  books.  For  instance,  in  some  cases,  I  have  not 
"spellud  out"  figures  because  T  thought  the  use  of 
arithmetical  symbols  more  suitab.  to  the  subject  treated 
at  the  moment. 

The  Irishman  has  played  so  large  a  part  in  Canada 
that  his  history  could  not  be  written  without,  to  some 
extent,  writing  the  history  of  Canada,  and  iLc  Allowing 
pages  may,  in  the  present  stage  of  Canadian  historical 
literature,  be  found  useful  to  the  student  and  the  politi- 
cian. 

Toronto,  September  22nd,  1877. 


«ii 


ERRATA. 


Page  127, 1.  4,  for  "  exiet"  read  "  exists." 

163,  J  J  from  bottom,  for  "  Walters"  read  "  Waiters.  ' 

165,  /.  13,  for  "  Livingstone"  read  "  Livingston." 

177,  I.  4  from  bottom,  for  "  £809"  read  "  £800." 

213, 1. 14,  for  "Again  he"  read  "  Acadian." 

328,  verses  belong  to  note  p.  327. 

347, 1.  7,  for  "  McGibbon  "  read  "  McKibbon." 

349,  I.  4  from  bottom,  for  "  Byson"  read  "  Bryson." 

350,  l:  14  from  bottom,  dele  "  school  teacher." 
360, 1.  12  from  bottom,  for  "  Morsom"  read  "  Mossom." 
393,  heading ,  read  «•  Baldwin's  character. " 
409, 1.  9,  for  "  Catherine"  read  "  Charlotte." 

476,  ;.  13,  for  "  Vice-ChanceUor"  read  «'  Chancellor." 

577, 1. 12  from  bottom,  for  "  1859  "  read  "  1849. " 

596,  L  7  from  bottom,  for  "  arm  he  drew  "  read  "  arm  drew." 


n 


<< 


I 

•I 

I 

V 


CONTENTS. 


,r^ 


CHAPTER  I. 

MOTIVE   OF   THE    "  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA." 


PAOI! 
1 

2,3 


Future  of  Canada 

Materials  for  the  future  historian 

Writing  the  HistojT  of  the  Irishman  in  Canada  an  inviting  task  'I 

Resources  of  the  Dominion ^  ^   * 

Irishmen's  position  in  Dominion     . ' ^' ^ 

6 

CHAPTER  II. 

ANTECEDENTS   OF  THE   IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 

Irish  History 

The  Celt  in  Europe .  1 ! ! ! ! ^'  ^ 

Early  Settlement  of  Ireland ^ 

The  Irish  coWe  Scotland  and  South-west  Britain  ■.■;.■;.*.■. jo  12 

Effect  of  the  Introduction  of  Christianity  into  Ireland  i , '    f 

Barbarizing  effect  of  Danish  Incursions  . .  !:'  ^^ 

Norman  invasion 15,  18 

TheTudorandStuari;  policy  in'lreiand  ".'!":! ^J'f, 

Wilham  III  and  James  II    "^'^'  2* 

Ireland  the  great  Liberaliser  of  the  Empire ^*'  ^^ 

statesmen,  Orators,  Artists,  Preachers   '  -     '"- ^^'  ^ 

Irish  Intellect  and  Charact  ' 


^ 


iterary  Men 


34,37 


'48  and  the  Men  of  '48 ;  Penal  Laws'and  Gladstone's  Legislatic.n «'  f 

Ireland  in  the  Eight-  enth  Century  ^^egisiatu.n 43,  46 


CHAPTER  III 

rishm; 
The  Founders  of  the  United  States 


AXXECEDENTS-CWWd-IRISHMEN  IN  THE  NEW  WOR.D  AND  IN  AUSTRAUA. 


50,  56 


/ 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

The  Struggle  for  Independence 56,  01 

Vast  Immigration  of  Irishmen  and  their  Success 62,  64 

The  Position  of  Irishmen  in  the  United  States 64,  65 

Their  Conduct  during  the  War. 66.  66 

The  Irishman  in  Australia,  in  Mexico,  in   California  and  in  South 

America 62,  64,  66,  68 


CHAPTER  IV. 

IiAYING  THE   FOUNDATION  OF  CANADA. 

The  French  Regime. ... . , 68 

Carleton,  the  First  Iris^  Governor  of  Canada,  and  his  Policy 68-74 

The  War,  Invasion  of  Canada,  Carleton' s  Dangers,  Difficulties,  and  Suc- 
cess   75-87 

Carleton's  Magnanimity  and  Administration 87,  88 

Major-Geueral  Haldira^nd,  Governor 88 

Acknowledgment  of  the  Independence  of  United  tStates,  and  the  U.  E. 

Loyalists 88-96 

IV'jthodism  in  Canada 96-98 

The  Father  of  Anglicanism  in  Upper  Canada 99-101 

The  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  Canada 101 

Carleton  becomes  Lord  Dorchester,  and  Retunj.;*  aq  Governor-General  of 

Canada 101 

State  of  Education 102,  103 

The  Constitutional  Act  of  1791 103,  104 

Lieutenant-Governors  Clarke   and  Simcoe  open  respectively  the  Par- 
liament of  Lower,  and  the  Parliament  of  Upper  Canada 104 

Colonel  Talbot  and   the  Talbot  settlement    105-12f, 


CHAPTER  V. 

LAYiNa  THE  FOUNDATION  OF  CANADA. — Continued. 

What  Canada  owes  Irishmen  and  Canadian  Unity 128-130 

The  First  Settlers   130-132 

Character  of  the  Irish  settler 132-135 

Analysis  of  the  Population  of  the  Dominion    135-142 

Irish  settlements  in  Newfoundland     142-145 

The  Irish  in  Nova  Scotia,  New  Brunswick  and  Prince   Edward 

Island    145-170 

Irish  Settlements  in  Lower  and  Upper  Canada   170-173 

The  dawn  of  political  life  in  the  Canadas 173-178 

Progress  of  the  Methodist  Church ....  178-186 

Education 185-186 

The  poet  Moore  in  Canada 187-190 


CONTENTS.  «— r^— — p 

CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   WAR   OF   1812-1814. 

The  Veterans  of  1812  to-day  and  the  Character  of  the  War  lo/tSl 

Circumstances  leading  to  War J^Ji-iJ4 

Two  prominent  heroes  of  the  War 195-200 

The  First  Year  of  the  War  ^^'^^^ 

The  Second    "  "  " 206-210 

The  Third     "  "         211-235 

23G-241 

CHAPTER  VII. 

IRISH  IMMIGRATION   FROM   1815   TO   1837, 

The  Results  of  the  Great  War  in  Ireland 

Irish  Immigrations;  what  the  Irishman  has  done  L' Canada  ^  what 
Canada  has  done  for  the  Irishman  '  „. 

244-301 

CHAPTER  VIII, 

IBISH  IMMIGRATION  FROM  1815  TO  1837-ConUmi^d. 

The  Blakes 

Settlement  of  the  County  of  Carleton 302-308 

The  Irishman  in  Montreal  310-328 

Oxford ■.■.■,■.■.■.;;. 328-336 

"  Sandwich ^^^ 

HaltonandWelland,' If'^^ 

the  County  of  Victoria..."; Zl'^^ 

the  County  of  Peterborough.  f?: 

Kingston 3o5 

^^  Percy...  365 

Belleville  .*.V.V.".'.V.V.V.".".V.'.*.V.". ^^^"^^'^ 

"  Dundas,  Brantf ord  and  Hamilton ..'.'. fll 

the  County  of  Middlesex V«n  qoi 

theCounty  of  WelUngton ggj  ggj 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  RISE  OF  RESPONSIBLE  GOVERNMENT  IN  CANADA. 

Character  of  this  History 

The  first  early  stirrings  of  freedom ^^ 

Agitation  of  Gourlay  and  Mackenzie "• 386,386 

Struggle  to  have  the  debates  reported.".'.".".".  .'.".■.■ f  ^'  ^'^ 

387,  388 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Doctor  Baldwin  in  Parliament 389 

Hon.  Robert  liUdwin  ;  Entrance  into  political  life  ;  his  character...  390-395 

Got  8  to  England  and  presses  his  vifaws  on  Lord  Glenely  396 

Sir  Francis  Bond  Head 390-406 

Robert  Baldwin  Sullivan  enters  public  life 398,  399 

The  Rebellion  of  1837 401-406 

Sir  George  Arthur,  Governor  ;  unsatisfactory  condition  of  all  British 

North  America  ;  struggles  for  liberty   406,  407 

Sir  Francis  Hincks 408,  409 

Mr.  Poulett  Thompson  (Lord  Sydenham)  Governor- General  410-473 

The  Union  of  the  Canadas 409-438 

The  first  Parliament  of  United  Canada 438-400 

Disputes  regarding  Responsible  Government 446-459 

Agitation 460 

Portraits  of  Draper  and  Sir  Francis  Hincks 403,464 

CHAPTER  X. 

THE  RISE  OF  RESPONSIBLE  ooVERNMEXT — Continued. 

state  of  Education  in  Canada 473-476 

Government  of  Sir  Charles  Bagot 476-483 

Fall  of  the  Draper  Government  and  rise  of  the  Baldwin  party  to 

power 478-482 

Sir  Charles  (Lord)  Metcalfe,  Governor-General— violent  agitation  ...  483-503 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  RISE  OP  RESPONSIBLE  GOVERNMENT — Continued. 

The  unconstitutional  interregnum 503-508 

Popular  agitation 609-512 

Parliament  Dissolved  ;  exciting  contest 512,  513 

Election  of  Speaker ;  attack  on  the  Ministry  ;  progress  of  Constitu- 
tional Governme)it ;  indecency  of  Ministers  ;  Draper's  Univer- 
sity Bill ;  departure  and  death  of  Lord  Metcalfe 521-532 

CHAPTER  XII. 

THE   RISE   OF   RESPONSIBLE   GOVERNMENT — Continued. 

Lord  Cathcart,  Administrator 532 

Disorganisation  of  the  Tory  Party 532-534 

Lord  Elgin,  Governor-General ;  Draper's  farewell  ;  famine  immigra- 
tion ;  the  Now  Ministry;  death  of  Sullivan;  effect  of  Free  Trade  j 


'm 


CONTENTS. 


commercial  depression  ;  Rebellion  Losses  Bill ;  mob  violence 
seals  of  Government ;  treason  ;  triumph  of  Responsible  Govern^ 


ment 


XV 

PAOB 

634-564 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE   CANADIAN   CONSTITUTION. 

Developing  the  country  ;  the  -  Clear  Grits  ;"  Independence  and  An- 

nexation  :  advantages  of  Canadian  Constitution  .  kh^  r^o- 

Parliament  meets  ;  "Clear  Grits"  attack  the  Reform  Government ' 
fnutful  legislation;  Railway  Mania;  Mr.  Brown's  hostility  to' 
the  Hmcks  Government ;  Coalition  Opposition  ;  fall  of  Hincks 
and  close  of  the  Irish  period  (1825-1854) 572  589 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

PROGRESS   OF  CANADA. 

Irish  immigration  smce  1837 

The  Irishman  as  asocial  force  ....     ^^'^^^ 

"  asaMedicalman. ...:..:::   Zf^^ 

"  as  a  Journalist 'f.^'^f 

TheBench,  the  Bar,  culture....  ^^^'  ^^^ 

Canadian  Art "'.'." '. C04-611 

Irish  poets  in  Canada 611-618 

Volunteers 618-620 

620-623 

CHAPTER  XV. 

THE   IRISHMAN  AS   A   RELIGIOUS   AND   EDUCATIONAL   FORCE. 

Importance  of  Religion  and  Education 

The  Church  of  England  i  >  Canada ^o.  5^^ 

The  Methodist  Church                                     624-629 

The  Presbyterian  Church ..!!! '..'.".".■ ." ^^^'^^^ 

The  Roman  Catholic  Church            032-635 

Education    ..                                    635-643 

643,644 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

CANADIAN   HISTORY   FROM  1856   TO  1877. 

Premiership  of  Mr.  (now  Sir)  John  A.  Macdonald ... 

John  Sheridan  Hogan "^^ 

Thomas  D'Arcy  McGee        ^*^'  ^^ 

646-65J 


"_.!_, 


XVI  CONTENTS. 

Fo'ej- Til 

Confederation,  Lord  Monck,  Fenianism   651-656 

McGee,  fierce  contest,  longing  after  repose,  murder , 656-659 

The  Catholic  League ggo 

Return  of  Sir  Francis  Hincks. ,  ^  (559  qqq 

Reforr   '^    ty  reinforced  by  Mr.  Edward  Blake 660  661 

New  Iris.,  members ggj   gg2 

Lord  Duflferin,  Governor- General ;  nationality,  what ;  Lord  Dufferin's 

talents  ;  his  career 662-666 

Conclusion ggir 


THE  IRISHMAN  IN  CANADA. 


CHAPTER   I. 

It  requires  no  such  faith  as  Abraham's  to  look  forward  to  a 
time   when   Canada   wiH   be   a  great  nation.     Had  the   aaed 
Hebrew,  when  told  to  count  his  descendants  by  the  stars  turned 
away  incredulously  and  re-entered  his  tent,  and  sat  down  to 
laugh  with  Sarah  over  what  might  weU  have  seemed  a  mocking 
promise,  he  would  surely  have  been  excusable.     It  was  hard  for 
him  to  believe  that  the  withered  trunk  would  sprout  and  cover 
the  land  with  forest.     But,  however  strong  his  faith,  he  could 
not  have  grasped  the  mighty  future  which  lay  locked  within  his 
wintry  loins.     What  human  vision  could  have  seen  in  the  patri- 
arch  bowed  with  age,  the  extraordinary  people  who  were  to  be 
K)  the  world  what  the  fruitful  cloud  and  the  vivifying  sunshine 
are  to  the  earth-a  people,  to  whose  spiritual  insight  that  of  the 
Greeks  was   bUndness,    from   whose   sublime   morality   Eoman 
virtue  diifered,  as  the  human  differs  from  the  Divine  ?      But 
there  would  be  no  excuse  whatever  for  doubts  on  our  part     We 
already  count  ourselves  by  millions  ;  we  live  in  historical  times  • 
we  are  the  heirs  in  possession  of  the  moral  and  inteUectual 
wealth  of  centuries ;  we  carry  in  our  veins  the  blood  of  races 
which  have  been  prolific  in  martyrs  and  heroes,  poets  and  states- 
men; m  beauty,  which  gives  sweetness  to  strength,  and  in  art 
which  renders  that  beauty  immortal.     We  have  seen  the  family 


THE   IIUSltMi^N    IN    CANADA. 


? 


and  the  clan  expand  i  ito  the  nation,  and  the  descendants  of  rob- 
bers and  outlaws  become  the  stern  lawgivers  of  the  world.  From 
what  rude  tribec  sprang  Greece ;  out  of  what  a  coarse  chaos 
came  the  refined  civilization  of  France  and  the  glory  of  the  Brito- 
Hibernian  empire.  The  great  Eastern  shepherd  had  long  slept 
in  his  grave  when  his  children  were  the  slaves  of  a  cmel  tyranny; 
his  dust  had  passed  through  many  forms  when  Solomon  ruled  at 
Jerusalem;  ages  had  intervened  when  a  greater  than  Solomon 
promulgated  from  Zion  a  kingdom  which  can  know  no  decline. 
We,  too,  shall  have  long  slept  with  our  fathers  when  Canada's 
sun  will  be  in  the  zenith.  But  they  only  play  their  part 
worthily  who  live  for  morrows  whose  lii;ht  cannot  gladden  them. 
This  is  a  duty  which  is  laid  on  all,  bat  especially  on  young 
peoples.  Our  politics  are  evanescent;  our  ambitions,  dreams; 
there  is  nothing  of  reality  in  the  passing  show  but  the  qualities 
which  assign  the  individual  and  the  community  their  place  in 
the  moral  scale,  and  determine  the  character  of  their  successors. 
Humanity  is  immortal ;  the  individual,  perishable.  Even  races 
disappear  and  give  place  to  other  races.  Old  forces  take  new 
forms,  as  in  the  sea  the  waves  spend  themselves,  transmitting 
their  strength  to  other  waves,  which  in  their  turn  are  doomed 
to  die. 

It  is  natural  to  wish  to  know  what  manner  of  men  our  fathers 
were.     On  no  subject  has  there  been  more  curiosity,  on  none  has 
there  been  so  much  absurd  speculation,  as  on  the  ethnology  of 
nations  who  have  taken  a  foremost  place  in  the  world.   The  foun- 
tains of  the  Nile  have  not  been  so  baffling  as  those  changes  and 
conditions  which  preceded  the  advent  and  growth  of  nations. 
The  sources  are  lost  in  unrecorded  time.     It  is  only  yesterday 
that  the  clue  from  language  was  discovered.     Hence,  ignorant  or 
uncritical  historians,  more  enamoured  of  the  marvellous  than  care- 
ful about  truth,  have  allowed  fancy  to  run  riot,  and  taught  men 
to  reverence  fabulous  heroes,  and  sometimes  to  regulate  their  con- 
duct by  what  was  no  better  than  idle  legend. 

When  the  future  historian  of  Canada  sits  down  to  write  a 
story  which,  we  may  hope,  will  be  illustrious  with  great  achieve- 
ments and  happy  discoveries,  triumphs  in  literature  and  art,  in 


''*^* 


OliJECTS   OF  THE   WORK. 


8 


ts  of  roL- 
d.  From 
'se  chaos 
he  Brito- 
Diig  slept 

tyranny; 
.  ruled  at 

Solomon 
)  decline. 

Canada's 
heir  part 
ien  them, 
on  young 
dreams ; 
J  qualities 
■  place  in 
luccessors. 
Iven  races 
take  new 
nsmitting 
doomed 

ur  fathers 
none  has 
nology  of 
The  foun- 
mges  and 
f  nations, 
yestei'day 
jnorant  or 
than  care- 
ught  men 
iheir  con- 
write  a 
t  achieve- 
nd  art,  in 


his  library,  side  by  side  with  lore  it  has  not  entered  into  the 
heart  of  man  as  yet  to  conceive,  will  be  found  records  such  as 
the  historian  of  Greece,  or  Rome,  or  Ireland,  or  Scotland,  cc 
England  looks  for  in  vain.  He  will  ha^e  to  treat  of  the  races 
which  laid  the  foundation  of  the  great  northern  empire  on  this 
continent,  and  ho  must  have  adequate  information  to  his  hand 
But  those  records  will  be  incomplete,  unless  we  take  care  that  a 
class  of  facts,  which  may  easily  escape,  are  duly  hoarded.  The 
future  historian  will  find  full  particulars  regarding  those  heroic 
Frenchmen — the  missionary  and  the  soldier — who  were  the 
pioneers  of  our  civilization.  He  ought  to  know  all  about  the 
English  settlement.  He  should  be  acquainted  with  all  that 
Scotchmen  have  done  for  Canada.  He  should  not  be  ignorant  of 
the  noble  elements  of  national  life  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
of  modem  nations  has  laid  at  her  feet.  To  point  out  this  is  the 
task  I  have  set  myself. 

I  have  another  object  in  view :  I  wish,  while  performing  this 
task,  to  sweep  aside  misconceptions,  to  explode  cherished  lal- 
lacies,  to  point  out  the  truth,  and  so  raise  the  self-respect  of 
every  person  of  Irish  blood  in  Canada.  The  time  has  not  yet 
arrived  when  we  can  speak  of  a  Canadian  type,  and  until  that 
day  arrives,  whether  we  are  born  on  Canadian  soil,  or  in  the 
mother  lands,  we  cannot  safely  forego  the  bracing  and  inspiring 
influences  which  come  from  country  and  race.*  Our  first  duty 
here  is  to  Canada ;  but  one  of  the  best  ways  efficiently  to  dis- 
charge this  duty,  is  to  be  just  to  ourselves  and  true  to  facts. 

Writing  the  history  of  Irishmen  in  Canada,  I  can  afford  to 
speak  in  this  way,  for  it  was  in  great  part  due  to  the  eloquence 
and  enthusiasm  of  an  Irishman  that  the  scattered  provinces  were 
brought  together,  and  men  born  on  this  soil  have  acknowledged 


•  Let  the  miserables  who  would  deny  a  country  because  the  shadow  of  a 
vanished  oppression  is  only  passing  from  it,  and  who  do  not  scruple  to  abuse 

their  fellow-countrymen,   ponder  the   following  remarks   of  an   Englishman : 

•'  The  moral  degradation  arising  from  this  vast  mass  of  helotage  could  not  fail  to 
affect  the  bearing  even  of  the  upper  classes  of  Ireland.  It  produced  in  them 
that  want  of  self-respect  and  respect  for  their  country  in  their  intercourse  with 
the  English  which  drew  from  Johnson  the  bitter  remark,  '  The  Irish,  sir,  are  a 
very  candid  people  ;  they  never  speak  well  of  each  other." " — "Irish  History  and 
Irish  Character."    By  Goldwin  Smith. 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


/ 


their  irulobtedness  to  his  winged  words  for  the  most  precious 
of  gifts.* 

Hiippily,  to  write  the  history  of  Irishmen  in  Canada  is  no 
uninviting  task.  It  is  not  merely  that  Ireland  can  advance  her 
claim  to  recognition  and  respect  as  no  inconsiderable  contributor 
to  the  great  work  of  laying  the  foundation  of  this  young  nation. 
She  has  helped  to  reclaim  the  land  from  barrenness  ;  to  substi- 
tute for  the  wilderness  the  garden.  In  clearing  and  in  counsel, 
her  sons  have  done  their  part.  Whether  it  was  necessary  to 
speul.  or  strike,  they  have  been  at  the  post  of  duty.  This  is  not 
all  which  makes  the  task  so  pleasant.  The  heroism,  the  endur- 
ance, the  versatile  genius  implied  by  all  this  may  be  found 
written  on  the  tearful  pages  of  the  history  of  the  motherland. 
What  renders  the  task  so  pleasant  is,  that  here  the  factious 
which  have  afflicted  successive  centuries  exist  but  in  shadow 
because  the  ground  of  quarrel  is  wholly  absent.  Whoever 
studies  the  history  of  Ireland,  not  in  what  are  called  popular 
histories  and  student's  manuals,  but  in  contemporary  documents, 
will  learn  that  the  great  bone  of  contention,  from  age  to  age,  was 
not  religion,  nor  form  of  government,  but  the  land.  Here,  land 
can  be  no  apple  of  discord.  Ireland,  nay,  the  three  kingdoms^ 
might  be  drowned  in  one  of  our  lakes.  We  have,  too,  out- 
lived the  age  of  plunder  and  confiscation,  and  never  can  any 
difficulty  arise  on  this  score  in  a  country  where  we  open  up 
provinces  as  men  in  the  old  world  make  a  paddock. 

And  if  there  can  be  no  misgiving  as  to  the  abundance,  neither 
can  there  be  any  as  to  the  wealth  and  fruitfulness  of  the  land. 
Ireland's  fields  are  greener,  but  they  are  not  as  variously  fruitful 
as  those  of  Canada ;  her  hills — nothing  could  surpass  their 
beauty,  but  they  do  not  contain  the  mineral  treasures  which  are 
to  be  found  here ;  her  rivers  have  unspeakable  charm,  but  their 
sands  are  not  of  gold. 

A  glance  at  the  physical  geography  of  Canada  will  show  it  to 
be  one  of  the  richest   sections   of  the  globe.     Its   forests  will 

•  '•  There  is  a  name  I  would  fain  approach.  .  .  .  one  who  breathed  into 
our  new  Dominion  the  spirit  of  a  proud  self-reliance,  and  first  taught  Canadians 
to  respect  themselves — Thomas  D'Arcy  McGee."— "Canada  First;  or,  Our  New 
Nationality."     By  W.  A.  Foster. 


I 


RESOURCES  OF  THE   DOMINION. 


)W  it  to 
ts  will 


build  tliousiiuds  of  fleets  and  warm  the  hearths  of  many  genera- 
tions.    Already  great  as  a  wheat-growing  country,  it  is  destined 
to  be  greater,   the  isotherm  of  wheat  running  right  across  the 
greater  portion  of  the  whole  Dominion.     The  red  loam  of  Princo 
Edward  is  among  the  most  fertile  of  soils.     What  country  is  so 
beautifully  wooded  and  watered  as  New  Brunswick,  whose  fer- 
tility is  only  surpassed  by  the  wealth  of  its  mines  and  fisheries  ? 
Nova  Scotia,  variegated  by  lofty  hills  and  broad  valleys,  by  lakes 
and  rivers,  is  rich  in  geological  resources,  and,  while  bountiful  to 
the  agricultundist,  is  still  more  bountiful  to  the  miner.     Gold  and 
iron  and  copper,  lead  and  silver  and  tin,  abound.     Shii)building 
is  carried  on  extensively,  as  in  New  Brunswick  and  in  Quebec 
The  agricultural  resources  of  Quebec  and  those  of  Ontario  need 
Dot  be  dwelt  on.     It  is  now  known  that  the  land  to  the  north- 
west of  Manitoba  is  richer  than  any  prairie  land  in  the  world. 
Our  minerals  held  their  heads  high  at  the  Centennial  oi"  18 7G. 
Canadian  horses  and  cattle  are  finding  a  market  in  England,  and 
the  gates  of  commerce  are  thrown  open  to  us  under  the  Southern 
Cross.     If  the  eastern  bounds  of  our  Dominion,  washed  by  the 
stormy  Atlantic,  are  variously  rich,  so  are  the  western  bounds, 
wliose  golden  feet  are  laved  by  the  calmer  waters  oi"  the  Pacific. 
Destined  at  once  to  be  the  England  and  the  California  of  the 
future,  British  Columbia  is  as  beautiful  as  she  is  richly  dowered. 
The  traveller  who  proceeds  up  the  highway  made  where  the 
Eraser  cleaves  the  granite  ridges  of  the  Cascade  range  and  enters 
the  open  valleys  beyond,  is  face  to  face  with  "  the  unequalled 
pastoral  and  agricultural  resources  of  the  bunch-grass  country."  * 
From  an  eminence  in  the  neighbourhood  ol  Kamloops  he  com- 
mands an  interminable  prospect  of  grazing  lands  and  valleys 
waiting  for  the  husbandman.     He  may  see  the  mouths  of  the 
coal-pits   opening  into   the   hulls   of   the   vessels ;   here,  inex- 
haustible supplies  of  iron  ore ;  there,  the  woodsman  laying  the 
axe  to  trees  two  hundred  and  fifty   feet   high   and  over  four 
hundred  yea.s  old.     Skirting  the  Eraser,  he  will  see  the  Indian 
fisherman  haul  out  a  salmon  on  the  sands,  whence  the  miner  is 
sifting  sparkling  ore.     In  Cariboo,  in  Cassiar,  in  the  valley  of 
the  Stickeen,  the  precious  metal  is  still  more  abundant. 


See  Lord  DuflFerin's  speech  at  Victoria,  Sept.  20th,  1876. 


il! 


}      !'• 


6  THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 

What  land  is  more  richly  blessed  by  nature  with  water, 
whether  wo  consider  it  as  a  beautificr,  or  as  a  drudj^c,  or  as  a 
fishing  Peld  ?  The  fisheries  inland  and  seaward,  are  unequalled. 
No  codutry  in  the  worl  ^  has  such  an  avenue  of  approach  as  the 
St.  Lawrence.  To  wind  one's  way  through  the  Thousand  Islands 
is  to  wander  amid  enchanting  beauty.  It  is  an  Irish  poet  who 
writes — 

"  There  are  miracles,  which  man, 
Cag'd  in  the  bounds  of  Fairopc^'s  pigmy  span, 
Cau  scarcely  dream  of — whicli  his  eye  must  p.e 
To  know  how  v/onderful  this  world  can  'd."  * 

What  variety  and  beauty  is  there  up  Lake  Superior !  Cross  the 
continent,  and  you  may  sail  "^long  the  coast  for  a  week  in  a 
vessel  of  two  thousand  tons,  threading  "  an  interminable  laby- 
rinth of  watery  lanes  and  reaches,"  winding  endlessly  amid  a 
maze  and  mystery  of  islands,  promontories,  and  peninsulas  for 
thousands  of  miles,  the  placid  water  undisturbed  by  the  slighest 
swell  from  the  adjoining  ocean,  and  presenting  at  every  turn  an 
ever-shifting  combination  of  rock,  verdure,  forest,  glacier,  and 
snow-capped  mountain  of  unrivalled  grandeur  and  beauty."  f 
Those  capacious  and  tranquil  waters,  capable  of  carrying  a  line 
of  battle  ship,  seem  gentle,  as  if  on  purpose  to  suit  the  frail 
canoes  which  skim  in  safety  over  the  unrippled  surface. 

In  such  a  country,  where  the  laws  are  equal,  with  everything 
which  cau  stimulate  industry,  J  everything  which  can  stir  the 
heart,  it  would  be  an  extraordinary  thing  if  the  Irishman  did 
not  rise  to  a  high  level.  Here,  all  that  his  fathers  ever  struggled 
for  he  has.  He  is  a  controlling  part  of  the  present ;  he  is  one 
of  the  architects  of  the  future,  and  he  has  nothing  to  do  with 
the  disasters  of  the  past,  only  so  far  as  they  teach  him  lessons  for 
the  present.  Nothing  to  do  with  the  glories  of  the  past,  .save  to 
catch  their  inspiration.  On  those  disasters  and  those  glories  it 
will  nov^  be  my  duty  briefly  to  dwell. 


*  Moore, 
t  liord  DuJFerin. 

t  ^  am  coavinced,  from  what  I  saw  in  the  States,  and  from  all  I  bi»vre  heardr 
that  tho  position  of  the  Irishman  in  Canada  Is  better  than  in  the  Slates. 


FUNCTION  OF  HISTORY. 


CHixPTEIl    II. 


No  source  of  education  opjn  to  a  people  ought  to  be  so 
ruitful  as  the  story  of  their  owi.  country.  But,  if  it  is  to  teach 
and  correct  and  inspire,  it  must  be  true.  The  muse  of  history  is 
the  purest  of 'all  the  Nine,  and  no  passion  should  darken  the 
clear  blue  of  the  intellectual  atmosphere  of  her  domain;  no 
fiction  warp  its  crisp  outlines.  The  romancer,  who  gives  you  idle 
fables,  and  calls  them  history,  would  play  a  much  more  useful 
part  if  he  appeared  in  his  true  character  of  novelist;  while  the 
man  who  distorts  facts  or  colours  them  mischievously,  with  the 
view  of  raising  or  stimulating  passions,  is  worse  than  a  murderer, 
for  he  sows  broadcast  the  seeds  of  murder.  In  uncriticd  times, 
the  deposit  of  the  national  fancy  is  easily  mistaken  for  the 
gold  of  truth,  and  for  the  most  credulous  of  Irish  historians 
there  is  this  excuse  :  for  him  the  future  was  a  vista  of  despair ; 
the  present,  blood  and  tears,  and  hope,  in  the  unnatural  strain, 
was  turned  to  the  past,  giving  additional  warmth  and  boldness  to 
imagination.  He  erred,  too,  it  must  be  admitted,  in  good  com- 
pany, but,  in  his  case,  error  was  fraught  with  serious  consequences 
— it  was  used  by  the  enemies  of  his  country  to  discredit  her  real 
glory. 

Some  Irish  historians  divide  the  history  into  periods ;  the 
pre-Christian,  the  Irish  pentarchy,  the  Danish  period,  the  Nor- 
man, the  Tudor  and  Stuart,  and  the  Hanoverian.*     But,  perhaps, 


•  See  "The  Student's  Manual  of  Irish  History."  By  M.  F.  Cusack. 
Until  somebody  does  for  Ireland  what  Mr.  J.  R.  Green  has  done  for  England,  I 
know  no  better  book  to  recommend  to  those  who  wanr  to  get  an  outline  of  events. 
But,  owing,  perhaps,  to  the  limits  of  space,  very  important  facts,  which  should 
find  a  place  even  in  a  compendium,  are  omitted,  and  it  is  impossible  to  escape  from 
the  conviction  that,  here  and  there,  the  partiality  of  the  patriot  sways  the 
balance  of  the  historian — an  unhappy  thing,  because  calculated  to  make  Irish- 
men  look  ridiculous,  and  a  needless  thing,  for  Irishmen  can  afford  to  have  the 
truth  told.     But  it  is  one  of  the  best  small  histories  of  Ireland  which  can  be  got. 


8 


THE  IinSHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


.?.' 


the  facts  would  be  brought  more  certainly  before  the  mind  if 
Irish  history  were  divided  into  the  Celtic  period  and  the  mixed 
period.  The  modern  Irishman  is  not  a  Celt,  any  more  than  the 
modern  Englishman  is  a  Saxon.  The  name  of  the  greatest  of 
English  historians  *  proves  him  to  have  been  in  part  Celt ;  the 
name  of  the  latest  of  Irish  historians  -f  indicates  that  the  writer 
is  in  part  Norman.  But,  as  in  England,  over  Celt  and  Norman 
the  Saxon  predominates,  so  in  Ireland,  over  Saxon  and  Norman, 
the  Celt  predominates. 

We  may  leave  antiquarians  to  puzzle  over  the  five  "takings" 
of  Ireland.  It  is  enough  for  every  practical  purpose  to  know  as 
we  do,  by  the  sure  test  of  language,  that  the  people  inhabiting 
Ireland,  when  the  mists  of  unhistorical  times  are  swept  away 
from  its  green  hills,  its  fertile  valleys,  and  extensive  forests, 
belonged  to  the  grea.t  Celtic  race.  That  race  which  came  before 
the  Teuton  formed  the  vanguard  of  the  Aryan  march  to  the 
West  I  and  played,  and  still  plays,  a  great  part  in  the  history  of 
the  world.  It  plays  its  part  no  longer  alone,  but  in  conjunction 
with  one  or  other  of  its  brethren.  The  Celt  of  Gaul  has  done 
great  things,  not  merely  within  his  own  bounds,  but  for  Europe; 
but  he  has  wrought  all  this  brilliancy  speaking  a  Latin  dialect 
and  wearing  the  name  of  a  German  tribe.  The  Celt  of  Ireland 
of  Scotia  major,  and  his  brethren  among  the  hills  of  Scotia 
minor,  'aving  learned  a  language  composed  of  elements  drawn 
from  dialects  of  their  brethren,  the  Teuton  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  Eoman  on  the  other,  have  done  their  part  in  building  up 
what,  if  Irishmen's  attention  had  not  been  directed  into  other 


/ 


Disfigured,  as  Froude's  history  is,  by  deliberate  misrepreflentation,  his  pages  are 
the  most  vivid  which  have  been  devoted  to  Irish  history,  and  the  student  could 
not  do  better  than  read  them,  if  he  will  remember  their  real  character  and  correct 
them  by  reference  to  more  trustworthy  sources  bearing  on  the  period.  Mr. 
(Joldwin  Smith's  essay,  "Irish  History  and  Irish  Character,"  should  be  read 
by  every  student.  It  is  the  most  masterly  thing  ever  written  on  Ireland,  and 
breathes,  with  one  or  two  trifling  exceptions,  a  spirit  of  perfect  fairness.  For 
persona  who  are  not  students  of  Irish  history  there  is  no  other  book  which  will 
give  them,  on  a  small  canvas,  so  true  a  picture,  Th«  canvas  is  small,  but  the 
treatment  is  the  large  treatment  of  a  master-hand. 

*  Maraulay.  t  Cusack. 

t  Freeman. — "Comparative  Politics,"  p,  50. 


It 


THE  CELT  IN   EUROPE. 


channels,  they  would  have  readily  and  gladly  recognised  as  the 
Brito-Hibernian  empire.     On  this  continent,  working  by  the  side 
of  the  Saxon,  and  mingling  with  him,  the  Celt  has  made,  in  a 
few  years,  one  of  the  foremost  of  modern  nations,  and  here,  in 
C/anada,  no  small  portion  of  the  work  of  the  future  rests  on  his 
shouldei'8.     It  is  impossible  to  say  with  certainty  whether  the 
Oelts  separated  from  the  Roman  and  the  Greek  in  their  Aryan 
nome,  or  parted  company  with  them  on  their  westward  march. 
When  we  see  them  face  to  face  with  their  classical  brethren, 
it  is  as  enemies.     They  poured  over  the  Alps,  and  settled  in  the 
valleys  of  the  Po,  and,  in  vengeance  for  the  haughty  language  of 
Roman  ambassadors   and  some  Gaulish  blood  spilt  in  a  skir- 
mish, they  raised  the  siege  of  Clusium  n,nd  marched  on  Rome, 
which,   having  put  the  Romans  to  rout  at  AUia,  they  gave  to 
the  flames.    It  was  Celtic  valour  bore  down  the  Roman  in  the 
defile  of  Thrasymene,  on  the  disastrous  field  of  Cannse ;  nor  was 
it  until  Csesar  carried  a  ten  years'  extirminating  war  into  the 
home  of  the  Celts  that  the  contest  of  four  centuries  was  decided. 
They  carried  their  arms  into  Greece  and  overran  Asia  Minor. 
They  sacked  Delphi ;   "  they  met  the  summons  of  Alexander 
with  gasconading  defiance  j  they  overthrew  the  phalanx  in  the 
plains  of  Macedon."* 

We  may  trust  the  traditions  which  assign  an  early  date  to  the 
settlement  of  Ireland,  while  dismissing  with  a  smile  stories  about 
Noah's  children  and  Canaanitish  emigrations.  The  Celt  who 
settled  in  Ireland,  separated  by  the  sea  from  the  continent, 
would  naturally  be  shut  out  from  a  share  in  the  wars  and  enter- 
prises of  the  members  of  his  race  on  the  mainland,  and  be 
kept  free  from  influences  to  which  they  were  exposed.  Centuries 
passed  away,  and  the  civilization  did  not  advance  beyond  the 
primitive  stage  of  the  sept  and  clan.  Petty  principalities  arose, 
and  petty  kingdoms,  and  population  was  kept  down  by  constant 
wars.-f  There  is  no  use  in  attributing  virtues  to  the  Irish  Celts 
at  this  stage  which  are  inconsistent  with  the  infancy  of  a  people. 
What  they  were  we  can  very  easily  understand  from  what  we 
know  certainly  of  themselves,  from  what  we  know  of  the  Gauls, 


Goldwin  Smith. 


+  Professor  0  Curry. 


in 


/ 


i  ' 

1-  1 


10 


THE  lUISIFMAN   IN   CANADA. 


aud  from  what  we  know  of  the  Greeks  at  a  like  period  of  growth. 
In   art,   in  arms,   in  polity  they  were,  up  to  the  time  of  St. 
Patrick,  about  on  a  level  with  the  Greeks  of  the  time  of  which 
Homer  sings ;  nor  need  we  be  surprised  that  a  resemblance  has 
been  traced  between  ancient  Irish  and  ancient  Greek  military 
monuments.     The  bards,  as  in  early  Greece,  and  in  Germany  in 
early  times,  held  an  important  place  in  society  and  wielded  great 
power.     If  it  was  their  profession  to  flatter  the  strong,  they  were 
often  the  protectors  of  the  weak.     What  was  thought  amongst 
the  Teutons  of  the  bards  may  be  gathered  from  Uhland's  great 
ballad,  and  in  Ireland  the  wandering  poet,  who  was  credited  with 
divine  powers,  often  made  himself  unpopular  with  kings  and 
princes.     The  bards  were  the  journalists,  orators,  and  historians 
of  those  times,  and,  before  being  admitted  to  the  sacred  order, 
they  had  to   pass   through    a  long   course   of  training.     Their 
religion  was  Druidism.     They  worshipped  the  sun,  and  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Dublin,  to  this   day,  the  student  witnesses 
survivals  of  this  worship.    The  Irish-speaking  Celt  still  calls  the 
1  st  of  May  "  La  Bealtinne,"  and  throughout  the  island  fires  are 
lit,  which  are  the  embers  of  a  once-living  worship,  the  joyful 
greeting  of  the  returning  sun-god.     There  was  a  national  code 
and  recognised  interpreters.     Common  ownership  of  land  pre- 
cedes separate  ownership.*   In  Kussia  and  Hindostan  the  village 
communities  hold  the  land  in  common,  and  in  Ireland  the  land 
was  the  property  of  the  Sept.     That  such  was  the  custom  among 
the  Greeks  and  Komans,  in  early  times,  may  be  gathered  from 
the  redistributions   of  land  and  the   agrarian   laws,   from   the 
Roman  clientage  and  the   Greek   tribes,   which   are  evidently 
cognate  institutions  of  the  Clan.-f-     One  of   the  most  curious 
facts  in  comparative  politics  is,  that  the  custom  sanctioned  by 
the  Brehon  laws  of  the  creditor  fasting  upon  the  debtor  exists 
at  this  hour  in  Hindostan,  and  has  actually  been  practised  within 
living  memory  in  Ulster. 

Early  in  our  era,  the  Scots  of  Erin  colonised  the  west  coast  of 
Scotland  and  the  adjacent  islands.     Traditions  of  this  coloniza- 

•  Maine's  Ancient  Law. 

+  Goldwiu  Smith's  "  Irish  History  and  Irish  Character." 


.1 1 


IBISH   COLONIZATION  OF  SCOTLAND. 


11 


tion  and  of  frequent  intercourse  still  linger  in  Scotland.*  They 
acted  with  their  friends  in  North  Britain  against  the  Roman, 
and  in  the  reign  of  Constantine's  successor  the  Irish  and  Picts 


pre- 


*  The  following  remarkable  article,  which  appeared  in  the  Inverness  High- 
lander, in  reference  to  an  Irish  political  question,  is  understood  to  be  from  the 
pen  of  an  eminent  Gaelic  scholar  : — *'  There  was  a  time  when  Clann  nan  Quidheal 
an  guaillibha  a  cheile  did  not  mean  merely  that  a  handful  of  Camerons,  or  of 
JIackays,  or  of  Macdonalds,  should  yoke  themselves  firmly  together  in  crossing?  a 
burn  or  tracking  a  morass  ;  far  less  did  it  teach  that  a  small  body  of  Celts  was  to 
be  compacted  together  for  purposes  of  oflFence  towards  another  body  of  Celts, 
And,   even  supposing  that  in  remote  and  unchristian  times  this  brotherhood  did 
happen  to  be  so  limited,  we  have  arrived  at  a  time  when,  to  say  the  very  least, 
the  bonds  should  embrace  all  the  branches  of  the  family  of  the  Gaidheal.     We 
are  thankful  to  say  that  the  tendency  of  the  more  intellectual  enterprises  o^  the 
race  in  oxir  day  is  towards  this  wider  brotherhood.      Dr.  MacLauchlan,  Campbell 
of  Islay,  Matthew  Arnold,  Professor  Morley,  and  even  Professor  Blackie,  who  is 
supposed  to  be  more  intense  than  broad,  are  unflinching  in  their  declarations  that 
Celtic  learning,  Celtic  literature,  and  Celtic  history  to  be  what  they  ought  to  be, 
must  embrace  the  learning  and  the  philosophy,  the  history  and  the  polity  of  the 
Scottish,  the  Irish,  the  Manx,  the  Cornish,  the  Armoric  and  the  Welsh  Celts ; 
that  we  must  make  careful  use  of  the  living  speech  and  current  traditions  of 
Highlanders,   of  the  fragments  of  literature  found  in  the  Isle  of  Man  and  in 
Cornwall,   of  the  Cymbri,   and  of  the  vast  stores  of  Irish  MSS.  which  have 
escaped  +he  ravages  of  Teutonic  destroyers.     This  is  a  valuable  lesson  in  regard 
to  other  things,  as  well  as  being  a  valuable  fact  in  itself,  and  it  points  to  the  duty 
of  the  different  members  of  the  great  family  drawing  upon  each  other  for  co- 
operation in  other  departments.     Even  in  the  matter  of  war  it  is  notorious  how 
the  Irish  bore  so  brave  a  hand  with  the  Highlanders  in  resisting  the  Danes  ;  a  fact 
of  which  the  mixture  of  Irish  and  Scottish  names,  and  some  of  the  confusion  of 
Scottish  and  Irish  history  are  the  natural  results.     There  is  not  a  corner  in  our 
Scottish  Highlands,  there  is  hr.rdly  a  pedigree  of  an  old  Highland  family,  which 
does  not  bear  out  this  rema.k.     What  are  the  Macdonalds,  the  Macdonnells,  the 
Donnellies,  the  Connolies,  the  O'Connells,  but  the  one  grand  family  of  Clann 
LomhnuiUf    The  Mackays,  the  Mackies,  the  Macghies,  and  even  the  Hoeys,  the 
O'Gheochs,  and  the  Keogas,  are  so  many  modifications  of  Clann  Aoidh.    The  very 
Campbells,  who  have  been  so  largely  implicated  in  the  work  of  denationalizing  Scot- 
land, actually  claim  to  be  of  the  Irish  stock  of  O'Duibhne.  And,  at  the  great  battle 
of  Ckutn-tairbh,  at  which  the  Irish  under  Brian  Boirmhe  overthrew  the  Danes,  in 
the  beginning  of    the  eleventh  century,   Feochaibh  nah-Alha  are  assigned  an 
honourable  position  in  the  records  of  the  time.    Another  thing,  perhaps  still  more 
to  the  purpose,  is  the  very  curious  fact,  that  so  very  large  a  proportion  of  High- 
land '*  fiction,"  of  legendary  lore — corresponding  in  some  measure  at  the  time  of 
its  composition  with  our  romances  and  with  our  more  sober  works  of  fiction — 
should  have  direct  reference  to  Irish  characters,  events  and  scenes.      No  one 
is  surprised  to  find  this  the  case  in  Cantyre  and  in  Wigtonshire.     But  it  is  as  cer. 


12 


I 


I        Ji 


pi)  I 


/ 


THE  IIlISTTJfAN   IN   CANADA. 


are  said  to  have  reached  London  and  occupied  it.  It  required  all 
the  ability  of  Theodosius  to  save  the  province  from  destruction. 
He  defeated  Saxon,  Pict,  and  Scot,  and  unless  Claudian  indulges 
in  a  wilder  poetic  license  than  common,  the  number  of  Scots 
from  Ireland  must  have  been  very  large.  The  poet  describes  the 
victorious  general  as  pursuing  them  to  the  extremity  of  Britain, 
and  slaying  so  many  that  the  Orcades  were  stained  with  Saxon 
gore,  Thule  warmed  with  Pictish  blood,  and  Erin  left  mourning 
over  heaps  of  her  slain  Scots.* 

There  are  traces  in  South-west  Britain  of  Irish  occupation. 
Some  think  that  Wales  was  invaded  by  the  Irish.f  Irish  oc- 
cupations are  referred  to  in  Welsh  traditions.  One  invasion  is 
mentioned  in  the  Triads,  and  it  would  appear  that,  besides  the 
settlements  in  Scotland  and  North  Wales,  the  Irish  dominion 
extended  over  South  Wales  and  Cornwall.  In  Cormac's  glossary 
we  find  an  envoy   sent   over  to  the   south-west  of  England  to 


tainly,  and  perhaps  more  generally,  so  in  the  far  north  Highlands.  In  Glen- 
Urquhart ;  in  Stratherrick  ;  in  Cromarty  even,  which  has  been  so  drenched  with 
Teutonic  soporifics ;  in  Applecross  ;  in  Skye ;  and  in  parts  of  the  Long  Island, 
the  setting  up  of  Highland  families  from  Irish  offshoots,  the  marrying  of  High- 
land ladies  into  Irish  royal  and  other  families,  et  cetera,  are  leading  facts  in  the 
pedigrees  and  traditions  handed  down  from  remote  periods.  The  wide  and  deep 
hold,  for  example,  of  the  story  of  Clann  Visneach  all  over  the  Highlands  is  an 
instructive  fact,  and  one  fraught  with  kindly  outcomings  from  Celt  to  Celt. 
Then  there  is  the  great  Ossianic  drama,  which  is  now  established  to  have  been 
neither  exclusively  Scottish,  nor  exclusively  Irish,  but  a  large  network  over  both 
countries — wide  enough,  indeed,  aa  is  now  being  shr  by  Dr.  Hately  Waddell, 
to  embrace  the  territory  of  Cymbri  also.  After  giving  illustrations  in  regard  to 
our  family  and  friendly  relations  with  the  Manx,  and  to  the  benefits  which  are  to 
be  derived  in  a  variety  of  forms  from  a  more  intiuiate  acquaintance  with  the 
Cornish,  we  might  pass  over  to  Brittany,  trace  the  relationship,  and  then  point 
to  a  still  wider  relationship  exempl^ed  by  the  terms  of  amity  which  subsisted 
so  long  between  the  French  nation  and  that  of  Alban.  ♦  •  *  What  we  do 
profess  is,  that  there  is  a  nationality  existing  among  us,  that  there  are  traditions, 
that  there  are  latent  sentiments,  that  there  are  common  interests  apart  from,  and  in 
addition  to,  those  principles  of  justice  and  those  sentiments  of  fair  play,  which 
should  make  Highlanders,  above  all  men,  give  Cothram  na  Feintie  to  the  Irish. 

*  Maduerunt  Saxone  fuso 
Orcades  :  incaluit  Pictorum  sanguine  Thule  : 
Scotorum  cumulos  flevit  glacialis  lerne. 

f  Aniuals  of  the  Caledonians.     Ritson. 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  CHRISTIANITY 


13 


collect  tribute,  and  this  is  borne  out  by  the  romance  of  Tristan 
and  Iseult,  in  which  the  uncle  of  Iseult  is  sent  to  demand  tribute 
from  Marc,  King  of  Cornwall,  uncle  of  Tristan.  The  tales  of 
King  Arthur  belong  to  the  period  of  the  Irish  occupation. 

With  the  introduction  of  Christianity  there  came  a  new 
element  of  civilization,  and  the  warm  Celtic  nature  responded 
with  enthusiastic  fervour  to  the  pure  and  ennobling  influences  of 
the  Gospel.  Their  religion  burned  "  like  a  star  in  Western 
Europe."*  Columba,  or  Columbkill,  a  man  of  the  royal  race  of  Nial, 
undertook  to  carry  the  glad  tidings  to  the  Gael,  the  Pict,  the  Briton 
and  the  Scandinavian,  and  founded  the  holy  island  of  lona, 
whence  went  forth  missionaries  to  Iceland,  to  the  Orkneys,  to 
Northumbria,  to  Man,  and  to  South  Britain.f  Columbanus  did  a 
like  work  among  the  half-barbarous  Franks,  and  in  France,  in 


•  Froude,  "Vol.  I.,  p.  15. 

+  "We  must  remember  that  before  the  landing  of  the  English  in  Britain,  the 
Christian  Church  comprised  every  country,  save  Germany,  in  Western  Europe, 
as  far  as  Ireland  itself.  The  conquest  of  Britain  by  the  pagan  English  thrust  a 
wedge  of  heathendom  into  the  heart  >f  this  great  communion,  and  broke  it  into 
two  unequal  parts.  On  the  one  side  lay  Italy,  Spain  and  Gaul,  whose  churches 
owned  obedience  to  the  see  of  Rome  ;  on  the  other,  the  Church  of  Ireland.  But  the 
condition  of  tlie  two  portions  of  Western  Christendom  was  very  diflFerent.  While 
the  vigour  oF  Christianity  in  Italy,  Gaul  and  Spain  was  exhausted  in  a  bare 
struggle  for  life,  Ireland,  which  remained  unscourged  by  invaders,  f  iCw  from  its 
conversion  an  energy  such  as  it  has  never  known  since  Christianity  had  been 
received  there  with  a  burst  of  popular  enthusiasm,  and  letters  and  arts  sprang  up 
rapidly  in  its  train.  The  science  and  Biblical  knowledge  which  fled  from  the  Con- 
tinent took  refuge  in  famous  schools,  which  made  Durrow  and  Armagh  the  uni- 
versities of  the  West.  The  new  Christian  life  soon  beat  too  strongly  to  brook 
confinement  within  the  bounds  of  Ireland  itself.  Patrick,  the  first  missionary  of 
the  island,  had  not  been  half  a  century  dead  when  Irish  Christianity  flung  itself 
with  a  fiery  zeal  into  battle  with  the  mass  of  heathenism  which  was  rolling  in  upon 
the  Christian  world.  Irish  missionaries  laboured  among  the  Picts  of  the  High- 
lands, and  among  the  Frisians  of  the  northern  seas.  An  Irish  missionary,  Colum- 
ban,  founded  monasteries  in  Burgundy  and  the  Apennines.  The  Canton  of  St. 
Gall  still  commemorates  in  its  name  another  Irish  missionary  before  whom  the- 
spirit  of  flood  and  fell  fled  wailing  over  the  waters  of  Lake  Constance.  For  a 
time  it  seemed  as  if  the  course  of  the  world's  history  was  to  be  changed,  as  if  the 
older  Celtic  race  that  Roman  and  German  had  swept  before  them  had  turned  to 
the  moral  conauest  of  their  conquerors,  as  if  Celtic  and  not  Latin  Christianity  wa» 
to  mould  the  .  stiniesof  the  Church  of  the  West."  History  of  the  English  People* 
J.  R.  Green,  M.  A.,  Examiner  in  the  School  of  Modern  History,  Oxford. 


14 


THE  IUl8liMAN   IN  CANADA. 


!      i! 


I         ':       !!'■ 


/        1'^ 


:>        I 


Switzerland,  m  Italy  there  remaiu  monuments  of  the  sacred  zeal 
which  carried  the  truth  to  the  Lombards — men,  like  themselves,  of 
Celtic  blood — and  caused  the  Go;jpel  star  to  shine  on  the  darkness 
of  the  Main  and  Upper  Rhine.  While  Columbauus  was  passing 
through  Switzerland,  one  of  his  fellow-labourers  was  taken  ill 
and  could  not  proceed.  The  invalid  on  recovering;,  remained 
with  the  people  who  had  nursed  him,  and  St.  Gall  commemorates  * 
tlie  work  he  accomplished,  and,  indeed,  enduring  traces  of  the 
Irish  missions  may  be  found  in  every  part  of  Europe.  It  was 
not  the  sanctity  only  of  the  Irish  which  stood  high  at  this  time. 
Their  scholarship  was  equally  illustrious.  Eric  of  Auxerre  writes 
to  Charles  the  Bald  :  "  What  shall  I  say  of  Ireland,  which,  de- 
spising the  dangers  of  the  deep,  is  migrating  with  her  whole  train 
of  philosophers  to  our  coast  ? "  Not  only  did  Ireland  send  out 
apostles  and  philosophers  to  other  countries,  she  welcomed 
pupils  from  every  compass  to  her  schools.  Thousands  of  students 
from  all  parts  of  Europe  came  for  instruction  to  the  schools  of 
Armagh,  and  to  "  that  melancholy  plain  where  the  Shannon  flows 
by  the  lonely  ruins  of  Clonmacanoise."-)*  Bede  tells  us  that  the 
pestilence  of  656  found  "  many  of  the  nobility  and  of  the  lower 
ranks  of  the  English  nation"  in  Ireland,  who  had  crossed  thither 
for  purposes  of  study,  and  he  adds, — "  The  Scots  willingly  re- 
ceived them  all,  and  took  care  to  supply  them  with  food,  as  also 
to  furnish  them  with  books  to  read  and  their  teaching  gratis." 
Charlemagne  welcomed  Irish  scholars  and  Irish  preachers  as 
powerful  allies  in  the  civilizing  work  he  had  to  do.  He  promoted 
them  to  places  of  honour  in  his  court;  he  employed  them  to  teach 
the  Frankish  youth.    Mr.  Gold  win  Smith  recalls  how  "  Scotus 


li. 


•  The  progress  of  the  Irish  Columbanus  at  her  very  doors  roused  into  new 
life  the  energies  of  Rome.  Gregory  determined  to  attempt  the  conversioi 
of  Britain,  but  when  the  Roman  mission  in  Kent  sank  into  reaction,  the  Irish 
mission  came  forward  to  supply  its  place.  "  The  labour  of  Aidan,  the  victories  of 
Oswald  and  Oswi  seemed  to  have  annexed  England  to  the  Irish  Church ; "  and 
the  monks  of  Lindisfarue,  or  of  the  new  religious  houses  whose  foundation 
followed  that  of  Lindisfarne,  looked  for  ecclesiastical  tradition  to  Ireland,  and 
quoted  for  guidance  the  instruction  of  Columba. — Hist,  of  the  English  People. 

+  Goldwin  Smith. 


'     1 1 


ST.   PATRICK   A  STATESMAN. 


15 


Erigena  *  was  sitting  a  familiar  guest  at  the  table  ot  Charles  the 
Bald,  wlieii  the  king  asked  him  how  far  a  Scot  was  removed  from 
a  sot,  and  he  answered,  with  Irish  wit,  '  By  a  table's  breadth.' 
During  the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries,"  continues  Mr.  Smith, 
"  and  part  of  the  ninth,  Ireland  played  a  really  great  part  in 
European  history.  It  was  the  bright  morning  of  a  dark  day." 
Surely  a  people  to  whom  Europe  is  so  much  indebted  deserve 
more  consideration  than  they  have  met  with  in  the  hour  of  their 
misfortunes.  What  glory  of  military  conquest  can  equal  the 
pure  and  liappy  glory  of  those  two  centuries  of  learning  and 
piety  ?  And  in  this  glory  neither  Norman  nor  Saxon  has  any 
share ;  it  belongs  of  sole  right  to  the  Irish  Celt. 

St.  Patrick  was  a  statesman  as  well  as  a  Christian  missionary. 
When  at  his  request  the  "  men  of  Erin  "  came  to  a  Conference 
with  him,  he  retained  all  the  Brehon  law  which  did  not  clash  with 
the  Word  of  God  f  ;  and  happy  would  it  have  been  for  England 
as  well  as  Ireland,  if  English  statesmen  in  later  times  had  acted 
in  the  same  spirit  of  moderation  as  St.  Patrick.  About  the  time 
that  the  Brehon  laws  were  codified  under  the  guidance  of  St 
Patrick,  great  changes  were  made  in  the  Eoman  law,  which  was 
undergoing  the  modifications  which  might  be  expected  under  the 
influence  of  Christianity,  and  this  may  have  had  its  eiYect  on  the 
character  of  the  work,  which  was  a  "  precise  and  elaborate  code, 
displaying  that  peculiar  aptitude  for  the  form  of  legislation 
which  the  French  Celt  has  displayed  in  the  Code  Napoleon."  J 
The  authority  of  this  code  continued  until  the  power  of  the  Irish 
chieftains  was  finally  broken  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 
Before  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  whole  race  of 
Brehons  or  judges,  and  Ollamhs  or  professors  of  the  Irish  laws, 
became  extinct. 

The  Danish  incursions  put  a  stop  to  the  mental  oulture  and  pro- 
gress which  would  infallibly  have  brought  the  Irish  people  forward 


*  The  profound  utterances  of  tbis  great  man  are  living  words  to-day.     Dean 
Stanley,  in  Lis  latest  work,  quotes  his  saying — so  far  advanced,  especially  for  Scotna 
Erigena's  time— that  "  whatever  is  true  Philosophy  is  also  true  Theology."  History 
of  Jewish  Church.     Third  Series.     Scribner,  Preface,  p.  xrv. 
+  Senchus  Mor.,  pp.  16,  17. 
Goldwiu  Smith. 


f  '    '! 


16 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


/ 


III! 


I     ! 


♦iH 


to  that  stogo  when  they  could  be  described  as  a  united  nation. 
It  is  vain  to  look  back  with  regret  on  a  state  of  things  in  which 
petty  king  warring  with  petty  king  could  make  alliances  with 
the  heathen  invader.     If  national  unity  had  been  stronger  than 
the  clan  and  individual  selfishness,  of  course  the  Danes  never 
could  have  obtained  a  footing  in  the  island.     Though  the  Danish 
occupation  led  to  the  brief  unity  which  expelled  them  the  events 
leading  up  to  the  battle  of  Clontarf  are  such  as  could  happen 
only  in  the  very  early  stages  of  a  people's  growth.*     The  wife  of 
King  Brian,  Gormflaith,  who  had  two  other  husbands  alive,  was 
at  Kincora  when  Ma3lmurra,  her  brother,  the  King  of  Leinster, 
came  to  pay  tribute.     Mrelmurra  was  also  a  vassal  of  the  Danes 
who  had  helped  him  to   his  throne.     His  sister  taunted  him  with 
being  the  vassal  of  her  own  husband,  and  a  playful  remark  of 
his  cousin  acting  on  his  mind  like  a  spark  on  gunpowder,  he 
left  the  palace  in  anger.     Brian  sent  a  messenger  after  him  to 
pacify  him,  but  the  angry  chief  dashed  out  the  braius  of  the 
messenger.     His  whole  clan  is  roused  to  avenge  an  insult  whic  . 
no  fire-eater  of  the  time  of  duelling  would  have  thought  sufficient 
to  warrant  calling  a  man  out.     The  O'Rourkes,  the  O'Niels,  the 
O'Flahertys  and  the  Kearys  promised  to  assist  him.      And  mark 
what  followed  on  a  sharp  word  over  a  game  of  chess.     O'Niel 
ravaged  Meath.     O'Rourke  attacked  Malachy  and  slew  his  grand- 
son and  heir.     Soon  afterwards  Malachy  defeated  his  assailants 
in  a  bloody  engagement.     He  then  divided  his  forces  into  three 
parties  and  plundered  Leinster  as  far  as  Meath.     Reprisals  were 
made  on  each  side ;  Irishman  slaying  Irishman  and  the  Danes 
in  the  land,  nay,  fighting  side  by  side  with  the  Leinster  men, 
until  Malachy  demanded  the  protection  to  which  he  was  entitled 
from  Brian,  who  clearly  was  not  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  word 
King   of   Ireland.    "  Brian    of  the  tribute "  properly  describes 
his  position.     Brian  obeyed  the  summons.    He  "  ravaged  Ossory  " 
and  marched  on  Dublin,  where  he  was  joined  by  his  son  Murrogh, 
"  who  had  devastated  Wicklow,  burning,  destroying  and  carrying 
off  captives  until  he  reached  Kilmaiuham."    The  siege  of  Dublin 


•  See  for  the  details,  "  Irish  Hifltory,"  by  M.  F.  Cuaack,  well  known  as  "The 
Nun  of  Kenmare." 


m 


CLONTARF.      THE   DANES. 


17 


■\s-as  raised  during  tlie  winter,  and  Gormflaitli,who  is  a  sort  of  Irish 
Helen,  exerts  herself  in  collecting  forces  against  her  two  husbands, 
Brian  and  Malachy.  She  despatched  her  son  Sitric  to  bring 
foreign  aid,  and  promised  her  hand  and  the  kingdom  of  Ireland 
to  each  of  two  Vikings  if  they  would  come  and  help  the  Danes. 
In  the  spring  Brian  marched  towards  Dublin  "  with  all  that 
obeyed  him  of  the  men  of  Ireland."  He  "  plundered  and  de- 
stroyed as  usual,"*  says  the  Nun  of  Kenmare,  on  his  way  to 
Dublin.  After  he  had  passed  Fingal  and  burned  Kilmainham, 
he  sent  his  son  Donough  to  plunder  Leiuster.  A  third  of  the 
forces  on  the  Danish  side  were  Leinster  men  under  Mitlmurra. 
Clontarf  was  a  great  battle,  and  on  both  sides  prodigies  of 
valour  were  performed.  But  what  could  save  from  conquest  a 
people  in  the  condition  the  events  preceding  the  battle  show  the 
Irish  to  have  been  in  ?  Even  after  the  victory  of  Clontarf  dis- 
sensions arose,  and  on  their  way  f^om  the  field  the  clans  separated 
and  drew  up  in  order  of  battle !  Centuries  afterwards  we  see 
the  same  defects  break  out  when  Baldearg  O'Donnell,  for  a  pen- 
sion of  £500,  takes  over  to  William's  side  a  large  following  of 
Ulster  Celts. 

The  Danes  settled  down  in  the  seaport  towns  they  had 
founded — Limerick,  Dublin,  Wexford  and  Waterford, — and  paid 
tribute  either  to  the  Ard  Eigh  or  the  local  prince.  They  sometimes 
had  to  pay  blackmail.  In  the  year  1029  Olaf,  the  son  of  Sitric, 
wandering  outside  Dublin  was  taken  prisoner  by  O'Regan,  lord  ol 
Meath,  who  extorted  for  ransom  twelve  hundred  cows,  sevenscore 
British  horses,  threescore  ounces  of  gold,  and  sixty  ounces  of 
silver.  Now  the  Normans  having  conquered  all  the  neighbouring 
nations  turned  their  attention  to  Ireland.  Let  no  one  exclaim 
against  the  Irish  for  their  want  of  union.  We  see  the  same  thing 
in  Greece.  If  the  Irish  had  been  allowed  time  they  would  have 
grown  out  of  the  clan  into  the  nation.  But  the  Irish  Celtic 
nation  was  strangled  in  its  cradle,  and  those  conquerors  with 
whom  we  have  now  to  deal  were  neither  Saxon  nor  English,  but  the 
fierce  Scandinavian  rovers,  whose  conquests  extended  from  the 
Jordan  to  the  Boyne,  and  under  whose  heavy  hand  the  English 


Irish  History,  p.  180, 
2 


18 


TUB  IRISIIMADr   m   CANADA. 


i    I 


/    I 


i'  ! 


/ 


r ' 


i  I 


I  f^  I 


groaned   for  one   kundred   and   fifty  years.     The  Celtic  blood 
already   mixed   with   the  Danish,   and   to  some  small    extent 
with  Saxon,*  was  now  mingled  with  the  Norman  tide,  even  as 
it  'vas  in  after  times  in  the  south  and  west  tinctured  with  that 
of  Spain.     With  what  we  see  going  on  before  our  eyes  on  the 
continent  of  Europe,  it  would  be  futile  to  discuss,  even  to-day, 
the  morality  of  conquest.      We   have  not  yet  arrived  at  that 
advanced  stage  of  civilization,  when  nations  can  be  expected  to 
curb  their  greed  and  ambition,  though  it  is  as  certain  as  human 
progress  tliat  the  time  will  come  when  people  will  look  back  on 
the  French  and  Germans,  and  the  state  of  things  leading  up  to 
Sedan,  as  barbarous.     But  if  we  could  arraign  the   Normans 
before  us  they  might  plead  that  one  of  the  Irish  princes  invited 
them  to  the  country,  and  what  is  of  still  more  significance,  that 
the  Irisli  princes  paid  no  attention  to  the  new  comers.     In  the 
words  of  the  Annals,  they  "  set  nothing  by  the  Flemings."    The 
kingdom  had  not  the   first  element  of   defence — watchfulness 
against  invasion.     It  seemed  in  the  ordinary  course  of  things 
that  troops  should  be  brought  from  a  foreign  country  to  reinstate 
a  petty  king.    There  is  this  excuse  to  be  made  for  Roderic,  that 
he  had  to  enforce  his  claims  in  the  south  and  north,  and  was  busy 
"  portioning  Meath  between  his  inseparable  colleague  O'Eourke 
and  himself  "f    He  was  busy  in  the  still  more  useful  work  of 
founding    lectorships    at    Armagh  ;    for    during    the    Danish 
period,  the  enlightenment,  the  religious  zeal,  and  enthusiasm  for 
knowledge,  which  had  three  centuries  before  "  burned  like  a  star," 
had  given  place  to  Pagan  superstition.^     Dermot  MacMurrough 
soon  found  himself  at  the  head  of  three  thousand  men,  and 
marched  on   Ossory  which  he    subdued.      The  monarch  sum- 
moned a  hosting  of  the  men  of  Ireland  at  Tara,  and  with  an 
army  collected  by  the  lords  of  Meath,  Glial,  Ulidia,  Breffni,  and 
some  northern  chiefs,  proceeded  to  Dubli"\.    But  dissension  broke 
out  in  the  Irish  camp ;  the  Ulster  chiefs  returned  home,  and 
MacMurrough's  authority  was  acknowledged.    Now,  clearly  here 

*  The  victims  of  Norman  oppression  fled  in  some  cases  to  Ireland.  McQee,  163. 

+  D'Arcy  McGee. 

$  Ibid,  p.  145  ;  see  also  Froude,  vol.  i,  p.  16. 


THE   NORMAN   INVASION. 


19 


we  are  in  the  presence  of  disunion  which  would  paralyze  the 
most  heroic  bravery.     The  country  was  thinly  populated  ;  public 
spirit  was  unknown ;  the  only  strong  sentiment  was  the  clan- 
nish ;  and  disunited  hosts  could  not  be  expected  to  stand  against 
united  hosts.    We  have  shown  that  the  Celt,  like  the  Teuton  and 
the  Norman,   comes  from  the  Aryan  stock ;   we  have  seen  the 
Celt  measure  his  sword,  and  not  unsuccessfully,  with  that  of 
Rome.     As  between  the  Irish  and  the  Norman,  it  was  a  battle 
between  an  elder  and  a  younger  brother,  and  the  elder  brother 
one  who  had  long  been  in  training  i..  the  best  fighting  schools. 
The  Prince  of  Thomond,  Donnell  O'Brien,  who  had  married  a 
daughter  of  ])ermot,  was  in  rebellion  against  Roderic,  and  was, 
of  course,  willing  to  give  his  assistance  to  Dermot.     The  Nor- 
mans, in  fact,  found  the  Irish  princes  engaged  in  a  game  of 
grab,  and  the  blood  of  the  people  squandered  by  the  caprices 
and  ambitions  of  their  chiefs,  whose  life,  like  that  of  the  Gallic 
nobles  in  the  first  and  second  centuries,  was  spent  in  a  "  con- 
tinual whirl  of  faction  and  intrigue."*    The  Danes,  who  remem- 
bered how  impossible  it  was  to  expel  themselves  once  they  got  a 
footing  in  the  country,  were  alive  to  the  necessity  of  resisting  the 
Normans ;  and  the  Dano-Celts  of  Wexford  and  Waterford  fought 
with  great  energy  the  uncle  of  Strongbow.     Strongbow,  on  his 
arrival  at  a  later  period,  laid  siege  to  Wexford,  where  the  Normang 
set   a  precedent  for  Drogheda.      Having  made  the  Dano-Celts 
of  Waterford  a  fearful  example,  they  turned  their  faces  towards 
Dublin.     The   woods   and  defiles   were   well  guarded,  but  the 
enemy  made  forced  marches  over  the  mountains,  and  reached, 
long  before  they  were  expected,  the  capital,  a  city  at  that  time 
not  the  size  of  Hamilton  to-day.     Hosculf,  the  Danish  governor 
of  the  city,  encouraged  by  the  presence  of  a  force  collected  by 
the  Irish  monarch  near  Clondalkin,  had  determined  to  stand  a 
siege.      But  when  the  "decision  and  military  skill"  of  the 
invaders  were  recognised,  and  the  reports  of  the  massacre  at 
Waterford  came,  it  wai  determined    to    treat.      The  Danish 
governor  fled  with  son  e  of  the  principal  citizens  to  the  Orkneys, 
and  Roderic,  the  nominal  king  of   all  Ireland,    withdrew   his 


•  M.  Amedee  Thierry. 


20 


THK   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


I 


I  li 


forces  to  Meath  to  support  his  friend  O'Kourke,  "  on  whom  he 
had  bestowed  a  portion  of  that  territory."  Strongbow,  on  the 
death  of  Dermot  MacMurrough,  was  abandoned  by  the  Irish 
following  of  that  prince,  and  a  general  rising  having  taken  place, 
he  throw  himself  into  Dublin,  but  only  to  find  himself  sur- 
rounded by  an  army,  and  blockaded  by  a  Danish  fleet.  While  he 
was  suffering  from  want  of  food,  and  negotiating  with  a  view  to 
capitulate,  Donnell  Cavanagh,  an  Irishman  of  rank,  no  less  a 
person  than  the  son  of  the  late  king  of  Leinster,  stole  into  the 
city  in  disguise,  and  informed  him  that  Fitzstephen  was  closely 
besieged  in  Wexford.  It  is  then  determined  to  force  a  passage 
through  the  besieging  army.  "  The  Irish  army,"  says  the  Nun 
of  Kenraare,  "  were  totally  unprepared  for  this  sudden  move ; 
they  fled  in  panic,  and  lioderic,"  the  King  and  Commander-in- 
Chief,  "  who  was  bathing  in  the  Liffey,  escaped  with  difficulty." 
The  Norman,  Miles  de  Cogan,  was  again  left  governor  of  Dublin, 
and  with  the  exception  of  an  attack  on  him  which  he  easily 
repulsed,  "  the  Irish  made  no  attempt  against  the  common 
enemy,  and  domestic  wars  were  as  frequent  as  usual."* 

Now  it  is  clear  that  if  the  Irish  Celts  at  this  time  were  not 
much  behind  their  foes  in  civilization,  it  would  be  impossible  to 
account  for  these  events.  They  belonged  to  the  same  great 
Aryan  stock  as  the  Normans,  and  the  disunion  and  incapacity 
shown  by  men  whose  fathers  did,  and  whose  descendants  have 
done,  such  great  things,  are  to  be  traced  to  this,  that  thei^ 
civilization,  as  compared  with  the  high  organization  of  the  Nor- 
man, was  in  a  backward  state,  they  having,  in  fact,  retrograded 
from  the  intellectual  advancement  of  the  8th  century.  The  forces 
which  came  with  Henry  II.  in  1171,  should  have  been  no  more 
than  a  mouthful  for  the  Irish.  What  should  they  not  have  done 
with  Strongbow  and  his  few  followers  ?  In  Henry's  train  came 
those  who  were  to  be  the  fathers  of  well-known  Irish  families ; 
and  as  we  owe  to  the  Danes  the  -f*  Plunkets,  Mclvers,  Archbolds, 
Harolds,  Stacks,  Skiddies,  Cruises,  McAuliffes,  we  owe  to  the 
Normans  the  Clanrickards,  the  Butlers,  the  Le  Poers  (Powers), 
and  many  others  who  came  afterwards,  such  as  the  Talbots  and 


*  Cuaack's  History,  p.  1C7. 


t  McGee. 


THE   HUSH    KINGS    SUBMIT  TO   UENllY    II. 


21 


the  Burkes,  A  white  hare,  which  leaped  from  a  neighbouring 
hedge,  was  caught  and  presented  to  the  king  as  an  omen  of  victory. 
"  But,"  says  D'Arcy  McOee,  "  the  time  omen  of  his  success  he 
might  read  for  himself  in  a  constitution  which  had  lost  its  force, 
inlaws  which  had  ceased  to  be  sacred,  and  in  a  chieftain  i  are 
brave  indeed  as  mortal  men  could  be,  but  envious,  arrogant, 
revengeful,  and  insubordinate."  The  penalty  paid  through  cen- 
turies of  misery  by  the  noble  innocent  peo])le  who  followed  them, 
would  be  an  impassable  stumbling-block  to  faith  in  a  Providence, 
were  we  not  able  to  gi'asp  the  truth  tl.at  there  is  more  bene- 
ficence in  the  operation  of  great  general  laws  than  there  would 
be  in  fitful  interference,  and  to  hold  by  the  hope,  that  all  movea 
tx)  a  great  justifying  event  in  the  future. 

The  Irish  nobles  and  kings  submitted  to  Henry,  who  naturally 
according  to  the  enlightenment  of  the  time,  but  foolishly  and 
cruelly  according  to  modern  ideas,  administered  the  country  as  a 
Norman  province.  As  soon  ns  Henry  was  gone,  and  the  cold  steel 
of  Norman  rule  was  felt,  there  would,  of  course,  be  resistance, 
hat,  as  might  be  expected  from  what  we  have  seen,  that  resist- 
ance would  not  be  eystematic  or  united,  and  from  this  time  for- 
ward the  history  of  Ireland  is  the  weary  annals  of  a  half 
subdued  dependency,  in  which  the  miseries  of  rebellion  were 
aggravated  by  domestic  broils.  It  is  doubtful  whether,  if  the 
Normans  had  been  able  to  afford  men  to  conquer  Ireland  as  com- 
pletely as  they  conquered  England,  things  would  have  been  much 
better  for  the  Celts  than  they  were.  But  no  hope  whatever  of 
happy  relations  could  be  built  on  a  system  of  partial  settleirent, 
and  constant  and  indecisive  war.  It  is  amusing  to  find  the 
deeds  of  the  Norman  attributed  to  Englishmen,  at  a  time  when 
the  Englishman  himself  was  in  the  house  of  bondage.  The 
sentences*  in  which  Macaulay  describes  the  condition  of  English- 


•  "The  battle  of  Hastings  and  the  events  which  followed  it,  not  only  placed  a 
Duke  of  Normandy  on  the  English  throne,  but  gave  up  the  whole  population  of 
England  to  the  tyranny  of  the  Norman  race.  The  subjugation  of  a  nation  by  a 
nation  has  seldom,  even  in  Asia,  been  more  complete.  The  country  was  portioned 
out  among  the  captains  of  the  invaders.  Strong  military  institutions,  closely  con- 
nected  with  the  institution  of  property,  enabled  the  foryi(,Ti  conquerors  to  opprew 
the  children  of  the  soil.     A  cruel  penal  code,  cruelly  enforced,  guarded  tho 


22 


THE  IKISHMAN  IN   CANADA. 


men,  might,  with  little  alteration,  be  applied  to  the  state  of  Ire- 
land. The  cruelty  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  irregular  retaliation 
on  the  other,  the  aggression  and  resistance,  are  found  in  Ireland, 
with  the  qualification  that  the  oppression  is  not  so  complete,  and 
that  the  Irish  sometimes  make  a  stand. 

The  statute  of  Kilkenny,  enacted  in  the  fourteenth  century, 
shows  that  already  it  had  become  impossible  to  tell  a  man's  race 
by  his  aame,  and  that  the  Norman  and  English  settlers  were 
mingling  with  the  Celts.  Marriage  with  the  Celt  was  forbidden, 
as  was  the  assumption  of  an  Irish  name.  Early  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  the  Irish  of  English  descent  began  to  set  forth  griev- 
ances, and  the  cities  of  Cork,  Kinsale,  and  Youghal  complained 
of  the  desolation  consequent  on  thd  strife  of  English  noblemen. 
A  like  complaint  was  made  by  Waterford  and  Wexford  against 
the  Irish  chieftain  O'Driscoll,  who  is  describd  as  an  "  Irish  enemy 
to  the  King  and  to  all  his  liege  people  of  Ireland."  We  find 
m  Henry  VIII.'s  day,  France  already  interfering  in  Ireland,  but, 
like  the  intermeddlings  of  after  timps,  "it  took  no  effect  by  reason 
of  Francis,  his  business  in  other  parts."  *  It  hastened,  however 
the  "  second  troubles  "  of  the  Earl  of  Kildare,  a  salutary  omen, 
if  those  who  looked  to  France  could  have  seen  it.  The  fact  that 
whenever  there  was  any  revolt  against  England  foreign  aid  was 


1^  '] 


'41 


/ 


I 


privileges  and  eveu  the  sports  of  the  alien  tyrants.  Yet  the  subject  race,  though 
beatnn  down  and  trodden  under  foot,  still  made  its  sting  felt.  Some  bold  men, 
the  favourite  heroes  of  our  oldest  ballads,  betook  themselves  to  the  woods,  and 
there,  in  defiance  of  curfew  laws  and  forest  laws,  waged  a  p:>'(3datory  war  against 
their  oppressors.  Assassination  was  an  event  of  daily  occurreace.  Many  Normans 
suddenly  disappeared,  leaving  no  trace.  The  corpses  of  many  were  found  bearing 
the  marks  of  violence.  Death  by  torture  was  denounced  against  the  murderers, 
and  strict  search  was  made  for  them,  but  geiteraHy  in  vain  ;  for  the  whole  nation 
was  in  a  conspiracy  to  screen  them.  It  was  at  length  thought  necessary  to  lay  a 
heavy  fine  on  every  Hundred  in  w  hicb  a  person  of  French  extraction  should  be  found 
slain  ;  and  this  regulation  was  followed  up  by  another  regulation,  providing  tliat 
every  person  who  was  found  slein  should  be  supposed  to  bo  e,  Frenchman,  unless  he 
WW  proved  to  be  a  Saxon."  Macaulay's  History,  t/o1.  i.,  p.  7.  In  tba  above 
paragraph  we  find  the  Saxons  doing  the  very  thing  Saxon  writers  aftevwards  in- 
veighed against  the  Irish  Celt  for  doing. 

•  The  History  of  England  under  Henry  VIII.     Edward  Lord  Herbert,  p.  246. 


EFFORTS  TO  INTRODUCE  PROTESTANTISM. 


23 


sought  for,  should  have  taught  the  obvious  lesson.  The 
alternative  for  Ireland,  owing  to  size  and  geographical  situation, 
was  to  be  an  equal  in  a  great  empire  or  a  vassal  principality  to 
a  continental  country.  When  O'Neill  revolted  in  1597,  and 
defeated  the  English  at  Blackwater,  he  invited  over  the 
Spaniards,  and  settled  them  in  Kinsale.  But  what  was  the 
Spaniard  against  the  sea-king  ?  And  what  would  Ireland  be  as 
a  vassal  of  Spain  ?  The  history  of  Spain  and  her  colonies  teUs  us 
in  unmistakeable  language.  The  struggles  in  Ireland  down  to, 
and  even  after  what  assumed  the  character  of  a  religious  war, 
were  agrarian,  and  Norman  aggression  was  succeeded  by  confis- 
cating plots  under  the  Tudors  and  Stuarts,  plots  from  v^hich 
Burkes  and  Geraldines  suffered  as  much  as  O'Connors  and 
O'Eourkes. 

The  efforts  made  to  introduce  Protestantism  into  the  island 
took  a  form  which  was  doomed  to  failure,  for  it  added  the  fervour 
of  patriotism,  the  instinct  of  race,  the  hatred  of  the  weak  for  the 
strong,  of  oppressed  for  oppressors,  to  the  natural  attachment  for 
the  creed  in  which  m.en  are  born,  which  is  associated  in  their 
minds  with  all  the  tenderness  and  charm  of  childhood  and  of 
home.  No  translation  of  the  Bible  was  put  forth  in  the  Irish 
language,  and  the  missionaries  of  the  new  faith  appeared  in  the 
guise  of  plunderers ;  nor  were  their  lives,  as  a  rule,  of  a  stamp  to 
counteract  such  formidable  stimulants  to  repulsion.  "  The  govern- 
ment contented  itself  with  setting  up  a  vast  Protestant  hierarchy 
of  Protestant  archbishops,  bishops,  and  rectors,  who  did  nothing, 
and  who,  for  doing  nothing,  were  paid  out  of  the  spoils  of  the 
Church  loved  and  revered  by  the  great  body  of  the  people."* 

The  plantation  of  Ulster  followed  on  the  confiscation  of  the 
lands  of  O'Neill  and  O'DonneU,  whose  English  titles  were, 
respectively.  Earl  of  Tyrone  and  Earl  of  Tyrconnel.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  there  was  a  conspiracy  to  fasten  on  them  a  charge  of 
treason,  and  their  flight  to  the  continent  proves  nothing,  but  that 
they  were  anxious  1;0   preserve  their  lives.-f*     The  plantation 


245. 


Maoauky's  Hiatoryj  vol.  i.  p.  84, 


+  Goldwin  Smith. 


24 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


111 


I  ' 


1 

; 

'jt 

P 

1 

■  ii 

1 

i:| 

, 

i 

1 

■ 

t 

1 

though  destined  to  result  iu  one  of  the  darkest  pages  in  Irish 
history,  was,  economically,  a  brilliant  success.  It  intro- 
duced into  the  north  a  large  population  accustomed  to  settled 
modes  of  life,  who  were  themselves  afterwards  to  experience  in- 
justice at  the  hands  of  the  English  parliament,  but  who,  in  the 
face  of  restrictive  legislation,  and  in  the  face  oi'  enormous  and 
complex  difficulties,  have  made  the  province  of  Ulster  one  of  the 
most  flourishing  on  the  globe.  Many  of  them  were  descendants 
of  men  who,  at  an  earlier  period,  had  migrated  from  Ireland  into 
Scotland ;  others  were  of  SaxoD  blood  ;  but  all  brought  with  them 
that  stern  Presbyterianism,  \' '  :_ix  has  been  the  great  factor  in 
moulding  the  character  of  the  modern  Scotchman — a  creed 
which  would  givt)  a  Titan's  backbone  to  a  race  of  mol- 
lusks.  When  received,  not  as  some  modern  Presbyterian 
divines  receive  it,  half  hesitatingly,  but  as  it  was  received  by 
Calvin  and  Johii  Knox,  it  gives  to  character  all  the  strength  of 
fatalism,  and  all  the  strength  of  a  passionate  faith,  full  of  hope, 
and  immortality.  Many  of  the  new  comers,  indeed,  were  tainted 
with  the  vices  of  adventurers.  Many  of  them  fled  from  debt^ 
and  some  from  justice,  but  the  great  majority  of  them  were,  what 
we  should  call  in  Canada,  good  settlers.  Sixty  thousand  acres 
in  Dublin  and  Waterford,  and  three  hundred  and  eighty-five 
thousand  acres  in  Westmeath,  Longford,  Kings  County,  Queens 
County,  and  Leitrim,  were  portioned  out  in  a  similar  manner. 

The  espousal  of  the  cause  of  Charles  I.  brought  down  on  the 
country  the  sword  of  Cromwell, and  resulted  in  further  transfers 
of  land, — transfers  in  which  descendants  of  Saxon  and  Norman 
suffered.  Spenser's  grandson,  though  pleading  his  father's  name 
and  protesting  his  own  protestantism,  was  ordered  to  transplant. 
When  Charles  II.  came  to  the  throne,the  unhappy  "loyalists"  prayed 
for  the  restoration  of  their  property  in  vain.  The  remembrance  of 
the  miseries  entailed  on  them  by  adherence  to  the  cause  of  Charles 
I.,  whoso  iron  minister,  Wentworth,  was  the  greatest  enemy  the 
Irish  Celts  ever  had,  did  not  prevent  them  falling  a  victim  to  the 
schemes  of  Tyrconnel ;  and  they  espoused  the  cause  of  James  II., 
when  espousing  that  cause  meant  binding  themselves  to  a  wheel 
rolling  to  the  valley.     Far  more  than  ever  France  was  relied  on. 


THEATY   OF    LIMERICK.      PENAL   LAWS. 


25 


though  a  little  reflection  might  have  shown  that  France  could 
never  be  for  Ireland  anything  but  a  broken  reed.  Even  if  the 
English,  and  the  Celts  and  Irishmen  of  mixed  blood  adhering  to 
English  rule,  could  have  been  driven  by  the  aid  of  France  into  the 
sea,  the  work  would  have  to  be  begun  over  again ;  for  England 
could  not  let  France  have  Ireland  as  a  base  of  operation,  and 
France  could  not  hold  it.  The  violation  of  the  Treaty  of  Lim- 
erick is  an  undying  blot,  not  on  William,  who  would  have  ad- 
hered to  it  if  he  could,  but  on  the  Irish  Protestants ;  even  as 
the  withholding  Catholic  emancipation  at  the  time  of  the  Union, 
is  an  undying  blot  on  the  character  of  George  III.  and  on  that 
of  some  of  Pitt's  colleagues.  Pitt  was  true  to  his  convictions 
and  resigned  his  place.  No  excuse  can  be  made  for  the  penal 
iavv's.  All  that  can  be  said  is  that  they  were  the  bigoted  and  vio- 
lent reaction,  caused  by  the  violence  and  bigotry  of  James  II.'s 
parliament  in  Dublin,  during  the  brief  hour  when  the  country 
was  at  its  mercv. 

Henceforth  the  Irish  Catholics  were  the  victims  of  an  oppres- 
sion more  awful  than  has  ever  been  dealt  out  to  any  people  or 
any  portion  of  a  people.  Many  of  those  Catholics  were  of  Saxon 
and  Norman  descent,  though  a  majority  were,  perhaps,  pure  Celts, 
and  that  they  should  have  emerged  from  such  persecution  so 
little  damaged  by  all  this  brutalizing  tyranny,  is  one  of  the 
strongest  evidences  of  the  greatness  of  race.  Education  was 
denied  them,  but  they  gathered  by  the  hedge  side  and  learned 
from  the  page  of  Virgil  the  immortal  tongue  of  Rome.  Wealth 
and  honour,  freedom  from  shame  and  sorrow  were  offered  them  if 
they  forsook  their  faith,  but  no  bribe  an  empire  had  to  give  could 
make  them  abandon  the  despised  religion  they  believed.  The 
priest  said  mass  when  and  where  he  could  ;  in  the  lonely  glen,  on 
the  desolate  mountain  side,  in  the  mud  hovel,  in  the  caves  of  the 
earth,  he  celebrated  the  rites  of  the  proscribed  church  ;  and,  in  his 
faded  clothes,  was  armed  with  a  talisman  for  the  hearts  of  an 
enthusiastic  people,  such  as  no  crosier  of  an  endoAved  church  could 
equal.  He  proved  every  hour  his  self-denial,  his  devotion,  his  sym- 
pathy ;  and  while  the  rector  drove  to  the  squire's  domain  to  enjoy 
his  luxurious  dinner,  the  priest  shared  the  potato  and  cake  of  his 
miserable  flock.    The  peasantry  cui-tsey  low  when  they  meet  a 


mmmmm 


26 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


Hi 


11    1 


priest,  however  familiar  they  may  be  with  hira,  even  when  he  is 
their  own  brother  or  son.  The  reason  has  often  been  misunder- 
stood ;  it  is  a  custom  which  has  survived  a  time  when  the  priest 
carried  the  consecrated  elements  constantly  on  his  person,  and 
when,  at  a  favourable  moment,  he  would  make  the  mountain  his 
altar;  and  while  the  language  of  Tiber  mingled  with  Gaelic  prayers, 
and  the  murmur  of  wild  rills,  thehost  would  rise  like  a  moon  against 
the  sky,  now  bright  as  the  hopes  of  heaven  and  the  dreams  of  the 
past,  and  now  dark  as  the  fate  of  a  people  for  whose  wrongs  its 
recesses  seemed  to  hoard  no  vengeance.  The  son  was  tempted  to 
turn  against  the  father,  but  the  Irish  people  have  remained  to  this 
day  examples  of  strong  family  affection.  Poverty,  compared  with 
which  the  condition  of  the  poorest  peasant  of  to-day  is  opulence, 
was  ordained  by  law,  but  the  chastity  of  the  poor  Irish  woman 
passed  into  a  proverb.  She  is  beautiful.  She  is  not  without 
the  love  of  finery  which  belongs  to  her  sex.  She  has  the  warmth 
of  her  race,  but  her  purity  has  been  proof  against  the  trials  of 
poverty  and  misfortune,  and  if  in  rare  cases  she  falls,  she  is  only 
half  ruined ;  shame  survives ;  chastity  of  soul  outlives  the  degrada- 
tion of  vhe  body. 

Archbishop  King  maintained  the  divine  right  of  kings  until  he 
felt  the  knife  of  James  Il.'s  persecution.  In  the  same  way 
the  Presbyterians  supported  the  penal  laws  until  they  were  made 
to  suffer  themselves.  But  the  imposition  of  the  sacramental  test 
was  well  fitted  to  enlarge  their  views  on  the  subject  of  liberty  of 
conscience.*  By  the  enforcement  of  this  test  Presbyterian  magis- 
trates, military  officers,  members  of  municipal  councils  were  de- 
prived of  their  offices.  In  Londonderry,  ten  out  of  twelve  aldermen, 
and  fourteen  out  of  twenty -four  burgesses  were  declared  incapable 
of  civic  trust  because  they  would  not  submit  to  this  test.  Most  of 
these  had  been  prominent  in  the  defence  of  the  city  during  the 
celebrated  siege.  The  Regium  Donum  was  taken  away  under 
Anne,  to  be  restored,  however,  under  the  House  of  Hanover. 

The  war  of  the  revolution  showed  what  the  two  great  races  in 
Ireland  could  do,  and  what  the  mixtures  of  these  races  could  do. 


i!  ill 


•  The  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Ireland.  ByW.  D.  Killen,  D.D.,  President  of  the 
Presbyterian  College,  Belfast.  Dr.  Killen,  who  speaks  out  against  the  oenal  laws, 
maintaina  Btrongly  that  the  Treaty  of  Limerick  was  (violated. 


SIKGE  OF   DERRY.      ENGLISH  JEALOUSY. 


27 


The  siege  of  Deny  is  one  of  the  most  glorious  things  in  the  history 
of  the  world  ;  the  siege  of  Limerick  was  not  less  glorious,  and  the 
besieged  achieved  a  victory,  though  the  fruits  of  it  were,  unhappily 
alike  for  Protestants  and  Catholics,  England  and  Ireland,  de- 
stroyed by  bad  faith.  Yet  the  men  who  fought  so  splendidly  at 
Limerick,  who  afterwards  fought  so  splendidly  on  the  Continent, 
fought  badly  at  the  Boyne.  Tlie  coward  James,  forgetful  of  his 
own  conduct,  taunted  the  Irish  with  -doing  what  he  had  done. 
But  he  had  had  experience,  and  he  should  have  known  that  neither 
Irishmen  nor  Englishmen  can  do  impossibilities,  and  it  is  impos- 
sible for  raw  levies  to  meet  trained  troops.  The  soldiers  who  had 
training  fought  at  the  Boyne  as  the  men  of  their  race  have  always 
fought,  and  those  who  ran  away,  ran  away  for  reasons  which,  as 
William  and  Schomberg  knew,  would  make  Englishmen  and 
Germans  run.  The  main  lesson  to  learn  from  this  for  our  im- 
mediate purpose  is,  that  Irishmen  if  they  neglect  to  comply  with 
the  conditions  of  success  cannot  succeed.  There  is,  perhaps,  an- 
other lesson  of  a  more  general  character  but  equally  apposite, 
which  may  be  gathered  from  that  war  and  the  penal  laws.  The 
loss  which  bigotry  and  oppression  entail  on  the  bigot  and  oppressor 
was  never  more  signally  shown.  The  bigotry  of  Louis  XIV.  sent 
the  flower  of  his  subjects  to  recruit,  in  the  time  of  his  utmost 
need,  the  armies  of  his  deadliest  foe.  The  penal  laws  swelled  the 
French  ranks  with  those  heroic  exiles  before  whose  deadly  charge 
even  English  valour  quailed. 

The  jealousy  of  England  was  roused  at  an  early  period  by  the 
competition  of  her  own  colonists  ;  and  the  struggle  for  free  trade 
and  for  emancipation  from  English  dictation,  gave  the  world  a 
period  fruitful  of  splendid  eloquence,  and  of  ardent  patriotism,* 
and  it  was  under  the  spell  of  Flood  and  Grattan,  the  modern 
nation  of  Ireland  was  born.  There  was  more  of  a  national  charac- 
ter about  the  rebellion  of,  1798,  than  of  all  the  rebellions  which 
preceded  it.  Like  its  predecessors,  horrors  ushered  it  in,  and 
horrors  followed  in  its  wake.  Grattan's  great  triumph  was  doomed 
to  an  early  death,  because  inconsistent  with  the  working  of  irre- 
sistible forces  drawing  Ireland  closer  to  Great  Britain,  and  making 
her  the  great  liberriizer  of  the  Empire. 


See  Hallam. 


:28 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


1 1 1 


1 


!    i 


Ireland  has  been  the  foremost  assertor  of  popular  rights,  and 
an  Irishman  is  the  Chief  Priest  of  constitutional  liberalism.*  Her 
sufferings  have  given  the  world  a  clearer  grasp  of  the  principles 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  as  her  heroism  has  helped  to  extend 
and  sustain  the  Empire.  While  her  sons  in  the  Irish  and  English 
Parliaments  have  expounded  doctrines,  she  has  exemplified  them 
in  her  own  person.  Catholic  emancipation  and  the  struggles  lead- 
ing up  to  it,  had  an  incalculable  effect  on  the  progress  of  the 
world.  The  Incumbered  Estates  Act,  though  it  dealt  out  hard 
measure  to  the  gentry  of  Ireland,  affirmed  a  valuable  proposition. 
Mr.  Gladstone's  Irish  Land  Bill  will  infallibly  lead  to  the  passing 
of  a  similar  measure  for  England ;  and,  in  the  fall  of  the  Irish 
Church,  outrageous  abuse  as  it  was,  the  English  establishment 
heard  its  knell  of  doom.  To  Ireland  is  due  the  pregnant 
aphorism — "  property  has  its  duties  as  well  as  its  rights."  An 
Irishman  was  the  first  writer  of  the  English  tongue  who  denounced 
the  traffic  in  slaves.f 

When  we  reflect  on  the  way  in  which  this  country  was  kept 
back,  its  poverty,  and  its  disturbed  state,  we  cannot  but  marvel 
at  the  number  of  great  men  it  has  produced  ;  they  have  in  the 
midst  of  trouble,  which  might  well  have  hopelessly  distracted, 
left  monuments  of  their  genius  in  every  field  of  science  and  every 
walk  of  art,  nor  is  there  a  cause  sacred  to  human  freedom  for 
which  they  have  not  nobly  toiled. 

We  shall  have  to  refer  by  and  by  to  what  Irishm^i,  who  were 
for  the  most  part  Protestants,  have  done  ;  it  will  be  well  here  to 
point  out  how  Catholic  Irishmen  distinguished  themselves,  though 
I  would  fain  hope  that  a  day  of  enlightenment  is  fast  approach- 

*  "  We  see  the  different  practical  tendenciea  of  the  Irish  and  English  race  combined, 
yet  distinguishable  from  each  other  in  the  political  character  of  Burke,  to  whose  writ- 
ings we  owe  more  than  we  are  aware,  the  almost  religious  reverence  with  which  we  re- 
gard the  conititntion.  .  .  .  His  feelings,  diffused  by  his  eloquence,  have  become 
those  of  oar  whole  nation." — Goldwin  Smith's  "  Irish  History  and  Irish  Character," 
p.  19. 

t  Southern.  See  Hallam.  Thomas  Sonthem,  bom  lti59,  died  1746,  was  a  native  of 
Dublin.  Having  studied  law  at  the  middle  Temple,  he  entered  the  army,  and  held 
the  rank  of  Captain  under  the  Duke  of  York.  His  latter  days  were  spent  in  retire- 
ment and  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  considerable  fortune.  He  wrote  ten  plays,  but  only 
two  exhibit  his  characteristic  powers,  "Oroonoko,"  and  "Isabella."  Southern's 
Oroonoko  anticipated  '*  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin." 


IRISHMEN  ON  THE  CONTINENT. 


2» 


ing,  when  it  will  be  no  longer  necessary  to  dwell  on  these  distinc- 
tions. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century  Mountcashel's 
brigade,  serving  with  Catinat  in  Italy,  distinguished  themselves 
on  fields  where  their  fathers  fought  two  thousand  years  before 
under  Hannibal.  It  is  a  waste  of  enthusiasm  to  grow  dithyram- 
bic  over  mercenary  valour.  But  at  this  time  a  portion  of  the 
Irish  people  had  no  other  resource.  In  a  remarkable  passage,  in 
whi(jh  Macaulay  describes  the  crushing  effect  of  the  penal  laws, 
he  tells  how  Irish  Roman  Catholics  of  ability,  energy,  and  ambi- 
tion were  to  be  found  everywhere  but  in  Ireland — at  Versailles 
and  at  Saint  Ildefonso,  in  the  armies  of  Frederic  and  in  the  armies 
of  Maria  Theresa.  Men  who  rose  to  be  Marshals  of  France  and 
Ministers  of  Spain,  had  they  remained  in  their  own  country 
would  have  been  regarded  as  inferior  by  all  "  the  ignorant  and 
wor1)hles8  squireens  who  had  signed  the  Declaration  against 
Transubstantiation.  In  his  palace  at  Madrid  *  he  had  the  plea- 
sure of  being  assiduously  courted  by  the  ambassador  of  George 
the  Second,  and  of  bidding  defiance  in  high  terras  to  the  ambassa- 
dor of  George  the  Third.  Scattered  over  aU  Europe  were  to  be 
found  Irish  Counts,  Irish  Barons,  Irish  Knights  of  Saint  Lewis 
and  of  Saint  Leopold,  of  the  White  Eagle  and  of  the  Golden 
Fleece,  who,  if  they  had  remained  in  the  house  of  bondage,  could 
not  have  been  ensigns  of  marching  regiments  or  freemen  of  petty 
corporations."  In  1698,  six  regiments  were  at  the  siege  of  Valenza. 
While  Irish  campaigns  were  going  on  in  Italy,  the  garrison  of  Lime- 
rick landed  in  France  and  the  second  brigade  was  formed  of  which 
the  greater  number  assisted  at  the  siege  of  Namur.  In  seven  days 
Namur  was  taken.  On  the  24th  July,  1692,Sarsfield — as  gallant  a 
soldier  and  as  stainless  a  gentleman  as  ever  lived — commanded  the 
brigade,  and  was  publicly  thanked  at  the  close.  In  the  March  fol- 
lowing he  was  made  a  Marshal  de  Camp.  On  the  28th  July  in  the 
same  year,  he  met  a  death  which  would  have  been  the  most  enviable 
which  could  have  befallen  him,  if  the  cause  in  which  he  was 
fighting  was  country  or  humanity.  It  was  not  even  the  cause  of 
France.    It  was  the  caus_  of  a  tyrant,  and  the  founder  of  a  tyranny 


•  Wall,  Minister  of  Ferdinand  the  Sixth. 


30 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


>tti 


I  .1 


ii   i 


/ 


which  sowed  the  seeds  of  miseries  for  generations  of  Frenchmen, 
of  a  tyranny  whose  refusal  to  tolerate  the  Huguenots*  prevented 
the  extension  of  toleration  to  Irish  Roman  Catholics.  He  fell  on 
the  field  of  Landen,  leading  his  victorious  troops.  Sarsfield  felt 
the  sting  of  the  situation.  As  he  lay  on  the  battle-field,  he  put 
his  hand  to  his  breast,  and  then  looking  at  the  palm,  stained  with 
his  life-blood,  he  cried,  "  Oh,  that  this  was  for  Ireland  !"  In  1701, 
Sheldon's  cavalry  behaved  so  well  that  Sheldon  was  made  Lieu- 
tenant-General.  In  the  following  year  Cremona  was  saved  by  a 
handful  of  Irishmen  at  the  Po  gate.  Irish  troops  were  present  at 
the  battles  of  Blenheim,  of  Oudenarde,  of  Malplaquet ;  Iiish  troops 
fought  at  Almanzo  under  Berwick.  How  they  behaved  at  Fonte- 
noy,f  in  1745,  and  the  exclamation  of  the  king, — "  Cursed  be  the 
laws  which  deprive  me  of  such  subjects  !"  have  given  a  more  than 
common  interest  to  that  battle.  It  has  been  the  theme  of  patriot 
song- writers,  it  has  furnished  a  moral  for  Englishmen  battling  for 
lustice  for  their  Irish  fellow-subjects  and  Irish  brethren.  From 
1691  to  1765,  more  than  450,000  Irishmen  died  in  the  service  of 
France. 

Under  the  Consulate  and  the  Empire  the  Irish  rose  to  high 
employment.  As  Louis  found  military  genius  among  the  exiles 
of  the  seventeenth,  Buonaparte  found  among  the  expatriated  of 
'98,  two  generals  and  five  colonelfci.j    On  the  restoration  of  the 

*  The  offer  waa  made  to  relieve  the  Irish  Catholics  if  the  French  Protestants  were 
tolerated. 

t  "  Fontenoy,  the  gi-eatest  victory  over  England  of  which  France  can  boast  since 
Hastings." — Alison's  Marlborough,  vol.  II.,  pp.  434,  435. 

i:  "  I  met  Irishmen,  indeed,  or  men  of  Irish  descent,  everywhere,  and  in  every  rank 
on  the  continent,  and  their  position  teaches  a  lesson  from  Europe  which  it  will  do  us 
no  harm  to  '  inwardly  digest.'  It  is  a  signal  illustration  of  the  xiltimate  futility  of 
sectarian  quarrels  and  religious  persecution,  that  some  of  the  most  prosperous  and  hon- 
oured families  in  Ireland  are  descendant  '  f  French  Huguenots  whom  Louis  XIV. 
drove  out  of  France  because  they  would  not  beco'ic  C;.,tholicB  ;  and  some  of  the  most 
prosperous  and  honoured  families  in  France  are  descendant;;  of  Irish  Catholics,  whom 
penal  laws  drove  out  of  Ireland  because  they  would  not  become  Protestants. 

"  In  the  dravrfng-room  of  the  President  of  the  French  Republic,  who  is  the  natural  head 
0  the  exiled  families,  I  met  descendants  of  Irish  chiefs  who  took  refuge  on  the  Continent 
at  the  time  of  the  plantation  of  Ulster  by  the  first  Stuart ;  descendants  of  Irish  soldiers 
who  sailed  from  Limerick  with  Sarsfield,  or  a  little  later  with  the  '  wild  geese ; '  of  Irish 
soldiers  who  shared  the  fortunes  of  Charles  Edward ;  of  Irish  peers  and  gentlemen  to  whom 
life  in  Ireland  without  a  career  became  intolerable,  in  the  dark  era  between  the  fall  iA 
Limerick  and  the  rise  of  Henry  Grattan ;  and  kinsmen  of  soldiers  of  »  later  date,  who 


|g 


NAPOLEON   AND  COUNT  O'REILLY. 


31 


Bourl)ons,  the  Irish  officers  who  had  risen  under  Napoleon  adhered, 
as  we  might  expect  in  chivalrous  men,  to  his  fortunes ;  but  in 
their  place  a  new  group  of  Franco-Irish  made  their  appearance, 
the  descendants  of  the  men  of  the  brigade.  The  last  sword  drawn 
for  the  Bourbons  in  1791  was  that  of  an  Irish  Count ;  their  last 
defender  in  1830  was  an  Irish  general.  Three  times  during  the 
eighteenth  century  Spain  was  represented  at  London  by  men  of 
Irish  blood.  An  Alexander  O'Reilly  was  Governor  of  Cadiz ;  he 
was  afterwards  Spanish  ambassador  at  the  court  of  Louis  XVI. 
"  It  is  strange,"  said  Napoleon,  on  his  second  entry  into  Vienna  in 
1809,  "that  on  each  occasion  on  arriving  in  the  Austrian  Capital 
I  find  myself  in  treaty  with  Count  O'Reilly."  Napoleon  met 
him  on  a  different  scene,  for  it  was  his  dragoon  regiment  which 
saved  the  remnant  of  the  Austrians  at  Austerlitz.  Numerous 
Irish  names  with  high  rank  attached  to  them  will  be  found  in  the 
Austrian  army  list  of  the  time.  In  the  Peninsula  the  Blakes, 
0'Donnells,and  Sarsfields,  reflected  glory  on  their  race.  An  O'Don- 
nell  ruled  Spain  under  the  late  reign,  and  to-day  a  MacMahon 
is  President  of  France.* 


began  life  as  United  Iriahmen,  and  ended  aa  staflf  officers  of  Napoleon.  Who  can 
measure  what  was  lost  to  Ireland  and  the  empire,  by  driving  these  men  and  their 
descendants  into  tlie  armies  and  diplomacy  of  France  ?  All  of  them  except  the  men  of 
'98,  have  become  so  French  that  they  scarce  speak  any  other  language.  There  is  a  St. 
Patrick's  Day  dinner  in  Pari*  every  17th  of  March,  where  the  company  consists  chiefly 
of  military  and  civil  officers  of  Irish  descent,  who  duly  drovn  their  shamrock  and  com- 
memorate the  national  apostle,  but  where  the  language  of  the  speeches  is  French, 
because  no  other  would  be  generally  understood.  I  reproached  a  gallant  young  soldier 
of  this  class,  whom  I  met  in  Paris,  with  having  relinquished  the  link  of  a  common 
language  with  the  native  soil  of  hia  race.  "  Monsieur,"  he  replied  proudly,  "  when  my 
ancestors  left  Ireland,  they  would  have  scorned  to  accept  the  language  any  more  than 
the  laws  of  England  ;  they  spoke  the  native  Gaelic'  'Which  doubtless,'  I  rejoined, 
you  have  carefully  kept  up  :  Oo  dha  mor  thatha  t '  But,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  he  knew  as 
little  Gaelic  as  English.  During  my  last  visit  to  the  City  of  Brussels,  I  saw  in  the 
atelier  of  an  eminent  painter,  the  wife  of  a  still  more  emineni  sculptor,  a  portrait 
occupying  the  place  of  honour,  which  exhibited  the  unmistakable  features  of  an  Irish 
farmer ;  and  the  lady  pointed  it  out  with  pride  ae  her  father,  who  had  been  a  United 
Irishman,  and  had  to  fly  from  Ireland  in  '98,  when  his  cause  lay  in  the  dust." — From  a 
Lecture  by  Sii  C.  G.  Duffy,  in  Melbourne. 

"  The  Marshal  looks  like  an  English  rather  than  a  French  sportsman.  His  face, 
indeed,  is  not  French,  but  Irish,  and  distinctly  recalls  the  origin  of  his  family.  The 
MacMahons  were  Irish  Catholics  of  good  descent,  who  followed  the  fortunes  of  the 
Stuarts,  and  settled  and  became  landed  proprietors  where  the  Marshal  was  bom,  via., 
•at  Sully  (Saone  et  Loire),  some  sixty-eight  years  ago.    The  MacMahons  took  kindly  to 


82 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


Ii  I 


/iiftii 


i '    1 

f*'i 

1 

1  .1 

1 

Within  a  century,  the  great  Leinster  House  of  Kavanagh 
counted  in  Europe  an  Aulic  Councillor,  a  Governor  of  Prague,  a 
Field  Marshal  at  Vienna,  a  Field  Marshal  in  Poland,  a  Grand 
Chamberlain  in  Saxony,  a  Count  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  a 
French  Conventionist  of  1793,  Godefroi  Cavaignac,  Co-Editor 
with  Armand  Carrell  and  Eugene  Cavaignac,  sometime  Dictator  in 
France,  and  Edward  Kavanagh,  Minister  of  Portugal.  Russia 
found  among  the  exiles  a  Governor-General  of  Livonia.  Count 
Thomond  was  Commander  nf.  Tjn,TiOTiedne  :  Lallv  was  Governor  at 
Pondicherry  ;  O'Dwyer  was  Commander  of  Belgrade  ;  Lacy,  of 
Riga ;  Lawless,  Governor  of  Majorca.  It  would  be  wearisome  to 
enumerate  further,  but  dozens  might  be  added  to  the  above  list. 

These  men,  had  the  laws  been  what  all  admit,  they  should 
have  been,  would  have  done  their  part    in    consolidating    and 


the  Bourbons,  and  the  Marshal'a  father  became  a  peer  of  France  under  Charles  X., 
and  His  Majesty's  personal  friend.  The  Marshal,  moreover,  married  into  a  noble 
family  of  Lejjitimists.  His  youth  was  passed  xmder  lily  leaves.  He  was  a  Saiiit- 
Cyrien  while  the  elder  Bourbons  were  at  the  Tuileries,  and  when  he  entered  the  army 
he  went  away  for  years  of  rough  campaigning  to  that  common  cradle  of  modern  French 
Generals — Algeria ;  ho  that  he  was  fighting  in  Africa  while  the  jimior  Bourbon  was 
holding  his  hourgeots  court  at  the  Tuileries.  A  captain  of  chasseurs  at  the  assault  of 
Constantine,  he  had  carved  his  way— in  Algeria  always — to  the  rank  of  general  of  bri- 
gade by  the  time  the  revolution  of  1848  broke  out.  Then  he  rose  rapidly,  keeping  the 
while  apart  from  politics.  General  of  division  in  1852,  Grand  Officer  of  the  Legion  in 
18.53,  in  command  of  a  division  of  infantry  under  Bosquet  in  the  Crimea,  created 
Grand  Cross  of  the  Legion  and  Senator  for  his  part  in  the  assault  of  the  Malakoff  ; 
then  again  fighting  in  Kabylia  in  1857,  and  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  forces  in 
Algeria — MacMahon's  services  and  rewards  were  many.  The  crowning  glory  of  his 
military  career  was  won  in  command  of  the  second  corps  d'armfe  of  the  Alps  in  1859, 
on  the  field  of  Magenta,  when  the  Emperor  created  him  Duke  of  Magenta  and  Marshal 
of  France.  The  Marshal  was  deputed  to  represent  his  sovereign,  which  he  did  with 
extraordinary  pomp,  at  the  coronation  of  William  III.  of  Prussia  in  1861 ;  and  in  1864 
he  was  Governor-General  of  Algeria,  appointed  to  carry  out  the  reforms  on  which  the 
Emperor  was  bent.  And  lastly  he  led  the  army  from  Chalons  to  Sedan,  where  he  was 
wounded  in  time  to  rid  him  of  the  responsibility  of  surrender.  This  wound,  it  has 
been  often  said,  was  not  the  least  of  Marshal  de  MacMahon's  strokes  of  luck.  But 
the  time  has  not  yet  come  for  judgment  on  De  MacMahon's  part  in  the  Franco-German 
war  ;  and  he  is  fortunate  in  this,  that  his  countrymen  bear  him  no  grudge  for  it,  call- 
ing him  the  modem  Bayard,  and  the  '  honest  soldier ; '  while  they  cover  his  comrades 
of  the  fatal  campaign  with  mud.  His  aristocratic  and  monarchical  sjrmpathies  have 
whetted  the  edge  of  the  weapons  which  the  Left  has  used  upon  him ;  but  the  rage 
against  him  that  simmers  through  the  cheap  Republican  papers  is  provoked  by  the 
disdain  with  which  he  folds  himself  in  his  soldier's  cloak,  keeps  his  hand  near  his 
sword,  and  stands  sentinel  over  the  destinies  of  France,  imraovable  to  the  last  day  of 
his  septennaie."—"  The  Rulers  of  France."— 2io»id<m  World,  Jan,  3rd,  1877. 


IRISIIMKN    IN    INDIA. 


33 


enriching  the  Brito-Hibernian  Empire.  Tlie  two  men  to  whom  wo 
owe  it,  that  we  have  at  this  i:ioment  an  Indian  Empire,  Ho^ry 
and  John  Lawrence,  who  rescued  our  great  Eastein  dependenry 
from  anarchy,  and  gave  it  what  bids  fair  to  bo  an  undtiring  and 
fruitful  peace,  were  born  in  the  County  of  Derry.  Sir  Robert 
Montgomery,  who  rose  from  a  humble  post  in  the  civil  seivice  of 
the  Bengal  Presidency,  to  be  Governor  of  the  Punjaub,  who  dis- 
tinguished himself  as  Dire'^tor-General  of  tho  Police  for  that 
Province,  who  disarmed  the  native  force  at  Lahore  in  1857,  who, 
for  his  services  in  restoring  tranquillity,  received  tho  thanks  of 
both  Houses  of  Parliament,  and  who  retired  after  thirty-six  years 
service  with  the  Grand  Cross  of  the  Star  of  India  on  his  breast, 
was  born  in  the  City  of  Londonderry.  Sir  James  Emorson  Ten- 
nent  who  also  did  good  service  for  India,  and  who  won  for  him- 
self a  respectable  place  in  literature  and  in  politics,  was  a  native 
of  Belfast,  as  was  Sir  Henry  Pottinger,  who  was  Governor-Gen- 
eral of  Hong  Kong,  and  who  distinguished  himself  as  a  diplomat- 
ist. ' Besides  the  gallant  General  Nicholson,'  says  a  writer  iu 
Fra^  '9  Magazine,  "  Ulster  has  given  a  whole  Gazette-fuil  of 
heroet  00  India.  It  has  always  taken  a  distinguished  phce  in  the 
annals  of  war.  An  Ulsterman  was  with  Nelson  at  Trafalgar, 
another  with  Wellington  at  Waterloo."  it  would  not  be 
easy  to  enumerate  the  Irishmen  who  were  with  Wellington 
at  Waterloo.  Wellington  himself  was  an  Irishman,  and  in 
enumerating  the  Irishmen  who  have  distinguished  themselves 
in  India,  it  would  be  impossible  to  forget  him  or  his  brother. 
General  Sir  de  Lacy  Evans,  who  served  with  distinction  in 
India  and  in  the  Peninsula ;  who  was  present  at  the  capture  of 
Washington,  but  returned  to  Europe  in  time  to  take  part  in  the 
battle  of  Waterloo,  where  he  had  two  horses  shot  under  him;  who 
commanded  the  British  auxiliary  Legion  raised  to  aid  the  Queen 
of  Spain  against  Don  Carlos  in  ^  835 ;  who  commanded  the  Second 
Division  of  the  array  in  the  Crimea,  and  distinguished  himself  at 
Alma  and  at  Inkerraan,  after  which  he  returned  to  England  and 
received  the  thanks  of  Parliament ;  who,  as  a  member  of  parlia- 
ment from  1831  to  1841,  and  from  1846  to  1865,  played  an  en- 
lightened and  a  liberal  part;  this  fine  old  hero  was  born  at  Mil- 
town,  in  1787.  Viscount  Gough,  a  field  marshal,  who  commanded 
3 


in 


84 


THE  IRISHMAN  IN  CANADA, 


the  87tli  ot  T!*lavera,  Barossa,  Vittoria  and  Nivelle ;  who  was 
wounded  at  the  Hiege  of  Tariffa  ;  whose  vogiment  at  Barossa  cap- 
tured the  eagle  of  the  8th  French,  and  iho  baton  of  a  marshal  at 
Vittoria ;  who  commanded  the  land  forces  in  the  attack  on  Can- 
ton ;  who  defeated  the  Mahrattas  at  Maharajpore,  capturing  fifty- 
six  guns ;  who  defeated  the  Sikhs  at  Moodkee,  Ferozeshah,  and 
Sobrar  i ;  who  finally  subdued  the  Sikhs  in  1848-9  ;  was  born  at 
Woodstown,  Limerick,  in  1779.  General  Rollo  Gillespie,  Sir 
Robert  Kane,  Lord  Moira,  the  Chesneys,  were  all  from  Down ;  and 
General  Wolseley,  who  does  not  need  to  be  described  for  Canadi- 
ans, takes  his  place  side  by  side  with  the  gi'eat  warrior  Irishmen. 

Among  travellers  and  explorers  Irishmen  have  taken  a  dis- 
tinguished place  ;  Captain  Butler,  the  author  of  "  The  Great  Lone 
Land,"  who,  as  a  traveller  and  a  literary  man  and  a  soldier,  deserves 
a  high  place  in  the  world's  esteem,  is  an  Irishman.  Sir  John 
Franklin's  second  in  command,  Crozier,  was  from  Banbridge. 
Ulster  sent  McCiintock  to  find  the  great  explorer's  bones,  and 
McClure  to  discover  the  passage  seeking  which  Franklin  fell. 

When  we  come  to  statesmen  and  orators  what  country  can 
show  gi'cate.r  names  ?  Even  England  has  produced  no  man  to 
equal  Burke,  nor  could  any  other  country  produce  the  versatility 
of  Sheridan.  J^ord  Palmerston's  Irish  manner  charmed  the  House 
of  Commons  nd  the  English  people .  afterwards.     George 

Canning,  "'  jvered  Wellington,  was  a  son  of  a  Derry  man ; 

and — bi  »70uld  fail  me  to  enumerate  the  Butts,  the  Duffys, 

the  Plun.  .a,  the  Grattans,  the  Floods,  the  Currans,  the  Shiels, 
the  Cairns  and  the  Whitesides.  O'Connell  stands  alone ;  in  the 
great  men  of  no  i^ountry  can  you  find  a  parallel  for  him  and  his 
extraordinary  gifts. 

Their  preachers  and  divines  have  been  equally  great.  The 
most  eloquent  as  well  as  the  ablest  man  on  the  English  Bench  of 
Bishops  to-day  is  Dr.  Magee.  As  a  preacher.  Father  Burke  has 
attained  a  reputation  outside  his  own  communion.  The  Episcopal 
Church  in  London  has  no  more  eloquent  preacher  than  Mr.  For- 
rest. The  Rev.  Dr.  Cooke,  of  Belfast,  among  the  Presbyterians 
Carson,  thegi'eat  authority  among  the  Baptists;  Dr.  Adam  Clarke 
among  the  Methodists ;  John  of  Tuam  ,  Br.  Doyle ,  Cardinal 
Oullen  among  the  Roman  Catholics  are  well  known. 


ARTISTIC  GENIUS. 


86 


When  we  go  into  law  we  should  be  on  ground  on  which  Irish- 
men stand  to  to  >  great  advantage  to  make  it  necessary  to  dwell  on 
their  achievements  as  advocates  and  jurists.  I  remember  when  I 
was  a  student  at  the  Temple,  most  of  the  leadini;;^  Ti\en  in  West- 
minster Hall  were  Irishmen,  and  a  half  a  dozen  of  the  ablest 
judges.  The  greatest  of  modern  Chancellors,  Lord  Cairns,  waa 
born  at  Cultra,  Co.  DoWj 

When  we  glance  into  the  realm  of  art,  the  names  of  Barry,  Mac- 
Use,  Hogan,  Foley,  Crawford,  at  once  strike  on  the  memory.  What 
tioops  of  actors  and  actresses  and  singers !  In  the  museum  of 
Oxford  as  well  as  in  the  museum  of  Trinity,  Dublin,  the  visitor's 
attention  is  seized  by  carvings  wiought  by  Irish  hands,  which 
rival  the  work  of  Jean  Goujon.  When  you  enter  St.  Stephen's 
Hall  in  Westminster  Palace,  you  see  on  either  side  marble  statues 
of  illustrious  men.  You  cannot  but  do  homage  to  Irish  genius, 
not  merely  because  Burke  is  before  you  as  he  arraigned  Warren 
Hastings  at  the  bar  of  outraged  humanity,  and  Grattan  emphasi- 
zing with  outstretched  hand  his  rythmic  sentences.  Even  in  such 
company,  the  love  of  liberty  will  be  asserted  by  th6  noble  figure 
of  Hampden,  strength  and  balance  in  every  line  of  the  figure  and 
every  trait  of  the  countenance,  and  the  immortal  love  of  right 
written  on  his  noble  brow.  You  look  for  the  sculptor's  name, 
and  read  "  Foley,"  an  Irishman,  bom  in  Dublin  in  1S18.  Near  is 
Selden  by  the  same  artist.  If  you  walk  down  Patrick  Street,  Cork, 
you  will  see  facing  Barrack  Hill,  the  statue  of  Father  Mathew. 
In  Dublin,  portrait  statues  of  Edmund  Burke  and  Oliver  Gold- 
smith, will  challenge  your  admiration.  The  young  civil  servant 
from  '  Old  Trinity,'  or  the  Queen's  University,  on  entering  Cal- 
cutta, is  struck  with  wonder  by  the  bronze  group,  *'  Lord  Hardinge 
and  Charger ; "  all  these,  with  many  another  noble  work  and  price- 
less gem  iiave  issued  from  the  studio  of  the  great  Irish  sculptor. 

Among  the  many  things  which  strike  the  visitor  to  Washington, 
nothing  leaves  so  lasting  an  impress  on  his  memory  as  the  works 
adorning  the  Capitol ;  they  are  the  work  of  Irish  sculptors, 
McDowell  and  Crawford.  The  frescoes  in  Westminster  Palace  are 
by  an  Irishman.  The  hon-^ur  of  these,  and  kiixw-dd  works,  have 
frequently  been  given,  either'to  Englishmen  or  Scotchmen,  as  the 
gieat  men  of  our  earlier  period  have  also  been  at  times  filched 


86 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


!-M 


from  Ireland.  Tliis  is  acknowledged  with  great  candour  by  an 
eminent  Scotch  historian.*  These  works  are,  therefore,  referrf>d 
to,  not  to  prove  that  Irishmen  have  high  artistic  tastes.  That  all 
their  history  proves.  It  is  written  not  merely  on  their  literature. 
It  has  left  ineffaceable  footprints  on  many  a  lonely  ruin.  But  it 
is  not  so  generally  known,  that  to-day,  as  well  as  in  the  past,  Irish- 
men are  among  the  first  in  every  walk  of  art,  and  are  in  not  a 
f e  ;v^  instances  without  rivals. 

In  the  fields  of  pure  literature  and  in  the  drama,  it  would  be  as 
idle  to  point  out  what  Irishmen  have  done  as  to  remind  Canadians 
that  Sir  John  Macdonald  and  the  Honourable  George  Brown  have 
lived  amongst  them.     It  is  more  to  the  point  to  remind  the  reader 
what  Mr.  Mathew  Arnold  has  demonstrated,  that  the  Celtic  has 
supplied  to  English  literature  the  noblest,  the  most  subtle,  and 
the  most  distinguishing  features.     The  "  Idyls  of  the  King  "  are 
founded  on  Celtic  poems  and  probably  on  Irish  poems,  certainly 
on  poems  with  a  large  Irish  ingredient.     We  owe  the  conception 
of  the  Spectator  (of  course  I  mean  the  Spectator  of  the  18th  cen- 
tury), with  all  its   boundless  influence  on  English  literature,  to 
Steele ;  and  the  foundation  of  the  great  superstructure  of  the 
Scottish  philosophy  was  laid  by  an  Irishman,  Francis  Hutchison.-f* 
I  do  not  care  to  stop  to  enumerate  mere  examples  of  success  in  a 
given  branch  of  hterature,  such  as  Lover  as  a  humorous  novelist,  or 
Carleton,  or  Lever ;  nor  need  one  dwe?l  on  the  names  of  Edgeworth, 
Hamilton,  Maxwell,  Mayne  Reid.  The  founder  of  the  novel  of  char- 
acter was  an  Irishman;  the  man  to  «Iiuse  writings  Thackeraygave 
his  days  and  nights;  on  whom  Dickens  formed  himself,  and  imitated 
but  imitated  in  vain ;  the  author  whose  chief  woik  is  Thomas 
Carlyle's  great  book ; — the  reader  has  anticipat^ed  the  name  oi 
Lawrence  Sterne.     The  genius  of  Swift  stands  unapproached  and 
unapproachable ;  and  in  prose  and  poetry  the  genius  of  Goldsmith 
attained  a  grace  and  charm  which  have  never  been  equalled. 
Moore  did  not  do  justice  to  himself,  and  he  cannot,  nor  can  Irish- 
men complain  if  less  than  justice  has  been  done  him  of  late  years. 
He  wrote  much  he  should  never  have  written;  but  when  all  the 

*  The  Scot  Abroad.    By  John  Hill  Burton  ;  2  Vols.    William  Blackwood  ^i  Sons 
Edinburgh  and  London,  1864.     See  pp.  1  to  12,  "Vol.  II. 
t  Dr.  McCoah. 


MOOBE. 


37 


rubbish  has  been  sent  to  the  pastry  cook,  there  will  remain  enough 
to  vindicate  his  claim  to  a  place  among  writers  whom  posterity 
will  not  willingly  let  die.  If  his  melodies  could  be  destroyed,  they 
would  leave  a  far  larger  gap  in  literature  than  many  supposi^.  He 
had  not  passion  enough  to  be  the  national  poet  of  Ireland,  but 
that  position  he  will  maintain  until  a  greater  comes  the  way,  and 
he  may  retain  it  for  ever.  Much  that  is  most  characteristic  of 
Irishmen  finds  expression  in  his  verse,  but  it  wants  breadth  of  feel- 
ing and  intensity.  If  Moore  had  suffered  more  he  would  have 
been  more  sympathetic,  as  the  bard  of  a  people  whose  struggles 
and  griefs  have  been  without  parallel ;  the  passionate  overwhelm- 
ing love  for  woman  he  could  not  express,  for  he  never  experienced 
it ;  he  had  too  much  Anacreon  in  him  for  that ;  and  in  the  great  sob 
of  grief  of  his  people  his  less  profound  nature  heard  only  "  the  deep 
sigh  of  sadness."  For  all  that,  blot  him  out  of  English  literature 
and  replace  him  if  you  can.  Or  seek  to  imagine  that  he  had  never 
existed,  and  you  will  begin  to  realize  what  is  his  charm  and  what 
has  been  his  influence  on  literature.  It  was  not  unfitting  that  the 
last  of  the  wandering  race  of  harpers  should  have  presented  him 
with  the  harp  of  Erin.  He  exemplified  the  incomparable  skill  in 
music  of  the  early  inhabitants,  and  did  immeasurable  service  in 
diffusing  iuster  and  luore  sympathetic  conceptions  of  Irish 
character. 

In  journalism  Irishmen  have  taken  the  very  front  rank.  The 
editor  of  the  -greatest  paper  in  the  world  is  of  Irish  blood,  and 
perhaps  of  Irish  birth.*  His  father  was  manager  of  the  Times 
for  many  years.  The  foremost  of  correspondents,  indeed  the 
founder  of  the  profession  of  correspondents,  is  an  Irishman.-f*  and 
in  the  popular  literature  of  the  day  their  busy  energy  and  fertile 
genius  are  felt.  If  you  were  to  take  from  English  magazines  and 
English  newspapers — from  English  thought,  in  a  word,  the  ele- 
ments supplied  by  Ireland,  you  would  letive  behind  only  a  splen- 
did ruin.J 

*  John  Delane,  the  editor  of  the  Times.     The  name  h  the  same  as  Delany. 

+  WiUiam  Howard  Russell,  LL.D.,  Special  Correspondent  of  the  Times. 

t  "We  would  probably  detract  from  our  greatness  -from  the  richness  of  our  national 
gif'-s,  if  the  Keltic  element  of  the  united  people,  should  be  too  much  drained  away 
by  emigration."— Goldwin  Smith's  "  Irish  History  and  Irish  Character." 


38 


THE  IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


M 


m. 


Ill 


The  Irish  intellect  is  not  only  gay  and  humorous  but  subtle  and 
philosophical,  with  an  aptitui'e  for  mathematical  studies.  The  Irish- 
man lias  all  the  subtlety,  inquisitiveness,  and  fondness  for  the 
metaphysics  of  religion  of  the  Celt,  with  a  dreaminess  which  comes 
from  the  Teutonic  infusion.  To  this  inquisitiveness  we  owe  the 
honour  of  having  produced  the  first  great  heretical  teacher  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  John  Scotus  Erigena  ;  and  Feargall,  the  Bishop 
of  Salzburg,  maintained,  to  the  scandal  of  the  Holy  See,  that 
the  earth  was  round. 

M.  Martin,  the  French  historian,  speaking  of  the  Celt  of  Gaul, 
says  : — "  From  the  beginning  of  historic  time,  the  soil  of  France 
appears  peopled  by  a  race  lively,  witty,  imaginative,  eloquent ; 
prone  at  once  to  faith  and  to  scepticism,  to  the  highest  aspira- 
tions of  the  soul,  and  to  the  attractions  of  sense;  enthusiastic 
and  yet  satirical ;  unreflecting  and  yet  logical ;  full  of  sympathy  yet 
restive  under  dif^cipliiie  ;  endowed  with  practical  good  sense  yet 
inclined  to  illusions ;  more  disposed  to  striking  acts  of  self-de- 
votion than  to  patient  and  sustained  effort ;  fickle  as  regards 
particular  things  and  persons,  persevering  as  regards  tendencies 
and  the  essential  rules  of  life ;  equally  adapted  for  action  and 
for  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  ;  loving  action  and  knowledge 
each  for  its  own  sake  ;  loving  above  all,  war,  less  for  the  sake  of 
conquest  than  for  that  of  glory  and  adventure,  for  the  attrac- 
tion of  danger  and  the  unknown  ;  uniting,  finally,  to  an  extreme 
sociability,  an  indomitable  personality,  a  spirit  which  absolutely 
repels  the  yoke  of  the  external  world  and  the  face  of  destiny.** 

Here  we  have  many  features  of  the  modern  Irishman  and 
nearly  all  his  characteristics,  where  he  is  purely  Celtic,  the  strain 
of  sadness  excepted — that  divine  melancholy  which  gives  so  much 
grace  and  sweetness  to  the  man.  But  there  is  more  in  the  Irish- 
man than  meets  you  on  the  surface,  and  the  light-hearted  gaiety 
develops  under  responsibility  into  resolute  efficiency,  as  "  Hal  " 
passes  in  a  moment  into  the  heroic  Henry  V.,  or,  to  take  an  illus- 
tration which  is  also  a  proof,  as  the  "mischievous  boy,"  Arthur 
Wellesley,  the  frivolous  Aide-de-Camp  of  Lord  Westmoreland,  be- 
comes in  a  few  years,  "  the  Iron  Duke."*     There  is,  as  John 

•  "  The  abilities  of  Arthur,  the  younger  brother,  were  of  much  slower  develoijment 


IRISHMEN   AND  THE   GREEKS. 


89 


Stuart  Mill  used  to  point  out,  and  Mr.  Mabaflfy  has  shown  in 
detail,  a  great  similarity  between  the  old  Greeks  and  Irishmen. 
All  the  delicate  tact,  the  natural  politeness  of  the  Greek,  he  pos- 
sesses ;  his  love  of  art ;  his  delight  and  skill  in  music ;  aptitude  for 
oratory  and  acting ;  the  literary  faculty  in  high  development. 
But  he  can  boast  of  other  and  still  nobler  qualities  to  which  the 
Greek  was  a  stranger.-f* 

In  the  lament  of  Andromache  over  Hector,  in  the  Iliad,  we  have 
a  heart-rending  picture  of  the  condition  of  unprotected  children 
in  Greece.  If  Hector's  child  escapes  the  "  tearful  war,"  nothing 
remains  for  him  but  ceaseless  woe.  Strangers  will  seize  on  his 
heritage.  No  young  companions  will  own  the  orphan.  He  hangs 
on  the  skirts  of  his  father's  friends,  and  it  is  well  if  they  do  not 
spurn  him.     If  they  in  pity  at  their  tables 

"  let  him  sip  a  cup, 
Moisten  his  lips,  but  scarce  his  palate  touch, 
\VTiile  youths  with  both  surviving  parents  blest, 
May  drive  him  from  the  feast  with  blows  and  taunta  t 
'  Begone,  thy  father  sits  not  at  our  board  ! ' 
Then  weeping,  to  his  widowed  mother's  arms 
He  flies," 


[than  his  brother's.]  The  late  Earl  of  Leitrim,  who  was  with  him  at  a  small  private 
school  in  the  Town  of  Portarlington,  used  to  speak  of  him  to  me  as  a  singularly  dull, 
backward  boy.  Gleig,  late  Chaplain-General,  in  his  interesting  '  Life '  of  the  great 
Captain,  says  that  his  mother,  believing  him  to  be  the  dunce  of  the  family,  not  only 
treated  him  with  indifference,  but  in  some  degree  neglected  his  education.  At  Eton, 
his  intellect  was  rated  at  a  very  low  standard ;  his  idleness  in  school  hours  not  being 
redeemed,  in  the  eyes  of  his  fellows,  by  any  proficiency  in  the  play  gr()und.  He  waa  a 
'  dab '  at  no  game,  could  handle  neither  bat  nor  oar.  As  soon  as  he  passed  into  the 
remove,  it  was  determined  to  place  him  in  the  '  fool's  profession,'  as  the  army  in  those 
days  was  called.  *  *  *  It  is  a  matte"  of  notoriety  that  he  was  refused  a 
ooUectorship  of  customs  on  the  ground  of  his  incompetency  for  the  duties  ;  and  I  have 
leason  to  believe  that  a  letter  is  now  extant  from  Lord  Mornington  (afterwards  Lord 
Wellesley)  to  Lord  Camden, declining  a  commission  for  his  brother  Arthur  in  the  army, 
on  the  same  grounds.  When  he  became  Aidc-de-'"'amp  to  Lord  Westmoreland,  the 
Lord-Lieutenant  of  Ireland,  his  acquaintance  with  the  usages  of  society  was  as  limited 
aH  could  well  be  possessed  by  any  lad  who  hat!  passed  through  the  ordeal  of  a  public 
school.  Moore  alli:des,  in  his  journal,  to  the  c-iaracte'-  for  frivolity  young  Wellesley 
had  acquired  while  a  member  of  the  viceregal  staif .  An  old  lady  told  me  that  when  any 
of  the  Dublin  belles  received  an  invitation  to  a  pic-nic,  they  stipulated  as  a  condition  of 
its  acceptance  that  '  that  mischievous  boy,  Arthur  Wellesley,  should  not  be  of  the 
party.'  "— "  Fifty  Years  of  my  Life."  13y  George  Thomas,  Earl  of  Albemarle,  pp.  219 
-220. 

t  "  The  delicate  tact  with  which  unpleasant  subjects  are  avoided  in  conversation, 
shows  how  easily  men  were  hurt  by  them,  and  how  perfectly  the  speaker  could  fore- 


-& 


40 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


How  different  is  the  conduct  of  the  Irish  peasants  to  destitute 
children.  The  parents  may  be  dead  or  they  have  perhaps  emi- 
grated. Do  the  friends  of  the  absent  or  dead  parents  deal  harshly 
with  the  helpless  children  ?  So  far  from  this,  they  give  the  or- 
phan a  place  at  their  scanty  board.*  Thackeray  well  says  that 
DO  Irishman  ever  gave  a  charity  without  adding  a  kind  word 
which  was  better  than  the  gift.  Their  sociability  is  indeed  a 
charming  talent,  and  it  would  seem  that  like  the  Greeks  too,  their 
heads  are  not  made  to  bear  much  strong  drink ;  and  for  that  rea- 
son, if  one  word  of  preaching  is  permissable,  they  should  avoid 
alcohol,  especially  in  the  form  of  ardent  spirits.^ 

"From  a  combination  of  causes— some  creditable  to  them,  some 
other  than  creditable,"  says  Mr.  Froude,J  "  the  Irish  Celts  possess 
on  their  own  soil  a  power  greater  than  any  other  known  family 
of  mankind,  of  assimilating  those  who  venture  among  them  to 
their  own  image.  Light-hearted,  humorous,  imaginative,  suscep- 
tible through  the  entire  range  of  feelings,  from  the  profoundest 
pathos  to  the  most  playful  jest,  if  they  possess  some  real  virtues, 
they  possess  the  counterfeits  of  a  hundred  more.  *  *  » 
They  have  a  power  of  attraction  which  no  one  who  has  felt  it  can 
withstand.     *     *     *     Brave  to  rashness.     *     *     *     Passionate 


tell  it  by  his  own  feelings.  In  fav..,  so  keenly  alive  are  the  Homeric  Greeks  to  this 
great  principle  of  politeness,  that  it  interferes  ^th  their  truthfulness,  just  as  in  the 
present  day  the  Irish  peasant,  with  the  same  lively  imagination  and  the  same  sensi* 
tiveness,  will  instinctively  avoid  disagreeable  thiags,  even  if  ti-ue,  and  *  prophesy 
smooth  things,'  when  he  desires  especially  to  please.  He  is  not  less  reluctant  to  be 
the  bearer  of  bad  news  than  the  typical  messenger  of  Greek  tragedy." — Social  Life 
in  Greece.    By  the  Eev.  J.  P.  Mahaflfy,  p.  25. 

*  See  "Social  Life  in  Greece."    By  J.  P.  Mahaflfy,  pp.  31,  32. 

+  "  It  is  a  difficult  problem  to  explain  how  the  Greeks  managed  to  get  drunk.  Three 
parts  of  water  to  two  of  wine  was  the  usual  proportion ;  four  to  tliree  was  thought 
strong,  equal  parts  made  them  mad.  I  am  unable  to  discover  whether  their  winea 
were  stronger  or  their  heads  weaker  than  ours.  This  is  certain,  that  to  them  their 
wines  were  as  strong  as  whiskey  is  to  us.  Their  entertaiimients  were  about  as  order- 
ly as  our  gentlemen's  parties,  and  intellectually,  something  like  an  agreeable  assem- 
blage of  university  men,  particularly  among  lively  people,  like  the  Irish.  This  is,  I 
think,  a  jiinter  verdict  than  taking  Plato  for  an  historical  guide,  as  some  Germans  have 
done,  and  talking  bombast  about  the  loftiness  and  splendor  of  Attic  conversation.  To 
my  taste,  indeed,  the  description  of  his  feast  (symposium)  abounds  far  too  much  in  long 
speeches,  which  are  decidedly  tedious,  and  which  would  certainly  not  be  tolerated  at 
any  agreeable  party  iu  Ireland  where  thin  is  the  branch  of  culture  thoroughly  under- 
Btood." — "Social  Life  in  Greece,*'  p.  319. 

i  Vol.  L,  page  21. 


GENEROSITY. 


41 


in  everything,  passionate  in  their  patriotism,  passionate  in  their  re- 
ligion, passionately  courageous,  passionately  loyal  and  affec- 
tionate. *  *  *  They  possess  and  have  always  possessed  some 
qualities  the  moral  worth  of  which  it  is  impossible  to  over-esti- 
mate, and  which  are  rare  in  the  choicest  races  of  mankind.  *  * 
Wherever  and  in  whomsoever  they  have  found  courage  and 
capacity,  they  have  been  ready  with  heart  and  hand  to  give  their 
services,  and  whether  a  le  in  sacrificing  their  lives  for  their 

chiefs,  or  as  soldiers  in  l1  jt^^-^-nch  or  English  armies,  or  as  we 
now  know  them  in  the  form  of  modem  police,  there  is  no  duty 
however  dangerous  .  nd  difficult,  from  which  they  have  been 
found  to  flinch,  no  temptation  however  cruel,  which  tempts  them 
into  unfaithfulness."* 

While  such  testimony  can  be  found,  and  from  such  a  quarter, 
an  Irishman  may  stand  aside.  "  The  sums  of  money,"  says  Mr. 
Gold  win  Smith,  "  which  have  been  lately  transmitted  by  Irish 
emigrants  to  their  friends  in  Ireland,  seem  a  conclusive  answer  to 
much  loose  denunciation  of  the  national  character,  both  in  a  moral 
and  in  an  industrial  point  of  view."  Sir  John  Davies  testified 
that  no  man  loved  equal  justice  more  than  the  Irish  Celt,  and  this 
feeling  would  not  be  lessened  by  Norman  and  Teutonic  admixtures. 
The  crimes  committed  by  Whiteboys  had  their  counterpart  in 
England,  as  Macaulay  shows,  under  the  Norman,  and  indeed  Eng- 
land bears  away  the  palm  from  Ireland  in  crime.  The  Irishman 
is  singularly  free  from  a  class  of  loathsome  offences  which  are 
common  elsewhere;  and  shooting  landlords,  which  is  dying  out  or 
has  wholly  died  out  under  wise  legislation,  was  the  offspring  of 
bad  laws  and  crying  injustice.  Agrarian  conspiracy  implies  no 
propensity  to  ordinary  crime,  either  on  the  part  of  the  wretched 
peasant  who  reverts  to  the  wild  justice  of  revenge,  or  on  the  part 
of  those  who  screen  him  from  detection.     But  for  agrarian  out- 


*  The  historian  of  V.^yoming  tells  of  anirish  settler,"  an  old  man  named  Fitzgerald," 
whose  fidelity  has  the  true  ring.  "  The  Indians  and  their  allies  placed  him  on  a  flax- 
brake  and  told  him  he  must  renounce  his  rebel  principleB  and  declare  for  the  king  or  die. 
*  Well,'  sain  "the  stout-hearted  old  fellow,  '  I  am  old  and  have  little  time  to  live  any- 
how, and  I  had  rather  die  now  a  friend  of  my  country  than  live  ever  so  long  and  die  » 
Tory.'  They  had  magnanimity  enough  to  let  him  go." — Miner's  Hist,  of  Wxpming, 
pasre200. 


^i! 


42 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


I  ii;,i 


li 


rages  *  the  judges  of  assize  in  most  parts  of  Ireland  would  often 
have  had  white  gloves,  the  proportion  of  agrarian  to  all  the 
other  crimes  being  very  large,  something  like  seven  to  ten,  and, 
as  has  already  been  indicated,  agrarian  crimes  will  soon  be  un- 
heard of. 

In  Munster,  in  1833,  there  were  627  whiteboy  or  agrarian 
crimes,  against  246  crimes  of  all  other  descriptions.  The  influence 
of  just  laws,  and  the  readiness  of  the  Irish  character  to  respond 
to  them,  is  shown  by  the  marked  change  wrought  by  Mr.  Glad- 
stone's legislation.  In  the  years  1873  and  1874  the  average  num- 
ber of  agrarian  crimes  for  all  Ireland  was  233,  against  324  in  the 
two  preceding  years,  and  in  1874  crimes  of  this  class  were  41  less 
than  in  1873.  But  mere  statistics  do  not  convey  the  full  effect 
produced  within  recent  years,  because  they  do  not  convey  the  im- 
provement in  the  bearing  and  sentiments  of  the  farmers  and 
peasantry.*!* 

When  we  come  to  ordinary  offences,  we  find  the  state  of  things 
full  of  grounds  for  hope.  The  whole  number  of  indictable 
offences  in  1874  was  6,662,  of  which  more  than  half  were  com- 
mit'^ed  in  Dublin. 

In  regard  to  crimes  against  property,  the  statistics  show  that 
Ireland  stands  in  a  more  favourable  position  than  England  by 
35  per  cent.,  but  riots  and  assaults  are  more  common  in  Ireland, 
while  indictable  offences,  disposed  of  summarily,  are  17  per  cent. 
more  common  in  England  ;  thefts  56  per  cent. ;  aggravated  assaults 
on  women  and  children,  39  per  cent.  In  the  Province  of  Ulster, 
in  1874,  the  total  of  offences  of  all  kinds  was  59,976,  whilst  in 
portion  of  the  population  of  Scotland,  equal  to  that  of  Ulster,  it 
was  in  1873,  71,313,  the  balance  being  19  per  cent,  in  favour  of 
Ireland.  +  Scotland  consumes  a  much  greater  quantity  of  intoxica- 
ting liqtiors  than    Ireland,  but  the  Scotchman  can  bear  more 

•  "  It  would  be  unjust  to  confound  these  agrarian  conspiracies  with  ordinary  crime, 
>r  to  suppose  that  they  imply  a  propensity  to  ordinary  crime,  either  on  the  part  of 
those  who  commit  them,  or  on  the  part  of  the  people  who  connive  at  and  favour  their 
Bommission." — Goldwin  Smith's  Essay,  p.  163. 

t  See  "Remarks  on  a  Kecfnt  Irish  Election."  Frazer's  Magazine,  August,  1875. 
Hie  writer,  an  Ulsterman,  settled  in  Tipperary,  says  a  revolution  has  taken  place  in 
ihe  feelings  of  the  people. 

X  See  Professor  Hancock's  Statistics. 


THE   GENTRY. 


4» 


alcohol,  and  ho  is  more  prudent  in  his  cups  than  the  Irishman,  of 
which  fact  the  lesson  is  obvious. 

It  is  hard  to  speak  of  tihe  events  of  '48,  without  doing  more 
harm  than  good.  The  tone  of  England,  the  legislation  of  the  Im- 
perial Parliament,  have  changed  since  the  dreadful  years  of  which 
no  Irishman  can  think  without  tears,  whose  miseries  it  would  be 
hard  for  any  man  born  wheresoever,  to  realize  without  pain  and 
humiliation.  The  indictment  which  can  be  drawn  up  against  the 
Irish  gentry  is  a  dreadful  one.  This  does  not  prove  that  Irish 
gentlemen  were  worse  than  other  men ;  it  only  proves  what  has 
been  made  too  palpable  in  the  history  of  humanity,  that  human 
greed  is  too  strong  for  human  brotherhood,  and  that  no  man  can 
be  trusted  not  to  abuse  power ;  for  the  Irish  gentry  were  not  un- 
worthy of  the  great  people  of  whom  they  should  have  been  the 
leaders.*  A  class  more  fruitful  in  great  men  has  never  existed  in 
any  country,  but  they,  like  the  peasants,  were  the  victims  of  bad 
laws.  The  duties  of  the  nobles,  who  spent  the  fruits  of  Irish  soil  in 
Paris  and  in  London,  wore,  in  an  aristocratic  country,  thrown  on 
them,  and  their  lavish  expenditure  was  the  consequence;  nor  were 
they  all  wanting  in  sympathy  for  the  tenant.  To  this  day  in 
England,  even  with  the  ballot,  the  tenant  is  so  cowed  that  he 
is  afraid  to  vote  against  his  landlord  ;-|-  nor  is  there  any  protection 
on  which  man  can  rely  against  the  cupidity  of  his  brother  man, 
but  equal  laws  equally  administered. 


*  The  following  testimony  to  the  Irishman  from  Mr.  Froude's  History,  embraces 
all  classes : — "  We  lay  the  fault  on  the  intractableness  of  race.  The  modem  Irishman 
is  of  no  race — that  is  to  say,  he  is  of  the  Irish  race,  which  is  a  distinct  type,  and  most 
valuable  to  the  world,  a  type  as  distinct  from  the  Saxon  as  the  Gelt,  so  blended  now 
is  the  blood  of  Celt  and  Dane,  Saxon  and  Norman,  Scot  and  Frenchman.  The  Irish- 
man of  the  last  centiH-y  rose  tohis  natural  level,  whenever  he  was  removed  from  his  own 
unh  ippy  country,  iu  the  seven  years'  war,  Austria's  best  Generals  were  Irishmen. 
Brown  was  an  Irishman,  Lacy  was  an  Irishman,  O'Donnell's  name  speaks  for  him  ; 
and  Lally  Tollendal  who  punished  England  at  Fontenoy,  was  O'Mullally  of  ToUendally. 
Strike  the  names  of  Irishmen  out  of  our  own  public  service,  and  we  lose  the  heroes  of 
our  proudest  exploits — we  lose  the  Wellesleys,  the  Pallisers,  the  Moores,  the  Eyres, 
the  :  'ooteg,  tha  Napiers  ;  we  lose  half  the  oflBcers  and  half  the  privates  wlio  conquered 
India  for  us,  and  fought  our  battles  in  the  Peninsula.  What  the  Irish  could  do  as 
enemies,  wo  were  about  to  learn  when  the  Ulster  exiles  crowded  to  the  standard  of 
Washington.     What  they  can  be,  even  at  home,  we  know  at  this  present  hour. " 

+  See  the  London  correspondent  of  the  Toronto  OloLe,  of  Oct.  28th,  1876,  on  tha 
Buckin{.5hamshire  election. 


i\ 


ffj" 


\<m. 


"■  ll 


M 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


Since  '48  the  events  of  that  time  have  been  judged  by  the  actors 
themselves,  and  it  has  been  acknowledged  that  tlie  relation  be- 
tween England  and  Ireland  has  changed  for  the  better.  If  any 
one  reads  John  Mitchel's  diary,  he  will  see  how  John  Mitchel 
looked  back  on  the  fiasco  with  which  he  was  connected,  with  feel- 
ings of  exaggerated  shame.  In  a  book  published  for  circulation 
among  the  Irish  in  the  United  States,  the  writer  condemns  in  the 
strongest  language  the  attempts  of  the  Confederates  to  produce  an 
armed  revolution  in  Ireland.*  Many  popular  Irish  papers  shew  by 
their  moderation  that  the  Irishmnn  is  not  like  the  Bourbon  who 
his  learned  nothing  and  forgot  nothing.-f* 

Since  '48  two  of  the  leaders  have  been  servants  of  the  crown, 
and  one  has  accepted  an  imperial  title.;}:  '48  was  a  fiasco — which, 
as  is  sometimes  the  case,  did  more  good  than  if  the  movement  had 
been  a  success  ;  if  it  deserves  praise  it  deserves  it  because  the  aim 
was  impossible.  No  momentary  independence  was  attained,  but 
a  powerful  lift  forward  was  given  to  the  cause  which  triumphed 
in  1868  and  18G9.  It  added  to  the  number  of  the  national  heroes  ; 
it  inspired  the  muse  of  Davis,  and  the  life  and  oratory  of  McGee. 

In  an  English  magazine  of  acknowledged  power  and  influence,§ 
a  writer,  who  describes  himself  as  of  "  Scoto-Presbyterian  descent, 
and  born  and  educated  in  one  of  the  most  Presbyterian  parts  of 
Ulster,"  gives  facts  which  it  would  be  well  to  recall  when  it  is  even 
still  the  fashion  to  speak  as  if  Irish  insurrections  arose  from  some 
unaccountable  perversity  of  nature,  instead  of  from  the  most 
vicious  laws  which  have  ever  disgraced  and  degraded  a  country. 
It  is  Mr.  Froude  who  tells  us  that  "  Lord  Burleigh,  who  possessed 
the  quality  of  being  able  to  recognize  faults  in  his  own  country- 
men, saw  and  admitted  that  the  Flemings  had  no  such  cause  to 
rebel  against  the  oppression  of  the  Spaniards,  as  the  Irish  against 
the  tyranny  of  England."     It  is  a  long  step  from  Burleigh  to 


*  See  the  preface  to  "  The  Men  of  '48,"  by  Col.  James  E.  McGee. 

t  See  an  article  in  the  Irish  Canadian,  Oct.  25th,  1876,  warning  the  "  men  of  action" 
^at  they  might  do  incalculable  harm  to  their  country. 

X  Thomas  D'Arcy  McGee,  sometime  Minister  of  Agriculture  and  Emigration  in 
Canada.  Charles  Gavau  Duffy,  at  one  time  Prime  Minister  of  Australia,  and  who  is 
low  Sir  Charles  Gavan  Duffy. 

§  See  FrOfSer's  Magazine,  August,  1875.  The  article  is  "  Remarks  on  a  Recent  Irish 
Election. "    The  recent  Irish  election  was  that  in  which  John  Ivlitchell  was  returned. 


GLADSTONE  S   LEGISLATION. 


45 


Beaconsfield.  Mr,  Disraeli,  in  1843,  said  a  country  in  the  condi- 
tion of  Ireland,  had  nothing  for  it  but  to  rebel.  And  what  does 
this  man  of  "  Scoto-Presbyterian  descent"  say  of  the  events  of  '48? 
He  tells  us  that  his  Ulster  birth  and  Presbyterian  prejudices  have 
not  been  able  to  blind  him  to  the  excellencies  of  the  Munster  char- 
acter. Nor  can  he  understand  why  love  of  country  should  not  be 
more  generally  appreciated  in  the  Irishman.  The  German  is 
praised  for  his  love  of  Fatherland,  the  Frenchman  honoured  for  de- 
voting fortune  and  life  to  the  service  of  his  country,  everything 
English  is  made  the  standard  of  perfection  all  over  the  world  by 
the  Englishman.  "  In  this  love  of  country,"  says  the  writer, 
"  and  the  inherent  gratitude  of  the  Irish  peasantry,  will  be  found 
the  true  solution  of  the  much  misinterpreted,  but  unanimous  elec- 
tion of  the  formerly  expatriated  John  Mitchel.  " 

The  writer  contends  that  there  was  nothing  disloyal  in  the  vote 
cast  for  Mitchel.  Since  the  passing  of  the  Land  Act,  the  majority 
of  the  voters  have  "  no  desire  to  repeal  the  Union,"  as  this  would 
be  "  parting  company  with  the  best  consumers  of  their  beef  and 
mutton,  their  oats  and  flour."  The  reason,  then,  why  a  sol'  ]  vote 
was  cast  for  Mitchel,  was  not  because  they  would  now  approve 
of  his  policy  of  '48,  but  because  they  felt  that  when  Ireland 
needed  an  honest  voice,  Mitchel  supplied  it ;  and  also  that  in  the 
improved  state  of  things,  when  an  alien  church  had  been  deposed, 
a  great  measure  of  justice  done  to  the  tenants,  the  daily  wages  of 
the  labourer  doubled,  evictions  for  non-payment  of  rent  almost 
unheard  of,  Tipperary  become  a  model  county  of  peace  and  quiet- 
ness, a  great  government  might  have  allowed  the  returned  rebel 
to  take  his  seat. 

When  D'Arcy  McGee  was  taunted  in  the  Canadian  Parliament 
with  having  been  a  rebel,  he  answered  it  was  true  he  had  rebelled 
against  the  mis-government  of  his  country,  because  he  saw  his 
countrymen  starving  before  his  eyes,  while  his  country  had  her 
trade  and  commerce  stolen  from  her.  "  I  rebelled,"  he  added, 
"  against  the  Church  Establishment  in  Ireland  ;  and  there  is  not  a 
Liberal  man  in  this  community  who  would  not  have  done  as  I 
did,  if  he  were  placed  in  my  position  and  followed  the  dictates  ol 
hum8,nity."  It  has  been  alleged  in  defence  of  the  Government  ol 
the  day  that  it  did  not  cause  the  blight  of  that  agreeable  but  ill- 


I 


46 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


starred  root  the  potato;  "but"  says  the  Scoto-Presbyterian, 
"  when  the  i)otato  crop  was  gone,  its  laws  did  not  permit  the 
starving  inhabitants  to  touch  any  other  of  the  produce  that  their 
own  hands  had  roarod."  Those  laws  permitted  distraint  of  the 
stock,  crop,  and  every  species  of  produce.  It  was  a  common  thing 
to  put  on  the  farm,  when  the  crop  was  ripe,  a  keeper  who  was 
kept  at  the  farmer's  expense,  "  till  the  crop  was  reaped,  thrashed, 
and  converted  into  money,"  which  passed  directly  to  the  pocket  of 
the  landlord,  who  frequently  gave  only  a  receipt  on  account.  The 
people  were  starving,  and  plenty  of  food  in  the  country.  During 
the  dreadful  agony,  famine  filling  the  road  sides  and  the  hovels 
with  gaunt  victims,  fever  following  on  famine's  heels,  there  was 
no  break  in  the  exportation  to  Great  Britain  of  oats,  flour,  beef, 
pork  and  mutton.  "  Why  did  not  the  starving  peasantry  seize  on 
these  things — the  produce  of  their  own  labour  ?  Because  they 
were  guarded  in  safety  from  our  shores,  by  British  troops.'  The 
chief  duty  of  the  troops  in  the  assize  towns  was  to  guard  the  flour 
on  its  transit  from  the  mills  to  the  port.  It  was  against  this 
monstrous  state  of  things  that  the  men  of  '48  uttered  a  wild,  de- 
spairing cry.  Wild,  because  despairing ;  and  despairing,  because 
the  past  gave  no  ground  for  hope.  But  thank  God  !  those  times 
are  no  more  ;  the  dark  night  is  over,  and  the  dawn  of  another  day 
is  bright  with  happy  promise. 

But  the  Imperial  Parliament  must  not  think  that  its  work  is 
finished,  nor  grow  disheartened  if,  after  centuries  of  wrong,  j  ust 
laws  do  not  produce  immediately  all  the  results  hoped  for. 
Happily,  all  progress  is  slow  ;  though  the  slowness  entails  many 
evils,  yet  worse  evils  would  result  from  greater  rapidity  of  move- 
ment. Property  in  land  is  like  property  in  nothing  else,  and  the 
sooner  Irish  landlords  and  Irish  peasants  cease  to  speak  as  if  men 
could  be  absolute  owners  of  the  land,  the  better.  No  man,  in  a 
country  as  thickly  populated  as  Ireland  or  England,  has  a  right 
to  draw  revenue  from  land,  the  duties  incidental  to  the  possession 
of  which  he  does  not  discharge.  The  time  is  at  hand  when  as 
short  work  must  be  made  of  absentees  as  Henry  VIII.  would  have 
made  of  them.  Nc^',  of  course,  should  any  man  be  permitted  to  de- 
stroy a  country's  fruitfulness.  If  people  will  not  do  their  duty  as 
landowners,  they  must  not  be  robbed  ;  they  must  get  the  value  of 


ill    i 


IRELAND   IN   THE    EIGHTEENTH   CENTURY. 


47 


their  interest  in  the  land,  which  must  then  be  handed  over  at  a 
proper  price  to  those  who  will  do  the  duty  arising  out  of  owner- 
ship. 

In  Ireland  at  the  present  moment  there  are  not  more  than 
40,000  persons  owning  the  twenty  million  odd  acres.and  5,806,000 
acres  are  possessed  by  two  hundred  and  seventy-four  persons. 
Sixty-three  proprietors  have  more  than  a  fifth  of  the  soil  of  Lein- 
ster ;  sixty-seven  about  a  fourth  of  Munster ;  ninety  a  good  deal 
more  than  a  third  of  Ulster ;  and  fifty-four  about  the  same  quan- 
tity of  Connaught. 

The  course  of  Ireland  for  a  century  would  suggest  thnt  special 
legislation  would  be  for  the  benefit  of  that  country.  Free  trade, 
as  the  statement  of  a  great  general  truth,  is  unassailable  ;  but 
when  we  come  to  apply  it  to  countries  in  various  stages  of  deve- 
lopment, and  differing  in  resources,  we  see  at  once  that  it  gives 
advantage  to  one  over  the  other.  But  for  protection  the  United 
States  of  America  would  be  sending  across  the  Atlantic  for  their 
knives  and  forks  and  reaping  hooks.  Now  they  could  probably 
hold  their  own  in  the  markets  of  the  world,  and  therefore  ought 
to  adopt  free  trade.  Ii'eland  is  undoubtedly  specially  suited  for 
pasture.  But  if  her  mineral  resources,  small  though  they  are, 
were  developed,  she  would  be  much  richer,  and  the  farmers  would 
be  still  better  off. 

Ireland  was,  in  the  middle  of  the  18th  century,  a  country  of  all 
but  limitless  pasturages.  At  the  period  of  Arthur  Young's  visit, 
a  century  ago,  a  change  had  set  in.  Yet  he  found  one  grass  farm 
of  ten  thousand  acres,  and  not  a  few  sheep  walks  of  five  or  six 
thousand  acres.  It  is  important  to  note  that  it  was  not  natural 
adaptability  which  brought  about  this  state  of  things.  One  cause 
was  the  scarcity  of  labour  consequent  on  the  incessant  wars  of  the 
17th  century.  But  there  followed  on  the  Treaty  of  Limerick 
three-quarters  -of  a  century  of  repose.  Population  increased,  but 
still  cattle  farming  was  continued.  The  penal  laws  prohibited 
Catholics  from  buying  or  leasing  lands.  Competition  between 
tenants  was  kept  down.  Thus  the  breaking  up  of  farms  was 
prevented.  The  markets  of  England  and  the  Colonies  were 
closed  against  the  Irish  farmer,  and  he  had  no  motive  for  increas- 
ing production.     Besides,  the  disqualification  of  Catholics  lulled 


«8 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN    CANADA. 


the  ProtoHtanta  into  a  lethargic  confidence.  Couiplaints  at  last 
arose  that  there  was  not  enough  food  grown  for  the  population, 
which  had  greatly  increased.  The  Irish  parliament  offered  a 
bounty  for  all  corn  imported  from  the  inland  rural  districts  into 
Dublin.  The  efTect  was  immediate.  Arthur  Young  noticed  in 
1776  that  the  richest  i)asturages  of  Tipperary  and  Limerick  were 
being  broken  up.  The  outbreak  of  the  American  war  gave  a  new 
impulse  to  this  movement.  England,  facing  a  world  in  arms,  was 
forced  to  grow  within  the  three  kingdoms  the  food  she  required 
for  her  vast  armaments  by  sea  and  land,  and  this  raised  enor- 
mously th  o  price  of  com.  The  extensive  grass  farms  disappeared. 
The  land  was  ^^roupht  under  tillage,  and  population  increased,  as 
it  were,  at  a  bound.  The  war  against  revolutionary  France  cre- 
ated a  still  greater  lemand  for  agricultural  produce,  and  Ireland 
was  completely  converted  into  a  tillage  country.  Waterloo  sud- 
denly put  an  end  to  the  factitious  demand,  and  intense  distress 
was  the  resuJt.  To  relieve  the  farmer,  the  com  laws  were  passed, 
laws,  which  having  fulfilled  their  purpose,  were  abolished  amid 
the  hungry  cries  of  a  starving  people. 

Thus  the  agricultural  economy  of  Ireland  was  completely  revo- 
lutionized in  something  over  half  a  century.  A  country  of  pas- 
tures became  a  country  of  tillage ;  a  country  of  large  farms  a 
country  of  minute  holdings;  an  independent  yeomanry  gave 
way  to  dependent  peasant  occupyers,  and  the  population  increased 
at  an  appalling  rate  from  about  two  to  eight  and  a  half  millions. 

On  the  repeal  of  the  com  laws  the  farmers  of  Ireland  found 
themselves  exposed  to  competitors  on  the  coast  of  the  Black  Sea 
and  the  banks  of  the  Danube.  Ireland  might  have  sustained  the 
competition  of  Russians,  Hungarians,  and  Roumanians,  had  not 
the  United  States  entered  the  field  and  suddenly  become  a  great 
exporter  of  grain.  The  Irish  and  German  immigrations  led  to  the 
rapid  opening  up  and  settlement  of  the  corn  fields  of  the  Missis- 
sippi valley,  and  the  additional  competition  proved  too  much  for  the 
Irish  farmers  who  had,  with  a  worse  market,  to  pay  more  for  labour, 
and  the  cultivation  of  wheat  began  immediately  to  decline.  In 
1847,  though  in  that  year,  owing  to  the  failure  of  the  potato  crop 
and  the  consumption  of  seed  com  for  food,  there  was  a  great  fall- 
ing oflf  in  cultivation,  there  were  sown  745,000  acres  of  wheat, 


PASTURAaE. 


49 


while  in  1875  only  15!>,00()  acres  were  sown.  The  decreaHe  in 
other  grain  crops,  with  the  exception  of  barley,  is  e(iually  marked, 
the  (Icinimd  for  l)arley  being  kept  up  by  whiskey-distillation. 
The  decrease  still  goes  on.  South  America  and  India  are  extend- 
ing the  area  of  competition,  and  it  is  thought  not  unlikely  that  the 
cultivation  of  wheat  for  sale  may  cease  altogether.  There  is  a 
great  increase  in  cattle-feeding  crops,  but  only  enough  to  balance 
the  decrease  in  acres  under  gi-ain.  The  area  under  cultivation  is 
now  no  larger  than  it  was  in  1841,  while  the  number  of  homed 
cattle  has  nearly  trebled  and  the  number  of  sheep  has  nearly 
doubled.  Thus  the  fiscal  legislation  of  thirty  years  and  the  for- 
eign competition  it  introduced,  have  undone  the  revolution  in 
the  direction  of  tillage,  and  almost  restored  the  agricultural 
economy  of  the  middle  of  the  last  century.  The  number  of  acres 
under  crops  of  all  kinds,  in  1875,  including  maadows  and  clover 
was  only  5,332,813 ;  while  10,409,320  acres  were  given  up  to 
grass.  The  whole  area  under  crops  proper  was  only  about 
3,500,000  acres  or  about  a  sixth  of  the  entire  country. 

Breeding  and  feeding  cattle  make  very  small  farms  impossible ; 
sheep  require  extensive  runs.  Cattle  give  employment  to  very 
few  hands.  As  we  might  expect,  the  population  and  holdings 
have  decreased.  The  number  of  holdings  of  from  one  acre  to  five 
acres  in  extent,  have  diminished  in  thirty  years  from  310,486  to 
69,098,  or  at  the  enormous  rate  of  777  per  cent.  In  1841,  the 
number  between  five  and  fifteen  acres  was  252,799  ;  in  1875  the 
number  was  166,959,  a  decrease  of  34  per  cent.  Those  over  fif- 
teen, however,  have  increased.  On  the  whole  number  of  holdings 
the  decrease  has  been  one-fourth.* 

The  great  majority,  perhaps  all,  of  those  who  "  own  "  the  land 
are  more  or  less  inveterate  absentees,  and  if  they  do  not  do  their 
duty,  they  oug  ^  to  be  taught  that  others  will.  The  drastic 
measure,  the  Incumbered  Estates  Act,  must  be  followed  by  another 
dealing  with  worse  incumbrances  than  debt.  It  is  not  just  to 
leave  the  minerals  unutilized ;  and  when  a  large  addition  is  made 
to  the  manufacturing  population,  then  in  the  best  and  happiest 
way  a  check  will  be  put  on  the  present  tendency,  which  bids  fair 


*  I  am  nidebUd  to  the  Saturday  Beview  for  the  above  facts. 


V       Ji! 


{0 


THE  IRISHMAN  IN   CANADA. 


if  allowed  free  course,  to  make  Ireland  a  land  of  grazing  fioiud 
and  a  waste  of  sheep  walks.  The  history  of  Ireland  shows  the 
reverse  of  the  teaching  of  Goldsmith  to  be  the  truth.  A  "  bold 
peasantry  "  can,  by  legislation,  be  called  into,  or  blotted  out  ot 
existence.  Tho  Irishman  in  Canada  can  rejoice  that  his  adopted 
home  is  free  from  absentees  and  is  rich  in  minerals 

Home  Rule  has  had  no  influence  on  emigration  to  this  coun- 
try, and  the  scope  of  this  book  does  not  lead  me  to  discuss  it  here. 
Nor,  again,  had  Fenianism  any  effect  on  this  country's  population. 
The  most  miserable  of  all  attempts  ever  made  on  the  peace  of  a 
people,  called  out  the  patriotic  feelings  of  Canadians  of  all  classes, 
and  of  every  nationality.  It  was  a  Fenian  bullet  which,  all  too 
soon,  just  when  his  great  powers  were  really  ripening,  deprived 
the  world  of  D'Arcy  McGee,  These  are  the  two  sinister  events 
which  connect  Canada  in  any  way  with  Fenianism,  and  they  call 
for  no  comment.  Even  Thomas  Clarke  Luby,  when  brought  to 
Toronto  last  St.  Patrick's  day  to  lecture  on  Ireland,  could  not 
withhold  the  expression  of  his  shame  at  the  conduct  of  the  Fenian 
raiders,  and  emphatically  declared  he  had  no  sympathy  whatever 
with  them. 


JHAPTER  III. 


What  Irish  and  English  statesmanship  did  for  the  United  States 
is  scarcely  sufficiently  recognized,  The  Irish  Commons  refused  to 
vote  £45,000  for  the  war  against  the  American  colonists.  Burke, 
Barr^,  and  Sheridan  wrote  openly  in  defence  of  their  transatlantic 
fellow-subjects.  In  France,  McMahon,  Dillon,  Roche,  Fermoy, 
General  Conway,  and  other  experienced  military  men,  were  ready 
to  volunteer  into  the  American  service.     It  was  the  victory  of 


^i 


MONTGOMERY. 


51 


Brito-Hibernian  troops  which  made  the  United  States  possible  ;• 
and  when  the  citizens  of  the  Republic  look  back  to  the  dawn  of 
her  career  of  wealth  and  freedom  and  greatness,  they  will  see 
clear,  even  through  the  mists  of  centuries,  the  romantic  figure  of 
the  lover-soldier  falling  at  the  moment  his  charge  broke  the  lines 
of  Montcalm,  and  near  him  Irishmen  whose  names  are  only  less 
illustrious  than  their  English  commander's. 

Irish  historians  have  dwelt  with  too  much  delight  on  legends. 
I  shall  avoid  this  mistake,  nor  be  tempted  to  dilate  on  St.  Bran- 
don's discovery  of  America  in  A.D.  545.^  We  are  on  solid  ground, 
however,  when  we  remind  the  reader  that  in  1518,  Baron  de  L^ry, 


•  "  The  fall  of  Montcalm  in  the  moment  of  his  defeat,  completed  the  victory ;  and  the 
snbmiasion  of  Canada  put  an  end  to  the  dream  of  a  French  empire  in  America.  In 
breaking  through  the  line  with  which  France  had  striven  to  check  the  westward  advance 
of  the  English  colonists,  Pitt  had  unconsciously  changed  the  history  of  the  world.  His 
support  of  Frederick  and  of  Prussia,  was  to  lead  in  our  own  day  to  the  erection  of  a 
United  Germany.  His  conquest  of  Canada,  by  removing  the  enemy  whose  dread  knit 
the  colonists  to  the  mother-country,  and  by  flinging  open  to  their  energies,  in  the  days 
to  come,  the  boundless  plains  of  the  West,  laid  the  foundation  of  the  United  States." — 
Green,  p.  737. 

t  The  "Life  of  Saynt  Brandon"  in  the  Gold  Legend,  Published  by  Wynkyn  de 
Wbrde,  1483,  Fol.,  357.  The  voyage  was  a  favourite  theme  with  the  early  romance 
writers.  An  English  translation  of  an  early  French  revision  ^yill|be  found  in  Black- 
wood's Edinburgh  Magazine,  Vol.  xxxix.  Mr.  D.  F.  McCarthy  published,  a  quarter  of 
century  ago  (Dublin  1850),  an  admirable  poem  on  the  subject.  Mr.  McCarthy,  as  will 
be  seen  from  one  or  two  stanzas,  caught  the  music  of  an  earUer  century  than  the  nine- 
teenth. 

At  length  the  long-expected  morning  came, 

When  from  the  opening  anns  of  that  wild  bay. 
Beneath  the  hill  that  bears  my  humble  name. 
Over  the  wavep  we  took  our  untracked^way. 
Sweetly  the  mom  Is./  on  tarn  and  rill ; 

Gladly  the  waves  played  in  its  golden  light, 
And  the  proud  t>.p  of  the  majestic  hill, 
Shone  on  the  azrire  air — serene  and  bright. 

All  that  pathetic,  half-u^..ai^onable  and  wholly  noble  and  beautiful  lore  whicL 
an  Irinhman  cherishes  for  the  home  of  his  race  comes  out  in  the  following  t 

Over  the  sea  we  flew  that  sunny  mom, 

Not  without  natural  tears  and  human  sighs  ; 
For  who  can  leave  the  land  where  he  was  born, 

And  where,  perchance,  a  buried  mother  lies, 
Wliere  all  the  friends  of  riper  manhood  dwell, 

And  where  the  playmates  of  his  childhood  sbep  j 
Who  can  depart,  and  breathe  a  cold  farewell, 

Nor  let  his  eyes  tlieir  honest  tribute  weep? 


58 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


1 1     t;  I 


the  blood  in  whose  veins,  like  his  name,  was  Irish,  with  a  com- 
pany of  colonists  landed  on  Sable  Island,  off  the  coast  of  Nova 
Scotia, 

In  the  eighteenth  century,  Irishmen  were  met  on  all  sides  in 
America  They  were  successful  traders,  successful  sailors,  success- 
ful soldiers,  successful  as  interpreters ;  and  some  of  them,  if  this 
will  not  sound  like  a  bull,  successful  Indian  chiefs.*  The  Republic 
below  the  line  should  never  forget  what  they  did  for  that  great 
free  empire ;  nor  should  the  Irishman  in  the  second  or  third  gene- 
ration be  other  than  proud  of  the  rock  whence  he  was  hewn.  The 
first  naval  capture  made  in  the  name  of  the  United  Colonies  was 
made  by  five  brothers,  whose  father,  Maurice  O'Brien,  was  a  na- 
tive of  Cork.  "  This  affair,"  says  Cooper,  in  his  History  of  the 
United  States  Navy  "  was  the  Lexington  of  the  seas."  There 
were  dozens  of  Irishmen  in  command  after  1775. 

The  ban  laid  on  Irish  manufactures,  in  IGSS,*!-  and  the  rack- 
rents,  sent  multitudes  of  Protestants  and  Catholics  across  the 
Atlantic,  According  to  Dobbs,  writing  a  few  years  after,  three 
thousand  males  left  Ulster  yearly  for  the  Colonies.  In  1699, 
James  Logan,  of  Lurgan,  accompanied  William  Penn  to  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  became  one  of  the  foremost  men  in  the  colony.  He 
was  a  strong  Protestant,  and  with  a  firmer  grasp  of  the  large 
views  and  liberal  tolerance  at  the  base  of  Protestantism  than  were 


■m.-  ! 


Our  little  bark,  kissing  the  dimpled  smiles 

On  ocean's  cheek,  flew  like  a  wanton  bird. 
And  then  the  land,  with  all  its  hundred  isles 

Faded  away,  and  yet  we  spoke  no  word. 
Each  silent  tongue  hold  converse  with  the  past; 

Each  moistened  eye  looked  round  the  circling  wave  ; 
And,  save  the  spot  where  stood  our  trembling  mast, 

Saw  all  things  hid  within  one  mighty  grave. 

See  D'Arcy  McGee's  "  Irish  Settlers,"  a  book  without  which  this  chapter  could  not 
have  been  written  in  Canada. 

*  "  More  than  one  Irishman  was  naturalized  in  the  forest,  like  Stark  and  Houston, 
and  obeyed  as  chiefs.  Of  the  numbei  was  the  strange  character  known  as  Tiger  Rorke, 
at  one  time  the  friend  of  Chesterfield  and  the  idol  of  Dublin  drawing-rooms ;  at  another, 
the  tattooed  leader  of  an  Iroquois  war  party." — "The  Irish  Settlers  in  North  America." 
By  Thomas  D'Arcy  McGee. 

t  "  All  the  other  oppressions  of  the  Irish  were  of  no  importance  compared  with  the 
destniction  of  their  trade  for  the  benefit  of  English  producers."  p.  399.  Alahaffoy'a 
••  Social  History  of  Greecet" 


ll 

1 

'1 

1 

FOUNDERS   OF  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


53 


general  then.  ]Cven  the  Quaker  Penn  reproves  him  for  his 
liberality.  "  There  is,"  writes  Penn  from  London,  in  1708,  "  a 
complaint  against  your  government  that  you  suffer  public  Mass." 
Logan's  example  proved  contagious,  and  so  early  as  1730,  we  find 
in  the  interior  of  the  State,  townships  called  Derry,  Donegal, 
Tyrone,  and  Ccleraine.  In  1729,  the  Irish  emigrants,  who 
landed  in  Philadelphia,  were  ten  to  one  of  all  the  European 
nationalities,  an  influx  which  continued  tiU  the  close  of  the  cen- 
tury. Among  the  Irish  emigrants,  in  1729,  was  Charles  Clinton, 
whose  three  sons  were  to  play  so  prominent  a  part  in  the  annals 
of  New  York.  A  large  Irish  immigration  settled  in  Maryland,  in 
Virginia,  and  in  South  Carolina.  Among  the  Irish  settlers  in 
South  Carolina  occur  the  famous  names  of  Rutledge,  Jackson,  and 
Calhoun.  North  Carolina  also  received  the  Irish  contingent 
which  contained  a  governor  in  James  Moore,  who  headed  the  re- 
A'olution  in  1775.  In  the  settlement  of  Kentucky  Irishmen  played 
their  part.  "  For  enterprise  and  daring  courage,"  says  Marshall,* 
"  none  transcended  Major  Hugh  McGrady,"  and  he  gives  a  list  of 
others  deserving  honourable  mention.  If  the  reader  wishes  to 
know  what  a  noble  pioneer  the  Irishman  of  those  days  made,  let 
him  read  the  early  history  of  Kentucky,  and  what  Simon  Butler 
did  and  endured.  In  Delaware  also,  several  Irish  families  made 
their  homes,  and  in  the  contests  between  the  settlers,  Colonel 
Plunkett  and  Thomas  Neill  are  prominent.  The  United  States 
owe  all  their  celebrated  Butlers  to  the  cadets  of  the  great  Ormond 
stock. 

In  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  a  meeting  was  held  in  1725, 
a,t  Haverhill,  for  settling  the  town  of  Concord,  and  with  the  view 
of  excluding  the  Irish,  it  was  resolved  "  that  no  alienation  of  any 
lot  should  be  made  without  the  consent  of  the  community."  Irish 
families  who  presumed  to  make  a  settlement  were  warned  oflf. 
But  they  held  their  ground,  and  nothing  came  of  the  threat.  In 
the  capital  of  New  England,  in  1737,  we  find  a  body  of  "  Irish 
gentlemen  oi  the  Irish  nation  banding  themselves  together  in  a 
charitable  society,  for  the  relief  of  such  of  their  poor  indigent 
■countrymen,  without  any  design  of  not  contributing  towards  the 


History  of  Kentucky. 


it 


54 


TfiE  IRISHMAN  IN  CANADA. 


provision  of  the  town  poor  in  general,  as  usual."  This  was  in  the 
main  a  Protestant  Benevolent  Society,  and  the  8th  article  of  the 
Constitution  declared  that  none  but  Protestants  were  eligible  for 
office  or  committee  work.  The  Londonderry  settlement  took 
place  in  the  spring  of  1719.*  It  consisted  of  sixteen  families,  who 
brought  with  them  to  the  new  world  the  stern  fibre  which  would 
not  surrender  to  death,  armed  with  famine.  They  were  all  of  the 
Presbyterian  faith,  and  in  process  of  time  spread  over  Windham, 
Chester,  Litchfield,  Manchester,  Bedford,  Goffstown,  New  Boston, 
Antrim,  Peterborough,  Ackworth,  in  New  Hampshire,  and  Bar- 
nett,  in  Vermont.  Their  descendants  were  the  first  settlers  in 
many  towns  in  Massachusetts  and  Maine,  and  they  are  now  to  the 
number  of  tens  of  thousands  scattered  over  all  the  States  of  the 
Union.-f-  Cherry  Valley, New  York,  was  in  part  peopled  from  Lon- 
donderry.   A  few  families  from  Belfast,  in  1723,  established  an 

*  "  He  (the  Ulster  man),  pushes  along  quietly  to  the  proper  place,  nc*  using  his 
elbows  too  much,  and  is  not  hampered  by  traditions  like  the  Celt.  He  succeeds  partic- 
ularly well  in  America  and  in  India,  not  because  UlBter  men  help  one  another,  and  po 
on  like  a  corporation  ;  for  he  is  not  clannish  like  the  Scottish  Highlanders  or  the  Irish 
Celts,  the  last  of  whom  unfortunately  stick  together  like  bees,  and  drag  one  another 
down  instead  of  up.  No  foreign  people  succeed  in  America  unless  they  mix  with  the 
native  population.  It  is  out  of  Ulster  that  her  hardy  sons  have  made  the  most  of  their 
talents.  It  was  an  Ulster  man  of  Donegal,  Francis  Mackamie  who  founded  Ameri- 
can Presbyterianism  in  the  early  part  of  the  last  century,  just  as  it  was  an  Ulsterman 
of  the  same  district,  St.  Columbkille,  who  converted  the  Picts  of  Scotland  in  the  sixth 
century.  Four  of  the  Presidents  of  the  United  States  and  one  Vice-President  have 
been  of  Ulster  extraction,  J  ames  Monroe,  James  K.  Polk,  John  C.  Calhoun,  and  James 
Buchanan.  General  Andrew  Jackson  was  the  son  of  a  poor  Ulster  emigrant  who 
settled  iii  North  Carolina,  towards  the  close  of  the  last  century :  *  I  was  born  some- 
where, he  said,  between  Carrickfergus  and  the  United  States.'  Bancroft  and  other 
historians  recognize  the  value  of  the  Scotch-Irish  element  in  forming  the  society  of  the 
Middle  and  Southern  States.  It  has  been  the  boast  of  Ulstermen,  that  the  first  Gen- 
eral who  fell  in  the  Ajuerican  war  of  the  Revolution,  was  an  Ulsterman — Richard 
Montgomery — who  fought  at  the  siege  of  Quebec  ;  that  Samuel  Findley,  President  of 
Princeton  College,  and  Francis  Allison,  pronounced  by  Stiles,  the  President  of  Yale, 
to  be  the  greatest  classical  scholar  in  the  United  States,  had  a  conspicuous  place  in 
educating  the  American  mind  to  independence  ;  that  the  first  publisher  of  a  daily  pa- 
per in  America  was  a  Tyrone  man,  named  Dunlop ;  that  the  marble  palace  of  New 
York,  where  the  greatest  business  in  the  world  is  done  by  a  single  firm,  was  the  property 
of  the  late  Alexander  T.  Stewart,  a  native  of  Lisburn,  County  Down ;  that  the  fore- 
most merchants,  such  as  the  Browns  and  Stewarts,  are  Ulstermen  ;  and  that  the  in- 
ventors of  steam  navigation,  telegraph,  and  the  reaping-machine — Fiilton,  Morse,  and 
McCormick — are  either  Ulstermen  or  the  sons  of  Ulstermen."  "  Ulster  and  its  people. "^ 
— Frazer's  Magazine,  Augu8t,1876. 

t  Barstow'B  New  Hampshire,  p.  130. 


BERKELEY. 


55 


Irish  settlement  in  Maine.  Amongst  them  was  an  Irish  school- 
master named  Sullivan,  who,  in  1775,  founded  Limerick,  and  whose 
Bons  rose  to  high  employment,  civil  and  military.  Longford  sent 
the  Higgins's  and  the  Reilly's,  the  cream  of  its  population,  to 
Connecticut.  One  of  the  former  was  the  father  of  a  numerous 
progeny,  now  flourishing  in  New  England.  Palmer  and  Worces- 
ter (Mass.),  received  early  in  the  eighteenth  century  their  share 
of  Irish  immigration. 

In  1725,  the  amiable  and  acute  author  of  the  "  Theory  of  Vis- 
ion "  conceived  the  project  of  founding  a  College  in  the  Summer 
Islands  for  the  conversion  of  the  red  race  in  the  American  colonies. 
The  English  parliament  having  voted  him  certain  lands  in  the 
West  Indies,  and  £10,000  to  be  paid  over  as  soon  as  the  scheme 
was  in  operation,  Berkeley — as  noble  a  specimen  of  Irish  benevo- 
lence, enthusiasm,  and  genius  as  ever  crossed  the  Atlantic — resigned 
the  rich  deanery  of  Derry,  and  having  "  seduced  some  of  the  hope- 
fuUest  young  gentlemen"  of  Trinity  to  accept  professorships  in  the 
future  College  at  £40  a  year,  embarked.  The  scholarly  band  arrived 
at  Newport,  K.I.,  in  January,  1729.  As  one  might  expect,  diflicul- 
ties  were  raised  in  the  way  of  handing  over  the  money,  and  at  the 
end  of  three  years  Walpole  told  Berkeley  there  was  no  chance  of  its 
ever  being  paid.  While  waiting,  he  farmed  and  wrote  his  "  Minute 
Philosopher,"  and  when  in  1732  he  determined  to  return  to  Ire- 
land, he  bequeathed  his  farm  of  ninety  acres  to  Yale  College,  and 
presented  it  with  his  library.*     To  this  hour,  not  only  in  the 


•  "  The  finest  collection  of  books  that  ever  came  at  one  time  into  America."  Bald- 
win's annals  of  Yale  College,  p.  417.  A  son  in  the  flesh  as  well  as  in  letters  was  bom 
to  Berkeley,  in  America.  His  house  "  Whitehall "  still  stands.  He  loved  to  read  and 
meditate  in  a  snug  retreat  among  the  rocks  which  project  over  Nanaganset  Bay.  It 
was  while  seated  here  those  noble  lines  occurred  to  him,  the  first  of  which  has  become 
a  household  word  : 

"  Westward  the  star  of  empire  takes  its  way, 
The  three  first  acts  already  past ; 
The  fourth  shall  close  it  with  the  closing  day, — 
Earth's  noblest  empire  is  the  last." 

Thus  it  is  to  an  Irishman  that  this  continent  owes  its  most  auspicious  prophecy.  Not 
only  so,  it  was  Berkeley  who  first  brought  an  organ  to  New  England  to  peal  out  praise 
to  God.  It  was  he  brought  there  the  first  artist  to  paint  the  beauty  of  its  shores  and 
nroods.  This  artist  was  che  teacher  of  Copley.  His  name  was  Smibert,  He  was  the 
architect  of  Faneuil  Hall,  and  his  picture  of  the  Berkeley  family  is  in  Yale  College. 
-See  McGee'B  "  Irish  Settlers." 


■  ■"'mi.'- 


66 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


i 


seat  of  learning  with  which  his  fame  is  connected,  but  all  over 
the  continent,  his  name  is  an  inspiration,  his  memory  a  hallowed 
thing  with  all  who  love  genius  and  honour  worth.  A  story  of  the 
Indian  frontier  war  is  like  a  star  breaking  through  a  cloud  oi 
barbarism.  In  1753,  four  hunters  from  Londonderiy  "  wandered 
in  quest  of  game  "  into  the  territor}?  of  the  Canadian  Aroostooks. 
The  four  were  captured,  and  two  having  been  scalped,  the  remain- 
ing two  were  forced  to  run  the  gauntlet.  The  elder  of  the  two 
escaped  from  the  ordeal  barely  with  life  ;  the  younger,  a  lad  of 
sixteen,  the  future  General  Stark,  wlien  his  turn  came,  marched 
forward  boldly,  and  snatching  a  chib  from  the  nearest  Indian, 
attacked  the  warriors  drawn  up  on  either  side.  He  mocked  the 
savages  into  reverence  of  his  noble  nature.  They  then  ordered 
him  to  hoe  corn.  He  tore  it  up  by  the  roots  saying  such  work 
was  only  worthy  of  squaws.  He  won  their  hearts.  They  ad  opted 
him  as  a  son.  They  called  him  their  "  young  chief,"  and  dressed 
him  up  in  Indian  splendour.*  The  campaign  of  1755  brought  the 
"  Irish  Brigade  "  to  the  Cans/lian  frontier. 

In  the  accounts  of  Indian  warfare  on  the  Santee  and  Savannah, 
Irish  names  such  as  those  of  Governor  Moore,  Captains  Lynch  and 
Kearns,  frequently  appear  as  the  champions  of  the  whites.  It  was 
in  this  warfare  the  Guerilla  host  known  as  "  Marion's  Men " 
were  trained,  among  whom  were  conspicuous.  Colonels  Harry  and 
McDonald,  Captains  Conyers  and  McCauley. 

In  1764,  Dr.  Franklin,  referring  to  the  enactment  of  the  "  Stamp 
Act "  at  London,  wrote  to  Charles  Thompson,  one  of  the  Irish 
settlers  in  Pennsylvania,  that  the  sun  of  liberty  was  set,  and  that 
Americans  must  light  the  lamps  of  industry  and  economy.  The 
answer  sent  back  by  Thompson  wa^,  "  Be  a.ssured  we  shall  light 
torches  of  quite  another  sort." 

The  folly  of  the  English  Government  and  the  tyranny  of  George 
III.,  are  now  universally  acknowledged.  With  such  statesmen  as 
were  at  that  period  presiding  over  the  Empire,  the  Colonists  had 
nothing  for  it  but  to  rebel.     John  Rutledge,  an  Irish  settler  in 

*  He  was  one  of  the  first  captives  given  up  to  Captain  Stevens.  The  original  name 
Df  Stark  was  Starkey,  and  it  is  thus  spelled  on  the  monument  of  the  General's  father 
it  Manchester,  N.  H.  See  Barstovir's  New  Hampshire,  p.  1.39,  and  Thomas  D'Arcy 
McGee's  "  Irish  Settlers  in  North  America,"  p.  40. 


L 


A 1  ■ 


QUEBEC. 


s-i 


South  Carolina,  was  the  first  man  to  rouse  that  State  to  resist- 
ance. It  was  a  Langdon  and  a  Sullivan  who  seized  the  guns  at 
Newcastle,  which  thundered  at  Bunker  Hill.  In  Maryland; 
Charles  Carrol  carried  the  popular  banner,  and  bore  down  the 
leading  royalist  champion.  Of  the  chiefs  of  the  "  Continental 
army  "  a  full  third  were  Irish  by  birth  or  descent,  and  the  rank 
and  file  was  very  largely  of  Irish  origin.* 

Richard  Montgomery,  who  had  served  under  Wolfe  in  the  cap- 
ture of  Quebec,  having  meanwhile  travelled  in  Europe  and  emi- 
grated to  New  York,  was  elected  by  Congres"  1  rigadier-general, 
and  when  the  sole  command  devolved  on  him,  on  the  death  of 
General  Schuyler,  conducted  the  campaign  with  rare  judgment. 
Fort  Chambly,  St.  Johns,  Montreal,  were  taken,  and  with  Irish 
energy  he  pressed  on  in  the  midst  of  a  severe  winter  to  Quebec 
He  was  a  born  leader  of  men,  and  his  curt  pregnant  eloquence  and 
confident  bearing,  made  the  hearts  of  his  freezing  soldiers  beat 
with  high  courage.  By  a  chance  shot  on  the  morning  of  the  first 
of  January,  1776,  the  glorious  rebel  fell  before  Quebec.  Although 
he  fought  against  the  flag  of  England,  he  fought  in  what  all  admit 
now  to  have  been  the  cause  of  freedom.  It  was  strange  that  he 
should  have  fallen  near  the  ground  where  his  old  commander  fell, 
whom  he  resembled  in  the  purity  of  his  character;  in  his  gallantry; 
in  his  skill  as  a  soldier ;  in  his  divided  heart;  for  he  had  left  behind 
him,  at  the  call  of  duty,  a  gentle  bride  whom  he  passionately  loved, 
and  who  was  in  all  respects  worthy  of  him.  He  might  have 
penned  the  very  verses  which  Wolfe  wrote  regarding  the  gentle 
girl  who  disputed  with  his  country  the  empire  of  his  heart.  Here 
was  liberty  bleeding ;  there  his  weeping  bride.  Mr.  McGee  re- 
marks on  the  strange  fatality  which  gave  to  death  on  the  rock 
of  Quebec,  three  generals,  alike  in  youth,  in  bravery,  and 
chivalrous  manly  tenderness.  "  Three  deaths  "  he  cries,  as  if  he 
felt  the  mantle  of  his  favourite  Ossian  strong  upon  him,  "  three 
deaths,  Quebec,  do  consecrate  thy  rock ;  three  glories  crowii  it 
like  a  tiara  ! " 


*  It  is  nut  necessary  for  my  purpose  to  go  into  particulars.  These  can  be  found  in 
Hist.  (;oll.  01  New  Hampshire,  voL  I,  p.  291,  and  in  McGee's  "  Irish  Settlers  in 
North  America." 


/v 


1« 


li 

1 1 


•i 


58 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN    CANADA. 


It  was  an  Irish  hand  first  hoisted  the  flag  which  has  from  the 
first  been  a  refuge  for  the  unfortunate  and  the  oppressed.  John 
Barry  was  born  in  Wexford  in  1745.  He  pined  for  the  stormy  sea. 
He  crossed  the  Atlantic  in  his  fourteenth  year,  and  sailing  to  and 
from  Philadelphia,  he  learned  the  seaman's  art,  and  at  twenty -five 
was  Captain  of  the  Black  Prince,  first  a  fine  packet,  afterwards  a 
vessel  of  war.  When  Washington  was  in  Philadelphia,  he  met 
Barry  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Rose  Meredith,  and  marked  him  for  an 
ally.  In  1775,  Captain  Barry  was  in  command  of  the  Lexington, 
lying  in  the  Delaware,  when  the  Union  flag  was  chosen,  and  from 
his  masthead  the  stars  and  stripes  first  flew.  Towards  the  close 
of  1777,  Washington  publicly  thanked  him  and  his  men  for  effec- 
tive services.  How  he  became  Commodore,  his  captures,  his  en- 
gagements with  three  British  frigates  in  West  Indian  waters,  in 
1782,  is  part  of  the  general  history  of  the  war.  From  1783, 
until  his  death,  in  1803,  he  superintended  the  progress  of  the 
navy.  "  The  Father  of  the  American  Navy,"  lies  buried  in  Phila- 
deli)hia.  It  is  scarcely  worth  while  to  mention  a  characteristic 
which  the  hostile  Froude  admits  to  be  a  common-place  in  Irish- 
men,— his  unbribable  fidelity.  Lord  Howe  offered  him  a  vast 
bribe,  and  further  tempted  him  with  the  command  of  a  British 
ship  of  the  line,  in  vain.  Like  every  man  of  real  power,  he  was 
proud  of  his  country.  After  the  peace  of  Paris,  he  visited  his 
birthplace,  the  Parish  of  Tacumshane,  County  of  Wexford.  When 
hailed  by  the  British  frigates  in  the  West  Indies,  and  asked  the 
usual  questions,  he  did  not  forget  to  let  them  know  he  was  an 
Irishman.* 

Naval  officers  of  less  note  were  Captains  James  and  Bernard, 
McGee,  McD*.nough,  with  many  others.  Murrry,  Dale,  Decatur, 
and  Stewart,  were  trained  under  Barry. 

Washington's  favourite  aide-de-camp  was  an  Irish  officer  of  the 
old  Volunteer  Blue  and  Buffs,  Col.  Fitzgerald,  and  Mr.  G.  Wash- 
ington Custis,  who  makes  us  acquainted  with  his  heroism,  men- 
tions many  more  of  whom  Irishmen  have  reason  to  be  proud,  and 
to  whom  the  forty  million  dollar  getters  and  breeders  of  dollar 


*  His  answer  was,  "  The  United  States  Ship  Alliance^  fi2;V.C3^Jack  Barry,  half  Irish- 
man, half  Yankee — who  are  you?" 


FRANKLIN. 


69 


getters  have  ample  cause  to  be  grateful.  The  Irish  merchants  of 
Philadelphia  contributed  half  a  million  of  dollars  towards  furnish- 
ing provisions  for  the  United  States.  On  the  19th  of  October, 
1781,  Cornwallis  surrendered,  and  the  following  spring  Great 
Britain  acknowledged  the  independence  of  the  United  States  of 
America :  that  independence  was  bought  with  no  small  amount  of 
blood  and  treasure  and  heroism  and  valuable  lives,  and  Irishmen 
contributed  their  share  of  the  sacred  purchase  money. 

It  was  only  natural  that  there  should  have  been  considerable 
sympathy  between  the  Irish  patriots  in  the  third  quarter  of  the 
eighteenth  centuiy  and  the  leading  spirits  in  the  revolutionary 
movement  in  the  American  colonies.  Franklin  visited  Du})lin  in 
1771.  At  the  suggestion  of  the  Speaker  he  was  accommodated 
with  a  seat  on  the  floor  of  the  house.  After  the  declaration  of 
war  in  1775,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  "  The  People  of  Ireland," 
urging  them  to  refuse  to  join  in  the  war  against  the  colonies. 
Franklin  was  a  bosom  friend  of  Charles  Thompson,  *  who  wrote 
out  the  declaration  of  independence  from  Jefferson's  draft. 

The  first  daily  paper  published  in  America — the  Pennsylvania 
Packet — was  issued  by  an  Irishman,  and  it  was  in  the  Packet 
office  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  first  printpd.  It  was 
an  Irishman,  Colonel  John  Nixon,  who  first  read  it  to  the  people. 
Eight  of  the  signers  of  independence  were  Irish  or  of  Irish  de- 
scent.-j'  It  was  an  Irishman  who  first  published  fac  similes  of  the 
signatures.  Six  of  the  delegatea  by  whom  the  Constitution  was 
promulgated  in  1787,  were  Irish.  It  was  on  an  Irishman's  farm 
freely  offered  to  Washington,  that  the  plan  of  the  federal  capital 
was  laid,  and  the  wealthy  donor  lived  to  see  ten  Presidents  rul- 
ing in  the  "  White  House,"  surrounded  by  ever  growing  wealth 
and  populous  bustle  and  crowding  chimney  stacks,  where  once  the 
smoke  from  his  own  dwelling  flung  a  solitary  reflection  in  the 
calm  waters  of  the  Potomac.     The  first  governor  of    Pennsyl- 

•  Born  at  Maghera,  County  of  Deny,  1730.  He  died  16th  August,  1824,  having 
spent  the  close  of  his  life  in  translating  the  Septuagiut. 

t Matthew  Martin,  bom  m  Ireland,  1714  ;  James  Smith,  born  in  Ireland  in  1713 ; 
George  Taylor,  bom  in  Ireland  in  1716  ;  he  was  so  poor  that  hi-;  services  were  sold  on 
his  amval  to  pay  the  expense  of  his  passage  out.  George  Read  was  the  son  of  Irish 
parents.    Charles  Carroll  was  of  Irish  descent.    Thomas  Lynch  and  Thomas  McKean, 


^•.,V 


60 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


III 


m 


hii'ii!. 


vania  *  after  the  adoption  of  a  federal  constitution,  was  a  native  of 
Dublin.  We  have  seen  that  the  first  literary  blow  dealt  slavery  was 
given  by  an  Irishman.  One  of  the  earliest  legislative  blows  came 
from  a  like  quarter.-)-  Tn  1789  the  Governor  procured  the  passage 
of  a  law  gradually  abolishing  slavery  in  the  state  named  after  the 
great  Quaker. 

In  the  succeeding  years  we  find  Irishmen  and  their  descendants 
as  representatives  and  senators.  We  find  them  establishing  and 
conducting  educational  institutions  ;  we  see  striking  evidences  of 
literary  activity  ;  our  attention  is  arrested  by  the  bold  engineering 
plans  of  Irishmen  who  were  in  advance  of  their  time,  but  who 
would  have  made  a  fortune  to-day.  Some  were  unlucky,  like 
Christopher  Colles,  and  died  in  want,  while  others  were  fattening 
on  their  ideas ;  others  were  more  fortunate,  like  Robert  Fulton, 
who  launched  the  first  steam-boat  on  the  Seine,  in  1803,  running, 
in  1800,  a  more  complete  model  on  the  Hudson.  A  native  of 
Carrickfergus,  Dr.  Adrian,  was  distinguished  as  a  mathematician ; 
and  Matthew  Carey,  the  father  of  H.  C.  Carey,  as  a  political 
economist. 

The  Irish  leaning  to  the  Democratic  side  in  the  United  States, 
would  seem  to  have  a  connection  with  the  events  of  1798  in  Ire- 
land. The  British  Government,  in  1799  and  1800,  agreed  to  let 
T.  A.  Emmett,  and  D.  McNevin  out  of  prison,  if  they  would  pro- 
mise to  quit  the  British  Dominions  for  ever.  The  terms  being 
arranged,  Thomas  Addis  Emmett  applied  to  Rufus  King,  the 
United  States  Minister  at  London,  for  passports  for  himself  and 
his  friends,  but  was  refused  ;  Mr.  King  adding,  what  must  have 
been  meant  for  a  joke,  that  "  then  were  republicans  enough  in 
America."  Some  few  years  afterwards,  when  Mr.  King  was  a 
candidate  for  the  vice-presidency,  and  Thomas  Addis  Emmett  was 
the  leader  of  the  New  York  bar,  the  great  advocate,  by  a  striking 
narration  of  the  circumstances  in  letters  to  the  New  Yo7'k  Evening 
Post,  raised  a  feeling  throughout  the  Union  which  blighted  the 
hopes  of  the  too  clever  ambassador  of  a  few  years  before. 


were  both  of  Irish  parentage.    John  Rutledge,  of  South  Carolina,  makes  up  the  eighth. 
Ail  these  men  rose  to  high  public  employment. — "Lives  of  the  Signers." 
♦  Alderman  John  Bums,  of  I'hiladelphia. 

t  George  Bryan. 


"  OLD  HICKORY." 


61 


I*  was  a  native  uf  Ireland,  John  Smilie,  who  reported  a  bill  in 
1812  in  favour  of  war  with  Great  Britain,  and  the  man  on  whom 
his  mantle  fell,  John  Caldwell  Calhoim,  was  the  son  of  Patrick 
Calhoun,  an  emigiant  from  Donegal  to  South  Carolina.  In  the 
naval  engagements  in  1812-15,  the  names  of  the  Boyles,  the 
Blakeleys,  the  Leavins,  the  Shaws,  the  Stewarts,  the  Gallaghers, 
the  McGraths,  tell  their  history.  On  land  we  meet  everywhere  the 
same  Irish  energy  and  valour.  The  hero  of  the  victory  of  New 
Orleans,  General  Jackson,  was,  as  Cobbett*  pointed  out  with  in- 
decent exultation,  the  son  of  poor  Irish  emigrant  parents.  In 
1828,  Jackson  was  elected  president  by  a  large  majority,  the  "Irish 
vote  "  playing  an  important  part.  The  Irish  did  not  forget  his 
origin,  and  they  were  charmed  by  his  military  characteristics.-f* 
"  Old  Hickory  "  had  some  of  the  most  remarkable  traits  of  the 
Irishman  in  strong  development. 

Contnbutions  were  raised  in  the  States  for  repeal,  and  in  1847 
large  sums  were  sent  to  support  the  famishing  in  Ireland.  The 
'48  movement  excited  great  enthusiasm  among  the  Catholic  Irish, 
and  thousands  of  dollars  poured  in  to  the  directories,  as  they  have 
more  recently  to  head  centre  treasuries.  Be  the  objects  wise  or 
unwise,  such  subscriptions  show  the  noble  generosity  of  the  Irish 
heart. 

*  See  Cobbett'a  Life  of  Andrew  Jackson. 

t  Jackson's  partiality  for  Irishmen  was  strong,  but  not  blind.  His  personal  atten- 
dants were  nearly  all  natives  of  Ireland^  and  he  seems  to  have  felt  that  kindly  interest 
m  them  which  makes  the  servant  of  an  Irish  gentleman  feel  himself  a  "humble 
friend."  Jackson's  man-servant,  Jemmy  O'Neil,  used  to  indulge  a  little  too  freely,, 
and  on  such  occasions  assumed  too  much  control  over  visitors  and  dwellers  in  the 
"White  House."  Wearied  out  with  complaints,  Jackson  decided  to  dismiss  him,  and 
having  sent  for  him  said,  "Jemmy,  you  and  I  must  part."  "Why  so.  General?" 
asked  Jemmy.  "Because,"  replies  the  President,  "every  one  complains  of  you." 
"And  do  you  believe  them.  General?"  asks  Jemmy  with  a  mixture  of  surprise  and  re- 
proach. "  Of  course,"  answers  Jackson,  "  what  everyone  says  must  be  true."  "  Well, 
now  General,"  cries  Jemmy,  "  I've  heard  twice  a.s  much  said  against  you,  and  I  never 
would  believe  a  word  of  it."  Jackson's  military  experience  should  Imve  indeed  had  a 
hardening  effect  if  this  would  not  touch  him.  Mr.  Lowell,  the  author  of  the  "  Biglow 
Papers,"  has  a  genuine  admiration  for  "  Old  Hickory,"  and  tells  us  of  him  :— 

"  He'd  'a'  smashed  the  tables  o'  the  law 
In  time  o'  need  to  load  his  gun  with." 
When  the  "  White  House  "  was  threatened  with*a  mob,  he  refused  the  volunteered 
guard  of  naval  and  military,  and  loading  his  own  and  his  nephew's  guns,  prepai-ed  to 
meet  hia  foes. 


1 


'4 


f)2 


THE  IRISHMAN    IN  CANADA. 


'    I 


i? 


i 

■II 


In  Moxico,  Irishmen  and  Irish  names  are  as  numerous  as  the 
Irishman,  in  a  famous  bull,  said  absentees  were  in  Ireland.*  One 
of  Scott's  most  efficient  colonels  was  RiK^y.  But  neither  to  his 
achievements  nor  to  those  of  minor  note — of  the  Pattersons,  the 
Lees,  the  Magruders,  the  Neals,  the  McRcynolds — can  justice  be 
done  here.  Born  in  the  same  village  as  Major  McRoynold8,f 
James  Shields  won  a  record  which  might  call  for  extended 
notice.  On  his  return  to  the  United  States  ho  was  greeted  with 
ovations,  and  Illinois  elected  him  to  the  Senate.  In  the  Session, 
1850-51,  he  reported  as  one  of  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  in 
favour  of  conferring  the  rank  of  Lieut.-General  on  his  old  Com- 
mander and  comrade,  Scott. 

But  why  go  into  further  particulars  ?  If  arithmetic  goes  for  any- 
thing, Irish  blood  is  the  main-tide  of  the  great  country  below  the 
line.  In  1848,  the  Irish  immigration  exceeded  that  from  all  other 
sources.  In  that  year,  98,061  persons  of  Irish  birth  passed  into  the 
Union  ;  in  1849, 112,561  ;  in  1850,  117,038  ;  as  against  in  the  same 
years  iuspectively,  51,973 ;  55,705  ;  45,535  from  Germany  ;  23,062; 
28,321;  28,163  from  Eng..ud;  and  6,415;  8,840;  6,772  from 
Scotland ;  and  approximate  proportion?  liave  continued.  And 
what  sort  of  stuff  was  this  sent  by  Ireland  ?  I  have  seen  them 
on  the  quays  of  Queenstown,  many  of  them  young  farmers 
and  farmers'  daughters,  all  of  them  as  fine  specimens  of  the 
human  race,  as  ever  pressed  the  earth.  Within  a  century,  the  Irish 
in  America  have  contributed  to  the  ranks  of  war  and  statesman- 
ship in  the  Union,  distinction  and  efficiency,  in  as  large  proportion 
as  they  have  strength  and  endurance  to  the  equally  noble  field  of 
labour.  The  Republic  owes  much  to  the  Presidents  Vice-Presidents 
the  generals  and  commanders,  the  representatives  and  oratora,  the 
lawyers  and  scholars  of  Irish  blood ;  she  owes  still  more  to  the 
pure  mothers  of  healthy  instincts  and  faultless  mould,  which  the 
green  valleys  and  pure  traditions  of  Ireland  have  given  her,  and 
to  the  unequalled  hosts,  wielding  no  sword  and  shouldering  no 
gun,  but  armed  with  pick  and  axe  and  spade,  who  fought  and  fight 


H        I 


*  The  reader  will  have  read  the  story.  "  And  are  there  so  many  absentees  ?"  asked 
an  incredulous  stranger  of  an  Irishman,  who  had  been  inveighing  against  those  rene- 
gades to  duty.     "  Be  gor  the  country  is  swarming  with  them,"  was  the  answer. 

t  Dungannon,  County  Tyrone. 


EMIGRATION. 


62 


tho  wiMemes.s,  and  who  have  carried  the  starry  banner  where  no 
tiag  .ever  tloatud  before. 

It  is  a  noble  work  'is  subduing  tho  willorness.  On  no  sub- 
ject has  moro  wretched  stuff  been  talked  than  on  emigration, 
and  Irish  emigration  in  particular.  It  was  by  '^migration  the 
world  was  peopled,  and  emigration  must  go  forward  until  every 
corner  of  the  world  is  fully  inhabited.  There  is  nothing  un- 
happy about  Irishmen  crossing  tho  Atlantic  ;  the  unhappy  thing 
is  that,  in  a  gnat  many  cases,  the  circumstances  which  imme- 
diately led  to  emigration  were  cruel  and  oppressive,  and  among 
the  bitterest  fruit  of  oligarchic  rule.  But  if  Irelajid's  years  had 
rolled  on  from  the  misty  time  of  legend  to  this  hour  as  happy  as 
a  maiden's  dreams,  her  people  would  have  had  to  cmigra!  e,  or  eat 
each  other,  or  else  resort  to  immoral  contrivances  to  limit  popula- 
tion, sickening  folly  from  which  the  pure,  robust  Irish  nature  has 
always  turned  away  with  disgust.  When  a  country  the  size  of 
Ireland  is  over-populated,  duty  and  manliness  bid  the  strong  ones 
make  for  the  wilderness,  to  face  the  hardships  for  which  the  aged 
and  tender  are  unequal.  It  is  a  hard  thing,  indeed,  to  leave  one's 
country,  and  all  the  harder  because  the  intending  emigrant  fails 
to  realize  the  fact  that  he  will  make  for  himself  a  new  home.  It 
is  hard  ;  but  life  is  made  up  of  hard  things,  and  men  must  not 
grumble  at  hardness.  Yet  the  regrets  of  an  Irishman  for  his 
country  is  a  feature  in  his  character  which  commands  admiration ; 
it  proves  him  to  be  made  of  the  finest  human  c  ly  ;  and  we  need 
not  wonder  it  has  inspired  poets,  and  been  fruitful  of  romance. 
"  Do  you  find  it  hard  to  die  ?"  asked  some  priests  in  Montreal,  aa 
they  stood  by  the  side  of  a  dying  student.  The  green  valleys, 
the  mountain  side,  his  father's  cabin,  the  mother's  love,  her  soft 
musical  voice,  came  before  his  fading  fancy.  His  eye  brightened 
for  a  moment,  and  then  was  drowned  in  one  large  tearful  wave, 
"  I  do,"  said  the  dying  mi:n,  "  but  not  half  so  hard  as  I  found  it 
to  leave  Ireland." 

When  travelling  in  the  United  States,  I  found  the  opinion 
universal  that  a  "  smart "  Irishman  was  the  smartest  man  in  the 
world.  When  the  emigrants  go  into  the  country,  they  are  the 
most  industrious  of  all  the  population.  In  the  south,  west,  and 
east,  you  find  the  Irish  workman  strong  and  successful.    The 


:  ! 

1, 

1 

'  r 

■1, 

'li' 

'  w 

,1  ' 

'M 

ii' 

1  'W ! 

n 

II 

i 

i 

1  ■ 

iii- 


I 


P'    ,:l 


64 


THE   IRISHMAN  IN    CANADA. 


Irishman  who  started  a  quarter  of  a  centuiy  ago  with  a  dollar  in 
his  pocket,  and  who  has  in  the  interval  climbed  to  we:  1th  and  in- 
fluence, is  met  everywhere.*  The  idea  that  Irishmen  do  not  make 
prosperous  merchants  is  common  in  England,  in  the  fac3  of  the 
existence  of  such  men  as  the  late  Mr.  Graves,  M.P.,  of  Liverpool ; 
and  it  obtains  on  t  lis  Cvontinent,  though  Stewart  was  an  Irishman. 
In  Tennessee  and  Missisiuppi,  where  Irishmen,  owing  to  the  talis- 
man of  such  names  as  Jackson,  Carroll,  Coffee,  Brandon,  are  held 
in  the  highest  favour,  mercantile  success  has  attended  the  labour 
and  enterprise  of  hundreds.  In  Virginia,  the  largest  fortune  ever 
made  Lv  commerce  was  made  by  Andrew  Beirne,  an  Irishman. 
In  Missouri,  Brian  Mullanphy  headed  the  list  of  millionaires.  His, 
SOD,  a  lawyer  and  a  judge,  who  died  in  1850,  bequeathed  $200,000 
for  the  benefit  of  emigrants  entering  the  Mississippi.  John  Mc- 
Dunogh  died  in  the  same  year,  at  New  Orleans,  leaving  behind 
him  the  largest  single  property  in  the  Southern  States.  Daniel 
Clarke's  great  wealth  has  been  made  widely  known  by  the  Gaines 
Case. 

In  California,  a  fourth  of  the  farms  are  in  the  hands  of  Irish- 
men. They  constitute  one-fourth  of  the  population  of  San  Fran- 
cisco. Wxth  the  exception  of  four  persons,  six  Irishmen  are  the 
highest  rated  in  that  City.f 

According  to  Mr.  Maguire,  the  Irish  stand  well  in  the  public 
esteem  of  the  people  of  the  United  States.  We  sometimes  hear 
the  contrary.  That  they  should  stand  well  is  only  natural.  Mr. 
Maguire  devotes  many  pages  of  his  book  to  Scotch-Irish,  a  class 
to  which  D'Arcy  McGee  applied  his  heaviest  lash.  On  ^-eople  who 
would  try  by  the  use  of  such  a  mean?  igless  phrase  to  deny  their 
country  I  would  noiii  wasto  r  word.  They  are  despised  by  those 
whom  they  try  to  conciliate  ;  and  while  men,  the  most  illustrious 
and  the  worthiest  our  race  has  produced,  were  and  are  proud  of 
Fjing  Irish,  the  Ireland  and  the  great  people  they  reverenced 
M,n  afford  to  leave  the  sneaks  of  passing  favour  unrecognized. 
The  misfortune  is  that  such  conduct  reflects  on  the  country  the 
liscredit  of  the  individual.  | 


*  The  Irish  in  America.   By  John  Frank's  Maguire,  M.P.,  p.  258. 

•'  Ibid. 

t  I  once  asked  a  servant  at  a.Ti  hotel  what  part  of  Ireland  she  came  from. 


Her  rich 


IRISH    OHAUACTER. 


65 


No  race  has  ever  given  a  truer  test  of  its  bottom  and  genuine- 
ness than  the  Irish  have  done  l)y  their  grateful  remembrance  of 
friends  and  relatives.  It  would  be  as  vain  to  deny  them  the 
high  virtue  of  generosity,  as  to  question  their  valour  or  dispute 
their  intellectual  brilliancy.  They  have  sent  vast,  almost  fabu- 
lous sums  across  the  Atlantic  to  bring  out  their  friends,  and  they 
never  ask  for  repayment.  "  The  Irish  are  a  grand  race,"  said 
one  who  had  lived  much  with  them  and  in  reference  to  this  very 
matter,  "and"  he  added,  remembering  how  much  the  poor  servant 
girls  have  done,  and  the  temptation  they  have  braved,  "  the 
Irish  women  are  an  honour  to  their  country."  The  returns  of  the 
Emigration  Commissioners  lead  to  the  inference  that  the  amount 
of  money  seni  by  settlers  on  this  continent  to  Ireland,  for  emi- 
gration purposes,  cannot  be  less  than  $120,000,000.* 

Female  ])urity  is  a  high  test  of  the  quality  of  a  race  as  well  as 
of  a  civilization.  "  In  the  hotels  of  America  the  Irisli  girl  is  ad- 
mittedly mdispensable.  Through  the  ordeal  of  these  fiery  fur- 
naces of  temptation  she  passes  unscathed."-f-  The  answer  Mr. 
Maguire  .-eceived  from  the  prominent  hotel  proprietors  of  the 
United  States,  when  he  asked  Avhy  all  the  young  women  in  their 
establishments  were  Irish,  was  that  "  The  Irish  girls  are  indus- 
trious, willing,  cheerful  and  honest ;  they  work  hard,  and  they 
are  strictly  moral."  After  every  deduction  is  made,  this  testimony 
remains  substantially  intact. 

Nothing  has  oeen  said  about  the  great  v/ar.  The  part  ])layed 
by  those  of  Irish  descent  and  Irish  birth  is  too  well  known. 
When  a  few  men,  the  remains  of  Irish  regiments,  march  through 
New  York  on  great  public  occasions,  with  their  tattered  banners 
and  green  cockades,  one  part  of  their  story  is  told.  They  were 
faithful  on  both  sides,  according  to  their  sympathies.  But,  thank 
God,  the  great  mass,  and  all  of  those  who  enli.sted  in  Ireland, 
sided  with  tl  North  and  struck  for  human  freedom.  "  The 
war  has  trif        .e  Irish/'  said  a  well-known  General,  "  and  they 


rich 


brogue,  if  placed  on  a^narrow  gauge,  would  trip  up  the  train.  "Oim  not  Irish," 
she  j-aid,  "  t)i'ra  Scotch."  Such  degradation  will  of  course  be  found  among  inferior 
j«lieeiinenn  of  all  peoples. 

*  Maguire.     The  Irish  in  America,  page  33L 

t  Mag  .lire 

5 


«0 


THE   lUISIIMAN    IN   CANADA. 


,s* 


}      I 


fltood  the  test  woll  as  good  citizens  and  soldiers."  Thomas  Francis 
Meagher,  a  great  orato'-,  used  all  his  amazing  powers  of  pi.-rsuasion, 
and  his  spell  of  fiery  inspij-ation,  calling  young  IrislimciU  in  thou- 
sands to  tight  for  the  Union.     Nor  did  they  hang  back.     Their 

"  Faith  an<l  trith 
On  war'H  re<I  techHt<JUe  lan^  tnio  metal."* 

When  I  saw,  during  th(!  Franco-German  war,  the  0(!rinan 
victorious  soldiers  res[)ecting  women,  and  falsifying  all  the  tra- 
ditions oi  the  brutality  of  war,  my  heart  warmed  to  them. 
The  southern  peojjh;  had  reason  to  be  thankful  that  Iiish- 
men  niad(;  so  large  a  p(n-tion  oi  the  army.  'J'he  Protestant 
Bishop  of  New  Orleans,  told  Mr,  Maguirci  that  "  in  itvcry  as- 
sault made  upon  a  d(;fencelesH  household,  th(;  Irish  soldier  was 
the  first  to  intei'pose  for  th(;  deffiuce  of  the  helples.s,  to  shield 
them  from  insult  and  wrong,"  'I'hey  {)r'ot(;cted  families  fr'om  "the 
cruel  wrath  of  tlreir  (theiamily  sj  countrymen;"  and  where  help- 
less women  were  in  a  m<maced  house,  an  Irish  soldier  has  taken 
his  place  as  sentinel  at  the  dooi-,  ke(!ping  back  the  infuriate  cr'owd. 
Of  the  prominent  men  oi  Irish  descent  and  birth  in  that  war,  it 
wf)uld  fill  a  volume  to  speak.  Hut  two  great  names  stand  out  in 
the  first  rank, — Meade  and  Sheridan. 

In  Auustralia,  as  we  have;  seen,  an  Irishman  rose  rapidly  to  tho 
first  place.  (h\]y  one  honoured  name  need  here  be  meritioned, — a 
name  known  to  law  and  statesmanship,  and  dear  to  literature  and 
ediication.  Sir  Redmond  Carry,  wlio  has  been  SolJcitor-CJf-neral 
for  the  colony  of  Victoria,  and  who,  in  18.51,  became  ovw,  of  tlie 
Judg(!S  of  the  Supreme  Court,  waw  l)orn  in  tho  County  Cork,  in 
1813.  He  has  taken  a  deep  interest  in  educatron  ;  and  his  inau- 
gural addrcs.ses,  delivered  as  Chancellor  of  the  New  Univer\sity  of 
Melbourne,  rrrark  him  as  a  man  of  wide  views  and  high  culture. 
Sir  Redmond  Bariy  was  educated  at  Trinity  College,  Dublin.    Tho 

*  Lowell.  In  March,  I8fi7,  Meagher  wrot3  a  letter  in  which  he  bore  toitimony  to  the 
chivairouH  (l<!V()tiim  of  IiIm  countrymen.  "  M^ny  of  iny  gallant  fellowM  h.ft  comfort- 
able liomcH,  a.id  relinqni«he(l  good  wagcH,  and  renigiied  i)rofitable  ami  moHt  proHiining 
nituations,  to  face  the  poor  i)ittance,  tlio  worse  rationw,  the  privations,  ri^;.iur,  ami  Havage 
dangers  of  a  Holdier'H  life  in  the  fielil."  Meagher  Heeni-d  to  have  proved  hinmelf  a« 
bhiliaut  a  nuldier  an  he  wsm  an  orator.     All  the  '48  men  had  great  utulf  in  them. 


SOUTH   AMERICA. 


07 


Order  of  Knighthood  was  conferred  on  him  in  INfiO  by  letters 
jjatent. 

Iti  the  Soutli  American  Revolutions,  Irishmen  played  a  pro- 
minent part.  During  the  fifteen  year.s  which  elapsed  from  1808, 
until  in  182.*{,  when  the  last  Spanish  soldier  l(;ft  (Jaiaeeas,  thero 
was  a  strikinj^  succession  of  events,  which  only  await  the  pen  of  a 
Tacitus  to  enujr^e  into  due  pr(jminenee.  Tin;  contest  liad  three 
divisions,  Bolivar's,  in  Columhia;  O'lli^^^fins's,  in  Chili;  and  that  ox 
the  Argentine  ]l(![)ul)lic,  on  tlnj  Ilio  de  la  Plata,  By  liolivai's  side 
were  numbers  of  Irish  soldicsrs.  In  1817,  an  Irish  bri;;-ade,  under 
the  command  of  (jlent!ial  lJ(!vereux,  a  natives  of  Wexfoid,  went  to 
his  aid.  We  learn  from  the  mt'inoirsof  a  <listirit^ui,sh(!d  Kn;^lisli- 
maa*,  that  his  jjliysiciaii,  Dr.  Moon;,  was  an  Irisliirian  who  had  f<jl- 
lowi.'d  tiii  Libcratoi'  from  Venezuela  to  Pei'U,  and  who  was  duv(;tedly 
attached  to  him.  Bolivar's  first  ai<le-de -camp  was  a  nephew  of  the 
celebrated  Dr.  O'Leary  ;  Lieut(!nant-(Jolonel  Fei'guson,  was  also  an 
Irishman,"!*  Ecpially,  if  not  more  important,  ■was  the  role  alloted  by 
late  to  the  Irish  in  Chili,  Under  the  hand  of  \)on  Ambrosio 
0'lli;r<^ins>  the  last  Cajitain-Cieneral,  towns  lia<l  .sprung  u}>,  trau'e 
flourished,  canals  were  opened,  rivers  and  harbours  wen;  drcdgc^d. 
His  son,  Don  Bernardo,  Ix^rn  in  Chili,  felt  for  the  country  an  enthu- 
siastic pati  iotism,  and  as  Supieine  Director,  struggled  and  strug- 
gl(;d  successfully  foi'  its  independence.  His  heroi  m  was  ordy 
HUipasse(J  by  his  geiKMulship.  The  second  brigade  was  for  a  tinui 
commanded  by  Ceneral  Mackenna,  an  Irishman,  wlio  was  killed  in 


'  Memoim  ot  (lenl.  Millur,  vol.  II.,  pp.  :iXi-2:i4. 

t  When  a  men;  ymitli,  I'V-rgiiHon  (piittcMi  n  (■■(Uiitin;,'  hoiwe  at  Deiricrara,  and  ,io)r't.ii 
till)  patriot  Htaudunl.  J.)uriiiK  the  war  of  extunnaiation,  hu  wan  tukoii  liy  tht;  .Siiimiar.lH. 
lie  WOH  le<l  with  Hcvcral  (jtlierH,  from  a  ilmiijeon  at  I,a(jtuayra,  for  tlio  piirpoMt;  of  heiny 
shot  on  tlie  H(!a  hIiofo.  Having  only  a  jtair  of  troWKi.TH  on,  hi.i  fair  Hkiii  wan  oonHpicuoim 
aMi(<iigHt  liiH  nnfortuiiate  HWartliy  i;oiii|)anionH,  ami  attnicted  the  attention  of  the  lioatrt' 
crfiw  of  an  En^HHh  man-of-war,  caHually  on  tlio  Htrand.  One  of  tlje  Hailorn  ran  tii)  to 
him  and  aHke<l  if  ho  wuh  an   i;ii|,'iiHhman.     Ferii^iHon  Haid     "  No,  I  am  an  IriMliman," 

"  I  too  am  an  Irinhman"  Hai<l  the  tar,  "  and  \>y n<j  HpaniHh  raMcal  nhall  nmrder 

a  countryman  of  mine  if  1  can  help  it  i  '•  Whereupon  he  ran  to  IiIh  ofliecr  ami  ur.jud 
him  to  intercede  with  tlii;  Spaniwh  (Governor,  and  Ferf^unon'i  life  wan  Hpaied.  FergUHon 
it-'lated  tluH  incident  to  (Jeneral  Miller.  Wo  have  FerguHon  h  name,  but  tli'J  .ther 
hero's,  tho  jfonerouH  Jack  whif  Hnatchcd  Inn  life  from  Spaniwh  ♦yrmny,  k  Iwt.  Fcrsubon, 
of  whoHc  merit  General  Miller  Hiii'uki  in  the  highest  terms,  fc;ll  on  tiie  ni^'lit  of  th>'  con- 
Hjiiracy  of  Bogota,  Heptendier,  IH2H,  iu  the  defenco  of  liolivar.  "  Mcmoii.s  of  (Jeneral 
Miller." 


68 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


a  durl  at  Buono.s  Ay  res,  in  IS  14.  C(;lone]  O'Connor's  name  is 
insopara})ly  bound  up  with  Peruvian  indei)en<lence,  froin  the  fii-st 
att(!iiipt  to  the  final  battle  of  Ayachuco.  The  only  Irishman  on 
the  Roya  ..st  side  was  General  O'Reilly. 


CHAPTER     IV. 


r 


■  4-y 
.1)1 


Some  seventy  years  after  Jacfpies  Cartier  had  sailed  up  the  "  fail- 
flowing"*  St.  Lawrence — 

"  That  northern  Htream 
"That  Bpreada  into  succcBsivo  seas," 

Champlain  foundcjd  the  colony,  and  the  French  r<jgiine  com- 
inence<l.  This  rdgiine,  having  for  a  century  and  a  half  b(;en  illus- 
trated by  men  whose  energy,  fortitude,  sagacity  and  accomplish- 
mcmts  would  have  made  them  remarkable  in  any  theatre,  fell  with 
Montcalm  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham. 

When  Wolf(!  procetided  to  take  Qu<!})ec,  he  left  in  charge  at  tho 
Island  of  Orleans,  with  the  2nd  Battalion  of  Royal  Ainericans  and 
some  marines,  a  man  who  was  to  prove  at  once  the  founder  and 


*  Fuupptlrao  Kavaftov   as   a    uin(l(;rn   writer,  di.scovercd   hy  Dr.  Hcadding,  has  it, 
ada-iting  an  epithet  originally  applied  to  far  Hin.aller  rivers. 

[Authorities  :— The  newspapers:  "  (Jonstilutional  History  of  (Janada,"  Ijy 
H.  .J.  Watson  .  "  Coircspondaiice  di'  la  Hildiotliefpie  (Jaiiadienne,"  M.  Kranyois 
Cazoau  ;  "Hansard:"  "  Histoiro  du  Canada  ot  des  Canadiens  boub  la  Domina- 
tion Anglaise,"  par  M.  Bihaud  :  "History  of  Canada,"  MaeMullen  :  "The 
Bastonnais,"  by  John  Losperanee  :  "The  Settlcnjcnt  of  Upper  Canada,''  by 
Dr.  Canniir :  "Life  of  Col.  Talbot;"  Mra.  .lameson'a  *' Winter  Studies  and 
iSunimor  HamMns  :  "  "  Family  Records  of  the  (iambles  of  Toronto."  I  am  deeply 
iiid<;bti'd  to  Mr.  (yharlos  Lindicy  foi  planing  his  library  at  my  di.Hposal,  and  to 
many  ol,her  friends  foi  the  loan  of  bo  >ks.  I  at/i  indebted  to  the  Hon.  Mr.  PVaser 
for  giving  me  accosa  to  the  Library  of  the  Ontario  Legislature  at  all  houra. — 
N.  F.  I).] 


CARLETON.      TRFATY   OF   PARIS. 


Cf) 


fair 


it  ih'i 
iH  an'l 
;r  and 

liiH  it, 

la,-  by 
I'ranvoiH 
►omina- 
Tb.; 
la,"  by 
|es  and 

il(!(!ply 
1  and  to 

FraHor 
lours. — 


saviour  of  (Jariada.  Tliis  was  (Jol.  Ouy  Carh-ton.  ('arloton  was 
horn  at  Straljanc;  in  thu  County  Tyrone;.  Strabano  to-<lay  is 
a  busy  niark(;t  town  with  a  pojtuhttion  of  five  thousand.  It  is 
connectc'l  hy  a  lino  of  i-ailway  with  Deny  and  Enniskilhm.  It 
stands  on  the  ri<;lit  hank  of  the  Mourno  near  the  spot  whore  that 
streatri  'ynwn  the  Finn  at  Lifl'ojd,  fiorii  whicli  place  it  is  called 
the  Foylo.*  A  century  and  a  lialf  a^o  it  was  a  scone  of  sylvan 
beauty.     Then  as  now  it  was  famous  for  its  sahnf>n. 

Guy  Carleton  was  born  tin;  yciar  Marlb(jrou;(h  died.  The 
renown  of  the  <rr(Mit  ca[)tain  was  Ion;,'  after  his  death  a  c«jnimon 
topic.  Blenheini  and  Rainillies  were  as  iainiliar  in  men's  mouths 
as  Alma  and  Inkerman  wei'(;  a  faw  years  ago.  As  yoiinj,'  Carlottjn 
[)lied  his  rod  in  the  Mourne  u  wish  rost;  within  him  which  was  to 
shqj)e  all  his  ufter-life,  which  was  to  lead  hiin  to  honour  and 
usefulricjss,  which  was  to  connect  his  name  for  over  with  Canada 
and  this  threat  continent— he  lonf^ed  for  a  soldier's  care(!r. 

While  y(jt  a  youth  he  entered  the  Guards,  and  in  1748  became 
lieut.-eolonel  of  tlie  72nd  re;.^im(!nt.  In  tlie  (German  cainpaif.(n  of 
I7-'>7  he  was  aide-de-camp  to  (Jund)erland.  Fn  thn  fol lowing  yeai- 
ho  .served  under  Arrdjorst  at  the  siege  (^f  Louisboui'g,  and  in  1750, 
as  we  hav<!  seen,  under  Wolfe.  He  was  wounded  at  tin;  si(!ge  of 
Bell<!  Isle.  Having  Ijocome  a  colonel  ho  served  in  the  Havana 
Exjtedition  in  1702,  and  in  the  successful  assault  on  the  Moro 
Castle  he  was  again  wounded. 

Meanwhile  the  articles  of  capitulation  wore  signed  in  the  camp 
b<.'for(!  Montreal,  Sopt(?mber8th,  1700.  By  the  27th  of  th(3se  arti- 
cles, Vaudreuil  pr(j{>osed  that  the  Fi'onch  C*ana<lians  shfjuld  be 
assured  the;  free  exeicisc;  of  th(!ir  faith.  He  asked  further  that 
the  Knglish  GoverntiK^nt  .should  s(!cure  to  the  pri(!sthood  thotitlif's 
and  taxes  the  peo[)le  had  hithtJito  been  obli^^i-d  to  pay  under  the 
rule  of  the  King  of  France.  To  the  fi  st  of  th.-sc  projio.salu,  Ain- 
herst  felt  at  liberty  to  accede  ;  the  second  would  depend  on  the 
King's  pleasure.  On  the  lOth  of  F»'biuary,  I70.S,  was  signed  (ho 
Treaty  of  Paris,  by  the  fourth  clause  of  which  France  ced<!d  to 
England,  Canada  with  all  its  dependencies,  George  III.  granting 
the  inhabitants  the  "  lilxirty  of  the  Catholic  religion,"  and  tho 

*  Moutgoinery,  his  most  forniidahlc!  foe,  was  born  at  <  '(juvoy,  about  Bovon  uiilea 
distant  from  tho  same  spot. 


\ 


70 


Tin;    IRISHMAN    IN    CANADA. 


f4  •  I 


opproHsed  peasant  oxehaii'^cfl  th(;  rigorf;UH  vasHahij^e  of  French 
fcudalisin  for  tlio  sooiii'ity  and  freedom  of  JJritisli  citizonsliip. 
To  the  reign  of  violence  Mucc(;e(k;d  tlie  resign  of  law.* 

Then;  wens  no  towns  of  any  coiis(!(|U(!nce  save  Quehcc,  Mon- 
treal, and  'J'hroe  llivers.  At  St.  Johns,  Jj'Assouiption,  Jic^rthier, 
and  Sorel  there  were  niilitaiy  estahlisliiiKints  nnrrounded  \)y 
ftcanty  settlements.  Wliat  we  now  know  as  tlie  Honrisliing  Pro- 
vince of  Ontario  wa.s  wilderness.  TIk;  population  at  tin;  tini(;  of 
the  corupiest  has  hecsn  estimated  at  from  sixty  to  sixty-iive 
tliousand.  Some  of  the  wealthi*;)-  residc^nts  of  the  towns  lujturned 
to  Fi'ance.  The'  hulk  of  tlie  people,  li(jw<;V(;r,  remained  in  Oanada. 
A  nundjer  of  the  .soldiers  who  liad  brought  about  tin;  cliange  of 
fl'Xg  settled  in  the  country.  The  govcirniiicnt  gave  them  grants  of 
land.  Th(;y  maniiid  Fninch  wiv(rs.  TIk;  cliildr(;n  spoke  th(!  tongue 
of  the  mother.  Hence  we  find  in  Lower  (Janada  to-day  m<!n  heal- 
ing German,  English,  Scotcli  and  Irish  names  and  sp(;aking  a 
Latin  dialect.  'I'he  ]5attle  of  the  Plains  had  given  an  im))uls(!  to 
emigration  to  Caiuida.  In  a  few  years  we  find  an  Knglish-speak- 
ing  population  im})ortant  enough  to  lead  an  enterprising  firm  to 
publish  a  newspap(!r."f" 

In  the  autumn  following  the  Tieaty  of  Peace  a  Royal  Proclam- 
ation was  put  forth,  announcing  that  tlu;  King  had  gi-aiited  hitters 
patent  under  the  grt^at  seal  to  erect  Quebec  into  a  governnu^nt, 
and  defining  the  boundaries  of  that  Piovince  to  be  the  St. 
John  (Saguenay)  on  the  Labi-ador-  coast,  fi'om  the  liead  of  which 
river  a  line;  was  drawn  through  Lake  St.  John  to  the  soutli  end 
of  Lak(!  Nipi.ssim,  whciiice  cro.ssing  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Lake 
Champlain  in  45  degrees  of  N.  latitude,  it  ])assed  along  the  High 
Lands  which  divi(h;  the  rivers  emptying  themselves  into  the  St. 
Lawrence  from  th(jse  which  iall  into  the  sea,  swiieping  by  the 
north  Coast  of  the  Bale  des  Chaleurs  ami  tlw;  coast  of  the  Gulf  of 
St.  Lawrence,  l)y  tl>e  west  end  of  the  Island  of  Anticosti,  and  t<jr- 
niinadng  at  the  river  whence  it  set  out.  The  proclamation  de- 
clar(.'d  that  the  King  iiad  given  |)ow<ir  an<]  diiciction  to  the 
Governor,  when  the   circumstances  of  the  colony  would   i)ermit, 


*  Hpeec})  of  M.  Pjiiiincau  to  the  olectorR  of  Montreal,  1820. 
i-  The  Qnehi'C  (JaziMt. 


caiilkton's  ioi,rf;v. 


71 


l^ro- 


;     St. 

I  end 

Lake 

High 

k;  St. 

>y  tliu 

liilf  of 

t(;r- 

on  de- 

U)    i\u: 

Mini  lit, 


to  .summon  ft  f(cnoial  ass(!ml>ly.  It  promisfid  tliat  until  such 
an  asHombly  could  ]»e  called,  tlio  inlialtitaiits  slifMild  eiij(;y  tlici  full 
I'onofit  of  tli(!  laws  of  Knj^land.  OenciHl  Murray  wan  ai)i>oiiited 
gov(M"noi'  imm(!diat<;Iy  after  tlic  proclamation.  Ifo  was  instructed 
until  an  ass(!inl)ly  could  l>e  ealhtd  in  acc^oidfincc!  witli  tin;  {)roclam- 
ation,  to  nominate  a  council  to  aid  hiin  in  tin;  administiution  (jf 
tlie  ;;ov(!rnment.  A  Coui-t  of  Kin<^'s  l>('ncli  and  a  (.'oini  of  (Jom- 
mon  J'le-as  wv.n'.  estaMi.slKid,  a)»d  shortly  afterwaids  a  Court  of 
(Jlianc(!ry.  We  ne(;d  not  he  surpris(id  if  the  Frencli  po])ulation 
grew  dissatisfiecl  with  laws  to  which  they  wore  unaccustomed  and 
a  method  of  procedure  wliolly  nov(;l,and  carri(jd  on  in  a  language 
of  which  they  did  not  undej'stand  a  word.  Still  less  need  we  he 
surpris(;d  tliat  wh(;n  oHicials  were  chosen  from  the  j-anks  of  liriti.sh- 
])oni  suhjfcts  who  did  n<yt  number  one  hundred  and  fiftie'th  part 
of  tlm  po|)ulation,  extortion  and  oppi-(!Ssi(;n  were  the;  rule. 

In  1707  (.'ari(!ton  was  rewai'ded  for  his  distinguished  scjrvices 
by  th(!  lieut(!nant-governorship  of  Quelxjc.  In  1708  he  was 
already  p(>[)ulai  b(!cause  of  his  humanity,  and  the  ])eo])le  with  a 
true  instinct  turne<i  towards  him  as  a  protector.  His  (himeanour 
has  bcitn  variously  judged,  some  attributing  the  wisdom  and  gcm- 
tlencss  of  his  rule  to  tlic  native  goodmj.ss  of  his  heart,  othfU's  to  a 
far-s<M!ing  j)olicy.  Accoiding  to  one  view  he  was  a  friend  of  the 
French  (Canadians  because  he  took  the  trouble  to  know  them.  He 
wi,sh(!d  to  redress  their  gri(!vances  b(;caii,sc  he  ha<l  dilig(!ntly  in- 
<juir(!d  into  tlujir  situation.  Being  ji  virtuous  man,  he  sought  with 
activity  and  constancy  lo  do  right  in  behalf  of  those  t<j  wh(jm 
he  stood  in  the;  light  of  a  shej)h<'rd.  According  to  anotliei-  view, 
he  foresaw  the  i  Hptuie  of  tht;  thirteen  colonies  with  the  mother 
countrv,  and  det(;rmine(l  to  conciliatti  the  favour  of  tin;  peojih;  oi 
(Janada.  We  shall  not  detract  from  the  claims  of  (Jaileton  on  our 
admiration,  nor  be  untrue  to  the  j)rol)abiliti(;s  of  th<i  case,  if  we 
say  we  think  Ijoth  views  are  nece8.sary  togiv(;  the  complete  truth, 
as  blen<ling  stars  make  one  light. 

One  of  the  fiivit  acts  of  Carleton  was  to  era.se  two  influential 
names  from  his  li.st  of  councillors,  and  to  appoint  two  other  coun- 
cillors in  their  place.  Remonstrances  were  addressed  to  him  from 
the  English  portion  of  the  population.  He  replied  that  the  new 
councillors  had  been  appointed  by  the  King  —that  h-  would  in 


72 


I'UK    IIUSfFMAN    IN   CANADA. 


1  :i  I 


!ir 


h 


!l' 


m 


con<luctin<^  tlio  government  con.sult  tliose  of  hi.s  councillors  whom 
ho  Ixilicved  capable  of  giving  him  the  best  advice — that  in  mat- 
ters not  coming  .strictly  within  the  (h)main  of  government,  ho 
would  seek  advice  outside;  his  council,  and  confcsr  with  men  of 
sense  whose  characters  chulliinged  coniidence,  men  who  jilaced 
before  j)rivato  interest  the  pu]>lic  good  and  their  duty  to  tho 
King — thataftei'  liearing  advice,  lie  would  then  aijt  in  that  manner 
which  he  believed  most  advantageous  to  the  s(;i-vice  of  the  King 
and  to  tho  wcill-being  of  tlie  Province — tliat  the  numbei-  of  his 
council  wasa  dozen,  and  that  those  nominated  by  the  King  should 
have  precedence;  ov(;r  those  nominated  l»y  Oerx-ral  Murray.  \n 
170()  I'epresentations  had  })een  sent  to  England  against  the  system 
of  judicature  recently  introduced.  Cai'leton,  who  was  a  statesman 
as  well  as  a  soldier,  saw  tliat  this  system  was  (piite  unsuited  to  a 
people;  with  all  wliose;  priijuilices  and  traditions  it  was  at  war.  lEo 
therefoi'o  caused  the  leading  French  lavvyei's  to  compile  the  civil 
laws  of  Fianee  for  him,  and  armed  witli  this  compilation  he  pro- 
ceeded in  1770  to  England.  He  wished  to  see  the  "  Coutume  de 
Paris"  re-establis]u;<l,  but  abridged  and  edit(;d  so  as  to  be  better 
adapted  to  the  n(;<;ds  of  (Jaiiada.  The  comj)ilati()n  having  been 
revised  by  tlie  law  ofHcesrs  of  tin;  (Ji-own,  becamt;  the  i)iincipal  au- 
thority in  (•as(;s  relating  to  laml  and  inheritance.  In  other  matters 
English  law  ruled,  much  to  the  disgust  of  the  old  French  gentry, 
who  did  not  und(;rstand  tradesmen  and  labourers  sitting  in  judg- 
ment on  gentlemen.  And  though  wo  smile,  it  nnist  have  seemed 
hard  to  them. 

There  was  great  dissatisfaction  among  tlie  British  at  the  delay 
wliich  had  taken  place  in  granting  them  an  Assembly.  The 
French  were  also  in  favour  of  an  Assend)ly.  But,  like  tho  ox- 
tremo  Prote^stants  and  the  extreme  Ronian  Catholics  of  to-day, 
they  could  not  act  together  in  politics,  witli  the  result  that  both 
suffered.  The  discontcint  was  increased  by  the  fact  that  in  1772 
Prince  Kdward  Island  was  given  a  Li(;ut<;nant-(j!<)vei'nor,  a  Legis- 
lative (Council,  a  Legislative  Asseml)ly,  a  Custom-house,  and  a 
Court  of  Vice- Admiralty.  But  the  diHicultv  v;as  to  decide  on  a 
plan  of  united  action.  The  Britisli  desired  a  Parliament  composed 
exclusively  of  Protestants  :  the  Frencli  wanted  tho  complete  rc- 
establishment  of  their  former   laws  and  customs  in  all  civil  mat- 


THE  QUEBEC!   ACT. 


78; 


ter8.  The  fornior  invit<Ml  tho  latter  to  attfjnd  tlioir  mnotingH  ;  ]»ut 
vvhon  tlit'HC  licard  tliat  thoy  ^^^ir^^  to  .swell  a  petition  for  a  ,sy,steni 
Ijy  which  thtty  tiieiiiselve.s  should  ht^  deprived  u\'  fidl  citizcaiship, 
they  naturally  stood  aside,  'J'he  Britisli  w»!re  forced  topct  alone. 
On  tho  3rd  of  Decendter,  177'},  th(!y  presented  to  Lieutenant- 
Governor  Crarnaho  a  ro(juest  that  he  would,  in  accordance  with 
tho  Royal  proniisi;,  and  the  powers  given  him  hy  the  proclauui- 
tion  of  1703,  convoke  an  Assenihiy.  M.  Crauiahe  repli(!d  that  he 
would  transmit  their  rcHjuest  to  tho  Minister  of  the  (.*olonies. 
The  petitioners  then  addn.'ssed  themselves  to  th(^  King.  The 
French  Canadians  acted  separately,  and  content(jd  themselves 
with  asking  for  tho  re-estaljlishm(;nt  of  their  foi-nujr  civil  juris- 
])ru(lence.  Caileton  was  e'xamined  on  oath  hefore  a  Connnittee 
of  the  House  of  (Jonunons.  He  stat(id  that  an  Assembly  com- 
posed exclusively  of  tin;  British  inhabitants  would  give  gi'eat 
f)Hence  to  tlie  Canadians.  To  such  an  Assembly  the-y  w(juld 
prefer  the  I'ule  of  a  Governor  and  a  Legislative  C(juncil.  Several 
French  Canadians  had  tohl  him  that  asseud'lies  had  drawn  upon 
the  other  colonies  so  much  distres.s,  riot,  and  confusion,  that  tlu.'y 
wished  never  to  have  one  of  any  kind.  M.  de  Lotbiniere,  a  native 
French  Canadian  nobleman,  (hiposed  that  the  Fi'ench  Would  likt; 
to  have  an  Assembly,  provided  they  might  sit  in  it. 

Carleton,  in  pressing  his  views  on  the  (Jonuuittee,  was  naturally 
moie  anxious  about  the  oive  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  French 
Canadian  Roman  Catholics  under  his  chaige  than  about  the 
handful  of  Fnglish-sp(!aking  Protestants.  When  we  rememV>er 
th(i  ignoranc<!  and  political  incapacity  of  the  mass  of  tlu^  people, 
we  shall  probably  Ihj  inclined  to  doubt  whether  they  were  ripe  for 
popular  institutions.  But  the  Home  Government  owed  some  con- 
sideration to  the  British  inhabitants,  and  the  Qu(!bec  Act,  even 
in  tho  face  of  impending  war,  must  be  pronounced  a  vicious",  shoit- 
sighted  measure.  Tho  framers  of  the  nuiasure  had  no  prophetic 
hint  of  the  extent  to  which  Engli.sh-speaking  Canada  was  to 
grow,  and  from  tlieir  limited  vision  those  who  despair  of  this 
country  may  learn  a  useful  lesson.  In  the  House  of  Common.s, 
Irishmen  whose  names  have  l)ecome  household  words  opposed  it. 
Col.  Barrd  and  Edmund  Bin-ke  gave  it  strenuous  opposition. 
Burke  pleaded  for  delay.     He  contended  for  the  rights  of  the 


;lli 


!l| 


74 


TIIK   IIIFSIIMAN    IN   CANADA. 


I! 


Ml 

a  ifiii  I 


n 


M 


IP 

ili 
i 


Si! 


KTi^lisli-spcakirif,'  inlialiltantn.  r)n«!  day  1m;  )»rou;,'ht  all  tlu;  weight 
of  liis  |»owcrfijl  « I iii, lefties  aii<l  iiii;.,'lity  rlietoric  a;,'ainsi  tin-  Idll. 
On  aiioMicr  lie  ridiculed  it  until  his  lieai<.'rM  roared  with  mirth. 
On  tliino  the  Hth,  Im;  "ran  on  in  siieh  a  vein  of  humour  that  tlie 
House  was  in  a  contiinial  lau^di  dui-in;,'  the  whole  of  his  s|)(!ech." 
On  the  10th,  ho  wa.s  ofjually  happy.  "  Litth;  did  I  think,"  criod 
Town.sliend,  "  when  I  called  for  a  OovcrnirHint  for  (Janada,  that 
]  was  invoking'  a  despotism."  In  the  House;  of  Lords,  the  Earl 
of  ('hatliam,  speakinj^  from  the  brink  of  tho  f^'ravn,  denonncod  the 
hill  as  a  cruel,  oppressive,  an<]  odious  mriasure.  He  W(;ntso  far  as 
to  say  that  it  woidd  shake  tlie  affection  and  confidenci;  of  the 
Kinj^'s  suhjeets  in  En^rland,  and  Iriilniid.  and  lose  liim  the;  hearts 
of  all  the  Americans.     Howev<!r  the  hill  j)ass<;d. 

And  wliiit  was  this  Act  a;,'ainst  whicli  Fox  in  tli(;  rip(;nin^'  ^^f>iy 
of  his  morning'  in  one  liouse,  and  CJhatham  in  anoth(;r,  in  tin;  pal- 
inj:^  splendours  of  his  setting',  tliundered  ?  It  revoked  the  Itoyal 
proch'Miiation  of  1703,  witli  its  promise  of  an  As.sembly.  It  ^^ranted 
the  iloman  (*atliolics  tlie  free;  exercise  of  their  reii^^ion,  subject  to 
the  Kind's  HU])remacy  as  d(;fined  V^y  tin;  Act  f)f  Kliza]K;th.  It 
f,njaranteed  to  the  Jioinan  Catholic  clerf^y  tlieir  accustomed  <lucs 
and  n«,dits,  witli  i(;s])ect  to  ('atliolics  only,  but  out  of  such  duos 
and  rifijlitH  the  Kin^  h(;ld  liiinself  at  lib(;rty  to  mak(;  sucli  pro- 
visif)n  as  he  mi^dit  d(,'em  expedi(jnt  for  tlie  l^rot(;stant  cl(jr<,'y.  The 
OatholicK  wei'C  ntlieved  of  tho  oath  (jf  tin;  1st  of  Qu(;en  Kli/abeth, 
and  tliiis  a  barrioi-  a^^ainst  their  holding  ofhce  urxler  the  (Jrown 
was  reinov(;d,  an  oath  of"simpl(3  all(;{^ianc(;  to  tin;  Kin<,'  b(;in;^'  sub- 
stituted. In  all  matters  r<;laimg  to  property  and  civil  rights,  the 
Froncli  laws  were  rc-establislied.  In  r(;gard  to  criminal  matters, 
on  the  other  hand,  tho  Engli.sli  law  was  established  for  ever,  A 
council  of  not  more;  than  twenty-three,  and  not  less  than  .seven- 
teen, was  +,0  be  appointed  by  the  Crown,  fjocal  and  municipal 
taxes,  and  the  administration  of  internal  {iffaiis,  were  within  its 
juri.sdiction  ;  ovei  imports  and  exports  the  J3ritish  Pai  liament 
kept  a  jealous  control.  The  bounds  of  the  province  were  ex- 
tended on  the  one;  hand  ovei-  Labrador,  and  on  the  other  as  far  as 
Ohio  and  the  Mississipjti.  It  deprived  the  colonists  of  trial  by 
jury  in  civil  cases,  of  the  Halioas  Cf)ipus,  and,  in  a  word,  of  con- 


stitutional government. 


Tlie  i  rench  Canadians  did  not  regret 


w 


i 


TKMPTATIOXS   TO    DTST.OVAITY. 


7r, 


tiial  l»y  jury,  an<l  ihi'.y  ha<l  known  littlr;  of  tin;  a<lvaiita;,'(!s  of  tin; 
Ilaltcas  Oji-puH,  Jn<Ioo<l,  to  tlio  Fnmcli  ^j'ntlcnian  it  ,s(!(!iri(!fl  nion- 
Hti'ous  tliat  tmfhi.siiicn  arnl  lahounii.s  and  nuclianics  sliould  sit  in 
jii<l;^frrmnt  on  any  issue  in  \vlii(!li  lie  was  intci'estod.  liut  to  tlu; 
I'.ritisli  nrsi(l(!nts  tlio  Act  was  a  cruid  l)low. 

(JailctoJi  icturncd  to  (Janada  in  tin;  autumn  of  IT?^,  and  was 
liaihid  Ity  tin;  peoplf!  as  a  protector  and  friend.  The  Lef^islativo 
C/(;uncil  was  iriau;.fu rated,  and  was  conij/osciil  of  oiui-tliird  Oatlio- 
lics  and  two-thirds  Prote-stants,  souk;  of  these  hein;^  nati\'(!s  of 
J(!rsey,  and  usinj(  tho  French  ]an;,'ua^'e.  I'Ik;  Con^n^ss  rn(!t  at 
JMiilade.lphia  addnissed  a  letter  to  the  French  irdiahitants  of  Quo- 
bee,  ui'^'in;,' the;  (.'an  ad  i  an  s  to  tli  row  in  tlicir  lot  witli  them.  I»ut 
this  produced  no  effect.  'i'Jie  l(!aderH  of  tin;  peoj)h!,  the  cler^'y,  the 
nohlj'.HHfi  and  tlie  hotter  class  of  Ixmrij^ioWx',  tliou^ht  that  they  had 
nion;  to  lose  tlian  ;,'ain  l)y  a  chanf^e.  "  Tlic;  man,"  says  a  Frencli 
historian  *  "  to  whom  tlio  administration  of  tin;  ^^ov<!rinn(;nt  liad 
heen  entrusted,  had  known  liow  to  inake  tin;  Cana<lians  love;  him, 
and  thiscontrihuted  not  a  little  to  retain  at  hiast  within  tin;  honnds 
of  neutrality  tliost^  amonj^^  them  wIkj  mi^flit  hav(r  heen  able,  or  who 
l)eliev(!d  tln^mselves  ahle,  to  am(jliorate  their  lot  by  inakin;.^  com- 
mon cause  with  the  insui-^ent  colonies," 

On  the  l!)tli  April,  tin;  battle  of  Lexin^fton  took  place,  and  the 
insur;,'ent  colonists,  believin;^  the  French  (Janadians  wore  lield  in 
check  by  the  (Janadian  fortifications,  detcirinined  to  take  tl.'em. 
Early  in  May,  Allen  and  Arnold,  at  tin;  Injad  of  about  thnjo  liun- 
dred  men,  crosscid  Lake  Champlain,  and  lande<l  und(;r  cover  of 
nif.,dit  near  Ticonderoga.  The  fort  contained  only  a  few  men,  and 
was  surj)rised  next  moi-ninf(,  and  captunjd  without  sliot  Iteing 
fii'od.  (Ji'own  Point,  f,'arrison(!d  by  a  s(;r;^eant  and  tw(;lve  men, 
surrendered  a  few  days  aftcn-waids.  Saint  Jean,  whidi  was 
cfjually  weak  in  garrison,  fell  in  tlie  l)eginning  of  June.  Tlie  com- 
mand of  tlie  lak(!  had  now  passed  out  of  liritish  hands.  The  situa- 
tion was  critical.  The  gateways  of  (Janada  wen;  in  the  liands  of  tlie 
Americans.  Carleton  at  once  determined  to  recover  tfi(i  forts,  and 
proceeded  to  rai.se  a  militia  on  the  ])asis  of  French  feudal  Jaw.  He 
miglit  well  til  ink  that  he  had  more  than  common   claims  on  the 


)f  con- 


M.  liibaud. 


%L 


i.'Vj 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-S) 


7 


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A 


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hi  !■ 


76 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


1:1 


l^i 


II    ^ 


■Miii  i' 


If:        I 
I 


I' 

!  'i 


M»  I 


I.    I 


mi; 


W} 


French  Canadian  population.  It  seemed  only  just  as  he  had 
been  the  means  of  restoring  them  their  civil  law,  that  he  should 
new,  in  an  extremity,  reap  the  benefit  of  their  feudal  customs. 
But  a  dozen  years  of  British  rule,  even  in  the  most  objectionable 
form  it  could  assume,  with  no  redeeming  feature  but  the  acci- 
dental greatness  of  soul  of  the  Governor,  had  taught  the  peasants 
a  lesson  in  freedom.  They  had  half  broken  with  a  history  of 
odious  oppression.  The  chords  of  liberty  in  their  hearts  had  vibrat- 
ed to  the  hesitating  touch  of  a  new  era.  What  at  a  later  period, 
the  night  of  the  4th  August,  was  to  the  German  peasant  of  Alsace, 
the  proclamation  of  1703  w*as  in  a  sense  to  the  French  Canadian. 
But  the  proclamation  of  1763  was  the  incomplete  work  of  a  nar- 
row statesmanship.  It  was  natural  that  the  Alsatian  peasants, 
who  had  leaped  at  a  bound  from  serfdom  into  the  position  of 
landed  proprietors  and  freemen,  should  have  flocked  to  the 
standard  of  the  republic.  It  was  equally  natural  that  the  French 
Canadian  pccvsant  should  have  refused  the  appeal  of  Carleton, 
coming  in  the  shape  it  did.  Many  of  the  seigniors  took  his  view. 
But  this  only  made  the  appeal  more  ominous.  The  poor  people 
had  not  forgotten  the  hardships  of  the  last  war,  nor  the  op[»res3ion 
which  preceded  it. 

Carleton  had  all  that  wonderful  power  of  attraction  which  Froude 
has  marked  as  native  to  the  Irishman.  But  loved  as  he  was,  he 
could  not  persuade  the  peasants  that  it  was  their  duty  to  act  of- 
fensively f.  gainst  the  Americans.  The  seigniors  assembled  their 
tenants,  and  explained  to  them  the  service  expected  of  them,  and 
the  risk  of  confiscation  which  they  would  incur  by  holding  back. 
Some  were  from  old  habit  Inclined  to  obey,  but  the  great  majority 
declarcid  that  they  did  not  feel  themselves  bound  to  be  of  the 
same  opinion  as  their  bcignior,  that  they  owed  them  no  military 
services,  and  that  they  would  not  fight  against  the  armies  of  the 
revolted  provinces.  They  knew  neither  the  cause  nor  the  result 
of  the  present  difference.  They  would  prove  themselves  loyal  and 
peaceable  subjects.  They  could  not  be  expected  to  take  arms.  Their 
position  is  not  difficult  to  understand.  It  was  but  the  other  day 
that  the  English  invaders,  fighting  again.st  their  own  soldiers  and 
besieging  their  capital,  had  extorted  from  them  a  strict  neutrality 
on  pain  of  exemplary  punishment,  or,  as  they  expressed  it,  of  sum- 


APATHY   OF  THE   HABITANS. 


77 


'roude 
'■as,  he 
Lct  o!- 
their 
\n,  and 
jack. 
Ljority 
lof  the 
ilitaiy 
lof  the 
result 
ial  and 
Their 
(1-  day 
•s  and 
,i-aUty 
If  sum- 


mary military  execution.  Who  could  complain  if  they  remained 
neutral  ?  Their  resolve  placed  Carleton  in  a  difficult  position. 
Of  regular  troops  he  had  but  two  regiments,  and  these  so  dis- 
persed that  they  could  not  act  with  efficiency.  Nor  was  all  indif- 
ference in  Canada.  Many  sympathized  with  the  rebels,  and  were 
determined  to  aid  them. 

To  rep'-'l  fittack  and  suppress  treason,  the  Governor  resolved  on 
the  incorporation  of  the  militia.  On  the  9th  of  June  he  issued  a 
proclamation  in  which  he  said  that  there  existed  a  rebellion  in 
several  of  the  colonies  of  His  Majesty ;  that  a  part  of  the  forces 
bearing  arms  had  made  an  incursion  into  the  province,  and  held 
the  language  and  wore  the  attitude  of  invader's ;  that,  therefore, 
he  had  judged  it  proper  to  proclaim  martial  law,  and  to  call  out  the 
militia  to  defend  the  country  and  awe  down  revolt.  Instead  of 
producing  the  desired  efiect,  this  proclamation  produced  discon- 
tent where  there  had  been  indift'erence,  and  transformed  lukewarm 
sympathy  into  active  co-operation.  Nor,  it  seems,  could  the 
people  persuade  themselves  that  the  King  of  England  would  act 
like  the  military  chief  of  a  despotic  state.  Voluntary  enrolment, 
the  people  said,  was  the  only  means  to  which  the  Governor  could 
legitimately  have  recourse. 

Carleton  had  the  perseverance  and  fertilit}-^  of  resource  which 
liave  never  been  w^anting  in  his  countrymen  in  times  of  emergency. 
Unable  to  succeed  by  force,  he  tried  persuasion.  He  turned  to 
the  Bishop  of  Quebec.  That  prelate  addressed  to  the  curds 
of  his  diocese,  to  be  read  in  their  churches,  a  charge  in  which 
he  exhorted  the  people  to  take  up  arms  for  the  defence  of  the 
country. 

The  charge  had  no  more  etTect  than  the  proclamation.  The 
French  Canadians  had  as  yet  developed  no  byalty  to  the  British 
crown  strong  enough  to  be  the  parent  of  action.  Such  loyalty  as 
they  had  was  only  equal  to  a  passive  negative  result.  Moreover, 
the  people,  fond  of  their  little  farms,  and  with  strong  family 
atfections,  felt  that  if  they  took  up  arms  tor  the  defence  of  the 
country,  they  would  be  forced  to  wage  war  on  any  part  of  the 
continent  where  the  Empire  might  need  assistance,  and  ihis  in  a 
struggle  the  end  of  which,  at  tliat  time,  no  man  could  foresee.  If 
their  homes   were  threatened,   they  would  defend  them.     Their 


• 


78 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN    CANADA. 


!i| 


fl 


ii 


public  spirit  was  confined  within  the  narrowest  view  of  their  own 
interest. 

On  the  17th  of  June,  1775,  Bunker  Hill  was  fought.  On  the 
Cth  July  the  Declaration  of  the  Representatives  of  the  United 
Colonies  of  North  America  was  published.  C'arleton,  unable  to 
overcome  the  popular  determination  to  rest  neutral,  sought  to 
raise  a  body  of  volunteers  by  offering  to  each  volunteer  two  hun- 
dred acres  of  land,  two  hundred  and  fifty  if  he  was  mariied,  and 
fifty  for  each  of  his  children.  His  engagement  to  serve  under 
arms  was  to  tenninate  at  the  close  of  the  war,  and  his  lands  were 
to  be  exempt  from  all  charges  for  twenty  years.  Even  this  mea- 
sure failed.     Only  a  few  volunteered. 

In  this  emergency  Carleton  had  no  choice  but  to  a])peal  for  aid 
to  the  Indians.  The  Iroquois  were  then  in  the  ascendant,  and 
whatever  course  they  took  would  be  followed  by  the  other  tribes. 
Their  objections  to  take  up  arms  were  overcome  b}'  persuasion, 
and  a  large  number  repaired  to  Montreal  to  engage  themselves  for 
the  following  year.  Carleton's  i)reparations  for  a  war,  offensive 
and  defensive,  proceeded  with  his  usual  activity  and  energy.  But 
the  reinforcements  which  he  had  been  prondsed  from  Europe  were 
delayed.  His  plan  was  to  relieve  the  Boston  garrison  by  invading 
American  territory  on  the  south  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 

Informed  of  this  design,  and  believing  the  French  Canadians 
were  favourable  to  their  cause,  Congress  resolved  to  anticipate 
him.  A  considerable  force  under  General  Schuyler  was  ordered 
to  invade  Canada  and  advance  against  Montreal,  while  Arnold 
was  to  penetrate  the  colony  by  way  of  Kennebec  a,nd  Chaudiere, 
and  operate  against  Quebec.  Schuyler,  having  made  himself 
master  of  Isle-aux-Noix  or  Fort  Lennox,  put  forth  a  proclamation 
not  unlike  that  which  King  William  addressed  in  1870  to  the 
French  peasantry.  The  invaders  did  not  come  to  make  war 
ao-ainst  the  French  Canadians.  Their  quarrel  was  solely  with  the 
British  troops.  The  lives,  property,  the  liberty  and  religion  of 
the  habitans  would  be  respected.  These  appeals  influenced  a 
mere  fraction  of  the  people. 

Schuyler  took  ill,  and  Montgomery  assuming  chief  connnand, 
prosecuted  the  siege  of  St.  Johns  with  vigour,  and  despatched 
Colonel  Allen  to  surprise  Montreal.     But  Carleton  was  now  in 


III! 


CRITICAL   POSITION   OF   THE   GOVERNOU. 


79r» 


idians 
cipate 
•dered 
mold 
dierc, 
luself 
lation 
o  the 
war 
,h  the 
lion  of 
ced  a 

Inand, 

Itched 

)W  in 


Montreal,  and  it  was  not  easy  to  surprise  him.  He  called  toge- 
ther about  one  hundred  soldiers  and  two  hundred  volunteers, 
under  Major  Carsden,  who,  coming  on  the  Americans,  defeated 
them,  killing  fifty,  and  taking  as  many  prisoners,  including  Colonel 
Allen.  The  rest,  among  whom  were  some  habitans,  escaped  to 
the  woods,  or  to  the  Ameiican  camp. 

Chambly  fell,  or  was  rather  given  up,  and  Montgomery,  whose 
powder  had  been  nearly  exhausted,  with  ammunition  obtained 
from  a  fort  which,  I  need  not  say,  had  not  been  defended  by  an 
Irisliman,  carried  forward  the  siege  of  St.  Johns  with  renewed 
vigour.  The  garrison  expected  Garlcton  to  raise  the  siege.  Carle- 
ton  knew  that  want  of  provisions  would  not  permit  the  garrison 
to  hold  out  long.  Hu  sent  to  Colonel  McLean,  commanding  at 
Quebec,  to  raise  as  many  men  as  he  could,  and  to  come  up  to 
Sorel,  where  he  proposed  to  join  him.  McLean  had  raised  about 
three  hundred  men,  for  the  most  part  French  Cu-nadians.  The 
Governor  assembled  at  Montreal  nearly  a  thousand  men,  consisting 
of  Indians,  French  Canadians,  and  regulars,  enrolled  with  despe- 
rate exertions.  Instead,  however,  of  joining  McLean,  knowing 
how  pressing  was  the  necessity  to  relieve  St.  Johns,  he  crossed 
the  St.  Lawrence  but,  on  arriving  near  the  shore,  he  found  that 
the  other  Irishman  had  anticipated  him.  An  American  force, 
with  two  field  pieces,  advantageously  placed  on  shore,  waited 
until  Carleton  arrived  within  pistol  shot,  and  then  opened  a 
deadly  fire,  forcing  him,  w  ith  a  sad  but  an  ,  ndaunted  heart,  to  re- 
treat. Meanwliile  McLean,  on  his  way  to  Montreal,  was  stopped 
by  another  party  of  Americans,  when  he  was  deserted  by  most 
of  his  men,  and  compelled,  with  a  renmant  of  the  three  hundred, 
who  were  deterndned  not  to  recall  Thermopylae,  to  fall  back  on 
Quebec.  The  brave  Preston,  apprised  of  these  events,  and  his 
garrison  in  want  of  food,  saw  nothing  for  it  but  to  surrendei",  and 
he  and  his  little  band  marched  out  with  the  honours  of  war. 

The  Governor  was  now  in  a  critical  position.  It  was  impossible 
to  defend  Montreal.  The  retreat  to  Quebec  was  beset  with  for- 
midable difficulties.  Yet  only  by  retreating  on  Quebec  could  he 
avoid  being  made  a  prisoner.  Should  he  fall  into  American 
hands,  all  hope  of  saving  Canada  would  be  gone.  He  destroyed 
as  much  of  the  public  stores  as  he  could  not  take  with  him,  and 


■^■1 


80 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


i 


;i  '       I 


with  Bi'igadier  Prescott,  al»out  one  hundred  soldiers,  and  such  of 
the  inhabitants  as  chose  to  acconi])any  him,  embarked  on  board 
the  "  Gaspd  "  and  other  smaller  vessels. 

Almost  as  they  quitted  the  city  the  Americans  entered  it.  The 
principal  citizens,  among  whom  was  John  Blake,  prepared  a  series 
of  articles,  to  which  Montgomery  replied  that  he  and  his  army 
had  come  for  no  other  purpose  but  to  give  liljerty  and  security, 
and  that  he  hoped  to  assemble  a  Provincial  Convention  who  would 
adopt  measures  calculated  to  establish  on  a  solid  basis  the  civil 
and  religious  rights  of  the  colonies.  "  Montgomery,"  says  Mac- 
Mullen,  "  treated  the  people  of  Montreal  with  great  consideration, 
and  gained  their  good  will  by  the  affability  of  his  manners,  and 
the  nobleness  and  generosity  of  his  disposition." 

The  stars  in  their  courses  had  fought  against  Oarleton.  At  this 
moment  all  the  chances  are  on  the  side  of  Montgomery.  The 
gateways  of  Canada  are  his.  He  is  master  of  Montreal.  A  for- 
midable force  under  Arnold  is  marching  on  Quebec.  Carleton, 
the  hope  of  the  Province,  has  but  a  slendei-  chance  of  escape.  The 
very  winds  conspire  against  him,  and  he  has  not  sailed  two 
leagues  from  Montreal  when  he  is  obliged  to  weigh  anchor  oppo- 
site Lavaltrie,  a  village  called  after  the  uncompromising  Jesuit 
Laval,  who  had  himself  fought  so  many  battles.  The  forced 
delay,  under  any  circumstances,  would  have  l>een  perilous.  But 
what  are  we  to  think  of  the  situation  when  our  eye  rests  on  the 
bixtteries  erected  by  the  Americans  on  a  rising  ground  near  Sorel, 
and  the  floating  batteries  on  the  bosom  of  the  .stream.  Here  are 
lions  in  the  Governor's  path.  Montgomery  has  heard  of  his  situa- 
tion, and  prepares  to  attack  him,  and  in  anticipation  he  rolls  under 
his  tongue  the  sweet  morsel  of  glory,  making  Carleton  prisoner, 
putting  a  happy  end  to  the  war,  and  placing  a  coping  stone  on 
his  own  renown.  While  Montgomery's  Irish  brain  is  thus  cogi- 
tating, unmindful  of  fate,  unknowing  that  he  is  doomi  1  never  to 
leave  Canadian  soil,  the  Irish  brain  of  Carlet^  is  fertile  in  expe- 
dients. He  assumes  the  disguise  of  a  French  Canadian  peasant, 
or,  if  we  are  to  believe  M.  Adolphus,  of  a  fisherman,  and  with  the 
brave  Bouchette,  his  aide-de-camp,  and  an  old  sergeant,  he  enters 
a  little  boat,  and  with  muffled  oars  they  glide  down  stream.  Row 
carefully  now,  Joseph  Bouchette,  for  you  carry  in  your  frail  boat 


■d 


V  i 


STEALING  THROUGH  THE   MIDST   OF  THE   ENEMY. 


81 


A^tthis 
.    The 
A  for- 
j'lcton, 
)e.  The 
3d  two 
V  oppo- 
Jesuit 
forced 
,     But 
on  the 
■  Sorel, 
re  are 
sitiia- 
under 
isoner, 
one  on 
lis  cogi- 
}ver  to 
expe- 
leasant, 
[ith  the 
enters 
Row 
til  boat 


the  fate  of  Canada.  They  slij)  down,  ahnost  angry  with  the  phos- 
phorescent light  struck  from  the  silent  oars.  They  come  opposite 
Sorel.  They  are  in  the  midst  of  the  floating  batteries.  A  whisper 
may  undo  them.  There  are  the  dark  forms  of  the  batteries.  They 
can  hear  in  the  silent  night  the  tread  of  the  watch.  The  solemn 
stars  in  the  dark-blue  canopy  overhead,  seem  at  one  time  to  peer 
with  discovering  eyes,  and  at  another  they  infuse  the  confidence, 
the  deliberate  valour,  the  heroic  strei.igth,  which  great  hearts  drink 
in  from  contemplation  of  the  vast  and  enduring  works  of  God. 
The  oars  are  shipped  and  Captain  Bouchette  and  Sergeant  Bou- 
thillier  paddle  with  their  hands.  Sorel  and  the  islands  guarding 
the  entrance  to  Lake  St.  Peter  are  passed.  They  now  betake 
themselves  afresh  to  the  oars.  The  shallow  lake  is  crossed,  and 
they  arrive  at  Three  Rivers  only  to  encounter  fresh  dangers.  The 
hotel  was  full  of  American  troop?;.  Carleton's  disguise,  his  own  and 
Bouehette's  familiar  manner  preventc  [  all  suspicion.  Two  armed 
schooners,  from  v/hose  mastheads  floated  the  English  flag,  were 
in  the  offing.  Having  partaken  of  some  refreshment,  Carleton 
reembarked  in  his  little  boat,  and  gained  one  of  these  schooners. 
Then  ordering  the  other  to  accompany  him,  he  made  for  Quebec. 
Prescott  and  his  one  hundred  and  twenty  men  were  forced  by  the 
floating  batteries  before  Sorel  to  surrender. 

While  these  events  were  taking  place,  a  body  of  men  fifteen 
hundred  strong  had  left  Boston,  and, in  the  face  of  incredible  diffi- 
culties, mounted  the  Kennebec  to  its  source.  On  a  beautiful 
morning  in  September  full  of  hope,  and  under  the  inspiring  eye 
of  Washington,  they  had  marched  out  of  Cambridge.  Eleven 
transports  conveyed  them  to  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec.  Car- 
penters had  been  sent  on  before,  and  two  hundred  boats  were 
ready  to  receive  them.  Between  them  now  and  their  destination 
lay  the  primeval  forest.  After  six  days  they  arrived  at  Norridge- 
wock  Falls,  where  they  had  their  first  portage.  It  took  them 
seven  days  to  drag  their  boats  over  rocks,  through  the  eddies,  and 
even  along  the  woods.  Arrived  at  the  junction  made  by  the 
Dead  River  with  the  Kennebec,  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  were 
ofi"  the  rolls,  owing  either  to  desertion  or  sickness.  When  they 
set  out  the  world  was  beautiful  in  the  glows  and  glories,  the 
delicious  atmosphere  of  the  Indian  summer ;  the   salmon  trout 


i,  '    'I 


i"  'I 


S2 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


bounJecl  in  the  glittering  stream ;  the  forest  was  a  glimmering 
masH  of  gold  and  fire.  But  the  October  winds  despoiled  the  trees 
and  hurried  the  hel})less  shivering  leaves  into  stream  and  along 
narrow,  devious  forest  paths.  One  day  a  mountain  of  snow  rose 
before  them.  An  officer  ran  up  to  the  summit  in  order  to  catch 
a  glimpse  of  Quebec.  But  instead  of  the  ancient  city,  with  ita 
fortress-crowned  rock,  he  saw  bleak  forests,  through  whose  deso- 
late branches  the  frosty  winds  howled,  and  wintry  inhospitable 
wastes.  Hauling  boats,  wading  fords,  trudging  kneo-deep  in 
snow,  but  alow  progress  was  made.  A  whole  division  grew  faint- 
hearted, and  returned  to  Cambridge.  The  expedition  still  pressed 
on.  They  had  passed  seventeen  falls,  when,  through  a  Idinding 
snow-storm,  they  stepped  on  to  the  height  of  land  which  sepa- 
rates New  England  from  Canada.  A  portage  of  four  miles 
wrought  them  to  a  stream  on  which  they  floated  into  Lake  Me- 
gantic.  Here  they  encamped.  On  the  morrow,  Arnold,  with  a 
party  of  fifty  men  on  shore,  and  thirteen  men  with  him  in  his 
boats,  proceeded  down  the  Chaudiere  to  obtain  provisions  from 
one  of  the  French  settlements.  The  current  was  swift  and  boiled 
over  rocks.  The  boats  were,  nevertheless,  allowed  to  drift  with 
the  stream.  Soon  the  roar  of  falling  waters  smote  on  the  ear. 
Before  they  could  resolve  the  cause,  they  were  drifting  among 
the  rapids.  Three  of  the  boats  were  dashed  to  pieces.  Six  of 
the  men  hurled  into  the  water,  were  saved  with  difficulty 
from  drowning.  After  seventy  miles  of  falls  and  rapids  they 
reached  Sertigan,  where  they  received  shelter  and  provisions. 
Meanwhile  the  bulk  of  the  army  which  was  left  behind  was  in  a. 
miserable  condition.  They  killed  and  cooked  their  dogs,  devoured 
raw  root^;,  drank  the  soup  of  their  moose-skin  mocassins.  They 
had  been  forty-eight  hours  without  food  before  they  received 
flour  and  cattle  from  Sertigan.  On  the  9th  November,  two  months 
after  they  had  set  out  with  so  much  hope  and  lightness  of 
he&iTt,  in  the  glad  sunshine,  from  Cambridge,  they  reached  Point 
Levi,  having  learned  something  of  the  perils  of  the  wilderness  and 
the  rigours  of  a  Canadian  winter. 

Their  approach  was  not  unheralded.  An  Indian  to  whom 
Arnold  had  entrusted  a  letter  for  Schuyler  had  taken  it  to  Lieut.- 
Governor  Sieur  Hector  Th^ophih  Cramah^,  commander  of  the 


THE  BASTONNAIS.     ARNOLD   DISAPPOINTED. 


83 


cring 

trees 

along 

V  rose 

catch 

ith  its 

!  deso- 

litable 

2ep  in 
f  aint- 

iressed 

iinding 

h  sepa- 

r  miles 

ke  Me- 

,  with  a 

a  in  his 

ms  from 

id  boiled 

•ift  with 

the  ear. 
among 
Six  of 

llirtieulty 

[ids  they 
[ovisions. 

rt^as  in  a. 
levom'ed 
They 
received 
[)  months 

,ness    of 
led  Point 

ness  and 

whom 
to  Lieut.- 

Ir  of  the 


!l 


forces  in  the  capital  during  Carleton's  absence.  Arnold  had  hoped 
to  surprise  QuelDcc.  But  some  days  before  he  arrived  opposite 
Quebec,  orders  had  been  given  to  strengthen  the  fortifications,  to 
organize  the  militia,  and  to  remove  the  boats  and  shipping.  In 
Mr.  John  Lesperance's  "  Bastonnais,"  Cramah^  is  made  to  enter- 
tain his  friends,  the  Barons  of  the  Round  Table,  on  this  evening. 
In  their  claret-coloured  coats,  lace  bosom-frills  and  cuff's,  velvet 
breeches,  silken  hose,  silver-buckled  shoes,  and  powdered  wigs, 
they  greeted  the  Governor.  The  dining-room,  lit  with  a  profusion 
of  wax  candles,  looking  like  a  piece  of  Versailles,  even  as  Quebec 
itself  was  like  a  city  transported  from  Normandy.  But  the  ban- 
quet is  broken  up  by  news  of  the  contiguity  of  those  brave  fellows 
who  are  talked  of  by  the  Canadian  peasantry  of  to-day  as  the 
"  Bastonnais." 

On  the  10th,  a  council  of  war  was  held,  and  it  was  resolved  to 
defend  Quebec  while  the  least  hope  remained.  Outside  in  the 
streets  the  cry  was  heard  "  The  Bastonnais  have  come,"  and  from 
the  ramparts  Arnold's  men  could  be  seen  on  the  heights  of 
Levis.  On  the  1 2th,  Colonel  McLean,  who  had  retreated  from 
Sorel,  arrived  at  Quebec  with  a  body  of  Fraser's  Highlanders,  who 
having  settled  in  the  countiy,  were  now  re-enrolled.  The  Cana- 
dian militia  was  four  hundred  and  eighty  strong.  There  was  also 
a  militia  composed  of  Englishmen,  Irishmen,  and  Scotchmen, 
which  boasted  five  hundred  men.  There  were  a  few  regular 
troops  and  some  seamen.  The  "  Hunter"  sloop-of-war,  conn^^u-nded 
the  river.  Nevertheless,  Arnold  succeeded  on  the  night  o^  the  13th 
in  crossing  the  river,  and  landing  at  the  very  spot  were  Wolfe 
had  landed  in  July  sixteen  years  before.  Like  W^ife  he  marched 
on  to  the  plains  of  Abraham.  His  men  gave  three  cheers,  which 
were  responded  to  by  counter  cheers  from  the  city  and  a  few  dis- 
charges of  gi-ape.  He  had  failed  to  surprise  it.  He  had  not 
enough  of  troops  to  attack  it  with  effect.  He  therefore,  on  the 
18th,  retired  up  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  as  far  as  Pointe-aux- 
Trembles,  where  he  arrived  immediately  after  Carleton  had 
quitted  it,  and  where  he  determined  to  await  the  amval  of  Mont- 
gomery from  Montreal.  On  the  following  day,  General  Carleton, 
escaping,  as  we  have  seen,  so  many  dangers,  arrived  at  the  one 
fortress  which  was  not  in  the  grasp  of  the  Thirteen  Colonies,  the 


Ill  I 


,']i 


ij,, 


I'llP'       'il 


(Mil 


■If^! 


fj!f| 


f 


mrM\ 


§ 


84 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


strong  and  beautiful  city  for  which  the  Empire  had  paid  with  the 
life-blood  of  Wolfe,  the  queenly,  rock-throned  citadel,  which  at 
that  moment  was  the  Thennopylre  of  British  power  on  this 
continent. 

XI  'Hhmen  never  I'csort  to  half  measures.  Hence  they  make  such 
good  generals  and  such  efficient  rulers  The  first  thing  Carleton 
did,  on  taking  the  reins  out  of  Cramah^'s  hands,  was  to  strengthen 
the  hand;  of  the  loyalists,  and  practically  increase  his  provisions 
by  expelling  from  the  city  all  who  were  liable  to  serve  in  the 
militia,  but  who  refused  to  do  their  duty.  The  population  num- 
bered about  five  thousand,  of  which  three  thousand  or  more  were 
women  and  children.  Provisions  were  abundant,  but  fire-wood 
was  scarce.  Happily  the  winter  was  not  severe.  The  venerable 
Jesuit  College  in  Cathedral  Scjuare  was  the  principal  barrack,  and 
the  chief  outposts  were  at  the  St.  Louis,  St.  John,  and  Palace 
Gates.  Palisades  were  raised  where  Prescott  Gate  was  afterwards 
erected.  In  the  Lower  Town  there  were  batteries  in  Little  Sault- 
au-Matelot,  and  at  the  western  end  of  Pr^s-de- Ville.  The  French 
militia,  who  guarded  the  Lower  Town,  sang  as  they  went  and 
came,  just  as  the  French  Mobiles  did  during  the  siege  of  Paris. 
But  instead  of  "  Aux  Armes,  Citoyens,"  the  Canadian  militia 
chanted,  if  we  may  believe  Mr.  John  Lesperance — 

"Vive  la  Canadienne, 
Et  ses  jolis  yeux  doux." 

There  was,  I  doubt  not,  the  same  light-heartednesa — the  same  ten- 
dency to  lay  hold  of  the  humour  of  all  things  and  persons — the 
same  gosciip — the  same  curiosity  among  the  women,  with  their 
voluble  tongues,  and  half-real  half-feigned  alarm,  as  I  saw  in 
Paris  during  the  Franco-German  War.  The  siege  lasted  eight 
months — twice  as  long  as  that  of  Derry,  twice  as  long  as  that  of 
Palis,  four  times  as  long  as  that  of  Limerick. 

Montgomery  arrived  at  Pointe-aux-Trembles  on  the  1st  Decem- 
ber. Their  united  forces  amounting  to  about  two  thousand 
men,  he  proceeded  to  attack  Quebec,  After  three  days'  march, 
he  arrived  before  the  fatal  city,  and  sent  a  flag  to  summon  the 
besieged  to  si  snder.  Carleton,  acting  with  the  strictest  logic, 
refused  to  admit  that  rebels  had  any  right  to  the  usual  laws 


ATTACK  OF   AMERICANS  REPULSED.      THEY    FLY. 


85 


\  the 

h  at 

this 

such 
•leton 
nrthen 
isions 
in  the 
num- 
3  were 
s-wood 
levable 
ek,  and 
Palace 
srwards 
3  Sault- 
French 
ent  and 
Paris, 
militia 


ime  ten- 
,ns — the 
;h  their 

saw  in 
ed  eight 

that  of 

Decem- 

Ihousand 

march, 

ion  the 
1st  logic, 

lal  laws 


of  war,  and  ordered  the  gunners  to  fire  on  the  herald.  A  letter 
brought  l)y  a  woman  was  Ijurned,  and  Cnrleton  said  that  he 
would  treat  every  message  from  the  Americans  in  the  same 
manner,  until  they  craved  mercy  of  the  King,  and  became  loyal 
subjects.  Nevertheless,  during  the  follov/ing  days  lettei-s  were 
thrown  into  the  city,  some  addressed  to  the  Governor,  others  to 
the  citizens.  These  last  rarely  fell  under  the  eyes  for  which  thoy 
were  intended,  for  as  soon  as  they  were  seen  by  the  soldiers,  they 
were  carried  to  the  residence  of  the  Governor.  The  weather  was 
intensely  cold.  Nevertheless,  Montgomery  constructed  batteries, 
but  his  guns  were  too  small  to  make  any  impression  on  the  forti- 
fications, from  which  a  destructive  fire  blazed  continually.  He 
determined  to  take  the  placg  l)y  storm.  But  Carleton  was  fuDy 
informed  of  his  determination,  and  the  attacks  of  Arr.old  and 
himself  failed  in  consequence.  Montgomery  paid  with  his  life  for 
his  temerity.  Arnold  was  wounded  while  attacking  the  first 
barrier  on  the  side  of  Sault-au-Matelot.  Captain  Morgan  took 
the  command,  and  drove  the  guard  back  to  the  second  barrier. 
But  Carleton  was  soon  on  the  spot,  and  owing  to  his  promptness 
and  skill,  the  Americans  were  surrounded  and  driven  out  of  a 
strong  building  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  Their  loss  in  killed 
and  wounded  was  about  a  hundred.  Four  hundred  and  twenty- 
six,  including  twenty  -eight  officers,  suiTendered.  Carleton  would 
now,  under  ordinary  conditions,  have  sallied  out  on  the  Americans. 
But  these  had  sympathisers  both  without  and  within  the  walls, 
and  the  Governor  wisely  waited  for  the  succours  which  would 
come  with  the  opening  up  of  navigation.  He  had  thos-" 
houses,  in  which  the  enemy  might  take  up  his  quarters,  burned. 
His  vigilance,  his  activity,  his  great  capacity,  let  no  advantage 
slip.  Pre-occupied,  as  he  was,  however,  he  took  care  to  seek  out 
amid  the  winter  snow,  the  body  of  General  Montgomery,  and 
place  it  in  the  earth  with  military  honours. 

Early  in  May, the  "Surprise"  frigate  and  a  sloop  of  war,  with  one 
hundred  and  seventy  men  and  some  marines,  arrived  in  the  har- 
bour. The  moment  these  men  were  landed  Carleton  resolved  to 
attack  the  enemy,  who,  disheartened  and  already  dcxnoralized,  fled 
precipitately,  leaving  behind  cannon,  stores,  ammunition,  and  even 
the  sick.     These  were  treated  as  one  might  expect  by  Carleton, 


86 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


\m 


of  wliom  humanity  was  a  distinguisliinj^  feature.  Every  kindness 
which  could  alleviate  the  suffering  of  tiie  sick,  or  make  the  life  of 
the  liealtliy  prinoners  more  pleasant,  was  lavished  on  them.  For 
his  services  during  the  siege,  Carleton  was  kniglited. 

Meanwliile,  Captain  Foster,  having  had  some  successful  engage- 
ments with  the  Americans  on  the  lakes,  was  pusliing  towards  La- 
chine,  when  he  was  compelled  todefend  himself  agr'nst  Arnold,  with 
a  force  thrice  as  strong  as  his  own.  The  defence  \\  (,s  so  stout  that 
the  Americans  had  to  retire  to  St.  Anne's. 

The  American  troops  retreating  fiom  (Quebec,  having  lost  at 
Sorel  their  connnander.  General  Thomas,  who  had  taken  Arnold's 
place  l)efore  Quebec,  were  joined  at  the  confluence  of  the  Riche- 
lieu by  about  four  thousand  men.  Cteneral  Sullivan  was  chief  in 
command. 

A  body  of  troops  arrived  from  England,  all  of  that  type  which 
made  a  French  General  say  it  was  well  English  soldiers  were  not 
more  numerous.  There  was  no  longer  anything  now  to  prevent 
Carleton  taking  a  vigorously  offensive  attitude.  Brigadier  Eraser, 
with  the  first  division.he  sent  on  to  Three  Rivers.  Sullivan  thought 
he  saw  an  oppoi-tunity  of  sui-prising  the  town,  and  inflicting  serious 
damage  on  part  of  the  British  army.  He  accordingly  sent  General 
Thompson,  with  eighteen  hundred  men,  against  Three  Rivers. 
But  he  was  met  by  Fraser,  who  had  been  informed  of  his  design) 
and  sustained  a  signal  defeat.  Five  hundred  prisoners,  including 
Thompson  himself,  were  taken,  and  the  retreat  of  the  main  body 
was  cut  off.  These  repaired  for  shelter  to  a  swampy  wood.  There 
they  spent  a  night  of  misery,  and  might  have  died  there  of  want 
and  ague,  had  not  Governor  Carleton,  with  a  rare  chivalrous 
pity,  drawn  the  guard  from  the  bridge  spanning  River  du  Loup. 
They  were  thus  allowed  to  make  their  escape,  and  rejoin  Sullivan 
at  Sorel.  No  longer  equal  either  in  the  quality  or  numbers  of  the 
British  troops,  Sullivan  mounted  the  Richelieu,  and  was  joined  by 
Arnold  at  St.  Johns,  '^hey  then  retreated  to  Crown  Point.  Thus 
ended  the  American  invasion,  which,  says  a  French  writer,  was 
wholly  fruitless,  save  in  affording  an  opportunit}'-  to  the  colonists 
of  showing  their  courage,  and  bringing  out  the  military  and  civil 
virtues  of  Richard  Montgomery.  Frc  ,  ir  point  of  view  it  may 
be  remarked  that  it  emphasized  the  qualities  of  another  hero  not 


SUCCESS  OF  CAULETON.      HIS   MAONANIMITY. 


87 


ncsH 

feof 

For 

ragC- 

s  La- 
,\vith 
bthat 

)st  at 
•nold's 
[liche- 
lief  in 

which 
31-0  not 
)revent 
Fraser, 
hought 
seriouB 
]^eneral 
Rivers, 
design. 
chi<ling 
ill  body 
There 
^f  want 
vah-ous 
Loup. 
uUivan 
8  of  the 
ined  by 
Thus 
,er,  was 
lolonists 
Ind  civil 
it  may 
lero  not 


less 
toi 


distinguished 


for  military  and  civil   virtues,  Guy    Carle- 


•■•I 


9' 


-V* 

IS 


Carleton,  after  several  naval  actions,  made  himself  macter  of 
Lake  Champlain,  and  had  beaten  the  Americans  along  their 
whole  line,  by  the  tinn'  it  .  vs  neces-sary  to  go  into  winter  quar- 
ters. The  Canadians  gladly  received  the  troops  ipiartered  on 
thein,  for  they  had  learned  to  regard  the  Americans  as  in  lors 
and  enemies,  owing  to  the  necessities  laid  on  all  troops  in  a 
foreign  country. 

Meanwhile,  the  Declaration  of  Independence  had  been  adopted 
by  the  Continental  Congrjss,  July  4th,  177G.  The  British,  in 
other  directions,  had  not  been  so  successful.  They  had  evacuated 
Boston.  They  had  been  repulsed  before  Charleston.  But  they 
had  gained  an  important  victory  at  Long  Island,  taken  possession 
of  New  York,  and  driven  Washington  across  the  Delaware.  But 
Washington's  victories  at  Trenton  and  Princeton  left  the  result  of 
the  campaign  in  favour  of  the  colonists. 

General  Burgoyne,  when  he  went  back  to  England,  closeted 
himself  with  ministers,  and  drew  up  ihe  plan  of  a  campaign  by 
way  of  Lake  Champlain.  He  arrived  at  Quebec  the  9th  of  May, 
1777,  endowed  with  the  chief  command.  Carleton  was  deeply 
wounded  by  the  slight  which  had  been  cast  upon  him.  He  had 
saved  Canada,  and  his  reward  was  to  be  superseded  by  a  man 
whose  claims  were  not  fit  to  be  mentioned  in  the  same  breath  as 
his.  Nevertheless,  he  contented  himself  with  demanding  his 
recall,  and  proceeded  to  second  the  plans  of  Burgoyne  with  all 
his  might.  There  is  a  lesson  in  subordination  of  priceless  value. 
Burgoyne  having  opened  the  campa,ign  prosperously,  was  com- 
pelled, a  few  months  later,  to  surrender  his  whole  army  at 
Saratoga. 

Of  the  conduct  of  Carleton  during  the  invusiun,  Mr.  J.  M. 
Lemoine,  in  his  "  History  of  Quebec,"  says  :  "  Had  the  fate  of 
Canada  on  that  occasion  been  confided  to  a  Governor  less  wise,  less 
conciliating  than  Guy  Carleton,  doubtless  the  'brightest  gem  in  the 
colonial  crown  of  Britain,'  would  have  been  one  of  the  stars  on 
Columbia's  banner ;  the  star-spangled  streamer  would  now  be 
floating  on  the  summit  of  Cape  Diamond." 

Carleton,  relie  ved  from  military  duty,  was  able  to  devote  more  time 


■i^'tiihtnriiaM 


88 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   C\NADA. 


wl 


to  the  peaceable  administration  of  the  Province.  The  first  Legisla- 
tive Council, under  the  Quebec  I  t,  was  held  in  the  spring  of  1777. 
Sixteen  Acts  were  passed.  Courts  of  King's  Bench,  Common  Pleas 
and  Probate  were  erected.  The  Governor,  the  Lieut. -Governor, 
the  Chief  Justice,  and  any  five  of  the  Council  constituted  a  Court 
of  Appeal.  A  Militia  Act  wr  passed,  which  made,  with  few  ex- 
ceptions, all  Canadians  arrived  at  the  required  age  liable  to  mili- 
tary service.  This  Act  created  great  dissatisfaction,  and  it  has 
been  bitterly  attacked  by  French  Canadian  writers.  But  we  have 
come  to  live  in  times  when  the  most  enlightened  English  thinkers 
have  advocated  a  like  system  for  the  mother  countries. 

Major-General  Haldimn.nd,  a  man  perfectly  ignorant  of  the 
lawb  and  customs  of  Canadians,  or.  for  that  matter,  of  the  empire, 
arrived  in  July,  1778,  to  assume  the  government  of  the  colony. 
Carloton  was  followed  with  many  regrets  and  many  kind  wishes 
on  the  part  of  the  people  of  Canada,  and  the  people  of  Quebec  pre- 
sented him,  as  he  was  about  to  embark,  with  addresses  which 
showed  what  had  been  the  character  of  his  rule.  Haldimand  was 
in  all  respof'ts  a  contrast  to  Carleton  ;  he  was,  if  we  may  believe 
the  writings  of  the  tim*  cruel,  inquisitorial,  iniquitously  extor- 
tionate, in  a  word,  a  tyrant,  without  either  sagacity  or  self-respect. 
The  burdens  of  the  peasantry  were  increased  until  they  became 
no!i  burdens  but  scourges.  One  of  the  judges  was  a  retired  cap- 
tain of  infantry  on  half  pay  ;  another  an  army  doctor ;  and  it  may 
well  be  believed  that  not  having  had  legal  training,  they  often 
allowed  undue  weight  to  their  own  prejudices  and  preferences. 
All  the  defects  of  the  Act  of  1774  were  brought  into  striking 
relief  under  the  rule  of  Haldimand.  It  was  seen  that  the  delusive 
constitution  was  no  protection  against  tyranny.  M.  du  Calvere, 
the  forerunner  of  men  like  Gourlay,  Mackenzie,  and  Baldwin, 
went  {■:  England  to  demand  the  recall  of  General  Haldimand. 

In  the  November  of  1782,  the  independence  of  the  United 
States  was  acknowledged,  and  this  had  a  n^omentous  effect  upon 
the  character  'A  the  Canadian  population.  Thousands  of  U.  E. 
Loyalists  left  the  States  for  Nova  Scotia  and  Canada.  They 
founded  the  town  of  St.  John,  on  the  St.  John  River;  the;;- 
swelled  the  population  of  Huhfax  ;  they  settled  along  the  Bay  of 
Fuiidy ;  they  faced  the  wilderness  in  Ontario,  settling  along  the 


IRISH   U.   E.   LOYALISTS. 


89> 


Legisla- 
of  1777. 
on  Pleas 
rovernor, 
I  a  Court 

few  ex- 
I  to  mili- 
id  it  has 
)  we  have 

thinkers 

it  of  the 
le  empire, 
le  colony, 
ad  wishes 
aebec  pre- 
ses  which 
mand  was 
ly  believe 
sly  extor- 
If-respect. 
sy  became 
itired  cap- 
,nd  it  may 
;hey  often 
references, 
striking 
delusive 
|u  Calvere, 
Baldwin, 
imand. 
he  United 
[ffect  upon 
of  U.  E. 
la.     They 
TQv ;   the;;-' 
[he  Bay  of 
along  the 


upper  St.  Lawrence,  around  the  Bay  of  Quinte  with  its  thousand 
beauties,  and  on  the  Niagara  and  Detroit  Rivers. 

Among  these  U.  E.  Loyalists  were  not  a  few  Irishmen.  Luke 
Carscallian,  having  served  in  the  British  army,  had  retired  and 
emigrated  to  the  American  colonies  prior  to  the  rebellion.  When 
the  war  broke  out,  he  desired  to  remain  neutral,  but  the  rebels 
insisted  as  he  was  a  military  man  that  he  must  join  them  or  be 
regarded  as  one  of  the  enemy.  He  replied :  "  I  have  fought  for 
the  King  and  I  would  do  so  again."  An  order  was  issued  for  his 
aiTest.  He  hid,  and  ultimately  made  his  escape  to  Canada,  leav- 
ing behind  him  all  his  personalty  and  twelve  thousand  acres  of 
land.  What  did  the  rebels  do  ?  With  atrocious  cowardice  and 
cruelty,  they  seized  his  son,  a  lad  of  tender  years,  and  threatened 
to  hang  him  unless  he  betrayed  his  father's  hiding  place.  The 
son  was  not  unworthy  of  the  sire.  His  reply  was — "  Hang 
away."  The  cowards,  unimjn-essed  by  this  noble  conduct,  han^i,  3d 
him  three  times  yntil  he  was  almost  dead.  Three  times  they  put 
the  question  to  the  half  fainting  boy.  Three  times  he  returned  a 
defiant  "  no."  When  taken  down  the  third  time,  and  repeating 
his  determination,  the  monsters  killed  the  half -strangled  lad. 

Of  the  same  type  was  Willet  Casey,  born  of  Irish  parents  in 
Rhode  Island.  The  war  in  which  his  father  was  killed  ended,  he 
settled  near  Lake  Champlain,  thinking  he  was  putting  down  his 
stakes  in  British  territory.  He  discovered  after  making  consider- 
able clearing  that  herein  he  was  mistaken,  whereupon  he  removed 
again.  He  set  his  face  towards  Upper  Canada,  accompanied  by 
his  wife  and  Ids  old  mother,  who  died  three  months  aft^r  the 
migration.  Dr.  Canniff  saw  the  couple  when  they  had  grown 
old,  and  he  says,  "  two  nobler  specimens  of  nature's  nobil'ty 
could  not  be  imagined." 

One  of  the  great  f-;oMier  settlers  was  William  Bell,  born  August 
12th,  1758,  in  the  County  Tyrone.  When  the  revolutionary  war 
broke  out,  he  was  a  sergeant  in  the  o3rd  regiment  of  the  line.  In 
1789  he  came  to  Cataraqui,  and  commenced  trading  in  the  port 
of  Sidney,  Ferguson  being  his  partner.  In  1792  Bell  gave  up 
trading,  and  became  a  school-teacher  to  the  Mohawks ;  but  he 
seems  to  have  done  business  in  the  way  of  trading  in  1799.  In 
1803  ho  is  found  settled  in  Truro.     He  had  meanwhile  received  a 


^'iV\ 


im 


^0 


THK   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


^'illl 


captain's  commission  in  1798,  a  major's  in  August,  1800  ;  and  in 
1800  he  became  lieutenant-colonel.  He  was  an  active  pul)lic  man, 
well  known  in  Thurlow,  where  he  served  as  magistrate,  coroner, 
and  as  colonel  of  the  Hastings  Battalion.  He  died  in  1833,  having 
done  the  country  good  service. 

Captain  Peter  Daly,  who  resided  in  New  York,  was  called  home 
to  Ireland  before  the  rebellion,  and  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of 
a  bachelor  friend,  named  Vroman,  he  left  his  son  Peter  Vjehind 
him.  Vroman  was  wealthy,  and  called  himself  lord  of  many  a 
fair  acre  on  the  banks  of  the  Mohawk  about  where  Amsterdam 
now  stands.  He  promised  to  make  Peter,  whose  genial  Irish 
manners  had  won  his  heart,  his  heir.  When  the  war  broke  out, 
Peter  was  sixteen  years  of  age.  But  the  blood  of  heroic  fathers 
ran  in  his  veins — fathers  who  had  fought  under  the  flag  which  it 
was  sought  to  te.""  down.  Wealth  was  on  one  side — honour  on 
the  other.  Prosperity  here — toil  and  hardship  there.  He  did  not 
hesitate.  He  turned  his  back  on  wealth,  and  joined  a  company, 
following  the  flag  of  his  fathers  along  the  shores  of  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  where,  in  one  night,  he  assisted  in  scaling  three  forts.  He 
was  instrumental  in  takinof  Fort  Ticonderoga.  When  the  war 
was  over,  in  company  with  other  loyalists,  he  came  up  the  Bay  of 
Quintd.  Having  married,  he  settled  down  in  the  second  conces- 
sion of  Ernesto wn,  near  the  Village  of  Bath,  where  he  made  a 
comfortable  livelihood,  and  did  his  share  of  the  work  of  laying 
the  foundation  of  the  great  Canadian  nation  of  the  future.  Mr, 
Daly  was  a  Presbyterian.  He  never  heard  anything  from  Vroman, 
and  his  grandson  says,  with  some  natural  bitterness,  tliat  he  cared 
but  little  for  the  land  that  had  driven  him  to  dwell  among  the 
wild  beasts  of  the  unbroken  forest.  He  left  behind  him  a  nume- 
rous and  respected  family.  Two  of  his  sons,  Thomas  and  Charles, 
were  still  living  on  the  old  farm  near  Bath  in  1809.  Philip,  the 
eldest,  died  at  Oak  Shade,  in  Ernesto  wn,  in  18G1,  having  at- 
tained to  one  year  more  than  the  period  allotted  to  man.  His 
eldest  daughter  became  Mrs.  Aikens ;  another  daughter  married 
Asal  Rockwell,  of  Ernestown ;  another,  Jacob  Shibley,  ex 
M.P.P.  ;  another,  Joshua  Boatle  ;  and  the  descendants  of  the  brave 
Peter  are  numerous. 

Another  remarkable  Irishman,  who  lived  to  over  a  hundred 


A  CENTENARIAN.      THE  CANNIFFS. 


91 


and  in 

iic  man, 

30voner, 

having 

id  home 
ation  of 
behind 
many  a 
sterdam 
al  Irish 
oke  out, 
;  fathers 
which  it 
)nour  on 
i  did  not 
ompany, 
e  Cham- 
rts.     He 
the  war 
e  Bay  of 
I  conces- 
3  made  a 
laying 
re.     Mr. 
Vroman, 
le  cared 
long  the 
a  nume- 
Charles, 
lilip,  the 
ving  at- 
in.     His 
married 
l)ley,   ex 
he  brave 

hundred 


years  of  age,  was  James  Johnson,  a  soklier  in  Rogers'  Battalion. 
He  was  captain  of  the  cattle  drivers  who  came  with  the  first  .set- 
tlers of  Ernes^^own.  "  He  got  his  location  ticket,"  says  Dr.  Cannitt", 
"  at  Carleton,  Ireland."  The  doctor  adds,  that  he  had  a  family  of 
seven  sons  and  six  daughters, 

John  CannifF,  a  U.  E.  loyalist,  was  a  member  of  an  Irish  Huge- 
not  family.  An  oil  ])ainting  of  the  grand-uncle  of  Dr.  Canniff 
bears  on  the  back  of  its  frame  the  statement  that  he  was  born  at 
Bedford  (New  Rochelle),  State  of  New  York,  in  the  year  1757. 
One  or  more  persons  of  the  name  of  CannifF  were  among  the 
Hu  onots  who  were  expelletj  from  France  on  the  revocation  of 
the  Edict  of  Nantes  by  Louis  XIV.  in  1685.  Many  of  these  exiles 
found  a  home  in  Ireland,  and  because  naturalized.  Among  them 
were  the  Canniffs.  The  name  may  now  be  found  in  Ireland. 
The  Cannifls  were  among  the  first  settlers  in  New  Rochelle,  all 
of  whom  were  Huguenots. 

At  the  breakir  out  of  the  American  rebellion,  the  CannifFs 
were  divided.  Most  of  them  remained  loyal  to  the  Empire.  At 
the  close  of  the  war,  John  CannifF  was  a  refugee  in  New  Bruns- 
wick, from  which  place  he  came  to  Canada  in  1788,  being  one  of 
the  first  settlers  in  Adolphustown.  Ak  out  the  beginning  of  the 
present  century  he  removed  to  Thurlow,  Hastings  Co.,  which 
was  then  a  wilderness.  He  was  a  pioneer  in  the  erection  of  saw 
and  flour  mills.  The  settlement  made  by  him  ultimately  received 
the  name  of  Canifton. 

James  Canm.T,  brother  of  John,  and  grandfather  of  Dr.  Canniff', 
came  to  Canada  some  years  after  his  brother.  The  incidents 
attending  the  journey  of  the  family  from  Duchess  County,  on  the 
Hudson,  in  batteaux,  would  supply  material  for  an  interesting 
narretive. 

It  was  with  no  small  regret  he  left  his  beautiful  home  on  the 
Hudson,  and  that  enchanting  river— the  River  of  the  Mountains, 
as  the  Spaniards  called  it — with  the  queenly  dignity  of  the  Cats- 
kills  ;  the  pictures(iue  heights— the  sublime  Highlands,  where  the 
noble  stream  strolls,  like  some  mighty  lord  through  his  ancestral 
halls,  between  rock-ribbed  hills,  whose  cheeks  were  browned 
before  the  days  of  Adam  ;  all  the  grandeur  of  a  wall  of  unbroken 
rock  extending  for  miles ;  all  the  repose  of  sloping  hills  and 


wm 


1 J 


■S«' 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 

sleepy  hollows.  To-day  the  steamer  pants  along  those  waters. 
The  scream  of  the  railway  whistle  is  heard.  On  either  side  of 
Poughkeepsie,  there  are  now  handsome  villas  and  stately  resi- 
dences. 

*'  By  woody  bluff  we  steal,  by  leaning  lawn, 
By  palace,  village,  cot — a  sw  set  surprise 
At  every  turn  the  vision  breaks  upon." 

Lovers  wander  up  broad  maple  avenues,  and  young  ladies'  schools 
take  their  constitutional  walk  over  beautifully-kept  grounds, 
while  the  silver  Hudson  goes,  gladder  for  their  laughter  and  smiles, 
to  the  sea.  A  world  of  wealth  and  poetry  and  legend  have  ga- 
thered around  those  banks  in  a  century.  But  though  they  had 
no  monster  hotels,  no  shining  cities,  no  Irving,  when  CannifF  took 
up  his  stakes,  the  moon  did  not  look  down  less  sweetly  on  Old 
Cro  Nest ;  the  star  lingered  near  its  summit,  as  it  lingers  this 
night ;  the  grey  form  threw  its  silver  cone  on  the  wave  as  it 
throws  it  now.  All  the  beauty  of  nature  was  there,  and  the  voice 
of  God  in  the  leafy,  solitary  woods,  on  the  river's  breast,  with  its 
abounding  loneliness,  was  heard  clearer  than  it  is  to-day.  The 
rocky  caverns  of  Luzerne  were,  for  all  purposes  of  comparison,  as 
deep  then  as  now  ;  and  as  full  of  meaning,  as  at  this  moment, 
would  be  the  question : 

"  Pray  tell  me,  silvery  wave,  in  murmur  low. 
How  long  ago  the  light  first  saw  thy  face  ? 
Who  saw  thee,  when,  in  all  thy  rushing  might 
And  strength,  thou  burst  the  highland  chain,  and  forced 
Thy  rugged  way  on  to  the  sea  ?" 

Yet  James  Canniff  preferred  the  British  flag  to  the  stars  and 
stripes,  and  happily  for  him,  in  settling  in  Adolphustown,  he  only 
passed  from  one  beautiful  river  to  another.  Richard,  another 
brother,  was  likewise  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  the  County  of 
Hastings. 

JameS  Canniff's  wife  was  a  native  of  Ireland.  Her  maiden 
name  \  as  McBridc.  They  had  two  sons,  John  and  Jonas,  and  a 
number  of  daughters,  all  of  whom  married  in  the  Bay  of  Quints 
region.  The  two  sons  settled  in  Thurlow,  near  where  the  city  of 
Belleville  now  stands,  by  the  banks  of  the  river  Moira.  John 
was  drowned  at  an  early  age  in  attempting  to  cross  the  swollen 
stream  in  a  canoe. 


KINGSTON.      CANADA   FIRST. 


93 


,e  waters. 
iY  side  of 
tely  resi- 


es'  schools 
grounds, 
md  smiles, 
d  have  ga- 
L  they  had 
inniff  took 
stly  on  Old 
infers  this 
wave  as  it 
id  the  voice 
st,  with  its 
,-day.     The 
iparison,  as 
lis  moment, 


reed 

stars  and 
m,  ho  only 
ird,  another 

County  of 

iHer  maiden 

onas,  and  a 

|,y  of  Quints 

the  city  of 

Loira.     John 

the  swollen 


'VT-i 


Jonas,  tlie  father  of  Dr.  Canniff,  was  married,  in  1811,  to  Letta 
F]a<der,  a  descendant  of  the  Knickerbockers  of  the  River  Hudsou. 
When  war  was  vlcclared,  in  1812,  Jonas  voluntered,  leaving  his 
young  wife  in  a  half-finished  log  hut  in  the  woods.  He  served  as 
a  non-commissioned  office?  in  Captain  Borland's  comjmny  of 
Adolphustown,  under  Colonel  Cartwright,  of  Kingston.  He  was 
present  under  arms  when  the  American  fieet  approached  King- 
ston, with  the  intention  of  attacking  the  place,  and  with  his  com- 
pany, followed  the  fleet,  as,  in  order  to  escape  the  warm  reception 
of  Kingston,  it  moved  down  the  waters  of  the  Bay. 

At  a  comparatively  early  date  he  erected  a  saw  mill ;  and 
afterwards  a  very  large  stone  flour  mill.  He  had  three  sons,  James, 
Philip  Flagler,  and  William  ;  and  six  daughters.  The  sons  sur- 
vive. Dr.  Cannifl"  is  the  youngest  of  the  family.  His  father  is 
still  alive,  and  in  his  88th  year.  Dr.  Canniff"  occupied  for  a  time 
the  position  of  President  of  the  Medical  Section  of  the  Canadian 
Institute.  A  journalist,  he  was  for  a  number  of  years  corres- 
ponding editor  of  the  "  Canada  Medical  Journal,"  published  at 
?Tontreal,  and  he  is  now  associate  editor  of  the  "Sanitary  Journal," 
Toronto.  He  has  been  an  active  pamphleteer  on  medical  and 
other  subjects,  and  has  taken  a  very  decided  stand  in  opposition 
to  the  antiseptic  treatment  of  wounds,  as  presented  and  advo- 
cated by  Professor  Lister,  professor  in  the  University  of  Edin- 
burgh. 

He  was  one  of  the  originators  of  the  Canadian  Association  in 
connection  with  the  "  Canada  First"  Party,  and  of  the  National 
Club.  Finding,  however,  that  the  tendency  of  the  association 
was  adverse  to  his  principles  as  a  conservufcive,  he  withdrew,  and 
shortly  after  explained  his  action  in  a  tract.  He  is  a  strong  advo- 
cate of  "  Canadianism,"  and  opposed  to  the  existence  of  national 
societies,  which  perpetuate  principles  and  feelings  originating  in 
the  Old  World,  and  which,  he  believes,  retard  the  gi-owth  and 
development  of  a  hearty  Canadian  nationality.  He  is  intensely 
opposed  to  anything  approaching  the  appearance  of  annexation 
to  the  United  States  ;  and,  while  wholly  devoted  to  Imperial  con- 
nection, holds  that,  even  should  England  cast  off"  her  colonies, 
Canada  would  never  form  a  political  union  with  the  States. 


li.'l 


li- 


i 


h  /'         I 


94 


THE   IIIISIIMAN   IN    CANADA. 


Dr.  CannifFhas  been  a  busy  author,*  and  an  active  member  of 
various  associations. 

In  1867  bo  received  an  invitation  from  the  Medical  Faculty  of 
Paris  to  attend,  as  a  delegate,  the  first  International  Medical  Con- 
gress. He  read  a  Paper  or  .-i  occasion  upon  the  "  Indians  of 
Canada,"  in  connection  with  the  subject  of  "  Tuberculosis."  In 
October  of  the  same  year,  he  busied  himself,  with  others,  in  the 
organization  of  the  Canadian  Medical  A-'bociation  at  Quebec,  and 
was  appointed  the  first  secretary  for  the  Province  of  Ontario.  In 
1868  he  returned  to  Toronto,  and  resumed  the  Chair  of  Surgery 
in  Victoria  Medical  College. 

We  have  been  kept  very  near  f'ngston  for  some  time.  At  a 
very  early  date,  the  King's  town.ship  must  have  been  surveyed 
and  settled,  for  Dr.  Cannitf  tells  u  ,  Collini^,  the  surveyor,  used  the 
name  in  1788.  During  French  rule,  a  settlement  was  begun  at 
Kingston,  under  De  Courcelles,  as  early  as  1672,  and  called  Cata- 
raqui.  A  fort  was  erected,  and  named  aftei"  ^  distinguished 
French  count.  Fort  Frontenac,  a  fort  which  was  made  much  use 
of  by  the  French  and  the  Indians,  until  it  was  destroyed  in  1758  by 
the  expedition  commanded  by  Colonel  Bradstreet.  The  place  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  British  in  1782.  The  King's  township  was 
mainly  settled  by  U.  E.  Loyalists,  some  of  whom,  as  their  names 
indicate,  were  Irish.  According  to  Cooper,  the  town  v/as  laid 
out  in  1793.  It  was  then  confined  to  the  eastern  portion,  and 
the  log  hut  kept  its  neighbour,  the  Indian  wigwam,  in  counte- 
nance. In  its  early,  as  in  its  later,  days,  the  Irishman  was  well 
represented. 

Our  business  is  not  with  antique  hric-ci-hraG.  We  may,  bo'^ 
ever,  record  that  there  is  at  present  a  pewter  dish  in  e^:istence 
which  a  person  addicted  to  making  bulls  would  declare  to  be  en- 
titled to  the  dignity  of  being  ranked  as  an  Irish  settler,  with  a 
Palatinate  ancestry.  Barbara  Monk,  who  was  born  in  Ireland, 
married  one  Gasper  Hover,  who  settled  in  Adolphustown.  The 
ancestors  of  Ba.rbara  had  carried  this  dish  with  them  from  the 
Palatinate  to  Ireland ;  one  of  their  descendants  carried  it  to  New 


*  Among  Dr.  Canniff's  works  are   "  Principles  of  Surgery,"  and  "  Settlement  of 
Upper  Canada." 


IRISH   STAMINA.      LOVE  OF  JUSTICE. 


95^ 


lembor  of 

i'aculty  of 
lical  Con- 
[ndians  of 
osis."  In 
n-s,  in  the 
lebcc,  and 
itario.  In 
f  Surgery 

me.  At  a 
L  surveyed 
r,  used  the 
;  begun  at 
lUed  Cata- 
tinguished 
J  much  use 
in  1758  by 
e  place  fell 
kinship  was 
leir  names 

I  v/as  laid 
>rtion,  and 
in  counte- 

II  was  well 

may,  bo"T 

1  existence 

e  to  be  en- 

er,  with  a 

Ireland, 

iwn.    The 

from  the 

it  to  New 


Settlement  of 


York,  whence  it  was  brought  by  Barbara  with  the  company  of 
Major  Van  Alstine. 

In  that  company  were  several  persons  with  more  claim  to  the 
name  of  Irishman  than  the  pewter  j)late.  Amongst  them,  pre- 
eminent in  years,  was  John  Fitzgerald,  who  died  in  180G,  at 
the  ripe  age  of  101.  In  the  same  company  was  William  Casey, 
who,  with  Willet  Casey,  menticmed  above,  represented  four- 
teti'.  souls.  All  the  men,  who  came  from  Ireland  in  those 
earlj'  days,  must  have  been  men  of  fine  stamina.  If  we  travel 
into  another  township,  we  find  Williaia  Anderson,  who  was 
alive  in  1869,  aged  eighty-eight,  having  come  to  Canada  in 
1803.  Three  years  afterwards  he  settled  at  Mississauga  Point, 
having  meanwhile  married  a  Miss  Way,  a  descendant  of  U.  E. 
Loyalists.  Those  men  brought  with  them  from  Ireland  that 
sturdy  love  of  justice  for  which  Sir  John  Da  vies,  in  his  day,  declared 
the  Irish  to  be  remarkable.  Once  Judge  Cartvtrright,  holding  his 
court  at  a  tavern  at  Ernestown,  convicted  and  sentenced  to  be 
hanged  a  man  accused  of  stealing  a  watch,  the  only  evidence 
against  him  being  that  the  watch  was  found  on  him.  The  accused 
declared  that  he  had  bought  the  time-piece  of  a  pedler.  Neverthe- 
less, the  judge  would  not  re-consider  his  verdict.  Dr.  Connor,  of 
Ernestown,  stood  up  in  open  court,  and  appealed  against  the  mon- 
strous injustice  of  taking  a  man's  life  on  such  evidence.  In  those 
early  days,  that  dignified  demeanour  which  distinguishes  our 
courts,  did  not  exist.  He  was  hissed  down,  and  the  man  was 
hanged.  Subsequently  the  pedler  turned  up,  and  justified  the 
unfortunate  man. 

Dr.  John  Gamble  was  born  near  Enniskillen  in  1755.  Havincr 
studied  medicine  and  surgery  at  Edinburgh,  he  emigrated,  in  1770, 
to  New  York,  where  he  at  once  entered  the  King's  service  as 
assistant-surgeon  to  the  General  Hospital.  He  was  subsequently 
attached  to  the  Old  Queen's  Rangers.  After  the  peace,  he  went 
to  New  Brunswick.  In  1784,  he  married  and  practised  his  pro- 
fession at  St.  John.  He  subsequently  joined  the  Queen's  Ran- 
gers as  assistant-surgeon.  In  1802  he  settled  down  to  })ractise  in 
Kingston,  where  he  died  in  1811,  leaving  behind  him  his  wife  and 


thirteen  children. 


daughters  and  four  sons,  in  1820 


His  wife  removed  to  Toronto  with  her  nine 
The  descendants  of  the  pair 


9G 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


M      1 


i  i 


W 


ahead V  exceed  by  a  good  many,  two  hui  dred.  Mrs.  Gamble, 
who  had  l)een  a  Miss  Clarke,  was  the  daughter  of  a  U.  E.  Loyalist, 
and  was  ninety-tw(j  years  old  at  the  date  of  her  death.  Mr.  Clarke 
Gamble  is  one  of  tlie  descendants.  J.  W.  Gamble,  who  died  a  few 
years  ago,  was  the  eldest  son  of  Dr.  John  Gamble.  He  was 
born  at  the  garrison,  York,  in  1798;  was  elected  for  the  South 
Riding  of  York  in  1838,  and  re-elected  for  the  same  riding  in 
1851,  by  a  majority  of  600.  In  1854  he  was  again  re-elected,  and 
indeed  a  \&\^e  portion  of  his  life  was  passed  in  the  discharge  of 
public  duties. 

Some  ten  years  prior  to  the  revolutionary  war,  Dennis  Carroll, 
a  native  of  the  County  Down,  crossed  the  Atlantic,  with  his  wife, 
and  settled  in  Maryland.  He  had  several  sons,  all  of  whom^  with 
the  exception  of  Joseph,  adhered  to  the  revolutionary  side.  Joseph 
joined  the  British  army.  He  drew  land  in  Nova  Scotia.  After 
sufftsring  shipwreck,  of  which  he  was  one  of  the  few  survivors,  he 
arrived  in  St.  John.  Having  lost  his  property  by  endorsement, 
he,  in  1809,  set  out  with  his  wife  and  a  family  of  eight  sons,  to 
renew  his  search  after  fortune  in  the  wilds  of  Upper  Canada.  He 
was  living  on  an  Indian  farm,  near  where  Brantford  now  stands, 
when  the  war  of  1812-15  broke  out.  He  and  his  three  eldest 
sons  joined  the  army.  The  close  of  the  war  found  the  family,  a 
Presbyterian  one,  notwithstanding  the  name,  at  York.  One  of 
his  sons  became  a  successful  physician ;  another,  a  well-to-do 
commercial  man.  One  of  his  descendants  is  well  known  as  a 
Methodist  minister,  the  Rev.  John  Carroll,  D.D.,  a  man  of  dis- 
tinguished piety,  who  has  written  much  and  well. 

The  greatest  factor  in  civilization  is  religion.  When  an  emi- 
gration settles  down  in  a  new  country,  its  success,  its  progress, 
and  its  happiness  will  greatly  depend  on  the  character  of  the 
fauna  of  that  country.  If  injurious  animals  abound,  population 
may  be  kept  down,  and  civilization  retarded.  The  wolf  and  bear 
were  the  principal  enemies  the  emigrant  had  to  encounter  in 
Canada.  But  worse  than  wolf  or  bear  or  tiger  are  the  lusts  of 
man.  Endowed  with  infinite  desires,  nothing  can  keep  him  from 
degenerating,  but  communion  with  the  Absolute ;  nothing  but 
Eternity  can  outweigh  his  vast  and  turbulent  passions,  in  which 
earth-born  and  earth-bounded  resolutions  are  as  straw  and  drift 


RARLY   METHODISM.      OKOUGE   NEAL. 


1)7 


Gamble, 

Loyalist, 

r.  Clarke 

ioJ  a  few- 
He  wan 

he  South 
riding  in 

ected,  and 

scharge  of 

is  Carroll, 
1  his  wife, 
hom^  with 
ie.  Joseph 
da.     After 
rvivors,  he 
dorsement, 
ht  sons,  to 
inada.    He 
10 w  stands, 
ree  eldest 
e  family,  a 
One  of 
well-to-do 
nown  as  a 
lan  of  dis- 

len  an  emi- 
ts progress, 
pter  of  the 

population 
llf  and  bear 
Icounter  in 
the  lusts  of 
him  from 

)thing  but 

|s,  in  which 

and  drift 


m 


■M 


in  the  g)a,sp  and  coil  of  rousod-up  seas.  And  the  same  country 
which  was,  in  the  eighth  and  ninth  centuries  for  Europe,  the  lamp 
of  truth  and  the  ark  of  civilization,  sent  men  here'to  Canada  to 
root  hai'd  by  her  foundations,  the  gospel. 

The  Methodist  Church  is  one  of  the  inost  useful  and  numerous 
denominations  in  Canada.  It  numbers  in  Ontario  alone  nearly 
five  hundred  tliou.sand.  In  Quebec  itnuiubers  thirty-four  thou.sand 
one  hundred ;  in  New  Brunswick,  nearly  seventy  thousand  ;  in 
Nova  Scotia,  forty  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-one. 
This  church  is  traceable  to  the  Irish  Methodist  Church  as  child 
to  parent. 

In  17G0,  Embury  and  Barbara  Heck  emigrated  from  Ireland, 
and  founded  Metliodism  in  the  States.  Embury  died  in  1773. 
His  ^dow  married  John  Lawrence,  who,  like  herself,  had  emi- 
grated from  Ireland.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the  revolutionary 
war,  tins  couple,  together  with  David  Embury,  Paul  Heck,  and 
Barbara  Heck,  and  many  more  of  the  Irish  Palatines,  removed  to 
'  Lower '  Canada,  settling  first  about  Montreal,  whence  they  aftei-- 
wards  removed  to  Augusta,  in  'Upper'  Canada.  Here  they  pursued 
their  work  with  zeal.  In  the  house  of  John  and  Catherine  Law- 
renc(i,  the  first  "  class  "  of  Augusta  was  held.  They  thus  antici- 
pated and  prepared  the  way  for  che  itinerant  Methodist  preachers, 
and,  as  some  think,  for  the  ultimate  universality  of  Methodism 
in  the  Dominion.* 

Another  man  whose  name,  at  this  period,  should  not  be  for- 
gotten, was  George  Neal.  George  Neal  wielded  not  only  the 
sword  of  truth,  but  the  sword  of  steel.  He  belonged  to  that  curious 
race  of  soldiers  who  unite  fervent  religious  feeling  to  a  warlike 
instinct,  such  as  Havelock,  Hedley  Vicars,  and  hundreds  of  others, 
whose  names  will  readily  occur.  A  major  of  a  cavalry  regiment 
in  the  British  army,  he  was  a  local  Methodist  preacher.  He 
crossed  the  Niagara  river  at  Queenston,  and  commenced  preach- 
ing. The  same  results  followed  as  have  always  followed  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel  by  warm-hearted  men.  The  story  of 
immortal  love,  of  purity,  and  rectitude,  that  had  no  harsher  word 
for  impurity  and  error  than  "sin  no  mo/e;"  of  that  mysterious 


*  See  Goldwiu  Smith  in  "Fortnightly  Review"  for  March,  1877. 


m 


m 


I'' 


1 1 » I 


i  hi' 


';:  I. 


I;       i 


i! 


08 


THK   IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


pcrMon  who  wt-nt  through  tho  world,  liko  a  hrocze  of  balm  and 
healing  through  a  fevor-strickun  town  ;  of  one  so  groat  that  tho 
povv'or  (jf  cinpiro  hoouih  trifling  compared  with  His  ;  of  one  so 
tondor,  and  withal  so  sorrowful,  that  Ho  sooniod  tho  incarnate 
sigh  of  Ileavon  over  lunnan  woo  ;  this  divine  talo,  when  told  with 
tho  Irish  warmth  of  Major  Noal,  was,  says  Dr.  Bangs, "  blossod  to 
the  awakening  and  conversion  of  many  souls,"  aiid  tlio  bluff 
Christian  soklior,  wliose  house  became  afterwards  a  home  for  the 
preachers,  and  who  lived  to  see  large  and  flourishing  societies  es- 
tablished througlu/Ut  all  tho  district  where  he  lived,  "  was  always 
spoken  of  by  the  people  with  great  affection  and  veneration,  as 
the  pioneer  of  Methodism  in  that  country."  For  some  years  he 
was  the  ordy  Methodist  preacher  in  Canada.  But  in  1788  another 
pioneer  came  into  the  field,  James  M'Carty,  who  was  destined  to 
win  the  glory  of  martyrdom.  A  convert  of  Whitfield's  ministry, 
he  crossed  over  from  tlie  United  States  to  Kingston,  and  passed 
on  to  Ernestown,  where  he  began  to  hold  rtligious  meetings  in 
the  log-cabins.  He  was  a  man  of  attractive  manners  and  speech. 
Large  numl)ors  attended  his  preaching.  A  great  impression  was 
made.  Many  were  awakened.  His  mccess  provoked  hostility 
among  churchmen,  who  were,  as  we  n\ay  be  sure,  without  any 
claim  to  be  considered  religious  men.  The  word  "  Methodist "  i» 
even  now  used  by  some  foolish  people  as  a  tena  of  reproach.  In 
England,  the  church-doors  had  been  closed  in  the  face  of  John 
Wesley,  and  he  and  his  followers  were  often  subjected  to  indignity. 
We  need  not. wonder,  then,  that  a  sheriff',  a  militia  captain,  and  an 
engineer,  should  combine  to  rid  the  country  of  this  "  pestilent 
fellow."  Four  armed  men  entered  the  house  on  Sunday  morning 
where  M'Carty  was  dwelling  in  that  peace  which  man  can  neither 
give  nor  take  away.  Their  object  was  to  drag  him  to  the 
Kingston  prison ;  but  the  congregation  resisting,  and  one  Perry 
offering  bail  for  M'Carty 's  appearance  before  the  magistrate,  they 
retired.  The  next  day  the  Sheriff  of  Kingston  refused  to  interfere 
with  him.  Nevertheless,  the  three  ruffians,  before  night,  had  him 
in  prison  on  some  frivolous  pretext.  Perry  succeeded  in  bailing 
him  out.  On  his  being  returned  for  trial,  his  enemies  seized  him, 
thrust  him  into  a  boat,  and  had  him  landed  on  one  of  the  small 
islands  in  the  rapids  near  Cornwall,  where  he  perished. 


■f 


FATHKIl   OF    AXai.ICAMSM    IN    UVPIM   (JAN'ADA. 


90 


lialui  anil 
i  that  the 
if  one  80 
incarnate 
told  with 
blessed  to 

the  V)hiff 
lue  for  the 
jcieties  es- 
^as  always 
leration,  as 
e  years  he 
'88  another 
destined  to 
8  ministry, 
and  passed 
meetings  in 
and  speech. 
)ression  was 
ed  hostility 
irithout  any 
ethodist "  is 
proach.     In 
ice  of  John 

o  indignity. 

(tain,  and  an 

s  "  pestilent 

av  morning 
can  neither 

him  to  the 
one  Perry 

;istrate,  they 
to  interfere 

rht,  had  him 

fd  in  bailing 
seized  him, 

lof  the  small 

d. 


♦! 


.'ai 


Among  tlio  U  E.  Loyalists  was  a  man  of  Irish  Idood,  the  Rev. 
John  Stuart,  who  escaped,  in  1781,  to  Canada,  where  lu>  was  des- 
tined to  win  the  title  of  the  Father  of  tlie  Cluirch  of  England  in 
Upper  Canada.  He  was  born  in  1740.  Though  Ms  family  were 
Presbyterians,  his  priMlilections  led  him  to  the  Church  of  Kughind. 
He  became  a  missionary  in  the  Mohawk  Valley,  and  translated 
the  New  Testament  into  the  language  of  the  Mohawks.  In  Ca- 
nada he  proved  himself  a  zealous  missicmary,  and  was  indefati- 
galile  in  laying  the  fountlation  of  the  Church  among  the  Indians 
and  the  whites.  In  1785  he  took  up  his  permanent  abode  at 
Catara(jui,  where  he  resided  until  his  death,  which  took  place  in 
1811. 

Though  not  unmindful  of  success  he  was  a  true  missionary. 
"I  shall  not  regret,"  he  wrote  in  1783,  "  the  disappointment  anfl 
chagrin  I  have  hitherto  met  with,  if  it  pleases  God  to  make  me 
the  instrument  of  spreading  the  knowledge  of  His  Gospel  among 
the  heathen."  In  178-1<  he  visited  the  new  settlements  on  the  St. 
Lawrence,  the  Bay  of  Quintd,  and  the  Niagara  Falls.  In  a  church 
which  stood  ninety  miles  from  the  Falls,  and  which  was  the  first 
church  built  in  Upper  Canada,  the  Mohawks  received  him  with 
enthusiasm,  and  crowded  the  windows  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  their 
old  pastor.  In  1785  he  wrote  :  "  I  have  two  hundred  acres  within 
half  a  mile  of  the  garrison — a  beautiful  situation.  The  town  in- 
creases fast ;  there  are  already  about  fifty  houses  built  in  it,  and 
some  of  them  very  elegant.  It  is  now  the  port  of  transport  from 
Canada  to  Niagara.  We  have  now,  just  at  the  door,  a  shij),  a 
scow,  and  a  sloop,  besides  a  number  of  small  craft,  anti  if  the  com- 
munication lately  discovered  from  this  i)lace  by  water  to  Lake 
Huron  and  Miehilmachinac  proves  as  safe  and  .short  as  we  are 
made  to  believe,  this  will  soon  be  a  place  of  considerable  t^'ade." 
The  way  he  mingled  the  pioneer  settler  with  the  pioneer  divine 
is  .shown  in  the  following  sentences  : — "  I  have  been  fortunate  in 
my  lotcttions  of  land,  having  1,^00  acres  at  different  places  in 
good  situations,  and  of  an  excellent  quality,  three  farms  of  which 
I  am  improving,  and  have  sowed  this  fall  with  thirty  bushels  in 
them.  *  *  *  We  are  a  poor,  happy  people,  industrious  be- 
yond example.  Our  gracious  King  gives  us  land  gratis,  and  fur- 
nishes provisions,  clothing,  and  farming  utensils  until  next  Sep- 


J 


n 


% 


■\  i 


100 


THE   laiSHMAN   IN   PANADA. 


Kill: 


r' ' 


ii 


ml '  i^ 


If 


'  !l 


( 

i  I  i 


k  m 


tembor,  aftor  which  the  generality  of  the  peophj  will  he  al)le  to 
live  without  his  bounty,"  In  May,  17^0,  he  opened  an  academy. 
In  17H8,  he  went  round  his  ;)ari.sh,  which  wa.s  two  hundred  miles 
long.  Witli  six  Indians,  commanded  by  Ca  «tain  Brant,  he  coasted 
along  the  iK^rth  shore  of  Lake  Ontario ;  weit  twenty-five  miles 
by  land  to  New  Oswego,  a  Mohawk  village  just  established  on 
the  Grand  River,  and  beautifully  situated.  It  contained  seven 
hundred  souls.  In  the  midst  of  a  nund)er  of  tine  houses  stood  a 
handsome  church,  with  a  bell  swinging  in  its  steeple,  the  first 
bell  which  made  the  air  vibrate  in  Upper  Canada.  Brant  had 
collected  money  when  in  England,  and  had  expended  it  t':  li^lvan- 
tage.  Stuart  returned  by  Niagara,  and  visited  that  settlement. 
Here  he  found  no  clergyman.  The  pojjulation  had  gi .  atly  increased, 
and  lie  was  so  pleased  with  the  people  and  countiy.  that  he  was 
tempted  to  remove  his  family  thither.  "  You  may  imagin»>,"  he 
wiites,  "  it  cost  me  a  struggle  to  refuse  the  unanimous  and  press- 
ing invitation  of  a  large  settlement,  with  the  additional  argument 
of  a  subscript i':ii,  and  other  emoluments,  amounting  to  nearly 
£300  York  currency  per  annum  more  than  I  have  here.  But,  on 
mature  reflection,  I  have  determined  to  remain  here."  He  explains 
to  his  correspondent  that  he  is  not  rich,  as  he  might  be  inferred 
to  be,  when  he  refuses  such  an  otler.  He  adds  .-  "  I  do  not  intend 
to  die  rich.  *  *  I  Jiad  a  commission  sent  me  as  first  judge  of 
the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  But  for  reasons  which  will  readily 
occur  to  you,  I  returned  it  to  Lord  Doichester,  who  left  this  place 
a  few  days  a^ijo." 

In  1789  he  was  appointed  Bishop's  Commissioner  for  the  set- 
tlements from  Point  au  Baudette  to  the  western  limits  of  the 
Province.  In  17.92  he  became  chaplain  to  the  Upper  House  of 
Assembly.  In  1799,  his  alTna  mater,  the  Univeisity  of  Penn- 
sylvania, conferred  on  him  the  degree  of  D.D.  At  the  same  time 
he  became  chaplain  to  the  Kingston  garrison.  He  was  in  the 
seventy-first  year  of  his  age,  when  called  away.  He  was  six  feet 
four  inches  high,  and  was  hence  hv rnoiously  known  as  "the 
little  gentleman."  His  sermons  were  vigorous  and  persuasive. 
He  seems  +o  have  been  a  handsome  man.  His  character  was  a 
lofty  one.  We  need  v^t  be  surprised,  therefore,  when  we  are 
assured  that  he  was  held  in  the  highest  esteem  by  his  fellow-citi- 


IRISH   SETTLEMENT   IN   NEWFOUNDLAND. 


101 


i  ahlc  to 
caUcmy. 
id  miles 
>  coasted 
ve  nxile.s 
ished  on 
id  seven 
I  stood  a 

the  first 
laiit  had 
icadvan- 
ttleiuent. 
ncreased, 
it  he  was 
,oiru',"  he 
nd  press- 
argument 
to  nearly 
But,  on 
0  explains 
inferred 

ot  intend 
judge  of 

ill  readily 
jthis  place 

the  set- 
its  of  the 
House  of 
I  of  Penn- 
Lame  time 
las  in  the 
IS  six  feet 
s  "the 
lersuasive. 
eter  was  a 
In  we  are 
jllow-citi- 


zens.  An  agreeahle  clergyman  lias  seldom  to  complain  of 
neglect.  Mr.  Stuart  was  a  good  deal  more  t'  m  a  merely  agree- 
ablr  clergyman.  He  liau  five  sons  and  thi  3  daughters  borne  to 
luTii  by  Jane  O'Kiell.     Hi.,  .sons  all  occupied  prominent  positioitH, 

Ic  is,  as  the  reader  has  seen,  hard  for  me  to  treat  Newfound- 
land as  not  within  the  .scope  of  this  book.  In  l7i*'-4,  the  Kev.  Dr. 
O'Donriell,  a  native  of  Tippcrary,  availing  himself  oi  the  toleration 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Ileligion,  as  si^t  forth  in  the  Royal  Pro- 
clamation relating  to  Newfoundland,  led  an  Irish  .settlement 
thither.  In  17UU  he  was  a})p()inted  l)i.shop  of  the  island,  and 
he  received  for  some  years,  until  his  death,  an  annuity  of 
.£.50  for  his  .services  in  suppressing  a  mutiny  among  the  troops. 
Krom  Dr.  O'Do'^nell's  time,  the  Catholic  bishops  have  played  an 
important  ])art  in  the  island,  not  only  as  prelates — as  witness  the 
careers  of  Bishops  Lambert,  Scallan,  Fleming,  and  Mullock — but 
as  (elements  of  government  and  material  progress. 

The  Irish  priest  followed  his  people  wherever  they  wuiit,  and 
had,  sometimes,  preceded  them  into  tht  v,  "'deniess  as  mis  nonaries 
to  the  Indians,  as  was  the  case  with  the  Rev.  Ednuind  Bui-ke, 
the  Bishop  of  Halifax. 

At  Quebec,  in  1804,  the  English  Cathedral  was  built  by  Mr. 
Cannon,  an  Irish  Catholic.  Prior  to  this,  a  mass  was  said  specially 
for  the  Irish  Catholics ;  and  at  Montreal  the  Bonsecours  and  the 
Recollet  Church  were  placed  at  their  disi)osal. 

Haldimand  was  recalled,  and  Henry  Hamilton  sent  out  as 
governor  in  his  stead.  Hamilton  called  the  Legislative  Council 
together,  and  having  got  them  to  introv-'urio  Habeas  Corpus  into 
the  statute  law  of  the  Province,  was  gucceeded  by  Colonel  Hope, 
who,  after  a  few  months,  made  room  for  ( >>  neral  Carleton,  now 
Lord  Dorchester,  who,  in  addition  to  the  governor-generalship  of 
Canada,  was  nominated  commander-in-chief  of  all  His  Majesty's 
forces  in  the  colony.  For  some  years  loud  complaints  of  misgo- 
vernment  had  been  sent  across  the  Atlantic,  and  in  1787  Lord 
Dorche.ster  instituted  an  inquiry  which  brought  to  light  a  state  of 
things  worse  than  anyone  had  imagined.  The  administration  of  jus- 
tice was  tainted  ;  Judges  refused  to  hear  evi(  lence.  Letters  from  per- 
sons interested  in  suits  were  allowed  the  weight  of  testimony,  with- 
out being  sifted  b\  o   ?s-examination.  It  was  shown  that  Governor 


JM  rft! 


'''"■"  I  l!Blf»«Ji|J| 


iii 


102 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


In 


Haklimand  had  made  the  judges  instruments  of  political  oppres- 
sion. Not  only  so.  The  English  judges  looked  to  English  prece- 
dents ;  the  French  judges  administered  civil  law  ;  and  the  judges 
who  knew  as  little  of  English  common  law  as  of  the  French  civil 
law,  did  what  was  right  in  their  own  eyes.  Education  was  in  a 
deplorable  state.  The  English-speaking  inhabitants  had  increased, 
and  were  increasing.  This  deepened  the  note  and  increased  the 
volume  of  the  demand  for  a  Legislative  Assembly. 

In  1787  the  Legislative  Council  amended  and  made  perpetual 
the  militia  ordinance  of  ten  years  before.  A  French  historian, 
Bibaud,  says  the  only  way  to  account  for  this  conduct  is  by  sup- 
posing that  Lord  Dorchester  and  a  majority  of  his  Council  were 
persuaded  that  a  ligorous  military  despotism  was  the  form  of 
government  which  best  suited  Canada.  Thf  measure,  from  whose 
provisions  were  exempted  councillors,  judges,  public  officers, 
seigneurs,  cle^'gy,  nobles,  jjrofessional  men,  and  all  specially  ex- 
cluded by  order  of  the  commander-in-chief,  and  which  ordained 
that  captains  and  other  officers  of  militia,  in  the  country  districts, 
should  be  justices  of  the  peace,  was  a  despotic  one,  and  not  defen- 
sible on  the  ground  of  the  dangers  to  which  the  country  was 
exposed.  Yet,  owing  to  Lord  Dorchester's  capacity,  and  charm  of 
manner,  discontent  diminished,  and,  if  we  judge  by  the  eulogies 
on  the  Governor  in  the  addresses  presented  to  Prince  Wil- 
liam Henry,  we  shall  conclude  that  everything  was  held  to  be 
satisfactory.  In  1788,  the  Council  turned  its  artillery  against  un- 
licensed practitioners  of  medicine.  In  1789,  provision  was  made 
for  the  more  effectual  administration  of  justice.  A  committee  of 
the  executive  council  appointed  to  impiire  into  the  best  means  of 
advancing  elementary  and  the  higher  education,  communicated 
v/ith  the  Bishop  of  Quebec,  M.  Jean  Francois  Hubert,  and  his  co- 
adjutor, M.  Francois  Bailly,  The  responses  of  the  two  bishops 
were  in  singular  discord.  M.  Hubert  thought  the  country  too 
little  advanced,  too  thinly  populated,  and  too  poor,  for  the  found- 
ation of  a  university  in  Quebec  ,  while  M.  Bailly  said  it  was  high 
time  a  uiiiversity  was  established  in  Canada.  Neither  prelate 
pointed  out  a  solution  of  the  difficulty.  The  letter  of  the  Bishop 
of  Quebec  is  valuable,  however,  as  showing  the  condition  of  edu- 
cation.    Excepting  the  Quebec  seminary,  there  was  not  a  school 


STATE  OF   EDUCATION.      CONSTITUTIONAL   ACT. 


103 


oppres- 
li  prece- 
i  judges 
ich  civil 
rt'as  in  a 
creased, 
ised  the 

erpetual 
istorian, 
by  sup- 
icil  were 
form  of 
m  whose 
officers, 
ially  ex- 
ordained 
districts, 
ot  def  en- 
ntry  was 
charm  of 
eulogies 
ice   Wil- 
eld  to  be 
ainst  un- 
s^as  made 
uittee  of 
1  leans  of 
lunicated 
id  his  co- 
bishops 
mtry  too 
le  found- 
was  high 
prelate 
le  Bishop 
Q  of  edu- 
a  school 


in  the  province  where  more  was  done  than  teach  reading,  and 
writing,  and  arithmetic.  The  committee  reported  in  favour  of 
establishing  free  schools  throughout  the  province,  a  free  school 
for  higher  branches  in  the  principal  town  of  each  district,  and  a 
university.  The  scheme,  which  was  a  secular  one,  was  regarded 
with  hostility  by  the  clergy,  and  it  was  found  impossible  to  put 
it  into  exer  tion. 

The  governor  also  nominate*!  a  committee  to  report  on  the 
advantages  and  ^disadvantages  of  the  feudal  tenure,  and  of  free 
and  connnon  socage.  The  committee  reported  against  the  feudal 
system,  and  the  report  was  followed  by  the  draft  of  a  bill  or  ordi- 
nance which  greatly  alarmed  the  seigneurs  and  those  having  like 
interests.  One  seigneur,  however,  Charles  de  Lanaudiere,  had 
already,  in  1788,  addressed  the  governor,  and  shown  that  it  was 
the  interest  of  the  seigneurs  that  a  change  of  tenure  should  take 
place,  for  without  emigrants  their  lands  were  valueless,  and  it  was 
folly  to  expect  emigrants  to  settle  under  a  system  of  laws  they 
abhorred.  The  census  showed  the  population  of  the  province  at 
this  time  to  have  been  150,000,  auvl  M.  de  Lanaudi^re's  land  could 
accommodate  them  all. 

Difficulties  now  began  to  arise  out  of  the  differences  in  tradi- 
tion and  character  between  the  old  and  the  new  settlers  ;  and  the 
Home  Government  prepared  a  bill  which  was  sent  out  to  Lord 
Dorchester,  to  specify  any  changes  his  more  intimate  knowledge 
of  the  country  and  the  people  might  suggest.  The  Constitutional 
Act  of  1791  divided  the  Province  of  Quebec  into  two  provinces, 
to  be  known  as  Upper  Canada  and  Lower  Canada,  each  of  which 
should  have  an  elective  legislative  assembly  and  a  legislative 
council,  and  governor  appointed  by  the  Crown ;  the  seignorial 
tenure  and  French  law,  in  civil  cases,  to  be  retained  in  Lower 
Canada ;  British  law,  civil  as  well  as  criminal,  to  be  established 
in  Upper  Canada.  Provision  was  made  for  the  maintenance  of 
the  Protestant  clergy,  one-seventh  of  the  land  being  reserved  for 
this  purpose,  and  one-seventh  for  the  crown.  Those  members  of 
the  legislative  council  who  should  have  titles  were  to  have  an 
hereditary  right  to  sit  in  the  upper  chamber.  The  Act  was  thought 
by  some  too  aristocratic,  by  others  the  reverse.  Its  popular 
elements  were  to  prove  delusive,  and  the  provisions  for  the  clergy 


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104 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


were  destined  to  retard  the  progress  of  the  country,  and  to  give 
rise  to  much  trouble.  Lord  Dorchester,  with  the  instincts  of  a 
statesman,  recommended  that  the  reserves  of  the  crown  and  of 
the  clergy  should  be  in  separate  jurisdictions.  But  the  ministers, 
knowing  that  the  lands  mixed  up  with  those  of  private  indivi- 
duals, would  be  more  valuable,  rejected  his  advice,  and  thus,  as 
Smith  says,  struck  a  blow  at  the  progress  of  the  population,  and 
the  prosperity  of  the  province. 

While  this  measure  was  passing  through  parliament,  it  was 
warmly  debated  by  the  House  of  Commons.  Charles  James  Fox, 
more  than  any  statesman  of  the  time,  saw  the  bill  in  its  true  cha- 
racter. It  appeared  to  be  founded  on  generous  principles,  which 
vanished  the  moment  it  was  examined  in  detail.  The  people  of 
Canada  would  infallibly  make  dangerous  comparisons  between 
the  limited  and  aristocratic  system  about  to  be  established,  and 
the  popular  constitution  of  the  United  States.  They  should  give 
to  the  Canadians  a  popular  assembly,  not  in  appeaiance,  but  in 
reality. 

On  one  point  raised  in  the  debate,  there  would  probably  be  a 
difference  of  opinion  now — namely,  the  division  of  the  province. 
Many  would  think  to-day  that  the  object  should  have  been  to  bring 
the  peoples  more  together  ;  that  it  v/as  a  mistake,  to  permit  two 
systems  of  laws,  and  that,  if  measures  had  been  devised  by  which 
the  English  and  French-speaking  portions  of  the  population  should 
have  been  mixed,  and  the  foundation  laid  for  a  homogeneous  na- 
tion, there  would  have  been  more  than  was  shown  of  that  rare 
statemanship  which  goes  to  make  a  country.  Fox,  with  that 
wisdom  and  foresight  which  never  deserted  him,  pointed  out 
the  true  course  to  take,  and  Lord  Dorchester  was  even  more 
opposed  to  the  division  of  the  province.  Pitt  was  no  less  con- 
vinced of  its  expediency.  He  foresaw  the  state  of  things  which 
led  Mr.  Brown  and  Sir  John  A.  Macdonald  patriotically  to  sink 
their  differences  to  bring  about  confederation. 

Lord  Dorchester,  having  obtained  leave  of  absence,  left  for 
England  in  the  autumn.  General  Alured  Clarke,  on  the  17th 
December,  opened  the  first  parliament  of  Lower  Canad.* ;  while 
on  the  17th  December,  1792,  Lieutenant-Governor  J.  G.  Simcoe, 
opened  the  fiist  Upper  Canada  Parliament  at  Newark  (Niagara). 


AN   ARISTOCRATIC   PIONEER. 


105 


In  Lower  Canada,  Lieutenant-Governor  Clarke  divided  the  pro- 
vince into  counties,  cities,  and  boroughs ;  and  Edward  O'Hara 
was  returned  for  Gasp^.  D'Arcy  McGee  Loasted,  in  1806,  that 
henceforward  Lower  Canada  was  never  without  an  Irish  repie- 
sentative  in  its  legislative  councils,  and  I  believe  the  boast  might 
be  made  to-day.  Lieutenant-Governor  Simcoe  divided  Upper 
Canada  into  nineteen  towns,  which  only  sent  sixteen  members 
to  parliament.  The  upper  province  was  very  thinly  populated, 
and  we  were  on  the  eve  of  a  European  war  which  was  destined 
to  scatter  on  Continental  battle-fields  strong  hands  and  ))rave  • 
hearts,  that  might  otherwise  have  made  war  on  the  wilderness  in 
Canada.  We  were  destined,  however,  to  snatch  one  great  prize 
from  the  maw  of  that  war,  for  the  founder  of  the  Talbot  settle- 
ment was  the  youthful  secretary  of  the  first  Lieutenant-Governor 
of  Upper  Canada. 

That  brilliant  period,  comprising  the  closing  decades  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  the  opening  quarters  of  the  nineteenth, 
was  distinguished  by  an  extraordinary  number  of  remarkable 
men.  Amongst  them  all — statesman,  soldier,  scholar,  wit,  poet — 
we  doubt  if  there  was  one  more  deserving  of  study — one  who,  in 
his  career,  presents  more  strikingly  original  features — than  Col. , 
the  Hon.  Thomas  Talbot,  the  founder  of  the  Talbot  Settlement. 

Born  at  Malahif^o,  in  the  County  Dublin,  on  the  l7th  July, 
1771,  he  was  the  s(m  of  Richard  Talbot,  Esq.,  and  Margaret, 
Baroness  Talbot.  The  Talbots  of  Malahide  spring  from  the  same 
source  as  the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury.  Among  the  great  barons  who 
accompanied  William  the  Conqueror  wa^'  Richard  do  Talbot. 
"  His  grandson,  Richard,"  says  Lodge's  "Peerage,"  "  was  father  of 
Gilbert,  ancestor  of  the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury,  who  settled  in  Ire- 
land in  the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  and  was  invested  with  the  ancient 
baronial  castle  of  Malahide,  and  the  estate  belonging  thereto." 

Thomas  Talbot  was  educated  at  the  Manchester  Public  Free 
School.  But  his  knowledge  could  only  be  elementary.  In  1782, 
when  only  eleven  years  of  age,  he  received  a  commission.  It 
does  not  follow  that  he  was  taken  away  from  school.  He  must, 
however,  have  left  school  before  he  had  completed  his  sixteenth 
year,  as  we  find  him,  in  1786,  one  of  the  aides-de-camp  to  the 
Marquis  of  Buckingham,  the  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland.     His ; 


rlT 


106 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


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holding  this  position  is  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  Marquis 
was  related  to  the  Talbot  family.  His  brother  aide-de-camp  was 
that  "  mischievous  boy,"*  Arthur  Wellesley,  afterwards  the  Duke 
of  Wellington.  Both  lads  were  destined  for  fame — widely  differ- 
ent, indeed,  in  lustre  and  magnitude.  Both  were  destined  to 
lei  ,d  useful  lives ;  and,  perhaps,  in  his  humble  sphere,  wielding 
i;he  axe  amid  Canadian  forests,  Talbot's  usefulness  may,  in  the 
sum  of  things,  prove  as  great  as  that  of  Wellington,  throwing  his 
sword  into  the  balance  against  the  French  Caesar.  It  is  pleasant 
to  think  that  the  acquaintance  of  the  two  early  friends  continued 
through  life,  and  that  tlie  backwoodsman  was  entertained  by  the 
great  Duke  at  Apsley  House.  Sir  Jonah  Barrington  did  not  find 
the  first  soldier  in  Europe  so  approachable. 

The  man  who  would  have  predicted  the  f -ite  of  the  two  young 
aides-de-camp  would  have  certainly  sketched  a  brighter  career  for 
Thomas  Talbot  than  for  Arthur  Wellesley.  Talbot  had  more 
lively  parts,  and  was  equally  we;l-connected.  But  happily  for 
Canada,  he  early  left  the  path  of  fame  for  that  of  usefulness — 
the  drawing-room  and  the  tented  field  for  the  wilderness  and  the 
shanty. 

Many  a  hero  dates  his  predilection  for  the  life  of  a  soldier  from 
the  hour  he  read  the  life  of  Alexander  the  Great.  The  life  of 
Nelson  sends  scores  of  youths  to  the  yard-arm.  Reading  Charle- 
voix's history,  while  secretary  to  Lieutenant-Governor  Simcoe, 
Talbot  was  filled  with  an  enthusiasm  to  drive  out  the  wild  beasts, 
and  to  people  the  shores  of  Lake  Erie  with  an  industrious  papu- 
lation. 

Li  the  yea"  1790,  Mr.  Talbot  joined  the  24th  regiment  ao  lieu- 
tenant, at  Quebec.  Three  years  afterwards  he  received  his  ma- 
jority. In  1796,  he  became  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  5th  regiment 
of  foot,  which  regiment  he  immediately  joined,  and  did  good  ser- 
vice on  the  Continent,  commanding  two  battalions.  After  the 
peace  of  Amiens,  he  retired  from  the  army  ;  came  to  Canada,  and 
settled  at  Port  Talbot,  on  a  spot  which  had  attracted  his  fancy 
during  one  of  General  Simcoe's  expeditions.  On  arriving  here, 
Talbot  erected  a  tent  on  the  top  of  the  hill ;  turned  host ;  met  the 


See  "  Fifty  Years  of  My  Life."    Albemarle. 


'^>, 


THE  CASTLE   OF  MALAHTDE. 


107 


e  Marquis 
camp  was 
the  Duke 
[ely  differ- 
Bstined  to 
,  wielding 
lay,  in  the 
rowing  his 
is  pleasant 
,  continued 
ned  by  the 
id  not  find 

two  young 
T  career  for 
,  had  more 
happily  for 
sefulness — 
ess  and  the 

loldier  from 
he  life  of 
ing  Charle- 
or  Simcoe, 
,vild  beasts, 
rious  V-'pu- 

lent  a3  lieu- 
led  his  ma- 
th regiment 
[d  good  ser- 

After  the 
Canada,  and 

his  fancy 
[riving  here, 
1st ;  met  the 


governor  at  the  tent-door,  and,  witli  that  dignity  which  was  part 
of  Ids  inheritance,  invited  liis  Honour  to  the  Castle  of  Malahide. 
"  Here,  General  Simcoe,"  he  said,  "  will  I  roost ;  and  will  soon 
make  the  forest  trend>]e  under  the  wings  of  the  flock  I  will 
invite  by  my  warblings  ai-ound  me."  On  the  following  morning 
they  stood  at  the  Forks  where  London  now  stands,  when  General 
Simcoe  said  :  "  This  will  be  the  chief  military  depot  of  the  west, 
and  the  seat  of  a  district.  From  this  spot  I  will  have  a  line  for 
a  road  run  as  straight  as  the  crow  can  fly,  to  the  head  of  the 
little  lake  " — where  Dundas  stands  to-day. 

"  He  remained  in  my  family  four  years,"  wrote  General  Simcoe 
to  Lord  Hobart,  in  1803,  "  when  he  was  called  home  as  major  of 
the  5th  regiment,  then  ordered  to  Flanders.  During  that  period, 
lie  not  only  conducted  many  details,  and  important  duties,  inci- 
dental to  the  original  establishment  of  a  colony  in  matters  of 
internal  regulation,  to  my  entire  satisfaction,  but  was  employed 
in  the  most  confidential  measures  necessary  to  preserve  that 
country  in  peace,  without  violating,  on  the  one  hand,  the  relations 
of  amity  with  the  United  States,  and,  on  the  oth'  '•,  alienating  the 
affection  of  the  Indian  nations  at  that  time  in  open  war  with 
them." 

"  In  this  very  critical  situation,  I  principally  made  use  of  Mr. 
Talbot  for  the  most  confidential  intercourse  with  the  several 
Indian  tribes,  and,  occasionally,  with  his  Majesty's  Minister  at 
Philadelphia.  These  duties,  without  any  salary  or  emolument,  he 
executed  to  my  perfect  satisfaction." 

Thus  an  Irishman  played  a  very  important  part  in  settling  the 
new  order  of  things. 

When  Talbot  returned  to  Europe — on  the  march,  or  pacing  the 
rock  of  Gibraltar,  or  sharing  the  chagrin  of  the  disastrous  expe- 
dition of  the  Duke  of  York — he  dreamed  another  dream  than  that 
of  military  glory  ;  and,  nrnid  the  roar  of  battle,  mused  on  found- 
ing a  settlement  in  the  silent  wilds  of  Canada.  The  peace  of 
Amiens  bears  date,  the  27th  of  March,  1802.  Immediately 
Colonel  Talbot,  having  determined  to  lay  aside  the  sword  for  the 
axe,  made  some  visits  of  friend,  ip,  and  then  turned  his  face  to 
the  boundless  ocean,  and  the  almost  equally  boundless  forest. 

He  wished  to  take  with  him  a  companion,  who  should  helj) 


I  Hi 


1)1 


m 


ll'Siill 
!! 


^.:J^ 


t  |l!l 


il 


108 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


him  in  founding  a  colony  in  Canada*  This  companion  was 
not  a  lady,  for  against  the  charms  of  the  gentler  sex  Talbot 
seems  to  have  been  proof,  but  a  young  man,  who  was  afterwards 
to  be  well  and  favourably  known  as  Lord  Dacre.  Mr.  Brand  had 
been  educated  in  Germany.  He  had  studied  in  the  philosophical 
school  of  Kant.  A  young,  imaginative,  generous  enthusiast,  he 
was  in  love  with  liberty — his  imagination  took  fire  at  progress. 
"  The  political,  as  well  as  the  social  and  intellectual  system  of 
Europe  appeared  to  him,  in  his  youthful  zeal,  for  the  improve- 
ment of  his  fellow-beings,  belated,  if  not  benighted,  on  the  road  to 
it ;  and  he  had  embraced,  with  the  most  ardent  hopes  and  pur- 
poses, the  scheme  of  emigration  of  Colonel  Talbot  for  forming  in 
the  New  World,  a  colony,  where  all  the  errors  of  the  Old  were  to 
be  avoided.  But  his  mother  died,  and  the  young  emigrant  with- 
drew his  foot  from  the  deck  of  the  Canadian  ship,  to  take  his 
place  in  the  British  peerage — to  bear  an  ancient  English  title, 
and  become  master  of  an  old  English  estate — to  marry  a  brilliant 
woman  of  English  fashionable  society — and  to  be  thenceforth  the 
ideal  of  an  English  country  gentleman."  From  that  Arcadia 
which  was  to  revive  under  the  auspices  of  Talbot  and  himself,  he 
turned  away  at  the  call  of  fortune,  leaving  Talbot  to  pursue  his 
course  alone.  He  little  knew  from  what  hardships  he  saved  him- 
self when  he  took  his  hand  from  the  plough  of  a  pioneer. 

Talbot  landed  at  a  point  afterwards  known  as  Port  Talbot,  on 
the  21st  May,  1803.  With  characteristic  eagerness,  the  dash- 
ing Irish  soldier  immediately  set  to  work  with  his  axe,  and 
cut  down  a  tree.  Where  now  stands  the  settlement  which 
should  always  bear  his  name,  was  the  primeval  forest.  To  the 
west  was  unbroken  and  undisturbed  wilderness  ;  to  the  east  there 
was  no  sign  of  civilization  nearer  than  sixty  miles.  Where  Lon- 
don now  sits,  like  a  queen,  in  the  midst  of  the  finest  agricultural 
region  of  Canada ;  rich  in  branch  banks,  telegraph  agencies, 
and  daily  papers  ;  with  its  fine  buildings,  large  hotels,  numerous 
churches,  foundries,  breweries,  petroleum  refineries,  tanneries, 
boot  factories,  factories  for  making  furniture,  musical  instruments, 
carriages,  candles,  soap ;   with  its  population  of  nearly  twenty 


*  See  ••  Old  Woman's  Gossip,"  by  Fanny  Kemble.    "Atlantic  Monthly,"  Feb.  1877. 


PORT  TALBOT.   ARKANGKMENT  WITH  THE  GOVERNMENT.  100 


anion  was 
sex   Talbot 
afterwards 
.  Brand  had 
nilosophical 
thusiaat,  he 
at  progress. 
I  system  of 
le  improve- 
i  the  road  to 
368  and  pur- 
i-  forming  in 
Old  were  to 
igrant  with- 
,  to  take  his 
English  title, 
•y  a  brilliant 
inceforth  the 
ihat  Arcadia 
d  himself,  he 
3  pursue  his 
e  saved  him- 
neer. 

rt  Talbot,  on 
3s,  the  dash- 
lis  axe,   and 
nient  which  • 
•est.     To  the 
;he  east  there 
Where  Lon- 
asricultural 
agencies, 
sis,  numerous 
(S,  tanneries, 
instruments, 
early  twenty 


^thly,"  Feb.  1877. 


thousand  ;  green  boughs  of  trees,  which  were  young  when  Cartier 
.sailed  up  the  St.  Lawrence,  dipped  into  the  river  as  yet  un-named 
the  Thames,  and  where  there  is  now  the  busy  hum  of  commerce, 
the  tap  of  the  wood-pecker  broke  the  solemn  silence,  and  echoed 
down  the  wooded  aisles.  Where  the  corn-fields  and  orchards  of 
the  most  favoured  townships  of  Middlesex,  Elgin,  and  Bothwell, 
on  the  side  of  Erie,  flourish — there,  in  1803,  the  forest,  in  all  the 
richness  of  Canadian  vegetation,  reigned  supreme. 

Port  Talbot  must  then,  as  well  as  now,  have  been  a  charming 
spot.  The  creek  winds  round  the  hills  amid  rich  flats.  The 
approach  from  the  east  presents  to  the  delighted  eye  of  the 
traveller,  every  variety  of  woodland  scenery — of  hill  and  dale. 
On  j-ounding  the  acclivity.  Lake  Erie,  stretching  away  to  the 
horizon,  breaks  upon  the  vision.  We  are  here  two  hundred  feet 
above  the  lake,  and  the  view,  wherever  we  turn,  is  of  the  grandest. 

While  in  England,  Colonel  Talbot  had  made  an  arrangement 
with  the  Government,  by  which  he  obtained  a  grant  of  five 
thousand  acres  :  in  this  way.  For  every  settler  the  colonel  placed 
on  fifty  acres  of  land,  he  was  entitled  to  two  hundred  acres,  until 
five  thousand  acres  were  reached.  He  afterwards  obtained  for 
such  of  the  settlers,  as  desired  it,  one  hundred  acres  of  land  each. 
Some  idea  of  the  means  of  the  pioneers  may  be  gathered  from  the 
fact,  that  some  of  them  had  not,  in  thirty  years,  completed  the 
payment  of  the  moderate  dues,  £6  9s.  3d. ;  and  many  of  the  old 
farmers,  at  this  hour,  acknowledge  their  obligation  to  Colonel 
Talbot's  liberality.  Talbot  and  his  fellow-workers  endured  great 
privations. 

One  of  these  was  George  Ward,  a  native  of  the  Queen's  County, 
who  joined  the  British  army  about  the  close  of  the  last  century. 
His  regiment  was  ordered  to  Quebec,  and  while  there  he  made 
Talbot's  acquaintance,  and  ever  after  they  remained  fast  friends. 
Ward  .settled  on  the  banks  of  the  River  Thames,  about  fifteen 
miles  ea.st  of  where  Chatham  now  stands.  When  the  war  of  1812 
broke  out,  he  had  four  sons — William,  James,  Alexander  D.,  and 
Talbot  St.  John.  William  and  James  volunteered  into  the  Kent 
Militia,  under  Captain  John  McGregor.  James  was  attacked  by 
a  severe  cold,  in  the  camp  on  Burlington  Heights,  from  which  he 
died.      William  fought  under  McGregor,  at   the   Battle  of  the 


no 


TIIK   HUSH  MAN   IN   CANADA. 


"f(  111 


Nil 


MtMl 


Hit 


.;!Hi 


Longwood.s.  Captain  Alexander  Ward  and  his  younger  )trother 
were  then  aiiiall  boys,  running  through  tlie  cani{»  of  Teeuniseh 
and  liis  warriors,  before  betook  his  position  on  the  battle-ground 
at  Moravian  Town.  The  captain  loved  to  describe  the  hero's 
.  attitude  haranguing  his  warriors,  and  the  l)reathless  silence  with 
which  they  listened  to  his  eloquence.  In  1837,  Captain  Ward 
raised  a  company  of  volunteers,  marched  to  the  front,  and  re- 
mained under  arms  until  the  rebellion  was  put  down  ;  after 
this  he  lived  on  his  farm  near  Wardsviiie,  a  quiet  and  retired  life. 

As  with  all  early  settlers,  one  of  their  difHculties  was  to  get 
their  corn  ground.  They  were  obliged  to  hollow  out  with  fire 
the  stump  of  a  large  tree,  until  it  was  converted  into  a  serviceable 
mortar  ;  a  wooden  beetle  being  used  as  a  pestle,  the  corn  was  ren- 
dered fit  for  use.  But  this  was  a  clumsy  method,  and  in  1808, 
Col.  Talbot  built  a  mill  at  Dunwich,  He  seems  also  to  have  made 
an  eifort  to  supply  them  with  religion.  He  assembled  them  on 
Sunday  for  religious  worship,  and  like  a  patriarch  read  divine 
service  to  them.  He  ensured  punctuality  and  a  large  congrega- 
tion by  sending  the  whiskey -bottle  round  after  the  service.  Not 
only  did  he  thus  seek  to  lead  their  minds  to  heaven,  he  united 
them  in  the  bonds  of  matrimony.  He  also,  it  is  said,  baptized  the 
children.  Yet  at  no  time  of  his  life  was  he  what  is  understood  by 
a  religious  man.  When  a  young  man  he  was  full  of  jocosity,  and 
some  have  affirmed  wit ;  it  is  certain  that  after  dinner,  like  many 
other  men,  he  was  given  to  retailing  stories  which  are  better  left 
untold. 

His  mode  of  transferring  land  was  peculiar.  He  was  accus- 
tomed to  pencil  down  the  name  of  the  settler,  and  this  rough-and- 
ready  way  of  giviag  a  title  was  aided  by  his  memory.  A  trans- 
fer was  effected,  not  by  elaborate  conveyance,  but  by  a  piece  of 
india-rubber  and  a  stroke  of  the  pencil. 

Things  progressed  slowly.  Not  until  1817  was  there  anything 
like  a  shop  or  store  in  the  settlement ;  the  wants  of  the  settlers 
were  often  supplied  from  Col.  Talbot's  stores.  In  those  days  the 
settler  had  to  pay  eighteen  bushels  of  wheat  for  a  barrel  of-  salt ; 
a  yard  of  cotton  cost  one  bushel.  The  cotton  may  now  be  had  for 
sixpence.  The  same  quantity  of  wheat  would  to-day  buy  eight 
or  ten  barrels  of  salt. 


Hi, 


m 


EXTENT  OF  THK  TALBOT  SETTLEMENT. 


Ill 


iini^er  brother 
of  TecuinHL'li 
l)attle-,t,'r()un(l 
ibe  the  hero's 
ss  silence  witli 
Captain  Ward 
front,  and  re- 
t  down  ;  after 
nd  retired  life. 
ies  was  to  get 
V  out  with  fire 
bo  a  serviceable 
e  corn  was  ren- 
1,  and  in  1808, 
:io  to  have  made 
nibled  thorn  on 
•ch  read  divine 
large  congrega- 
le  service.    Not 
aven,  he  united 
id,  baptized  the 
understood  by 
of  jocosity,  and 
iner,  like  many 
are  better  left 

He  was  accus- 
^his  rough-and- 
lory.  A  trans- 
It  by  a  piece  of 

I  there  anything 
of  the  settlers 
those  days  the 
barrel  of-  salt ; 
low  be  had  for 

l-day  buy  eight 


The  tract  settled  under  the  superintendence  of  Col.  Talbot, 
— a  superintendence  extending  over  half-a-century, — comprises 
twenty-nine  townships,  containing  from  KJO.OOO  to  180,000  in- 
habitants. The  townships  are  the  following: — Raleigh,  Zone, 
Howard,  Maidstone,  Rochester,  Tilbui-y  East,  Houghton,  Mersea, 
Howard,  Sandwich,  Carradoc,  Southwold,  London  (together  with 
the  city),  Eck.frid,  Yarmouth,  Romney,  Oxford,  Harwich,  West- 
minster, Bayham,  Mosa,  Middleton,  Tilbury  West,  Blandford,  Gos- 
field,  Malahide,  Dunwich,  Al<lboro',  Walsingham. 

The  settlers  or  tlunr  descendants,  with  a  few  exceptions  where 
the  whiskey  bottle  was  allowed  to  kill  foresight  and  thrift,  are 
the  proprietors  of  fine  farms,  well  stocked,  with  good  barns,  and 
eaeh  worth  from  $2,500  to  $25,000.  These  yeomen,  as  we  have 
seen,  had  no  more  than  the  axe  on  their  shoulders,  when  they 
made  the  nccjuaintance  of  Thomas  Talbot. 

Talbot  was  one  of  those  men  who  make  men.  He  made  Bur- 
well.  He  made  Mr.  John  Rolph  who  affected  great  love  and  re- 
verence for  the  Colonel,  and  liked  him  so  much  that  he  would  have 
been  glad  to  have  given  him  one  of  his  sisters.  But  the  Colonel 
seemed  impervious  to  female  charms.  He  said  he  had  been  in 
love  and  that  the  lady  refused  him,  but  those  who  knew  him  best 
thought  this  was  uttered  in  jest. 

He  was  a  man  scrupulously  exact  in  monetary  transactions. 
The  large  sums  received  from  the  settlers  were  duly  accounted  for 
to  the  Government,  at  a  period  not  distinguished  for  that  honour 
which  feels  a  stain  like  a  wound.  The  only  notes  he  would  take 
were  those  of  the  Bank  of  Upper  Canada.  He  made  an  annual 
visit  to  Toronto  (Little  York)  and  gave  in  his  returns  and  money 
to  the  Government.  On  these  occasions  he  travelled  in  a  hif'h 
shouldered  box  sleigh,  wi-apped  up  in  a  .sheep  skin  coat  and  covered 
with  buffalo  robes.  The  sheep  skin  coat  soon  became  an  object  of 
reverence. 

Colonel  Talbot  was  a  man  of  liberal  views,  and  gave  the  land  to 
any  good  settler,  whether  English,  Scotch,  or  Irish.  To  avoid 
personal  encounters,  he  had  one  of  the  panes  of  glass  in  his  window 
made  to  open  and  shut,  and  here  all  negotiations  took  place.  He 
did  not  like  being  disturbed  after  dinner,  and  devoted  of  late  years 
the  forenoon  of  each  day  to  business.     A  good  idea  of  the  extent. 


Ill> 


112 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


If^ 


of  his  transactions  with  eniigiants  may  be  gathorocl  from  papers 
laic  before  the  House  of  Assembly  in  1830.  The  Colonel  had,  in 
addition  to  the  original  agreement, made  another.and,  underOrders 
in  Council,  settled  r  vast  tract  of  country  far  in  excess  of  anything 
^  0  had  originally  contemplated.  From  an  abstract  in  the  al)ove 
papers  headed  "  Statements  of  Lands  in  the  London  and  Western 
Districts,  which  have  been  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Hon. 
Thomas  Talbot,  under  Orders  in  Council  and  Orders  from  the 
Lieutenant-G  )\  'rnor,  for  the  time  being,"  it  appears  that  the 
enomious  amount  of  518,000  acres  lying  in  twenty-nine  town- 
ships had  been  placed  at  his  disposal.  In  1831,  the  [)Opulation 
settled  in  these  townships  was  estimated  by  the  Colonel  himself  as 
nearly  40,000  souls. 

In  1826,  he  became  straitened  in  means,  owing  to  his  exertions 
to  push  forward  the  settlement.  He  wrote  a  letter  to  Earl 
Bathui-st  saying  that  after  twenty  yec.:s  devoted  to  the  improve- 
ment of  the  Western  Districts  of  Canada,  he  found  himself  in 
difficulties.  Having  established  twenty  thousand  souls  without 
any  expense  for  superintendence  to  the  Government  or  the  settler, 
and  at  a  .sacrifice  of  $100,000  to  himself,  he  woke  up  to  the  un- 
pleasant conviction  that  he  was  wholly  without  capital.  In  re- 
sponse to  this  appeal  he  obtained  a  pension  of  $2,000  per  annum. 
He  deserved  this  on  public  grounds.  He  was  a  father  to  his  people, 
and  protected  them  from  the  fangs  of  men  in  office  who  cared  only 
for  the  fees.  What  power  he  exercisod  may  be  inferred  from  the 
fact  that  in  a  minute  of  the  Council  addi'essed  to  His  Honour  S. 
Smith,  Administrator  of  the  Government  of  the  Province  of  Upper 
Canada,  Mr.  W.  D.  Powell  complains  as  follows  : — "  It  is"  he  says, 
"  apparent  under  this  latitude  that  the  Province  is  at  the  disposal 
of  Colonel  Talbot,  by  being  allowed  to  receive  150  acres  for  himself 
for  every  settler  he  placed  on  50."  But  Colonel  Talbot,  acting  under 
Orders  in  Council,  was  beyond  his  spleen.  The  secj  '/  of  the 
animosity  to  the  Colonel  was  that  his  powers  interfered  with  the 
fees.  Nor  need  one  be  surprised  that  the  emigrant  preferred  to 
flee  from  an  insolent  official  to  one  who  was  pjiternal  in  his  pro- 
tecting kindness. 

The  land  on  which  he  had  laid  his  hand  was  seen  by  the  Little 
7ork  Officials  to  be  the  most  valuable  in  the  country.     But  the 


i!!l 


THE  TALHOT   ANNIVERSARY 


113 


from  papers 
onel  had,  in 
indorOnlers 
of  anything 
in  the  a})Ove 
md  Western 
if  the  Hon. 
iYS  from  the 
trs  that  the 
'^-nine  town- 
B  population 
el  himself  as 

his  exertions 
itter  to  Earl 
the  improve- 
nd  himself  in 
iouls  without 
3r  the  settler, 
ip  to  the  un- 
lital.     In  re- 
D  per  annum, 
to  his  people, 
lo  cared  only 
-red  from  the 
is  Honour  S. 
nee  of  Upper 
t  is"  he  says, 
the  disposal 
is  for  himself 
acting  under 
ecj   '■>  of  the 
ired  with  the 
preferred  to 
,1  in  his  pro- 
sy the  Little 
try.     But  the 


Colonel  defeated  their  sinister  aims.  Hence  large  tracts  of  fertile 
land,  which  might  have  lain  untilled,  are  now  occupied  hy  pros- 
perous farmers.  We  need  not  wonder  that  the  settlers  kfpt  for 
many  years  the  day  of  his  first  arrival  in  the  country  as  a  feast. 
•  Tlie  day  ami  all  who  honour  it!"  was  received  with  futhusiiism, 
and  the  "Hem.  Thomas  Talbot,tliefounderof  the  Talbot  settlement!" 
was  dro'vned  in  bumpers.  After  the  fiist  few  years,  the  anniver- 
sary always  took  place  in  the  beautifully  situated  Town  of  St. 
Thomas,  called  after  the  Colonel,  and  ccmtinued  until  fa.shi()n  and 
strangers  drove  away  the  sturdy  yeomanry. 

In  ISIH  the  town  of  London  was  surveyed  and  laid  out  in  lots. 
Thee  were  dven  out  to  actual  settlers,  by  Colonel  Talbot,  on  con- 
wition  of  the  performance  of  settlement  duties,  and  the  building 
a  house. 

The  Castle  of  Malahide,  at  Port  Talbot,  where  the  first  men  in 
Canada,  and  noble  and  distinguished  men  from  the  old  country, 
were  frequently  entertairfed,  was  built  like  an  eagle's  nest  on  a 
boM  high  cliff  overhanging  the  lake.  It  was  a  long  range  of  low 
buildings,  formed  of  rough  logs  and  shingles.  The  main  building 
consisted  of  three  princii)al  apartments,  of  which  the  dining-room 
was  a  really  handsome  room.  The  kitchen  was  large,  and  the  fire- 
place designed  by  a  man  on  hospitable  thoughts  intent.  Under 
ground  were  cellars  for  storing  wine,  milk,  and  provisions.  To  the 
east  was  the  granary  and  store-rooms,  on  the  west  the  dining- 
room,  and  between  these  two  an  audience -room.  In  front  of  the 
building  was  a  Dutch  piazza,  where  poultry  of  all  kinds  sunned 
themselves  and  dozed.  The  rafters  had  never  been  touched  with 
any  implement  but  the  axe.  In  the  audience  chamber,  where  vis- 
itors were  received  and  business  transacted,  the  furniture  was  very 
plain.  A  solid  deal  table,  a  few  chairs  with  skin  bottoms,  a  cup- 
board, a  couple  of  chests — that  was  all.  The  only  thing  imparting 
an  air  of  comfort  to  the  room  was  the  ample  fire-place.  The  colonel 
drank  good  wine,  and  if  his  fare  was  homely,  it  was  of  the  best. 

Near  to  the  main  building  was  another,  containing  a  range  of 

bedrooms.  In  latter  years  a  suite  of  rooms  of  more  pretensions 

was  added.     Around  the  house  rose  a  variety  of  outbuildings  of 

various   shapes,   unharmonious  in  dimensions,  and  unsymmetri- 

cally  disposed.  One  of  these  was  the  log  hut  which  first  sheltered 
8 


{ill! 


in 


114 


THE   raiHHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


the  Colonel.  Many  of  these  outbuildings  were  for  the  geo«e  and 
fowl,  of  which  he  reared  a  sutKcient  number  to  .supply  a  county 
From  thi.s  clifl-upheld  castle  the  blue  lake  was  seen  .spreaditig  away 
like  a  large  mind  dreandng  of  all  it  has  read  and  thought  in  sunny 
hour«.  On  the'left  was  Port  Stanley  ;  and  it  was  jdeasant  to  .sit  and 
watch  the  .schoorors  sail  by,  or  some  little  sk iff,  with  fuli-bcllied 
canvas,  plough  through  the  bright  waves.   Behind  the  house  was 
an  open  tract  of  land,  prettily  broken,  where  many  head  of  cattle 
grazed,  and  large  Hocks  of  .sheep  brow.sed.    There  were  sixteen 
acres  of  orchard,  and  a  beautiful  flower  garden.     House,  grazing 
gi'ounds  and  cliff,  all  were  framed  in  luxuriant  woods,  through 
which  in  summer  steals  a  gentle  stream  into  the  lake,  and  in  win- 
ter roars  a  raging  torrent.     "  The  storuis  and  the  gradual  action  of 
the  waves,"  wrote  Mrs.  Jameson,  forty  years  ago,  "  have  detached 
large  portions  of  the  cliff  in  front  of  the  house,  and  with  them 
huge  trees.  Along  the  lake  shore  I  found  trunks  and  roots  of  trees 
half  buried  in  the  sand,  or  half  overflowed  with  water,  which  I 
often  mistook  for  rocks.     I  remember  one  large  tree  which,  in  fal- 
ling headlong,  still  i-emained  suspended  by  its  long  and  stray  fd>res 
to  the  cliff  above ;  its  position  was  now  reversed — the  top  hung 
downwanis,  shivered  and  denuded.  The  large  spread  root,  upturned, 
formed  a  platform  on  which  new  earth  had  accumulated,  and  new 
vegetation  sprung  forth  of  flowers  and  bushes  and  sucklings.  Alto- 
gether it  was  a  mo.st  picturesque  and  curious  object." 
■    Up  to  the  introduction  of  responsible  government  into  Canada, 
the  Governors  regularly  made  tours  as  far  as  Port  Talbot.  No  man 
of  rank  felt  he  had  "  done"  Canada  without  making  this  visit, 
and  ladies  were  anxious  to  see  the  man  who  could  resist  their 
charms.    Among  the  Colonel's  visitors  were  the  Duke  of  Rich- 
mond, Mr.  Labouchere,  Sir  Peregrine  Maitland,  Sir  J.  Colborne, 
Lord  Ayhner,  Chief  Justice  Robinson,  and  others.     Hundreds  of 
less  note  called  to  pay  their  respects.     There  was  open  house  for 
all,  and  while  tho  gentlemen  were  entertained  in  the  dining-ro(jm, 
Jeffrey,  the  confidential  servant,  made  the  poor  deserving  settler 
happy  in  the  kitchen.     The  Colonel  had  often  to  preside  over  the 
culinary  department  him.self. 

Sometimes  he  met  with  i  snob,  and  treated  him  as  he  deserved. 
Mr.  Parkins,  at  one  time  Sherilf  of  London,  England,  was  invited 


I 


AN   EXTRAORDINARY    LIKENESS. 


115 


ewe  and 
I  county, 
ing  away 
in  sunny 
io  nit  unci 
Jl-belluHl 
ouse  was 
i  of  cattle 
e  sixteen 
i,  grazing 
,  through 
(1  in  win- 
1  action  of 
1  detached 
yith  them 
)ts  of  trees 
1-,  which  I 
ich,in  fal- 
,tray  fiVjres 
^  top  hung 

upturned, 
1,  and  new 

ngs.  Alto- 

)o  Canada, 
No  man 
I  this  visit, 
[esist  their 
of  Kich- 
Colborne, 
indreds  of 
house  for 
ling-room, 
ling  settler 
\g  ov.er  the 

deserved. 
r&s  invited 


to  dine  witli  him.  During  dinner,  he  made  use  of  offensive  lan- 
guage about  one  of  Col.  Talbot's  friends.  "  I  do  not  permit  such 
language  to  be  made  use  of  at  my  table,"  said  the  host.  Parkins, 
lifting  the  edge  of  the  tablecloth  and  discovering  a  pine  board, 
cried  :  "  Your  table  !  Do  you  call  this  a  taljle  i  "  "  Jeffrey,"  said 
Col.  Talbot,  "  let  Mr.  Parkins'  horse  bo  brought  to  the  door." 

"  xMy  dogs  don't  understand  heraldry,"  .said  he  to  a  countryman, 
who  sought  to  influence  him  by  an  imaginary  pedigree.  A  Yankee, 
who  preferred  to  live  under  the  British  flag,  applied  for  land,  x'he 
Colonel  asked  him,  whether  he  had  got  a  good  chanicter.  Kis 
reply  wa.s  in  the  affhmative.  "  From  whom  ? "  "  From  the  Al- 
mighty." "  And  what  does  He  say  ?  "  "  Why,  He  recommends  me 
to  take  care  of  myself,  and  to  get  as  nuich  land  as  I  can."  "  Very 
well,"  said  the  C(»lonel,  "  that  is  a  good  recommendation  and  you 
shall  have  a  lot."  Like  most  men  of  Innnour,  he  was  benevolent, 
ai'd  a  love  of  justice  was  the  predominant  feature  of  his  character. 
Mrs.  Jamesm  grew  enthusiastic  over  Port  Talbot.  She  found  the 
Talbot  District  containing  twenty-eight  town.ships  and  680,000 
acres  of  land,  of  whic!i,  at  that  time,  some  forty  years  ago,  98,700 
acres  were  cleared.  The  inhabitants,  including  the  population 
of  ten  towns,  amounted  to  50,000."  "You  see,"  .said  Talbot  gaily, 
"  I  may  boast,  like  the  Irishman  in  the  farce,  of  having  peopled 
a  whole  country  with  my  own  hands."  All  the  agreements  were 
in  his  own  handwriting. 

He  was  then  about  sixty-five  years  of  age,  but  did  not  look  so 
much.  "In  spite  of  rustic  dress,  his  good  humoured,  jovial  and 
weather-beaten  face,"  writes  vhat  fascinating  authoress,  "  and  the 
primitive  simplicity,  not  to  .say  rudeness  of  his  dwelling,  he  has, 
in  his  features,  air  and  deportment,  that  'something'  which  stamps 
him  gentleman.  And  that  something  which  thirty-four  years  of  soli- 
tude has  not  effaced,  he  derives,  I  suppose,  from  blood  and  birth — 
things  of  more  consequence,  when  philosophically  and  philanthropi- 
cally  considered,  than  we  are  apt  to  allow.  He  must  have  been  very 
handsome  when  young  ;  his  resemblance  now  to  our  royal  family, 
particularly  to  the  King  (William  IV.),  is  so  very  striking,  as  to 
be  something  next  to  identity.  Good  natured  people  have  set 
themselves  to  account  for  this  wonderful  likeness  in  various  ways 
pos  ibleand  impossible;  but  after  a  rigid  comparison  of  dates  and 


'ill 


t 

in 


ii 


Hi 


II 


!•! 


H'll 


116 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


ages,  and  assuming  all  that  latitude  which  scandal  usually  allows 
herself  in  these  matters,  it  remains  unaccountable,  unless  we  sup- 
pose that  the  Talbots  have,  var  la  grdce  de  Dieu,  a  family  knack 
of  resembling  kings.  You  may  remember  that  the  extraordinary 
resemblance  Avhich  his  ancestor,  Dick  Talbot  (Duke  of  Tyrconnel) 
bore  to  Louis  the  fourteenth,  gave  occasion  to  the  happiest  and 
most  memorable  repartee  ever  recorded  in  the  chronicle  of  wit."* 

Mrs.  Jameson  was  delighted  with  his  flower  garden  covering 
over  two  acres  neatly  laid  out  and  enclosed  and  evidently  a  hobby 
and  a  pride  to  the  old  nian.  It  abounded  in  roses,  the  cuttings 
of  which  he  had  brought  from  the  gardens  of  England.  "  Of 
these  he  gathered  the  most  beautiful  buds,  and  presented  them  to 
me  with  such  an  air  as  might  have  became  Dick  Talbot  present- 
ing a  bouquet  to  Miss  Jennings.  We  then  sat  down  on  a  pretty 
seat  under  a  tree,  where  he  told  me  he  often  came  to  meditate. 
He  described  the  appearance  of  the  spot  when  he  first  came  here, 
as  contrasted  with  its  present  appearance,  and  we  discussed  the 
exploits  of  some  of  his  celebrated  and  gallant  ancestors,  with 
whom  my  acquaintance  was  (luckily)  almost  as  intimate  as  his 
own.  Family  and  aristocratic  pride  1  found  a  prominent  feature 
in  the  character  of  this  remarkable  man,  A  Talbot  of  Malahide, 
of  a  family  representing  the  same  barony  from  father  to  son  for 
six  hundred  years,  he  set,  not  unreasonably,  a  high  value  on  his 
noble  and  unstained  lineage;  and  in  his  lonely  position,  the  sim- 
plicity of  his  life  and  manners  lent  to  these  lofty  and  not  unreal 
pretensions  a  kind  oi  poetical  dignity. 

'■  I  told  him  of  the  surmises  of  the  people  relative  to  his  early 
life  and  his  motives  for  emigrating,  at  which  he  laughed. 

" '  Charlevoix,'  said  he  '  was,  I  believe,  the  true  cause  of  my 
coming  to  this  place.  You  know  he  calls  this  the  '  Paradise  of 
the  Hurons.'  Now  I  was  resolved  to  get  to  Paradise  by  hook  or 
by  crook  and  so  I  came  here.'  ""f 

*In  a  note  Mrs.  Jameson  recalls  the  reply  of  Talbot  when  sent  Ambassador  to 
France.  Louis  XIV.,  struck  by  the  extraordinary  likeness  to  himself,  said,  "  Monsieur 
L'AmViassadeur,  est-ce-que  Madame  votre  Mfere  a  jamais  6ti  dans  la  cour  du  Roi 
mon  Pere  ?"  The  witty  Irishman  replied  with  a  low  bow,  "  Non,  Sire  -mais  mon  pk-e  y 
aait!" 

t  Winter  Studies,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  197, 198,  199. 


"«.T 


DISLIKE  TO   FEMALE  SOCIETY. 


117 


illy  allows 
is  we  sup- 
lily  knack 
raordinary 
Fyiconnel) 
ppiest  and 
!  of  wit."* 
n  covering 
;ly  a  hobby 
he  cuttings 
and.      "  Of 
ied  them  to 
>ot  present- 
on  a  pretty 
0  meditate, 
came  here, 
scussed  the 
jstors,  with 
mate  as  his 
lent  feature 
f  Malahide, 

to  son  for 
alue  on  his 
)n,  the  sim- 

not  unreal 

to  his  early 


He  said,  seriously,  he  had  accomplished  what  he  had  resolved  to 
accomplish,  but  he  would  not  for  the  universe  again  go  through 
the  horrors  he  had  gone  through  in  forming  the  settlement.  He 
broke  out  against  the  follies  and  falsehoods  and  restrictions  of 
artificial  life  in  bitter  and  scornful  terms.  Yes — he  was  happy 
and  the  old  man  sighed  as  he  said  so.  He  was  alone — a  lonely 
man.  His  sympathies  and  affectionfj  had  been  without  natural 
outlet.  "But,"  says  Mrs.  Jameson,  forgetting  all  she  had  ever 
read  about  the  vanity  of  fame  and  human  ingratitude,  "  he  is  a 
great  man  who  has  done  great  things  and  the  good  which  h«i  has 
done  will  live  after  him.  He  has  planted  at  a  terrible  sacrifice  an 
endurinff  name  and  fame  .nd  will  be  commemorated  in  this  '  brave 
new  world  '  this  land  of  hope,  as  Triptolemu'  among  the  Greeks. 

"  For  hie  indifference  and  dislike  to  female  society,  and  his 
determination  to  have  no  settler  within  a  certain  distance  of  his 
own  residence,  I  could  easily  account  when  I  knew  the  man; 
both  seem  to  me  the  result  of  certain  habits  of  life  acting  on  a 
certain  organization.  He  has  a  favourite  servant,  Jeffrey  by  name, 
who  has  served  him  faithfully  for  more  than  five -and  twenty 
years,  ever  since  he  left  off  cleaning  his  own  shoes  and  mending 
his  own  coat.  This  honest  fellow,  not  having  forsworn  female 
companionrjhip,  began  to  sigh  after  a  wife — 

'  A  wife  !  oh !  Sainte  Marie  Benedicit^ ! 
How  might  a  man  have  any  adversitt^ 
That  hath  a  wife?' 

And  like  the  good  knight  in  Chaucer,  he  did 

*  Upon  his  bare  knees  pray  God  him  to  send 
A  wife  to  last  unto  his  life's  end.' 

"  So  one  morning  he  went  and  took  unto  himself  the  woman 
nearest  at  hand — one,  of  whom  we  must  needs  suppose  that  he 
chose  her  for  her  virtues,  for  most  certainly  it  was  not  for  her  at- 
tractions. The  Colonel  swore  at  him  for  a  fool ;  bat,  after  a  while, 
Jeffrey,  who  is  a  favourite,  smuggled  his  wife  into  the  house,  and 
the  colonel  whose  increasing  age  renders  him  rather  more  depend- 
ent on  household  help,  seems  to  endure  very  patiently  this  addi- 
tion to  his  family,  and  even  the  presence  of  a  white-headed  chubby 


"^' 


•"■»"'««"«• 


'"Hi 

'  I' 


m 


U! 


)i!i 


I,  ! 


m 


118 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


little  thing,  which  I  found  runuing  about  without  let  or  hind- 
rance," 

What  a  sad  picture  and  how  beautiful  it  is  at  the  same  time 
made  by  the  presence  of  a  child  with  its  fearless  innocence  and 
the  hint  it  gives  of  womanly  care  and  kindness.  There  is  always 
srme  unhappy  explanation  for  indifference  or  dislike  to  the  society 
of  women.  Either  the  mark  has  a  small,  narrow  nature,  or  else  a 
woman  has  been  the  instrument  to  him  of  a  great  sorrow  and  he 
reasons  by  a  sweeping  generalization  from  one  woman  to  her  sex 
generally,  or  he  has  so  high  an  ideal  of  the  fe'^ipl  character  that 
experience  fills  him  with  disgust.  Yet  as  the  existence  of  hypo- 
crites does  not  prove  there  are  no  saints,  so  the  fact  that  we  see 
in  some  women  treachery  and  gi*eed,  miserable  intrigue  and  vil- 
lainous plotting  to  plunder  or  ruin,  is  no  reason  why  we  should 
forget  the  lessons  taught  us  by  the  noble  bearing  of  a  mother,  and 
by  the  chaste  dignity  of  a  sister.  A  young  lady  once,  on  hear- 
ing a  gentleman  quote  the  following  words  of  Tennyson, — "  No 
angel  but  a  dearer  being  all  dipt  in  angel  instincts,"  and  apply 
them  to  women  generally,  said  very  wittily : — ''  But  the  trouble 
is  they  are  not  dipped  deep  enough."  Some  are  dipped  deep 
enough,  though  they  are  perhaps  not  the  majority.  They,  how- 
ever, furnish  the  ideal  towards  which  all  women  should  strive. 
When  we  remember  how  high  a  chivalrous  and  noble-hearted  man 
places  a  woman  for  whom  he  has  the  least  tenderness,  and  the 
petty,  selfish,  ravenously  lucre-loving  character  of  multitudes 
whose  face  and  form  are  like  those  we  dream  of  in  angels,  when 
above  all  we  reflect  on  the  hideous  contrasts  furnished  by  haughty 
professions  and  humiliating  practice,  we  need  not  wonder  when 
we  see  a  large-natured  man  like  Talbot  banish  himself  from  the 
solace  of  love  and  gentle  companionship.  The  inconsistency  of  incon- 
sistent women  has  tainted  a  whole  literature,  and  made  the  men  of 
genius  of  France  libellers  of  half  its  population.  It  is  better  that  dis- 
gust should  take  the  form  it  took  in  Talbot's  case  than  that  we 
should  grow  satisfied  with  the  hasty,  low,  and  utterly  false  concep- 
tion of  the  character  of  woman  we  form,  when  the  wings  drop  from 
the  angel,  and  the  haroine  sinks  in  the  moral  scale  to  the  level  of  a 
lap-dog,  and  revenge  ourselves  during  the  rest  of  our  lives  by  breaking 


'.^WgilKIPW 


;t  or  hind- 
same  time 
acence  and 
e  is  always 
the  society 
e,  or  else  a 
ow  and  he 
to  her  sex 
,racter  that 
le  of  hypo- 
hat  we  see 
ue  and  vil- 
we  should 
mother,  and 
!e,  on  hear- 
'son,  — "  No 
and  apply 
the  trouble 
lipped  deep 
The3^  how- 
kould  strive, 
learted  man 
ess,  and  the 
multitudes 
,ngels,  when 
3y  haughty 
onder  when 
3lf  from  the 
acyof  incon- 
e  the  men  of 
,ter  that  dis- 
han  that  we 
'alse  concep- 
;8  drop  from 
ihe  level  of  a 
by  breaking 


'1 


NOBLE   WOMEN. 


119 


m 


epigrams  on  the  betterhalf  of  the  human  race  *  For  all  the  vain  and 
bad  ones  there  are  plenty  of  good  women  whose  smile  has  no  be- 
trayal in  it,  and  in  the  vivacity  of  whose  eye  there  is  no  death;  who 
can  literally  double  our  joysf  ;  whose  approbation  is  to  genius  as  a 
draught  from  Helicon  itself  i  ;  whose  sympathy  is  like  the  dew,  as 


*  Even  the  character  of  Lucretia  has  not  escaped  the  sneers  of  French  writere— "  Ah  ! 
(lit  le  Martinis  de  Riberville,  Je  ne  pense  pas  que  ce  soit  ce  que  Monsieur  le  Conseiller 
appri^ende,  et  js  ciois  qu'il  est  Lien  assur^  de  Madame  son  t^pouse.  Ma  foi,  dit  bon 
vieillard,  il  n'y  a  qu'heur  et  malheur  h  cela,  et  les  femmes  sent  fideles  ou  infidMes 
sulon  les  occasions.  Lucrtee  tHoit  la  plus  cruelle  femme  de  Rome,  et  elle  ne  laissa 
point  de  se  rendre  avant  que  de  se  tuer."— "LaFausse  Clelie."  The  date  of  the  volume 
is  1718,  and  it  was  published  "  avec  permission  du  roi." 

t  The  toast  of  "  The  LaiUes,  "  as  giv^n  vy  a  wit  will  probably  be  familiar  to  most  of 
my  readers—"  Here's  to  the  ladies,  who  hi-ive  our  sorrows,  double  our  joys  and  treble 
our  expenses." 

X  The  power  of  women — their  presence — their  conversation — their  encouragement  in 
stimulating  the  literary  faculty — has  not  been  sufficiently  dwelt  on,  and  is  little  under- 
stood. The  mind  works  better  if  a  woman  is  in  the  room.  She  throws  into  the  air 
some  subtle  electricity.  All  strong  minded  men  and  all  great  races  (witness  the  Jews) 
breathe  through  the  nosa  entirely— the  mouth  being  kept  for  its  proper  functions  of 
eating  and  drinking  and  talking.  The  brain  is  braced  and  stimulated  by  the  air  pass- 
ing through  the  nose.  It  is  possible  that  the  very  air  breathed  by  either  sex  is  more 
stimulating  to  that  sex  if  members  of  the  opposite  sex  breathe  it  at  the  same  time.  This 
is  felt  so  keenly  by  persons  highly  organized  that  we  need  not  be  surprised  that  the 
world  saw  exaggeration  or  wild  love  in  the  terms  in  which  John  Stuart  Mill  spoke  of 
his  wife.  The  power  of  Caroline  Michaelis  over  the  mind  of  Schlegel  is  one  of  the 
most  intesesting  studies  in  literarj'  history.  Both  before  and  after  she  becomes  his 
wife  her  influence  was  on  him  like  an  inspiration.  Nor  would  he  ever  have  been  the 
man  he  grew  to  be  had  it  not  been  for  her.  But  Caroline  Schlegels  do  not  grow  like  black- 
berries on  every  hedge.  She  writes  to  her  little  sister,  a  young  affianced  bride,  "When 
the  Ilm's  Hm's  (the  dandy  students)  pass  under  your  eyes,  do  you  really  do  abso- 
lutely nothing  for  vanity's  sake  ?  It  would  be  impossible  for  you  entirely  to  annihilate 
its  movements,  for  this  is  the  most  involuntary  of  all  original  sins,  and  one  we  need  as 
little  to  be  ashamed  of  as  corns  or  toothache.  Onfy  we  ought  neve-  to  mwea  step,  either 
bachonrds  or  forwards,  towards  encotiraging  the  failing  You  cannot  help  Us  being  plea- 
sant to  you  if  your  veiled  cap  suits  you ;  but  baoare  how  you  set  it  more  at  one  person  than 
another."  When  her  first  husband  died  she  returned  to  her  parents'  roof.  She  WTites 
to  Meyer—"  I  do  not  trouble  myself  concerning  the  future.  ♦  *  ♦  Qne  aim 
alone  do  I  consider  myEelf  obliged  to  pursue  with  unfaltering  step— that  of  my  daugh- 
ter's welfare.  All  the  rest  lies  stretched  before  me  like  the  vast  expanse  of  the  troubled 
ocean.  If  at  times  I  find  myself  turning  giddy  at  this  spectacle,  and  feel  my  head  whirl' 
I  just  close  my  eyes  and  still  trast  myself  on  it  without  fear,"  and  she  compares  her- 
self, after  the  first  great  burst  of  grief,  to  an  invalid  "  re8tore<l  to  life,  slowly  regaining 
her  strength,  and  inhaling  anew  the  pure,  balmy  spring  air."  In  this  mood  August 
Wilhelra  Schlegel  fouud  her  and  loved  her,  as  how  could  he  do  else  ?  I  could  mention 
dozens  of  cases,  which  have  come  within  my  own  experience,  where  the  woman  in- 
spired a;nl  s  elped,  and  was  content  that  the  husband  should  receive  all  the  praise. 


i  'I'' 

-=$ 

» ' 

iiii 

1  ■■[  1 

1 '  1 

1 

ill 

ii; 

*n 


IffiMi 


II       h 


iI 


,i! 


'! : 


nil'    ;t:illi 

ll  III 


Ii    i! 


hill 


ll!i 


'illM 


!  <ii 


120 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


gentle  and  as  refreshing;  whose  spirit  in  a  liouse  fills  it  with  har- 
mony and  peace,  and  makes  it  a  region  of  beauty, a  realm  of  delight; 
whose  voice  is  music;  the  touch  of  whose  hand  is  rest;  and  it  is 
treason  to  them  and  treason  to  ourselves  to  forget  that  such  exist, 
and  challenge  our  homage.  While  filling  our  lives  with  plea- 
sure and  melting  the  heart,  they  have  a  celestial  strength  by 
which  they  brace  chai'acter  and  purify  the  soul.  And  if  a  woman 
whom  fate  relegates  to  what  is  sneeringly  called  "  single  blessed- 
ness "  deteriorates,  and  from  happy  dreams,  "  castles  in  Spain,"  her 
mind  is  driven  to  ruins  where  it  cowers  amid  broken  arch  and 
shattered  column  and  desolate  hearth,  the  grey  loneliness  of  dis- 
mantled uninhabited  halls — disappointed  anticipations,  a  heart 
whose  desire  has  failed,  a  life  whose  charm  has  evaporated — and 
bitter  takes  the  place  of  sweet,  and  the  wine  of  her  ample  nature 
becomes  vinegar ;  not  less  unhappy,  as  we  shall  see  in  Talbot's 
case  is  the  effect  on  man  of  despising  the  wisdom  of  the  sacred 
utterance  that  it  is  not  good  for  him  to  be  without  the  tempering 
conditions  of  woman's  society. 

*'  0  woman !  lovely  woman !    Nature  made  thee 
To  temper  man ;  we  had  been  brutes  without  you  !  " 

But  to  return  to  Mrs.  Jameson's  sketch  of  a  great  and  singular 
man. 

"  The  room,"  she  writes,  "into  which  I  first  introduced  you,  with 
its  rough  log  walls,  is  Colonel  Talbot's  library  and  hall  of  audi- 
ence. On  leaving  my  apartment  in  the  morning,  I  used  to  find 
gi'oups  of  strange  figures  lounging  round  the  door,  ragged,  black- 
bearded,  gaunt,  travei-worii  and  toil-worn  emigrants,  Irish,  Scotch 
and  American,  come  to  offer  themselves  as  settlers.  These  he 
used  to  call  his  land-pirates ;  and  curious  and  characteristic  and 
dramatic  beyond  description  were  the  scenes  which  used  to  take 
place  between  the  Grand  Bashaw  of  the  wilderness  and  his  hungry 
unfortunate  clients  and  petitioners. 

"  Another  thing  which  gave  a  singular  interest  to  my  conversa- 
tions with  Colonel  Talbot  was  the  sort  of  indifference  with  which 
he  regarded  all  the  stirring  events  of  the  last  thirty  years. 
Dynasties  rose  and  disappeared;  kingdoms  were  passed  from  hand 
to  hand  like  wine  decanters ;  battles  were  lost  and  won ;  he  nei- 


BURIED    IN   THE   FOREST. 


121 


t  with  har- 
lof  deliglit; 
, ;  and  it  is 
,  such  exist, 
with  plea- 
trength  l)y 
if  a  V  omaii 
gie  blesse-l- 
Spain,"  her 
sn  arch  and 
iness  of  dis- 
ms,  a  heart 
)rated — and 
mple  nature 
in  Talbot's 
I  the  sacred 
le  tempering 


md  singular 


ed  you,  with 
all  of  audi- 
ased  to  find 
ged,  black- 
ish, Scotch 
These  he 
jcristic  and 
ised  to  take 
his  hungry 

y  conversa- 
with  which 
irty  years. 
from  hand 
m;  he  nei- 


ther knew,  nor  heard  nor  cared.  No  post,  no  newspapers,  brouglit 
to  his  forest-hut  the  tidings  of  victory  and  defeat,  of  revolutions 
of  empires,  '  or  murmurs  of  successful  or  unsuccessful  war.' 

"  When  first  he  took  to  the  bush  Napoleon  was  consul,  when  he 
emerged  from  his  solitude  the  tremendous  game  of  ambition  had 
been  played  out,  and  Napoleon,  and  his  deeds  ar  J  his  dynasty, 
were  numbered  with  the  things  o'er  past.  With  the  stream  of 
■events  had  flowed  by,  e(|ually  unmarked,  the  stream  of  mind, 
thought,  literature,  the  progress  of  social  impro\^ement,  the  changes 
in  public  opinion.  Conceive  what  a  gulf  between  us  !  But  though 
I  could  go  to  hnn,  he  could  not  come  to  me.  My  sympathies  had 
the  wider  range  of  the  two." 

It  must  have  been  like  talking  to  an  ancestor.  Partly  necessity, 
partly  a  true  instinct,  led  Talbot  thus  to  bury  himself  in  the  forest. 
Had  he  kepf.  up  his  interest  in  the  real  world,  he  could  not  have 
held  his  purpose  of  playing  the  part  of  the  greatest  of  Canadian 
pioneers.  He,  at  long  intervals,  made  trips  to  England;  and  these 
trips,  and  the  occasional  visits  of  distinguished  people,  were  the 
epochs  from  which  he  dated.  From  these  flights  he  returned  like 
an  old  eagle  to  his  throne  on  the  cliff,  whence  ho  looked  down  with 
contempt  and  indifference  on  the  world  he  had  quitted,  and  with 
much  self-applause  and  self-gratulatior  on  che  world  around,  which 
under  his  auspices  had  been  called  into  existence. 

Among  those  Irish  emigrants  and  settlers  who  failed  in  fore- 
sight many  were  drawn  from  the  educated  class  ;  for  alas  !  at  that 
time  education  was  a  class  distinction.  Those  men  who  came  to 
the  Talbot  settlement  side  by  side  with  the  sturdy  Gael  from  the 
Highlands  of  Scotland,  and  from  all  parts  of  Ireland,  had  two 
things  which  are  often  found  together,  solid  pride  and  a  vacuous 
purse.  An  interesting  and  prominent  man  of  this  class  was  John 
Harris.  This  gentleman  had  a  dispute  with  another  as  to  whose 
part  of  the  province  had  received  most  respectable  settlers.  "  Why '' 
said  Harris,  "  in  the  London  district  we  have  one  township  all 
gentlemen."  He  referred  to  the  Township  of  Adelaide,  where  a 
large  number  of  old  soldiers  who  had  commuted  for  their  pensions 
sought  to  settle.  These  included  many  members  of  most  res- 
pectable Irish  families.  A  nephew  of  Curran,  Captain  Curran 
found  himself  among  them.  But  it  is  not  for  the  Irish  settlers  al  one. 


^jlgjft 


^i^mmmmmiiim 


I 


:ii 


■n 


122 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


but  also  for  Scotch  and  English,  that  the  country  is  indebted  to 
Colonel  Talbot.     What  was  felt  by  all  for  him,  by  English  and 
Scotch  as  well  as  Irish,  appears  from  a  correspondence  which  took 
place  in  1817.     On  the  5th  of  March,  1817,  James  Nevills,  secre- 
tary of  a  meeting  held  respecting  the  anniversary,  writes,  trans- 
mitting an  address.     He  said  he  was  further  directed  to  say  that 
a  chair  was  to  be  left  pei-petually  vacant  in  Colonel  Talbot's  name 
to  be  filled  by  him  or  "  by  his  descendants  in  future  ages."     How 
we  do  dream,  as  clouds  may  dream  of  building  themselves  into 
solid  towers.     The  address  signed  on  behalf  of  the  meeting  by  J. 
Wilson,  President,  and  L.  Patterson,  Vice-President,  breathes  a 
spirit  of  filial  gratitude.     They  presented  him  with  a  tribute  of 
the  high  respect  they  collectively  cherished  and  individually  felt. 
"  From  the  earliest  commencement  of  this  happy  patriarcJiy,  we 
date  all  the  blessings  we  now  enjoy ;  and  regarding  you  as  its 
founder,  its  patron  and  its  friend,  we  most  respectfully  beg  leave 
to  associate  your  name  with  our  infant  institution.     To  your  first 
arrival  in  Port  Talbot  we  refer  as  the  auspicious  hour  which  gave 
birth  to  the  happiness  and  independence  we  all  enjoy  and  this  day 
commemorate."     The  address  went  on  to  say  that  in  grateful  re- 
membrance of  the  Colonel's  unexampled  hospitality  and  disinter- 
ested zeal  in  their  behalf,  and  because  they  contemplated  with 
interested  feelings   the  astonishing  jn'ogress  of  their  increasing 
settlement  under  his  friendly  patronage  and  patriarchal  care,  they 
had  unanimously  appointed  the  21st  of  May,  for  the  Talbot  anni- 
versary.    They  added  that  the  public  expression  of  happiness  and 
gratitude,  they  transmitted  through  their  children  to  their  latest 
posterity. 

The  answer  of  Colonel  Talbot  was  in  keeping  with  his  character. 
It  was  frank  and  manly  and  simple.  It  was  fit  to  be  signed 
"  Your  faithful  friend."  Having  thanked  them,  he  says  it  highly 
gratified  him  that  they  were  not  insensible  to  the  exertions  he 
had  made  to  advance  the  welfare  of  that  part  of  the  Province. 
For  these  exertions  he  was  amply  compensated  by  witnessing  the 
assemblage  of  so  large  and  respectable  a  body  of  settlers.  He  had 
no  doubt  but  that  in  a  few  years  the  country  would  exhibit  in  a 
striking  manner  the  superiority  of  the  soil  and  thoroughness  of 
their  labours.     The  surest  way  to  ensure  this  was  to  persevere  as 


ENVY   AND  INGRATITUDE.. 


123^ 


indebted  to 
English  and 
3  which  took 
levills,  secre- 
.vrites,  trans- 
d  to  say  that 
'albot's  name 
asfos."     How 
jmselves  into 
neeting  by  J. 
t,  breathes  a 
1  a  tribute  of 
ividually  felt, 
atriarehy,  we 
ig  you  as  its 
illy  beg  leave 

To  your  first 
ir  which  gave 
J  and  this  day 
1  grateful  re- 

and  disinter- 
mplated  with 
eir  increasing 

lal  care,  they 
Talbot  anni- 

iai)piness  and 

0  their  latest 

his  character, 
to  be  signed 

ays  it  highly 

exertions  he 
the  Province, 
vitnessing  the 

ers.     He  had 
exhibit  in  a 

irouffhness  of 
persevere  as 


they  had  begun,  in  industry  and  harmony.  There  should  be 
wanting  nothing  on  his  part  to  promote  their  interest.  They  did 
him  infinite  honour  by  associating  his  name  with  their  infant  in- 
stitution, which  he  ardently  hoped  might  be  productive  of  social 
and  virtuous  enjoyment,  and  never  become  the  vehicle  of  calumny 
and  party  intrigue.  This  was  dated  the  10th  March,  1817.  Mr. 
J.  Rolph  was  delighted  with  what  had  been  done,  and  makes  a 
note  which  has  an  historical  value  now.  "  The  secretary  to  the 
Talbot  anniversary,  Mr.  Adjutant  James  Nevills,  shoidd  prepare  a 
statement  to  be  published,  and  he  should  keep  on  record  all  the 
proceedings  of  the  day.  Should  pen,  ink  and  paper  be  scarce,  the 
Adjutant  knows  where  he  can  get  as  much  as  he  wants  by  riding 
up  for  it — J.  Rolph."  The  poorest  man  in  the  whole  twenty-eight 
townships  could  now  boast  of  his  ability  to  supply  an  Adjutant 
with  paper  and  ink.  On  the  17th  Lieutenant-Colonel  Burwell,. 
who  was  jealous  of  Rolph's  influence  A\-ith  Colonel  Talbot,  put 
forth  an  address  deprecating  an  anniversary.  The  people  could  ill 
afiord  to  pay  cash  for  attending  far-fetched  anniversaries.  But  he 
admitted  the  great  claims  and  noble  character  of  Colonel  Talbot. 
Burwell's  address  was  a  curiosity  from  the  point  of  view  of  style  : 
"  If,"  he  said,  "the  worthy  personage  to  whom  the  address  was 
presented  had  departed  this  life.  If,  he  was  no  more — I  will  not 
now  inform  the  world  nor  insult  his  sense  of  delicacy  by  saying 
what  part  I  would  take  in  the  foundation  of  such  an  institution.. 
At  present  he  is  among  us — we  know  his  exertions  to  get  the  fine 
tract  of  country  we  inhabit  settled.  And  he  knows  what  our  ex- 
ertions have  been  to  settle  it.     Without  saying  anything  more 

respecting  him we  know  him.     And  from  the  progi-ess  we 

have  made,  not  in  fine  anniversary  addresses,  but  in  meliorating 
the  rude  wilderness  ;  the  world  may  judge  whether  we  have  not 
such  feelings  and  understandings  as  we  ought  to  have.  And 
whether  we  can  appreciate  its  worth  without  proclaiming  it  on  the 
house-tops — and  making  ourselves  ridiculous."  Of  course  the  bur- 
den on  the  people  would  be  just  as  great  if  Colonel  Talbot  were 
dead.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  Burwell  was  an  -  vious,  ill-conditioned 
man. 

On  the  21st  May,  1817,  the  anniversary  was  held  at  Doctor 
Lee's  Hotel,  Yarmouth.     Seventy-five  persons  attended.     Not  one 


Tf  ' 


i.«    '-3 


■-r" 


I  If*    ' 


,,:ii, 


*■•  : 


iij 


l!'! 


«"  ; 


J  ■!! 


Mr 


pi 
•I 

nil 


ili'ill 


i*iiM, 

illl 


124 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


of  thoni  l)ut  ha<l  tasted  of  the  Coloncr.s bounty  and  had  experienced 
his  directing-  kindness.  Colonel  Burwell's  address  was  condemned 
for  its  })ad  taste  and  intrusiveness. 

Towards  the  close  of  his  life,  there  is  little  doubt  the  Colonel 
was  not  temperate.  But  he  had  accjuitted  himself  well  during 
his  long  career,  and  in  what  he  went  through  in  the  solitude  of  his 
life  must  be  found  the  excu?e,  if  excuse  can  be  made.  A  very 
small  worm  will  spoil  a  g-ood  api)le,  and  a  trilling  weakness  mar 
a  fine  character.  But  for  this  blemish,  what  a  proud  figure  Colonel 
Talbot  would  make  in  our  history.  Perhaps,  notwithstanding  it, 
his  form  will  stand  out  great  and  venerable  to  the  eye  of  future 
generations.  He  lived  to  see  his  work  accomplished.  Before  he 
went  down  to  the  grave,  London  was  a  flourishing  capital,  and 
the  prosperity  of  the  whole  settlement  was  assured.  He  succeeded 
in  all  his  projects  regarding  his  settlers.  His  design  to  found  a 
great  family  estate  proved  abortive.  For  some  time  prior  to  his 
death,  his  mind  suffered  an  eclipse. 

Wishing  to  bequeath  his  large  estate  to  a  male  descendant  of 
the  Talbot  family,  he  had,  at  a  comparatively  early  period,  invited 
to  Canada  one  of  his  sister's  sons,  Mr.  Julius  Airey.  This  young 
gentleman  took,  up  his  abode  at  Port  Talbot.  But  the  dulness  of 
the  life,  the  Colonel's  eccentricities,  and  the  want  of  congenial 
com|)anions,  rendered  existence  unbearable ;  and,  after  a  residence 
of  a  few  years  with  his  uncle,  he  relinquished  all  claims  to  Port  Tal- 
bot and  returned  to  the  society  for  which  he  pined.  Colonel  Airey 
military  secretary  at  the  Horse  Guards,  succeeded  to  the  expecta- 
tions of  his  younger  brother.  Throwing  up  his  attractive  and  im- 
portant position,  and  turning  his  back  on  the  capital  of  English 
civilization,  he  removed  with  his  family  to  Port  Talbot.  From  this 
time  Colonel  Talbot's  infirmities  increased.  He  was  doubtless  wor- 
ried. Colonel  Airey,  instead  of  living  in  ahouse  of  his  own  on  some 
part  of  the  estate  near  "  the  rookery,"  took  up  his  residence  with  his 
uncle.  Differences  ensued.  Colonel  Talbot  had  been  accustomed 
to  dine  at  noon.  Colonel  Airey  introduced  a  new  order  of  things; 
dinner  at  seven  o'clock,  and  dressing  for  it  indispensable.  Not  only 
so,  the  liquor  was  locked  up.  The  old  man  kicked.  He  deter- 
mined to  keep  a  separate  establishment.  But  he  had  been  dis- 
turbed at  a  time  when  new  habits  cannot  be  formed.     He  grew 


Tfyj 


Dj(T 


DEATH   OF  THE   GRKAT   PIONEER. 


125 


I  experienced 
,s  coinlemned 

the  Colonel 
well  (lurinn: 
)lituJe  of  lus 
ide.     A  very 
/■eakness  mar 
igure  Colonel 
thstanding  it, 
eye  of  futui-e 
d.     Before  he 
g  capital,  and 
He  succeeded 
o-n  to  found  a 
le  prior  to  his 

descendant  of 
period,  invited 
This  young 
the  dulness  of 

of  congenial 
ier  a  residence 
ns  to  Port  Tal- 
Colonel  Airey 

the  expecta- 
activeand  isu- 

tal  of  English 
)ot.  From  this 

oubtless  wor- 
s  own  on  some 
dence  with  his 

n  accustomed 

■der  of  things; 

,ble.  Not  only 
He  deter- 

had  been  dis- 

led.     He  grew 


d 


sick  and  discontented.  He  resolved  to  leave  Canada.  He  would, 
he  thought,  draw  out  the  remainder  of  his  days  in  England, 
or  on  the  continent.  He  left  Port  Talbot.  But  taken  sick  at 
London,  Canada  West  he  lay  there,  the  old  man,  nigh  eighty 
years  of  age,  in  a  dangerous  condition  for  weeks.  He  was,  how- 
ever, in  the  midst  of  kind  friends  in  the  house  of  Mr.  John  Harris. 

He  recovered  but  henceforth  he  was  a  mere  tool  in  the  liands 
of  Geor<{e  McBeth.  He  set  out  for  England,  where  he  remained  a 
year  and  then  returneil  to  lay  his  bones  in  the  country  to  which 
he  liad  devoted  his  life.  It  was  a  distressing  thing  to  see  the  old 
man  settle  down  in  a  humble  cottage  on  the  outskirts  of  his 
aiagniticent  estate.  The  man  who  had  once  been  lord  of  Port 
Talbot  was  fain  to  lodge  in  a  small  room  in  the  house  of  Mrs. 
Hunter,  the  widow  of  his  friend  and  servant  Jeffrey.  He  had 
made  over  to  Colonel  Airey  the  Port  Talbot  estate,  worth  $50,000, 
and  13,000  acres  in  the  adjoining  Township  of  Aldboro'.  This 
was  not  a  moiety  of  the  estate  which  Colonel  Airey  had  had  reason 
to  expect  would  descend  to  him ;  but  now  it  was  evident  it  was  all  he 
would  get  from  the  Colonel.  He  therefore  rented  what  he  had 
got  to  Mr.  Saunders  and  returned  witli  his  family  to  England, 
where  he  resumed  his  post  at  the  Horse  Guards.  The  remainder 
of  the  estate,  worth  $250,000,  was  bequeathed  to  George  McBeth, 
who  married  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Saunders.  With  McBeth  the 
Colonel  removed  to  London  and  resided  in  the  house  of  his  former 
servant  and  sole  legatee,  until  the  day  of  his  death  which  occuiTed 
on  the  6th  February,  1853. 

His  remains  were  removed  from  London  on  the  9th  of  February, 
the  day  previous  to  interment,  and  were  placed  for  the  night  in 
the  barn  of  an  inn-keeper  at  Fingal,  to  the  indignation  of  the  old 
settlers.  One  old  man,  Samuel  Burwell,  begged  with  tears  in  his 
eyes  to  have  the  body  removed  to  his  own  house.  But  this  would 
have  disturbed  McBeth's  arrangements.  On  the  following  day 
the  corpse  was  removed  from  Fingal  to  Port  Talbot  and  rested  foi- 
a  short  time  within  the  mansion  once  owned  by  the  deceased. 
The  hearse  was  followed  by  tlie  leading  men  of  London  to  the 
church  at  Tyrconnel.  The  day  was  bitterly  cold,  but  a  few  fast 
friends  had  come  to  see  him  interred.  He  lies  in  a  grave  near  the 
church.     On  the  oak  coffin  ran  the  simple  inscription — "  Thomas 


1 

1 

i"  .  ■ 
j;  1 

I'ii 

1  1'   '' 

Ii!; 

1 

! 

1 

1 

j 

1 

il  ii!i  i; 


Ml'   !' 


J 


■'"i 


•ii 


I    < 

I'ii 


I'^^ii 


126 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


Talhot,  Founder  o{  the  Tall)ot  Settlement:  Died  6th  Feb.,  1853." 
It  may  truly  be  added  now  that  here  rests  one  of  the  foundei-s  of 
Canada. 

In  1700,  after  playing  a  great  part  in  Canada  for  an  exception- 
ally long  time  and  proving  himself  a  true  friend  to  all  the  colonists, 
and  not  least  to  the  French  Canadians,  Lord  Dorchester,  amid  the 
hea'tfelt  regret  of  the  people,  took  his  departure  from  our  shores. 
He  died  in  1808,  in  his  eighty-third  year. 


CHAPTER  V. 

We  have  seen  an  Irishman  prove  himself  the  saviour  of  Canada, 
and  watch  with  parental  anxiety  and  care,  with  efficiency  and  far- 
sighted  wisdom,  her  infant  years.  We  have  seen  another  Irish- 
man turn  his  back  on  love,  on  high  position,  on  all  the  charms  of 
civilization,  on  the  most  attractive  of  all  professions,  on  the  most 
fascinating  of  all  careers,  to  come  to  Canada  to  play  a  patriarchal 
part,  amid  hardships  which  would  have  appalled  a  less  uncon- 
querable soul,  and  turned  the  edge  of  a  less  finely  tempered 
will.  We  are  now  to  watch  Irishmen  in  a  sphere  other  than  that 
of  politics,  and  on  a  less  grandly  heroic  scale.  In  earlier  chapters  I 
pointed  out  what  a  great  people  had  done  throughout  the  world. 


[Authorities  : — Original  Sources  :  "  Murdoch's  History  of  Nova  Scotia  "  :  "  Nova 
Scotia  Archives"  :  Mrs.  Moodie's  "  Roughing  it  in  the  Bush"  :  "  The  Atlantic|Monthly"; 
Haliburton's  "Nova  Scotia":  Old  Files  of  Newspapers:  Anspach's  "History": 
Bonneycaatle's  "  History  of  Newfoundland"  :  Mackintosh's  "  Parliamentary  Com- 
panion" :  "  St.  John  and  its  Business"  :  "Early  settlers  of  Bowinanville,  T^arlington, 
Clarke,  and  the  surrounding  country,"  by  J.  T.  Colesnan  :  Poole's  "Early  settlement 
of  Peterborough"  :  Campbell's  History  of  Prince  Edward  Island:  "Historical  and 
General  Record  of  the  Irish  Settlement  of  Colchester  County,  down  to  the  present 
time,"  by  Thomas  MilUar,  Halifax,  N.  S.  :  "  Ireland  and  the  Centenary  of  Americar 
Methodism,"  by  the  Rev.  William  Crook  :  "  Case  and  his  Contemporaries,"  by  the  Rev. 
Dr.  CarroU  :  "  The  Irish  Po8ition,">y  L>'Arcy  McGee.] 


England's  oldest  warrior. 


127 


a  Feb.,  1853." 
le  founders  of 

an  exception- 
l  tlie  colonists, 
)ster,  amid  the 
mi  our  shores. 


IS 


our  of  Canada, 
ciency  and  far- 
another  Irish- 
the  charms  of 
,  on  the  most 
a  patriarciial 
a  less  uncon- 
aely  tempered 
her  than  that 
lier  chapters  I 
out  the  world. 


Scotia":  "Nova 
AtlanticlMonthly": 
ach's  "  History  ": 
irliaraentary  Com- 
mville,  T^arlington, 

Early  settlement 
"Historical  and 
wn  to  the  present 
tenary  of  American 
raries,"  by  the  Rev. 


Any  other  word  than  world  would  he  too  small.  For  on  what 
shore  have  they  not  left  monuments  of  their  ener<jfy  and  genius. 
They  have  gone  forth  from  a  little  island  and  made  the  wide  earth 
their  mausoleum.*     A  branch  of  that  people  exist  here  in  Canada 

•  While  I  write  these  lines  there  comes  the  account  of  the  death  of  a  man  who  was 
distinguished  at  a  time  ere  a  (^eneratiim  already  past  had  come  into  existence.  Field- 
Marshal  Sir  John  Forster-Fitzgerald,  (i.  C  H.,  died  at  Tours,  on  the  24th  of  March. 
The  French  military  authorities  of  that  city— j)erhap8  MacMahon  remembered  the 
thread  which  apart  from  military  renown  bound  them  both— received  instructions  from 
Paris  on  the  2(ith  to  ^dve  the  dead  hero  a  military  funeral.  Mr.  Disraeli's  government 
made  a  mistake  in  not  takiu),'  to  itself  tlie  glory  of  giving  fitting  sepulture  to  the  old 
hero.  He  was  tlie  olde.t  soldier  the  Empire  had,  and  he  had  risen  to  the  highest  rank 
in  his  jHofession.  He  entered  the  army  in  17!>3.  He  served  in  the  Peninsula  where  he 
commanded  a  light  battalion  and  n  brigatle,  and  was  present  at  most  of  the  engagements 
whieli  culminated  witli  Napulvons  overthrow  at  Waterloo.  He  took  a  ]>rominent  part 
in  theas.'ault  on  Badajos  and  fought  gallantly  at  the  battles  of  Salamanca,  Vittoriaand 
i,he  Pyrenees,  receiving  the  Gold  Cross  for  personal  bravery  and  distinguished  services. 
He  was  owner  of  the  large  estate  of  tJarrigorau  and  he  was  as  considerate  to  his  tenau- 
Jry  as  he  was  br.ive  in  the  field. 

Some  verses  in  Truth,  April  5th  1877,  maj'  be  (ptoted  : 

He  was  the  oldest  warrior  England  had 

And  from         hting  family  had  sprung  ; 
He  'von  his  spars  when  he  was  yet  a  lad. 

And  fought  when  the  old  century  was  young. 

At  Badajos  the  fatal  breach  he  scaled ; 

He  lived  through  Salamanca's  bloody  fray  ; 
Was  at  Vittoria  where  a  mona."ch  quailed. 

And  lived  to  tell  of  Talavera'ti  day. 

Bravely  he  fought  through  the  fierce  campaign. 
That  brought  the  beaten  Frenchmen  to  their  knees, 

When  just  from  their  last  holdin;,'-place  in  Spain, 
They  turned  to  bay  amongst  the  Pyrenees. 

Bravely  >"!  foiight  and  well ;  he  w'ore 

The  golden  cross  for  valour  on  his  breast, 
Until  he  died  upon  a  foreign  shorts, 

And  found  at  length  from  life's  long  struggle  rest. 

The  wiiter  th-m  upraids  England  for  her  parsimony  in  not  sending  over  to  Toias  some 
|/<jf  his  old  comrades.    The  least,  he  says,  England  could  have  given  him  was  a  tomb. 

And  80  it  happed  ;  for  all  the  honour  payed 
To  our  field-marshal  at  his  long  life's  close 

And  military  demonstration  made 
Was  by  the  Frenchmen,  his  old  gallant  foea. 

B;it  was  it  meet  to  treat  a  soldier  thus  ? 
Wlio'd  gained  the  highest  rank  our  army  knows  ? 


12.S 


TIIK    IHISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


.'1  i 


il 

11 

;i 

1 

1 
1 
li! 

1  IM| 

1 

1 

1 

1 

l' 

11 

to-day,  and  lias  boon  horo  from  tlio  l>oginnin<^f  of  Britisli  rule.  It 
is  in  no  spirit  of  unwortliy  rivalry  or  small  boasting  that  I  say 
tlu'ir  hands  liavo  done  more  tlian  tlioso  of  any  other  to  clear  the 
vvilderness.  If  vo  look  at  tlie  census  alone  it  proves  this.  But 
the  census  does  not  tell  all.  There  are  thousands  of  flourisliing 
acres  liere  in  (^ana<hi  (m  vvliose  yellow  harvests  an  owner  looks 
who  is  not  Irish,  In  wnich  acres  were  cleared  by  Irishmen.  These 
in  some  instances  (Iropj)ed  like  soldiers  in  the  battle  and  fell  into 
unknown  graves,  truly  the  unremendiered  brave.  On  lands  where 
tlieir  names  are  unknown  they  planted  the  first  civilizing  foot 
they  grappled  with  the  wilderness  ;  and  then  they  passed  away  as 
we  all  shall,  the  best  of  us,  and  the  most  miccessful.  A  id  what 
more  can  be  said  of  us  than  of  them  ?  If  it  can  be  said  we  did  our 
day's  work  it  will  be  well.  • 

I  shall  show,  by-and-bye,  that  we  owe  our  present  constitution  in 
great  part  to  Irishmen.  I  have  already  dwelt  on  their  character 
and  genius  and  on  part  of  theii-  achievements,  and  if  the  tale  is 
continued  it  is  not  that  I  may  here  in  (Janada  draw  my  country- 
men aside  horn  other  people  ;  above  all  it  is  not  that  1  may  fan 
illogical,  unhistorical,  and  imchristian  hatreds  in  th(;ir  breasts. 
Better  that  })!itnotism  should  be  torn  from  a  man's  heart,  and  all 
the  love  which  swells  in  it  hon  he  thinks  of  that  land  which  for 
centuries  has  lain  on  T  es  like  a  beautiful  sorrow,  if  that 

patriotism  and  tha*  .did  not  co-exist  with  sweet  human 

charities  for  other  ^         j. 


Was  it  noble,  w..3  it  generous 
That  thus  a  gallant  history  should  close  ? 

The  clone  of  such  a  career  is  a  sad  and  si)lendid  illustration  of  the  speech  of  Ulysses 
to  Achilles  when  he  would  persuade  the  sulking  hero  to  leave  his  tent  and  once  more 
measure  his  brand  with  Hector  : — 

Time  hath,  my  lord,  a  wallet  at  his  back 

Wherein  he  puts  alms  for  oblivion, 

A  great  sized  monster  of  inijratitudes  ; 

Those  scraps  are  good  deeds  past :  which  are  devour'd 

As  fast  as  they  are  made,  forgot  as  soon 

As  done  :  Perseverance  dear,  my  lord, 

Keeps  honour  bright :  To  have  done,  is  to  hang 

Quite  out  of  fashion,  like  a  rusty  mail 

In  monumental  mockery. 


{CANADIAN   NATIONAL   UNITY. 


129 


[,i.sh  rule.  It 
ir  tlmt  I  say 
r  to  clear  the 
es  this.  But 
if  Houri.slnnj,' 

owner  looks 
hmcn.  These 

and  fell  into 
1  lands  where 
vilizinjjj  foot 
issed  away  as 
I.  A  "1(1  what 
lid  we  did  our 

lonstitution  in 
leir  character 
I  if  the  tale  is 
V  my  country- 
hat  1  may  fan 
th(jir  breasts, 
heart,  and  all 
a?id  which  for 
4orrow,  if  that 
sweet  human 


speech  of  Ulysses 
kent  and  once  more 


Above  all,  I  would  guard  against  the  misconc(  iition  that  I 
wouM  divt'rt  Irishmen's  minds  from  their  duty  a.s  Canadian  citi- 
zens. An  eminent  Presbyterian  divine,  when  preaching  on  St. 
Andrew's  day,  declared  it  to  bo  his  conviction  that  the  interest  of 
Scotchmen  in  one  another,  and  in  their  mothiT  country,  had  in 
no  way  hindered  their  identification  with  Canada.*  The  claims 
of  Canada  can  be  paramount,  though  the  Sf  '.chman  remembers 
with  pride  his  rugged  storied  hills ;  though  the  Englishman's 
fancy  roams  amid  the  gardened  beauty  of  English  greeneries  and 
English  landscapes,  and  takes  fire  at  English  struggles  for  consti- 
tutional freedom ;  though  the  Irishman's  heart  beats  ({uicker, 
when  he  recalls  the  loveliness  of  his  country,  her  heroism,  and  all 
she  has  done  for  "the  Empire"  and  for  tho  world.  Nor  will  he 
be  the  less  true  as  a  Canadian  citizen,  if  the  'springs  of  a  noble 
sympathy  flow,  when  he  reflects  that  her  loveliness  is  still  de- 
faced by  recent  grief,  and  her  beauty  overshadowed  by  memories 
of  the  past. 

My  countrymen  have  had  too  much  of  the  inspiration  of  ha- 
tred. They  have  been  too  much  misled.-f'  Those  who  misled 
them  did  not  know  that  they  were  misleading  them.  I  have 
shown  them  that  the  Saxon,  and  Celt,  and  Norman,  and  Roman 
and  Greek,  are  all  brethren,  that  all  come  from  one  parent  race. 
To-day,  England  is  probably  far  more  Celtic  than  Saxon.J 


*  If  tl'e  existence  of  national  societies  in  Canada  were  to  have  the  eflfect  of  dividing 
the  community  into  hostile  sections  anrl  sowing  seeds  of  strife  between  men  of  diflferent 
origin,  then  it  would  be  umiuestionably  an  evil ;  but  I  have  yet  to  learn  that  any  such  re- 
sult has  been  produced.  With  all  confidence,  I  assert  that  the  interest  of  Scotsmen  in 
one  another  and  in  their  Mother  Country,  as  exjiressed  through  the  St.  Andrew's  So- 
ciety, has  not  dimiaished  their  "readiness  to  identify  themselves  thoroughly  with  Can- 
ada in  all  that  concerns  her  material,  social,  and  religious  progress."— /Serwo/i  ore  (b'<. 
Andreio'8  Day,  1876,  by  the  Rev.  D.  J.  Macdonell. 

t  Thern  are  some  words  I  frequently  repeat  to  myself,  which  express  a  view  all  my 
countrymen  must  take,  before  they  can  do  full  justice  to  themselves  : 

"  Let  merry  England  proudly  rear 
Her  blended  roses  bought  so  dear ; 
Let  Scotland  bind  her  bonnet  blue, 
•       With  heath  and  hare  bell'dipped  in  dew ; 
On  favoured  Erin's  crest  be  seen, 
The  flower  she  loves,  the  Shamrock  green." 

t  "It  has  been  fashionable  to  sneer  at  zealous  Irish  writers  for  thoir  pruponsity  to 

9 


m..^. 


130 


THE  IRISHMAN  IN  CANADA. 


ni 


m  ■ 


li '  I 


The  people  of  England  are  not  responsible  for  the  wrong  done 
by  their  rulers  in  the  past ;  and  it  is  neither  just  nor  wise  to  write 
violent  diatribes,  or  cherish  vindictive  feelings  against  them- 
What  would  be  wrong  anywhere'  would  be  doubly  wrong  herci 
where  we  are  showing  what  Iris.  ..len  have  done  for  Canada,  not 
alone,  but  assisted  by  Scotchmen  and  Englishmen  and  Frenchmen 
and  Germans  It  is  a  saddening  work,  in  some  respects,  I  am 
engaged  on,  for  it  brings  vividly  before  me  how  little  the  dim  vast 
masses  of  all  nationalities  get  out  of  life  ;  and  yet,  dark  as  seems 
their  fate,  when  we  look  into  their  lives,  there  are  starry  bright- 
nesses and  glimpses  of  a  tender,  indescribable  beauty,  which  thrill 
and  touch  and  purifiy  like  the  stars,  or  the  delicate  crimson  of 
morning,  or  the  peiisive  tints  of  "  dewy  eve."  There  is  a  halo 
round  the  head  of  humanity,  only  our  eyes  are  too  dim,  too  pre- 
occupied, always  to  discern  it ;  but  when  we  do  see  it,  whether  in 
the  wilderness  or  the  crowded  city,  we  are  conscious  of  the  divine 
fire  in  the  heart,  and  the  heavenly  nimbus  which  wraps  the  care- 
worn head. 

Mrs.  Moodie  does  not  place  the  settlers  too  high  : — 

"  Those  hardy  sires  who  bore 
The  day's  first  heat  —their  toils  are  o'er  ; 
llude  fathers  of  this  risiiig  land, 
Theirs  was  a  mission  truly  grand. 

find  traces  of  the  Kelts  everywhere.  But  there  can  be  no  doubt  whatever  that  the 
Kelts  were  once  a  very  widely  diffused  people.  They  have  left  names  for  rivers  and  moun- 
tains in  almost  every  part  of  Europe.  The  name  of  the  river  Don  inRussia,  for  example, 
is  one  of  the  common  Keltic  names  for  water,  and  so  we  find  a  river  Don  in  Yorkshire, 
a  Deaa  in  Nottinghamshire,  a  Dane  in  Cheshire,  and  a  Dun  in  Lincolnshire.  The 
same  nauie  appears  in  the  Ilho-(/««-u«,  or  Khone,  in  Gaul,  the  Eri-rfa/t-us,  or  Po,  iu 
Italy,  as  well  as  in  the  Z>((-ieper,  D/i-iester,  and  i>aii -ube,  .^nd  even  in  the  An -do«  in 
the  Caucusufl.  This  is  one  example  out  of  hundreds,  by  which  "'•'  trace  the  former 
nbi(inity  of  the  Kelts,  who  as  lati;  as  tlie  Christian  era  were  present  in  large  numbers, 
as  far  east  as  Bohemia. 

"  The  3tcond  series  of  invading  Aryan  swarm-<  consisted  of  Germans,  who  began  by 
pushing  the  Kelts  westward,  and  ended  by  assuming  a  great  part  of  their  territory, 
and  mixing  with  them  to  a  considerable  extent.  There  is  some  German  blood  in  Spain, 
and  a  good  deal  in  France  an<l  Northern  Italy  ;  and  the  modern  English,  whib*  Keltic 
at  bottom,  are  probably  half  Teutonic  in  blood,  as  they  are  predominently  Teutonic  in 
language  and  manners."  "  The  Races  of  the  Danube,"  by  John  Fiske,  in  the  Atlantic 
Month' y,  for  April,  1877,  p.  404.  * 

See  also  an  Essay  by  Mr.  Goldwin  Smith,  on  "  Canada's  Political  Destiny."  He 
says  :  "  The  Anglo-Saxon  race  is  far  less  prolific  than  the  Irish,  who  are  even  sup- 
pi  mting  the  Anglo-Sa-ons  in  some  districts  of  England." 


wrong  done 
wise  to  write 
gainst  them- 

wrong  herei 

Canada,  not 
i  Frenchmen 
ispects,  I  am 
i  the  dim  vast 
lark  as  seems 
itarry  bright- 
,  which  thrill 
ite  crimson  of 
ere  is  a  halo 

dim,  too  pre- 
it,  whether  in 
i  of  the  divine 
i-aps  the  care- 


whatever  that  the 
rivers  and  moun- 
ussia,  for  example, 
Don  in  Yorkshire, 
ncolnshire.  The 
i-dau-us,  or  Po,  in 
ill  the  Ar>-(io'i  i" 
trace  the  foriucr 
ill  large  numhers, 


or 


:.i 


aus,  who  began  by 
of  their  territor)-, 
lan  blood  in  Spain, 
glish,  whiK-  Keltic 
nently  Teutonic  in 
ike,  in  the  Atlantk 

kl  Deatiny."    He 
Iwho  are  even  sup- 


ROUGHINO   IT  IN   THE   BUSH.  131 

Brave  peasa'its  whom  the  Father,  God, 
Bent  to  reclaim  the  stubborn  aod  ; 
Well  they  perfonn'd  their  task  and  won 
Altar  and  hearth  for  the  woodman's  son." 

The  settlor  who  clears  the  country  is  its  true  father.  He  makes 
all  possible.  Without  his  axe,  his  log  cabin,  his  solitude,  his 
endurance,  his  misery,  we  could  not  have  the  abundant  appliances 
of  civilization,  the  stately  temple,  the  private  mansion,  the  palaces 
of  law  and  legislation,  the  theatre,  the  enjoyment  of  social  inter- 
course, refinement,  all,  in  a  word,  he  forewent.  A  hard  lot  even 
when  the  settler,  owing  to  somi  peculiar  a-l vantages,  was  able  to 
take  with  him  into  the  wilderness  some  of  the  conveniences  of 
civilized  life.  Under  the  happiest  circumstances  there  were  hard- 
ships and  difficulties.  The  exclusion,  was  drear  enough  during  the 
later  spring  and  summer  and  autumn,  when  activity  was  possible  ; 
but  in<lescribable,  not  to  be  realized,  when  barred  on  all  sides  by 
the  snows  of  a  Canadian  winter,  and  the  atmosphere  at  times 
freezing  the  mercury,  so  that  it  could  be  used  as  a  bullet.  Where 
they  were  near  a  town  or  something  ca]>able  of  being  held,  by  a 
stretch  of  fancy,  in  that  light,  the  sleigh  or  cariole  with  its 
charmiiiif  bolls  would  bear  them  over  the  snow  to  the  social  centre. 
But  for  those  far  withdrawn  into  the  heart  of  the  forest,  in  miser- 
able huts,  what  a  life  !  Field  labour  suspended,  no  emplo}ment 
outside  or  inside,  none  of  the  comforts  of  a  home,  hundreds  of  miles 
from  a  doctor*,  far  removed  from  the  church-going  boll,  without 

*  "  It  was  a  melancholy  season,  one  of  severe  mental  and  bodily  suflfering.  Those  who 
have  drawn  such  agreeable  pictures  of  a  re.sideriee  in  the  backwoods  never  dwell  upon 
the  periods  of  .sickness  wliei  "ar  from  medical  advice,  and  often,  as  in  my  case,  de])rived 
of  the  assistance  of  friends  by  adverse  circumstances,  you  are  left  to  languish,  unat- 
tended, upon  the  couch  of  pain.  The  day  that  my  hu.sband  was  free  of  the  fit,  he  did 
what  he  could  for  me  and  his  poor  sick  babes  ;  but,  ill  as  he  was,  he  was  obliged 
to  sow  the  wheat  to  enable  the  man  to  proceed  with  the  drag,  and  was,  therefcn-e  neces- 
sarily absent  in  the  field  the  greater  pari  of  the  day.  I  was  very  ill,  yet,  for  hours  at 
a  timo  I  had  no  friendly  voice  to  cheer  me,  to  proffer  me  a  drin^v  of  cold  watoi-.  or  to 
attend  to  the  poor  oabe ;  and  worse,  still  worse,  there  was  no  onj  to  belj>  thiit  jiale, 
marble  child,  who  lay  so  cold  and  still,  with  '  half-clo.sed  violet  eyes,'  as  if  death  had 
already  chilled  his  young  heart  in  his  iron  grasp.  There  was  not  a  breatl\  of  air  ii  ov.r 
close  burning  bed-closet ;  and  the  weather  was  sultry  beyond  all  that  I  liavf  '•:ince  ex- 
perienced. ♦  *  »  I  bad  asked  of  Heaven  a  son,  and  there  he  lay  helpless  by  the 
side  of  his  aim  )st  helpless  m  )ther.  wh  >  could  not  lift  him  up  in  her  arms  or  still  his 
cries.  *  *  *  Often  did  I  weep  myself  to  sleep  andjwake  to  weep  again  with  reaew  mI 
anguish.  R  uighing  it  in  the  Bash,  such  and  greater  suffering  was  the  fate  of  thou- 
aauds." — Mrs.  Moodie. 


M 


if 


il '•*!', 


I 

l: 

ll 

■ 

Hi 

iiiii 

ii| 

5! 


111 


132 


THE  IRISHMA.N   IN   CANADA. 


the  soothing  ministrations  of  religion,  exiled  from  all  the  sweet 
human  relations,  tho^^e  of  the  family  alone  excepted ;  no  school  for 
the  children,  a  dreary  monotony  in  which  note  of  time  is  lost,  the 
news  of  the  world  heard  of  but  fitfully,  no  hope  save  of  the  most 
humble  kind,  ambition  impossible,  an  existence  not  much  more 
intellectual  than  that  of  the  wolf  which  dogs  the  settler's  footseps 
ot  an  evening,  stealthy  as  one  of  the  gathering  shadows  or  the 
hog  that  burrows  for  an  acorn  near  his  shanty.  The  sacrifice 
of  thousands  of  lives  in  such  an  existence  is  the  price  we  pay 
for  a  country  made  a  clear  stage  for  the  civic  man  to  play  his 
part.  Occasionally  we  see  great  force  of  int'^llect  and  character 
assert  itself  in  spite  of  the  benumbing  surroundings.  But  to 
most  Fate  says — go  work  and  die  and  of  your  fallen  bodies  make 
a  bridge  over  which  other  men  may  travel  to  the  fair  cities  and 
country  towns,  law  courts  and  parliaments,  wei'  written  ne  s- 
papers,  fame  and  power,  and  all  the  noble  conflicts  of  political 
manhood.  If  the  settler  was  refined,  as  he  often  was,  Scotch  and 
Irish  and  English,  he  found  himself  brought  in  contact  with  coarse 
human  as  well  as  other  coarse  coiiditions. 

The  settler  who  never  went  near  the  woods,  but  took  up  his 
place  in  some  small  tnwn,  he  too  was  a  pioneer,  and  often  made 
great  sacrifices,  and  v/hether  he  made  sacrifices  or  not.,  if  he  played 
his  part  manfully,  deserves  to  have  the  debt  of  grat'^uJe  paid. 

When  we  first  ask  ourselves  what  are  the  (jualities  which  make 
a  man  a  good  settler,  we  think  chiefly  of  stern  perseverance,  and 
scarcely  give  a  thought  to  the  softer  and  more  winning  human 
characteristics.  Yet  very  little  reflection  would  have  convinced 
us  that  kindness,  generosity,  good  humour,  sprightliness  and  noble- 
ness, are  of  almost  more  importance  in  the  bush  than  in  the 
crowded  city.  In  the  city  you  can  hire  attention  ;  in  the  wilder- 
ness you  must  look  to  the  heart  of  those  you  are  brought  in  con- 
tact with  for  it.  In  the  town  you  can  buy  amusement  and  dis- 
traction ;  in  the  wood  you  are  thrown  on  the  bent  and  genius  of 
those  who  happen  to  be  your  neighbours,  your  allies,  or  your 
servai.ts. 

What  sort  of  a  settler  should  we  expect  the  Irishman  to  make  ? 
What  work  of  difficulty  and  adventure  has  he  ever  shrunk  from  ? 
We  might  hope  to  see  in  him  more  than  patient  toil  an<l  family 


KINDLY   QUALLTIES  OF    THE   IRISH   SETTLER. 


133 


ill  the  sweet 
;  no  school  for 
me  is  lost,  the 
e  of  the  most 
t  much  more 
tier's  footseps 
tiadows  or  the 
The  sacrifice 
price  we  pay 
n  to  play  his 
and  character 
lings.  But  to 
1  bodies  make 
fair  cities  and 
ivritten  ne  s- 
ts  of  political 
as,  Scotch  and 
ict  with  coarse 

it  took  up  his 
id  often  made 

if  he  played 
^ade  paid. 
:8  which  make 
severance,  and 
inning  human 
ave  convinced 
less  and  noble- 

than  in  the 
in  the  wilder- 
ought  in  con- 
ment  and  dis- 
and  genius  of 
dlies,  or  your 


m 


an  to  make  ? 
shrunk  from  1 
I  an<l  family 


)i 


love,  and  that  his  gay  heart,  his  wit,  his  cheerfulness  under  mis- 
fortiines,  as  well  as  his  generosity  in  prosperity,  would  accompany 
him  to  the  wilds.  Nor  did  the  Irish  settler  in  Canada  belie  such 
hopes,  Ivlost  of  my  readers  will  have  read  Mrs.  Hoodie's  graphic 
accourt  of  her  sufferings  in  the  bush.  Her  gallant  husband  was  a 
Scotchman  ;  she  is  an  Englishwoman.  Her  testimony  is,  there- 
fore, that  of  an  impartial  person.  From  what  class  of  settlers  did 
she  recidve  most  assistance  and  most  consolation  ?  It  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that  seven-eighths  of  those  who  helped  her  husband 
and  her-stilf  efficiently  were  Irish,  and  while  she  had  to  complain 
of  the  conduct  of  many,  amongst  the  many  there  was  not  one  with 
Irish  blood  in  his  veins.  A  friend  of  hers,  one  Tom  Wilson,  is 
accustomed  to  put  on  a  false  nose.  As  he  walks  through  the 
town  with  this  false  nose  on,  the  people  cry  out: — "What  a  nose  ! 
Look  at  the  man  with  the  nose  !  "  But  she  tells  us  that  a  party 
of  Irish  emigrants  pass,  and,  "  with  the  courtesy  natural  to  their 
nation,"  they  forbear  laughing  until  the  disfigured  man,  as  they 
think  him,  has  gone,  and  then  they  give  full  vent  to  their  sense 
of  the  ludicrous.     They  were  gentlemen  by  nature. 

What  servants  the  Irish  have  proved  themselves  to  be.  Many 
persons  don't  like  to  dwell  on  the  fact  that  the  poor  Irishman  and 
woman  have  had  to  earn  their  bread  sometimes  by  the  lowest 
service.  But  I  feel  no  humiliation  about  that,  because  all  work 
seems  to  me  noble,  if  nobly  performed.  Did  not  Apollo  serve  as 
a  slave  ?  Did  not  Christ  say  that  He  had  been  among  His  disci- 
ples, not  as  a  master  but  as  one  that  served  ?  Was  not  Epictetus 
a  slave  ?  And  iEsop  ?  No  !  there  is  nothing  disgraceful  in  serv- 
ing, if  men  serve  well  and  with  loyalty,  not  with  eye  service,  but 
with  a  genuine  determination  to  perform  what  they  do,  well.  Such 
a  servant  was  Jack  Monaghan,  who  did  all  in  his  power  to  sujtply 
for  Mrs.  Moody  the  loss  of  a  maid-servant ;  lighting  the  fires ; 
milking  the  cows;  nursing  the  baby ;  cooking  the  dinner,  and  en- 
deavouring "  by  a  thousand  little  attentions  to  show  the  grati- 
tude he  really  felt  for  our  kindness ;"  attaching  himself  to  little 
Katie  "  in  an  extraordir  aiy  manner ;"  spending  all  his  spare  time 
in  making  little  sleighs  and  toys  for  her,  or  dragging  the  sleigh 
he  had  made  and  the  beloved  burden  in  it,  wrapped  in  a  blanket, 
up  and  down  the  steep  hills  in  front  of  the  house  ;  his  great  de- 


;#' 


..^i   i'.jr-'wr^T^wr^- 


134 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


p! 


II 


..;iiit 


i^.fii 


id 


light  to  cook  her  bread  and  milk  at  night,  and  feed  her  himself ; 
then  he  would  carry  her  round  the  floor  on  his  back,  and  sing  her 
Irish  songs.  Touching  picture !  This  dark-haired,  dark-eyed  un- 
tutored Irish  Celt,  and  the  fair-haired  Saxon  child  who  always 
greeted  his  return  from  the  woods  with  a  scream  of  joy,  and  run- 
ning forward  to  be  lifted  by  him  and  to  clasp  his  swarthy  neck 
with  her  white  arms.  "I  could  lay  down  my  life  for  you," he 
would  say  to  her,  as  he  spoke  of  her  love  for  him  and  his  love  for 
her.  It  would  be  hard  to  show  nobler  work  done  by  any  emigrant 
than  was  done  by  honest,  loving  Jack  Monaghan.  In  the  wilder- 
ness, over  the  stumj)  of  his  neglected  life,  the  flowers  of  the  heart 
broke  forth  luxuriantly.  The  movements  of  his  life  were  like 
melodies ;  as  is  so  often  the  case,  the  fingers  v/hieh  touched  the 
rude  keys,  and  brought  out  all  the  music  of  this  apparently  rough 
nature,  were  the  fingers  of  a  child.  There  is  something  truly  God- 
like about  a  child  in  its  tenderness  and  purity,  its  freedom  from 
petty  care  and  superiority  to  our  small  prejudices,  its  spontaneous 
goodness  and  its  love ;  its  unwrinkled  forehead  and  unclouded  eye 
look  out  on  us  from  eternity  on  this  shore  of  time,  soothing  the 
distressed  spirit  and  sweetning  the  brackish  waters  of  the  heart. 

Then  Jack  is  brave  as  a  lion,  and  attacked  by  an  enemy  of 
his  and  of  the  Moodies,  one  Uncle  Joe,  he  springs  on  his  foe,  and 
makes  the  big  man  roar  for  mercy.  His  kindness  of  heart,  and 
what  Mrs.  Moodie  calls  his  reckless  courage,  left  him  no  strong  in- 
stinct of  self-preservation,  and  when  a  tree  is  to  be  felled,  the  fel- 
ler of  which  carried  his  life  in  his  hands,  he  raises  the  axe  and 
cries  :  "  If  a  life  must  be  sacrificed,  why  not  mine  ? "  and  he  com- 
mends his  soul  to  God,  and  plies  the  axe  with  vigour. 

At  the  logging  bee,  who  behaved  best  and  were,  after  they  had 
done  a  good  day's  work,  most  amusing  ?  The  Irish  settlers  ;  and 
Malttchi  Chroak  takes  a  pair  of  bellows  and,  applying  his  mouth 
to  the  pipe,  works  his  elbows  to  and  fro  as  one  playing  on  the 
bagpipes  ;  then  he  sings  a  song.  "  We  certainly  did  laugh  our  fill," 
says  Mrs.  Moodie,  "  at  his  odd  capers  and  conceits." 

Was  there  ever  a  more  beautiful  episode  than  that  trip  to  Stony 
Lake  ?  And  could  there  be  a  more  charming  family  than  the 
Irish  Roman  Catholic  family  we  are  introduced  to  ?  What  kind- 
liness and  pluck  and  bravery  in  the  men  and   women  !     Ana 


*'*'» 


AN  OLD   IRISH  DRAGOON. 


135 


her  himself; 
and  sing  her 
irk-eyed  un- 
who  always 
joy,  and  run- 
warthy  neck 
for  you,"  he 
i  his  love  for 
my  emigrant 
n  the  wilder- 
5  of  the  heart 
life  were  like 
.  touched  the 
irently  rough 
ng  truly  God- 
freedom  from 
3  spontaneous 
inclouded  eye 
soothing  the 
of  the  heart, 
an  enemy  of 
his  foe,  and 
of  heart,  and 
no  strong  in- 
elled.the  fel- 
the  axe  and 
and  he  com- 

ter  they  had 
settlers ;  and 
ng  his  mouth 
lying  on  the 
bugh  our  fill," 

,rip  to  Stony 
lily  than  the 
What  kind- 
omen  !     Ana 


1 


"  Onld  Simpson,"  or  the  "  Ould  Dragoon  ! "  No  wonder  Mi-s. 
Moodie  exclaims :  "  Happy  he  who,  with  the  buoyant  spirits  of 
the  light-hearted  Irishman,  contrives  to  make  himself  happy  even 
when  all  others  would  be  miserable."  The  old  dragoon,  with  his 
wife  Judy,  lived  in  bliss,  and  went  on  doing  his  day's  work  sing- 
ing— 

"With  his  silver -mounted  pistols,  and  his  long  carbine, 
Long  life  to  the  brave  Inniskillen  Dragoc 

He  at  once  accompanied  the  stranger  who  had  .  ,.  t  with  such 
different  treatment  from  others,  to  help  to  blaze  the  side-lines  of 
a  lot  of  land  received  as  part  of  a  military  grant.  First,  however, 
he  asks  her  into  the  house  to  take  a  drink  of  milk  and  some 
bread  and  butter.  The  house  !  It  was  a  rude  shant}-,  in  which 
all  the  hinsres  were  made  of  leather.  There  were  no  windows.  The 
open  door  supplied  their  place  in  the  day-time.  His  wife  gives  the 
visitor  a  cordial  welcome,  and  is  delighted  at  the  notice  taken  of 
the  children.  The  whole  day  was  occupied  with  the  job,  but  the 
kindly  Simpson  gave  his  services  with  "  hearty  good  will,"  all 
the  time,  "  enlivening  us  with  his  inexhaustible  fund  of  good- 
humour  and  drollery."  When  they  got  back  to  the  shanty  his 
wife  had  an  excellent  meal  prepared  for  them. 

One  Irish  girl  after  another  proves  "  invaluable,"  both  in  the 
house  and  in  the  harvest  and  hay-field. 

These  hurried  references  will  enable  the  reader  to  realize  what 
kind  of  qualities,  the  love,  the  devotion,  the  nobleness,  the  gene- 
rosity, the  high  spirits  and  good  humour,  the  Irish  settler  brought 
to  Canada.  And  we  may  well  rejoice  that  such  are  the  character- 
istics of  the  Irishman  when  we  ponder  the  following  facts. 

While  Carleton  was  busy  as  a  statesman,  countrymen  of  his 
were  elsewhere,  in  humbler  but  not  less  useful  spheres,  occupied 
with  the  work  of  laying  the  foundation  of  what  Canada  is  to-day, 
and  of  the  greatness  which  is  in  store  for  her.  If  we  turn  to  the 
"  Origins  of  the  People  "  we  find  the  grand  totals  to  be  as  follows. 
In  the  four  Provinces  of  Ontario,  Quebec,  New  Brunswick  and 
Nova  Scotia  there  are  706,309  of  English,  .549,946  of  Scotch,  and 
846,414  of  Irish  origin  ;  while  the  numbers  professing  various  re- 
ligions are  thus  classified :  Methodists,  of  which  eight  kinds  are 
specified,  567,0&1 ;,  Baptists,  237,4.50,  though  the  Baptists  proper 


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13G 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


number  only  1G5,238,  as  the  Wesleyans  proper  number  but  378,- 
543  ;  the  Catholics  1,492,029  ;  the  Christian  Conference,  15,153  ; 
Church  of  Enoland,  494,049  ;  Congregational,  21,829  ;  Evangeli- 
cal Association,  4,701  ;  Irvingite.s,  1,112  ;  Lutherans,  37,935  ; 
Presbyterians,  a  good  deal  more  than  500,000 ;  Jews,  1,115  ; 
Brethren,  4,760.  Out  of  a  total  population  in  the  four  provinces 
of  3,485,701,  the  Protestants  number  1,993,732  or  a  clear  majority 
of  over  half  a  million. 

To  be  more  particular.  The  population  of  Ontario  is  1,020,851, 
of  which  Catholics  represent  274,102  ;  the  Church  of  England, 
330,995  ;  the  Baptists  something  like  100,000  ;  the  Presbyterians, 
375,000  ;  the  Methodists,  370,000  ;  the  Protestant  majority  beinjf 
1,846,089.     Of  the  846,414  of  Irish  origin  572,252  are  Protestants 

In  the  English  there  is  a  Celtic  element.  That  element  pre- 
dominates in  the  Irish  and  Scotch.  It  also  predominates  in  the 
French  ;  it  is  pure  in  the  Welsh.  Now  what  are  the  facts  ?  The 
people  of  French  origin  in  Canada  numbered  in  1871,  1,082,940; 
of  Welsh,  7,773.  Thus  more  than  three  millions  of  the  population 
of  the  four  provinces  are  mainly  Celtic,  without  counting  the  large 
Celtic  element  in  the  English,  and  the  Spaniards.  These  last,  how- 
ever, number  only  829,  while  Switzerland  has  given  us  2,962 ; 
Scandinavia,  1,623  ;  Russia,  G07 :  the  Italians,  1,035  ;  the  Ger- 
man.s,  202,991  ;  the  Dutch,  29,662. 

If  we  go  over  the  districts  in  Ontario  we  get  the  following  facts. 
In  the  peninsular  county,  called  after  the  old  Saxon  colony  of 
East-Sexe,  and  having,  like  it,  its  Colchester,  and  for  the  Thames 
and  the  North  Sea,  the  Detroit  River,  and  Lakes  St.  Clair  and 
Erie,  in  Essex,  the  proportions  of  the  population,  according  to 
origin,  show  the  English  element  leading  the  van,  the  figures 
being,  Irish,  5,746  ;  English,  7,672  ;  Scotch,  2,604  :  religion,  Cath- 
olic, 13,955  ;  population,  32,697.  In  Kent  again  tlie  English 
element  is  in  advance,  giving  7,743,  as  agninst  5,714  Iii;-h,  and 
4,843  Scotch  ;  the  Catholics  out  of  a  population  of  26,836  number- 
ing 5,698.  In_^Bothwell  the  relative  precedence  is  held :  Those  of 
English  origin  numbering  6,745  ;  of  Irish,  5,463  ;  of  Scotch,  4,375 ; 
the  Catholic  element  in  a  population  of  26,836,  numbering  1,854. 
But  when  we  come  to  Lambton,  Lambton  of  the  rich  cornfields, 
and  pleasant  Huron  shores,  the  county  represented  by  Mr.  Mac- 


COMPONENTS  OF    POPULATION. 


137 


ber  but  378,- 
ence,  15,153  ; 
!9 ;  Evangeli- 
i-ans,  37,935; 
Jews,  1,115  ; 
our  provinces 
clear  majority 

0  is  1,020,851, 

1  of  England, 
Presbyterians, 
najority  being 
•e  Protestants' 
i  element  pre- 
ainates  in  the 
le  facts?  The 
71,1,082,940; 
bhe  population 
iting  the  large 
hese  last,  how- 
ven  us  2,962 ; 
)35  ;  the  Ger- 

ollowing  facts, 
xon  colony  of 
f)r  the  Thames 
St.  Clair  and 
,  according  to 
,n,  the  figures 
eligion,  Cath- 
tlie  English 
ri4  Iri.-h,  and 
6,830  number- 
leld :  Those  of 
Scotch,  4,375 ; 
iibering  1,854. 
ich  cornfields, 
I  by  Mr.  Mac- 


kenzie, the  Irish  come  to  the  front.  The  figures  are,  Irish,  10,389  ; 
English,  9,581 ;  Scotch,  8,534  :  the  Catholics  numbering  3,467.  In 
Elgin,  St.  George  once  more  rushes  ahead  of  St.  Patrick  and  St. 
Andrews  and  the  figures  show  for  those  of  English  origin  8,734  ;  of 
Irish,  4,074  ;  of  Scotch,  3,572  ;  the  Catholics  numbering  715.  Here 
there  is  a  considerable  representation  of  the  great  Teutonic  race, 
the  German  element  nundjering  3,512,  as  against  1,342  in  Lamb- 
ton,  1,407  in  Kent,  and  2,150  in  Essex.  In  West  Middlesex  the 
figures  are  :  English,  0,420  ;  Scotch,  5,078  ;•  Irish,  4981  ;  the  Cath- 
olics being  only  978.  North  Middlesex,  5,010 ;  7,044  ;  7,481  ; 
Catholics,  3,322.  East  Middlesex,  9,741  ;  4,750;  8,728;  and  the 
Catholics  figuring  up  to  not  much  more  than  a  fourth  of  the  Irish 
population,  their-  number  being  2,024. 

Thus  in  the  north  the  Irish  head  the  list,  while  in  the  east  and 
west  the  lead  belongs  to  the  English,  who  properly  hold  the  first 
place  in  London,  the  numbers  being,  English,  6,693;  Irish,  5,379  ; 
Scotch,  2,882 ;  the  Catholics  being  something  between  a  fourth 
and  a  sixth  of  the  population,  the  exact  number  being  2,024.  In 
Norfolk  (South),  the  figures  are:  English,  6,060;  Irish,  2,502; 
Scotch,  2,119  ;  of  the  Catholic  religion,  701  :  in  Norfolk  (North), 
6,979  ;  2,778  ;  1,060  ;  of  the  Catholic  religion,  910.  The  German 
element  is  strong  in  the  two  divisions  of  Norfolk,  aggregating 
5,384.  In  South  Oxford  the  English  lement  is  represented  by 
10,196  ;  the  Irish  by  5,356  ;  the  Scotch  by  3,861  ;  of  the  Catl-olic 
religion,  1,897;  while  in  the  north  the  thistle  leads,  the  figures 
being  Scotch,  9,013;  English,  8,600;  Irish,  3,035  ;  of  the  Catholic 
religion,  940.  In  Brant  (South  ov  West),  the  English  count  for 
9,153  ;  the  Irish,  4,190  ;  the  Scotch,  3,184 ;  of  the  Catholic  religion, 
1,890  ;  while  in  North  or  East  Brant  the  report  is,  English,  4,590 ; 
Irish,  2,026  ;  Scotch,  2,708  ;  of  the  Catholic  religion,  1,118. 

Now  I  will  run  over  the  districts,  giving  first  the  number 
of  Irish,  then  the  number  of  Scotch,  then  the  number  of  Enirlish, 
only  pausing  to  comment  on  .something  remarkable.  It  will  be 
observed  that  without  any  further  analysis,  jnerely  giving  the 
number  of  Catholics  shows,  as  compared  with  the  number  of  Irish, 
the  relative  strength  of  the  two  divisions  of  Irishmen.  Haldi- 
mand— Irish,  5,855  ;  Scotch,  2,088  ;  English,  0,406  ;  Catholic 
religion,  1,705.     Monck— Irish,   2,085  ;   Scotch,    1,461 ;   English, 


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138 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


4,047;  Catholic  religion,  1,017.  In  Monck  the  German  clement 
surpasses  either  of  the  otlier,  and  is  represented  by  5,028  souls. 
Welland— Irish,  4,878;  Scotch,  2,094 ;  English,  0,223;  German, 
5,910  ;  Catholic  religion,  8,040.  Niagara — Irish,  1,193  ;  Scotch,  540; 
English,  1,403  ;  German,  414  ;  Catholic  religion,  053.  Lincoln — 
Irish,  0,073 ;  Scotch,  2,438;  English,  5981  ;  German,  4,844  ;  Catholic 
religion,  3,525.  South  Went  worth— Irish,  2,072;  Scotch,  2,803;  Eng- 
lish, 4,787  ;  German,  ^^,057  ;  Catholic  religion,  2,500.  North  Went- 
worth— Msh,  5,105;  Sootch,  3,082  ;  English,  4,070;  German,  1,309; 
Catholicreligion, 2,500.  Hamilton— Irish,  8,900;  Scotch, 3,930;  Eng- 
lish, 9,097  ;  Catholic  religion,  5,059.  South  Huron— Irish,  7,793  ; 
Scotch,  7,301  ;  English,  772 ;  German,  3,389  ;  Catholic  religion, 
2,098.  North  Huron— Irish,  15,947;  Scotch,  12,087;  English, 
8,780  ;  German,  1,831 ;  Catholic  religion,  3,004.  Bruce  (South)— 
Irish,  9,828;  Scotch,  11,420;  English,  3,077;  German,  5,525;  Catho- 
lic religion,  4,779.  Bruce  (North)— Irish,  4,750  ;  Scotch,  7,094  ; 
English,  2,910;  German,  875;  Catholic  religion,  415.  Perth, 
which  has  given  a  name  to  the  Convention  which  Edward  II. 
fondly  thought  the  completion  of  the  Conquest  and  settlement  of 
Scotland,  when  Caledonian  chivalry  rose  under  Robert  Bruce  to 
rout  the  English  at  Bannockburn,  reappears  in  Canada,  and 
oddly  enough  contains  more  Irishmen  than  Scotchmen;  in 
South  Perth,  the  Irish  element  numbering  0,870,  and  in  North, 
9,701 ;  while  the  Scotch  is  represented  by  5,222  in  the  Southern 
division,  and  4,820  in  the  Northern;  the  extent  of  the  English  ele- 
ment being  0,520  in  South,  and  2,819  in  North  Perth ;  the  Germans 
aggregating  in  the  two  divisions,  7,710;  Catholic-  religion  in  the 
two  divisions,  5,902.  Waterloo,  North  and  South,  is  strong  mainly 
in  the  great  Teutonic  stem  of  the  Aryan  race;  in  the  two  divisions, 
the  Gennan  element  numbering  22,050  ;  while  the  Irish,  Scotch 
and  English,  respectively,  3,220 ;  7,315;  5,050;  Catholicreligion, 
South,  2,493  ;  North,  3,003. 

In  Wellington  the  Irish  lead  once  more.  For  South  Wellington 
the  figures  are, — Irish,  3,704 ;  Scotch,  4,902  ;  English,  4,503  ;  Ger- 
man, 900  ;  C.  R.,  2,787.  Centre  Wellington,  Irish,  8,447  ;  Scotch, 
8,314  ;  English,  5,980  ;  German,  1.171 ;  C.  R.,  2,318.  North  Wel- 
lington, I.,  11,770  ;  S.,  5,281  ;  E.,  5,890;  G.,  1,057  ;  C.  R.,  3,731. 
In  the  thriving  Town  of  Guelph,  the  Irish  element  is  represented 


NATIONAL   STATISTICS. 


139 


by  2,125  (of  which  only  566  are  Catholics),  as  against  1,750  Scotch, . 
and  2,755  English.  By  an  odd  coinc"  lence,  just  as  in  Wallace,  in 
Perth,  the  Irish  element  is  1,852, to  383  Scotch,  so  in  Erin,in  Centre 
Wellington,  the  Scotch  outnumher  the  Irish,  the  figures  being 
2,160  and  1,492.  In  South  Grey  we  have  I.,  10,931  ;  S.,  9,225  ;  E., 
4,928;  G.,  3,790;  C.  R.,  3,275.  In  North  Grey.  I.,  12,580;  S., 
8,326;  E.,  7,35o  ;  C.  R.,  1,050;  Halton,  I.,  8,074;  S.,  5,108;  E., 
6,993  ;  G,  1,282  ;  C.  R.,  1,512.  Peel,  L,  7,484  ;  S.,  2,140  ;  E.,  6,037, 
C.  K,  1,509.  Cardwell,  I.,  11,465;  S.,  1,823;  E.,  2,876;  C.  R.; 
2,758.  Simcoe,  like  Cardwell,  is  very  strong  in  the  Irish  element, 
as  the  following  figures  show: — Irish  in  South  Simcoe,  14,593; 
S.,  2,7S8;  E.,  5,248;  C.  R.,  1,869.  North  Simcoe,  I.,  11,247;  S., 
8,468 ;  E.,  9,161 ;  G.,  1,254  ;  C.  R.,  6,885.  North  York,  I.,  6,826  ; 
S.,  3,228;  E.,  10,.50t:  G,  2,223;  C.  R.,  2,328.  West  York,  I., 
5,559  ;  S.,  2,398  ;  E.,  6,636  ;  G.,  1,359  ;  C.  R,  2,180.  East  York, 
1,4,682;  S„  3,206;  E.,  8,806;  C.  R.,  1,502.  Toronto,  the  Queen 
City  of  Western  Canada,  is  nearly  half  Irish,  the  figures  being, — 
Toronto  West,  Irish,  13,001  ;  Scotch,  4,644  ;  English,  11,946  ;  C.  R., 
5,914.  Toronto  East,  I.,  11,100  ;  S.,  3,568  :  E.,  9,259  ;  C.  R.,  5,967. 
In  the  two  divisions  the  strong  German  race  numbers  985.  In 
the  two  Ontarios  the  English  are  first : — South  Ontario,  I.,  4,698  : 
S.,  3,550 ;  E.,  10,298 ;  C.  R.,  2,005.  North  Ontario,  I.,  7,400  ; 
S.,  6,417;  E.,  8,992;  G.,  811  ;  C.  R,  3,072.  Durham  (west),  I., 
6,496  ;  S.,  2,095  ;  E.,  9,205  ;  G.,  247 ;  C.  R.,  2,497.  Durham  (east), 
I.,  10,746;  S.,  1,141 ;  E.,  6,630 ;  G.,  241  ;  C.  R.,  819.  In  Durham 
there  is  appropriately  a  Cavan  which  contains  3,197  persons  with, 
the  rich  Irish  blood  in  their  veins,  and  of  which  only  26  are 
Catholics. 

In  South  Victoria  the  Irish  element  swells  to  10,519  ;  the 
Scotch,  2,702  ;  the  Engli.sh,  5,129;  C.  R.,  4,165.  In  North  Vic- 
toria the  figures  are,  I.,  23,638  ;  S.,  3,777 ;  E.,  2,920 ;  C.  R. 
912.  West  Northumberland,  I.,  6,811;  S.,  2,944 ;  E.,  6,557  :  C.  R., 
2,796.  East  Northumberland,  I.,  6,583  ;  S.,  3,209  ;  E.,  6,714  ;  G., 
2,894  ;  C.  R,  2,781.  West  Peterborough,  I.,  5,794 ;  S.,  1,612  ;  E., 
3,354  ;  C.  R.,  3,125.  The  Town  of  Peterborough  contains  no  less 
than  2,066  of  Irish  blood,  and  1,338  Catholics.  East  Peterborough, 
1,7,774;  S.,  2,772;  E.,  3,137;  C.  R.,  3,902.  North  Peterborongh, 
I.,  1,709  ;  S.,  563;  E.,  1,458;  C.  R.,  481.    Prince  Edward,  I.,  5,900;. 


m 


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140 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN    CANADA. 


S.,  1,378  ;  E.,  6,049;  G.,  4,800  ;  Dutdi,  634  ;  C.  R.,  1,500.  Hast- 
ings (west),  I.,  4,797;  S.,  1,572  ;  E.,  3,990;  C.  R.,  3,350.  Hantings 
(east),  I.,  8,324;  S.,  1,348  ;  E„  3,078  ;  C.  R.,  4,879.  Hastings  (north), 
I.,  7,287;  S.,  2,200 ;  E,  3,875;  G.  1,266 ;  Dutch,  1,014 ;  C.  R.,  2,375. 
Lennox,  I.,  5,244;  S.,  1,478;  E.,  4,849;  G.,  4,649;  C.  R.,  1,418. 
AcMington,  I.,  9,429  ;  S.,  1,738  ;  E.,  3,459  ;  G.,  5,453  ;  C.  R.,  4333. 
Frontonac,  I.,  7,886  ;  S.,  1,958  ;  E.,  4,082 ;  G.,  1,040  ;  French,  997  ; 
Dutch,  169  ;  C.  R.,  4.479.  Thus  in  Frontenac  the  Irish  are  nearly 
twice  the  number  of  English,  and  more  than  four  times  the  Scotch. 
In  the  charming  City  of  Kingston,  the  figures  give  I.,  6,611 ;  S„ 
l,fi21  ;  E.,  3  271 ;  G.,  199 ;  French,  363  ;  African,  102  ;  C.  R.,  3,980. 
Leeds,  lying  snugly  by  the  St.  Lawrence,  has  a  noble  Irish  popula- 
tion of  11,202 ;  the  Scotch  numbering  2,410,  and  the  English, 
4,885  ;  the  German,  1,195  ;  the  French,  093  ;  the  Dutch,  101 
C.  R.,  3,035.  In  pleasant  Brockville  the  figures  stand — I.,  5,106 
S.,  1,579  :  E.,  3,621 ;  C.  R.,  1,904.  Grenville,  I.,  6,761 ;  S.,  1,907 
E.,  2,939;  G.,  408;  F.,  020;  D.,  297;  C.  R.,  3,064.  Leeds  and 
Grenville,  L,  9,458;  S.,  1,272;  E.,  1,817;  G.,  322;  F.,  291;  D., 
141;  C.  R.,  2,332.  Dunda.s,  L,  6,541;  S.  2,485;  E.,  1,921;  G., 
5,503  ;  F.,  1,031 ;  D.,  1,112  ;  C.  R.,  2,382.  Stormont,  I.,  2,708  ;  S., 
3,571;  E.,  804;  G.,  2,220;  F.,  1,200;  D.,  1,203;  C.  R.,  2,306. 
Cornwall,  I.,  1,483  ;  S.,  2,058  ;  E.,  757  ;  G.,  905  ;  F.,  907;  D.,  119  ; 
(y.  R.,  3,370.  Glengarry  has  properly  a  large  Scotch  population, 
the  figures  being,— I.,  1,279  ;  S.,  15,899  ;  E.,  509  ;  F.,  2,007  ;  C.  R., 
10,404,  Prescott,  L,  4,055;  S.,  2,540;  E.,  1,250;  G.,  147;  F.,  9,023  ; 
C.  R.,  11,774.  Russell,  I.,  7,745  :  S.,  2,870  ;  E.,  1,551 ;  F.,  5,000  ; 
C.  R.,  8,831.  Ottawa,  I.,  8.021  ;  S.,  2,285 ;  E.,  3,721  ;  F.,  7,214 ; 
C.  R.,  12,735.  Carleton,  I.,  10,774;  S.,  2,102;  E.,  1,700;  C.  R., 
0,028;  South  Lanark,  I,  11,007;  S.,  5,334;  E.,  2,020;  F.,  455; 
C.  R.,  4,313.  North  Lanark,  I.,  5,500;  S.,  5,539;  E.,  1,194;  F., 
410  ;  C.  R.,  2,340.  South  Renfrew,  L,  6,616  ;  S.,  4077;  E.,  1,287; 
F.,  1,266;  G.,  620;  C.  R.,  6,347.  North  Rcxifrew,  I.,  6,949  ;  S., 
2,070;  K,  1,371;  F.,  1,616;  G.,  1,698;  C.  R.,  4,712.  Nipissing 
(north  and  south),  I.,  509  ;  S.,  92 ;  E.,  122  ;  F.,  473  ;  C.  K,  778 
south,  and  640  north.  Muskoka,  I.,  1,631 ;  S.,  1,027 ;  E.,  2,235  ; 
G.,  321  ;  C.  R.,  239.  Parry  Sound,  L,  461 ;  S.,  266;  E.,306  ;  C.  R., 
247.  Manitoulin,  L,  110;  S.,  127  ;  E.,  132  ;  C.  R.,  1,329.  Algoma, 
L,  276;  S.,  552;  E.,  237;  C.  R.,  2,027.     Totals  for  Ontario,  Irish, 


QUEBEC   AND  LOWER  PROVI^'CES. 


141' 


1,500.     Hast- 

0.  Hastings 
tingH  (north), 
;  C.  R.,  2,375. 
C.  R.,  1,418. 
;  C.  R.,  4333. 
French,  997; 
?h  are  nearly 
is  the  Scotch. 
I.,  G,G11 ;  S„ 
1  C.  R.,  3,980. 
Irish  popula- 
the  English, 
Dutch,  101 
cl— I.,  5,106 

1 ;  S.,  1,907 
Leeds  and 
F.,  291  ;  D., 
.,   1,921;   G., 

1,  2,708 ;  S., 
C.  R.,  2,366. 
67;  D.,  119  ; 

population, 

2,607;  C.R., 

'7;F.,  9,623; 

;  F.,  5,000 ; 

;  F.,  7,214 ; 

,700 ;  C.  R., 

0  ;  F.,  455  ; 

„  1,194;  F., 

7;  E.,  1,287; 

,6,949;   S., 

Nipissing 

;  C.  R.,  778 

;  E.,  2,235 ; 

.,30G;C.  R., 

9.    Algoma, 

itario,  Irish, 


i 


559,442;  Scotch.  328,889;  English,  439,424.  C.  R.,  274,102.  Thu.-^ 
in  Ontario,  the  Irish  are  as  five  to  three  to  Scotchmen  and  persons 
of  Scotch  descent ;  and  as  five  to  four  as  regards  tho^e  of  English 
Mood  ;  and  the  Protestant  Irish  are  nearly  double  the  Catholic. 

When  we  come  to  the  Province  of  Quel)ec  we  find  the  Irish 
element  the  strongest  after  the  French.  Pontiac  (south),  I.,  8,239; 
S.,  1,897;  E.,910;  F.,  8,195.  Pontiac  (north),  I.,  123;  S.,08;  E„44; 
F.,  260.  Ottawa  (west),  I.,  8,605;  S.,  1,298;  E.,  1,508;  F.,  11,531. 
Ottaw",  (centre),  I.,  1,376;  S.,  320;  E.,  550;  F.,  7,054.  Ottawa 
(east),  I.,  1,119  ;  S.,  614  ;  E.,  286.  Argenteuil,  1,4,080  S.,  3,213; 
E.,  1,443;  F.,  3.902.  Deux  Montagnes,  I.,  770;  S.,  348;  E.,  96; 
F.,  13,972. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  go  much  further  into  details  as  regards 
Quebec.  In  Montreal,  the  Irish  element  is  very  strong.  In  Mont- 
real (centre),  I.,  969;  S.,  341;  E.,479;  F.,  3,224.  Montreal  (east), 
I.,  6,013;  S.,  1,580,  E.,3,307;  F., 35,569.  Montreal  (west),  I.,  19,394; 
S.,  7,974;  E.,  9,099;  F.,  18,063.  Thus  in  Montreal  west,  the  Irish 
element  is  stronger  than  the  French.  In  Huntingdon  also,  those 
of  Irish,  are  more  numerous  than  those  of  French  blood.  Hun- 
tir.g.'on,  (east),  I.,  4,112;  S.,  1,292;  E.,  825;  F.,  2,383.  Huntingdon 
(wc-.:),  I.,  2,274;  S.,  1,892;  E.,  208;  F.,  2,541.  In  Quebec,  as  indeed 
in  most  cities  the  Iiish  are  again  numerous,  the  figures  being  I. 
12,345;  S.,  1,861 ;  E.,  3,974;  F.,  40,890.  The  totals  for  the  Province 
of  Quebec  show  L,  123,478;  S.,  46,458;  E.,  69,822;  F.,  929,817;  G., 
7,963;  C.  R.  1,019,850.  Of  the  71,666  protestants,  62,449  belong  to 
the  Church  of  England. 

In  the  Province  of  New  Brunswick  the  Irish  element  ranks 
first.  St.  John  I.,  20,128;  S.,  5,785;  E.,  13,772;  C.  R.,  17,829.  In  the 
City  of  St.  John  separately  I.,  15,605;  S  ,  3,2841;  E.,  8,557;  C.  R., 
9,999.  Charlotte,  1,10,154';  S., 4,319;  E.,10,783;  C.R.,3.828.  Kings 
whose  undulating  hills  and  green  valleys  recall  Ireland,  the  figures 
are  1. 10,841,  S.,  2,705 ;  E.,  8,279;  G.,  1,186;  C.  R.,  3,522.  Queens,  I. 
5,409;  S.,  2,142;  E.,  4,842;  C.R.,  1,331.  Sunbury,  I,  2,655;  S.,552; 
E.,  2,839;  C.  R.,  1,031.  York  I.,  9,095;  S.,  3,917;  E.,  9,577;  C.  R., 
4,388.  Carleton,I.,7,541;S.,  2.570;  E.,  8,197;  C.R.,2.416.  Victoria, 
I.,  1,696;  S.,  955;  E.,  1,509;  C.  R.,  8,270.  It  is  not  necessary  to  go 
further  into  particulars.  Enough  to  state  that  the  totals  of  New 
Brunswick  areas  follows  ;  I.,  100,643;  S.,  40,858;  E.,  83,59 


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142 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


41.,<>07;  G.  4,478;  Dutch  0.005;  Welsh  1,()UG;  Africana  1,701;  C.  U., 
y(),016. 

In  Halifax  City  the  Irish  predominate,  the  figures  bein*,'  I., 
n.OOr);  S,, 4,817;  E.,  0,720;  G.,  1,4G9;  C.  R,  12,431.  The  totals  for 
the  whole  of  Nova  Scotia  are  I.,  02,851;  S.,  120,041;  E,  118,520; 
G.,  21,042;  F.,  32,833;  Dutch  1208;  African  0,212;  C.  R.,  102,001. 

In  Piince  Edward  the  nuniljcr  of  persons  of  Irish  blood  Is  31,000; 
S.,  25,484  ;  E.,  21,878.  In  Manitol)a  the  Irish  element  is  not  yet 
.strong.  But  in  due  time,  side  by  side  with  the  Scotch  ajid  English, 
men  of  Irish  blood  are  destined  to  pcjssess  those  fertile  regions. 
In  Eiitish  Columbia  then;  are  no  statistics  to  hand.  In  New- 
foumlland  the  number  of  persons  l)orn  in  Ireland  is  nearly  double 
that  of  those  bom  in  Scotland  or  in  England.  The  population 
is  1 10,530,  and  what  the  proportion  of  Irish  blood  is  it  is  not  easy 
to  say,  but  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  it  is  very  large. 

Newfoundland,  which  will,  I  hope,  soon  make  part  of  the  Do- 
minion, is  the  first  British  colony  estal)lished  on  this  continent, 
and  is  supposed  to  have  been  discovered  in  the  tenth  century  by 
Biarne,  son  of  Heriulf  Bardson.*  But  the  first  discovery,  generally 
considered  historical,  is  that  of  Cabot,  whom  King  Henry  VII 

*  Newfoundlaml  is  the  oldest  Colony  of  (ireat  liritain  in  America,  having  l)een  taken 
|)0.s.sesHion  of  by  John  and  Seba.stian  C^abot  for  King  Henry  Sevt.ith,  in  the  year  1407 
and  called  Baccalaos,  the  word  used  for  cod  fish  ))y  the  natives,  'i' here  is  every  reasoii 
to  believe,  however,  that  it  was  discovered  long  before,  viz.,  in  1001,  by  Biron  or  ^Morn 
who  named  that  £).irt  where  he  landed  Winland ;  he  was  a  Norman  ;  on  liis  return  he 
told  of  his  discovery.  "Lief,"  son  of  "  Eric  Redhead,"  immediately  fitted  out  a  vessel 
with  thirty-five  men,  and  taking  Biorn  with  him,  set  out  for  the  newly-discovered 
country.  Afterwards  settlements  were  made  from  Greenland  and  Iceland ;  it  even 
api>ears  that  a  Bishop  was  stationed  there.  Eric,  Bishoji  of  Greenland,  having  g(meto 
Winland  in  1121, where  it  is  supposed  he  died.  Sub8e(iuont  adventurers  discovered  Latin 
books  in  possession  of  one  of  the  chiefs,  supposed  to  have  belonged  to  the  Bishop.  The 
Island  was  subsecjuently  called  Estotiland.  According  to  Anspach's  History  there  is  no 
doubt  that  Winland,  Estotiland,  and  Newfoundland,  are  the  same  country.  The  native 
Indians,  now  extinct,  or  nearly  so,  are  supposed  to  be  degenerate  descendants  of  the 
Norman  settlers  !  In  1.583,  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  took  possession  of  the  harbour  of 
St  Johns,  in  the  presence  of  all  the  ships  there,  in  the  name  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and 
established  a  colony.  Colonies  were  afterwards  established  there  by  Sir  George  Calvert 
ill  the  reign  of  James  First— one  of  his  (Calvert's)  principal  men,  Daniel  Powell,  was, 
an  liishman  ;  by  the  Marquis'  of  Hamilton,  in  time  of  Charles  First.  Lord  Falkland 
(Gary)  in  1C20,  sent  a  colo^v  of  Irishmen  there,  but  one  cannot  find  their  names.  John 
Gray,  a  merchant  of  Bristol,  made  a  good  settlement  in  1608  ;  but  then  the  great  and 
chief  inducement  was  the  fisheries;  gradually  the  country  was  found  not  to  be  the 
barren  spot  represented.— See  Anspach's  History. 


^1^ 


SETTLEMENTS   IN   NEWFOUNDLAND. 


143 


1,701;  O.K., 

ires  being  I., 
'he  totals  for 
E,  118,520; 
R.,  102,001. 
jod  is  81,000; 
nt  is  not  yet 
and  English, 
irtile  regions, 
d.  In  New- 
learly  double 
lo  population 
it  is  not  easy 

•t  of  the  Do- 
lls continent, 
h  century  by 
jry,  generally 
^  Henry  VII 


chagiii' '<!  at  his  own  want  of  adventure  in  refusing  to  aid  (Jolum- 
buH,  despatched  in  the  May  of  141)7  on  a  voyage  of  discovery. 
Then  follow  the  visits  of  the  Portuguese  Cor te real  in  1500;  of  the 
French  Verazzani  in  1525  ;  of  Jac(iues  (^artier  in  1584.  In  1583, 
Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  the  n)ost  interesting  of  English  adventurers, 
who  had  the  gallantry  and  charm  ot  liis  half-brothei,  Sir  Walter' 
Raleigh,  landed  at  St  John's,  took  possession  of  the  island  in 
the  name  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  ere  returning  on  that  voyage, 
in  which  he  was  to  meet  his  doom,  promulgated  laws.  In  IGIO, 
Guy  attempted  to  e,staV)lisli  a  colony  at  Conception  Bay,  and  in 
1CI;'>  Captain  Whitlxmrne  took  steps  to  introduce  law  among  the 
population.  Other  settlements  followed,  and  in  1728  Newfound- 
lank,  released  from  the  nominal  control  of  Nova  Scotia,  was 
erected  into  a  separate  province.  In  most  of  these  settlements 
there  must  have  been  a  proportion  of  Irish,  as  in  1753,  out  of  a 
total  po])ulation  of  13,112,  part  of  which,  however,  was  migrati)ry, 
there  were  1,795  Catholics,  chiefly  Irish. 

In  1784,  a  great  stimulus  was  given  to  Irish  emigration  to 
Newfoumlland  by  the  Rev.  Father  O'Donnell,  a  native  of  Tip- 
perary,  who  had  been  educated  at  Prague,  and  who  was  attracted 
by  the  toleration  prevailing  on  those  shores  to  leave  his  ntitiNo 
countiy,  and  settle  with  his  people,  beyond  that  ocean,  w^liich 
seemed  to  the  men  of  those  days  so  dividing.  This  learned  divine 
was  appointed,  in  1790,  Roman  Catholic  Bishop  of  the  island. 
For  aiding  General  Skerret  in  putting  down  a  nnitiny  among  a 
regiment  raised  there — a  mutiny  which  was  only  i)art  of  a 
wide-spread  disaffection,  instinct  with  the  principles  and  feel- 
ings of  1708 — the  bishop  was  granted  by  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment an  annuity  of  £50  sterling.  Among  the  Irishmen  who  have 
risen  to  prominence  here,  D'Arcy  ^''cGee  mentions  tlie  Hon.  L. 
O'Brien,  who  administered  the  Province,  Chief -Justice  Brady,  the 
Hon.  Mr.  Kent  ;,ud  the  Hon.  Mr.  Shea,  both  of  whom  became 
premiers. 

Bonn}'castle  writes  that  "  more  than  one-half  of  the  people  are 
Irish  ;  so  much  so  indeed  as,  considering  the  verdure  of  the  earth, 
the  absence  of  reptiles,  the  salubrity  of  the  air,  and  peculiar 
adaptation  of  the  soil  to  the  growth  of  the  potato,  to  tempt  one 
very  c.  ien  to  call  it  '  Transatlantic  Ireland.'  "     The  same  author 


;'  ' 


'i'  lit  T'j' 

11! 


'i'l'ii 


i!?i 


,   I 


m»^ 


m 


144 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


says :  "  The  Irish  arc  an  excitable  race,  which  they  themselves  do 
not  aifect  to  deny  ;  they  are  easily  led,  but  difficult  to  drive.  But 
the  good  qualities  of  the  Irish  peasant  abroad  are  very  prominent, 
and  here  in  Newfoundland  they  are  so  busily  employed  during  a 
great  part  of  the  year,  in  very  small  and  detached  sections,  that 
they  have  no  time  to  think  about  politics,  or  about  anything  else 
but  getting  their  bread  for  themselves  and  their  families,  to  pro- 
vide in  time  for  a  long,  severe  and  serious  winter.  I  declare,  and 
I  am  sure  I  shall  be  borne  out  by  every  class  of  people  in  this 
country,  and  by  all  those  whose  domicile  is  a  mero  transient  one, 
that  a  more  peaceable,  respectable,  loyal,  or  a  kinder-hearted  race 
than  the  Newfoundland  English  and  Irish,  whether  emigiants  or 
native  born,  I  never  met  with," 

Party  political  and  religious  spirit,  however,  ran  high  in  the 
island.  Many  old  country  merry-making  customs  were  kept  up 
by  the  Irish  population,  amongst  others.  Bonny  castle  particularizes 
that  of  the  boys  on  St.  Stephen's  Day,  going  round  from  door  to  door 
with  a  green  bush  decorated  with  ribbons,  &c.,  and  containing 
a  little  bird  to  represent  the  wren,  while  they  sing — 

'    The  wren,  the  wren,  the  king  of  all  birds, 
On  St.  Stephen's  Day  was  caught  in  the  firs." 

St.  Patrick's  Day  is  also  regularly  celebrated.  Both  Protestants  and 
Catholics  generally  unite,  in  compliment  to  each  other,  in  observ- 
ing the  days  of  their  respective  saints,  namely  St.  George  and  St. 
Patrick.  "  But  the  devotion,"  says  Anspach,  "  with  which  the 
latter  is  honoured  by  the  sons  of  Erin  is  by  far  the  greater  of  the 
two."  They  also  kept  up  the  Sheelagh's  Day.  This  is  the  day 
for  getting  sober. 

The  religious  bodies  in  Newfoundland  consist  of  the  Church  of 
England,  the  Roman  Catholic,  the  Presbyterian,  the  Independent, 
and  the  Methodist  Churches.  The  Church  of  England  and  the 
Roman  Catholic  are  by  much  the  largest.  The  former  was  estab- 
lished by  the  "  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in 
Foreign  Parts,"  and  the  mission  in  Newfoundland  was  one  of  the 
original  objects  of  its  care.  William  III.,  Prince  of  Orange,  was 
the  father  and  founder  of  this  Society,  which  has  since  spread  and 
done  so  much  good.     In  the  list  of  clergy  of  the  Church  oi  Eng- 


m 

m 


SIR  THOMAS  COCHRANE. 


U5 


land,  in  1842,  several  Iiish  names  appear.  Amongst  the  namesof 
governors  of  the  island  are  a  few  Irish  ones,  and  the  most  pros- 
perous administration,  up  to  1842,  was  that  of  Sir  Thomas  Coch- 
lane,  who  was  appointed  in  1826.  His  administration  was  a  vig- 
orous one,  and  he  has  the  merit  of  having  opened  roads  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  capital,  and  of  directing  great  improvements  in 
the  town  itself,  Avhilst  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  consequent  upon 
his  indefatigable  zeal  in  forming  internal  communications,  began  to 
be  attended  to,  the  wheat  began  to  yellow  the  landscape,  and  good 
pasturage  was  provided  for  horses,  cattle,  and  sheep.  He  built  a 
Government-house  of  solid  stone.  Vigilant,  .arseeing,  politic  and 
princely,  ho  retained  his  office  until  1834,  bestowing  upon  it 
great  and  unwearied  attention,  and  displaying  a  magnificence  in 
his  vice-regal  functions  before  unknown.  In  1835,  he  obtained  a 
new  commission  with  very  extensive  powers,  and  was  constituted, 
in  point  of  fact  and  law,  the  first  civil  governor. 

In  1830,  the  venerable  and  much  beloved  bishop  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  the  Irish  Dr.  Scallan  died,  universally  lamented. 
He  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  Fleming. 

The  first  newspaper  in  Newfoundland  was  printed  by  an  Irish- 
man. The  Royal  Oazette  and  Ketvfoundland  Advertiser  was  pub- 
lished on  the  27th  August,  1807,  by  Mr.  John  Ryan,  and  continued 
up  to  1842  at  all  events,  (the  date  of  Bonnycastle's  History)  as  the 
official  Government  paper  under  the  title  of  the  Royal  Oazette. 
Mr.  Ryan  had  then  Mr.  Withers  associated  with  him  at  St.  Johns. 
The  oldest  Benevolent  Association  on  the  Island  is  the  Benevo- 
lent Irish  Society,  which  was  founded  in  180G. 

Soon  after  the  cession  of  Nova  Scotia  to  the  British  Crown,  at 
the  j)ressing  request  of  the  New  England  Colonies,  the  British 
Government  ottered  free  grants  of  land  to  th  .  military  men  who 
should  elect  to  settle  there  ;  a  free  passage,  together  with  tools, 
arms  and  rations  for  a  year,  being  proffered  as  an  inducement. 
On  the  2l8tof  June,  1840,  four  thousand  disbanded  soldiers,  under 
Governor  Cornwallis,  arrived  in  Chebucto  Harbour,  and  com- 
menced the  settlement  of  that  town,  which  has  since  grown  into 
a  great  city,  with  churches  and  cathedrals,  with  banks  and 
school-houses,    spacious  public    buildings,   a  score   or    more  of 

hotels,  stores  which  would  take  rank  as  specimens  of  architecture 
10 


ivtr 

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;l     11       llll'llj 


146 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


in  London,    great  manufactories,   and  a  dockyard  which  covers 
fourteen  acres.     Over  the  splendid  harbour  alive  with  shipping, 
frown    eleven   different    fortifications.      It   is   the   chief  naval 
station  of  Canada,     Two  regiments  of  the  line,  besides  artillery 
and  engineers  are  always  stationed  here.    Opposite  the  city  stands 
the  Town  of  Dartmouth,  one  of  the  prettiest  in  the  world.     The 
Hceneiy  is  beautiful,  and  the  natural  beauty  is  enhanced  by  pretty 
villas  along  the  shore.     An  extensive  steam  communication  con- 
nects Halifax  with  various  parts  of  Continental  Canada,  Prince 
Edward  Island,   Newfoundland,  the    United  States,   the   West 
Indies   and  Great   Britain.      From    east  and  west   run  admir- 
able lines  of  railway.     It  has  a  population  of  some  thirty-three 
thousand,  and  the  value  of  its  assessed  property  cannot  be  much 
less  than  S20,0()0,()00.      The  aggregate  of  its  imports  and  ex- 
ports is  not  at  present  much   below  818,000,000.      Of  the  four 
thousand  veterans,  who  thus  early  laid  the  foundation  of  the 
Liverpool  of  the  Atlantic  coast,  a  considerable    number   were 
undoubtedly  Irish.     The  foundation  of  the  City  of  Halifax  was 
laid  in  174)9.     Ten  years  after  this,  it  was  described  in  a  contem- 
porary account  as  divided  into  "  Halifax  proper,  Irishtown,  or  the 
Southern,  and  Dutchtown  or  the  northern  suburbs."     At   this 
period  the  inhabitants  numbered  three  thousand,  one-third  of 
whom   were    Irish.      The    President     of    the    Irish   Charitable 
Society  was  in  1755  appointed  one  of  His  Majesty's  Council  for 
the  Province  of  Nova  Scotia. 

If  we  examine  the  old  books  we  shall  find  the  fact  that  Nova 
Scotia  was  largely  settled  by  Irishmen  made  clear.  A  book  called 
"  Nova  Scotia  Archives,"  gives  a  long  list  of  the  first  settlers  and 
among  the  names  wefind  Neil,0'Neil,Fitzgibbon,Flynn,Cavanagh, 
Casey,  Ryan,  Fitzgerald,  Whelan,  Blake,  Mooney,  Connor,  Owen, 
Magrath,  Moore,  Donahoe,  Doyle,  Sullivan,  Kennedy,  Farrell, 
Plunkett,  Connolly  and  many  others,  undoubtedly  Irish.  Mur- 
doch in  his  "History  of  Nova  Scotia," gives  many  Irish  names 
some  of  them  belonging  to  men  who  played  a  prominent  part  in 
the  government  of  that  Province.  Amongst  the  Justices  of  Peace 
and  Agents  to  assign  lands  to  settlers  at  Shelburne,  appear  the 
names  of  James  McEwan,  Peter  Lynch,  William  C.  White,  Patrick 
Wall  and  Michael  Langan ;  amongst  the  Privy  Council  for  1789 


mm 


ST.  Patrick's  day  in  nova  scotia,  1796. 


147 


we  find  the  Hon.  Thomas  Cochran  and  the  Hon.  Charles  Morris. 
Either  Morris  or  his  son  was  afterwards  President  of  the  Irish 
Society.  Mathew  Cahill  was  Sheriff  of  Halifax  that  year,  and  a 
levee  was  held  at  the  Government  house  on  St.  Patrick's  day. 
Hon.  Thomas  Cochran  amongst  others  was  appointed  a  trustee  of 
a  Grammar  School  to  be  forthwith  erected.  This  was,  without 
doubt  the  first  ever  built  in  Halifax.  Wm.  Cochran,  of  Trinity 
College,  Dublin,  was  chosen  its  first  master. 

On  St.  Patrick's  day  in  1796  a  levee  was  held  at  the  Qovenvtuent 
House.  About  5  P.  M.,  the  Irish  Society's  dmner  took  place  at 
Gallagher's.  H.  R.  H.  Prince  Edward  Sir  John  Wentworth,  some 
members  of  the  Council,  the  Speaker  and  several  members  of  the 
House  a  V,;  ended  as  guests. 

In  thc^  Ualifax  Journal  of  Novenj.bei,  1799,  we  learn  that  the 
Rev.  J.  Murdoch  died  at  Musquodoboit,  on  Thursday,  21st  of 
November,  aged  55  years,  that  he  was  a  native  of  Ireland  and 
came  over  to  the  Province  32  years  before,  in  1767,  as  Presbyterian 
minister  for  Cumberland.  He  had  been  settled  about  eight  years 
at  Musquodoboit.  His  death  was  much  lamented  by  the  inhabi- 
tants of  that  settlement  and  by  his  family,  he  having  left  a  widow 
and  ten  children.  The  historian  mentions  in  a  note  that  the  old 
gentleman  was  his  gi-andfather. 

Rev.  Geo.  Wright,  aged  67,  who  was  long  the  Head  Master  of  the 
Halifax  Grammar  School,  died  in  1819.  He  was  Missionary  of 
the  Round  Church,  North  Suburbs,  and  Chaplain  to  the  Garrison 
of  Halifax.  He  was  an  Irishman,  and,  says  the  obituary,  "  a  most 
assiduous  and  conscientious  instructor  of  youth."  He  had  been 
trained  at  TriiJty  College,  Dublin. 

On  St.  Patrick's  day,  1811,  the  members  of  the  Irish  Society 
celebrated  the  anniversary  of  the  Saint,  by  dining  with  a  large 
number  of  guests  at  the  Masonic  Hall.  His  Excellency,  the 
Lieutenant-Governor,  and  Major-General  Balfour,  with  their  re- 
spective suites,  Commissioner  Inglefield,  the  Hon,  the  Judge  of  the 
Vice-Admirality  Court,  the  Commissary-General,  the  Captains  of 
the  Navy,  the  Garrison  staff,  and  others  were  among  the  guests. 
The  company  sat  down  to  dinner  at  half -past  five.  The  Hon. 
Charles  Morris,  President ;  S.  H.  George  Esq.,  acting  as  Vice- 
President.    After  the  cloth  was  removed,  upwards  of  forty  toasts 


ii 


I'll 


I 


rh'  i: 


iiiiiliij 


Cl: 


I'  it 

If  I? 


1)1:1 


r   1 


148 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


were  given,  mostly  V^umpers,' among  which  were:  "  The  memory  of 
the  Pious  St.  Patrick  ; "  "  Our  Venerable  King,  may  the  prayers 
of  liis  loyal  people  be  heard  ; "  "  The  Prince  of  Wales  and  the 
British  Constitution  ;  "  "  The  Duke  of  Clarence  and  the  Navy  ; " 
"  The  Duke  of  Kent  and  the  Knights  of  St.  Patrick ;  "  '•  The  Queen 
and  the  rest  of  the  Royal  Family  ; "  "  The  land  we  live  in,  and 
may  it  long  be  governed  by  its  present  benefactor,  and  may  health 
and  happiness  ever  attend  him." 

His  Excellency  thanked  tiic  Company  for  the  honour  done  him. 
He  considered  the  prosperity  of  the  Province  due,  next  to  the  in- 
dustry of  its  inhabitants,  to  the  effects  of  the  wise  and  beneficent  in- 
structions of  his  Sovereign,  which  it  was  his  happy  lot  to  execute, 
and  after  representing  in  glowing  colours  the  achievements  of 
the  British  army  in  Spain  and  Portugal,  and  the  heroic  virtues  of 
its  commander-in-chief,  gave  as  a  toast  "  Lord  Wellington,"  which 
was  drunk  with  three  times  three,  and  the  most  enthusiastic 
applause.  After  that  came,  "  The  General  and  the  Garrison ;  " 
"  Admiral  Sawyer  and  the  squadron  under  his  command." 

His  Excellency  and  most  of  the  principal  guests  retired  at  nine 
o'clock.  "The  rest  of  the  company,"  says  the  reporter  of  the  Halifax 
Gazette,  "  sat  to  a  very  late  hour."  It  is  to  be  feared  they  had  a 
bad  head-ache  the  next  morning. 

The  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Edmund  Burke,  who  died  in  1820,  in  the 
78th  year  of  his  age,  was  an  Irishman,  having  been  born  in  the 
County  Kildare.  He  was  Parish  Priest  of  the  Town  of  Kildare, 
'vl'.ich  he  vacated  at  the  frequent  and  earnest  solicitations  of  some 
ot  the  Professors  of  the  Seminary  of  Quebec,  and  arrived  in  Lower 
Canada  the  2nd  of  August,  1780.  There  he  officiated  as  a  clergy- 
man, and  taught  the  higher  branches  of  mathematics  and  philoso- 
phy, with  great  credit  to  himself  and  benefit  to  the  students  who 
crowded  to  hear  the  lectures  of  a  man  celebrated  in  the  University 
of  Palis  as  exceeding  most  men  of  his  day  in  mathematical  science, 
as  also  in  the  classics.  He  was  particularly  strong  in  the  Greek 
and  Hebrew  languages.  He  taught  in  Quebec  until  Lord  Dor- 
chester appointed  him,  as  a  faithful  and  capable  person,  to  reconcile 
the  many  powerful  tribes  of  Indians  inhabit: iig  the  country  about 
Lake  Superior  and  the  back  of  the  Ohio  and  Louisiana,  who  at 
that  time  manifested  dispositions   very  hostile    to  the  British 


A  GREAT  MISSIONARY. 


149 


J  memory  of 
the  prayers 
ales  and  the 
the  Navy  ; " 
'•  The  Queen 
5  live  in,  and 
I  may  health 

ur  done  him. 
'xt  to  the  in- 
oeneficent  in- 
)t  to  execute, 
lievements  of 
oic  virtues  of 
igton,"  Avhich 
,  enthusiastic 
le  Garrison ; " 
nand." 

etired  at  nine 
Df  the  Halifax 
ed  they  had  a 

1820,  in  the 
1  born  in  the 
rn  of  Kildare, 
ations  of  sonic 
■ived  in  Lower 
;d  as  a  clergy- 
s  and  philoso- 
students  who 
.he  University 
latical  science, 
in  the  Greek 
itil  LordDor- 
m,  to  reconcile 
country  about 
isiana,  who  at 
to  the  British 


Government.  Among  these  savage  tribes  of  Indiana  he  resided 
six  or  seven  years,  suffering  great  privations,  nor  did  he  return 
until  he  had  fully  accomplished  the  object  of  his  mission.  He  in- 
structed the  benighted  Indian  in  the  principles  of  the  Christian 
religion,  and  impressed  on  his  mind  a  knowledge  of  the  true 
God,  by  whose  assistance  he  inculcated  into  his  savage  mind 
sentiments  of  loyalty,  obedience,  and  lasting  friendship  for  his 
great,  worldly  father,  King  George  the  Third.  Government  re- 
warded those  important  services  by  granting  Dr.  Burke  a  pension 
for  life.  His  vanity  would  have  been  excited,  if  he  had  any,  by 
the  sincere  and  cordial  friendship  of  the  Duke  of  Kent,  ai^  also 
of  every  military  and  naval  officer  who  successively  commaiaded 
in  British  America  during  his  time,  all  of  whom  entertained  such 
an  opinion  of  his  sound  judgment  and  zealous  loyalty,  as  to  con- 
sult him  on  the  most  important  points  of  their  intended  opera- 
tions brfore  they  put  them  into  execution.  His  advice  and  opinion 
during  the  war  of  1812  were  greatfully  acknowledged  by  the 
two  men  who  were  then  in  command,  and  by  them  honourably 
reported  to  His  Majesty's  Ministers;  who,  in  approbation  of  Dr. 
Burke's  loyalty  and  learning,  used  their  influence  with  the  See  of 
Rome  to  appoint  him  Bishop  of  Sion  and  Vicar  Apostolic  in  Nova 
Scotia.  The  historian  describes  him  as  a  tall,  handsome,  grave- 
looking  man.  Latterly  he  stooped  a  little  in  walking.  His  man- 
ners were  cheerful,  urbane  and  easy. 

In  1821,  Lawrence  Kavanagh  was  returned  to  the  Assembly  for 
Cape  Breton.  He  was  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  would  not  subscribe 
the  declaration  against  transubstantiation,  although  willing  to 
take  the  State  oaths.  He  therefore  did  not  take  his  seat.  The 
following  year,  1822,  on  the  25th  February,  a  resolution  was 
moved  to  the  effect  that  a  large  number  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Cape  Breton  were  Roman  Catholics,  and  that  Lawrence  Kavanagh, 
one  of  the  two  members  they  had  chosen  to  represent  them,  was 
of  that  creed  ;  that  though  willing  to  take  the  State  oaths,  he  could 
not  conscientiously  subscribe  the  declaration  against  transubstan- 
tiation ;  that  he  should  be  permitted  on  taking  the  former  oaths 
to  sit  in  the  House  until  His  Majesty's  pleasure  should  be  known, 
provided  the  Lieutenant-Governor  approved . 

This  resolution  was  lost,   13  voting  for  and   17  against   it. 


nil 


9'  -■  '• 

A)  '  ' 


150 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


lilt. 


m 


If 


il      l-l< 


liiiii 


:'.^ 


Amongst  the  nays  were  the  names  of  Roach  and  O'Brien.  These 
voted  against  the  motior  tearing  their  friends  were  too  precipitate. 
In  1827,  Lawrence  Kavanagh  was  again  elected  and  still  refused 
to  sign  the  declaration.  The  Assembly  met  1st  February,  but  he 
was  absent.  On  Feb.  26th,  the  Catholic  petition,  praying  that  an 
address  be  presented  to  His  Majesty  by  the  House  to  dispense 
with  the  declaration  and  test  oaths,  was  presented  by  Mr,  Uni- 
acke,  member  for  Cape  Breton,  and  a  resolution  moved  by  him  in 
accordance  therewith  was  seconded  by  Judge  Haliburton  and 
ably  spoken  to  by  both.  This  no  doubt  had  some  effect.  But 
the  King's  message  absolving  Catholics  from  the  declaration  was 
on  its  way.  Accordingly  we  find  that  Lawrence  Kavanagh  was 
sworn  in  on  2nd  April.  The  Roman  Catholic  petition  was  headed 
by  one  Mr.  CaiToll,  who  is  referred  to  in  Judge  Haliburton's 
speech  as  his  "  old  friend."  The  draft  of  the  petition  is  in  the 
hand-writing  of  Lawrence  O'Connor  Doyle. 

We  have  just  seen  in  what  a  liberal  and  enlightened  manner 
the  Catholics  were  treated  in  Nova  Scotia.  Their  religion,  pro- 
scribed by  statute,  was  long  tolerated  by  Governors  more  sagacious 
than  tlie  law.  In  1763,  a  large  and  prosperous  colony  from  the 
north  of  Ireland  settled  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  brought  with  them 
their  household  gods.  They  were  Presbyterians  to  a  man,  and 
named  the  new  settlement  Londonderry.  In  the  following  year, 
large  numbers  of  Irish  Presbyterians  were  expelled  from  New  Eng- 
land. The  traveller  who  sails  along  the  indented  coast  of  the  County 
of  Cumberland,  will  see  many  a  white  sheet  spread  to  the  wind. 
He  will  enter  spacious  harbours.  When  he  explores  the  country, 
he  will  be  .struck  by  pleasant  homesteads,  to  which  the  Cobequid 
mountain  forms  a  picturesque  back-grouiid.  He  will  visit  a  large 
and  thriving  mining  population,  who  work  the  richest  coal  mines 
of  the  Province"  He  will  observe  thousands  of  grindstones  manu- 
factured from  the  underlying  rock,  and  expoi'ted  in  vast  quantities 
to  the  United  States.  He  will  discover  that  the  country  abounds  in 
gypsum.  If  it  is  summer,  the  eye  will  re.st  on  fields  white  with  a  hay 
crop,  yielding  annually  $1  .■'>00,()00.  He  will  find  here  flourishing, 
a  population  of  twenty-four  thousand.  The  rugged  ridge  shuts 
out  the  sea  from  the  levt.ls  of  Colchester,  supporting  a  population 
equally  large.     Hants  with  its  beautiful  mountain,  and  smiling 


IRISH  COLONISATION  OF   NOVA   SCOTIA. 


151 


rien.  These 
0  precipitate, 
still  refused 
uaiy,  but  he 
ying  that  an 

to  dispense 
by  Mr,  Uni- 
jd  by  him  in 
iburton  and 

effect.  But 
laration  was 
vanagh  was 

was  headed 
Haliburton's 
ion  is  in  the 

ined  manner 

eligion,  pro- 

tre  sagacious 

ny  from  the 

t  with  thein 

a  man,  and 

owing  year, 

n  New  Eng- 

the  County 

lO  the  wind. 

/he  country, 

le  Cobequid 

visit  a  large 

coal  mines 

;ones  manu- 

t  (quantities 

abounds  in 

i  with  a  hay 

flourishing, 

ridge  shuts 

population 

and  smiling 


valleys,  and  its  hills  of  gypsum,  supports  a  population  of  twenty- 
two  thousand.  An  ecjual  number  subsists  and  flourishes  amid  the 
scenes  of  Longfellow's  "  Evangeline,"  the  rich  agricultural  county 
of  King's,  with  its  comfortable  and  wealthy  farms,  its  charm- 
ing scenery,  its  commandiag  views,  all  the  glory  of  Grand 
Pr<;,  all  the  picturesqu'.i  sublimity  which  fills  the  soul  as  we 
gaze  from  the  top  of  Horton.  One  hundred  and  ten  years  ago, 
these  great  and  thriving  counties  were  a  wildernes.s,  when  the  ex- 
pelled Irish  Presbyterians  from  New  England,  axe  and  Bible  in 
hand,  set  about  the  work  of  transformation.  Later  on,  at  the 
outbreak  of  the  first  American  war,  Irish  loyalists  came  to  their 
aid.  Later  still,  when  the  guns  of  the  second  were  being  stowed 
away  in  armouries,  Irish  military  men,  the  oflicer  and  the  private, 
were  impelled  by  the  love  of  independence,  when  their  regiments 
were  disbanded  at  Halifax,  to  betake  themselves  to  the  bush.  The 
Irish,  including  both  Presbyterians  and  Catholics,  formed  in  1827, 
at  the  very  lowest,  a  full  half  of  the  population.  According  to 
the  census  of  1861,  the  total  population  of  Nova  Scotia  was  380,- 
849,  of  which  80,281  were  Catholics,  all  of  Irish  descent.  75,788 
representing  Colchester,  Cumberland,  Hants,  and  King's,  were  the 
descendants  of  the  great  fathers,  who  grappled  with  the  wild 
a  century  before.  Thus,  looking  at  Presbyterian  and  Catholic 
Irish  alone  the  proportion  was  sustained.  We  can  only  guess  at 
the  Irish  element  in  the  remainder  of  the  population,  but  it  could 
not  be  contemptible.  In  the  census  of  1871,  the  total  given  as  of 
Irish  origin  is  62,851;  figures  which  show  how  untrustworthy 
the  table  entitled  the  "Origins  of  the  People '  is,  considered  in  any 
light  of  accuracy.  The  foible  of  many  persons  to  describe  them- 
selves as  of  English  descent,  and  similar  foibles  are  well  known. 
The  absurdity  of  these  figures,  in  the  light  of  historical  facts, 
will  be  made  more  clear,  when  we  state  chat  the  number  given  as 
of  Iriih  origin  in  the  City  of  Halifax  alone,  is  29,098,  D'Arcy 
McGee  loved  to  point  out  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  first  names 
in  Nova  Scotia  belonged  to  either  Protestant  or  Catholic  Irish. 
Among  the  former,  lead  the  Inglis,'  Cochrans,  Heads,  Uniackes  ; 
among  the  latter,  the  Kavanaghs,  Boyles,  Tobin«,  Kenneys,  O'Con- 
nors, Doyles,  and  others.  Long  before  the  Emancipation  Act,  Mi- 
chael Kavanagh's  sitting  for  Cape  Breton,  was  connived  at.     Mr. 


iii 


i  ■ml 


Ml: 


t:      ",' 


a   j.|l    IliL'i  i  !; 


15^ 


THE    IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


O'Connor  Doyle  was  admitted  to  practise  as  a  barrister.  Since 
those  days,  such  names  as  Walsh  in  law,  and  Compton  in  litera- 
ture, appear. 

We  are  able,  owing  to  the  industry  and  research  of  Mr.  Thomas 
Millar,  of  Truro,  to  give  something  like  an  accurate  idea  of  the 
part  the  Irish  took  in  building  up,  at  least,  one  county  ;  and  from 
one  case  a  general  inference  must  be  drawn.     On  the  i)th  Octolier, 
1761, Colonel  Alexander  McNutt,  agent  of  the  British  Government, 
arrived  in  Halifax,  with  upwards  of  three  hundred  settlers  from 
the  north  of  Ireland.     In  less  than  a  week  they  were  landed  on 
w^hat  is  now  called  McNab's  isl  and.  Throughout  the  following  months 
they  remained  about  Halifax.   Having,  during  the  winter,  endured 
considerable  hardship,  in  the  spring  of  1762  some  went  to  Horton, 
some  to  Windsor,  some  to  Londonderry,  some  to  Onslow,  and 
others  to  Truro.     In  the  year,  1765,  the  inhabitants  of  Truro  ob- 
tained a  grant  of  land  from  the  Government,  among    the  gran- 
tees being  Alexander  Millar,  the  grandfather  of  the  author  of  the 
book  referred  to  above,  and  the  youngest  son  of  Alexander  Millar, 
who,  with  his  wife  and  children,  emigrated  from  Belfast,  in  the 
year  1718.     The  Millars  are  a  large  family  now  in  Nova  Scotia. 
Alexander  Millar,  born  in  Truro,  April  22nd,  1769,  was  one  of  the 
first  and  ablest  advocates  of  Total  Abstinence,  in  Nova  Scotia.     In 
his  address  in  1834,  to  the  Society  of  which  he  was  Vice-President, 
he  said:  he  wished  to  put  on  record  what  he  had  witnessed  in  re- 
gard to  the  traffic  in  the  use  of  ardent  spirits.    In  1773,  there  was  one 
barrel  of  rum  sold  in  Truro;  the  next  year,  one  puncheon  ;  the  next, 
three  puncheons;  the  ratio  of  increase  going  forward,  until  in  1831 , 
sixty  puncheons  were  sold.    In  the  early  days,  the  people  of  Truro 
were  famed  for  their  sobriety ;  they  were  sober,  orderly  and  hospi- 
table; but  as  the  trade  increased,  and  with  it  the  use  of  ardent  spirits, 
the  people  generally  sank  in  reputation,  and  many  of  the  most  le- 
spectableaiP">ng  them  fell  before  the  destroyer.     Total  abstinence 
was  the  only  way  <i^  defeating  the  "adversary."   Two  years  befoie, 
only  eighteen  persons  were  found  to  embrace  this  principle.    A  year 
after  the  commencement  of  the  movement,  the  number  stood  at 
133;  the  figures  rising  in  twelve  months  more  to  175.     The  evi- 
dence of  thousands  who  had  made  the  experiment,  was  conclusive 
against  moderate  drinking.     It  was  presumption  for  any  man  to 


THE   CREELMANS  AND  THE   ARCHIBALDS. 


15a 


er.     Since 
Q  in  litera- 

Ir.  Thomas 
dea  of  the 
;  and  from 
th  OctoV)er, 
avernment, 
ttlers  from 
!  landed  on 
ing  months 
er,  endured 
.  to  Horton, 
nslow,  and 
if  Truro  ob- 
the  gran- 
thor  of  the 
ider  Millar, 
iast,  in  the 
ova  Scotia, 
i  one  of  the 
Scotia.     In 
i-President, 
essed  in  iv- 
ere  was  one 
;  the  next, 
itilinl831, 
)le  of  Truro 
and  hospi- 
lent  spirits, 
le  most  I'e- 
aljstinence 
Bars  before, 
Die.   A  year 
ir  stood  at 
.     The  evi- 
conclusive 
my  man  to 


■I 


t 

4 


ft 

f-K. 
'J 


,1 


■i 
I 


think  he  could  follow  with  impunity  that  path  of  ruin.  Nor 
was  he  without  help  from  other  Irishmen.  In  1756,  three 
brothers,  Samuel,  Matthew,  and  Francis  Creelman,  emigrated 
from  Ireland  to  Nova  Scotia.  Samuel  settled  in  Upper  Steviack, 
Couilty  of  Colchester  ;  the  other  two  elsewhere;  and  all  grew  pros- 
perous. One  of  the  sons  of  Sanniel  was  called  after  himself.  He 
liad  six  sons,  the  second  of  whom,  William  Creelman,  was 
the  father  of  the  Hon.  Sanniel  Creelman,  and  the  fourth,  the 
grandfather  of  one  of  the  law  firm  of  Macarthy,  Hoskin, 
Plumb,  &  Creelman,  Toronto.  William  Creelman  was  a  delegate  in 
18;J2,  from  Upper  Steviack,  asking  the  county  sessions  from  the 
( 'ounty  of  Colchester  not  to  grant  a  license  to  any  person  to  sell 
spirituous  liquors.  When  the  petitions  were  read,  there  was  a  ma- 
jority of  the  justices  in  favour  of  not  granting  licenses.  But  the 
piesiding  judge  was  dissatisfied  with  the  opinion  expressed  by  the 
ju.stices. 

In  I7G2,  the  founders  of  the  Archibald  family  arrived  from  Ire- 
land. David  Archibald  was  a  leading  man  in  society,  and  was  the 
first  Justice  of  the  Peace  settled  in  Trui-o.  He  was  also  thj  first 
who  represented  the  Truro  Township  in  Parliament.  He  took 
his  seat,  June  5th,  1766.  His  name  stands  at  the  head  of  the 
list  of  elders  of  the  Presbyterian  Congregation,  chosen  in  the  sum- 
mer of  177w.  He  seems  to  have  been  of  a  somewhat  stern  character. 
When  a  man  was  brought  before  him  for  theft,  his  sentence  was 
"  that  the  thief  should  be  tied  to  a  cart  and  driven  from  the  hill 
across  the  river-dam  round  the  parade  and  back  to  the  hill  again, 
and  that  the  driver  should  use  the  whip  more  freely  on  the  thief 
than  on  the  horse."  He  was  forty-five  years  old  when  he  arrived 
in  Nova  Scotia,  having  been  born  in  Londonderry  on  the  2()th 
September,  1717.  He  was  married  to  Elizabeth  Elliott  on  May 
19th,  1741.     His  eldest  son  Samuel  was  born  the  following  year. 

This  man's  career  was  somewhat  varied  and  unhappy,  though 
he  nuist  have  had  a  happy  humour.  Born,  like  his  father  in 
Londonderry,  he  became  member  for  Truro  Township  in  the 
House  of  Assembly,  was  indeed  elected  twice  in  1775,  and  again 
in  1777.  "  He  was,"  says  his  biographer  "  full  of  sport,"  and  we  get 
the  following  instance.  On  one  occasion,  when  a  number  of  men 
were  engaged  dyking  in  the  marsh,  the  men,  as  was  the  cus- 


fr-1 

!           '' 

k 

';                ;      ^     ■ 

I    > 


il '  t'' 

'-III 


l.H 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN    CIANADA. 


torn  in  those  days,  took  their  drain  in  the  middle  of  the  after- 
noon, and  lay  down  to  have  a  little  rest.  They  all  fell  asleep, 
whereupon  Archibald  took  every  man's  spade,  and  fastened  each 
one  of  them  down  to  the  marsh  by  the  queue  of  his  hair.  In  1770 
he  started  for  the  West  Indies  with  a  cargo  of  V>oards  and  horses. 
When  on  his  way  to  the  Bay  he  rode  up  to  the  shop  door  of  one 
John  Smith,  and  sai<l  to  him  :  "  Come,  Smith,  let  us  take  a  parting 
drop."  When  Smith  was  about  to  take  the  drop,  Archibald 
.snatched  the  bottle  away,  and  rode  off  laughing.  In  fact  the 
bottle  contained  ti.sh  oil.  "While  he  was  in  the  West  Indies,''  w 
are  told,  "he  received  foul  treatment  from  a  British  officer,  and 
died  there  .suddenly,  leaving  a  widow  and  six  young  children." 

David  Archibald,  the  father  of  this  man,  and  whose  career  has 
been  already  glanced  at  as  the  founder  of  the  Archibalds,  was 
assisted  in  this  work  by  three  brothers.  How  much  they  and 
theirdescendants  must  have  done  for  Nova  Scotia  may  be  gathered 
from  the  fact  that  it  takes  nearly  eighty  pages  demi-octavo  to 
recount  the  number  and  exploits,  the  marrying  and  giving  in 
marriage,  of  the  Archibalds. 

Among  those  who  came  in  the  ship  "  Hopeweli,"  under  the 
guidance  of  Colonel  McNutt,  was  Robert  Barnhill,  with  his  wife, 
his  son,  and  three  daughters,  with  their  husband.^  and  families. 
This  family  also  contributed  their  .share  to  peopling  the  waste,  as 
is  evidenced  by  their  descendants,  the  Barnhills,  Deyarmonds, 
Bairds,  &;c.  Another  family  brought  out  by  the  "  Hopewell  "  was 
that  of  James  Crow,  consisting  of  six  sons  and  one  daughter. 

Earlier  than  the  "  Hopewell,"  came  what  is  known  as  the 
"  starved  ship."  She  arrived  in  1760,  having  many  Irish  emi- 
grants on  board.  She  was  so  scantily  supplied  with  provisions 
that,  long  before  the  voyage  was  over,  each  passenger  was  put  on 
an  allowance  of  one  pint  of  oatmeal  and  a  little  water.  A  Mr.  Fisher 
begged  from  the  mate  a  tablespoonful  of  water,  which  was 
refused  him,  there  1  leing  but  two  thirds  of  ^  bottle  on  board. 
The  man  used  to  moisten  a  spoonful  of  oatmeal  with  salt  water,  ami 
so  eat  it.  In  this  manner  passengers  and  crew  existed  for  fourteen 
days.  At  last  they  saw  with  ^ndeous  joy  death  seize  on  the 
weaker  ones  among  them.     Fis.       must  have  recalled  all  he  had 


1 


THE  STARVED  SHIP. 


15o 


heard  of  the  Siego  of  DeiTj',  as  over  the  covetous  repast  he  and 
his  ft'llowH  hung. 

"  Part  waH  divided,  part  thrown  in  the  sea, 

And  micli  things  an  the  entrails  and  the  Vtrains 
Ke((aied  two  sharkH,  who  followed  o'er  the  billow " 

Sailors  and  passengers  ate  the  .-est.     At  last  even  this  resource 
failed.     In  fact,  the  weak  did  not  die  (|uick  enough.     Then 

"  The  lotH  were  made,  and  maik'd  and  inix'd  and  handed 

In  Hilent  horror,  and  then-  distrihntion 
Lidrd  even  the  aava^e  Innnger  which  demanded, 

Like  the  Promethean  vulture,  thifl  pollution  ; 
None  in  particular  had  nought  or  plann'd  it, 

'Twafl  nature  gnaw'd  them  to  this  reHolution, 
By  which  none  were  permitted  to  be  neuter " 

and  the  lot  fell  on  our  poor  fiiend  Fisher,  only  nineteen  years  of 
age.  Just  at  the  moment  when  the  butcher  was  lifting  his  knife 
to  slay,  a  vessel  hove  in  sight  and  responded  to  their  signals  of 
distress.  Fisher  was  saved  for  other  worms  than  his  own 
kind.  So  deep  an  impression  did  the  horrors  of  the  voyage 
make  on  him  that  throughout  his  whole  after  life  he  could  never 
see  without  pain  the  least  morsel  of  food  wasted,  nor  a  pail  of 
water  carelessly  cast  to  earth.  He  was  a  religious  man.  He 
married  three  times,  had  twelve  children,  eleven  of  whom  arrived 
at  adult  age,  and  four  of  whom  lived  to  an  average  age  of  ninety - 
one  years.  His  descendants,  in  1850,  numbered  nine  hundred 
and  fifteen,  scattered  through  nearly  all  the  States  of  the  Union, 
through  Nova  Scotia,  and  through  Ontario  and  Quebec.  He  him- 
self died  in  New  Hampshire. 

Other  families  which  came  about  the  same  time,  were  those  of 
James  Johnson  and  John  John.son,  whose  descendants  are  numer- 
ous in  Nova  Scotia  to-day.  In  those  days  also  came  the  Hunters, 
as  did  the  Teas',  the  Dickeys,  the  McConnells.  There  was  an- 
other Fisher  besides  the  one  mentioned  above — William  Fisher, 
who  was  born  in  Londonderry  in  1716 ;  and  who,  having  married 
one  of  the  Archibalds,  removed  to  New  Hampshire,  in  1743,  only 
again  to  return  to  Truro  in  1762.  He  represented  Truro  for  five 
years.  Other  Irish  families  were  tiie  Moores  and  Downings,  the 
O'Briens  and  Hamiltons,  the  Fultons  and  the  Creelmans.  To  these 
last  I  have  already  referred.     It  takes  thirty  pages  to  recount  the 


i 


I 


■'  tl.  I  l> 


w 


1 


ii 

mam 

iffil 

'Ii  IH 

1  II  WUM 

III 

in 

■1 

ill  1^1 

L 

'lii 

'  ii 

iill 

156 


THR   lUrsiIMAN    IN   CANADA. 


di'scundants  of  the  three  brothers.  Hon.  Sfiniuel  Creehnan,  wiio 
hoMs  the  must  pioniiiient  po.sition  of  any  person  of  his  name  in 
Nova  Scotia,  i.s,  as  we  have  .seen,  the  grandscjn  of  Samuel  CrLohMan 
the  emigrant.  His  mother  wa.s  the  great-graniUlaughter  of  David 
Anhihakl,  with  whom  I  have  aheady  dealt.  The  H(jn.  Mr.  Creel- 
man  i.s  the  President  of  the  Nova  Scotia  Temperance  Alliance, 
and  Vice-President  of  the  Young  Men's  (Christian  As.sociation  for 
the  Maritime  Provinces.  lie  has  been  Grand  Worthy  Patriarch 
of  the  Grand  Division  Sons  of  Temperance,  Nova  Scotia;  Finan 
cial  Secretary  and  a  member  of  the  Executive  Council,  Nova 
Scotia,  from  1851  until  IHoG  ;  Chief  Gold  Commissioner  from  18(52 
until  18r)8  ,  a  .second  time  a  meniber  of  the  Government  in  18(J7  ; 
sat  for  Colchester  in  Nov(^  Scotia  Assembly  from  1847  to  18.51  , 
for  South  Colchester  from  1851  to  1855,  when  he  wa.s  defeated; 
appointed  to  the  Legislaiive  Council  in  18G2  ;  resigned  the  .same 
year  on  being  appointed  Gold  Cyonnuissioner  ;  he  was  re-appointeil 
to  the  Legislative  Council  in  18(17  ;  he  ^s  been  a  justice  of  the 
peace  .since  1843.     Mr.  Creehnan  is  a  "  Liberiil  "  In  politics. 

A  fine  specimen  of  the  energetic  Irishman  was  the  late  Hon. 
James  Cochran,  a  member  of  the  Executive  Council,  who.se  name 
has  not  yet  disappeared  from  the  Parliamentary  Companion.  He 
first  saw  light  in  Granard,  Longford,  in  1802.  He  emigrated 
to  Halifax  in  1825  and  immediately  commenced  to  build  up  his 
career  as  an  enterprising  young  colonist.  He  possessed  energy, 
judgment  sound  and  vigorous,  and  soon  began  to  take  a  position 
in  the  van  of  his  contemporaries.  In  1829,  he  married  Miss  Catha- 
rine Walsh,  of  Wexford,  Ireland,  She  died  in  1874,  By  energy,  per- 
severance and  integrity,  Mr.  Cochran  soon  built  up  a  good  fortune. 
He  was  a  director  of  the  People's  Bank  and  also  of  the  Acadia 
Fire  Insurance  Company.  Twice  he  was  chosen  President  of  the 
Charitable  Irish  Society. 

Mr.  Cochran  was  long  identified  with  the  i)olitical  struggles  of 
Nova  Scotia.  He  belonged  to  that  infiuential  class  of  Catholics 
in  the  Province  of  Nova  Scotia  who  act  with  the  Rel'orm  party. 
His  direct  active  political  history  commenced  in  18fc;7,  when  he 
became  a  candidate  for  the  Local  A-ssembly  in  the  intt  rests  of  the 
Anti  vionfederate  party.  He  added  undoubted  strength  to  the  party, 
as  was  seen  on  the  15th  of  September,  1867.     When  a  Govern- 


3elman,  who 
his  naniu  in 
lel  CiLcliMau 
ter  of  David 
n.  Mr.  (Jreol- 
ice  Alliance, 
lociation  for 
\y  Patiiarch 
i)tia;  Finan 
uncil,  Nova 
irt'roni  18()2 
mt  in  l.S()7  ; 
147  to  Ihol  , 
as  ilet'eatod  ; 
ed  the  same 
re-appointed 
istioe  of  the 
flitios. 

le  late  Hon. 

whose  nanu' 

pan  ion.    He 

e  emigrated 

luihi  up  his 

ssed  energy, 

e  a  position 

VlisK  Catha- 

energy,  per- 

ood  fortune. 

the  Acadia 

ident  of  the 

struggles  of 
»f  Catholics 
brm  party. 
7,  when  he 
rests  of  the 
to  the  party, 
I  a  Govem- 


HKNATORH  COCilRAN   AND  SMYTH. 


157 


9 


M 


ment  was  formed  in  lH(i7  l>y  the  Anti-confederates,  Mr.  Cochran 
was  selected  for  a  seat  in  the  Executive.  T  ,  1871,  ho  preferred  to 
retire  from  the  more  exciting  scenes  of  the  .ower  House,  and  was 
therefore  ap])ointed  to  a  seat  in  the  Legislative  Council.  Perhaps 
the  Union  Party  had  meanwhile  made  menacing  progress. 

"  This,"  says  an  olntnary  notice  in  the  Acadian  Recorder,  "is  a 
summary  of  the  outer  life  of  the  great  man  whose  memory  we  are 
s»eking  to  honour.  His  ])rivate  charities — his  benevolent  acts — 
his  kindly  .sympathies,  his  pious  endeavours,  his  private  virtues, 
these  are  only  recorded  by  the  All-seeing  Searcher  of  men's  hearts. 
It  is  not  necessary  for  us  to  dwell  on  this  side  of  the  departed's 
life.  His  career  is  known  to  all.  No  man  ever  ventured  to  im- 
peach his  honour  oi-  call  in  question  his  integrity  of  purpose.  For 
over  three  score  vears  and  ten  the  deceased  has  gone  in  and  out 
day  after  day  among  his  fellow-citizens.  In  Ids  mercantile,  politi- 
cal, .social  and  religious  relations,  his  life  has  been  open  to  every 
one,  and  there  is  no  one  in  Halifax  to  stand  up  and  prefer  a  charge 
against  him  in  any  of  these  relations.  As  a  merchant  he  was 
honest  and  generous  ;  as  a  politician  he  was  sincere,  faithful  and 
scrupulous  ;  as  a  citizen  lie  was  kind,  just  and  beneficent ;  as  a 
Catholic  he  was  devout,  pious  and  devoted.  He  has  gone ;  another 
of  that  race  of  veterans  whose  enterprise  has  helped  to  build  up 
this  city,  and  whose  wisdom  and  sagacity  have  aided  in  moulding 
our  institutions.  He  was  an  example  for  his  own  and  for  all  times. 
His  career  stands  out  clear  and  bright  for  the  imitation  of  all  men. 
We  know  not  where  his  place  is  to  be  filled.  Unfortunately  we 
have  too  few  men  of  the  stamp  of  James  Cochran.  Let  us  prize 
his  worth  and  cheri.sh  the  memory  of  his  eminent  virtues."  Mak- 
ing all  allowance  for  the  latitude  of  an  obituarist,  such  statements 
regarding  matters  of  fact  in  a  community  whore  Mr.  Cochran  was 
known,  could  only  be  made  wliere  a  man  had  deserved  the  eulogy. 

A  brother  Senator,  who  happily  survives,  the  Honourable  Peter 
Smyth,  was  born  the  same  year,  1802,  in  Ireland.  He  emigrated 
to  Nova  Scotia  early,  and  was  educated  there.  He  was  married 
twice,  in  the  first  instance  to  a  Miss  O'Grady,  in  the  second  in- 
stance to  a  Miss  Helen  Keating.  Unlike  Cochran,  Smyth  is  a 
Conservative. 

In  the  Legislative  Assembly  we  have  William  Henry  Alison,  of 


158 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   C4NADA. 


I%- 


r„ 


!m| 


the  Donegal  AliBons ;  Donald  Archibald,  J. P.,  the  son  of  Samuel 
Archibald,  on  whose  joyous  career,  with  its  fatal  close  I  have 
just  dwelt ;  John  B.  Dickie  ;  E.  Farrell,  M.D.,  of  the  Water- 
ford  Farrells ;  Philip  Carteret  Hill  (the  Provincial  Secretary), 
the  sou  of  Captain  N.  T.  Hill,  .f  the  Royal  Staff  Corps,  who 
was  stationed  at  Halifax  after  the  war  of  1812.  While  there  he 
married  and  left  the  service.  The;  father  of  Captain  Hill  was  Major 
Hill,  of  Cork,  who  Wiis  for  some  time  the  Quai-ter-master  General 
at  Waterford.  Mr.  P.  C.  Hill,  was  born  at  Halifax,  in  1821,  edu- 
cated at  King's  College,  Windsor,  and  called  to  the  bar  in  1841. 
He  married  the  grand -daughter  of  Chief  Justice  Haliburton,  and 
daughter  of  the  kte  Hon.  E.  Collins.  He  was  elected  Mayor  of 
Halifax,  for  three  consecutive  terms.  He  is  the  author  of  the 
"  Unity  of  C/reat)an,"  a  lecture,  aud  "  The  United  States  and  Bri- 
ish  Provinces  contrasted  from  personal  observation."  Mr.  Hill  is  a 
Liberal  Conservative. 

In  the  Dominion  Parliament  we  tind  Patrick  Power,  M.P.  for 
ILalifax,  who  has  been  Alderman  and  Commissioner  of  Schools, 
President  of  the  Charitable  Irish  Society,  &c.  He  is  an  independent 
supporter  of  the  Reform  party.  The  son  of  this  gentleman  is  in 
the  Senate. 

Wher  we  come  to  New  Br 'nswJck,  the  "  Origins  of  the  People  " 
put  down  as  of  Irish  origin  l()0,6rj>4,  out  of  285,594,  a  little  mo^^e 
'an  the  sa^me  propcntion  as  the  Catholics,  though  it  is  well  known 
there  hrve  been  many  Protestant  settlements,  and  the  proportion 
of  French  origin  is  only  44,1^07.  Still  we  have  in  New  Bruns- 
wick more  than  a  third  and  less  than  one-half. 

Until  1784,  New  Brunswick  formed  pait  ')f  the  old  French  Pro- 
vince of  Acadia,  afterwards,  under  English  rule,  called  Nova 
Scotia.  In  the  August  of  that  year  information  was  received  by 
the  packet  from  Falmouth  that  the  Province  of  Nova  Scotia  was 
to  be  divided,  and  the  lands  lying  on  the  north  side  of  the  Bay  of 
Fundy  were  to  be  erected  into  a  new  Government,  under  the 
name  of  New  Brunswick.  Colonel  Thomas  Carieton,  brother  of 
that  great  Irishman  Guy  Carieton,  was  appointed  first  Governor. 

The  division  was  hailed  with  delight  by  the  inhabitants  of  the 
new  Province.  The  new  Governor,  on  his  arrival,  was  presented 
with  an   address.      Murdoch,    in  his  History,  says  he  was  ;«.i- 


SETTING   APART   OF  NEW   BRUNSWICK. 


159 


n  of  Samuel 
close  I  have 
the  Water- 
Secretary), 
r  Corps,  who 
iile  there  he 
11  was  Major 
ister  General 
nl821,  edu- 
bar  in  1841. 
iburton,  and 
ied  Mayor  of 
[thor  of  the 
tes  and  Bri- 
Mr.  Hill  is  a 

cr,  M.P.  for 

of  Schools, 

independent 

leman  is  in 

/he  People  " 
little  moi-e 

well  known 
proportion 
ew  Bruns- 

rench  Pro- 
ill  ed   Nova 
vceived  by 
Scotia  was 
the  Bay  of 
under  the 

brother  of 
jJovernor. 
ints  of  the 

presented 
le  was  ;..i- 


dressed  by  His  Majesty's  exiled  loyalists  from  different  parts  of 
the  American  continent  resident  on  St.  John's  river.  They  call 
him  "  the  brother  of  our  illustrious  friend  and  patron  Sir  Guy 
Carleton,"  and  designate  themselves  "  a  num})er  of  oppressed  and 
insulted  U^yalists."  They  were  they  .said  formerly  freemen,  and 
again  hoped  to  be  .so  under  his  au.spictis.  They  congratulated  him- 
self, his  lady  and  family,  on  his  "  .safe  arrival  to  this  new  world 
to  chock  the  arrogance  of  tyranny,  crusli  the  growth  of  in- 
justice, and  estaljlish  .such  wholesome  laws  as  had  ever  V^een  the 
Vjasis  of  the  ghjrious  British  Con.stitution."  They  also  alluded  to 
him  as  having  been  Colonel  of  the  29th  Regiment,  in  the  late  re- 
bellion. To  this  address  he  replied  in  modest  and  moderate  terms. 
"  The  ex[)ression.s,"  says  Munloch,  "  used  in  this  document  appear 
to  be  tinctured  with  n'.sentment  against  the  Government  of  Nova 
Scotia. "  Murdoch  himself,  a  Nova  Scotian,  does  not  admit  there 
were  any  causcis  of  complaint.  He  says :  "  Great  allowance  should 
be  made  for  men  wlio,  V^y  the  events  of  the  civil  war,  were  forced 
to  exchange  their  once  ha[)py  homes  for  a  c(juntry  in  a  wilderness 
state,  a  milder  climate  for  a  moic  rugged  one,  and  who  were  in  a 
manner  drifting  on  a  di.sasti'ous  current." 

It  is  evident  that  New  Brunswick,  when  set  apart,  was  almost 
altogether  composed  of  .settlers  from  the  rebellious  colonies  of 
America.  That  afterwards  there  was  a  large  Irish  emigration  there 
can  be  no  douht.  If  you  look  over  the  files  of  New  Brunswick 
papers,  you  will  find  tlieiii  full  of  Iri.sh  names.  In  the  County  of 
Gloucester,  New  Brun:;wick,  there  is  a  settlement  originally  of 
about  eighty  families,  fiom  Bandon — "merry  Handon  town" — from 
which  their  town  has  'oeen  called  "  New  Bandon."  The  repn;- 
sentation  in  the  House  of  (Commons  ought  to  Ije  a  pn^tty  good 
criterion  to  go  by  ;  which,  according  to  the  speech  of  Mr.  Waller 
is  as  follows  : — Scotch,  five  ;  English,  sevf^n  ;  Irish,  four. 

Among  the  loyalists  tlierc  were  "n  r  who  could  boast  of  liish 
birth.  The  most  noted  of  thefv  ,vas  Colonel  John  Murray, 
of  Rutland,  Massachusetts,  one  of  those  colonial  noblemen  who 
lived  upon  their  estates  after  the  traditions  of  the  mother  country. 
He  was,  in  addition  to  being  a  colonel  in  the  militia,  a  Mandamus 
Councillor,  and  a  member  of  the  General  Court.  (Jn  the  night  of 
the  25th  of  August,  1774,  heabaiidoned  his  house  and  fled  to  Bos- 


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THE   lUIHIIMAN    IN    CANADA. 


ton.  Ho  accompanied  the  royal  army  to  Halifax.  Tn  1779  lie  lost 
liiw  exten.sive  eHtatcs  undei-  the  (Jon.spiracy  Act.  He  Hub.seqiKintly 
.S(!ttled  in  8t.  John,  where  he  huilt  a  residtince  on  Prince  William 
Street.  A  pait  of"  the  lot  is  now  the  well-known  (Jhipman  CHtate. 
Ili.s  grandson,  a  njemher  of  the  Kx(!cutive  (council,  ha.s  liis  por- 
trait by  ('opiey.  '''here  i.s  a  })ay(met-hole  throuj^^h  the  wi^,  and 
tbefamily  tradition  runs  that  having  been  disai)point«!d  in  finding 
him,  the  leholn,  who  had  suddenly  attacked  his  house,  pierced 
his  portrait  with  a  bayonet.  In  [)erson  he  was  tall  being-  six 
feet  three  inches,  and  w(dl  pi-oportioned.  One  of  his  daughteis 
married  the  Honourable  Daniel  liliss,  who  was  Chief  Justice 
and  Executive.  (Jouncillor  of  the  Province.  Her  daughter  Han- 
nah was  mother  of  the-  Honourable  Samuid  Allan  Wilmot,  ex- 
Governor  of  New  Brunswick.  Anotluii-  mariied  tlx;  Honouiabli; 
Joshua  Up}ian>,  .hidgt;  of  th<!  Supreme;  (^ourt,  and  a  m(!nd>er 
of  the  <^ Council.  F')'anc(!S  (Jhandler,  wife  of  I;  lUinii  bl-j  John  W- 
Weldon,  Speak*!)-  of  th(!  House  of  As.soud)ly,  w.as  the  daughter  of 
Mrs.  Upham  and  grand-daughter  of  ('olonel  Muiray.  H(;i  son, — 
the  Reveren<l  (Charles  Wentworth  Upham,  late  pastor  of  the  Fii-st 
Church  at  Salem,  Massachusetts,  is  the  authoi-  of  the  well-known 
biogjaphy  of  Sii'  Henry  Vane. 

At  St.  Martins,  a  number  of  Irishmen  are  settled  ;  notable 
among  them  being  the  Skillens — Andiew  and  Robert,  natives  of 
Killyleagh,  County  Down,  who  came  to  this  country  in  1847. 
Their  handsome  residences  within  half  a  mile  of  each  otlu;!-,  add 
to  the  ap})earance  of  the  village,  and  betoken  a  spirit  of  improve- 
ment in  the  owners. 

This  spirit  of  improvement  does  not  (snd  in  the  private  resi- 
dences, but  is  also  noticeable  in  public  improvements.  Foremost 
here,  stands  the  Masonic  Hall,  a  credit  at  once  to  the  village  and 
to  the  fraternity  who  occupy  it.  The  lowei  j)art  is  used  as  a  ]»ul)lic 
hall.  The  village  owes  to  Andrew  Skillens  a  <lebt  of  gratitude  for 
his  enterprise  in  building  this  beautiful  hall,  and  furnishing  a 
magnificent  room  for  pub'jc  meetings. 

Not  satisfied  with  erecting  comely  buildings,  finding  a  great 
want  of  communication  wxth  the  outside  world,  Andrew  Skillens 
has  built  a  steamboat  ca,ll.',dthe  "Earl  Dufierin,"  to  ply  between 
St.  Martins  and  St.  John  for  the  accommodation  of  the  public. 


COTTON  MANUFACTURE  IN  NEW  BRUNSWICK. 


161 


This  new  enterpriHO,  the  Government  recognised  as  a  necessity, 
and  voted  a  subsidy  of  SI, 000  per  year,  to  make  it  a  success. 
The  wharf  accommodation  at  St,  Martins  being  entirely  private 
|)ropcrty,  and  not  being  all  that  was  required  for  a  sea-going 
steamer,  Mr.  SIcillens  built  wharves,  warehouses,  coal-sheds,  offices, 
&c.  There  are  many  other  Irish  families  in  the  vicinity,  who 
have  made  th(!ir  mark. 

When  you  take  up  a  St,  John  business  directory,  you  find  it  full 
of  Irishmen — Dunns,  from  Londonderry ;  Carvills,  from  County 
Down,  and  the  like. 

William  Parks,  the  founder  of  the  first  New  Brunswick  cotton 
mill  was  ])orn  in  Irrland,  in  1800,  and  emigrated  to  New 
Brunswick  in  1822,  with  a  stock  mostly  of  linen.  He  went 
into  the  gi-ocery  and  shipping  Inisiness,  and  subsecpiently  into 
dry  goods.  In  1846,  he  associated  with  himself,  his  son,  Samuel 
Parks,  under  the  style  of  William  Parks  «&  Son.  Samuel 
died  in  1863.  William  having  some  business  connected  with  his 
shipping  interest  to  transact  in  Englana,  embark(;d  on  the  steamer 
"City  of  Boston," in  1870,  which  was  never  heard  from.  He  had 
b(;cn  for  seven  years  Presidcmt  of  the  Commercial  Bank.  He  was 
President  of  the  Western  Extension  Railway  from  its  organization 
to  its  completion  to  Mc.^dam,  and  up  to  his  death.  Boldly  specula- 
tive he  had  for  some  time  entertained  the  project  of  manufacturing 
cotton  goods,  and  made  it  a  subject  of  careful  study,  and,  in 
1801,  he  entered  upon  the  great  enter[)rise.  He  was  joined  by  his 
second  son,  John  H.  Parks,  who,  as  a  civil  engineer,  had  for  several 
years  Ijcen  in  the  service  of  the  Intercolonial  Railway  Companv. 
This  gentleman  is  now  sole  proprietor  of  the  works. 

A  >)rick  mill,  110  x  50  feet,  and  three  stories  in  height,  was  at 
once  erected,  and  the  requisite  machinery  was  selected  in  England 
by  the  present  proprietor  for  the  manufacture  of  the  ordinary 
cotton  ^'rey  cloth,  to  which  they  confined  their  operations  for  a 
year  or  two.  Twenty-four  looms  were  first  set  up,  the  nuni'jer 
being  soon  increased  to  fifty-two.  The  cotton  yam  v/as  at  that 
time  all  iniported.  When  a  great  opportunity  occurred  Parks  was 
ready  to  use  it.  With  the  American  war,  cotton  became  so  dear 
that  manufacturers  abroad  were  forced  to  use  the  cheapest  quali- 
ties, and  the  cotton  yarn  they  produced  became  so  inferior  and  un- 
11 


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THE    IRISHMAN    IN   CANA'M. 


satisfactory,  that  Mesars.  Parks  tk  Son  d<jcided  to  enter  upon  the 
manufacture  of  a  good  article  in  whose  production  they  used  the 
best  American  cott(»n,  improved  machinery  and  skilful  workpeople. 
'J'he  success  exceeded  their  expcjctaticus,  and  they  were  able  to  jmt 
tlieir  yarn  upon  tlie  market  at  Vmt  ■*,  slight  advance  over  the  infer- 
ior English  article.  Witli  Confederation  they  found  theii'  goods  so 
much  in  demand,  that  tliey  devoted  all  tlieir  attention  and  ma- 
chinery to  the  production  of  yarn,  which  soon  attained  as  high  a 
reput.ation  in  the  Dominion,  a.-*  it  enjoyed  in  New  Brunswick. 

The  success  of  this  manufacture  has  been  remarkable.  Twelve 
years  ago  all  th(}  cotton  y}i,rn  used  in  the  Dominion  was  imported. 
Now  scarcely  any  is  brought  over,  and  three-fourths  of  all  used  in 
the  Donuniou  is  made  at  this  establishment.  .The  works  nowcover 
nearly  an  acre  with  substantial  brick  Ijuildings.  The  ({uantity  of 
cotton  used  at  the  mill  is  over  ..two  thousand  bales  annually,  and 
the  production  of  yarn  about  fifteen  thousand  pounds  per  week. 
The  number  of  v/orkpeople  employed  is  about  two  hundred. 

Guy  Stewart  fo  Co.,  from  Newry,  are  large  hnubei-ers.  John 
Boyd  is  a  great  merchant,  who  eu)igrated  to  New  Brunswick,  or 
rather  was  brought  by  his  mother  there,  in  1833,  v/hen  he  was 
three  years  oM.  In  1838  lie  entered  the  house,  in  which  he  be- 
came ])artner.  Mr.  Boyd  has  a  good  oratorical  faculty.  John 
Hegan  emigrated  from  Belfast  in  1828 ;  James  McNichol,  from 
the  County  Tyione,  in  1807  ;  R.  0  Scarl  from  the  King's  County; 
the  Hutchiusons,  of  Londonderry  ;  Rev.  P.  Butler,  of  Dublin ;  the 
Hay  wards,  of  King's  County  ;  (Jarson  Flood,  Thomas  Furlong,  and 
Alexander  McDermott.  John  W.  Nicholson,  from  the  County 
Down,  the  large  ship-owner  and  general  eommission  merchant, 
is  one  of  St.  Jrhn's  >vealthiest  and  most  solid  men.  John  Ander 
son,  only  son  of  the  late  Jame.s  Baird  And*  i\son,  was  born  in  Bel- 
fast, on  the  20th  of  February,  1812,  and  came  to  St.  John  in  1840, 
where  vv  was  a  prosperous  merchant  for  twenty-five  years,  re- 
tiring from  business  in  1865.  In  1835  he  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  Belfast  Society,  a  club  established  for  local  and  municipal 
purposes.  In  St.  John,  he  has  been  for  many  years  connected 
with  the  St.  John  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company ;  wms  appointed 
a  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  1865,  and  has  been  an  active  member  uf 
the  jessions. 


JOHN   COSTIOAN.      JUDGE   WALTERS. 


163 


In  the  Legislative  Council,  we  have  Hon.  William  Lindsay  ;  in 
the  Assembly,  Butler ;  Elder ;  T.  M.  Kelly,  a  member  of  the 
Executive  Council ;  Robinson,  Rogers,  Ryan,  Willis. 

lu  the  Dominion  Parliament,  the  son  of  Mr.  John  Costigan  is 
woil  known.  The  latter,  a  cousin  of  the  late  Francis  Meagher, 
v.as  a  native  of  Kilkemiy,  and  brought  up  to  mercantile  pursuits 
in  the  ufhce  of  Meaglier's  fatlier.  In  1830  he  moved  to  Lower 
Canada,  bringing  witlf  him  his  family,  settling  at  Quebec.  Hero 
he  was  almost  at  once  employed  as  agent  for  Sir  John  Cald- 
well, who,  before  the  era  of  responsible  Government,  was  Trea- 
surer for  the  Imperial  authorities,  and  was,  ))rivately,  an  enter- 
j)rising  speculator.  In  1840,  Mr.  Costigan  left  Quebec  for  the 
Province  of  New  Biunsv/ick,  to  take  charge  of  extensive  mills 
Sir  John  Caldwell  was  erecting  there.  He  took  with  liim  his 
family,  among  whom  was  his  younger  son,  John,  born  in  Quebec, 
1835.  This  son  is  the  gentleman  who  now  represents  Victoria  and 
Madawaska  Counties,  New  Brunswick,  in  the  Dominion  House  of 
Commons.  John  Costi^jan,  tlie  younger,  received  all  his  education 
in  Victoria  College,  Nev^'  Brunswick,  with  the  exception  of  two 
years  spent  at  St.  Anne's  College,  Province  of  Quebec.  He  began 
his  politiciil  career  in  1 JOC;  when  he  was  returned  for  the  Provin- 
cial House,  and  held  his  seat  there  until  Confederation,  since 
which  time  he  has  represented  the  same  constituency  in  the 
House  of  Commons.  He  was  at  first  opposed  to  the  Confedera- 
tion scheme,  but  when  it  w^as  carried  he  gave  it  his  full  support. 
Mr.  Costigan  has  for  some  time  been  regarded  as  the  spokesman 
of  the  Irish  Roman  Catholics  of  New  Brunswick  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  and  though  pressing  their  claims  in  some  delicate  in- 
stances, he  has,  it  is  sai  1,  always  been  able  to  retain  his  popularity 
with  the  larg(  body  of  Protestant  electors  which  exists  in  his 
constituency. 

Mr.  Costigan  has  contepted  snven  elections,  and  V«eea  defeated 
but  once,  which  was  owing  to  his  opposition  to  the  Confederation 
scheme.  Of  the  family  of  the  elder  Mi.  Cu  itigan,  four  daughters 
and  two  sons  survive. 

A  legal  luminary  is  the  Hon.  Charles  Walters,  of  St.  John, 
County  Judge,  and  Judge  of  the  Vice  Admiralty  Court;  he  was 
bom  at  St.  John,  on  the  2Gth  November,  1818.     He  is  the  son  of 


164 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


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Wicklow  parents  who  came  to  this  country  about  the  year  1800. 
Judge  Walters  was  educated  at  St.  John  County  Grammar  School, 
where  he  distinguish  ed  himself  as  a  classical  scholar,  and  was  awarded 
the  corporation  gold  medal  for  that  branch  of  study.     In  1840  he 
began  the  study  of  law  under  Judge  Ritchie, and  was  enrolled  a  bar 
rister  in  1847.     In  1854  he  entered  on  his  political  career,  but  was 
defeated.     In  November,  the  following  year,  he  was  elected  to  re- 
present the  County  of  Victoria,  for  whifth  constituency  he  wa.s 
again  returned  in  1857.     In  November,  1855,  one  month  after  his 
first  election,  he  was  called  to  a  seat  in  the  Executive,  and  was 
the  first  Roman  Catholic  in  the   Province  who  enjoyed  that  dis- 
tinction.    In  1857,  he  was  appointed  Solicitor-General,  an  office 
he  held  for  many  years.     In  18C1,  he  and  the  present  Lieut.-Gov- 
emor,  Mr.  Tilley,  were  returned  for  the  City  of  St.  John,  in  the 
Liberal  interest.  Like  D'Arcy  McGee  Judge  Walters  was  a  warm 
advocate  of  Confederation.     A  fluent  and  logical  speaker,  firm  in 
his  principles,  but  liberal  in  his  ideas,  and  courteous  in  his  man- 
ner, he  embodies  all  that  need  be  looked  for  in  a  representative 
Irishman.     A  St.  John  journalist  writing  of  him  in  1865,  says  : 
*'  Through  his  exertions  the  criminal  code  is  now  in  an  excellent 
state,  being  almost  the  same  as  the  English  law,  so  that  in  its  ex- 
ecution our  judges  and  legal  men  have  the  advantage  of  the 
criminal  judgments  of  the  English  Bench."  A  good  draughtsman, 
the  Intercolonial    Railway  Act  of  1863,  the    Militia    Act,    the 
Railway  Facility  Act,  and  various  local  laws,  were  all  the  produc- 
tion of  his  pen.     In  the  Legislature  Mr.  Walters   was  empha- 
tically a  working  man.     Judge  Walters  received  his  appointment 
as  County  Judge  in  1867,  and  was  made  Judge  of  the  Vice  Ad- 
miralty Court,  October,  1876. 

We  have  not  mentioned  a  hundreth  part  of  the  names  we  might 
mention.  There  are  still  the  McGaws,  the  Philips,  Patrick  Rob- 
inson and  family,  U.  E.  Loyalists,  and  many  others. 

It  is  a  significant  fact  that  the  political  press  of  New  Bruns- 
wick is  mainly  controlled  by  Irishmen.  The  most  distinguished  of 
the  editors  is  the  Hon.  Timothy  Warren  Anglin,  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Commons.  Mr.  Anglin  came  to  St.  John  in  1848,  and 
in  the  following  year  started  the  Morning  Freeman,  first  as  a 
weekly,  and  shortly  after  as  a  tri-weekly.     Both  issues  still  con- 


THE  PRESS  OF  NEW  BRUNSWICK. 


165 


e  year  1800. 
nmar  School, 
w&s  awarded 

In  1840  ho 
irolled  a  bar 
•eer,  but  was 
ilected  to  re- 
ancy  he  was 
nth  after  his 
ive,  and  was 
'■ed  that  dis- 
al,  an  office 

Lieut. -Go  V- 
Fohn,  in  the 
was  a  warm 
iker,  firm  in 
1  in  his  iiian- 
presentativc 

1865, says : 
an  excellent 
lat  in  its  ex- 
ttage  of  the 
i-aughtsman, 
a    Act,    the 

the  produc- 
was  empha- 
tppointment 
he  Vice  Ad- 

es  we  might 
atrick  Rob- 

S^ew  Bruns- 
nguished  of 
aker  of  the 
n  1848,  and 
I?.,  first  as  a 
les  still  con- 


"1 


tinue.  He  sat  in  the  Provincial  Assembly  for  St.  John  County 
from  1861  till  1868,  and  has  represented  Gloucester  in  the  House 
of  Commons  since  the  confederation  of  the  provinces  in  1867.  H6 
was  elected  Speaker  in  1874. 

The  Evening  Olohe  became  the  property  of  John  V.  Ellis  and 
Christopher  Armstrong,  in  1861 — the  latter  being  an  Irishman, 
and  the  former  born  in  Nova  Scotia,  being  of  Irish  parentage. 
Mr.  Ellis  is  now  Postmaster  of  St.  John,  Mr.  Armstrong  remaining 
sole  editor.  The  Daily  News,  the  oldest  paper  in  the  city,  is  the 
property  of  the  Hon.  Edward  Willis,  an  Irishman,  and  a  member  of 
the  New  Brunswick  Government.  He  has  represented  the  City 
and  County  of  St.  John  since  1870.  The  St.  John  Telegraph  w&s 
started  by  John  Livingstone,  son  of  Mr.  Livingstone,  for  many 
years  Customs  Officer  at  Richibucto,  N,  B.,  (an  Irishman)  in  1862, 
since  which  time  it  ha,s  become  one  of  the  leading  organs  of  the 
Maritime  Provinces.  He  sold  the  Telegra'ph  in  1871,  and  began 
the  Watchman,  which  has  already  taken  its  place  in  the  front 
rank  of  Canadian  journals.  Mr.  Livingstone  is  one  of  the  most 
pithy  and  spirited  writers  in  Canada.  William  Elder,  at  present 
member  of  the  Provincial  Parliament,  an  Irishman,  started  the 
Morning  Journal  in  1865  as  a  tri-Vh'-eekly  and  weekly,  which,  at 
a  subsequent  period  was  merged  in  the  Telegraph,  of  which 
jouinal  he  is  now  the  proprietor.  New  Brunswick  is  greatly  in- 
debted to  this  gentleman  who  hag,  stimulated  its  business  activity, 
and  promoted  general  intelligence. 

Among  the  clergy  you  find  the  Rsv.  James  Bennet,  now  minister 
of  St.  John  Presbyterian  Church,  who  was  born  in  1817  in  Lis- 
burn.  County  of  Down.  The  first  of  the  family,  with  two  brothers 
having  come  from  France,and  being  of  Huguenot  faith, had  settled 
amongthe  Irish  Presbyterians.  From  these,  the  most,  if  not  all  of  the 
Bennets  of  the  North  of  Ireland  are  descended.  Mr. Bennet  finished 
his  education  in  the  classical  school  of  the  Royal  Academical  In- 
stitution, Belfast,  under  the  head-mastership  of  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Dix  Hincks,  father  of  Sir  F.  Hincks.  On  March  30th,  1843, 
he  was  ordained  to  the  charge  of  a  church,  County  of  Armagh. 
Having  been  invited  by  the  Presbyterian  Church,  St.  John, 
to  become  their  pastor,  he  arrived  there  on  the  Srd  March,  1854, 
and  was  duly  inducted  by  the  Presbytery  of  St.  John,  in  the 


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166 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


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illliUli 


June  following.  In  this  church  he  has  continued  to  officiate  ever 
since. 

He  has  written  a  gi-eafc  deal  for  the  public,  especially  since 
coming  to  St.  John.  His  unacknowledged  pieces  are  very  numer- 
ou.s.  He  edited  the  Canada  PreshyfeHan,  started  by  the  Rev. 
Wm.  Elder,  for  some  time.  In  that  periodical  many  of  Mr. 
Bennet's  sermons  ha\e  appeared.  His  sermon  preached  as 
Moderator  of  the  Synod  of  the  Church  of  the  Lower  Provinces 
on  "  The  Divinity  of  Christ,  deduced  from  his  character  and 
claims,"  is  an^  admirable  specimen  of  close  reasoning  and  pulpit 
eloquence,  and  added  considerably  to  his  fame  as  a  preacher.  His 
"  Wisdom  of  the  King"  is  a  delightful  book. 

Rev.  David  Montgomery  Maclise,  D.D.,  was  bom  near  Finvoy, 
County  Antrim.  His  parents  were  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  there.  From  childhood,  he  was  trained  up  under  the  in- 
fluence of  religious  principles,  and  very  early  in  life  resolved  by 
God's  grace  to  become  a  minister  of  the  Gospel. 

He  was  for  a  time  classical  teacher  in  the  West  Jersey  Col- 
legiate School,  conducted  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Miller,  D.D.,  son  of 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Miller,  of  Princeton  Seminary ;  was  head 
master  in  Bath  Academy  in  Ontario,  then  Canada  West,  pleach- 
ing always  on  the  Sabbath,  and  many  other  occasions  ;  lecturing 
on  Temperance,  and  doing  a  vast  amount  of  gratuitous  labour. 
Having  thus  had  a  theoretical  and  practical  training  for  the  work 
of  the  ministry,  he  determined  to  devote  himself  exclusively  to  it. 
He  had  two  of  wliat  is  called  "  calls,"  the  one  to  Hopewell,  and  the 
other  to  Montgomery,  Orange  County,  New  York,  the  latter  of 
whi«h  he  accepted. 

Another  ornament  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  is  Dr.  Irvine. 
By  him  the  question  of  "  Instrumental  Music,"  was  first  intro- 
duced into  the  General  Assembly  of  (Janada.  He  got  an  overture 
which  he  penned,  carried  by  the  Session  of  Knox  Church,  Mon- 
treal. He  introduced  the  overture  to  the  Presbytery  of  Montreal, 
which  was  duly  licensed  and  transmitted  to  the  General  Assembly, 
By  the  Supreme  Court  it  v/as  sent  down  in  terms  of  the  "  Barrier 
Act"  to  Presbyteries  and  Kirk  Sessions,  and  after  a  severe  contest 
spreading  over  .several  years,  his  overture  became  virtually  the 
law  of  the  General  Assembly  as  it  now  exists.     He   was  very 


LEADING  cr.KliaYMEN. 


1C7 


Sciate  ever 

ially  since 
2ry  numer- 
y  the  Rev. 
,ny  of  Mr. 
reached  as 
•  Provinces 
racter  and 
and  pulpit 
icher.    His 

ar  Finvoy, 
•esbyterian 
iler  the  in- 
esolved  by 

Fersey  Col- 
).D.,  son  of 

was  head 
st,  piPdch- 
;  lecturiiig 
Dus  labour, 
1'  the  work 
ively  to  it. 

11,  and  the 
le  latter  of 

Dr.  Irvine, 
irst  intro- 
n  overture 
irch,  Mon- 

Montreal, 
Assembly. 
i  "  Barrier 

re  contest 
tually  the 

was  very 


much  worried  and   severely  criticised,  especially  by  some  of  his 
warmest  friends. 

The  Rev.  Alexander  McLeod  Stavoly,  was  born  in  the  Parish  of 
Loughguile,  County  Antrim.  He  studied  at  the  Belfast  Acade- 
mical Institution.  Afterwards,  he  went  to  the  University  of 
Edinburgh.  He  attended  the  prelections  of  such  professors  in 
the  Philosophical  and  Theological  classes  as  Professor  John  Wil- 
son, antl  Dr.  Thomas  Chalmers.  In  the  Moral  Philosophy  class 
presided  over  by  the  former,  known  to  literature  as  "  Christopher 
North,"  he  gained  a  leading  prize.  Having  finished  his  literary 
course,  Mr.  Stavely  received  license  in  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  preached  for  a  short  time  to  congregations  in  the 
Province  of  Ulster,  He  then  accepted  an  invitation  to  go  to 
New  Brunswick,  and  was  ordained  by  the  Northern  Presbytery 
at  Kilraughts,  County  Antrim,  in  the  month  of  May,  1841,  to  the 
office  of  the  holy  ministry,  and  pastoral  charge  of  the  missionary 
station  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick, 

He  arrived  at  St.  John,    the  place  of  his  future  and  present 

labours,  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year,  and  is  now  the  senior  minis- 

',  er  of  that  city.     Several  sermons,  addresses  and  speeches  by  Mr. 

Stavely  have  been  published,  amongst  them,  "The   Perpetuity 

of  the  Gospel,"  "  Redeeming  the  Time,"  "  The  Life  and  Times  of 

John  Knox,''  "A  Word  for  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church." 

Prince  Edward  Island  was  one  of  the  first  discoveries  of  Cabot, 
who  named  it  St,  John,  after  the  day  of  its  discovery.  It  was 
ceded  to  Great  Britain  in  1763,  still  retaining  its  name  of  St.  John, 
It  was  not  largely  settled  by  Irish,  but  mainly  by  the  Scotch  and 
French.  A  census  of  the  province,  taken  in  1798,  shows  but  few 
Irish  names.  Still  there  are  somo>  such  as  Cochran,  Whelan,  FlyunT 
Burke,  Moore,  Flannigan,  Carroll,  &;c. 

The  first  governor  appointed  was  Captain  Walter  Patterson,  an 
Irishman,  and  the  grand-uncle  of  Mr,  A,  T.  Todd,  Toronto.  7  He 
arrived,  with  other  officers,  in  1770.*  He  was  one  of  the  largest 
landed  proprietors,  and  had  an  Act  passed  by  the  Assembly  in 


*  A  younger  brother  settled  at  Baltimore,  U.  S.,  and  his  daughter  Elizabeth  was 
married  on  27th  Dec,  1803,  to  Jerome  J  Bonaparte,      This  marriage  was  aftenviirda 
declared  null  by  his  brother,  the  Emperor  Napoleon,     Madame  Patterson  Bonapirte 
is  still  alive.fas  also  a  son  by  the  marriage,  who  is  a  colonel  in  the  French  army. 


-Ill;'' 


168 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


'  M 


1780,  changing  the  name  of  the  island  to  "New  Ireland."  This  wae 
without  petitioning  the  Imperial  Government.  The  Home  Gov- 
ernment, however,  took  umbrage  at  the  high-handed  manner  in 
which  the  Act  was  passed,  and  disallowed  it.  He  applied  again  in 
1783,  by  petition^  for  a  change  of  the  name,  and  got  for  answer 
that  it  would  be  taken  into  consideration.  Campbell  declares  that 
had  the  first  application  been  made  by  petition  to  the  King,  it  is 
extremely  probable  that  the  proposed  change  of  name  would  have 
been  adopted.  The  name  was  changed  to  Prince  Edward  in  hon- 
our of  the  Duke  of  Kent,  in  1798.  Governor  Patterson  was  not 
at  all  popular,  at  least  he  had  a  good  many  enemies,  who  placed 
his  conduct  in  an  unfavourable  light  before  the  Home  Government ; 
questions  connected  with  the  land,  which  had  always  been  a  fruit- 
ful source  of  trouble  in  the  Province,  being  the  main  ground  of 
complaint  against  him.  He  was  certainly  inclined  to  be  arbitrary 
in  some  measures ;  but  h?.s  motives  seem  to  have  been  honest.  His 
letters  to  his  friend  St  lart,  also  one  to  Lord  Sydney,  define  mat- 
ters from  his  point  of  view.  During  his  rule  of  seventeen  years 
he  laid  out  the  principal  part  of  the  island.  He  was  recalled  in 
1787,  and  General  Edmund  Fanning  appointed  in  his  place.  Gov- 
ernor Fanning  was  of  Irish  descent.  His  grandfather  came  to 
America  with  Earl  Bellemont  in  1699.  The  Honourable  T.  Des 
Brisay,  another  Irishman,  was  administrator  of  the  government 
during  the  temporary  absence  of  Governor  Patterson  in  England. 
There  must  have  been  at  least  one  Irish  settlement  in  the  island, 
to  account  for  the  "District  of  Belfast." 

One  of  the  most  popular  governors  of  the  island  was  Sir  Dom- 
inick  Daly,  of  whom  we  shall  see  a  good  deal  when  treating  of 
the  struggle  for  responsible  government  in  Canada.  He  arrived 
12th  June,  1854 ;  his  administration  was  marked  by  great  progress 
and  success ;  several  important  Acts  were  passed,  the  only  diffi- 
culty being  the  vexed  land  question,  which  always  was  a  trouble. 
Sir  Dominick  left  about  1859.  In  his  speech  proioguing  the  House 
previous  to  his  departure,  he  expressed  his  gratification  at  the  har- 
mony which  had  subsisted  between  the  executive  and  the  other 
branches  of  the  legislature  during  the  whole  course  of  his  admin- 
istration, to  which  the  uninterupted  trauquillity  of  the  island  dur- 
ing the  same  period  might  in  a  great  measure  be  attributed. 


I'l 
^l 

¥ 


I."  Thiswae 
Home  Gov- 
i  manner  in 
led  again  in 

for  answer 
leclares  that 
J  King,  it  is 
would  have 
^ard  in  hon- 
on  was  not 
who  placed 
iovernnient ; 
aeen  a  f  ruit- 
n  ground  of 
be  arbitrary 
honest.  His 
define  mat- 
nteen  years 

recalled  in 
place.  Gov- 
ler  came  to 
ible  T.  Des 
government 
in  England. 

the  island, 

Ls  Sir  Dom- 
treating  of 
He  arrived 
3at  progress 
3  only  diffi- 
18  a  trouble, 
the  House 
at  the  har- 
d  the  other 
his  admin- 
island  dur- 
uted. 


■.ja 


A   TRIBUNE   IN   PRINCE  EDWARD  ISLAND. 


169' 


The  Rev.  Theophilus  Des  Brisay  was  a  native  of  Thurles,  County 
Tipperary,  and  was  bom  October,  1754.  He  arrived  in  the  island  in 
1775,  having  been  appointed  by  royal  warrant  the  year  previous 
to  "  the  parish  of  Charlotte,"  of  which  parish  he  remained 
rector  till  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1823.  He  was  the  only 
Protestant  clergyman  on  the  island  till  the  year  1820.  A  man 
of  .sterling  character,  and  a  faithful  servant  of  his  Divine  Master, 
he  was  subjected,  in  the  discharge  of  his  sacred  duty,  to  privati-  ns 
of  which  the  present  generation  have  happily  no  experience.  The 
Rev.  Dr.  James  Macgregor  writes  of  him  :  "  I  was  always  wel- 
come to  preach  in  his  church,  which  I  uniformly  did  when  I 
could  make  it  convenient.  His  kindness  ended  not  but  with  his 
life." 

The  Honourable  Edward  Whelan  died  at  his  residence  in 
Charlotte  town,  on  the  10th  of  December,  1867.  He  was  born 
in  County  Mayo,  in  1824,  and  received  the  rudiments  of  educa- 
tion in  his  native  town.  At  an  early  age  he  emigrated  to 
Halifax,  Nova  Scotia.  Shortly  after  his  arrival  he  entered  the 
printing  office  of  the  Hon.  Joseph  Howe,  then  a  newspaper 
publisher  in  that  city.  Here  he  gave  such  proofs  of  that  great 
facility  for  newspaper  writing,  which  distinguished  him  in  after 
life,  that  he  was  occasionally  employed  to  write  editorial  articles  for 
Mr.  Howe's  newspaper,  during  the  absence  or  illness  of  the  latter. 
At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  went  to  Prince  Edward  Island,  which 
was  then  ruled  by  persons  who  could  scarce  ly  be  said  to  be  amen- 
able to  public  opinion.  Mr.  Whelan,  ranging  himself  on  the  side 
of  the  people,  threw  the  weight  of  his  influence  as  a  jouraalist 
into  the  struggle  for  popular  rights. 

Apart  from  Mr.  Whelan's  oratorical  power  which  was  consider- 
able, the  great  lever  of  public  0}>inion  obeyed  his  masterl}'  hand  as 
often  as  any  fair  occasion  arose  to  resort  to  its  agency.  He  never 
abused  the  power  of  the  press.  He  knew  how  to  combine  a 
singularly  consistent  political  career  with  conciliatory  manners. 
Although  he  died  comparatively  young,  he  lived  long  enough  to 
see,  to  a  large  extent,  the  results  of  his  labours  in  the  extension 
of  civil  liberty. 

Mr.  Whelan  was  a  Roman  Catholic.  The  writer  of  a  sketch  of 
his  life  which  appeared  in  the  Exarrdner,  says  that  "  hia  words 


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170 


THE  IRISHMAN    IN  (!ANADA. 


ij! 


I         i 


IH 

-  ^ 

iii'-i*'^'" 

iiiiii 

and   thoughts  in  the  hour  of  death  were  those  of  a   Christian 

gentleman." 

Among  the  Irishmen  who  emigrated  to  Prince  Edward,  was 

Daniel  Brennan,  a  poor  lad,  who,  by  his  energy  and  perseverance, 
succeeded  in  acquiring  the  profession  of  a  Provincial  Land  Sur- 
veyor, at  which  he  worked  for  some  time,  but  finally  entered  into 
mercantile  life  in  Charlottetown.  He  became  a  leading  merchant. 
He  married  twice,  but  left  no  family.  He  was  a  Roman  Catholic. 
He  died  in  1876,  aged  80,  a  very  wealthy  man. 

Owen  Connolly  emigrated  when  a  mere  youth,  a  very  poor 
man.  On  his  first  arrival,  he  used  that  old  threshing  machine,  the 
"  fiail,"  amongst  the  fai'mers  in  the  settlement.  By  indomitable 
l^luck  and  perseverance  he  gradually  pushed  himself  forward,  un- 
til he  established  himself  in  a  large  busine.ss  in  Charlottetown. 
Some  years  ago  he  extended  his  business,  and  opened  a  branch 
establishment  in  the  Town  of  Souris,  King's  County,  both  of 
which  houses  he  still  carries  on.  He  was  mainly  instrumental  in 
opening  a  branch  of  the  Bank  of  Halifax,  in  Charlottetown,  and 
another  branch  of  the  same  Bank  in  Souris.  He  is  one  of  the 
wealthiest  men  in  the  Province  of  Prince  Edward  Island. 

He  is  still  alive  ;  a  man  of  about  65  years.  He  is  a  Roman 
Catholic.     He  is  married,  but  has  no  children. 

Lower  Canada  was  all  but  exclusively  French  in  its  settle- 
ments ;  Upper  Canada  was  dedicated  to  the  sole  possession  of  the 
U.  E.  Loyalists,  and  "  German  and  other  foreign  Protestants."  In 
1791,  however,  we  find  Edward  O'Hara  returned  for  Gaspe,  since 
when  Lower  Canada  has  always  had  an  Iri.sh  element  in  its  reprc 
sentation.  In  1799,  Felix  O'Hara  was  appointed  "  Provincial 
Judge,"  at  a  salary  of  £200  a  year,  and  among  the  subscribers  to 
the  ''  benevolence  of  His  Majesty"  for  carrying  on  the  war  with 
France,  was  £27  from  one  Judge  O'Hara.  The  existence  of  an 
extensive  Irish  settlement  on  the  north  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  be- 
tween Montreal  and  Throe  Rivers,  would  seem  to  be  indicated  by 
the  County  of  Leinster,  with  its  Townships  of  Wexford,  Kilkenny 
and  Kildare.  As  the  years  rolled  on,  the  Irish  found  their  way 
into  Ontario. 

The  first  settler  in  Clarke  was  Mr.  Richard  Lovekin,  who,  accom- 
panied by  his  family,  left  Ireland  in  the  September  of  1795,  sailing 


mm 


WOLVES.      AN   ACQUISITIVE  WOOD-MOUSE. 


171 


Christian 

vard,  w<as 
severance, 
jand  Sur- 
bered  into 
merchant. 
Catholic. 

very  poor 
chine,  the 
lomitable 
ward,  un- 
ottetown. 
a  branch 
,  both  of 
mental  in 
iown,  and 
ne  of  the 
I. 
a  Roman 

ts  settle- 
on  of  the 
nts."  In 
spe,  since 
its  reprc 
'rovincial 
3ribers  to 
war  with 
ice  of  an 
'once,  be- 
;cated  by 
ECilkenny 
heir  way 

0,  accom- 
)5,  sailing 


■* 


from  the  Cove  of  Cork.  For  four  months  they  were  tossed  on  the 
ocean,  the  sport  of  adverse  winds.  They  landed  at  St.  Barthole- 
mew  on  the  26th  of  January,  1796,  and  arrived  at  New  York  on 
the  9th  of  the  following'  April.  In  less  than  a  hundred  years  what 
progress  the  world  has  made,  even  from  the  emigrant's  point  of 
view  !  Lovekin,  with  two  hired  assistants,  went  on  to  Canada  to 
locate  his  land,  leaving  his  family  b  liind  him.  He  settled,  and 
built  his  shanty  at  the  mouth  of  what  was  afterwards  known  as 
Baldwin's  Creek.  While  engaged  some  distance  up  the  creek  in 
cutting  grass  for  their  beds,  they  heard  the  distant  howling  of 
wolves.  Soon  the  wolves  became  bolder,  and  approached  within 
a  short  distance  of  them.  Becoming  alarmed,  Lovekin  and  his 
assistants  pulled  for  the  outlet.  As  they  passed  into  open  water, 
forty  or  fifty  wolves  howled  along  the  bank.  Arrived  opposite 
their  shanty,  they  did  not  land  until  they  had  seen  the  last  dusky 
figure  fade  into  the  wooded  gloom.  They  kept  up  a  large  fire  for 
the  remaining  part  of  the  night. 

Another  incident  or  two  are  worth  relating.  Having  built  his 
house  and  cleared  some  land,  Mr.  Lovekin  thought  of  returning  for 
his  family.  He  had,  with  other  money,  one  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  in  silver.  This,  on  account  of  its  weight,  he  detennined 
not  to  take  with  him,  but  to  hide  it  in  the  hollow  of  a  tree.  He 
put  it  in  a  stocking  and  hung  it  up  in  a  scooped  trunk.  When 
he  and  his  family  came  "  home"  the  next  summer,  they  found  an 
old  bear  had  made  the  house  his  abode  during  the  winter.  On 
going  to  the  tree  for  his  money,  he  was  not  a  little  disappointed 
to  find  it — gone !  His  mind  hovered  round  his  money,  and  he 
haunted  the  tree,  which  at  last  he  determined  to  cut  down.  At 
the  base,  hope  revived  when  he  saw  portions  of  the  paper  and 
stocking  cut  up  fine,  forming,  together  with  g'-ass  and  leaves,  a 
wood-mouse's  nest.  That  wood-mouse  was  a  thief  and  also  a 
banker  in  his  way.  Beneath  the  nest  was  the  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  in  the  midst  of  mould  and  rotten  wood, 

Lovekin  drew  his  land,  took  the  oath  of  allegiance,  and  was 
appointed  chief  magistrate  of  the  Home  District,  which  embraced 
the  country,  Irom  Cobourg  to  Toronto. 

Another  settler  was  John  Burk,  the  grandfather  of  one  of  the 
members  for  West  Durham.     John  Burk  built  his  house  on  the 


ijffti!  11 


gm 


-*      ,  It!' 


Hiii^l 


172 


THE  IRISHMAJf   IN   CANADA. 


mi 


bank  of  the  lake  on  the  southern  portiori  of  the  farm  owned  by 
his  grandson,  W.  K.  Burk.  At  a  later  period  came  the  McLaugh- 
lins, the  Browns  and  the  Spinks,  now  among  the  svealthiest  farmers 
in  the  county.  The  Township  of  Cartwright  wts  almost  entirely 
settled  by  Irish  Protestants. 

General  Simcoe  had  originally  intended  that  Newark  should 
be  the  capital  of  Ontario.  But  finding  that  the  Home  Govern- 
ment did  not  retain  possession  of  the  fort  on  the  American  side 
of  the  Niagara  River,  he  said  :  "  The  chief  town  of  a  Province 
must  not  be  placed  under  the  guns  of  an  enemy's  fort; "  and  hav- 
ing spent  a  summer  prospecting,  fixed  on  the  site  of  Toronto.  In 
1795,  the  infant  capital  contained  twelve  houses,  and  the  bar- 
racks wherein  Simcoe's  regiment  was  quartered.  In  the  summer 
of  1793,  shortly  after  he  had  fixed  on  the  site  for  his  capita',  news 
came  of  the  surrender  of  Valenciennes  to  the  allies,  under  the 
Duke  of  York.  In  honour  of  the  Duke  and  of  the  surrender,  the 
place  was  named  York.  It  was  declared  the  capital  of  the  Pro- 
vince in  1797. 

The  troubles  of  '98  led  to  a  large  emigration  not  made  up  solely 
of  peasants  and  farmers.  "From  Ireland,"  says  McMullen,  "  where 
the  troubles  of  ''98'  had  left  many  a  hearth  desolate,  and  many  a 
heart  seared  and  crushed  with  sorrow,  came  most  of  the  old 
country  people.  Better  a  free  land,  even  though  it  were  the 
rudest  shanty  of  the  backwoodsman  in  the  sad  and  sombre  forests 
of  Canada,  than  the  cottage  in  old  Erin,  where  any  moment  the 
Whiteboy  might  cruelly  thrust  the  crackling  turf  into  the  thatch, 
or  the  minions  of  Castlereagh  level  its  walls  to  the  ground.  And 
thus  settlements  gradually  spread  on  every  side." 

In  1799,  Robert  Baldwin,  of  Knockmore  or  Summerhill,  in  the 
parish  of  Carrigaline,  near  Cork,  came  to  Canada,  bringing  with 
him  his  eldest  son.  Dr.  William  Warren  Baldwin,  who  had  been 
practising  for  a  year  or  two,  his  youngest  son,  John  Spread  Bald- 
win, still  quite  a  boy,  and  four  daughters.  He  settled  on  a  farm 
in  the  township  of  Clarke,  at  tht  mouth  of  a  creek  which  has  since 
been  knov/n  as  Baldwin's  Creek,  Here  he  remained  until  about 
the  time  of  the  war,  when  he  came  to  Toronto,  where  he  died  in 
1816,  and  where  Dr.  Baldwin  had  already  settled,  at  first  practising 
medicine.     After  a  few  years  he  entered  tb^  i>i'ofes8ion  of  the  law, 


THE   BALDWINS  AND  SULLIVANS. 


173 


to  which  he  devoted  himself  with  great  energy.  He  was  for  many 
years  Treasurer  of  the  Law  Society.  Tn  1803  he  married  a  daugh- 
ter of  Mr.  William  Willcocks,  who  had  at  one  time  been  Mayor  of 
the  City  of  Cork.  He  had  come  to  Canada  some  yeara  befor:-;  and 
had  done  a  good  deal  to  promote  emigration,  having  probably  been 
induced  to  emigrate  by  his  cousin,  the  Hon.  Peter  Russell,  who 
held  several  offices  of  trust  in  the  Province,  who  was  for  a  time 
administrator  of  the  Government,  and  who  had  first  come  to  Ame- 
rica as  Secretary  to  Sir  Henry  Clinton. 

Dr.  Baldwin  had  five  sons,  three  of  whom,  however,  died  young. 
His  eldest  son,  the  Hon.  Robert  Baldwin,  and  Mr.  W.  A.  Baldwin, 
of  Mashquoteh,  survived  him.  Mr,  John  S.  Baldwin,  the  youngest 
brother  of  Dr.  Baldwin,  became  a  prominent  merchant  in  the  plac3, 
and  left  a  numerous  family,  among  whom  was  the  late  Rev.  Canon 
Edmund  Baldwin,  of  Toronto  ;  also  the  Rev.  Canon  Maurice  Bald- 
win, of  Montreal ;  the  Rev.  Arthur  H.  Baldwin,  of  Toronto,  and 
Alderman  Morgan  Baldwin. 

In  1817,  Captain,  afterwards  Admiral  Baldwin,  another  son  of 
Robert  Baldwin,  of  Summerhill,  came  to  Canada,  and  a  few  years 
later,  his  brother,  Captain  Henry  Baldwin,  of  the  merchant  ser- 
vice, followed  him, 

In  1819,  Mr.  Daniel  Sullivan,  of  Bandon,  and  his  wife,  who  was 
the  eldest  child  of  Mr.  Robert  Baldwin,  of  Summerhill,  came  to 
Canada  with  a  numerous  family,  among  whom  were  Robert  Bald- 
win Sullivan,  afterwards  distinguished  as  politi  lan  and  statesman, 
and  as  a  judge  of  the  Court  of  Queen's  Bench ;  and  Dr.  Henry  Sul- 
livan, afterwards  a  Professor  in  the  University  of  King's  Col- 
lego,  Toronto. 

The  ordinary  and  obvious  acts  of  administrative  legislation  of 
Canada's  early  years  need  not  be  referred  to  particularly,  A 
word  of  pleasure  may  be  uttered  that  one  of  the  first  acts  of  the 
Upper  Canada  Legislature,  was  to  abolish  slavery.  At  first  there 
were  no  parties,  and  therefore  no  opposition,  and  of  course,  every- 
thing went  on  well  ?  Not  at  all.  There  was,  both  in  Lower  and 
Upper  Canada,  an  irresponsible  Executive  with  all  the  oflScial 
arrogance  and  tyranny,  all  the  nepotism  and  jobbery  which  be- 
long to  iiTesponsible  power.  A  weak  governor,  knowing  little 
about  the  country,  was  helpless  in  the  hands  of  a  few  leading 


a 


m 


174 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


t 


I 


[If 


I:- 


individuals.  No  matter  how  the  poj)ular  Assembly  voted,  the 
sams  men  would  hold  power.  Eoth  Provinces  v/ere  under  the 
rule  of  an  oligarchy.  Poor  gentlemen,  half  pay  officers,  the  pen- 
niless scions  of  old  Irish  and  Scotch  houses,  Englishmen  of  cul- 
ture with  more  enterprise  than  money,  came  to  the  Province. 
Haughty,  and  unfit  for  the  hardships  of  the  bush,  and  eminently 
fit  to  supply  what  Canada  very  much  needed,  ready  pens  and 
educated  heads,  they  naturally  got  all  the  ])ublic  offices,  and  as 
naturally  gave  themselves  the  airs  of  an  aristocracy,  with  a 
double  claim  on  men's  homage,  the  blue  blood  claim  and  the 
bureaucratic.  This  Government  class  acted  together  and  inter- 
married, and  drew  to  themselves  privileges  and  advantages,  and 
so  the  foundation  of  party  was  laid.  One  set  of  the  community 
had  special  favours  given  it,  which  were  resented  and  envied  by 
the  rest  of  the  community.  Lieber  says,  with  justice,  that  where 
there  are  no  great  grounds  of  division,  party  is  apt  to  degenerate 
into  faction.  Canada  for  some  years  at  all  events  was  to  be  saved 
from  this  danger. 

Simultaneously  in  Lower  and  Upper  Canada  we  see  signs  of 
political  life.  At  a  dinntr  which  was  given  at  Montreal  at  the 
end  of  March,  1805,  in  honour  of  those  members  who  had  spoken 
in  favour  of  British  principles  of  taxation,  toasts  were  i)roposed 
and  drunk  in  honour  of  the  members  who  were  "  friendly  to 
constitutional  taxation,"  and  opposed  to  a  tax  on  commerce 
for  building  gaols,  as  contrary  to  "  the  sound  practice  of  the 
parent  State."  One  of  the  toasts  was  directed  at  "  local  preju- 
dices." Another  ran  : — "  Prosperity  to  the  Agriculture  and  Com- 
merce of  Canada,  and  may  they  aid  each  other  as  their  true 
interest  dictates  by  sharing  a,  due  proportion  of  advantages  and 
burthens ;  "  another  :  "  The  City  and  County  of  Montreal,  and  the 
Grand  Juries  of  the  District,  who  recommended  local  assr  jsments 
for  local  purposes."  These  resolutions  seem  not  only  harmless  but 
wise.  They  touched  however,  a  majority  of  the  Assembly  on  the 
raw.  After  the  prorogation  of  Parliament  they  were  printed  in 
the  Montreal  Gazette.  Nevertheless,  they  were  taken  into  con- 
sideration the  following  session.  On  March  6th,  1806,  it  was 
resolved  that  the  Gazette  contained  a  false,  scandalous  and  sedi- 
tious libel.    The  president   of  the  banquet  having  escaped  to 


EARLY  STRUGGLES  FOR  FREEDOM. 


175- 


>ted,  the 
ider  the 
the  pen- 
i  of  cul- 
*rovince. 
iiinently 
)eus  and 
,  and  as 
with  a 
and  the 
id  inter- 
ges,  and 
amunity 
ivied  by 
it  where 
generate 
36  saved 

signs  of 
1  at  the 
spoken 
roposed 
ndly  to 
mmerce 
of  the 
preju- 
d  Com- 
ir   ti'iie 
ges  and 
and  the 
isments 
ess  but 
on  the 
nted  in 
io  con- 
it  was 
id  sedi- 
iped  to 


the  United  States,  nothing  was  done  against  Edwards,  the  editor 
of  the  Gazette.  Four  days  afterwards  the  Sergeant-at-arms  was 
ordered  to  bring  Thomas  Gary,  the  editor  of  the  Quebec  Mercury 
before  the  House  to  answer  for  his  conduct  in  giving  the  public 
a  report  of  its  proceedings.  Caiy  had  to  apologise  in  a  most 
humble  fashion.  But  as  we  might  expect,  he  did  not  cease  to 
attack  {)eople  who  had  acted  against  him  so  vindictively.  The 
result  was  the  establishment  in  the  opposite  interest  in  1806  of 
Le  Canadien  and  the  controversy  of  journals  commenced  with  its 
stinmhis  to  iliought,  and  its  unequalled  safeguard  to  liberty. 

Up  to  this,  liberty  of  the  press  could  not  be  said  to  exist  in 
Canada.  Little  over  twenty  years  before  an  Irishman  had  fought 
a  great  battle  for  freedom  of  the  press  in  the  mother  land. 
"  Even  a  hundred  libels,"  .said  Sheridan,  "  had  better  V»e 
ushered  into  the  world  than  one  prosecution  be  instituted 
which  luight  endanger  the  liberty  <  f  the  Press  of  this 
country."  At  another  and  a  later  period  he  cried  in  words 
which  produced  a  great  effect  on  Parliament : — "  Givu  them  a 
corrupt  House  of  Lords,  give  them  a  \enal  House  of  Com- 
mons, give  them  a  tyrannical  prince,  give  them  a  truckling  Court, 
let  me  have  but  an  unfettered  Press,  I  will  defy  them  to  encroach 
a  hair's-breath  upon  the  liberties  of  England."  When  in  1808 
Le  Canadien  commented  adversely  on  the  intrigues  of  the 
Government — Sir  J.  H.  Craig's  view  oi  sna  duty  as  a  Governor, 
being  to  act  with  a  party — M.  Panet,  as  x' pposed  proprietor  of 
that  journal,  was  stripped  of  his  rank  as  Lieutenant-Colonel  of 
Militia.  Other  officers  were  in  like  manner  degraded  foi  having 
used  their  inliuence  in  favour  of  M.  Panet's  candidature.  At  a 
later  period  Sir  James  Craig  thought  fit  to  condemn  the  conduct 
in  very  unmeasured  terms,  of  a  portion  of  the  Assembly,  which  was 
opposed  to  the  election  of  judges  as  members  of  Parliament.  The 
menacing  state  of  things  in  the  neighbouring  republic  made  him 
(he  not  having  the  wisdom  of  Carleton)  lean  too  openly  on  the 
inhabitants  of  British  origin.  When  the  election  took  place  the 
Canadien  attacked  His  Excellency  with  unmeasured  violence,  and 
the  most  part  of  those  who  had  taken  a  course  offensive  to  him 
were  elected.  Parliament  was  opened  on  the  20th  January,  1810. 
The  Assembly  passed  a  resolution  that  it  was  a  violation  of  the 


176 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


Statute  by  which  tb  ■  Assembly  was  constituted,  an  infraction 
of  its  privileges,  and  a  menace  to  the  liberties  of  the  subject  for 
the  Governor  or  the  other  branch  of  the  Legiskiure,  to  censure 
its  proceedings,  especially  when  that  censure  took  the  form  of 
approving  the  conduct  of  a  part  of  the  Uouse,  and  condemning 
that  of  another  part.  After  some  discussion  on  financial  questions 
they  came  to  the  concluoion  that  the  Province  was  in  a  position  to 
pay  all  the  expenses  of  Government  with  which  they  readily 
charged  thems«^lves.  There  was  a  dead  lock.  The  Legislative 
Assembly  expelled  the  single  judge  who  sat  as  member  of  it.  The 
Governor  dissolved  the  Chamber.  During  the  election,  which 
was  a  violent  one,  six  members  of  Parliament  and  the  pro- 
prietor of  the  Ganadien  were  tlirown  into  prison.  They  were 
released  ultimately ;  the  judges  were  disqualified ;  and  so  the 
cri^".  1  was  got  over. 

.'n  New  Brunswick,  the  dead-lock  came  in  the  closing  years 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  though  the  brother  of  Lord  Dorchester, 
Colonel  Carleton,  administered  its  affairs  with  great  tact  from 
1782  to  1802. 

W^  return  to  Upper  Canada.  There  was  but  one  newspaper  in 
the  Province,  the  Upper  Canada  Gazette,  the  honour  of  establish- 
ing which,  with  so  much  else,  belongs  to  Governor  Simcoe.  It 
was,  however,  a  government  organ  ;  and  started  by  a  governor  and 
supported  by  government,  and  without  competition  it  could  liave 
no  life.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Carroll  speaking  of  this  paper  for  Nov. 
13th,  1801,  describes  it  as  a  coarse,  Himsy,  two-leaved  paper  of  oc- 
tavo size,  the  department  of  news  large,  but  the  "  news  much 
older  than  their  ak*."  Lieutenant-Governor  Simcoe  having  Ijeen 
recalled  in  17l)G,  the  Province  was  administered  by  Mr.  Russell, 
senior  member  of  the  Executive,  until  the  arrival  of  Lieutenant- 
Governor  Hunter,  in  1799,  who  was  succeeded  six  years  afterwards 
by  Mr.  Gore,  the  country  having  been,  during  a  brief  interregnum, 
governed  by  Mr.  Alexander  Grant.  The  administration  of  justice 
had  fallen  into  a  disgraceful  condition,  and  despotic  power  had> 
as  it  never  fails  to  do,  rendered  its  possessors  impatient  of  oppo- 
sition. To  use  our  party  watchwords  now,  and  apply  it  to  the 
events  of  those  days  would  be  misleading.  There  is,  for  instance, 
no  Conservative  to-day  who  is  not  mo^e   "  advanced"   than  the 


r  hadi 


EARLIEST   ORGAN   OF   OPINION   IN    UPPER  CANADA. 


177 


leader  of  the  Reform  Party  in  IS^l.  How  impossible  then  to  use 
the  party  designations  of  the  present  in  1800.  The  ground  was 
being  broken  up  for  the  seed  of  party,  but  the  present  struggle 
was  between  the  people  and  an  oligarchy. 

At  this  period,  Mr.  Thorpe,  an  English  lawyer,  was  sent  out  as 
one  of  the  judges  of  the  Court  of  King's  Bench.  His  impartial 
administration  of  justice  had  made  him  popular.  Grand  juries 
entrusted  him  with  their  grievances  to  be  laid  before  Mr.  Gore, 
the  Lieutenant-Governor,  who  naturally  fell  into  bureaucratic 
hands,  and  conceived  prejudices  against  the  judge,  who  unfortu- 
nately, considering  his  office,  allowed  himself  to  become  a  candi- 
date for  a  seat  in  parliament.  An  Irish  gentlema*,  Joseph  Wilcox, 
voted  for  him  and  was  deprived  of  the  Shrievalty  of  the  Home 
District.  He  then  started,  practically,  the  first  real  organ  of  public 
opinion  in  Upper  Canada — the  Upper  Canada  Guardian — the 
legitimate  forerunner  of  the  Olobe,  the  Mail,  the  Leader,  the  Lon- 
don Advei'tiser,  the  London  Herald  and  their  contemporaries.  He 
opposed  the  Government  and  wasprosecuted  for  libel,  butacquitted. 
He  became  popular,  and  was  returned  to  parliament  where  he  was 
equally  outspoken.  The  result  was,  he  was  arrested  and  'thrown 
into  York  gaol.  When  liberated,  he  became  leadtr  -if  the  opposi- 
tion and  had  a  majority  in  the  House.  When  the  war  of  1812  broke 
out,  he  gave  up  his  paper,  and  went  into  that  war  to  defend  his 
adopted  country,  and  fought  gallantly  at  Queenston.  "  Still," 
says  McMullen,  "  Government  treated  him  harshly,  and  at  lengt>>, 
thoroughly  disheartened  and  disgusted,  he  deserted  to  the  enemy, 
taking  a  body  of  Canadian  militia  over  with  him."  The  Ameri- 
cans rewarded  him  with  a  Colonel's  commission,  and  he  fell  at 
Fort  Erie,  while  planting  a  guard,  a  musket-ball  finding  its  billet 
in  his  restless  frame.  Had  he  remained  true  to  Canada,  he  might 
occupy  a  proud  place  in  our  bead  roll  of  heroes.  No  excuse  could 
be  made  for  the  harsh  conduct  of  Government.  Still  less  could 
anything  be  said  to  palliate  the  treason  of  this  pioneer  of  an  in- 
dependent press,  this  forerunner  of  our  popular  tribunes.  Parlia- 
ment made  provision  for  appropriating  £809  for  the  salaries  of 
masters  of  grammar  schools,  in  the  eight  districts  of  Upper 
Canada.     The  patronage  being  vested  in  the  Government,  and 

£100  a  year  being  an  object  to  a  "  gentleman"  with  nothing  par- 
12 


178 


THE  IRISHMAN  IN  CANADA. 


!tt  & 


ticular  to  do,  and  full  capacity  to  do  that,  some  abuse  arose 
in  consequence.  This  led  to  trouble  in  the  case  of  another  Wil- 
cocks,  also  an  Irishman,  whom  we  have  already  mentioned  in  con- 
nection with  the  Baldwins.  He  was  member  for  the  First  Riding 
of  the  County  of  Lincoln,  the  West  Riding  of  the  County  of  York, 
and  the  County  of  Haldimand.  In  a  private  house  he  seems  to 
have  made  use  of  some  strong  language  regarding  his  brother 
members.  T^or  this  he  was  "tried"  before  the  house  on  the  30th 
of  January,  1808,  found  guilty,  and  committed  to  the  Common 
gaol  of  the  Home  District,  there  to  remain  during  the  sitting  of 
Parliament,  He  had  given  notice  that  he  would  bring  in  a  bill  to 
repeal  the  District  School  Act.  The  day  after  he  obtained  leave 
to  bring  in  the  bill,  he  was  sent  to  a  dungeon.  No  wonder  the 
two  things  were  put  together.  He  was  placed  in  a  cell  where 
there  were  none  of  the  conveniences  which  the  baldest  decency 
requires.  It  seems,  he  was  also  opposed  to  some  other  bills  which 
it  was  thought  desirable  to  pass. 

The  population  has  been  increasing,  the  work  of  government 
going  foi'ward,  wealth  accumulating,  political  ideas  ripening,  and 
as  we  have  seen  an  Irishman  here  and  there  and  everywhere,  doing 
his  part  of  the  work.  Mind  only  his  part.  But  it  is  not  ray  pro- 
vince, the  title  of  the  book  precludes  me  from  mentioning  particu- 
lars regarding  other  natiorialities,  and  yet  I  have  in  passing, 
perhaps,  done  them  some  small  share  of  justice.  For  there  has 
been  no  Carleton  sent  us  save  from  Ireland,  and  Col.  Talbot 
stands  without  parallel,  working  away  there  in  the  west,  letting 
out  London  in  lots,  and  superintending  the  planting  of  the  rich 
and  extensive  acres  placed  by  Providence  under  his  auspices.  Let 
us  turn  once  more  to  the  arduous  religious  field  of  that  day,  and 
see  whose  hands  are  at  work  clearing  it. 

In  1790, the  first  Methodist  Circuit  in  Canada  was  defined,  and  in 
1792,  at  Adolphustown,  the  first  Methodist  chapel  in  Canada  was 
built.  In  1802,the  honoured  name  of  Nathan  Bangs  was  on  the  min- 
utes for  Canada,  and  he  soon  had  as  fellow-labourers,  William  Case 
and  Henry  Ryan,  all  of  them  men  of  apostolic  mould.  In  1855,  the 
venerable  Mr.  Case  addressed  a  letter  to  his  old  co-labourer,  Nathan 
Bangs,  which,  as  Mr.  Crook  says,  sheds  "  a  beautiful  light  upon 
Canadian  Methodi.im  in  Canada  in  early  times."     In  this  letter  he 


PIETY   AND  AGE. 


179 


arose 
r  Wil- 
in  con- 
Riding 
fYork, 
ems  to 
brother 
le  30th 
Dinmon 
;ting  of 
t  hill  to 
d  leave 
[ler  the 
1  where 
iecency 
s  which 

;rnment 
ing,  and 
e,  doing 
ny  pro- 
particu- 
passing, 
ere  has 
Talbot 
letting 
the  rich 
es.  Let 
ay,  and 

I,  and  in 
Ida  was 

le  min- 
liniCase 

^55,  the 
lathan 

it  upon 

3tter  he 


recalls  the  scenes  and  changes  through  which  they  had  passed ; 
how  they  assembled  in  private  houses  and  V)arns  ;  how  they  toiled 
on  horseback  through  wild  forests  from  two-and  a-half  to  four 
mil'^^s  an  hour,  and  he  asks  him  to  revisit  these  scenes  before  leav- 
ing for  the  fairer  climes. 

How  beautiful  and  cheerful  does  religious  faith  make  the  aged  ! 
It  lights  up  with  glory  their  grey  hairs.  It  compensates  with  a 
nobler  fire  for  the  loss  of  the  glory  of  youth  within  the  eye.  It 
is  as  though  a  traveller  should  come  on  others  benighted,  and 
while  with  them  illumine  the  darkness  with  a  sti'ange  unexpected 
light  of  a  mysterious  morning,  and  break  the  sombre  silence  with 
voices  of  distant  melodies,  having  nothing  mortal  in  their  notes 
of  subtle  stimulation. 

Mr.  Case  goes  on  to  tell  how  he  had  made  a  journey  through 
Hallowell,  Belleville,  Kingston,  Elizabethtown,  Brockville,  Au- 
gusta, Matilda,  Bytown  (Ottawa  City),  Perth,  Walford,  and  horn: 
to  Alnwick,  through  a  portion  of  the  northern  new  settlements. 
Only  a  few  of  their  former  friends  were  living.  A  poet,  whose 
inspiration  was  remorse,  and  whose  mighty  magnificent  so^u^  so 
full  of  noble  feeling,  so  disfigured  with  mockery,  a  song  which 
was  the  cry  of  a  nature  at  war  with  itself,  the  wail  of  a  man  who 
loved  what  was  good,  and  could  not  be  that  which  he  loved  and 
fain  had  been,  that  poet  wrtes  : 

"  What  is  the  worst  of  woes  that  wait  on  age  ? 
What  stamps  the  wrinkle  deeper  on  the  brow  ? 
To  view  each  loved  one  blotted  from  life's  page, 
And  be  alone  on  earth,  as  I  am  now." 

No  such  cry  breaks  from  the  old  Methodist  preacher  gazing 
round  on  the  tombstones  of  those  he  loved,  for,  for  him,  there  was 
no  bowing  with  despairful  head — 

"  O'er  hearts  divided  and  o'er  hopes  destroyed," 

No  indeed.  He  had  a  talisman  against  gloom  and  could  sing 
with  a  happier  poet — 

"  On  the  cold  cheek  of  death  smiles  and  roses  are  blending, 
And  beauty  immortal  awakes  from  the  tomb." 

He  found  one  or  two  or  three  of  his  old  friends  of  long  ago  living, 


180 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


M'ni 


from  oi^'lity  to  ninety  year-s  of  ago.  But  most  were  gone.  "  Yet," 
he  adds,  "they  live  in  their  exainplea  of  piety,  integrity,  ho.spi- 
tality,  and  Christian  benevolence."  The  prcjgeny  bore  a  .striking 
inipre.sH  of  their  patriarchal  fathers.  He  finds  the  grandchildren 
following  in  the  steps  of  thiiir  grand.sires  and  sires.  The  Emburys, 
Detlors,  Millers,  Maddens,  Switzers,  of  the  Bay  of  Quintd,  are 
described  as  numerous  and  pious,  and  justifying  th^ir  Irish  train- 
ing on  Mr.  Wesley's  knee.  Old  Mrs.  Detlor,  forty  ^  3ars  ago,  told 
him  when  a  child  in  Ireland  JVIr.  Wesley  took  her  on  h"-;  knee. 


when  she  sang — 


(jLildren  of  the  Hsavenly  King, 
As  we  journey  let  us  ainj,'." 


Mr.  Crook  says  the  impression  the  life  of  Nathan  Bangs  made 
on  him  was,  that  a  hundred  of  such  men  would  turn  the  world 
upside  down. 

Mr.  Crook,  after  going  over  many  interesting  facts,  concludes 
that  the  estimate  is  far  too  low  which  would  connect  one-fourth 
of  the  Methodists  of  Canada,  directly  or  remotely,  with  Irish  Me- 
thodists, and  he  goes  on  to  speak  of  Garret  Miller  and  others.  Of 
one  extraordinary  man  he  seems  to  have  forgotten  the  claims; 
Henry  Ryan,  an  Irishman  of  the  Boanerges  type,  an  O'Connell 
in  the  garb  of  a  Methodist  preacher,  who  was,  in  180.',  appointed 
with  the  Rev.  William  Case  to  the  Bay  of  Quints  circuit.  The  inhabi- 
tants of  Kingston  were  at  this  time,  according  to  Carroll,  very 
irreligious.  Ryan  and  Case  determined  to  rouse  the  peoj  e.  Ryan 
had  a  powerful  voice,  and  on  a  market  day  they  would  Iocs  arms 
and  go  singing  down  the  streets  and  ultimately  ir.to  the  market- 
place,— 

"  Come  let  us  march  to  Zion's  hill." 

They  were  sure  on  reaching  the  market-place  to  have  a  good 
congregation,  to  whom  Ryan  preached.  His  voice  was  like  O'Con- 
nell's  in  power  of  reaching  far.  It  rose  like  a  clarion,  and  was 
heard  over  the  adjacent  waters.  They  were  tripped  off  the  but- 
cher's block ;  pins  were  inserted  into  their  calves  ;  their  hair  was 
set  on  fire  ;  if  they  preached  at  night  their  candle  was  put  out ; 
but  they  preached  away,  and  their  preaching  bore  fruit. 

In  1810  Ryan  was  presiding  elder,  and  h  'ities  as  such  were  to 
visit  every  part  of  the  Province  from  Detroit  to  Cornwall.  He  tra- 


•^e- 


"  Yet," 
hospi- 
tiiking 
tiildien 
iiljurys, 
ii6,  are 
1  train- 
To,  told 
:  knee, 


^  marie 
J  world 

►ncludes 
3-fourth 
ish  Me- 
tiers. Of 
claims; 
Connell 
pointed 
inhabi- 
11,  very 
Ryan 
A<.  arms 
narket- 


a  good 

O'Con- 

Ind  was 

the  but- 

lir  was 

lut  out ; 

I  were  to 
He  tra- 


FIUST  CAMP  MEETINQ. 


181 


veiled  about -tjOOO  inlloH  annually,  and  the  entire  allowanwiof  thi«« 
extraonii  iry  man  was  a])out  £(10  a  year,  $800  !  At  the  first  camp 
meeting  held  in  Canada,  Ryan  was  present,  as  were  Case,  Keeler, 
Madden,  and  Bangs.  It  was  held  in  1805,  on  the  south  shore  of 
Hay  Bay.  The  last  night  is  descri  VmI  by  Dr.  Bangs  as  impressive 
beyond  doscription.  The  sky  was  without  a  cloud.  p]very  star 
came  out.  To  thu  enthusiastic  minds  and  visioned  eyes  of  thost 
earnest  mem,  the  camp  was  filled  with  a  glory  not  of  earth.  The 
neighbouring  forest,  reposing  in  the  enchanted  starlight,  vibrated 
to  and  fro  with  echoing  hymns.  When  the  parting  came,  the  scene 
was  most  affecting.  Bangs  and  Case  and  Keeler  and  Madden  hung 
on  each  other's  necks  "  weeping  and  yet  rejoicing."  Some  of  the 
people  parted,  as  they  knew,  to  meet  no  more  here.  As  these  happy 
hosts  dispersed  to  their  different  and  distant  homes,  along  the  high- 
ways rolled  victorious  chants  of  praise. 

The  man  who  is  regarded  as  the  father  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  in  Upi)er  Canada — a  Church  mainly  supported  by  men  of 
Irish  blood,  was  oddly  enough  a  Scotchman,  though  he  belonged  to 
the  great  Celtic  race.  Bi.shop  McDonnell  was  born  in  the  third 
quarter  of  the  la.<t  century,  in  Glengarry,  educated  at  Valladolid 
— full  of  old-world  romantic  and  warlike,  Roman  and  Moorish 
memories,  where  Christopher  Columbus  died — a  place  well  fitted  for 
the  training  of  one  who  had  the  seeds  of  greatness  in  him.  Having 
been  ordained,  he  returned  to  his  native  country,  where  he  offi- 
ciated as  a  priest  until  1789,  when  he  joined  the  Glengarry  Fen - 
cibles,  ordered  on  duty  to  Ireland,  a  regiment  raised  by  his  exer- 
tions, and  composed  entirely  of  Catholics,  In  1802,  the  regiment 
was  disbanded,  and  after  much  negotiation  their  chaplain  and 
friend,  obtained  for  every  one  of  his  people  who  chose  to  go  to 
Canada  two  hundred  acres  of  land.  A  year  afterwards  he  had 
settled  on  Canadian  soil  a  splendid  race  of  men  with  patents 
in  their  pockets  for  160,000  acres  of  land. 

He  had  well  nigh  unbounded  influence  with  the  Government, 
and  obtained  for  his  Church  nearly  all  the  land  it  possesses  in  Up- 
per Canada.  Nor  can  any  one  doubt  that  he  had  a  true  eye  for 
the  best  situation  in  a  district.  He  was  for  many  years,  together 
with  Bishop  Strachan,  a  member  of  the  Legislative  Council. 
When  he  arrived  here  in  1804,  he  said,  .speaking  with  pride,  "  there 


•    I 


182 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


ii'K? 


iH 


•  f/ 


i 

■K  ■'■ 


hiT: 


were,"  "  but  two  Catholic  clergymen  in  the  whole  of  Upper  Canada. 
One  of  these  clergymen  soon  dv  erted  his  post,  and  the  other 
resided  in  the  Township  of  Sandvvich,  in  the  Western  District, 
and  never  went  beyond  the  limits  of  his  mission ;  so  that  upon 
entering  upon  my  pastoral  duties  i  had  the  whole  of  the  Pro- 
vince limits  in  charge,  and  without  any  assistance  for  a 
space  of  ten  years."  He  spoke  thus  in  1836,  when  he  could 
boast  that  by  his  exertions  five-and-thirty  churches  had  been 
built,  and  that  twenty-two  clergymen  were  zealously  at  work, 
the  greater  number  of  whom  had  been  educated  at  his  own  ex- 
pense. He  added,  to  attest  his  services  to  the  Crown,  that  he  had 
been  "  instrumental  in  gettWg  two  corps  of  my  flock  raised  and 
embodied  in  defence  of  their  country  in  critical  times.  The 
first  Glengarry  Fencible  Regiment  was  raised  by  ro.y  influence 
as  a  Catholic  corps,  during  the  Irish  Rebellion,  whose  dangers  and 
fatigues  I  shared  in  that  distracted  country.  I  contributed  in 
no  small  degree  to  suppress  the  rapacity  of  the  soldiers  and 
bring  back  the  deluded  peoi)le  to  a  sense  of  their  duty  to  their 
sovereign  and  submission  to  the  laws."  The  second  Glengarry  Fen- 
cible Regiment  was  raised  in  this  Province,  when  the  government 
of  the  United  States  of  America  made  war  on  the  Colony.  "  It 
was  planned  by  me,"  said  the  Bishop,  "and  partly  raised  by  my 
influence."  He  was  the  first  clergyman  of  his  Church  who 
preached  in  Belleville.  But  the  first  clergyman  permanently  set- 
tled at  Belleville  was  an  Irishman,  the  Rev.  Michael  Brennan,  who 
did  not  arrive,  however,  until  1829. 

The  Church  of  England,  which  was  the  established  Church  of 
Canada,  was  meanwhile,  doing  its  own  work,  as  was  tiie  Presby- 
terian Church,  each  having,  as  at  this  hour,  bright  ornaments  and 
sustaining  pillars  from  Ireland, 

In  NcT'  i'oundland.  Nova  Scotia,  New  Brunswick  and  Prince 
Edward  Island,  there  was  a  counterpart  to  the  Methodist  energy 
\\^hich  we  have  seen  in  U])per  Canada,  or,  as  W3  should  now  say, 
Ontario ;  for  as  Dr.  Stevens  writes  in  his  History  of  Methodism, 
"  Irishmen  have  warred  a  good  warfare,  and  died  triumphantly 
on  almost  every  important  Methodist  field  of  the  world,"  and  he 
goes  on  to  say  that  they  founded  it  in  the  British  North  American 
Provinces,  as  well  as  in  the  United  States,  in  the  West  Indies,  in 


r  Canada, 
he    other 

District, 
that  upon 
'  the  Pro- 
ice  for  a 
he  could 
had  been 
at  work, 
3  own  ex- 
lat  he  had 
aised  and 
cies.     The 

influence 
kUgera  and 
ributed  in 
liers  and 
y  to  their 
;arry  Fen- 
)vernment 
ony.  "  It 
id  by  my 

rch   who 

ently  net- 
iinan,  who 

I'hurch  of 
Presby- 
Inents  and 

nd  Prince 
[st  energy 

now  say, 
tethodism, 
Iniphantly 
ll,"  and  he 
[American 

Indies,  in 


«*' 


THE   SECRET   OF   GREATNESS. 


183 


Africa,  and  in  India.  Laurence  Coughlan  unfurled  the  Methodist 
banner  in  Newfoun<llarid,  ia  17G5,  a  year  before  Embury  preached 
in  New  York.  He  was  converted  in  Ireland,  in  1753,  and  several 
of  his  letters  to  John  Wesley  are  reproduced  in  Mr.  Crook  ,s  book. 
On  November  ith,  1772,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  Wesley,  telling  him 
what  success  he  had  met  with  during  seven  years  of  missionary 
labour.  He  had  then  two  hundred  communicants.  He  was,  he 
said,  a  thorough  Methodist.  Nor  did  he  believe  his  preaching 
would  do  much  good  without  "discipline,  which,"  he  adds,  "I 
consider,  under  God,  has  been  the  preserving  of  my  society." 
The  Church  of  England  clergy  were  up  in  arms  against  him.  He 
was  prosecuted.  He  was  accused  of  every  conceivable  crime  in 
letters  to  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  by  which 
he  was  employed.  He  went  on  unheeding.  His  enemies  hired  a 
physician  to  poison  him.  If  I  may  parody  Goldsmith — who  came 
to  poison  remained  to  pray.  The  physician  became  a  Methodist, 
and  revealed  the  plot.  A  revival  took  place.  Classes  were 
formed.  Persecution  grew  fiercer.  He  was  summoned  before  the 
Governor.  The  Governor  not  only  decided  in  his  favour,  but 
made  him  a  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

Master  Laurence  did  not  feel  himself  able  to  stand  going  over 
his  vast  parish  solely  by  water,  and  was  thinking  of  returning 
home  or  turning  to  some  new  field.  But  Wesley  writes  to  him 
under  date  of  August  29,  1768,  in  a  manner  which  shows  strong 
gra.sp  of  the  foundation  of  all  greatness,  that  the  writer  had  im- 
bibed the  spirit  of  the  early  apostles,  and  had  borrowed  more  than 
perhaps  he  suspected  from  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  "  De«xr 
Laurence,"  he  writes,  "  by  ^^arious  trains  of  Providence  you  have 
been  led  to  the  very  place  where  God  intended  you  should  be.  * 
*  *  *  In  a  short  time  how  little  will  it  signify  whether 
we  have  lived  in  Summer  Islands,  or  beneath 

'  The  rage  of  Arctos,  and  eternal  frost.' 

How  soon  will  this  dream  of  life  be  at  an  end  ?  And  when  we 
are  once  landed  in  eternity,  it  will  be  all  one  whether  we  have 
spent  our  time  on  earth  in  a  ipalace,  or  had  not  where  to  lay  our 
head." 

Here  Mr.  Grumbler,  be  you  Methodist  or  what  else,  is  a  phi- 


ll 


IV.  r  It 


wrrrrw 


jill 


il 


■  \  I 


:i; 


iilf 


;,;!:,   I'    'I 


IpR 


184 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


losophy  to  calm  your  perturbed  spirit,  and  give  you  something  of 
dignity  and  greatness.  Providence  has  sent  you  here  to  do  your 
duty  :  do  it  like  a  man.  However  strong  your  constitution  you 
must  die,  and  that  soon,  and  then  what  do  the  vanities,  the  pomps, 
the  little  ambitions,  the  vile  injustices  of  unjust  men  matter. 
How  bracing  it  is  in  a  world  of  money  grabbers  to  read  these 
great  words.  They  come  to  us  like  a  breeze  of  power  from  the 
hills  of  the  Absolute.  There  is  medicine  for  discontent,  for  worry* 
for  effeminate  longings  after  ease.  What  does  it  matter  to  you 
whether  you  lie  hard  or  soft  ?  And  so  <^nr  friend  Cough  Ian  la- 
boured on  in  Newfoundland. 

When  he  went  there,  Newfoundland  is  described  as  sinking  into 
heathenism.  But  his  preaching  wrought  a  great  change.  Cough- 
lan's  hands  were  soon  strengthened  by  an  Irish  merchant,  one  of 
his  converts,  Arthur  Twomey,  and  by  the  arrival  in  1770,  from 
Waterford,  of  John  Soretton,  son  to  John  Stretton,  of  Limerick, 
"a  prominent  friend  of  Methodism  in  the  early  day."  He  built  at 
Harbour  Grace,  the  first  Methodist  chapel  in  the  Lower  Provinces. 

Mr.  Crook  also  gives  letters  from  Wesley  to  Stretton.  This  was 
in  1785,  when  Coughlan  had  returned  to  England  to  die.  Wesley 
had  sent  one  of  his  lieutenants  to  go  through  the  heart  of  Ame- 
rica, "  visiting  the  flock,"  and  "  settling  them  on  the  New  Testa- 
ment plan,  to  which  they  all  willingly  and  joyfully  conform  "; 
and  he  concludes  in  words  of  authority  which  sound,  like  those  of  a 
great  captain :  "  Go  on  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and  in  the  power 
of  His  might !  You  shall  want  no  assistance  that  is  in  the  power 
of  your  affectionate  friend  and  brother — John  Wesley."  Keeping 
a  promise  made  in  the  body  of  this  letter,  Wesley,  at  the  ensuing 
conference,  appointed  an  Irishman  as  a  missionary  to  Newfound- 
land. In  1804,  Ireland  gave  Newfoundland  another  missionary  ir. 
the  person  of  John  Remington,  and  later  on  sent  Samuel  Ellis  and 
Samuel  McDowell. 

About  twenty  years  ago  everybody  was  reading  a  book  which 
had  a  curious  fascination  for  my  boyish  fancy,  though  I  could  not 
undei*8tand  the  character  portrayed,  half  soldier  half  religious  en- 
thusiast. It  was  a  book  which  especially  laid  hold  of  the  minds 
of  religious  women.  As  the  Athenian  got  tired  of  hearing  Aris- 
tides  called  the  Just,  so  some  lads  in  those  days  got  tired  of  hear- 


in 


l^hich 

not 

Is  en- 

linds 

iris- 

lear- 


HEDLEY   VICARS.      EDUCATION   OF  U.   E'S. 


185 


ing  Hedley  Vicars  "  cracked  up."  Curiously  enough,  his  name  is 
connected  with  Newfoundland,  with  Canada,  as  well  as  with 
Ireland,  and  therefore  he  has  a  double  claim  to  be  briefly  dwelt 
on  here.  Captain  Vicars,  of  the  Royal  Engineers,  then  stationed 
at  St.  John's,  was  induced  to  attend  the  preaching  of  a  Methodist, 
the  Rev.  George  Cubitt.  From  being  trifling  and  sceptical,  he 
became  earnest  and  religious.  Dressed  in  full  uniform,  he  used  to 
preach.  He  fell  in  love  with  a  fair  young  Methodist.  They  were 
married.  Captain  Hedley  Vicars,  of  the  97th,  was  the  fruit  of 
this  union.  Many  years  after  this,  Captain  Vicars,  with  his 
Newfc  dland  wife,  resided  at  Mullingar,  Westmeath,  where  he, 
his  wife  and  son  were  accustomed  to  attend  the  Methodist  Church. 
In  New  Brunswick,  Nova  Scotia,  and  Prince  Edward,  the  Metho- 
dists made  their  mark,  n^-r  could  one  conceive  better  missionaries 
for  a  new  country  than  ohe  strict  followers  of  Wesley.  As  mission- 
aries they  take  rank  side  by  side  with  the  Jesuits,  in  self-denial, 
in  zeal,  in  energy,  and  in  persuasiveness ;  though  they  have  not  the 
same  imposing  air  of  turning  thu'r  back  on  the  world,  and  giving 
up  life,  and  love  to  go  at  a  sombre,  cold,  cheerless,  penlous,  obscure 
achievement,  with  a  help-meet  who  herself  frequently  makes  no 
bad  missionary. 

And  what  of  the  work  of  education  in  those  early  days  ?  The 
majority  of  the  refugvv^s,  according  to  Dr.  Canniff",  possessed  but  a 
limited  education.  The  culture  of  .a  small  nundjer  was  good,  but, 
he  says,  the  gr-^ater  portion  of  Loyalists  from  the  colonies  in 
revolt  "  had  not  enjoyed  opportunities  for  even  a  common  educa- 
tion." Where  parents  are  uneducated  and  in  the  midst  of  the  un- 
educated, they  do  not  care  to  educate  their  children.  Mr.  Ruttan 
said  he  picked  up  what  knowledge  he  had  acquired  from  his 
mother.  But  school  teaching  was  gradually  introduced.  The  first 
school  teachers  wei  discharged  soldiers,  and  generally  Irish.  We 
have  seen  how  the  Rev.  John  Stuart  set  up  a  seminary.  But 
when  he  settled  at  Cataraqui,  he  said :  "  The  greatest  inconvenience 
I  feel  here  is  that  there  is  no  school  for  our  boys."  The  following 
year  he  opened  a  school  himself.  Another  pioneer  teacher  at  Kings- 
ton, was  Donevan.  Colonel  Clark,  of  Dalhousie,  received  part  of  his 
education  at  Kingston,  and  he  speaks  of  three  Irishmen,  Myers, 
Blaney,  and  Michael,  as  teachers.    Two  other  pedagogues,  well  re- 


r'l!  ■- 


18G 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


iit'i 


\'Mi[]\ 


riiembcrod,  are  Edward  O'Ruily  and  McCormick,  who  seemed  to 
think  boy.s  could  be  made  to  learn  only  in  the  way  one  of  George 
Eliot's  characters  declares,  babies  can  be  made  good.  Later  on  Mr. 
Wholan  taught. 

In  1799,  Mr.  Strachan,  who  was  afterwards  to  occupy  so  great  a 
place  in  the  history  of  Canada,  arrived  here  from  Scotland.  Dr. 
Chalmers,  as  has  been  the  case  with  many  another  Scotchman 
since,  was  invited  to  come.  But  Chalmers,  though  his  greatness 
was  not  yet  known  to  the  world,  and  perhaps,  only  half  suspected 
by  himself,  refused,  and  in  refusing,  suggested  the  name  of  his 
friend,  Strachan,  who  came  to  carry  out  a  scheme  of  education 
projected  by  Simcoe.  But  by  the  time  he  arrived,  Simcoe  had 
been  recalled.  Hov/ever,  in  the  following  year,  a  school  was  es- 
tablished by  the  Hon.  R.  Cartwright  for  his  sons,  having  Mr. 
Strachan  for  teacher,  who  had  the  privilege  of  taking  ten  other 
scholars  nt  £10.  each,  per  annum.  Three  years  afterwards,  Mr. 
Strachan  removed  to  Cornwall.  In  those  early  years  he  did  a 
gieat  work  in  imparting  the  higher  education  and  training  future 
statesmen. 

"  Antiquarian  research,"  says  Professor  Wilson,  in  his  interesting 
Essay,*  calling  attention  to  Dr.  Scadding's  "Toronto  of  Old,"  "seems 
peculiarly  out  of  place  in  a  new  colony,  and  is  lucky  if  it  escapes 
the  sneer  of  the  busy  trader  in  his  zeal  for  wealth  and  material 
progress.  Nevertheless,"  he  continues,  "  to  one  gifted  with  the 
slightest  powers  of  fancy,  there  is  something  fascinating  in  the 
attempt  to  recall  the  infancy  of  comparatively  modern  cities." 
And  surely  it  is  not  less  fascinating,  while  fraught  with  instruct- 
tive  lessons,  to  recall  the  early  stages  and  struggles  of  a  community 
aiid  to  point  the  sources  whence  it  drew  mental  and  moral  food, 
more  precious  than  any  which  even  the  bountiful  bosom  of  our 
mother,  the  earth,  can  yield. 

We  have  seen  Colonel  Simcoe  choose  Toronto  for  his  capital, 
when  "  dense  and  trackless  forests  lined  the  margin  of  the  lake, 
and  reflected  their  inverted  images  in  its  glassy  surface,"  and 
gave  the  shelter  of  luxuriant  foliage  to  the  wigwam  of  the  Missis- 
saugas.     On  the  heights  above  the  Don,  he  erected  the  first  Gov- 


Canadian  Monthly,  August,  1873. 


lital, 

[ake, 

and 


CAiMDAS  TRUE   LAUREATE. 


187 


ernmcnt  House,  a  rustic  building,  to  wliich  he  gave  the  name  of 
Castle  Frank.  He  was  recalled.  Meanwhile,  a  house  was  erected 
here  and  a  house  there,  and  the  first  white  child  born  in  the  in- 
fant city  was  of  Iiish  parents,  Edward  Shncoe  Wright,  who 
afterwards  kept  an  inn  known  as  the  Greenland  Fishery,  at  the 
foot  of  John  Street.  Wright  is  still  alive,  and  must  be  a  very 
old  man,  for  he  was  born  of  parents  in  the  service  of  General  Sira- 
coe,  who  stood  gor' rather  to  him,  and  from  whom  he  received  his 
second  name.  If  we  suppose  him  to  have  been  born  the  year  prior 
to  the  Governor's  recall,  he  would  now  be  eighty-two. 

Among  the  Irish  families,  who  came  in  to  help  to  lay  the  moral 
and  material  foundation  of  Toronto  was  that  of  Mr.  Joseph  Rogers. 
They  came  from  Cooks'town,  County  Tyrone.  Mr,  Rogers  carried 
on  the  business  of  a  furrier  in  King  Street,  and  his  descendants 
are  in  the  same  line  of  business  to-day,  and,  like  him,  strong  in 
all  the  points  whicli  make  good,  useful  citizens. 

At  an  early  })eriod  an  Irishman  visited,  or  lather  flitted  by,  our 
shores,  who  made  a  brief  stay  lower  down  the  St.  Lawrence,  but 
whose  name — such  is  the  power  of  genius — is  inextricably  bound 
up  with  the  thought  and  history  of  Canada.  Nor  is  it  possible  to 
write  about  Toronto's  early  days  without  mentioning  his  name 
and  musing  over  his  words.  Indeed,  Moore  is  not  only  the  laureate 
of  Ireland,  but  of  Canada.  His  "  Canadian  Boat  Song  "  has  as 
yet  found  no  successful  rival.  Dr.  Scadding  and  Dr.  Wilson  de- 
clare that  it  has  "become  alike  in  words  and  air  a  national 
anthem  for  the  Dominion."  You  cannot  produce  poetry  as  you 
produce  fat  cxen,  by  offering  a  prize.  The  verses  of  Moore  are 
known  to  every  Canadian  school-boy,  and  echo  every  summer 
along  our  lakes  and  rivers.  Sometimes  the  voice  is  that  of  the 
captain  'of  a  raft,  sometimes  -the  notes  are  those  of  a  lady  who 
would  be  equal  to  a  selection  from  Mozart.  "  It  could  scarcely  be 
heard,"  says  Dr.  Wilson,  "  by  any  Canadian  wanderer,  when  far 
away  among  strangers,  without  a  thrill  as  tender  and  acute  as 
ever  the  '  Ranz  des  Vaches '  awoke  on  the  ear  of  the  exiled 
Switzer,  or  '  Lochabcr  No  More,'  on  that  of  the  Highlander  lan- 
guishing for  his  native  glen."*     In  an  epistle  written  to  his  coun- 

*  Moore  wrote  the  words  to  an  air  sung  fre([uently  by  the  boatmen.    In  descending 
the  river  from  Kingston  to  Montreal  the  wind  was  ho  unfavourable  that  they  were  oh* 


I 


188 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


i    ''■'?'• 


1  „i 


trywoman,  Lady  Charlotte  Rawdon,  and  dated  "  from  the  hanks 
of  the  St.  Lawrence,"  he  gives  his  impression  of  Niagara,  the  St. 
Lawrence,  and  Toronto. 

I  dreamt  not  then  that,  ere  the  roll''"",'  year 
Had  filled  its  circle,  I  Hhould  w  ..       here 
In  musing  awe ;  should  tread  this  wondrous  world, 
See  all  its  store  of  inland  waters  hurl'i^ 
In  one  vast  volume  down  Niagara's  steep ; 
Or  calm  behold  them,  in  transparent  sleep, 
Where  the  blue  hills  of  old  Toronto  shed 
Their  evening  shadows  o'er  Ontario's  bed  ; 
Should  trace  the  grand  Cataraqni,  and  glide 
Down  the  white  rapids  of  his  lordly  ti"  , 


liged  to  row  all  the  way.  The  journey  took  five  days.  During  the  day  the  sun  was 
intonse.  At  night  they  were  forced  to  take  shelter  or.  the  banks  in  any  hut  whose 
owners  would  receive  them.  "But,"  cries  the  poet,  "ih-  magnificent  sceneiy  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  repays  all  these  difficulties."  He  added  that  there  was  not  a  note  of  the 
air  which  did  not  recall  to  his  memory  "  the  dip  of  our  oars  in  the  St.  Lawrence,  the 
flight  of  our  boat  down  the  rapids,  and  all  those  new  and  fanciful  impresHi"'  to  which 
my  heart  was  alive  during  the  whole  of  this  very  interesting  voyage."  aope  this 
book  of  mine  will  fall  into  a  great  variety  of  hands,  and  as  some  of  my  poorer  country- 
men too  often  content  themselves  with  an  edition  of  the  Melodies  only,  at  the  risk  of 
being  accused  of  bringing  coal  to  Newcastle,  I  reproduce  the  stanzas  :— 

A  CANADIAN  BOAT-SONG. 
WRITTEN   ON   THE    RIVER    ST.    LAWRENCE. 

Et  remigem  cantus  hortatur. —Quintilian. 

Faintly  as  tolls  the  evening  chime. 
Our  voices  keep  tune  and  our  oars  keep  time. 
Soon  as  the  woods  on  shore  look  dim. 
We'll  sing  at  St.  Ann's  our  parting  hymn. 
Row,  brothers,  row,  the  stream  rims  fast, 
The  Rapids  are  near,  and  the  daylight's  past ! 

Why  should  we  yet  our  sail  unfurl  ? 
There  is  not  a  lireath  the  blue  wave  to  curl ! 
But  when  the  wind  blows  off  the  shore, 
Oh !  sweetly  we'll  rest  our  weary  oar. 
Blow,  breezes,  blow,  the  stream  runs  fast. 
The  llai)ids  are  near,  and  the  daylight's  past  ! 

Utawas'  tide !  this  trembling  moon 
Shall  see  iis  float  over  thy  surges  soon. 
Saint  of  this  green  isle  !  hear  our  prayers, 
Oh  !  grant  us  cool  heavens  and  favouring  airs. 
Blow,  breezes,  blow,  the  stream  runs  fast. 
The  Rapids  are  near,  and  the  daylight's  i)ast ! 


',m 


hf  I 


K3 


189 


)anks 
icSt. 


n  wa«! 
whose 
of  the 
of  the 
a,  the 
which 
e  this 
intry- 
iak  of 


A  SUBLIME  THRONE. 

Thrmigh  massy  woods,  'mid  islets  flowering  fair 
And  blooming  gla.  es,  where  the  first  sinful  pair 
For  consolation  might  have  weeping  trod 
When  banished  from  the  garden  of  theirGod." 

Here  is  a  fine  night  picture  on  the  St.  Lawrence  : 

Among  the  reeds,  in  which  our  idle  boat 
Isrock'd  to  rest,  the  wind's  complaining  note 
Dies,  like  a  half-breathed  whispering  of  flutes  ; 

Along  the  wave  the  gleaming  porpoise  shoots. 

And  I  can  trace  him,  like  a  watery  star 

Down  the  steep  current,  till  he  fades  afar 

Amid  the  foaming  breakers  silvery  light 

Where  yon  rough  Rapids  sparkle  through  the  night  - 

Here,  as  along  this  shadowy  bank  I  stray 

And  the  smooth  glass-snake,  gliding  o'er  my  way 

Shows  the  dim  moonlight  through  his  scaly  form 

Fancy.^  with  all  the  scene's  enchantment  warm 

Hears  in  the  murmur  of  the  nightly  breeze,     ' 

Some  Indian  Spirit  warble  words  like  these. 

in  Iw/'^^''''  '^n  '""i?  "^  '^'  ^^'''''  ^''y  f^^^if ^  ^^<^  beautiful 
m  which  many  a  Canadian  picture  is  woven  with  Indian  Wend  ' 
The  description  the  Spirit  gives  of  himself,  sitting  on  the  edge  of 
Niagara  m  winter  time,  is  magnificent :-  ^ 

Oft  when  hoar  and  silvery  flakes 

Melt  along  the  rufl=led  lakes  ; 

When  the  grey  moose  sheds  his  horns, 

When  the  track  at  evening  warns 

Weary  hunters  of  the  way 

To  the  wigwam's  cheering  ray, 

Then,  aloft  through  freezing  air. 

With  the  snow-bird  soft  and  fair 

As  the  fleece  that  heaven  flings 

O'er  his  little  pearly  wings, 

Light  above  the  rocks  I  play, 

Where  Niagara's  starry  spray, 

Frozen  on  the  cliff,  appears. 

Like  a  giant's  starting  tears  ! 
There,  amid  the  island  sedge. 
Just  upon  the  cataract's  edge. 
Where  the  foot  of  living  man 
Never  trod  since  time  began. 
Lone  I  sit,  at  close  of  day, 
While,  beneath  the  golden  ray, 
Icy  columns  gleam  below. 
Feathered  round  with  falling  snow, 
And  an  arch  of  glory  springs, 
Brilliant  as  the  chain  of  rings 


ill 


«\ 


Hi 


,*i  <ii 


'  m 


^h 


p  1  iifrii 


'I   ; 


'^ 


190  THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 

Round  the  necks  of  virgins  hun^', — 
Virgins  who  have  wandered  young 
O'er  the  waterw  of  the  west, 
To  the  hmd  where  spirits  rest ! 

The  Song  of  the  Si)irit,  which  he  composed  during  the  night, 
over  the  epistle  to  Lady  Rawdon,  is  taken  up  : — 

Thus  have  I  charmed,  with  visionary  lay, 
The  lonely  moments  of  the  night  away ; 
And  now,  fresh  daylight  o'er  the  water  beams  ! 
Once  mor*.  embarked  upon  the  glittering  streams, 
Our  boat  flies  liglit  along  the  leafy  shore, 
Shootiiig  the  falls,  without  a  dip  of  oar 
Or  breath  of  zephyr,  like  the  mystic  bark 
The  poet  saw,  in  dreams  divinely  dark. 
Borne,  without  sails,  along  the  dusky  flood, 
While  on  its  deck  a  pilot  angel  stood. 
And,  with  his  wings  of  living  light  unfurled, 
Coasted  the  dim  shores  of  another  world ! 

Yes !  Moore  belongs  to  Canada  as  well  as  to  Ireland  in  that 
special  sense  which  links  a  poet's  name  with  a  locality.  Of  course, 
as  a  poet  with  a  genuine  gift  of  song,  he  belongs  to  the  world, 
and  will  be  read  and  studied  when  Hazlitt's  criticisms  are  for- 
gotten and  those  who  were  befooled  by  the  malicious  glitter  of 
epigrammatic  trifling  have  been  succeeded  by  a  wiser  generation. 

The  spot  is  pointed  out  at  Kingston  where  he  wrote,  "  I  knew 
by  the  smoke  that  so  gracefully  curled."  He  stayed  a  few  days  at 
Montreal,  where  he  seems  to  have  been  treated  with  that  hospi- 
tality and  attention  he  loved.  He  repaid  his  hostess  with  a  few 
verses  full  of  compliments  turned  with  graceful  exaggeration,  and 
then  left  our  shores  for  ever. 


VETERANS  OF  THE  WAR  OF  1812. 


191 


CHAPTER  VI. 

A  FEW  sessions  ago  the  Pailiaraent  at  Ottawa  voted  a  small  sum,. 
$50,000  to  be  distril»nted  among  the  surviving  warriors  of  1812, 
and  the  two  following  years.  More  than  half  a  century  had  passed 
since  the  Treaty  of  Ghent  put  a  stop  to  hostilities  in  which  the 
strong  and  unrighteous  had  shown  only  weakness  and  won  but 
disgrace,  in  v  hich  the  weak,  fighting  in  a  righteous  cause,  engaged 
in  the  noblest  of  all  struggles,  the  struggle  for  home,  for  honour, 
individual  and  national,  had  displayed  dignity  and  strength  ;  and 
as  the  great,  joyous,  unselfish  hero  of  antiquity,  when  ere  he  at- 
tained his  eighth  month,  ignoble  but  powerful  jealousy  sent  two- 
serpents  to  destroy  him,  was  in  no  way  terrified  but  seized  the 
reptiles  one  in  each  infant  hand  and  squeezed  them  to  death:  so 
Canada,  assailed  in  the  cradle  by  the  two  great  enemies  of  national, 
existence,  was  nothing  daunted,  but  anticipated  maturity  and 
crushed  what  seemed  the  resistless  instruments  of  easy  ruin.  More 
than  fifty  years  had  passed  since  a  glow  other  than  that  of  Indian 
summer  liared  along  the  tranquil  bosom  of  Lake  Erie,  and  Izzard, 
leaving  the  fort  which  sentinelled  its  waters  a  smoking  ruin, 
crossed  with  8,000  men  to  American  territory.  What  changes 
had  taken  place,  what  great  things  had  been  achieved,  what  can- 
didates for  reward  and  renown  had  fought  and  disappeared,  what 
forces  had  arisen  and  dashed  themselves  against  the  rocks  of  doom  ! 
There  had  been  a  rebellion,  great  constitutional  changes,  phantas- 
magoric invasion,  and  many  who  took  part  in  these  were  as  sound 
asleep  as  Brock,  had  passed  as  completely  beyond  censure  or  ap- 
plause as  Fitzgibbon  beyond  neglect.     The  intention  was  to  give 

[Authorities :— Alison's  "  History  of  Europe  :"  Auchinleck's  "  History  of  the  War  of 
1812-14  :"  David  Thompson's  "  History  of  the  Late  War  :"  Col.  Coffin's  "Chronicle  of 
the  War  of  1812 :"  "  The  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Major-General  Sir  Isaac  Brock, 
K.B.  :"  "  Historical  Sketch  of  the  War  of  1812  :"  by  Miss  A.  M.  Machar.  "  A  Poetical 
Account  of  the  Campaigns  of  1812  and  1813,"  by  An  Acadian.  "Life  of  Colonel 
Talbot,"  by  Edward  Ermatmger.  McMullen's  "  History  of  Canada."  Surviving 
Veterans  of  1812-14  and  their  friends.] 


w^^ 


192 


THE  IllISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


m 


each  man  a  hundred  dollars  and  it  might  well  have  heon  thought 
that  the  sum  was  large  enough.  But  those  men  of  1812  were  a 
sturdy  race  and  the  number  of  well  authenticated  surviving  war- 
riors was  large  enough  to  reduce  the  share  of  each  to  twenty  dol- 
lars. The  old  soldiers  were,  however,  well  content.  They  valued 
the  recognition  of  their  services,  tardy  though  that  recognition 
was.  It  is  the  privilege  of  old  age  to  be  garrulous,  and  especially 
of  the  old  age  of  soldiers,  and  we  need  not  be  surprised  that  the 
faded  and  wrinkled  heroes  seized  the  opportunity  to  show  how 
fields  were  won  in  those  days  of  wilderness,  before  railways  and 
breechloaders,  when  nobody  dreamed  we  should  send  ritle  teams 
to  Wimbledon,  and  the  most  prophetic  soul  had  no  touch  of  intui- 
tion to  body  forth  the  railway  magnate,  either  in  his  tadpole  state 
of  bonus-beggar  or  in  the  coarse  importance  of  later  years  of 
pompous  success.  On  the  present  the  veterans  looked  with  rheumy 
eyes  ;  the  adventures  and  perils  of  sixty  years  ago,  with  all  their 
incident?,  the  brightness  of  the  morning  of  the  fight,  the  bracing 
keenness  of  an  early  frost  as  they  rushed  into  one  of  the  autumn 
engagements,  the  hue  of  the  landscape  in  which  the  bloody  picture 
was  framed,  th'^  ^ight  in  the  glance  of  the  leader  giving  his  last 
command,  all  was  for  them  vivid  as  ever.  Over  the  scenes  of  those 
days  for  them  time's  curtain  could  never  fall.  To  talk  of  that 
stirring  period  did  the  old  men  good,  for  this  brought  with  it  a 
breeze  of  power,  a  thrill  of  youth,  the  rainbow  light  of  hope. 
Some  were  bowed  under  the  hand  of  time.  Others  were  erect  and 
bore  their  ninety  years  as  if  it  was  a  small  thing.  This  one  had 
grown  prosperous  ;  to  that  fortune  had  been  less  kind.  But  pros- 
perous or  not  they  were  all  glad  of  public  acknowledgment  of  their 
services,  and  it  exhilarated  the  heart  of  them  to  greet  and  gi-asp 
the  hands  of  companions  in  arms  of  long  ago,  Samuel  Clements, 
eighty  years  of  age,  formerly  of  Crook's  Flank  Company,  who  was 
present  at  Queenston  Heights,  who  fought  under  the  solemn 
stars  at  Lundy's  Lane,  would  have  made  a  good  central  figure  for 
a  historical  picture  as  he  told  with  uplifted  finger  how  he  saw 
Block  fall.  Such  a  picture  well  executed  might  be  placed  by  the 
side  of  Miss  Thompson's  Roll  Call. 

Every  winter  the  society  of  York  Pioneers  founded  by  an  Irish- 
-maa,  and  presided  over  by  a  noble  specimen  of  the  United  Empire 


PATRIOTFC   VALOUR. 


193 


)ros- 

bheir 

i-asp 

lents, 

was 

lemn 

for 
Isaw 

the 

:ish- 
ipire 


Loyalist,  Colonel  Donison,  celeltratos  tlu;  anniversary  of  CliryHler'a 
Farm.  Wo  live  in  days  when  perhaps  anniversaries  are  over-done, 
wlien  too  many  seek  distinction,  not  by  deeds,  but  by  talking 
about  the  deeds  of  others,  wlien  energy  is  apt  to  exhaust  itself  in 
sparkle  and  froth.  But  the  deeds  of  I  (SI 2-1 4  can  never  pass  from 
men's  liearts  while  Canada  is  Canada.  From  whatever  point  of 
view  we  regard  tlie  part  played  l)y  Canada  in  those  years,  it  is  cal- 
culated not  merely  to  win  sympathy,  l)ut  to  challenge  enthusiasm. 
The  struggle  was  cruelly  unequal.  All  the  riglit  and  nearly  all 
the  valour  was  w'.th  the  weaker  side.  Eight  millions  were  arrayed 
against  two  hundred  tliousand.  To-day  the  United  States  are  only 
ten  times  our  nund)er.  Then  they  were  forty  times.  Aided 
by  a  handful  of  regular  troops,  we  had  to  defend  a  frontier  of 
1,700  miles,  menaced  at  three  critical  and  vulnerable  points.  What 
wonder  if  there  was  a  momentary  sinking  of  heart  ?  It  was  but 
a  passing  spasm.  Tlie  peoj)le  of  the  Lower  Province,  the  United 
Emoiie  Loyalists,  the  sturdy  Canadian  yeome  i,  the  militia,  men 
of  Irish,  Scotch,  and  English  blood,  all  proved  themselves  worthy 
of  their  fathers.  Volunteers  Hocked  into  the  garrison  towns.  In 
default  of  gun.s  anc)  swords,  they  pressed  the  peaceful  implements 
of  husbandry  into  the  service  of  war.  There  is  no  mood,  however 
solenm,  in  which  we  cannot  look  with  complacency  on  the  little 
bands  repulsing  a  cruel  and  impolitic  invasion.  In  their  hands 
the  sword  was  something  more  than  an  instrument  of  justice  ;  it 
was  drawn  with  the  choicest  blessings  of  Heaven,  and  wielded 
with  the  force  of  sacred  passions.  The  defender  of  his  country 
does  not  tight  for  plunder  or  renown ;  he  is  not  thinking  of  stars 
and  crosses ;  he  is  no  soldier  of  fortune ;  no  knight  errant  doing 
wanton  battle  in  the  name  of  a  fantastic  honour.  He  is  fighting 
for  home,  for  the  mother  who  nursed  him,  for  the  wife  who  makes 
the  starlight  of  his  dwelling,  for  the  child  who  lisps  his  name,  and 
is  impatient  at  his  absence.  When  the  trumpet  calls  him,  these 
things  sweep  across  his  fancy,  and  he  is  aware  of  a  sublimed 
strenojth,  and  conscious  of  an  unwonted  fire ;  he  feels  as  the  anci- 
ents  felt  in  supreme  moments  of  battle,  as  though  the  immortals 
fought  beside  him,  and  gave  him  the  victory.  And  when,  with 
weary  hands  and  heavy  eyelids,  he  sinks  into  repose,  the  infinite 
13 


194 


TTTE   TUISIIMAN   IN   CAXADA. 


ri.  ii 


.|i  ' 


I      el' 


Holaco,  which  belongs  tosulf-nacrificu,  is  arot;a(l  him,  like  hovering 
wings.* 

The  people  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  cannot  La  MaincMl  if 

the  important  events  wiiich  at  tliat  time  took  plu^e  on  the  rivers 
and  lakes  of  Canada,  amid  forest  shadows  and  opening  margents, 
received  from  them  but  scant  attention;  a  just  view  lias  been 
neither  so  common  nor  so  emphasiztMl,  as  is  desirabh',  amongst 
ourselves.  It  would  be  hard  to  expect  men  to  turn  their  gaze 
from  Moscow  in  Hames,  from  Luipsic  and  the  great  Napoleon's 
beaten  columns,  from  the  moving  spectacle  of  the  Allies  entering 
Paris,  an<l  the  master  of  the  world  a  prisoner  in  a  petty  island,  to 
Queenston,  to  Burlington  Heights,  to  the  glorious  struggle  at 
Chrysler's  Farm, to  the  victorious  twenty-fifth  of  JulyatChippawa. 
•Yet  though  on  a  smaller  scale  than  those  which  studded  Europe 
with  memories  of  wasted  valour,  our  fights  had  a  greater  influence 
on  the  future  ;  they  had  in  them  the  seeds  of  things.  Wo  have 
lived  to  see  a  revolution  in  the  foreign  policy  of  England,  and  an 
Anglo-French  alliance  with  a  Napoleon  ruli^ig  at  the  Tuileries. 
But  during  nigh  upon  three-quarters  of  a  century,  Canada  has 
advanced  steadily  towards  the  goal  of  a  national  existence. 

Nor,  as  we  shall  see,  were  our  campaigns  poor  in  indiAddual 
heroism,  or  wanting  in  the  picturesque.  As  long  as  Canada  has 
a  history  and  and  a  name,  so  long  will  the  story  of  Mary  Siccord 
walking  twenty  miles  of  wilderness,  in  danger  of  savage  beasts 
and  more  savage  men,  to  warn  Fitzgibbon  of  an  intended  surprise 
on  the  Beaver  Dam,  be  told.  When  in  our  national  galltjry  of 
the  future,  miles  of  canvas  attest  the  progress  of  Canadian  art,  no 
picture  will  compel  more  attention  than  Brock  erect  in  his  canoe 
leading  the  way  to  battle  at  Detroit,  or  the  same  gallant  captain, 
shouting  while  the  fatal  lead  whizzes  to  his  heart :  "  Push  on  the 
brave  York  Volunteers."  The  tenacity  of  the  two  privates  of 
tl  3  Forty-first  who  kept  the  bridge  in  the  western  marshes, 
though  these  swell  the  mass  of  undistinguished,  valour,  stirs  the 
heart  as  surely  as  the  heroism  of  men  more  fortunate  in  renown. 
Centuries  hence  men  will  turn  with  admiration  to  Tecumseh, 
shaming  by  his  determination  the  timid  Proctor,  or  later,  telling 


*  In  the  above  and  the  following  paragraph,  there  are  a  few  aentences  which  have 
already  appeared  in  a  periodical. 


THK    IlKllLIN    DKCUKK. 


195 


no 
moe 
bain, 

the 
U  of 
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the 

)wn. 
[iseh> 

ping 

have 


him  to  have  a  "  hi<,'  heart,"  or  still  later  falling,  like  a  hero  fij^'ht- 
ing  to  the  last.  There  wan  wanting  to  us  no  fo.  .u  of  snifeiing  ; 
wai'  was  hruught  to  our  hea;  ^is,  an«l  we  tast(  '  the  bitterness  of 
devastation  and  defeat  an  W( '!  as  the  dear-bought  joys  of  vic- 
tory. 

The  history  of  Irishmen  in  Canada  would  not  be  complete  with- 
out an  aceount  of  this  war,  necessarily  within  easily  understood 
limits.  The  greatest  feat  performed  during  the  three  campaigns 
was  performed  by  an  Irisi>man — a  man,  too,  who  was  a  true  hero 
in  more  senses  than  beinj;  a  brave  soldier  entitles  a  man  to  that 
name.  If  Scotland  sent  her  shp.ro  of  men  in  the  gallant  (llengar- 
ries  and  others,  and  England  hers.  Ireland  was  rej)resented  by  ihe 
IGOth  Reginient,  and  by  a  large  proportion  of  the  49th,  while  ah 
had  a  relative  place  in  the  Canadian  Yeomanry,  who  did  such 
splendid  service. 

Napoleon  having  become  Emperor  of  France — having  been 
crowned  King  of  Italy — having  beaten  three  empires  on  the  field 
of  Austerlitz — having  scattered  the  glories  of  Frederick  and  of 
Prussia  at  Jena — advanced  to  Berlin,  whence  he  hurled  a  thunder- 
bolt at  the  commerce  of  England.  This  was  a  measure  w^hich 
could  have  occurred  only  to  a  man  insane  from  succc^ss,  and  the 
excited  consciousness  of  stupendous  genius,  which,  having  lost  all 
sense  of  perspective,  felt  onuiipotent,  and  thus  like  the  thunder 
cloud,  held  within  itself  not  only  min  for  others,  but  the 
secret  of  its  own  dispersion.  A  great  warrior,  Napolecm  was  not 
a  statesman ;  and  though  he  could  look  up  at  the  stars,  and  ask 
flippant  atheists  who  made  them,  he  was  hiuiself  the  worst  kind 
of  Atheist ;  he  failed  to  recognise  the  fact,  that  no  force  can  be 
permanent  which  cannot,  in  the  hour  of  trial,  fall  back  on  God  ; 
he  did  not  see  that  justice  and  truth  are  stronger  than  genius  and 
armies  ;  that  morality,  in  the  long  run,  beats  might ;  that  princi- 
ples are  above  principalities  and  powers ;  that  all  is  cloud  and 
spray,  and  shifting  sand  and  changing  form,  except  the  Absolute, 
who  is  the  core  and  pivot  of  all  things  material  and  moral,  the 
sole  imperishable  rock  in  the  infinite  abyss  of  everlasting  muta- 
tion. By  the  Berlin  decree,  the  British  islands  were  placed  in  a 
state  of  blockade.  Every  species  of  commerce  with  them  was  for- 
bidden.    Every  letter  addressed  in  English  was  to  be  seized,  and 


I 


i-y 


196 


THE  IRISHMAN  IN   CANADA. 


id : 


1 


^Mll 


i: 


fei 


interdicted  all  circulation.  Every  British  subject  in  countries 
occupied  by  the  French  troops,  or  by  those  of  the  allies  of  France, 
was  to  be  made  a  prisoner  of  war.  Every  species  of  property 
belonging  tc  a  subject  of  Great  Britain,  in  any  part  of  the  world, 
was  declared  to  be  good  prize.  English  goods  bought  by  a 
French  subject  were  placed  in  the  same  category.  No  vessel  from 
England  or  her  colonies,  or  which  touched  at  a  British  port,  was, 
whatever  her  distress,  to  be  received  in  any  harbour  over  which 
the  tyrant  had  power.  If  a  vessel,  in  stress  of  weather,  or  needing 
food,  put  into  any  harbour  of  France,  or  her  allies  or  dependents, 
she  was  declared  liable  to  seizure,  even  though  .she  did  not  belong 
to  England,  if  she  had  barely  called  at  Liverpool  or  Belfast  or 
Halifax. 

Tnere  was  not  a  country  in  the  world,  however  small,  if  her 
merchant  marine  consisted  of  a  single  schooner,  but  should  have 
resented  this  barbarous  decree,  which  apart  from  all  other  follies 
committed  by  great  soldiers,  ought  to  make  men  for  ever 
qualify  their  admiration  of  the  military  genius.  How  was  it 
treated  at  Washington  ?  The  war  of  independence  had  left  behind 
it  a  bitter  feeling  towards  England,  the  danger  of  which  did  not 
escape  the  sage  glance  of  Washington,  that  unique  hero  whose 
perfect  balance  makes  the  impression  of  faultless  sculpture.  It 
was  natural  that  the  French  revoxation  should  excite  the  sympa- 
thies of  the  American  people.  All  that  was  generous  and  enlight- 
ened, the  world  over,  saw  in  that  revolution  the  stormy  dawn  of  a 
better  and  nobler  day  for  the  world.  War  with  Great  Britain  and 
a  French  alliance  became  a  passionate  popular  longing.  The  tide 
rose  80  high  that  it  threatened  to  sweep  even  Washington  into 
helpless  privacy,  or  even  worse.  Washington  stood  calm  like  a 
great  tower  when  the  rivers  have  broken  over  their  banks,  and  all 
the  land  is  a  turbulent  turbid  sea,  hurrying  one  way.  The  follies 
and  crimes  of  the  Revolution  brought  about  reaction ;  the  floods 
subsided,  and  a  commercial  treaty  was  established  with  Great 
Britain.  Again,  however,  the  anti-British  feeling  rose,  nor  did 
the  hostilities  between  the  United  States  and  France  in  1798, 
sensibly  abate  it.  A  treaty  of  peace  ensued.  The  election  of 
Jefferson  to  the  Presidency,  and  the  ascendancy  of  the  Democratic 
party  assured,  there   was  nothing   to  check  the  jealousy  and 


THE  ORDERS  IN   COUNCIL. 


197 


ght- 
of  a 
and 
tide 
into 
ce  a 
■id  all 
bllies 
loods 
reat 
r  did 
1798, 
n  of 
ratic 
and 


dislike  of  whatever  was  British.  It  seemed  at  one  time  as  if  a 
people  loud  in  their  boast  of  freedom  would  ally  themselves 
with  a  despot.  When,  the  continent  at  his  mercy,  Napoleon  penned 
the  Berlin  decree  with  the  view  of  striking  at  liberty  in  her  last 
asylum  in  the  old  world,  England  retaliated  by  the  "  Orders  in 
Council,"  prohibiting  trade  with  the  ports  occupied  by  the  French, 
vigorously  bl  ikading  all  the  })orts  of  France  or  her  allies,  and 
declaring  the  manufactures  or  produce  of  the  hostile  countries  or 
their  colonies,  good  prize.  These  Orders  in  Council  necessarily 
struck  a  blow  at  American  commerce,  for  the  British  fleet  swept 
the  seas.  Not  merely  did  they  interfere  with  the  vast  carrying 
trade  of  the  United  States.  There  was  not  a  poor  operative  in 
England  or  Ireland,  who  did  not  suffer  in  consequence  of  the  mad 
tyranny  of  Napoleon,  for  it  was  Napoleon  who  was  surely  respor.- 
ble  in  the  first  place.  The  wisdom  of  the  Orders  in  Council  may 
be  questioned.  But  so  far  as  they  were  an  evil,  the  moral  respon- 
sibility rested  with  the  ruler  of  France,  and  indeed  at  the  time  of 
the  whole  continent.  Jefferson,  unjustly  and  unpatriotically  and 
unscrupulously  seized  the  opportunity,  to  still  further  inflame 
animosity  against  England.  He  refused  to  ratify  a  treaty  of  amity 
commerce  and  navigation,  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States,  negotiated  by  the  American  Minister  at  the  Court  of  St. 
James.  He  sent  a  message  to  Congress  inveighing  against  the 
Orders  in  Council.  Not  a  word  did  he  utter  against  the  Berlin 
decree.  The  Democratic  party,  as  insane  as  Napoleon,  forbade 
American  vessels  to  leave  their  ports. 

The  right  insisted  on  by  England  of  searching  for  British  deser- 
ters in  American  ships  aggravated  the  delicacy  of  the  situation. 
The  breach  between  the  two  countries  became  wider.  The  broad- 
side from  the  Leopard  bringing  the  Chesapeake  to,  in  order  to 
search  for  deserters,  had,  though,  the  English  Government  disa- 
vowed the  act,  no  tendency  to  make  the  relations  more  amicable. 
Meanwhile  the  mad  embargo  on  outgoing  American  vessels,  pro- 
duced the  natural  result — distress.  Massachusetts  demanded  its 
repeal.  Mr.  Madison  was  elected  President.  The  edict  was  re- 
pealed in  the  spring  of  1809,  an  Act  being  substituted  prohibiting 
all  intercov-ise  with  France  and  England,  but  p^-oviding  that  the 
Act   should  be  a  dead  letter  in  regard  to  either  or  both  nations 


198 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


Ill 

11 


once  their  hostile  decrees  were  repealed.  Things  looked  more 
favourable  now. 

Mr.  Erskine,  son  of  the  celebrated  advocate,  was  sent  out  with 
express  instructions  from  Mr.  Canning,  which  he  somewhat  ex- 
ceeded, in  consenting  to  consider  the  suspension  of  the  non-inter- 
course Act  a  fair  equivalent  for  the  lapse  of  the  Orders  in  Coun- 
cil, and  thus  failing  to  insist  that  so  long  as  the  French  decrees 
were  in  force,  the  United  States  should  renounce  all  pretensions 
to  carry  on  any  trade  with  the  colonies  of  belligerents  not  allow- 
ed in  times  of  peace,  and  that  British  ships  of  war  should  be 
allowed  to  enforce,  by  capture,  the  American  non-intercourso  with 
France  and  her  allies.  There  was  great  rejoicing  among  the 
moderate  party  at  the  settlement,  which  had,  it  was  supposed, 
been  effected  by  Mr.  Erskine  and  Mr.  Madison.  The  federal  press 
had  articles  headed  "  Triumph  of  Federal  Policy ;"  "  No  Em- 
bargo;" "  No  French  Party;"  "  A  Return  to  Peace,  Prosperity  and 
Commerce,"  and  the  like. 

All  this  exultation  was  destined  to  receive  a  rude  shock.  De- 
pression and  indignation  followed  joy,  when  on  the  20th  July, 
more  than  a  month  after  it  was  thought  the  obnoxious  measures 
had  become  dead  letters,  news  came  that  Mr.  Canning  had  declared 
in  the  House  of  Commons,  that  the  arrangement  made  by  Mr. 
Erskine  was  wholly  unauthorised  by  his  instructions.  Mr.  Ers- 
kine was  wrong  to  have  gone  beyond  his  instructions.  Mr.  Can- 
ning was  more  of  a  bureaucrat  than  a  statesman,  however,  in 
refusing  to  ratify  his  arrangement.  The  non-intercourse  was  goon 
re-established,  and  the  situation  was  more  unsatisfactory  than 
before.  Every  hour  made  it  more  tense.  Mr.  Jackson,  who  suc- 
ceeded Mr.  Esrkine  was  studiously  insulted.  In  the  spring  of  1811, 
the  American  minister  took  formal  leave  of  the  Prince  Regent.  A 
rupture  was  felt  to  be  inevitable.  Intercourse  with  France  was 
resumed.  The  French  flag  flew  in  American  harboui's  and  from 
French  vessels,  many  of  which  were  fitted  out  as  privateers,  to 
prey  on  British  commerce.  The  train  was  all  ready.  The  match 
was  applied  by  the  collision  between  the  Little  Belt  and  the  Pre- 
sident, the  former  an  English  sloop  of  war  of  eighteen  guns,  the 
latter  an  American  frigate  of  forty -four  guns.  The  following  Jan- 
uary, by  an  overwhelming  majority.  Congress  passed  resolutions 


PROJECTED  CONQUEST  OF  CANADA. 


199 


De- 

uly, 

ures 
ired 
Mr. 
rs- 
an- 
in 
oon 
han 
uc- 

11, 
.  A 
was 
rom 

to 
itch 
Ve- 
the 
an- 
ions 


to  increase  the  regular  troops  to  25,000,  and  raising  an  immediate 
loan  of  $10,000,000. 

How  the  Americans  hastened  hostilities  in  order  to  capture 
the  British  homeward  bound  West  India  fleet ;  how  Madison 
sought  to  work  on  the  warlike  feeling  by  placing  before  Con- 
gress worthless  papers  sold  him  by  Henley  for  the  enormous  sum 
of  $50,000;  how,  on  the  19th  of  June,  Congress  passed  an  Act 
declaring  war  against  Great  Britain;  how  shortly  afterwards  the 
Orders  in  Council  were  repealed ;  how  notwithstanding  Congress 
did  not  recede  from  its  hostile  position,  need  only  be  referred  to. 
Madison  was  anxious  to  distinguish  his  presidency  by  the  conquest 
of  Canada.  The  great  mass  of  the  American  people  hungered  for 
moie  territory,  and  they  longed  to  humiliate  England  by  driving 
her  from  the  Valley  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  raising  the  stars  and 
stripes  over  every  stronghold  from  Fort  Maiden  to  Quebec. 

The  United  States  acted  at  this  time,  as  they  have  frequently 
done,  as  if  they  did  not  believe  in  justice  or  honour,  and  only 
cared  about  profit  and  expediency.  But  there  have  always  been 
thousands  who  would  not  bow  the  knee  to  Baal,  and  the  most 
influential  and*reflecting  raised  protests  against  the  war  as  unjust, 
unnecessary,  and  impolitic,  as  indeed  hardly  decent,  seeing  that  it 
meant  having  for  an  ally  a  man,  whose  whole  career  showed  him 
to  be  the  enemy  of  ^xcedom. 

Not  only  was  the  war  objected  to  in  itself.  The  method  by 
which  Canada  was  to  be  conquered  was  placed  in  its  true  light. 
One  Virginian  gentleman  said  the  plan  was  to  make  the  Canadians 
traitors  as  a  preliminary  step  to  their  becoming  American  citizens. 
Honourable  men  shrank  from  the  tactics  of  tricksters.  But  un- 
fortunately the  sinister  policy  prevailed,  as  it  has  often  prevailed 
since,  not  to  the  advantage  of  the  world  at  large  or  the  American 
people  themselves.  The  men  of  New  England  would  have  nothing 
to  do  with  the  invasion  of  a  people  who  had  given  no  provocation. 
In  Boston  on  the  day  war  was  declared,  the  flags  were  hoisted 
half-mast  high,  as  though  some  great  national  calamity  had  oc- 
curred. On  the  other  hand,  extreme  men  from  Germany,  French 
enthusiasts,  with  no  political  experience  save  what  they  had  gained 
during  the  reign  of  terror,  Irish  sympathisers  with,  and  refugees 
{To«n  the  Irish  rebellion,  swelled  the  cry  of  war.     These  last  had 


■L 


i»l'<  f  nil 


200 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


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been,  in  most  cases,  deprived  by  bad  laws  of  that  education  which 
would  have  enabled  them  to  make  just  distinctions,  or  they  would 
have  turned  with  disgust  from  an  attack  on  a  peaceable  population 
for  a  cause  of  quarrel  which  had  occurred  on  the  other  side  of  the 
world.  I  do  not  find,  however,  that  on  this  occasion  the  American 
army  wa*:;  in  any  great  proportion  Irish,  and  amongst  the  Generals 
we  louV  m  vain  for  a  Montgomery. 

But  in  truth  the  Americans  thought  taking  Canada  would  be 
an  easy  task.  With  an  ignorance  and  a  vanity  which  provoke  a 
smile,  it  was  believed  that  the  Canadians  themselves,  would  gladly 
exchange  the  union  jack  for  the  stars  and  stripes,*  and  if  they 
were  not  so  wise  in  their  election,  they  must  be  taught  wisdom. 
How  could  they  resist  indeed  ?  The  odds  were  overwhelming. 
Apart  from  the  vast  po^  dlation  they  had  to  draw  on,  they  had 
twenty-five  thousand  regular  troops  and  one  hundred  thousand 
militia,  against  five  thousand  eight  hundred  men  in  the  two  Ca- 
nadas,  and  a  small  militia  badly  equipped. 

In  Lower  Canada  parlianxent  had  passed  a  liberal  Militia  Act, 
and  voted  considerable  sums.  A  regiment  of  French-Canadian 
voltigeurs  was  raised.  I  cannot  but  pause  here  to  think  how  dif- 
ferent things  might  have  been  in  Ireland  if  the  people  had  had 
privileges  such  as  those  wisely  accorded  to  French  Canadians  in 
1775,  and  had  been  trusted.  In  Upper  Canada  an  effective  Militia 
Bill  was  passed,  and  Brock,  fully  aware  of  the  danger,  was  exert- 
ing all  his  energy  and  ability  to  meet  it.  There  were  few  troops 
in  the  province  and  not  suflicient  arms  for  half  the  militia.  From 
England,  where  it  was  thought  the  repeal  of  the  Orders  in  Council 
would  settle  everything,  no  aid  could  be  expected  for  months 

There  are  two  prominent  heroes  in  the  war  of  1812-14.  To 
one  ample  justice  has  been  done.  Neither  alive  nor  dead  has  the 
other  been  properly  rewarded.  Both  were  intimately  associated 
in  their  lives.  Perhaps  it  was  well  for  the  one  he  fell  in  battle 
urging  on  the  brave  York  volunteers,  or  he  might  have  expe- 
rienced the  fickleness  of  popular  favour,  and  the  dire  ingratitude 

*  Even  to-day  wo  Bometimes  hear  Americans  talk  in  a  strange  way  on  this  head. 
When  coming  back  from  the  Centennial,  I  fell  into  conversation  wiih  an  intelligent 
American,  who  said  to  me—"  I  guess  over  in  Canada  you  feel  at  times  that  you  ar 
not  free  enough,  and  that  old  mother  England  keeps  you  down  a  little  too  much." 


aaaa 


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ar 


FIRST  ACQUAINTANCE   OF  BROCK   AND  FITZGIBBON.         201 

which  seems  inseparable  from  free  communities.  Both  were  gen- 
uine heroes.  The  less  fortunate  was  the  more  romantic  of  the- 
two.  We  must  go  a  little  back  in  time  in  order  to  trace  the  early 
acquaintance  of  two  remarkable  men. 

Isaac  Brock  was  born  in  Guernsey  in  17G9,  the  same  year  in 
which  iS'apoleon  and  Wellington  were  born.  His  family  was  one; 
of  some  local  importance.  He  was  tall,  robust,  and  though  a 
gymnast,  remarkable  for  his  extreme  gentleness.  He  entered  the 
8th  regiment  as  an  ensign  in  1785.  Five  years  aftei-wards  he 
was  promoted  to  a  lieutenancy.  At  the  close  of  1790  he  obtained 
an  independent  company  by  raising  the  requisite  number  of  men^ 
He  soon  after  exchanged  into  the  49th,  and  joined  his  regiment  at 
Barbadoes.  There  wafc'  in  the  regiment  a  confirmed  duellist,  who 
took  advantage  of  his  being  a  dead  shot.  Brock  soon  proved  to 
his  brothel'  captain  that  he  was  not  to  be  bullied  nor  intimidated. 
He  was  challenged  as  a  matter  of  course.  On  the  ground  Brock 
pointed  out  that  it  was  not  fair,  he  being  so  large  a  man,  to  stand 
at  twelve  paces,  and  producing  a  handkerchief,  insisted  on  firing 
across  it.  This  the  duellist  declined,  and  the  consequence  was,, 
the  regiment  got  rid  of  him.  On  the  24th  of  June,  Brock  pur- 
chased his  majority.  In  1797  he  purchased  his  lieutenant-colo- 
nelcy, and  soon  after  became  senior  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  49th.. 
He  was  then  in  his  twenty-eighth  year. 

On  the  6th  of  August,a  young  Irishman  enlisted  in  the  49th,  on 
Barham  Downs,  near  Canterbury.  In  less  than  two  months  he 
was  fighting  under  Brock  at  Egmont-op-Zee,  where  his  colonel 
was  wounded,  and  had  his  holsters  shot  through.  The  merits  of 
James  Fitzgibbon  were  soon  discovered  by  General  Brock,  who,  a 
few  years  afterwards,  made  him  sergeant-major,  and  in  1806  pro- 
cured him  an  ensigncy.  After  the  deployment  of  the  49th  on  the 
sand  hills,  Fitzgibbon  separated  from  Colonel  Brock  with  that 
part  of  the  regiment  detached  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Sheafie. 
Soon  after  they  commenced  firing,  the  soldiers  covering  them- 
selves behind  the  sand  hills  and  firing  over  the  summit.  While 
thus  engaged  he  noticed  the  paymaster,  Savery  Brock,  passing 
from  the  top  of  one  sand  hill  to  '  lother,  directing  and  encourag- 
ing the  men.  He  watched  every  moment  to  see  him  fall.  But 
two  hours  passed  away  and  the  paymaster  remained  untouched.. 


1; 


;•    'I 


^i 


¥i  i<l 


iifti  i 


\l 


m 


202 


THE  IRISHMAN  IN   CANADA. 


"  Bem<]f  at  this  time,"  says  Fitzgibbon,  "  only  eighteen  years  of 
age,  and  not  nine  months  from  my  parents'  fire-side,  in  a  remote 
village  in  Ireland,  I  did  not  venture,  although  a  sergeant,  to  give 
any  orders  or  instructions,  lest  I  should  do  wrong.  But  after 
witnessing  Savery  Brock's  conduct,  I  determined  to  be  the  first  to 
advance  every  time  at  the  head  of  those  around  me,  and  I  soon 
saw  that  of  those  who  were  most  prompt  to  follow  me,  fewer  fell 
than  of  those  more  in  the  rear."  He  then,  this  raw  lad  of  eighteen, 
made  up  his  mind  to  think  no  more  of  his  own  life,  but  leave  the 
care  of  it  to  Divine  Providence,  and  to  strain  every  nerve  to  do 
his  duty.  At  five  o'clock  on  that  day,  while  in  his  eagerness 
pressing  forward,  he  went  too  far  ahead  of  his  men,  was  cut  off 
and  taken  prisoner. 

On  the  27th  February,  1801,  the  49th  embarked  on  board  Nel- 
son's squadron  at  Portsmouth.  On  the  30th  of  March  the  fleet 
proceeded  through  the  Sound,  with  a  topsail  breeze  from  N.  W. 
Fitzgibbon  was  in  the  Monarch,  the  49th  acting  as  marines.  This 
ship  had  210  men  killed  and  wounded.  The  next  year  the  regi- 
ment was  ordered  to  Canada.  In  the  fall,  at  Montreal,  an  educated 
soldier  named  Carr  was  observed  by  Colonel  Brock  to  salute  him 
with  less  manliness  than  usual,  and  he  suspected  that  he  would 
desert  as  the  ice  bridge  was  on  the  river.  Brock  ordered  Fitzgib- 
bon, now  a  sergeant-major,  to  bring  the  man  before  him.  The 
Colonel  directly  charged  Carr  with  intending  to  desert.  "  Man- 
fully tell  me  the  truth  !"  roared  Brock.  Carr  stammered  out  a 
denial.  Brock  stepped  up  to  him,  and  putting  his  clenched  fist 
forward,  cried  in  a  firm  voice :  "  Don't  prevaricate.  Tell  me  the 
truth  like  a  man.  You  know  I  have  always  treated  you  kindly  !" 
The  awed  wretch  confessed  that  he  and  others  had  determined  to 
desert.  "  Go  then,"  rejoined  the  Colonel,  "  and  tell  those  deluded 
men  all  that  has  passed  here,  and  that  notwithstanding  what  you 
have  told  me,  I  will  still  treat  every  one  of  you  with  kindness^ 
and  you  may  then  all  desert  from  me  if  you  please." 

In  the  following  summer,  when  the  49th  were  at  York  (Toronto), 
the  sergeant  of  the  guard  informed  the  sergeant-major  (Fitzgib- 
bon), that  three  of  his  men  were  missing,  and  that  a  boat  had 
been  taken  from  a  shed  in  charge  of  a  sentry,  who  had  like- 
"wise  disappeared.    Fitzgibbon  instantly  reported  this  to  the  Col- 


SEiaOUS   COxNSPIKACY. 


203 


[onto), 
Itzgib- 
U  had 
like- 
Col- 


onel, who  ordered  him  to  man  a  hoat  forthwith  with  a  sergeant 
and  twelve  privates  of  the  light  company.  In  half  an  hour  Brock 
and  Fitzgihbon  were  sitting  together  muffled  up  in  the  stern,  while 
the  oars  dipped  rapidly,  and  the  little  craft  shot  through  the  waters 
for  Niagara,  which  was  reached  in  the  morning.  The  Colonel 
then  despatched  a  party  of  the  detachment  stationed  there  to  nin 
along  +he  Amrrican  shore  of  Lake  Ontario,  while  he  and  Fitzgih- 
bon roved  round  by  the  west  end  of  the  lake,  with  the  view  of 
interc-^^Hng  the  deserters  should  they  have  taken  this  course.  But 
they  had  taken  the  other  direction,  and  were  captured  by  the 
party  sent  east  by  Colonel  Brock. 

In  the  following  year  a  serious  conspiracy  in  which  some  Irish- 
men were  implicated  was  discovered.  The  object  of  the  mutiny 
was  the  life  of  Col.  Sheaffe,  who  seems  to  have  been  a  tyrannical 
martinet.  A  servant  of  Major  Wulff,  of  the  Royal  Artillery,  who 
was  stationed  at  Niagara,  was  returning  home  across  the  common 
from  fort  St.  George  when  he  met  a  soldier  of  the  49th,  one*  Fitz- 
patrick,  running  towards  the  Fort.  He  asked  the  time,  and  on 
being  told,  cried :  "  Thank  God,  I  will  not  be  too  late  for  the  roll- 
call  or  dinner,  for  if  I  were  that  tyrant  would  send  me  to 

knapsack  drill  for  a  week.     But,  by ! "  and  he  mattered  a 

threat.  The  servant  struck  by  Fitzpatrick's  manner  went  over  to 
the  Fort  and  described  the  interview  to  Col.  Sheaffe.  Fitzpatrick 
was  sent  for.  He  confessed  nothing,  but  showed  what  were  con- 
sidered unmistakeable  signs  of  guilt.  He  was  put  in  irons  and 
sent  to  the  cells,  whereupon  a  soldier  named  Daly  confessed  he 
was  one  of  the  conspirators,  having  been  seduced  from  his  duty  by 
Sergeant  Clarke.  Daly  had  been  enlisted  by  this  sergeant  in  Ire- 
land in  the  year  previous.  A  meeting  of  the  conspirators  had 
taken  place  that  morning,  at  Knox's  tavern,  from  which  place 
Fitzpatrick  was  returning,  perhaps  having  taken  a  glass  or  two 
when  his  manner  betrayed  him. 

Word  of  the  conspiracy  was  immediately  sent  to  Colonel  Brock, 
at  York.  The  Colonel  and  Fitzgihbon,  his  "  young  and  devoted 
Sergeant^Major,"  embarked  in  the  schooner  which  brought  the 
report.  Fitzgihbon  was  told  to  remain  below  deck  and  out  of 
view  until  sent  for,  while  Brock  walked  ovei'  alone  to  the  east 
gate  of  the  fort.     He  crossed  che  square  to  the  guard  which  he 


204 


THE  IRISHMAN  IN   CANADA. 


III 


found  commanded  by  Sergeant  Clarke.  It  was  part  of  the  plan 
that  the  mutineers  were  to  take  to  their  arms  on  some  night  when 
Sergeant  Clarke  and  Corporal  O'Brien  were  on  guard.  They  were 
now  on  guard.  The  guard  presented  arms.  Colonel  Brock  ad- 
vanced and  said :  "  Sergeant,  let  your  guard  shoulder  arms."  It 
was  done.  "  Come  here,  Sergeant,"  he  said,  authoritatively,  "  lay 
down  your  pike."  The  pike  was  laid  down.  "  Corporal  O'Brien, 
bring  a  pair  of  handcuffs  and  put  them  on  this  sergeant  and  lock 
him  up  in  the  cells  and  bring  me  the  key."  This  was  done. 
"  Come  here,  Corporal,  lay  down  your  arms,  take  off  your  accoutre- 
ments and  lay  them  down  also."  Obeyed.  "  Come  here  you 
grenadier  " — addressing  the  right  hand  man  of  the  guard — "  bring 
a  pair  of  hancjcuffs  and  put  them  on  this  corporal,  and  lock  him 
up  in  another  cell  and  bring  me  the  key."  They  were  brought, 
and  Brock  cried :  "  Drummer,  beat  to  arms."  Just  then  Lieutenant 
Williams  was  seen  issuing  from  the  nearest  building:  "  Williams," 
cried  Brock,  "  go  and  instantly  secure  Rock,  and  if  he  hesitate  to 
obey, even  for  a  moment, cut  him  down."  Williams  ran  up  stairs  and 
told  Rock  to  come  down.  "  Yes,  sir,  when  I  take  my  arms."  "  No 
you  must  come  down  without  them."  "  I  must  have  my  arms, 
sir."  "  If  you  touch  your  musket  I  will  cut  you  down  instantly ; 
go  down  before  me."  Thirteen  conspirators  were  taken,  and  they 
and  seven  deserters  were  sent  on  to  Quebec  where  they  were  tried 
by  Court-Martial.  Four  of  the  mutineers — Clarke,  O'Brien,  Rock, 
and  Fitzpatrick,  and  three  deserters  were  condemned  to  suffer 
death. 

Why  do  I  recount  this  circumstance  which  can  shed  no  lustre 
on  Irishmen  ?  Because,  as  I  have  already  said.  Irishmen  can  af- 
ford to  have  the  truth  told,  and  incidentally  it  shows  that  the 
49th  had  been  recruited  in  part,  in  Ireland, 

In  a  letter,  dated  Quebec,  March  17, 1807,  and  addressed  to  the 
adjutant-general  of  His  Majesty's  forces.  Brock  speaks  of  the 
lOOth  regiment  in  a  contradictory  manner.  He  says :  "  The 
winter  has  passed  without  a  single  instance  of  neglect  or  miscon- 
duct having  occurred  among  the  100th  regiment,  and  it  is  a  pleas- 
ing task  to  report  that  so  exemplary  have  the  men  behaved,  that 
even  regimentally,  only  one  corporal  punishment  has  been  inflicted 
for  the  last  three  months."     So  far  so  good.     He  adds  with  singu- 


THE   CURTAIN   RISES. 


205 


lar  absurdity  :  "  I  am  now  speaking  of  men,  vrho,  being  nearly  all 
Irish,  are  of  a]l  others  the  most  volatile  and  easily  led  astray  *  * 
The  men  were  principally  raised  in  the  north  of  Ireland  and  are 
nearly  all  Pi'otestants.  They  are  robust,  active  and  good  looking." 
By  the  returns  of  the  100th  regiment,  dated  IGth  March,  1807,  it 
appears  that  only  one  officer  was  an  Englishman,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Murray,  one — the  assistant  surgeon — a  Scotchman,  while 
twenty-six  were  Irish ;  eight  unknown,  being  absent  on  leave  or 
not  having  joined  ;  two  vacancies ;  making  a  total  of  38  officers. 
Of  the  non-commissioned  officers  and  privates,  out  of  468, 
the  Irish  numbered  4)58 ;  there  being  nine  English  and  one 
Scotch. 

Fitzgibbon,  always  the  right  hand  man  of  Brock,  became,  as 
already  indicated.  Lieutenant  in  1809. 

The  curtain  must  now  rise  on  war.  We  cannot,  nor  is  it 
necessary,  to  mention  the  names  of  all  the  Irishmen  engaged  in  it. 
The  ^*^ards,  such  men  as  Edward  Wright  and  Mr.  Rogers,  had 
their  comrades  and  counterparts.  There  is  one  prominent  Irish 
hero  ;  perhaps,  by  and  by,  we  shall  have  to  admit  a  poor  private 
to  that  position — James  O'Hara,  better  known  as  "  Jimmy" 
O'Hara,  of  whom  more  anon. 

The  Americans  commenced  hostilities  by  taking  Mackinaw, 
a  small  military  outpost  for  the  protection  of  the  fur  trade,  an  ad- 
vantage of  which  they  were  soon  deprived.  Meanwhile,  General 
Hull,  an  officer  of  the  war  of  independence,  on  the  12th  July 
crossed  the  river  Detroit,  with  a  force  of  two  thousand  five  hun- 
dred, and  a  strong  park  of  artillery.  He  planted  the  American 
standard  on  our  shores,  and  issued  a  bombastic  proclamation, 
in  which  he  said,  that  the  standard  of  the  Union  waved 
over  the  territory  of  Canada,  that  it  brought  no  danger  to  peace- 
able unofiending  inhabitants,  that  he^  came  to  find,  not  to  make 
enemies,  to  protect,  not  injure  Canadians.  He  reminded  them 
that  they  had  felt  the  tyranny  of  Great  Britain  and  seen  her  in- 
justice. But,  he  magnanimously  added,  that  he  did  not  ask 
them  to  avenge  the  one  or  redress  the  other.  The  United  States 
were  powerful  enough  to  do  both  and  much  more.  "  Had  I  any 
doubt  of  eventual  success,"  he  went  on,  "  I  might  ask  your  assist- 
ance.    But  I  do  not.     I  come  prepared  for  every  contingency.     I 


•II 


! 


206 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN    CANADA. 


P' 


liave  a  for  0  which  will  break  down  all  opposition,  and  that  force 
is  but  the  vanffuard  of  a  much  'greater. "  After  more  .sturt'  of  the 
same  sort,  be  declared  that  no  white  man  found  fightin*^  by  the 
side  of  ail  Indian  would  be  taktm  prisontT  ;  "  instant  death  will  be 
his  lot."  A  few  weeks  afterwards,  General  I^lull  had  retreated 
acro.'is  the  river,  and  had  surrendered  Detroit. 

An  unknown  author  using  the  nam  de  plmne,  "  An  Acadian," 
writes  with  great  bitterness  in  his  "  Poetical  Account."  But 
as  the  poem  was  written  as  the  war  progressed  and  })ublish- 
ed  in  1815,  it  is  valuable  as  expressing  the  sentiments  of  the 
hour. 

The  publisher,  John  Howe,  jun.,  dedicates  the  letters  to  the 
people  of  Canada.  The  last  lines  are  dated  "United  States  of 
Amgrica,  December,  1813."  It  is  clear  the  author  was  an  en- 
forced exile  amongst  a  people  for  whom  he  had  a  special,  I  had 
almost  said,  an  exaggerated  antipathy.  As  he  wrote  nothing  about 
1314,  I  gather  either  that  he  died,  or  else  that  he  obtained  his 
freedom,  and  was  a  bird  who  could  only  sing  when  caged. 

Adieu  !  the  wintry  wind  blows  hard  around 
And  nature  in  an  icy  chain  is  bjund, 
May  Spring  revive  in  Enijland's  happy  isle 
With  cheering  hopes  and  most  propitio'is  smile, 
And  may  the  war  and  my  sad  exile  end, 
Prays  with  sincerity  thy  faithful  friend. 

And  so  he  disapppears  over  the  snow  crusted  landscape.  It  may 
be  that  he  was  conscious  that  he  had  not  in  supreme  measure  the 
divine  afflatus.  Yet  the  verses  dealing  with  the  surrender  at 
Detroit  are  not  without  spirit,  though  they  scarcely  fulfil  the 
conditions  of  poetry. 

Brock  led  them*  through  the  deep  rolling  flood. 
And  at  Detroit  the  fearless  body  stood  : 
Around  the  towns  in  slonder  lines  they  spread  ; 
And  through  the  columns  whistled  English  lead, 
Hissing  too  loud  to  please  a  Yankee's  ear, 
Soon  wild  disorder  imitated  fear. 
'■  Capitulation  "  whispered  every  way, 
And  on  the  fort  gleamed  in  the  sunny  ray 
The  flag  of  peace,  white  as  the  thorn  of  May. 


*The  Indians. 


1^ 


rJATTF.E  OF   gUEENSTON    HEIOHTS. 

Parley  the  trum])et  Hpoko,  thu  ntrifo  woh  Htill, 
And  HiauKhter  Htayeil  iigainHt  the  IniliuiiH'  will, 
Fi)riii  tliiir  i-arn,  thcMt!  wonls  n^vihnvte  IdikI, 
"  No  (nmrtur  give— but  maHHacru  the  crowd  !  " 


207 


'  at 


On  the  first  gate,  Hull's  proclamation  spread, 
J.tMt  UH  that  caijtive  general  hIiowM  liii  head, 
The  Indian  chief  stepped  forward  from  his  band, 
And  pointing  to  the  line  with  lifted  hand, 
Where  Hull  had  jironused  death  to  all  his  race, 
He  flings  his  hatchet  with  indignant  face, 
And  from  the  j)aper  struck  its  every  trace. 

It  does  not  come  within  my  task  to  point  out  how  Sir  George 
Prevost  tied  Brock's  hands,  or  to  describe  thu  most  irritating  of 
all  spectacles,  a  superior  mind  controlled  by  an  inferior  one,  a 
swift  intuition  and  a  strong  will  reined  in  by  blundering  and  vacil- 
lation. The  American  plan  embraced  a  combined  attack.  Hull 
was  to  enter  Canada  at  the  west  by  crossing  the  Detroit  River ; 
Van  Ransallaer  at  the  Niagara  River ;  Dearborn  by  way  of  Lake 
Champlain  and  the  Richelieu  ;  all  aided  by  harassing  incursions 
at  minor  points  along  the  frontier. 

Van  Ransallaer  at  Queenston,  made  Captain  Dennis,  with  two 
companies  of  the  49th  retreat  to  the  north  end  of  the  village. 
Here  he  was  met  by  Brock,  who  dismounting  from  his  horse,  put 
himself  at  the  head  of  a  company  of  the  49th,  resolved  to  take  the 
heights,  now  in  possession  of  the  Americans.  Under  a  heavy  fire, 
he  advanced  at  double  quick  time,  crying  out  as  he  waved  his 
sword  to  "  push  on  the  brave  York  volunteers."  He  fell  as  the 
words  escaped  iiis  lips.  A  cry  rose,  which  be  sure  was  swelled 
with  Irish  voices,  to  avenge  the  General,  and  regulars  and  militia, 
though  so  much  outnumbered,  drove  the  enemy  from  its  strong 
position  on  the  crest  of  the  hill.  The  enemy  being  reinforced 
ti^ey  were  obliged  to  retire.  Then  Major-General  Sheaffc  on  whom 
the  command  devolved,  came  up  with  reinforcements  ;  the  conflict 
was  renewed;  regulars  and  militia,  though  still  outnumbered, 
charged  again  and  again,  until  they  turned  the  left  flank  of 
the  Americans,  and  the  day  was  won.  Among  the  officers  men- 
tioned in  the  report  of  General  Sheafie  as  having  distinguished 
themselves,  were  at  least  two  Irishmen,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Butler 


ff      I 


MPm 


208 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA, 


and  Lieutenant  Thomas  Butler.  The  British  loss  did  not  exceed 
one  hundred  men,  while  that  on  the  American  side  was  not  less 
than  two  thousand.  Amon}.^  the  former  was  the  {.^allant  provin- 
cial aide-dti-camp  of  Brock,  Colonel  McDonald.  This  battle  was 
the  Thermopyhe  of  the  war.  Brock,  as  he  entere<l  among 
the  shades,  might  have  greeted  Leonidas  as  his  brothtsr  ;  and  the 
meii  whose  blood  enriched  those  heights,  whence  to-day  the  eye 
drinks  in  a  scene  of  such  varied  beauty,  the  gi-een  slopes,  tho 
pretty  town,  the  bright  waters  of  Ontario  ;  Brock's  monument,  and 
the  union  jack  giving  a  British  character  to  the  whole  ;  might 
speak  to  the  traveller  who  visits  this  spot  of  heroic  associations, 
sending  Canadians  a  parody  of  the  innnortal  message : 

Tell  the  Spartans,  at  their  bidding, 
Stranger,  here  in  death  we  lie.* 

There  could  indeed  be  no  nobler  resting  place  for  a  hero  than  near 
the  measureless  grandeur  of  the  Falls ;  material  sublimity  near 
moral  sublimity ;  and  yet  when  contrasted  with  this  the  myriad 
might  of  the  watery  plunge  into  the  boiling  chasm  seeming  so 
small.  Ages  upon  ages  have  elapsed  since  the  waters  commenced 
to  cleave  a  way  through  the  rock,  and  when  a  like  period  has 
passed  away,  this  thunderous  voice  may  still  be  heard,  and  tho 
name  of  Brock  be  mingled  with  its  legends  when  his  column 
shall  be  a  shapeless  fragment,  and  the  language  he  spoke  a  curious 
study  for  the  learned. 

Brock's  mauaoleum,  distant  worlds  shall  tell, 
And  paint  Niagara  where  the  hero  fell. 
Time  spuming  flood  !    When  nations  are  no  more, 
Thou  wilt  relate  the  tragic  story  o'er  ; 
And  show  that  grave,  beside  his  on  the  hill 
Where  brave  Macdonald  holds  his  station  still ; 
For  as  in  life — in  fortune's  hours  they  sped. 
So  side  by  side  are  laid  the  heroes  dead. 

Nor  until  Brock  has  ceased  to  be  historical  will  be  forgotten,  as  one 
of  the  noblest  features  in  his  career,  that  he  early  discovered  the 
genius  of  the  brave  and  simple  Fitzgibbon. 


•  Lines  composed  by  Simonides  and  inscribed  on  the  monument  erected  at  Thermo- 
pylae in  honour  of  the  defenders  of  Greece. 


.RMISTTC'E.      THE   ENEMY   AT  THE  GATE. 


209 


one 
the 


kermo- 


Van  RanHjillaer,  disgusted  with  the  conduct  of  the  American 
militia — wlio,  after  they  hud  seen  what  Brito-Hiberniau  valour 
meant,  pleaded  the  "  constitution  "  when  he  wanted  them  to  ad- 
vance into  Canadian  territory — resigned,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Brigadier-General  Smyth  in  the  connuand  of  what  may  be  called 
the  American  army  of  the  centre. 

If  we  ha<l  to  discuss  the  generalship  of  the  British  commander 
and  the  armistice,  disapproved  of  even  by  Prevost,  which  he  con- 
cluded, we  should  in  justice  to  him  bear  in  mind  that  the  prisoners 
he  had  taken  greatly  out  numbered  his  little  army.*  But  Brock 
had  he  survived  would  have  followed  u[)  the  advantage.  As  it  was, 
what  happened  ?  The  enemy  availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity 
to  recruit  and  reorganize  their  army,  as  well  as  to  collect  a  flotilla 
at  the  lower  end  of  Lake  Erie. 

A  bleak,  cold,  cheerless  November  blew  its  icy  breath  over  the 
colony  at  whose  gates  still  watched  the  aggressors,  soon  to  retire 
into  brief  winter  quarters,  baffled  and  beaten  at  all  points.  Harri- 
son, with  his  Kentucky  forest  rangers  and  sharp-shooters  from 
that  State,  which  makes  half  the  southern  boundary  of  Lake  Erie, 
and  rests  in  the  lap  of  the  Ohio,  hurrying  to  swell  the  majestic 
volume  of  the  Mississippi,  rolling  to  the  Gulf,  threatened  the  small 
force  under  Proctor  in  the  west ;  Smyth,  with  five  thousand  men, 
strutted  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Niagara  River ;  Dearborn,  at 
the  head  of  ten  thousand  men,  hung  on  the  confines  of  the  Lower 
Province  ;  for  though  beaten  on  land  the  successes  of  the  Ameri- 
cans at  sea  kept  up  their  spirits.  The  same  good  fortune  did  not 
attend  them  on  our  lakes,  though  they  pounced  upon  Canadian 
shipping  under  the  guns  of  the  forts  at  Kingston,  York,  and 
Niagara.  An  attempt  on  a  British  advanced  post  near  Rouse's 
Point  called  forth  ail  the  ardour  of  Lower  Canadians,  of  whatever 
origin,  and  the  Montreal  militia  rose  as  one  man. 

To  the  feeling  in  Lower  Canada,  as  well  as  all  over  the  country, 
all  historians  bear  witness.  Through  the  kindness  of  Mr,  A.  Thorn- 
ton Todd,  I  have  been  put  in  possession  of  some  valuable  corres- 
pondence of  his  grand-uncle,  Isaac  Todd,  an  eminent  Irish  merchant 

♦Neither  Sheaffe  nor  Prevost  were  English  or  Scotch  or  Irish.  Prevost  was  bom  in 
New  York  and  his  father  was  a  Swiss.  Sheaffe  was  born  in  Boston  and  was  of  German 
descent. 

14 


'i|!i 


m 


210 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN    CANADA. 


in  Montreal,  whose  brother  was  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  North- 
West  Fur  Company,  after  whom  the  first  ship  to  the  Columbia 
River  on  the  Pacific  was  called.  In  a  letter  dated  Montreal,  20th 
of  October,  1812,  he  writes  to  his  correspondent  at  Liverpool,  that, 
as  he  knew,  his  object  in  coming  here  was  to  sell  property,  "  but 
the  unfortunate  war  makes  pioperty  of  no  value  here,  nor  does 
there  appear  any  business  but  soldiering."  In  a  previous  letter 
dated  the  23rd  September,  1812,  he  says  :  "  There  seems'a  determi- 
nation and  spirit  in  English  and  Canadians  to  defend  their  Pro- 
vince.  The  Americans  are  advancing  with  ten  thousand  men 
(Dearborn's)  by  report,  and  are  now  near  the  line  which  separates 
this  Province  anJ  the  United  States,  about  thirty  miles  from  the 
opposite  side  of  the  river.  What  may  be  the  event  God  knows,  or 
what  can  influence  the  President  to  persist  in  a  war  when  the 
great  part  of  the  pretended  cause  (the  Orders  in  Council)  is  done 
away,  and  when  he  mu..t  know  it  is  reprobated  by  almost  all  the 
good  men  in  the  United  States.  There  is  still  hope  thit  he  will 
not  be  re-elected  President,  or  that  when  Congress  meets  there 
will  be  a  majority  for  peace."  Having  pointed  out  that  the  two 
countries  should,  though  separated  in  government  and  laws  and 
empire,  be  united  "  from  nature  and  interest,"  he  goes  on  to  say  : 
"  Although  at  my  time  of  life  I  can  do  little  good  as  a  soldier,  yet 
as  this  place  is  threatened  with  invasion  I  don't  like  to  leave  my 
friends.  I  have  therefore  determined  on  waiting  the  event  and 
wintering  here." 

Smytji  [had  meanwhile  issued  a  proclamation  to  the  men  of 
New  York,  and  addressed  his  soldiers  in  a  melo-draniatic  style  ; 
had  embarked  and  re-embarked,  irresolute  one  should  say,  rather 
than  resolute  to  conquer;  and  terrified  by  a  bugle  horn,  had  given 
up  the  enterprise.  "  I  must  not  be  defeated,"  he  said,  when  put- 
ting liimself  at  the  head  of  his  troops.  Nor  was  he.  To  fight  is 
as  necessary  a  preliminary  to  defeat  as  to  victory.  The  people  of 
the  United  States  nicknamed  Smyth,  General  Van  Bladder,  and 
the  tavern  keepers  thinking  him  unworthy  even  of  a  cock-tail, 
shut  their  doors  in  his  face.  * 


*  In  his  address  to  the  men  of  New  York,  this  braggart  had  said :  (the  italics  are 
mine)    "The  valour  of  the  American  people  has  been  conspicuous  ;  but  thvnation  has 


CANADA'S  SPIRIT   UP. 


211 


"  Acadian  "  pours  forth  all  the  vials  of  his  scorn  on  the  unfor- 
tunate General : — 

The  welkin  now  wiis  still— the  air  serene, 

The  General  roused  once  more  his  sleeping  spleen, 

His  courage  rose— "for  Canada  push  on, 

The  way  in  clear— the  heavy  clouds  are  gone," 

He  spoke,  as  bray'd  along  the  distant  range 

The  haughty  bugle  with  its  warlike  change. 

Still  stood  the  knight,  of  all  his  honours  shorn 

Forgetful  hero— whv  'ot  have  spiked  the  horn? 

"  Back  !  back  ! "  he  c  led,  "  Row !  row  I  with  speed  away, 

That  Canada,  I  cannot  take  to-day." 

When  the  armies  had  gone  into  'vinter  quarters,  the  Loyal  and 
Patriotic  Society  of  Upper  ('.'.ada  vas  formed  to  provide  for 
those  on  wliom  the  brunt  of  <  iie  vrar  'lad  fallen.  This  fund  was 
warrrJy  supported  in  Canada,  in  i/he  West  Indies,  in  the  old 
count'.y,  and  in  Nova  Scotia,  a  statement  in  which  Irishmen  may 
feel  a  personal  pride  as  well  as  their  brethren  of  the  same  blood 
from  England  and  Scotland.  By  the  Legislatures  of  both  Pro- 
vinces large  votes  were  passed  for  equipping  and  embodying  a 
jtrong  force  of  militia.  Recruiting  was  responded  to  so  readily 
that  for  the  campaign  of  1813  the  offensive  force,  including  regu- 
lars and  militia,  amounted  to  8,000,  which  had,  however,  to  face 
three  times  their  number — making  a  combined  movement  on  the 
three  keys  of  Canada's  safety,  Amhertsburg,  the  Niagara  frontier, 
and  the  St.  Lawrence.  Early  in  the  year  Proctor  gave  a  good  ac- 
count of  Harrison  in  the  Far  West ;  the  Highland  Glengarries, 


been  unfortunate  in  the  selection  of  those  who  have  directed  it.  .  .  .  Must  I  turn  from 
you,  and  ask  the  men  of  the  Six  Nations  to  support  the  Government  of  the  United 
States.  Sh-'ll  I  imitate,"  he  asks  with  admirable  Pistol  eloquence,  "the  officers  of  the 
British  king,  and  suffer  our  ungathered  laurels  to  be  tarnished  by  ruthless  deeds- 
shame  where's  thy  blush— no — advance  then  to  our  aid— I  will  wait  for  you  a  few  days 
— I  cannot  give  you  the  day  of  my  departure— but  come  on— <5ome  in  companies,  half 
companies,  pairs  or  singly — I  will  organise  yovi  for  a  short  tour  ;  ride  to  this  place  if 
the  distance  is  far — and  send  back  your  horses." 

In  his  address  to  the  soldiers,  he  told  them  tht^y  were  about  to  conquer  Canada ;  that 
they  were  superior  in  number  and  in  personal  strength,  and'activity  to  the  British ; 
that  the  British  soldiers  were  old  and  sickly,  and  quite  unfit  to  endure  their  charge. 
He  little  knew  he  was  speaking  of  men,  who,  if  Napoleon's  picked  troops  were  charging 
them,  would  not  reel. 

In  his  despatch,  he  said  ;  "  The  affair  at  Quepnsfc^n  is  a  oaution  against  relying  on 
crowds  who  go  to  the  banks  of  Niagara  to  look  a*'  a  bittle,  as  on  a  theatrical  exhibition." 


212 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


while  the  ice  was  still  on  the  river,  had  distinguished  themselves 
on  the  St.  Lawrence,  by  a  brilliant  demonstration  against  Fort 
La  Presentation.  When  the  ice  had  disappeared  from  the  river 
it  was  determined  to  assault  York.  On  the  27th  of  April,  the  fleet 
stood  before  the  capital  of  Upper  Canada.  To  the  landing  of  the 
enemy  a  most  determined  resistance  was  made  by  a  small  force.  In 
this  force  were  the  Rogers,  the  Duggans,  the  Wrights,  and  the  like. 
Overpowered  by  numbers,  they  were  obliged  to  retire.  The  Ameri- 
cans, commanded  by  General  Pike,  having  effected  a  landing,  ad- 
vanced to  the  fort  situate  where  the  Great  West  ...  xreight  depot 
stands  to-day — a  spot  which,  in  1812,  was  two  miles  to  the  west  of 
the  town,  in  the  midst  of  a  country  thickly  wooded,*  unburdened  by 
asylums,  and  unbeautified  by  princely  mansions.  They  formed  into 
two  lines,  and  carried  the  battery  by  assault.  They  then  advanced 
towards  the  citadel  in  the  same  order,  and  in  doing  so  captured  a 
small  intervening  battery.  There  they  halted  to  dress  their  lines 
for  the  supreme  attack  on  the  mainworks,  when  a  magazine  was 
fired  by  an  Irish  Artillery  Sergeant,  named  Marshall.  The  explo- 
sion killed  and  wounded  a  good  many  on  both  side.s,  and  amongst 
the  killed  was  General  Pike.  After  a  brave  struggle,  there  was 
nothing  for  it  but  that  the  little  band  should  retreat.  This  they 
did  in  good  order  towards  York.  There  was  one  man,  however, 
who  would  not  quit  the  fort,  and,  though  his  conduct  may 
seem  Quixotic,  it  shows  him  to  have  possessed  the  stuff  of  which 
heroes  ivre  made.  Nor  did  the  people  of  Toronto  forget  it  when, 
having  been  meanwhile  soiled  by  gross  weaknesses,  he  was  borne, 
amid  vast  crowds,  to  his  grave.  The  humble  hero  was  James 
O'Hara,  v/hose  name  speaks  for  his  nationality.  He  swore  he 
would  not  leave  the  fort.  When  the  Americans  came  in,  O'Hara 
asked  them  what  they  wanted,  and,  lifting  the  butt-end  of  his 
musket,  was  about  to  strike,  when  he  was  overpowered  and  dis- 
armed. Here  we  have  the  spirit  of  Tecumseh  fighting  to  the  last 
blow  amongst  his  braves.  Why  did  this  hero  remain  a  private  ? 
For  a  cause  which  has  kept  more  men,  Irish  and  otherwise,  back 


*  In  the  thirteenth  of  tb»  Dudden  Sonnets,  Wordsworth  sings  of 

"  The  gusts  that  lash 
The  matted  forests  of  Ontario's  shore, 
By  wasteful  stsal  unsniitten." 


VINCENTS  GALLANT   DEFENCE. 


213 


than  any  other — a  cause  which  Sir  Walter  Scott,  brought  up  in 
the  midst  of  a  drinking  society,  characterized  as  the  one  vice  in- 
consistent with  gi-eatnesH. 

In  York  General  Sheaffe  held  a  Council  of  War,  when  it  was 
resolved  to  abandon  the  town  and  retreat  toward  Kingston.  In 
the  capture  of  York  the  Canadians  lost  four  hundred,  forty  of 
whom  were  killed  or  wounded ;  the  Americans  from  four  to  five 
hundred,  forty  of  whom  were  killed  and  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
two  wounded  by  the  explosion. 

On  the  8th  of  May,  the  Americans  evacuated  York,  re-embarked, 
proceeded  to  Sackett's  Harbour  where  under  Dearborn's  instruc- 
tions— the  General  was  sick  in  bed — great  preparations  were 
made  for  invading  the  Niagara  frontier.* 

Again  he  alludes  to  this  in  the  canto  or  letter  describing  the 
attack  on  the  Niatjara  frontier.  The  student  of  the  war  should  get 
before  his  mind  a  clear  picture  of  the  geographical  situation. 

General  Vincent  defended  Fort  George,  at  Niagara,  with  1,400 
men  against  G,000  men  and  11  vessels  with  a  fighting  broadside 
of  52  guns.  A  landing  severely  contested  was  effected  under 
cover  of  the  guns  from  the  ships.  Having  landed  however,  the 
Americans  did  not  have  it  all  llieir  own  way.  They  were  three 
times  driven  back  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  nor  was  it  until  the 
corpse  of  every  mounted  officer  disfigured  that  placid  shore,  and 
every  gunner  lay  dead  or  dying  near  his  gun  that  Vincent  aban- 
doned the  desperate  struggle  against  ten-fold  odds.  He  spiked 
his  guns,  blew  up  his  magazine  and  retreated  in  good  order  on  the 
Beaver  Dam,  a  strong  position  twelve  miles  from  Niagara  on  the 
road  to  Burlington  Heights.     Fort  George  fell  into  the  enemy's 

*  Acadian  refers  with  a  want  of  taste  to  Dearborn's  infirmity. 

Near  the  Lake's  margin  little  York  town  stood, 

Wrapp'd  in  a  robe  of  deeply  folding  wood  ; 

Its  youthful  beauty  no  disorder  sL .  w'd, 

But  i)eace  and  plenty  made  it  the'r  abode ; 

One  fort  api)ear'(l,  but  of  the  sr^ailest  size 

With  Britain's  ensign  waving  to  the  skies, 

From  whose  dark  l)attery  clouds  of  smoke  were  spread, 

As  the  invaders  on  their  numbers  led  ; 

The  General  sick  and  weari/  staid  behind, 

To  fight  his  stomach  was  not  much  inclin^iH. 


ill 


!     ,  I 


ill 


214 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


hands  and  445  brave  Canadians,  whether  Irish,  English  or  Scotch, 
lay  dead  around  the  little  town.  The  Americans  made  no  ener- 
getic effort  to  follow  up  the  advantage,  and  by  the  time  the  3,000 
men  and  nine  field  pieces  sent  in  pursuit  arrived,  Vincent  had 
entrenched  himself  at  Stony  Creek.  The  American  purauing  force 
was  under  Generals  Winder  and  Chandler,  the  former  being  chief 
in  command.  The  Acadian  says — with  I  fear — as  just  bitternesfj 
as  contempt,  although  some  Canadian  historians  do  not  mention 
the  circumstance  of  cottage  burning,  and  Americans  deny  it : 

This  sober  general  moved  not  on  in  haste, 
Slowly  he  marcK'd,  and  laid  each  cottage  waste; 
Arriving  safe,  the  fiftii  iair  cloudless  day. 
Within  ten  miles  of  where  the  British  lay 
On  a  fair  plain,  that  its  broad  bosom  lent 
An  ample  space  to  halt,  he  spread  his  tent. 
This  was  enough,  no  other  thought  was  near. 
No  cautions  whisper  reach'd  his  warlike  ear ; 
•  But  all  supine,  he  and  his  army  fed 
On  brave  spoils  pilfer'd  from  the  peasant's  shed. 

On  the  1st  June,  1813,  T.Ir.  Isaac  Todd  speaks  of  the  "critical 
situation"  of  the  country,  particularly  Upper  Canada.  "  They  have 
had  all  this  spring,"  he  writes,  "  a  superior  force  on  Lake  Ontario, 
and  by  great  numbers  have  obtained  possession  of  one  of  our  forts 
after  severe  fighting,  as  you  will  see  by  a  hand  bill.  Since  the 
arrival  of  Sir  James  Yeo  with  officers  and  500  seamen,  we  have 
now  a  fleet  ready  and  wi]ling  to  meet  them,  the  event  of  which 
[meeting]  may  partly  decide  the  fiite  of  Upper  Canada.  Sir  George 
Prevost  is  in  Upper  Canada,  and  anxiously  awaiting  the  arrival  of 
more  troof)s  to  attack  them.  Our  troops  are  so  superior  that  on  a 
plain  they  can  beat  three  times  their  number,  and  our  Indian 
allies  behave  so  well,  I  trust  Great  Britain  will  never  make  peace 
without  attending  to  their  interests  and  protection.  We  have  yet 
exclusive  of  seamen,  only  about  1,000  troops,  and  the  19th  regi- 
ment of  Light  Dragoons,  arrived.  The  latter  will  not  be  mounted 
these  twelve  months,  and  if  they  were,  would  be  of  little  use  in 
woods.  There  are  two  American  gentlemen  sent  by  the  American 
Government  to  Russia,  it  is  said,  to  solicit  the  Emperor's  mediation 
for  peace.     Before  they  obtain  it,  they  ought  to  be  humbled." 

How  Vincent  had  the  enemy's  position  reconnoitred,  and  ho  w  a 
night  attack  of  600  on  3,000  was  a  complete  success,  the  two 


VINCENT   TAKES   THE  OFFENSIVE.      A   HEROINE. 


215 


generals  with  620  officers  and  men,  and  four  guns,  falling  into  the 
hands  of  the  brave  captain,  is  well  known,  as  is  also,  how  the  rest 
fled  in  confusion,*  The  enemy  was  now  thrown  back  on  the  edge 
of  the  frontier  at  Fort  George. 

General  Vincent,  slightly  reinforced,  took  the  offensive.  He 
placed  his  right  wing  under  the  command  of  Lieut.-Col.  Bisshopp. 
The  Colonel  pushed  forward  detachments,  and  took  up  two  posi- 
tions commanding  the  cross-roads  at  the  Ten -mile  Creek  and  the 
Beaver  Dam.  Dearborn  despatched  Lieut.-Col.  Baerstler  with  a 
force  of  seven  hundred  men  from  Fort  George  to  attack  the  hand- 
ful of  men,  only  thirty,  who,  under  Lieutenant  Fitzgibbon,  of  the 
49th,  had  taken  up  their  position  in  a  stone  house  near  the  Beaver 
Dam.  A  woman  named  Mary  Secord,  the  widow  of  a  man  who 
had  been  wounded  at  Queenston,  heard  from  private  sources  that 
it  was  the  intention  of  the  American  forces  to  surround  Fitzgibbon. 
She  determined  to  apprise  Fitzgibbon,  if  possible,  of  his  danger. 
She  left  early  in  the  June  morning,  her  heart  beating  with  anxiety 
lest  she  should  not  get  through  the  American  guards,  out  ten  miles 
in  the  country.  Through  all  the  burning  summer  tide  she  walked 
over  a  rough  coimtry,  and  as  she  came  into  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  Beaver  Dam,  daylight  was  gone.  Captain  Kerr,  wit)i  a  party 
of  Indians,  occupied  the  adjacent  woods.  There  was  a  moon,  and 
as  the  brave  woman  strode  on  in  a  light  more  attuned  to  tender 
associations  than  to  those  of  war,  she  came  on  the  Indian  encamp- 
ment. For  a  moment,  and  to  a  mind  free  from  apprehension,  the 
scene  was  picturesque.  But  when  two  hundred  armed  Indians 
rose,  and  yelled  and  shouted,  "  woman  !"  it  was  terrible.  "  It  made 
me  tremble,"  said  Mrs.  Secord,  when  recounting  the  circumstance. 
'•'  I  cannot,"  she  added,  "  express  the  awful  feeling  it  gave  me." 
She  did  not,  however,  lose  her  presence  of  mind.  Advancing  to 
one  of  the  chiefs,  she  made  him  understand  she  had  great  news 
for  Fitzgibbon.  Fitzgibbon,  benefiting  by  the  information,  made 
his  arrangements. 

The  following  day  Colonel  Baerstler  came  unexpectedly  on  this 


*  Chandler,  one  of  the  Generals  taken,  had,  on  he  4th  of  July,  1812,  given  as  a  toast, 
"  The  4th  of  July,  1813,  may  we  on  that  day  drink  wine  within  the  walls  of  Quebec." 
He  probably  had  hia  wish,  as  on  that  day  he  was  a  prisoner  within  those  walls. 


216 


THE  IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA, 


same  body  of  Indians.  Fighting  ensued.  Fitzgibbon  soon  came 
up  with  his  thirty  men.  The  fighting  grew  hotter.  Baerstler 
fearing  an  ambuscade  drew  off  his  large  body  of  infantry,  his 
dragoons  and  his  field  pieces  towards  Lundy's  Lane. 

Lieutenant  Fitzgibbon  reconnoitred  and  having  discovered  that 
reinforcements  had  been  sent  for,  determined  on  a  step  so  bold,  and 
so  instinct  with  the  true  soldier  genius,  that  it  deserves  to  be 
placed  on  record  as  among  the  master  feats  of  the  world,  with  that 
of  the  Huguenot  Captain  Normand  and  the  soldier  Barbot  when 
the  Duke  of  Anjou  was  besieging  Rochelle,  with  the  gallantry  of 
*Elizabeth's  great  Admira-  attacking  a  whole  Spanish  fleet  with 
a  single  ship;  a  feat  which  gives  a  revived  lustre  to  the  Chevalier 
Bayard's  grand  motto"f*  too  often  forgotten  in  these  degenerate 
days,  and  for  which  Fitzgibbon  was  much  praised.  He  determined 
to  summon  the  Americans  to  surrender.  Baerstler  was  entrapped 
by  the  boldness  of  the  step.  He  surrendered.  Terms  of  capitu- 
lation were  drawn  up.  By  a  judicious  disposition  of  a  few  men 
Fitzgibbon  had  given  Baerstler  the  idea  that  he  was  surrounded. 
Five  hundred  infantry,  fifty  mounted  dragoons,  two  field  guns, 
with  ammunition  waggons  and  the  colours  of  the  16th  United 
States  Regiment  were  taken.  This,  as  Miss  Machar  says,  was  one 
of  the  most  brilliant,  if,  indeed,  it  was  not  the  most  brilliant 
exploit  of  the  war.  J  Of  course  the  exploit  was  on  a  small  scale, 
but  it  was  in  the  grand  manner.  Fitzgibbon  was  as  much  out- 
numbered as  Miltiades  was  at  Marathon. 


*  Sir  Richard  Grenville. 

t  Bayard'8  device  was  a  porcupine  with  the  motto  —Vires  agminis  unus  habet.  That 
is — one  man  is  as  strong  as  an  army  corps. 

Z  The  allusion  made  above  to  the  siege  of  Rochelle,  the  historical  student  will  excuse 
me  ej. plaining  for  the  benefit  of  some  of  my  friends.  Near  the  counterscarp  of  Rochelle 
was  a  mill  which  Nonnand  had  taken  possession  of  and  in  which  he  placed  one  soldier. 
Stiozzi,  one  of  the  besieging  generals,  attacked  it  in  the  night.  The  soldier  Barbot  held 
it  resolutely,  firing  with  incredible  quickness  a  number  of  shots  from  an  arquebuss  on 
the  assailants.  By  varying  the  inflection  of  his  voice  the  impression  was  given  that  he 
had  a  considerable  garrison,  while  Normand  from  a  battlement  encouraged  him  in  words 
which  kept  up  the  delusion.  Barbot,  on  the  point  of  being  forced,  demanded  quarter 
for  all  in  the  mill.  Quarter  being  granted  he  surrendered  the  entire  garrison  in  his  own 
person.  If  it  is  permissible  to  mingle  the  sublime  with  the  ridiculous,  compare  the 
soug, 

"  '  Let  me  out !  Let  me  out ! '  '  Zounds !  what  a  bother 
If  there's  two  of  you,  why  not  help  one  another  ?'  " 


ROMANCE  AMID  BATTLE. 


217 


Be 
le 


Fitzgibbon  received  his  captain's  commission  on  the  field.  No 
warrior  that  Frossart  celebrated  was  braver  than  this  man,  and 
that  he  would  not  have  been  out  of  place  in  the  old  chronicler's 
knightly  narrative  when  men  dared  great  things  for  the  smile  of 
fair  ladies,  will  be  seen  by  what  follows.  The  moment  he  was 
captain,  he  asked  leave  of  absence  for  three  days.  The  request 
waa  extraordinary ;  another  battle  was  expected  soon.  General 
Sheaffe  after  a  moment's  hesitation  refused  the  request.  But 
when  Fitzgibbon  told  his  story;  how  there  was  a  little  girl  he 
loved  and  how  he  wanted  to  marry  her  so  that  if  he  was  killed  she 
should  have  the  pension  of  a  captain's  widow,  the  refusal  was 
withdrawn  and  the  request  granted. 

Can  you  not  follow  the  lover  hero,  riding  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  or  more  to  Bath,  to  marry  the  girl  he  loved  ?  How  full  of 
all  sorts  of  various  and  conflicting  emoiions  his  breast  would  be. 
Her  name  was  Mary  Shea.  They  were  married,  and  he  was  back  to 
his  duty  in  time. 

Fitzgibbon  was  a  plain  simple  man,  in  all  points  heroic.  With 
that  absurd  desire  so  often  witnessed  to  deprive  the  common 
people  of  great  qualities,  an  attempt  has  been  made  more  than 
once  to  connect  him  with  what  is  called  "a  good  family,"  and  some 
have  for  this  purpose  drawn  largely  on  their  imagination.  But 
his  own  words  and  the  portrait  of  him  painted  by  a  master  hand, 
the  accomplished  author  of  "  Winter  Studies,"  *  leave  no  doubt  that 
he  sprang  from  the  peasant  class,  I  commend  him  for  not  seeking 
to  disown  his  origin.  I  have  lately  had  to  read  with  some 
care  "Morgan's  Parliamentary  Companion,"  and  the  impression  it 
makes  on  me  is,  that  none  but  aristocrats  have  emigrated  to- 
Canada  from  Scotland  and  Ireland  and  I  may  add  England.  A 
reproach  has  been  hurled  at  us  colonists  that  we  "steal  crests." 
There  could  be  no  meaner  vulgarity.  Fitzgibbon  was  above  this. 
Nor  was  he  ashamed  of  his  humble  mother  as  I  have  known  some 
modern  heroes  to  he.f 


*  Mrs.  Jameson,  an  Irishwoman,  to  whom  I  shall  ha.  ^  again  to  refer, 
t  A  .soldier  who  distinguished  himself  in  one  of  our  recent  African  wars,  and  whos 
career  I  followed  with  some  interest,  lost  all  claim  to  respect  in  my  eyes  when  I  dis- 
covered that  he  was  not  only  ungrateful  to  his  aged  mother  but  ashamed  of  her  humble 
position. 


■218 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


One  February  morning,  nearly  forty  years  ago,  Mrs.  Jameson 
wan  visited  hy  a  man  "  who,"  she  says  "  would  have  pleased  me 
anywhere,  hut  here  he  is  really  invalus.ble."  This  was  Colonel 
Fitzgibbon — the  eager  lover  and  Ulyssian  soldier  of  our  present 
■chapter.  She  then  recounts  an  incident  told  her  by  Fiiz^ibbon 
with  the  view  of  showing  the  simplicity  of  his  character. 

In  earlier  pages  it  has  been  shown  that  the  writer  knows  the  ad- 
vantages of  Canada.  She  is  not  without  disadvantages  as  com- 
pared with  Ireland  or  Great  Britain.  What  Irishman,  country- 
born,  has  not  been  waked  in  the  early  summer  morning  with  a 
chorus  of  birds  in  the  elms  and  beeches  around  his  home — the 
thrush's  song,  the  blackbird's  rich  note,  the  robin's  hymn  elate, 
the  linnet's  warbling,  the  finch's  quick-beat  notes,  all  making  a 
various  harmony  while 

"  Night  murmurs  to  the  Morning, 
'  Lie  still,  0  love,  lie  still ! ' " 

and  glimmering  day  spreads  silvery  arms  around  the  shadowy 
walls  of  the  room  of  his  childhood.  What  Englishman,  what 
traveller  who  has  loitered  in  the  gloaming  amid  Wiltshire  orchards, 
or  with  devious  step  lingered  to  inhale  the  fragrance  of  a  Surrey 
flower  garden,  snugly  lying  under  the  protection  of  a  fir-covered 
heather-clad  foi'est,  and  not  heard  with  rapture  the  nightingale 
wooing  the  rose,  and  with  breast  pressed  against  the  beloved  thorn, 
singing  so  that  the  night  air  pauses  on  his  way  to  listen.  These 
are  joys  which  are  not  for  us  in  Canada.  Nor,  again,  have  we 
another  joy  to  see  and  hear,  when  the  land  is  all  gold  with  sum- 
mer, the  lark  go  up  like  a  stream  of  song,  and  hidden  in  a  cage  of 
sunlight,  with  a  sunbeam  for  his  perch,  pour  forth  the  gladdest 
of  all  bursts  of  melody.  In  his  boyhood,  Fitzgibboii  had  often,  in 
his  wanderings  over  the  fields,  seen  the  lark  rise  and  heard  him 
sing,  and  like  all  true,  simple  natures,  he  had  learned  to  love  the 
bird.  Besides,  it  was  associated  with  home,  with  the  fields  of  his 
childhood,  with  the  daisies  and  buttercups,  the  hurrying  cadent 
streams  streaking  the  mountain  side  with  silver,  and  making 
darkening  mysterious  mirrors  in  the  valleys  for  the  changing 
landscape — mirrors  of  limped  gloom,  framed  by  many  a  blue  wild 
flower,  peeping  out  from  nook  or  tiny  cleft  of  half-moss-hidden 


■MUM 


POWER  OF   ASSOCIATION. 


219 


rock.  It  is  in  such  scenes  we  fill  the  goblet  with  a  pure  and  holy  in- 
spiration whence  the  mind,  amid  the  sin  and  sorrow  of  the  world* 
drinks  refreshing,  scenes  to  which  we  fly  when  experience  proves  the 
mocked  commonplace  of  the  preacher,  that  the  world  is  vanity,  and 
all  its  triumphs  dead  sea  fruits.  For  nature  when  unmarred 
by  man,  by  his  proud  iutixi«iuii  or  his  hideous  gas  lamp,  or  his 
smoking  factory,  is  as  the  face  of  God,  full  of  sweetness  and  pity 
and  sympathy,  to  whom  we  -an  go,  and  having  poured  out  .^ur 
griefs,  dry  the  tears  and  smooth  away  the  wrinkles,  and  return 
again  to  the  world  with  a  spirit  and  look  of  proud  endurance. 
And  how  grateful  are  we  for  whatever  helps  us  in  the  midst  of 
the  busy  heartless  crowd,  snaffled  with  greed  and  whipt  on  by 
Mammon,  for  whatever  repeopies  the  old  vanished  world  with  its 
purple  light  u.id  the  glories  of  imaginative  childhood,  just  hover- 
ing over  the  mountain  ere  they  depart  for  ever!  It  may  be  the 
note  of  a  flute,  a  flower,  the  wind  haiping  among  the  trees,  the 
roll  of  the  lake  on  the  beach,  the  drip  of  the  suspended  oar  which 
shall  prove  the  enchanter,  or  the  magician's  voice  may  be  the  song 
of  a  bird, 

Now  it  hapj.oaed  that  in  Fitzgibbon's  'lase  the  enchanter  was 
a  lark,  a  bird  long  known  in  Toronto  as  tbe  "emigrant  lark."  Mrs. 
Jameson  recalls  some  lines  from  one  of  Wordsworth's  lyrics — 
"  The  Reverie  of  Poor  Susan,"  in  which  is  described  the  emotions 
of  a  simple  servant  girl  from  the  country,  on  hearing  the  song  of  a 
caged  bird  in  Cbeapside. 

'Tis  a  note  of  eui;hantment— what  ails  her  ?  she  sees 
A  mountain  asctiiding,  a  vision  of  trees  ; 
And  a  single  small  cottage,  a  nest  like  a  dove's, 
The  one  only  dwelling  on  earth  that  she  loves  ! 

The  fair  writer  having  remarked  on  the  nearness  of  the  alliance 
between  all  human  hearts  in  natural  instincts  and  sympathies  with 
their  unfailing  fountains  of  poetry,  describes  how  Fitzgibbon  told 
her  on  their  first  interview  how  as  he  was  turning  down  a  by- 
street in  Toronto  he  heard  somewhere  near  him  the  so\>g  of  the 
lark,  and  how  he  described  his  emotions  on  the  occasion  in  the 
following  words  :  "  When  I  heard  the  voice  of  the  bird  in  the 
air,  I  looked  by  the  natural  instinct  up  to  the  heavens,  though 
I  knew  it  could  not  be   there,  and  then  on  this  side,  and  then 


220 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


on  that,  and  at  last  I  Haw  the  littlo  creature  perched 
on  itH  sod  of  turf  in  a  cage,  and  there  it  kept  trilling  and 
warbling  away,  and  there  I  stood  stock-still — listening  with  my 
heart.  Wtil,  I  don't  know  what  it  was  came  over  me,  but  every- 
thing seemed  to  change  before  my  eyes,  and  I  was  in  Ireland,  and 
my  home  all  about  me,  an<l  I  was  again  a  wild  slip  of  a  boy  lying 
on  my  back  on  the  hill-side  near  my  mother's  cabin,  and  watch- 
ing as  I  used  to  do,  the  lark  soaring  above  my  head,  and  I  straining 
my  eyes  to  follow  hei ,  till  .she  melted  into  the  blue  sky — I  stood," 
he  continued,  "  listening  to  the  bird  lost,  as  in  a  dream,  and  there 
I  think  I  could  have  stood  until  this  day."  Mrs.  Jameson  goes  on 
to  describe  how  "  the  eyes  of  the  rough  soldier  filled  with  tears." 
He  was,  she  says,  as  unconscious  that  he  was  talking  poetry  as 
Monsieur  Jourdain  that  he  was  talking  prose.  "  Colonel  Fitz- 
gibbon,"  she  continues,  "  is  a  soldier  of  fortune  ;  that  phrase 
means  in  his  case  at  least,  that  he  owes  nothing  whatever  to  for- 
tune, but  everything  to  his  owji  good  heart,  his  own  good  sense, 
and  his  own  good  sword.  He  was  the  son,  and  glories  in  it  of  an 
Irish  cotter,  on  the  estate  of  the  Knight  of  Glyn."  We  have 
seen  something  of  his  early  career.  We  have  it  on  his  own 
authority,  that  up  to  the  time  he  shouldered  a  musket,  his  only 
reading  had  been  "  The  Seven  Champions  of  Christendom,"  and 
The  Seven  Wise  Masters,"  "  with  his  head  full  of  these  examples 
of  chivalry  he  marched  to  his  first  battle  field  vowing  to  himself 
that  if  tMere  were  a  dragon  to  be  fought  or  a  giant  to  be  defied  he 
would  be  their  man  !  At  all  events  he  would  enact  some  valorous 
exploit,  some  doughty  deed  of  arms,  which  should  astonish  the  world 
and  dub  him  captain  on  the  spot."  He  then — Mrs.  Jameson  is 
speaking — "  described  with  great  humour  and  feeling  his  utter 
astonishment  and  mortification  on  finding  the  mechanical 
slaughter  of  a  modern  battle  so  widely  different  from  the  picture 
in  his  fancy  ;  when  he  found  himself  one  of  a  mass  in  which  the 
individua'  heart  and  arm  however  generous,  however  strong, 
went  for  nothing — forced  to  stand  still,  to  fire  only  by  the  word 
of  command — the  chill  it  sent  to  his  heart,  and  his  emotions 
when  he  saw  the  comrade  at  his  side  fall  a  quivering  corpse  at 
his  feet, — all  this  he  described  with  a  graphic  liveliness  and  sim- 
plicity which  was  very  amusing."     We  have  seen  how  he  was 


A   IJEROS   SHAME.      PILLAGE. 


221 


taken  prisoner.  Mrs.  Jameson  ac^'ls  the  following  details.  "  He 
was  afterwards  taken  prisoner,  and  at  the  time  he  was  so  over- 
come by  the  idea  of  the  indignity  he  had  incurred  hy  being' cap- 
tured and  stripped  [of  his  arms],  and  of  the  afHiction  and  dis- 
honour that  would  fall  oji  hi^-  mother  that  he  was  tempt(Ml  to  com- 
mit suicide  in  the  old  Reman  fashion ;  but  on  seeing  a  lieutenant 
of  his  own  regiment  brought  in  prisoner  he  thought  better  of  it : 
a  dishonour  which  the  lieutenant  endured  with  philosophy  might 
he  thought  be  borne  by  a  subaltern,  for  by  this  time,  at  the  age  of 
eighteen  he  was  ain.ady  a  sergeant."  Mrs.  Jameson  feels  inclined 
to  patronize  the  colonel  a  little  after  the  manner  of  a  literary  lady 
highly  cultivated,  and  fresh  from  the  old  country,  dealing  with  an 
old  Canadian  veteran.  In  another  paragraph  she  says  : — "  The 
men  who  have  most  interested  me  through  life  were  all  self  edu- 
cated and  what  are  called  originals.  This  dear  good  F.  is  most 
original.  Some  time  ago  he  amused  me  and  gave  me  at  the  same 
time  a  most  vivid  idea  of  the  minor  horrors  and  irremediable  mis- 
chiefs of  war,  by  a  description  of  his  being  qnarteied  in  a  church 
in  Flanders.  The  Ss,  iers  on  taking  possession  of  their  lodging 
began  by  breaking  open  the  poor  boxes,  and  ransacking  the 
sacristy.  They  then  broke  up  the  chairs  and  benches  for  fires  to 
cook  their  rations,  and  these  not  sufficing,  the  wooden  saints  and 
carved  altars  were  soon  torn  down.  Finding  themselves  incom- 
moded by  the  smoke,  some  of  the  soldiers  climbed  up  by  the  pro- 
jecting ornaments,  and  smashed  through  the  windows  of  rich 
stained  glass  to  admit  the  air,  and  let  out  the  smoke.  The  n'^xt 
morning  at  sunrisu,''  says  Mrs.  Jameson,  "  they  left  this  sanctuary 
of  religion  and  art  a  foul  defaced  ruin.  A  century  could  not 
make  good  again  the  pollution  and  spoliation  of  those  few  hours. 
'  You  must  not  be  too  hard  on  us  poor  soldiers,'  added  Fitzgibbon, 
as  if  answering  to  a  look,  for  I^  did  not  comment  aloud,  '  I  had  a 
sort  of  instinctive  perception  of  the  mischief  we  were  doing,  but  I 
was  certainly  the  only  one  ;  they  knew  no  better,  and  ths  pre- 
carious life  of  a  soldier  gives  him  the  habit  of  sacrificing  every- 
thing to  the  present  moment,  and  a  certain  callousness  to  the 
suffering  and  destruction  which  besides  that  it  ministers  to  the 
Immediate  want,  is  out  of  sight  and  forgotten  the  next  instant. 
Why,  I  was  not  quite  so  insensible  as  the  rest,  I  cannot  tell  unless 


'4 


I'll 
i  iw 


i, 


222 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


it  was  tlirough  the  j^'oodne.ss  of  God.  When  I  was  a  boy,  my  first 
feeliiif^  next  to  my  love  for  my  mother  wn,s  j^ratitiulo  to  Ood  fi)v 
having'  made  me  and  called  me  into  being  out  of  nothing.  My 
first  thought  was  what  I  could  do  to  please  him.  »  *  ♦ 
I  looked  about  in  the  fulness  of  my  heart  to  see  what  I  could  do 
— and  I  fancicMl  there  was  a  voice  which  whispered  continually, 
'  Do  good  to  your  neighbouj  do  good  to  your  neighbour  ! '  With 
so  much  overflowing  benevolence  and  fearless  energy  of  character, 
and  all  the  eccentricity  and  sensibility  and  poetry  and  headlong 
courage  of  his  country,  you  cannot  wonder  that  tliis  brave  and 
worthy  man  interests  me." 

The  unknown  poet,  I  have  so  often  quoted  deals  very  gi-aphi- 
eally  with  the  affair  of  the  Beaver  Dam. 

At  Beaver  Dam  collecting  their  «ni)i)lieB 
The  British  lay  with  force  of  little  Hize, 
Some  fifty  Hoiils  'twas  easy  to  defeat, 
And  John  could  never  fight  unleBS  he  eat. 
Therefore  thiH  victory  would  crown  their  name 
With  noble  conquestH  and  the  wreath  of  fame. 
On  th«y  advanced— their  cannon  in  their  rear 
Their  strength  precluding  order,  caution,  fear. 
And  hover'd  on  the  Bkirts  of  Beaver  near, 
BeHide  a  wood,  whose  deep  and  sombre  shade 
Encircled  round  a  little  peac^^ful  glade, 
When  like  flamingos  the  g'^  s  among, 

Appear'd  the  British,  st'  line  along ; 

The  dazzling  red-coa*  dvery  side,* 

Before,  behind,  all  g  far  and  wide, 

And  by  their  side  u         ..Ke  Indian  band. 
With  each  his  bow  and  tomahawk  in  hand. 
Their  Chieftain's  visage  glar'-'  with  deeper  red 
As  to  behold  the  foe  he  rais'd  his  head ; 
And  from  his  eye-balls  flash'd  indignant  ire 
Li'i  :i  a  dark  cloud  shooting  its  vivid  fire. 
His  bow  and  quiver  to  his  shoulder  slung 
And  in  his  belt  his  heavy  hatchet  hung. 
He  marked  Fitzgibbon  with  a  i)iercing  look 
And  from  that  silent  signal,  orders  took. 
The  young  lieutenant  with  intrepid  eye 
Forward  advanc'd — and  bade  them  yield  or  die. 
His  major's  name  he  urg'd,  whose  force  at  hand 
Would  treble  theirs ;  a  sturdy  veteran  band  ; 
And  their  resistance  nothing  could  avail. 
The  crest-fallen  Colonel  listened  to  the  tale. 


*  I  tzgibboii  had  so  disposed  his  little  force  that  it  seemed  very  formidable. 


SUCCESSFUL   ATTACK   ON   BLACK   ROCK.  22^ 

Ga»e  up  hlH  men    uiul  afl  he  ntill  declnres — 
*  "  From  pure  humanity,"  that  evor  Hpares. 
Gentle,  kind  creature  !  Tjet  hin  name  he  great ! 
He  ruhbed  hiu  friend  to  aid  his  foe'H  eutate. 

On  hearin*,'  of  Bneistler's  critical  position, a  reinforccmont  of  300 
men  were  despatched  to  his  aid.  But  when  they  found  tliat  his 
«'  critical  "  situation  was  capitulation,  the}'  returned  to  th(»  camp. 

Tlie  brilliant  stroke  of  F'itzgihixjn  was  kept  in  countenance;  by  the 
gallant  descent  of  Colonel  Clark  (Canadian  Militia,)  and  (Jolonel 
Bisshopp,  on  the  11th  July,  on  Black  Rock.  Bisshopp  with  a 
detachment  of  royal  artillery  under  Lieutenant  Armstrong',  forty 
of  the  King's  regiment  under  Lieutenant  Barston,  one  hundred  of 
the  41st  under  Captain  Saunders,  forty  of  the  49th  untler  Cap- 
tain Fitzgibbon,  and  about  forty  of  the  2nd  and  3rd  Lincoln 
militia,  embarked  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  to  attack  the  bat- 
teries of  Black  Rock.f  The  detachment  landed  half  an  hour  be- 
fore daylight.  So  stealthily  was  this  done,  that  not  a  sentry 
stiiTed.  They  at  once  proceeded  to  attack  the  batteries,  which 
they  carried  by  surprise.  The  enemy  hearing  the  firing  at  their 
advanced  posts,  retreated  precipitately  on  Buffalo.  The  British 
immediately  set  to  work  to  destroy  block-houses  and  barracks,, 
and  the  morning  sky  anrJ  limpid  water  were  soon  red  with  the 
flames  from  these,  from  a  navy-yard,  and  from  a  largo  schooner 
Such  of  the  public  stores  as  could  be  got  off  were  taken  across  the 
river.  While  they  were  completing  the  transportation  of  stores 
the  enemy,  having  been  reinforced  by  a  large  body  of  Indians,  came 
up.  The  Indians  were  posted  in  the  woods,  on  their  flanks,  and  in 
advance  of  them.  A  gallant  fight  was  made  by  the  British.  Find- 
ing, however,  that  the  Indians  could  not  be  driven  from  the  woods 
without  great  loss,  Bisshopp  determined  to  retreat  to  the  boats.  In 
the  retreat,  he  fell.  The  detachment,  however,  did  not  suffer, 
as  all  necessary  pre-arrangments  had  been  made.  The  sun  was 
now  getting  strong,  and  in  his  full  morning  beams  it  was  a  splen- 
did sight  to  see  the  boats  bearing  the  heroic  band  somewhat 
thinned,  across  the  river,  while  the  American  regulars,  mill'  ia  and 
Indians,  poured  on  them  a  heavy  fire.     The}»  had  eighteen  killed,. 


i 


*  Colonel  Baerstler  said  he  capitulated  on  the  score  of  humanity, 
t  A  stronghold  near  Buffalo. 


22* 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


nineteen  wounded,  and  six  ])rivates  were  niis.sing.  They  had 
Hoi^^ed  and  captured  valuable  Htores,  and  destroyed  a  great  quan- 
tity of  ordnance.*  The  descent  at  Black  Rock  was  a  great  .suc- 
cess, though  itwas  very  dearly  pui'chased  by  the  death  of  Bisshopp, 
and  Bissho])p's  death  seems  to  be  conn-  jd  with  the  eager  cha- 
racter more  than  once  exemplified  by  FitzgiVjbon.  Captain  Fitz- 
gibbon  had  been  placed  by  General  Vincent  in  connnand  of  a  sort 
of  independent  com])any  of  Hangers.  Volunteers  from  the  various 
regiments  were  called  for.  So  many  men  came  forward  from 
every  regiment,  that  the  difficulty  was  to  decide  who  should  be 
permitted  to  go.  Any  number  of  young  subs  tendered  Fitzgibbon 
their  services.  Ho  selected  Lieutenant  Winder  f  of  the  49th,  a 
friend  of  his,  volunteer  1).  A.  Macdonell,  of  the  8th ;  volunteer 
Augustus  Thompson,  of  the  49th,  and  another  from  the  same  regi- 
ment. The.se  were  permitted  as  a  great  favour  to  join  his  corps.  They 
were  all  dref-.sed  in  green,  the  Irish  colour,  and  tliey  were  known 
as  "Fitzgibbon's  Green  '  Uns."  They  were  the  fir.st  to  cross  the 
river  on  the  Black  Rock  expedition,  and  Fitzgibbon  pressed  on 
with  such  ardour,  that  the  block -house  was  in  their  possession 
long  before  Colonel  Bisshopp  w'*s  ready  to  move  forward.  This  was 
considered  a  piece  of  impei'tinence,  and  the  "Green  'Uns"  were 
punished  by  being  sent  without  breakfast,  to  watch  the  enemy 
near  Buffalo,  while  the  rest  of  the  detachment  was  carrying  off 
the  stores.  This  accomplished,  they  were  ordered  to  return  and 
cover  the  re-embarkation.  Colonel  Bisshopp  was  nettled  at  not 
having  been  in  front  during  the  advance.  He  was  now  deter- 
mined to  be  the  last  to  retire.  All  had  embarked  safely.  But 
the  moment  they  began  to  push  from  shore,  the  Indians  who,  un- 
perccived,  had  crawled  to  the  banks,  fired  on  them.  Tiie  "Green 
'Uns  "  disembarked  and  drove  the  enemy  to  the  woods.  On 
re-embarking  the  fire  was  renewed.  Again  they  disembarked. 
Again  the  Indians  sought  the  woody  .shelter.  But  by  this  time, 
Porter  with  his  whole  force  was  upon  them.  The  only  thing  was 
to  rush  for  the  boats.  In  the  confusion,  some  oars  of  the  boat 
into  which  Bisshopp  sprang  were  lost  overboard.     She  drifted 


"  Letter  of  Thomas  Obirke,  Lieutenai.t-Colonel  2nd  Lincoln  Militia,  to  Lieutenant- 
•Colonel  Harvey,  Deputy- Adjutant  General. 

t  Afterwards  Dr.  Winder,  liibranra  to  the  House  of  Assembly  at  Quebec. 


DESCENT   ON  HACKETT's   HARBOUR. 


225 


In 
In 


down  stream,  the  enemy  firing  mto  hiir.  Thns,  says*  the  authority 
for  this  version,  gallant  Bisshopp,  the  darling  of  the  army,  re- 
ceived hi.s  death  wound,  and  never  was  any  ottiecr,  save  Brock, 
more  regretted  than  he  wa«.*  The  same  authority  asserts  that 
on  this  occasion  all  the  fighting  was  done  by  Fitzgi'obon's  men. 
It  would  be  more  satisfactory  if  .the  v/riter  of  the  letter  had  not 
with})eld  liis  name.  But  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  Auchinleck  would 
not  ([uote  it,  unless  the  writer  was  known  to  him  as  trustworthy. 
All  we  know  of  him  is,  that  he  was  one   if  the  subs  of  tlie  4Uth. 

Seven  <lays  before,  when  Colonel  dark's  militia  cro.sst^d  over 
from  Chi})[)aNva,  and  captured  the  guard  stationed  at  F(M't  Schlos- 
ser,  bringing  back  with  them  a  large  quantity  of  provisions,  a  six 
pounder,  several  stand  of  arms  ami  abundant  ammunition,  a  por- 
tion of  the  Greens,  commanded  }>y  Lieutenant  Winder  were  with 
them.  On  the  following  day,  when  a  large  detachment  crossed 
from  Buti'alo.they  were  encountered  hy  twenty-five  of  Fitzgib})on'a 
men,  under  Thompson,  and  were  ^jroed  to  make  a  running  fight  to 
their  boats. 

While  the  operations  we  have  glancerl  at  were  going  forward  on 
the  Niagara  fi-ontier,  an  expi-ditiun  was  fitted  out  at  Kingston  for 
a  descent  upon  Sackc'tt's  Harbour,  under  an  understanding  be- 
tween Sir  George  Prevost,  tlie  Commander-in-Chief,  and  Sir  James 
Lucas  Yeo,  the  British  Conunodore.  The  expedition  was  ready  on 
the  28th  of  May — three  gun-ships  carrying  troops  and  accompanied 
by  the  Connnodore's  fla.g  ship.  At  ten  o'clock  at  night  they  stood 
for  the  American  side.  When  tliey  ap])eared  before  Sackett's  Har- 
bour, they  found  'he  enemy  on  the  alert ;  signaL-n  were  given. 
The  American  regulars  and  militia  posted  near  hurried  to  the  re. 
lief  of  the  troops  left  by  Dearborn  to  <l<;iend  the  place.  Never- 
theless a  landing  was  effected  in  the  face  of  a  large  force  of  mili- 
tia, and  no  sooner  had  the  British  troops  formed  on  the  beach  and 
given  them  a  volley  than  they  broke  and  fitd  in  confusion. 
The  advanced  guard,  composed  of  the  grenadiers  of  the  100th 
Regiment,  all  of  them  Lish,  as  we  have  seen,  drove  the  enemy 
from  every  position  he  had  taken  up.-f- 


♦Letter from  "  A  Green  'Un,"  quoted  by  Auchinleck,  in  his  Hi.<)tory  of  the  War.  p. 
178. 
+  History  of  the  War.    By  David  Thompson,  of  the  Royal  Scots,  p.  190. 
15 


226 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


Now  the  British  troops  were  placed  in  a  crit'cal  position.  Col. 
Baynes  was  proceeding  to  attack  the  batteries  with  the  view  of 
tr  king  the  town  and  arsenal  when  he  found  himself  attacked  in 
the  rear  by  a  large  body  of  the  United  States  militia,  brought  up 
by  General  Brown,  the  batteries  meanwhile  pouring  on  the 
British  fro»  t  a  furious  fire.  There  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  re- 
embark.  The  British  loss  was  two  hundred  and  fifty-nine  in 
killed  and  wounded  and  missing.  But  for  the  arrival  of 
jeneral  Brown  the  town  and  arsenal  would  have  been  captured,  as 
prior  to  his  coming  up  the  enemy  had  commenced  to  burnhis  stores . 

In  the  west,  Proctor  was  waging  an  unequal  and  doubtful 
struggle  against  Harrison,  in  which  though  greatly  outnumbered 
Scotchmen — witness  the  splendid  charge  of  the  41st,  under  Muir — 
and  Englishmen  were  behaving  as  they  always  have  done  in 
battle.  It  is  scarcely  within  the  scope  of  this  work  to  dwell  on 
the  fighting  on  Lake  Ontario  between  Chauncy  and  Yeo,  or  the 
second  descent  on  York,  when  the  devastation  previously  com- 
menced was  finished ;  on  the  American  attacking  parties  amid  the 
blue  mazes  of  the  Thousand  Islands,  intercepting  convoys  of 
batteaux,  conveying  provisions  for  western  garrisons ;  on  the 
attempts  against  Canada  niade  from  the  mountain  girdled  bays  of 
Lake  Champlain ;  on  the  naval  conflicts  far  out  on  th(^  stormy 
Atlantic  ;  on  the  vigilant  blockade  established  by  Sir  John  Borlase 
on  the  American  coast.  I  have  an  impression  that  the  overwhelm- 
ing majority  of  "  tars"  have  been  Englishmen.  I  know  of  course 
that  Scotchmen  and  Irishmen  were,  and  are,  to  be  found  among 
the  men  and  officers  of  the  British  fleet.  But  the  above  impres- 
sion is  strong,  and  therefore  I  have  always  thought  the  glory  of 
naval  victories  belongs  in  a  peculiar  manner  to  the  great  Eng- 
lish section  of  the  two  islands  which  have  made  the  empire.  I 
must  however  add,  that  I  never  have  had  time  or  opportunity  to 
verify  this  impression ;  and  I  have  met  a  good  many  Irishmen 
in  all  ranks  on  board  men-of-war. 

As  the  fiery  tints  which  promise  the  fall,  began  to  appear  in  the 
woods,  the  American  leaders  determined  to  act  with  an  energy 
which  could  not  fail  of  success.  Hampton  in  the  east,  crossed 
Lake  Champlain  at  the  head  of  5,000  men,  with  the  view  of  ad- 
vancing on  Montreal.     Wilkinson   with  a  force  of  10,000  men 


1 
t 
1 
1 
I 

P 

E 
V 

th 


PROCTORS   RETREAT.      TECUMSEH  S   DEATH. 


227 


e 

(T 


threatened  Kingston  from  Saclett's  Harbour.  Fort  Georffe 
was  in  the  possession  of  the  enem}',  watched  by  Vincent.  In  the 
west,  General  Harrison  was  awaiting  reinforcements  to  advance 
with  6,000  men  on  Proctor. 

Fort  Maiden,  Proctor's  main  stronghold,  had  been  despoiled 
of  arms  and  ammunition  to  supply  Barclay's  fleet.  When  Bar- 
clay's squadron — overpowered  by  numbers,  every  vessel  unman- 
ageable, every  officer  killed  or  wounded,  a  third  of  the  crews 
hors  de  combat,  and  Barclay  himself  so  mutilated,  that  when 
months  afterwards  he  appeared  before  the  Admiralty,  stem 
warriors,  whose  eyes  were  not  used  to  the  melting  mood,  wept,  had 
to  surrender.  Proctor  was  in  a  position  to  which  little  justice  is 
done  by  describing  it  as  critical.  His  last  hope  was  destroyed. 
Had  Barclay  beaten  Perry  he  could  have  rendered  assistance  to 
Proctor,  which  would  perhaps  have  forced  Harrison  to  abandon 
his  position.  But  now  before  the  English  Commander  the  only 
alternative  was  retreat  or  ruin,  and  retreat  across  the  wilder- 
ness in  rainy  autumn  weather,  was  beset  with  dangers.  Fort 
Detroit  was  therefore  dismantled  and  abandoned.  With  a  force 
of  830  men  the  unfortunate  Commander,  deaf  to  the  remonstrance 
of  Tecumseh,  and  with  misery  and  humiliation  in  his  heart,  re- 
treated to  Burlington  Heights.  Tecumseh  with  300  Indian  fol- 
lowers accompanied  him.  Harrison  with  3,800  men  pursued.  Proc- 
tor's rear  guard  was  surprised,  stores  and  ammunition  were  cap- 
tured, and  100  prisoners  taken.  Proctor  was  brought  to  bay.  The 
brief  fight  came  off  at  Moravian  Town,  on  the  Thames.  Proctor 
was  the  last  man  to  be  equal  to  perilous  demands.  He  was 
routed,  and  with  a  remnant  of  his  troops  effected  a  miserable  re- 
treat. In  Tecumseh,  the  heroic  fire  of  perhaps  a  once  civilized 
race  blazed  forth,  and  he,  the  last  of  the  great  Indian  chiefs,  fell 
like  the  English  Warwick,  the  last  of  the  great  English  Barons. 
Lakes  Erie  and  Huron  and  the  western  frontier  were  now  com- 
pletely under  the  control  of  the  Americans. 

Vincent  was  compelled  to  raise  the  blockade  of  Fort  George. 
Everything  looked  dark.  Prevost  issued  ordors  to  abandon  the 
Upper  Province  west  of  Kingston.  But  in  the  face  of  this  order  of 
the  timid  Prevost,  a  council  of  war  was  held  on  Burlington  Heights 
and  the  resolution  formed  to  defend  the  western  peninsula. 


228 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


There  we^e  in  Lower  Canada  3,000  British  troops,  supported  by 
a  French  Canadian  militia,  to  face  21,000  men  under  Wilkinson 
and  Hampton,  bent  on  the  conquest  of  the  province.  Upper 
Canada  was  considered  by  the  Americans  as  practically  at  their 
mercy,  and  indeed  it  was  a  dark  hour  for  the  British.  How  is  the 
little  colony  going  to  Keep  out  of  the  maw  of  the  Republic  ?  The 
letters  of  Mr.  Todd,  wntten  at  this  time,  show  how  great  was  the 
crisis,  and  yet  how  nl^L  was  the  spirit  of  the  young  nation. 

It  has  been  doubted  whether  Wilkinson  intended  to  attack  King- 
ston, If  he  did  so  intend,  2,000  troops  having  been  thrown  into 
Kingston,  his  mind  was  directed  into  another  channel.  After 
he  had  collected  all  his  forces  on  Grenadier's  Island,  between  King- 
ston and  Sackett's  Harbour,  they  were  embarked  on  board  a 
flotilla,  and  began  the  descent  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  On  the  Gth 
November,  they  arrived  at  Williamsburg,  where  the  troops,  toge- 
ther with  the  stores  and  munitions  of  war  disembarked  on  the 
Canadian  side  of  the  river.  They  meant  to  pass  undiscovered 
during  night,  the  British  posts  at  Prescott  and  its  neighbourhood. 
They  reckoned  without  their  host.  A  force,  small  when  com- 
pared with  that  of  the  enemy,  consisting  of  the  skeletons  of  the 
49th  and  89th  regiments,  and  three  companies  of  Canadian 
voltigeurs,  with  a  few  militia  and  a  couple  of  gun-boats,  in  all  not 
more  than  eight  hundred  men,  under  the  command  of  Colonel 
Morrison,  had  hovered  on  the  rear  of  the  flotilla.  At  Prescott  their 
movements  were  known.  The  enemy  was  about  to  move  past  the 
Fort,  fondly  believing  that  all  was  quiet  within,  when  they  were 
assailed  on  both  land  and  water,  by  a  disconcerting  fire  of 
musketry  and  battery  guns.  In  the  morning,  a  few  miles  below 
Prescott,  when  they  were  preparing  the  flotilla  to  move  on  to- 
wards the  rapids  of  the  Long  Sault,  Colonel  Morrison,  with  his 
detachment,  came  up  with  them.  As  a  considerable  p  oportion 
of  the  800  men  were  Irish  it  is  not  beyond  the  scope  of  this 
book  to  describe  the  Battle  of  Chrysler's  Farm,  where  the 
fathers  of  some  of  cur  prominent  citizens  in  every  town  in  Canada 
fought,  and  where  some  of  them  gloriously  fell.  It  was  the  first 
battle  where  the  British  and  American  troops  met  on  the  open 
plains.  Here  there  was  no  shelter  for  the  American  riflemen ;  no 
rests  for  their  pieces. 


BATTLE   OF   CHRYSLERS   FARM. 


229 


On  the  11th  of  November,  about  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, two 
brigades  of  infantry  and  a  regiment  of  cavahy,  amounting  to 
between  three  and  four  thousand  men  under  Gene/al  Boyd,  were 
sent  against  Morrison's  advance.  These  fell  gradually  back  to 
the  position  chosen  for  the  detachment  to  occupy.  The  British 
force  exhibited  a  front  of  about  seven  hundred  yards.  At  one  end 
of  the  seven  hundred  yards  rolled  the  St  T,awvence;  at  the  other 
frowned  a  pine  wood.  The  British  rigi,  ited  on  the  former; 
the  left  on  the  latter.  The  right  consisted  of  v  flank  companies 
of  the  49th,  a  detachment  of  the  Canadian  Fencibles,  and  one  field 
piece.  These  were  a  little  advanced  on  the  road  and  were  sup- 
ported by  three  companies  of  the  89th  with  a  gun,  formed  in 
echelon.*  The  49th  and  89th  thrown  more  to  the  rear  with  a  gun 
formed  the  main  body ;  a  reserve  extended  to  the  bleak  woods  on 
the  left,  which  were  occupied  by  the  voltigeurs  and  a  few  Indians. 
An  hour  after  the  first  gun  M^as  fired  the  action  became  general. 
The  enemy  moved  forwanl  r-  br.igade  to  turn  the  British  left  ; 
they  were  repulsed  by  the  8')th  and  49th.  The  next  movement 
was  directed  against  the  right.  The  49th  hurried  in  echelon  to 
meet  the  foe  followed  by  the  89th ;  the  49th  advanced  until  within 
half  musket  shot  of  the  enemy.  They  were  then  ordered  to  form 
into  line  which  they  did  under  a  heary  fire.  "Charge!"  rang  out 
on  the  cold  November  air,  and  the  49th  were  told  to  advance 
and  take  the  gun.  They  moved  forward,  but,  when  they  were 
within  a  short  distance  of  their  prize,  their  ardour  was  checked 
by  a  command  to  halt.  The  enemy's  cavalry  had  charged  on  the 
right  and  there  was  danger  if  the  attempt  to  take  the  gun 
had  been  persevered  in,  they  might  have  fallen  on  the  rear  of 
49th.  They  were  however  so  well  received  by  the  companies  of 
the  89th  and  the  British  artillery  poured  into  them  so  well  directed 
a  fire  that  they  quickly  retreated.  An  immediate  charge  was 
then  made  and  the  gun  was  taken.  The  British  were  now  ordered 
to  move  foi-ward  along  the  whole  line.  The  Americans  concen- 
trated their  forces  to  check  this  advance.     But  bef  )ve  the  steady 


1 


\ 


*  Echelon  ia  a  French  word  and  means  the  step  of  a  ladder.  It  is  figuratively  applied 
to  the  position  of  a  body  of  troops  arranged  in  lines  or  divisions  having  the  right  of  the 
one  bordering  upon  but  slightly  behind  the  left  of  the  other.  To  the  eye  of  a  person 
on  horseback  it  looks  like  a  ladder. 


230 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


valour  and  well  directed  lire  of  the  British  they  gave  way  at  all 
points.  Nearly  4,000  had  been  in  fact  beaten  by  800,  from  an 
exceedingly  strong  position.  They  sought  to  cover  their  retreat 
by  their  light  infantry;  but  they  were  soon  routed.  The  de- 
tachment that  night  occupied  the  ground  from  which  the 
enemy  had  been  driven.  His  whole  infantry  lied  to  the  boats 
and  sought  the  American  shore. 

Some  three  weeks  earlier  Colonel  de  Salaberry,  with  a  few  hun- 
dred Canadians,  confronted  Hampton  with  a  force  which  must 
have  been  near  eight  thousand,  seeking  to  enter  Canada  by  the 
Chateauguay  River  on  his  march  to  Montreal.  On  the  26th  of 
October,  Hampton's  light  troops  forming  his  advance  were  seen 
moving  up  both  sides  of  the  Chateauguay.  By  an  admirable  dis- 
position of  his  troops  Colonel  de  Salaberry  checked  the  advance 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  the  enemy  causing  his  light  troops 
and  the  whole  main  body  of  the  army  to  retire,  while  his  advance 
on  the  right  bank  of  the  river  was  turned  by  Captain  Daly's  com- 
pany of  the  Third  Battalion  of  embodied  militia  and  Captain 
Bruyere's  company  of  Chateauguay  chasseurs.  The  enemy  made 
frequent  attempts  during  the  day  to  advance.  He  was  each  time 
repulsed,  and  under  cover  of  night  he  retreated  across  the  St. 
Lawrence.  In  the  general  orders  of  October  27th,  special  mention 
is  made  of  Captain  Daly's  "  spirited  advance,"  and  we  are  told  that 
Lieutenant-Colonel  de  Salaberry  experienced  the  most  able  sup- 
port from,  amongst  others,  Adjutant  O'Sullivan. 

Wilkinson  had  ordered  Hampton  to  join  him  at  St.  Regis.  We 
have  seen  how  Wilkinson  himself  behaved.  When  he  received  a 
letter  from  Hampton  on  the  12th  November,  the  day  after  he  had 
fled  before  Morrison's  little  band,  he  declared  his  hopes  were 
blasted.  The  invasion  planned  on  so  large  a  scale  had  failed 
miserably.  An  American  journal  said  democracy  had  rolled  her- 
self up  in  weeds  and  lain  down  for  its  last  wallowing  in  the  slough 
of  disgrace.*  All  danger  having  been  removed  by  the  retreat  of 
the  two  American  generals  the  Sedentary  Canadian  Militia  was 
dismissed  on  the  17th  November. 

General  McClure  was  still  in  the  possession  of  Fort  George,  and 


*  fiostun  Gazette 


FORT  NIAGARA  TAKEN. 


,231 


his  soldiers  greatly  distressed  the  neighbourhood.  General  Mur- 
ray of  the  100th,  was  sent  by  Vincent  to  check  the  depredations 
on  the  farmers.  General  McClure  decamped  with  has<te  from 
Twenty  Mile  Creek,  and  hearing  of  the  disastrous  termination  of 
Wilkinson's  expedition  he  precipitately  abandoned  Fort  George, 
having  first  however,  contrary  to  plighted  faith,  set  fire  to  Newark. 
That  beautiful  peaceful  little  town  which  every  summer  gleams 
afar  over  the  steely  silvery  water  to  the  eye  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Toronto  going  over  in  "  the  boat "  to  the  Queen's  Royal,  or  making 
for  the  hundi-edth  time  the  pilgrimage  to  the  Falls,  was  one  mass 
of  flame  ;  those  wooded,  mirrored  shores,  which  are  known  best  as 
varied  with  glaring  sunlight  and  illuminated  mist,  sweeping  away 
in  long  links  until  lost  in  silver  haze,  where  the  lake  and  sky  are 
one,  were  then  bare  of  leaf  ;  every  tiny  limb  had  its  burden  of  snow  ; 
and  on  receding  bay  and  frozen  branch  the  conflagration  cast  a  glow 
which  had  its  companion  flare  in  the  wintry  heavens.  The  blue 
wooded  heights  which  form  so  appropriate  a  back-ground  to  the 
picture,  in  the  month  of  June,  were  splendid  with  the  reflection  of 
the  flames,  and  where  so  much  comfort  and  hospitality  and  good 
cheer  reigns  to-day  there  was  nothing  but  cold  and  want  and  misery. 
Every  house  save  one  was  a  smoking  ruin.  Of  a  valuable  library, 
the  property  of  Counsellor  Dickson,  and  which  had  cost  a  vast  sum, 
not  a  book  remained.  Dickson  was  a  prisoner.  His  wife  lay  on 
a  sick  bed.  The  ruffians  who  fired  her  house  took  her  and  placed 
her  on  the  snow  before  her  devoted  building.  On  a  December 
night  of  an  unusually  severe  winter  four  hundred  helpless  women 
and  children  were  compelled  to  seek  shelter  where  they  might. 
Colonel  Murray  now  pi;oposed  an  attack  on  Fort  Niagara  and  the 
proposal  was  approved  by  General  Drummond.  A  surprise  was 
resolved  on.  The  embarkation  commenced  on  the  night  of  the 
18th  December.  The  whole  of  the  troops  had  landed  three  miles 
from  the  fort  early  on  the  following  morning.  The  force  was  as 
follows,  and  consisted  as  will  be  seen  largely  of  Irish,  fighting 
happily  side  by  side  with  their  English  and  Scotch  brethren.  The 
order  of  attack  is  adhered  to,  and  as  the  reader  cannot  fail  to 
observe  the  Irish  100th  was  assigned  the  post  of  honour :  an  ad- 
vance guard,  one  subaltern  and  twenty  rank  and  file,  grenadiers 
of  the  100th  Regt.,  Royal  Artillery  with  grenadiers,  five  com- 


SB 


232, 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


panies  of  the  100th  Ref,'t.  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hamilton,  to 
assault  the  main  gate  and  escalade  the  walls  adjacent ;  three 
com])anies  of  the  100th  under  Captain  Martin — an  Irishman — 
to  storm  the  eastern  demi-bastion ;  Captain  Bailey  with  the 
grenadiers  and  Royal  Scots  was  directed  to  attack  the  salient 
angle  of  the  ioi-tification,  and  the  flank  companies  of  the  41st 
Regt.  were  ordered  to  support  the  principal  attack.  Each 
party  had  scaling  ladders  and  axes.  The  fortress  was  carried  by 
assault  after  a  short  but  spirited  resistance.  Among  the  officers 
singled  out  for  distinguished  bravery  were  Captain  Martin,  who 
stormed  the  demi-bastion  in  the  most  intrepid  manner,  and  Lieu- 
tenant Dawson  and  Captain  Fawcett,  both  of  the  100th.  They 
were  respectively  in  commaml  of  tlie  advance  and  grenadiers,  and 
cut  otf  two  of  the  enemy's  piquets,  surprised  the  sentries  on  the 
glacis  and  at  the  gate,  and  thus  obtained  the  watchword,  "  to 
which,"  says  Colonel  Murray,  "may  be  attributed  our  trifling 
loss."  The  exertions  of  Quarter-master  Pilkington,  of  the  100th» 
are  eulogized,  as  are  those  of  Captain  Kirby,*  Lieutenants  Ball, 


li- 1 


♦  The  Resolution  of  the  Honourable  the  House  of  Assembly  of  Upper  Canada. 

Resolved  unanimously :— That  a  sword,  value  of  fifty  guineas,  be  presented  to  Capt. 

Jas.  Kirby,  of  the  Incorj)orated  Militia,  as  a  memoral  of  the  high  sense  they  entertain 

of  the  very  important  services  which  he  rendered  in  crossing  the  troops  to  the  territory 

of  the  United  States,  and  the  gallantry  displayed  by  him  at  the  capture  by  assault 

of  Fort  Niagara  on  the  19th  of  October,  1813. 

(Signed)        GRANT  POWELL, 

Clerk  of  Axiemblv. 
York,  r2th  of  April,  3815. 

Inscription  upon  the  Sword  :-  -"  From  the  House  of  Assembly  of  Upper  Canada  to 
Captain  James  Kirby  for  his  judicious  and  gallant  conduct  at  the  assault  and  reduc- 
tion of  Fort  Niagara  on  the  19th  December  1813." 

His  glorious  achievement  "  which  left  the  Niagara  shores  free  from  the  enemy  and 
contributed  in  a  high  degree  to  the  result  of  the  next  campaign,"  so  writes  Allan 
Maclean,  speaker  of  the  House  of  Assembly  of  Upper  Canada  in  a  congratulatory 
letter  dated  Kingston,  10th  October,  1815. 

It  seems  incredible  but  I  am  assured  it  is  true  nevertheless  that  owing  to  the  surprise 
some  American  officers  were  found  playing  cards  in  the  officers'  quarters.  James 
McFarland  piloted  a  party  of  Irishmen,  and  as  they  opened  the  door  on  a  number  of 
officers  who  were  playing  "  High,  low.  Jack  and  game,"  the  question  was  asked  "  What 
is  trumps  ? "  "  British  bayonets,  be — ! "  cried  the  foremost  of  the  party.  In  visiting  so  me 
of  the  battle-fields  of  1812-14, 1  found  Mr.  Duncan  McFarland,  of  Niagara,  an  entertain- 
ing guide.  This  gentleman's  father  was  Scotch  and  his  mother  Irish-  -she  the  daughter 
of  Irish  John  Wilson  who  brought  »  large  family  into  Cannda  at  the  close  of  the  war 
He  himself  while  yet  a  boy  served  in  the  war,  first  as  oxon  driver  and  afterwards  as 
driver  of  horses.    He  says  he  was  promoted  to  drive  horses  for  what  was  deemed 


K  < 


NEWARK   AVENGED. 


283 


Scroos,  and  Hamilton  of  different  provincial  corps.  The  British 
force  consisted  of  500  rank  .nd  file.  Twenty-seven  pieces  oi 
cannon  were  on  the  works.  There  were  upwards  of  ?,000  stand  of 
arms  in  the  arsenal.  The  store-houses  were  full  of  clothing  and 
camp  equipage  of  every  description. 

On  the  same  day  the  Village  of  Lcwiston  was  taken  posses- 
sion of,  and  together  with  Youngstown  and  Manchester,  in  re- 
venge for  Newark,  given  to  the  flames.  It  would  have  been 
better  to  have  acted  more  magnanimously.  Later  on  Black  Rock 
was  taken  by  Major  General  Ryall  with  a  force  composed  of  por- 
tions of  the  89th,  the  41st  and  100th  regimenty,  with  about  fifty 
militia  volunteers,  and  a  body  of  Indian  warriors. 

The  language  of  "  Acadian  "  paints  for  us  the  feelings  of  the 
hour  in  vigorous  terms,  Homeric  in  their  simplicity  : — 

The  foe  had  safely  reached  his  native  shore, 
There  their  wild  revellings  and  riots  roar ; 
Not  long  these  drunken  wassaili  spread  their  noise. 
Short  was  the  tumult  of  their  hearty  joys  : 
Britannia's  vengeance  reached  the  saucy  crew, 
And  on  Niagara's  fort  her  veterans  flew. 
That  fortress  fell  with  one  resistless  storm. 
Newark's  bright  flame  matle  her  defenders  warm,-  - 
"  Newark ! "  the  avenging  word,  as  on  they  sped, 


bravery,  but  which  was  in  reality  cowardice.  The  first  Congreve  rockets  which  were 
used  in  the  war  were  about  to  be  tried  and  all  were  ordered  to  squat.  Young  McFar- 
land  stood  erect.  "Why  did  you  not  squat?"  asked  General  Murray.  *'What  do  I 
care  for  your  rockets,  was  the  saucy  reply  of  the  boy,  wherjupon  he  was  promoted  to 
to  the  rank  of  driver  of  horses. 

I  asked  how  he  came  to  have  *'  D  "  after  his  name.  The  "  D  "  was  adopted  to  save 
his  father's  rations.  There  was  another  man  named  McFarlane  in  the  regiment,  and 
he  used  to  drink  his  rum.  The  change  of  a  letter  secured  the  grog.  Duncan 
McFarland  tells  how  he  was  standing  on  the  road  near  the  old  McFarland  ravine  about 
two  miles  from  Niagara,  when  an  Indian  asked  him  where  the  sentry  was.  The  boy 
who  had  not  yet  taken  the  reins  in  hand  told  him,  whereupon  the  Indian  crept  on  his 
belly  like  an  eel,  and  in  a  few  minutes  a  shot  wa-s  heard  and  the  sentry  fell,  which  was 
the  signal  for  a  skirmish.  Duncan  McFarland  saw  Moore  sitting  under  an  oak  tree 
where  the  Lewiston  road  now  runs  by  the  McFarland  farm,  composing  and  writing 
poetry.  It  was  probably  here  he  wrote  part  of  his  letter  to  Lady  Charlotte  Raw- 
don — the  description  of  Niagara  would  be  penned  in  the  heat  of  early  impressions. 
In  the  ravine  two  bayonets  which  are  now  in  the  possession  of  my  friend  T.  A.  Keefer, 
of  Toronto,  were  found,  one  English  and  the  other  American,  and  no  doubt,  on  the  spot 
two  soldiers  fell  at  the  same  moment,  as  I  have  seen  them  fall  during  the  Franco-Ger- 
manic -,var.  In  McFarland's  house  are  clocks,  mirrors,  and  other  household  gear  which 
had  been  buried  during  the  war. 


I 


Sm 


234 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


"  Newark  !  "  was  echoed  a,H  the  Yankees  fled  ; 
A  Hecond  Newark  LewiHton  dispUyed, 
Blazing  ret>riHal8  through  the  gloomy  Hhade. 

Mr.  Isaac  Todd,  on  the  25tli  December  writes  from  Montreal, 
(and  his  words  not  only  indicate  the  improved  state  of  public  feel- 
ing, but  give  us  a  glimpse  of  the  way  the  Governor  and  the  mer- 
chants occasionally  spent  their  evenings,  amid  all  the  difficul- 
ties) : — "  Public  mattei-s  look  much  better  in  the  Upper  Pro- 
vince. We  are  again  in  possession  of  Fort  George,  and  all  our 
former  line  to  Fort  Erie ;  and  your  brother  has  given  to  Sir  George 
an  opinion  which  if  followed  will,  I  hope,  protect  Michilimakinac 
and  Lake  Huron,  and,  of  course,  the  usual  communication  by  the 
Grand  River.  ...  I  think  we  will  [note  the  Irish  use  of 
will,]  have  a  decided  superiority  on  Lake  Ontario  next  summer. 
We  have  a  frigate  of  forty  guns,  and  two  smaller  vessels,  that  will 
be  ready  to  launch  by  April,  and  before  if  necessary.  Sir  George 
left  this  last  week  for  Quebec.  I  feel  his  loss,  having  a  general 
invitation  to  dine  and  play  a  rubber  every  evening.  Indeed  he 
has  been  particularly  civil  to  me  ;  and  since  he  went  to  Quebec  he 
has  reminded  me  of  my  promise  to  visit  him  there." 

The  blazing  a.nd  smoking  ruins  of  the  American  frontier  from 
Lake  Ontario  to  Lake  Erie,  furnished  the  drop  scene  of  the  second 
act  of  the  war.  The  conquest  of  Canada  was  as  remote  as  ever. 
There  was  not  a  foot  of  Canadian  soil  in  possession  of  the  enemy, 
excepting  Amherstburg,  in  the  far  west,  against  the  loss  of  which 
British  possession  of  Fort  Niagara  might  fairly  be  set ;  while  the 
American  seaboard  was  blockaded,  and  American  commerce  was 
paralyzed. 

The  fourth  letter  of  "  Acadian  "  concludes  with  a  bitter  attack 
on  American  life  and  manners.  The  writer's  hatred  of  the  rule  of 
the  many  is  as  great  as  Mr.  Loa,\  e's ;  and  two  of  his  lines  would 
recall  the  famous  description  of  democracy,  "  that  barren  plain 
where  every  mole-hill  is  a  mountain,  and  every  thistle  a  forest 
tree":— 

All  here  aro  great — all  legislate  and  mAe, 
E'en  boys  are  prating  orators  at  school. 

To  dwell  further  on  "  Acadian's  "  poem  is  foreign  to  my  purpose. 


AMERICAN   MANNERS  SIXTY   YEARS  AGO.  235 

With  cheering  hopeHand  most  propitious  smile, 


every  house  situated-aHtl^^ite/eltl  T'^  '''^  '""'^^  '"^  "'«  «'**«»  "'»'^« 

rooms  on  a  floor  and  two  stonrw  1  .     \"'f  ~  ***  *^*'  '''^'  ""^  *^«  '•«''*1  ^th  two 

the  "wooden  «eat "  i^he S  o;J^;e:r;'f;:'1  ^^'^  *^«  --«  "^  "«-'.-    Hence 
wie  louowmg  verses  of  the  Juvenal  in  exile  of  1812  : 

All  gentlemen-not  like  Cato  wise 

Z^TJT'  ^"  P'""^'^-f''^'-e  needed  no  disguise, 

But  that  the  ,m.n  would  dignify  his  state, 

And  w,,rth  and  wisdom  make  his  station  great ; 

Here  they  all  brag-  and  hide  with  flimsy  f^u.e 

Ihe  dung  hdl  that  their  parent-stem  supplies. 

I  hat  Qesar  R«gers-in  a  log-house  born, 

His  mfarit-cradle  now  beholds  with  scon, ; 

Talks  of  his  family-iu  power  and  worti. 

And  scorns  the  poor  for  their  fow  abject  birth. 

HiB  kmd  biographer  declares  him  great, 

Bon',  as  he  says  on  his  own  sire's  estate. 

ii>  -T  true  and  I  will  paint  its  size, 
^aint  all  its  beauty  to  the  dullest  eyes  • 

A  mansion,  twelve  feet  square,  one  side  a  door, 
A  shmgled  roof,  hung  o'er  an  unplaned  floor, 
Received  each  traveUer  who  deigned  to  stay 
And  bait  h,.j  horse  or  break  fast  on  the  way  ; 
Ihis  was  his  own  estate,  but  now  it  stands  '^ 

AS  ted  by  better  means  and  abler  hands, 
in  better  garb  arranged  a  wooden  seat, 
Painted  and  white-wash'd  all  aroimd  complete ; 
Here  mushroom  like  they  all  spring  up  by  chance. 
To  make  a  gentleman  he  neeu  but  dance  ' 

liien  off  they  fling  and  strut  and  brag  aloud 
And  trample  down  the  humble  menial  crowd, 
G«t  placed  in  office  and  like  beggars  ride, 
And  mal.e  the  wretched  feel  their  upstart  pride. 

He  goes  on,  rising  to  a  height  he  seldom  attains,  in  a  strain  of  true  poetry  :- 

Thin),  not  I  scorn  the  poor-  or  low-born  worth  I 
Or  look  for  Virtue  in  high  titled  birth. 
Ah  no  !  the  violet  beside  the  stream, 

On  ^!°"™!ff ;«««  th*t  SreeU  the  morning  beam. 
On  the  wild  desert  or  the  mountain's  side, 
More  lovely  seems  than  all  the  garden's  pride 


•23G 


TIIK   lUISIIMAN    IN  CANADA. 


On  tlio  3r(l  FcV)ruaiy,  1814,  wo  find  Isaac  Todd  writing  &h  fol- 
lows fionj  Montroal.  Hia  luttur  may  be  taken  as  an  index  of  the 
general  sentiment. 

"  I  have,"  ho  says,  "  desired  tliat  none  of  my  land  be  sold  under 
two  dollars  an  acre,  and  I  think  in  peace  the  number  of  settlers 
from  the  States  and  disl)anded  soldiers  will  increase  the  value  of 
land,  and  the  sums  raised  here  and  in  F^ngland  will  be  sufficient  to 
compen.sate  all  those  who  have  suffered  from  the  war.  Indeed, 
my  opinion  is,  that  Upper  Canada  has  gained  by  the  war,  though 
some  individuals  have  sutTered.  I  lately  thought  we  would  (note 
the  use  of  would,)  have  ])cace  this  spring,  and  now  I  think  it 
doubtful.  Americans  must  be  beat  {sic)  out  of  their  arrogance 
.and  insolence." 

If  we  except  some  little  brushes  in  the  west;,  arising  out  of  the 
predatory  incursions  of  the  enemy,  who  held  Fort  Maiden,  nothing 
of  any  consequence  wivs  done  until  March.  Towards  the  end  of 
that  month,  Wilkinson  with  a  force  of  5000  infantry,  100  cavalry, 
and  11  guns,  failed  ^o  take  Lacolle  Mills,  ten  miles  from  Rouse's 
Point,  though  it  was  defended  by  only  a  slender  garrison  of  500 
men.  The  besiegers  retired  after  four  hours'  fighting,  and  betook 
themselves  to  the  shores  of  Lake  Ontario.  At  Oswego,  the  fleet 
made  a  descent  on  the  An?erican  troops,  numbering  1,080,  and  put 
them  to  fiight.  Chauncey  was  blockaded  in  Sackett's  Harbour. 
Meanwhile,  American  troo})s  under  General  Brown,  were  h.irrass- 
ing  the  Niagara  frontier.  Port  Dover,  without  the  least  excuse, 
was  wantonly  burned  down.  Fort  Erie,  vvith  a  British  ganison 
of  170,  surrendered  without  firing  a  shot,  to  4/^00  assailants.  The 
170  men  were  of  the  8th  or  King's  regiment,  commanded  by 
Colonel  Buck.  There  was  along  the  frontier  only  1J80  British 
troops,  to  meet  a  formidable  foe. 

The  fall  of  Fort  Erie  led  to  a  gallant  struggle,  in  which  Irish- 
men shone.     General  Brown,   thank'*ul  for    sujall   mercies    and 


Less  sullied  and  more  sweet  it  drinks  the  dew, 
Cheering  with  excellence  the  dreary  view  : 
The  garden's  gaudy  pride  rich  compost  gives  ; 
In  purity  the  mountain  lily  lives  ; 
The  Daw  in  borrow'd  feathers  I  deride, 
Not  the  wild  goldfinch  singing  by  his  side. 


A  GALLANT  STRUGGLE. 


237 


flushed  with  his  succchh  over  170  men,  marched  down  the  river  to 
the  British  riji^lit,  at  the  mouth  of  tlie  Chippawa  or  Welland  Iklvor. 
Lieufenant-Colom^l  Pearson  witli  tlie  light  companies  of  the  100th, 
some  militia,  and  a  few  Indians,  reconnoitred  their  position  and 
found  them  pasted  on  a  rid<(e  parallel  with  the  river  in  strong 
force.  (Jn  learning  that  the  8th  regiment  was  hourly  expected 
from  Toronto,  or  York,  as  it  was  then  called,  Major-General  Ryall 
postponed  the  attack. 

On  the  4th,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Pearson  with  the  light  com- 
pany of  the  Royal  Scots,  and  the  Hank  company  of  the  100th, 
and  a  few  of  the  19th  Light  Dragoons  was  in  advance,  in  a 
general  reconnaissance.  A  slight  skiiiiiish  took  [)lace  with  the 
enemy's  riflemen.  On  the  morning  of  the  5th,  the  King's  regi- 
ment arrived.  At  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  dispositions  for 
attack  were  made.  The  advance  consisted  of  the  light  companies 
of  the  Royal  Scots  and  of  the  100th  regiment,  with  the  second 
liincoln  militia.  The  Indians  were  on  the  right  flank  in  the 
woods.  The  troops  moved  in  three  colunms.  The  enemy  had 
taken  up  a  strong  position ;  his  right  resting  on  some  buildings 
and  orchards,  close  on  the  river  Niagara,  and  strongly  supported 
by  artillery;  his  left  toward  the  wood,  a  considerable  body  of  rifle- 
men and  Indians  in  front  of  it. 

The  Indiai.  s  on  the  British  side  and  the  militia  advancing,  were 
soon  engaged  with  the  enemy's  riflemen  and  Indians.  The  advance 
was  checked  for  the  moment,  but  it  was  only  for  a  moment.  The 
light  troops  were  brought  up  to  their  support.  Then  in  handsome 
style,  after  a  shai'p  contest,  they  dislodged  the  riflemen  and  Indians 
of  the  enemy.  Two  light  twenty-four  pounders  and  a  howitzer 
were  placed  against  the  right  of  the  enemy.  The  Royal  Scots  and 
100th  Regiment  were  formed  to  attack  his  left,  which  opened  a 
heavy  fire.  The  King's  Regiment  was  then  moved  to  the  right, 
and  the  Rcyal  Scots  and  the  100th  were  ordered  to  charge  him 
in  front.  Under  a  most  destructive  fire  they  charged  with 
splendid  gallantry, — the  Scots  of  Scotia  Major,  and  the  Scots  of 
Scotia  Minor.  They  suffered  severely,  however,  and  having  regard 
to  the  numbers  of  the  enemy,  it  was  thought  well  to  withdraw 
tl.  Tu.    A  retreat  on  Chippawa  was  made  in  good  order.     Not  a 


238 


THE  IRISHMAN  IN  CANADA. 


single  prisoner  fell  into  the  enemy's  hands,  save  those  who  were 
disabled  by  wounds. 

General  Ryall's  attack  on  an  enemy  four  or  five  times  his  num- 
ber, was  justified  by  the  past  history  of  the  war,  by  its  results,  and 
by  his  Irish  blood.  Brown  had  not  even  the  spirit  left  to  pursue 
him.  His  own  men  gained  in  form  by  the  attack.  The  enemy 
was  prevented  trying  to  cut  off  communication  with  Burlington. 
Finding  that  Chauixcey's  fleet  was  being  watched  and  held  in  dur- 
ance by  Commodore  Yeo,  and  that  therefore  it  could  not  assist  him 
to  take  Fort  George,  General  Brown  retreated  to  Chippawa,  pur- 
sued by  whom  he  should  have  pursued.  Ryall  tok  up  a  position 
at  Lundy's  Lane,  about  a  mile  from  the  Falls,  and  about  two  and  a- 
liaii  inAii  the  American  position. 

General  Drummond  had  hastened  from  Kingston  to  Niagara. 
He  sent  Colonel  Tucker  with  a  detachment  to  the  other  side  of  the 
river,  and  pushed  on  himself  to  Lewiston.  The  Americans,  under 
Scott,  had  advanced  to  the  Falls,  and  that  commander  sent  for 
Brown  to  join  him.  In  the  face  of  this  juncture  Ryall  was  retreat- 
ing from  Lundy's  Lane,  when  Drummond  came  up  and  counter- 
manded the  or  it  r  to  retire.  The  formation  of  the  British  troops 
was  scarcely  com^ueted  when  the  whole  front  was  warmly  engaged. 
Both  sides  fought  well.  So  determined  were  the  attacks  of  the 
enemy  that  the  British  artillerymen  were  bayoneted  while  in  the 
act  of  loading.  Gunlip  was  within  a  few  yards  of  gunlip.  Long 
ere  the  last  act  of  the  bloody  drama  had  begun,  night  closed  over 
the  scene.  There  was  charge  and  countercharge,  recoil  and  rally, 
and  the  moonlit  gleam  of  sword  and  bayonet  was  like  the  phospho- 
rescent glow  of  the  breakers  of  a  bloody  sea.  At  nine  o'clock  there 
was  a  short  intermission,  during  which  the  muttied  roar  of  the 
Falls  was  lieard  above  the  groans  of  the  dying,  as  though  Eter- 
nity, calm  and  strong,  awful  and  changeless,  were  chanting  the 
requiem  of  the  brave  souls  passing  into  her  infinite  bosom.  Again 
there  came  from  out  the  darkness  a  blaze,  from  out  the  comparative 
silence  a  rattle  of  musketry,  and  the  enemy,  like  the  movements 
of  a  fire-fly,  could  be  discerned  by  his  glare  as  he  went  into  action. 
Though  his  attacks  were  everywhere  renewed  with  fresh  troops, 
they  were  everywhere  repulsed.  At  midnight  Brown  was  beaten, 
.  and  from  before  a  force  of  only  half  his  number,  retreated,  leaving 


AMERICANS   BLOCKADED   IN   FORT   ERIE. 


239 


nearly  a  thousand  dead  on  the  field.  The  British  loss  was  very  little 
less ;  but  the  gallant  force  in  which  the  Royal  Scots  played  a 
splendid  part,  sat  down  the  victors  on  that  bloody  scene. 

The  eneray  retreated  on  Chippawa.  The  following  day  he 
abandoned  his  camp,  threw  most  of  his  baggage,  camp  equipage 
and  provisions  into  the  rapids  and  having  set  fire  to  Street's 
Mills  and  destroyed  the  Chippawa  bridge,  retreated  in  great  dis- 
order on  Fort  Erie.  The  whole  force  of  5,000  Americans  had 
been  engaged.  Lieutenant  GeneralDrummond  mentions  Major  Kirby 
as  among  those  who  had  distinguished  themselves.  The  English 
and  Scotch  regiments  behaved  magnificently,  and  I  only  regret 
it  does  not  come  within  the  plan  of  this  work  to  do  them  justice. 
At  Lundy's  Lane  the  Americans  for  the  first  time  during  the 
war  ventured  to  cross  bayonets  with  British  troops. 

The  Americans  sought  to  make  Fort  Erie  as  strong  as  possible. 
Meanwhile  Drummond,  at  the  earliest  moment  determined  to 
take  it  by  storm.  He  opened  a  battery  on  it  on  the  13th  of  Au- 
gust, and  having  done  considerable  damage,  determined  to  assault 
it  en  the  14th.  He  directed  a  heavy  column  against  the  entrench- 
ments on  the  side  of  Snake- 1  all.  Two  columns  advanced  from  the 
battery  against  the  fort  and  the  entrenchments  on  the  side  facing 
the  battery.  In  the  heavy  column  we  find  our  old  friends  the 
flank  companies  of  the  100th  and  89th.  jBoch  attacks  were  made 
two  hours  before  day-light.  Both  failed.  The  Briti.sh  loss  was 
very  severe  in  killed  and  wounded,  amounting  to  over  900. 
Among  the  officers  thanKed  were  Lieut.  Munay  of  the  100th,  and 
Captain  O'K^efe  of  one  of  the  flank  companies.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  large  number  of  men  slain  and  wounded,  Drummond  btmg 
reinforced  was  able  to  keep  the  Amer'      is  blockaded. 

Peace  was  made  with  France  on  the  4th  of  April,  1814.  The 
Titan  of  war  for  whom  the  world  did  not  seem  vast  enough,  had 
accepted  Elba  as  a  retreat — an  eagle  confined  in  a  canary  cage  — 
and  the  small  heart  of  Louis  XVIII.  was  fluttering  with  joy  at 
the  prospect  of  entering  and  ruling  in  those  halls  whence  the 
mighty  one  had  been  driven.  The  British  fleet  was  now  free  to 
turn  its  attention  to  xVmerica.  British  men  of  war  made 
inroads  along  the  entire  American  coast,  and  British  troops  de- 
scending at  various  points  made  it  necessary  to  recall  some  of  the 


240 


THE   IRISHMAN  IN  CANADA. 


troops  operating  on  the  Canadian  frontier.  The  various  events 
leading  up  to  that  conflagration  which  made  the  Potomac  wear  the 
colour  of  Lake  Ontario  and  the  Bay,  when  little  York  was  given 
to  the  flames,  it  is  not  mine  to  tell ;  nor  the  repulse  of  the  attempt 
on  Baltimore  ;  nor  yet  the  repulse  of  the  assault  on  New  Orleans 
and  the  consequent  retreat ;  a  repulse  which  was  perhaps  favour- 
able to  peace,  as  it  placed  the  Americans  on  better  terms  with 
themselves. 

On  the  8  th  of  August  the  plenipotentiaries  of  Great  Britain  and 
the  United  States  held  their  first  conference  at  Ghent,  but  the 
treaty  of  peace  was  not  signed  until  the  24th  of  December.  In 
the  interval  occurred  the  inglorious  advance  on  Plattsburgh  which 
gave  the  coup  de  [/race  to  any  military  reputation  Prevost  may 
ever  have  enjoyed.  The  British  troof)s  were  indignant  at  being 
ordered  to  retire.  Tears  of  anger  burst  from  many  eyes,  and  offi- 
cers broke  their  swords  declaring  they  would  never  serve  again. 

The  disaster  on  Lake  Champlain  encouraged  the  Americans  be- 
sieged in  Fort  Erie  to  make  a  sortie.  After  a  struggle  for  a  time 
doubtful,  they  were  driven  back  and  pursued  to  the  glacis  of  the 
fort  with  a  loss  of  500  men.  Izzard  was  now  advancing  in  force, 
and  Drummond  thought  it  prudent  to  withdraw  to  Chippawa. 
On  Lake  Ontario,  all  had  gone  well  for  the  Union  Jack,  and  as 
Niagara  frontier  could  be  therefore  abundantly  provisioned, 
Izzard  who  had  8,000  men  despaired  of  the  invasion,  blew  up  the 
works  at  Fort  Erie,  crossed  over  to  American  territory,  and  that 
beautiful  frontier  disturbed  for  three  years,  was  once  more  left  to 
repose  in  the  varied  radiance  of  the  Indian  summer. 

The  last  date  in  Isaac  Todd's*  correspondence  from  Canada,  is 
Quebec,  16th  July,  1814.  He  was  then  on  the  point  of  leaving 
for  the  old  cmmtry,  for  the  next  letter  is  dated  Portsmouth, 
August  17th.  In  a  memorandum  of  the  IGth  July, he  says:  "  Wrote 
Jane  and  Agnes  I  would  send  them  a  piano."  At  that  date  pianos 
were  not  as  plentiful  in  Montreal  as  they  are  to-day.  He  says 
nothing  about  the  war ;  he  sends  such  a  message  as  he  would  in 
times  of  security,  and  indeed  throughout  1814,  there  seems  not  to 


*  This  great  business  Irishman  seems  to  have  been  a  man  of  ability,  v«ry  correct 
formal  habitb,  much  capacity  for  friendshir  and  with  genuine  kindness  of  heart.  He 
died  in  England  in  1819.     His  partner  was  the  founder  of  McGill  University. 


PREVOSTS   DISGRACE.      TRIUMPHANT  PEACE. 


241 


have  been  the  least  misgiving  in  Canada  as  to  the  result  of  the 


war. 


On  the  5th  of  January,  1815,  Isaac  Todd  writes  from  Bath,  Eng- 
land, addressing  a  Montreal  fi^m,  that  the  signing  of  the  Prelimin- 
aries of  peace  was  very  unexpected.  He  feared  the  particulars 
would  not  be  such  as  would  please  in  Canada,  "  as  there  will  be  no 
extension  of  boundary."  He  adds, "  peace  is  no  doubt  desirable,  as 
it  gives  security,  and  from  the  heavy  taxes  laid  on  lands,  tSsc,  in 
the  United  States,  you  will  have  numbers  flock  into  Canada,  and 
what  with  discharged  soldiers  &c.,  the  Upper  Province  will  very 
soon  be  greatly  increased  in  inhabitants.  You  will  see  by  the 
newspapers  (most  probably  English  newspapers  sent  by  the  same 
mail  as  the  letter)  various  reports  about  Sir  George  Prevost,  &c., 
which  I  believe  have  little  foundation."  Unfortunately  for  poor 
Provost's  reputation,  those  reports  had  only  too  much  in  their 
foundation  that  was  other  than  unsubstantial. 

For  three  years,  the  United  States  had  carried  on  an  unjust, 
an  unsuccessful,  and  an  inglorious  contest.  Canada  had  waged 
a  defensive  warfare,  just,  noble,  unequal,  full  of  success  and 
glory.  Materially  injured  for  the  time,  it  is  probable  the  shrewd 
fur  merchant  was  right  in  anticipating  advantages,  as  likely  to 
accrue,  though  Howison  and  Miss  Machar  both  insist  that 
materially  the  results  were  pernicious.  There  can  be  no  dispute 
however,  that  morally  the  war  was  beneficial  to  Canada.  Irish- 
men, Scotchmen,  Englishmen,  Frenchmen,  Germans,  and  men  of 
these  great  races  born  on  Canadian  soil,  fought  side  by  side,  and 
learned  to  love  more  intensely  the  beautiful  country  for  which 
they  bled.  The  budding  national  life  took  a  deeper  and  more 
beautiful  tint,  and  gathered  a  ^  ore  splendid  promise,  because  its 
root-soil  was  enriched  with  blood.  If  peace  was  pale  from  mourn- 
ing over  precious  lives  wasted,  the  light  of  victory  was  in  her  eye, 
the  rythm  of  triumph  gave  stateliness  to  her  step,  and  all  her  form 
was  instinct  with  the  ennobling  consciousness  of  duty. 


16 


242 


THE  TKISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


OHAPTER  VII. 

In  the  perusal  of  history  nothing  is  so  sad  as  the  truth  forced 
on  us  from  every  side  that  hitherto  the  lot  of  the  poor  as  compared 
with  that  of  others  has  been  unbef '-ably  hard.  It  is  not  merely 
that,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  life,  they  are  without  the  pleasant 
su  loujidings  which  smoothen  oh'  tsXi-stonce  of  those  raised  above 
a  hand-to-mouth  economy.  Are  harvests  bad  ?  The  poor  suffer 
most.  Does  pestilence  sweep  over  the  land  ?  The  destroying 
angel  visits  the  crowded  room  and  smites  down  the  ill-fed  and 
little  washed.  War  ?  The  poor  have  thousands  and  tens  of  thou- 
sands slain  and  they  afterwards  pay  for  the  cost  of  the  bloody 
machine  by  which  their  sons  and  fathers  have  been  mown  down. 
Does  any  sudden  increase  in  wealth  take  place?  The  poor  do  not 
share  in  it.  They  witness  the  land-OAvner  increase  his  luxuries, 
the  manufacturer  ride  to  church  in  a  more  splendid  carriage,  the 
shopkeeper  purse  up  his  chin  in  folds  of  more  insolent  pride,  but 
they  are  as  they  were  before. 

The  great  war  had  enriched  the  landowner,  the  capitalist,  the 
manufacturer,  and  the  farmer;  the  poor  it  made  poorer.  It  is 
from  the  years  lying  between  the  Peace  of  Amiens  and  Waterloo, 
years  which  studded  Europe  with  famous  battle  fields,  which  raised 
individuals  to  the  height  of  glorj?^  and  wealth  and  power,  which 
filled  .  hundred  trenches  with  nameless  dead  a  nd  scattered  stars 
on  a  few  padded  breasts,  it  is  from  those  years  of  blood  and  war 
prices  that  the  historian  dates  that  strife  of  classes,  that  social 
estrangement,  that  severance  in  sympathy  between  rich  and  poor, 


[Authorities  for  Chapters  VII  and  VIII.  -Original  information  gleaned  from  all 
parts  of  the  country.  McMullen's  "History."  D'Arcy  McG-ee's  "  Irish  Position  in 
British  and  Republican  North  America."  *'  Five  Years'  Residence  in  the  Canadas," 
By  Ed.  Allen  Talbot.  Mrs.  Jameson's  "  Winter  Studies."  Green's  'History  of  the 
English  People."  Scadding's  "  Toronto  of  Old."  The  Gazette.  Almanacs  for  1821, 
1825,  1832,  1837,  1839.  FotheringiU's  "Sketch  of  the  Present  Htate  of  Canada." 
Lambert's  "Travels,"  Morgan's  "Celebrated  Canadians."  Morgan's  "Parliamentary 
Companion."  The  Olobe.  The  Mail.  Poole's  "  Early  Settlement  and  Subsequent 
ProgresB  of  the  Town  of  Peterborough."    Darid's  "  Biographies  and  Portraits."! 


THE  LEGACY  OF  GLORIOUS  WAR. 


243 


. 


Lll 

In 


, 


k 


between  the  capitalist  and  his  "hands,"  between  employers  and 
employed,  which  constitutes  one  of  the  great  difficulties  of  the 
politics  of  the  Three  Kingdoms,  and  projects  into  the  future  a  lurid 
ominous  light. 

Nor  was  it  merely  the  war  which  had  led  to  the  enormous  in- 
crease of  wealth.  The  discoveries  of  Watt  and  Arkwright,  enabled 
the  manufacturer  to  treble  production  without  increasing  his 
expenses,  and  that  which  was  destined  in  the  long  run  to  benefit 
the  poor,  seemed  at  arst  to  add  to  the  weight  of  the  millstone 
which  ground  them  down.  Even  a  succession  of  bad  harvests 
swelled  the  causes  which  gave  the  agriculturists  a  fever.'  m  and 
unnatural  prosperity.  Wheat  rose  to  famine  prices  and  land 
shared  proportionately  in  the  upward  movement.  An  idiot  named 
Ned  Ludd  once  broke  some  frames  in  a  passion,  and  thus  without 
designing  it  gave  his  name  to  a  labour  sect.  In  the  winter  of 
1811  parties  of  men,  maddened  by  want  and  thinking  the  inven- 
tions of  Arkwright  and  Watt  fatal  contrivances  for  their  own 
destruction,  went  about  breaking  frames  and  machinery.  In  the 
following  year  serious  riots  occurred.  Numerous  bodies  of  unem- 
ployed artisans  committed  great  excesses.  Several  of  the  Luddites 
were  tried  and  executed.  The  legacy  of  a  glorious  war  was  heavy 
taxation,  an  enormous  debt  and  general  distress,  the  pressure  of 
which  was  increased  by  the  selfish,  short-sighted  policy  of  a  par- 
liament of  landowners.  Aware  that  the  enormous  addition  to 
their  revenues  depended  on  a  factitious  cause,  which,  once  removed, 
they  would  have  to  be  content  with  their  incomes  before  the  war, 
they  sought  to  keep  up  the  war  price  for  corn,  and  to  enact  by 
Jaw  that  the  poor  should  be  half-starved.  They  passed  a  bill  in 
1815  prohibiting  the  introduction  of  foreign  corn.  This  is  what 
an  English  parliament  did  for  an  English  people.  Napoleon's 
guns  were  not  as  dreadful  as  this  statute.  Better  be  food  for 
powder  than  food  for  famine. 

In  Ir  iir^nd,  where  the  people  were  consumers  of  that  ill-starred 
root,  the  potat:o,  the  situation  was  more  complicated.  An  agii- 
cultural  country,  the  farmers  who  were  not  in  a  position  to  be 
rack-rented,  gained  by  the  war.  The  squire  had  his  income  in- 
creased, and  in  consequence  launched  out  into  a  lavish  expenditure, 
which  was  destined  to  scatter  his  family  as  surely  as  his  father's 


244 


THE   IRISHMAN  IN   CANADA. 


sword  had  scattered  the  early  owners  of  his  broad  acres.     Hence 
to-day  in  fair  old  houses,  by  storied  crystal  streams,  on  green 
wood-embosomed  terraces,  the  stranger  is  lord.*     Sometimes  the 
estate  was  purchased,  not  by  a  stranger,  but  by  one  of  the  old 
Catholic  families  who,  having  made  money  in  trade,  foolishly,  but 
naturally,  turned  away  from  the  cooperage,  or  the  tanyard,  to  be- 
come an  esquire  of  a  Ballyscanlan  or  a  Mount  Leader.     Sometimes 
by  a  curious  irony,  an  illegitimate  child  put  to  trade  as  good  enough 
for  him,  has  purchased  the  ''  big  house;"  while  the  young  mis- 
tresses of    his   unhappy   mother    have    become   governesses   in 
Australia  and  in  America,  and  his  legitimate  brethren  have  driven 
cabs  in  Melbourne,  or  loafed  at  farming  in  Canada.     Where  they 
had  genius  they  have  risen  to  eminence  in  some  imperial  or  foreign 
employment ;  while  those  of  energy  and  moderate  talents  have 
given  officials  and  jurists  to  all  the  colonies  of  Great  Britain. 
Ireland  used  to  swell,  as  she  does  now,  the  population  of  the 
manufacturing  towns  of  England,  and  ohe  fall  in  the  demand  for 
labourers  in  Lancashire  was  felt  in  the  remote  west  of  Gal  way. 
Jealous  English    legislation   all    but    destroyed    the  Irish  linen 
trade.     Population  was  rapidly  increasing.     The  consequence  of 
all  was,  that  the  poor  in  Ireland  were  in  even  a  worse  condition 
than  they  were  in  England,  and  soon  after  the  termination  of  the 
war,  a  large  emigration  to  Canada  took  place.     The  thirteen  thou- 
sand emigrants  who  arrived  at  Quebec  in  1819,  were,  Christie 
tells  us,  chiefly  from  Ireland.     The  same  remark  is  true  of  the 
forty  thousand  who  arrived  in  the  four  following  years.     In  the 
seven  years  from  1819  to  1825,  68,534  emigrants  came  to  Canada, 


*  This  change  haa  been  always  going  on.  The  son  of  t^e  stranger  of  to-day  will  feel 
himself  to  be  connected  by  family  and  "  old  associations  "  with  Ireland,  and  his  son  or 
grandson  will  be  swept  off,.  Now  economical  laws  do  what  revolutions  did  in  other 
times.  In  a  ballad  of  the  Jacobite  era,  there  runs  a  verse  which  has  always  struck  me 
na  being  singularly  pathetic  : — 


'Tis  my  grief  that  Patrick  Laughlin  is  not 

Earl  in  Erris  still ; 
That  Brian  Duif  no  longer  rules  as 

Lord  upon  t'ae  Hill ; 
That  Colonel  Hugh  McGrady  should 

Be  lying  stark  and  low  ; 
And  I  sailing,  sailing  swiftly 

From  the  County  of  Mayo. 


IRISH   IMMIGRATION   AFTER    1815. 


246 


2el 

lor 

ker 

le 


— tradesmen,  journeymen,  and  day  labourers,  who  for  the  most 
part  took  up  their  residence  in  the  Town  of  Quebec  and  in  Mon- 
treal. In  the  following  seven  yeai*s  the  average  of  arrivals  rose 
much  higher.  In  one  year,  1831,  as  many  as  50,000  persons  landed 
at  Quebec,  most  of  them  being  Irish.  This  large  immigration  soon 
told,  even  in  Lower  Canada.  In  1820,  among  the  new  members 
returned  to  parliament  was  Michael  O'Sullivan,  for  ihe  County  of 
Huntingdon,  a  gentleman  of  great  ability,  who  died  Chief  Justice 
of  Lower. Canada.  In  Quebec,  in  the  parishes  of  Megantic,  Lotbi- 
niere,  and  Portneuf,  at  St.  Colombe  in  the  district  of  Montreal,  in 
the  townships  of  the  Ottawa,  and  in  Upper  Canada,  there  are 
several  Irish  settlements  due  to  the  Irish  exodus  of  this  period. 

There  are  two  aspects  to  the  Irish  emigration  to  Canada.  What 
the  Irishman  has  done  for  Canada  is  the  first.     The  second  is  not 
less  important,  what  Canada  has  done  for  the   Irishman.     Nor 
could  there  be  a  better  way  of  impressing  the  former  on  the  mind 
than  by  dilating  on  the  latter.     Men  have  come  here  who  were  un- 
able to  spell,  who  never  tasted  meat,  who  never  knew  what  it  was 
to  have  a  shoe  to  their  foot  in  Ireland,  and  they  tell  me  they  are 
masters  of  1,000,  or  2,000,  or  3,000  acres,  as  the  case  may  be,  of 
the  finest  land  in  Canada.      One  of  the  best  known  professional 
men  in  this  country,  and  one  of  tl^e  oldest  settlers,  writes  me  that 
in  his  opinion  nothing  is  more  gratifying  than  to  contemplate  the 
class  of  substantial  farmers  the  Irish  emigration  has  produced. 
"  Go  into  whatever  part  of  Ontario  you  may,  you  will  find  Irish- 
men on  farms  of  value  from  $5,000  to  $10,000 ;  many  of  whom 
have  also  heavy  investments  at  their  bankers."     On  the  very  day 
he  wrote  to  me  he  received  a  letter  from  a  friend  containing  these 
words,  "  Uncle  Robert  Scott  is  dead,  worth  $20,000."     This  man 
came  to  Canada  poor.     He  went  on  a  wild  lot  and  cut  his  way  to 
fortune.      "  I  know  many  men,"   adds  my  con  espondent,  "  who 
emigi'ated  from  places  adjacent  to  my  native  place  who  were  poor 
men  on  their  arrival  in  Canada,  and  are  now  in  independent  cir- 
cumstances— some  as  well  off  as  the  above  named,     T!ese  I  look 
upon  as  reflecting  more  honour  on  Ireland  and  Irish  character  than 
her  gentlemen.     I  think  I  am  safe  in  asserting  that  our  thrifty 
Ulster  men  are  as  fair  specimens  of  success  as  the  canny  Scotch." 

I  have  received  dozens  of  letters,  all  authenticated  with  names 


246 


THE  IliISU»LA.N   IN    CANADA. 


and  addresses,  from  well-to-do  fanners,  which  make  out  a  much 
more  emphatic  case  than  the  above. 

The  other  day  Guelph  held  her  jubilee  to  celebrate  the  cutting 
of  the  first  tree  where  the  county  town  of  Wellington  now  stands, 
in  which  Irishmen  have  done  their  part  in  all  resi)ect.s.  When  the 
emigrants  began  to  pour  into  Canada  they  found  no  colonization 
roads  to  aid  their  progress.  Where  a  dozen  rich  counties  yield 
the  means  of  a  happy  and  cultivated  existence  to  thousands,  there 
was  nothing  but  unbroken  forest.  There  were  few  cows  and  fewer 
horses.  N?t  half  a  million  of  acres  were  cultivated,  even  after  a 
fashion.  Ottawa  did  not  exist  even  as  the  Village  of  By  town. 
Not  a  tree  had  been  cut  where  London  stands  now.  In  1821, 
in  the  whole  of  that  vast  tract  which  to-day  compi'ises  the  Coun- 
ties of  Northumberland  and  Durham,  TS',  *th  and  South  Victoria, 
Peterborough  and  Halliburton,  there  were  only  two  post  offices. 
Newcastle  and  Bowmanville  had  not  emerged  into  the  village 
state.  The  forest  gloomed  where  Lindsay  and  Peterborough 
flourish.  There  was,  as  we  shall  sec  by -and -by,  but  small 
educational  advantages.  The  howl  of  the  wolf  was  more  familiar 
than  the  voice  of  preacher  or  teacher.  Loo)-.  at  Canada  to-day. 
The  change  is  undoubtedly  due  in  part  to  the  Englishman  and 
Scotchman,  but  if  the  truth  must  be  told,  the  greater  part  of  the 
work  was  done  by  Irishmen,  To-day,  in  Toronto  streets  there 
are  splendid  stores  where  the  water  of  the  Bay  rolled  fifty  years 
ago.  There  is  a  Custom  House  which  would  be  an  ornament  to 
any  city  in  the  world — which  would  not  have  been  out  of  place  in 
Athens  in  the  days  of  Pericles.  Fifty  years  ago  a  wooden  shanty 
was  enough  for  all  purposes.  Tens  of  thousands  of  dollars  worth 
of  goods  psiss  through  this  Custom  House  in  a  year.  Fifty  years 
ago  they  used  to  import  little  parcels  of  tea.  Fifty  years  ago,  in 
fact,  Toronto  was  a  village.  Most  of  the  houses  were  below  the 
Market,  east  of  which  all  the  business  was  done.  There  was  an 
orchard  where  the  establishment  of  Mr.  Kay  stands,  at  the  corner 
of  Yonge  and  King.  There  was  another  orchard  between  Melinda 
and  Wellington.  According  to  Mr.  James  Stitt,  who  came  from 
Derry,  and  who  has  been  here  for  over  half  a  century,  there  were 
at  this  period  plenty  of  Irish  in  Toronto.  There  was  little  money. 
You  could  hire  a  man  for  six  dollars  a  month  and  a  girl  for  three 


AN  IRISH   AUTHOR  ON  CANADA   IN   1823. 


247 


t 


"^ 


There  was  one  Roman  Catholic  Church  and  one  Presbyterian  and 
one  English — all  very  small.  John  Baldwin,  Ijrother  to  Dr. 
Baldwin,  kept  a  store  in  King  Street.  When  Mr.  Beaty  came  here, 
in  1817,  there  was  only  one  brick  house  in  the  town.  Five  thou- 
sand Indians  and  their  squaws  used  to  meet  where  Adelaide  Street 


runs. 


In  1824  with  the  view  of  encouraging  immigration,  and  giving 
some  idea  of  Canada,  Edward  A  Hen  Talbot,  a  relative  of  Colonel 
Talbot,  published  a  book  in  two  volumes  in  which  he  gave  his 
impressions  of  the  country.  He  was  very  ready  to  condemn  what- 
ever displeased  him.  His  testimony  when  it  was  favourable  was 
therefore  all  the  more  convincing.  Great  changes  must  have  taken 
place  since  he  visited  Canada  fifty-four  years  ago.  For  instance 
he  says  Canadian  women  of  that  time,  though  possessed  of  the 
finest  black  eyes,  could  boast  of  very  few  of  those  irresistible 
charms  which  captivate  the  heart.  The  immigration  of  the  fol- 
lowing years  composed  in  part  of  English  and  Scotch,  but  mainly 
of  Irish,  must  in  half  a  century  have  wrought  a  wonderful  change. 
The  women  had  one  hideous  defect  peculiarly  offensive.  There 
was  hardly  one  of  them  over  twenty  years  of  age  whose  teeth 
were  not  entirely  destroyed.    They  were  also  subject  to  goitre. 

Talbot  found  in  Upper  Canada,  two  classes  of  society :  The  first 
class  composed  of  professional  men,  merchants,  civil  and  military 
officers,  and  the  members  of  the  Prorincial  Parliament ;  the 
second  of  farmers,  mechanics  and  labourers,  who  associated  to- 
gether on  all  occasions  "  without  any  distinction."  The  first  class 
dressed  exactly  in  the  same  way  as  people  in  the  old  country,  but 
the  men  Here  much  less  intelligent  and  the  women  not  so  refined 
in  their  manners.  They  were  fond  of  public  assemblies  but  had 
no  taste  for  small  social  parties,  a  criticism  as  true  to-day  as  in 
1823.  In  the  winter  subscription  balls  were  common,  and  every 
tavern  in  the  country  however  destitute  in  other  accommodation, 
was  provided  with  an  extensive  ball-room.  There  was  no  intro- 
duction, admission  being  a  matter  of  course  on  producing  a  ticket. 
The  gentlemen  sat  on  one  side  of  the  room,  the  ladies  on  the  other. 
*  A  line  of  demarcation  appears  to  be  drawn  between  them  over 
which  one  would  suppose  it  was  high  treason  to  pass,  or  to  throw 
even  a  sentiment.     Both  parties  maintain  an  obstinate  silence  and 


248 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


appear  as  cautious  of  trespassing  beyond  tlie  imaginary  landmark 
which  divides  their  respective  domains,  as  if  the  pass  was  guarded 
by  rattle  snakes."  When  the  order  for  dancing  was  given  the 
gentlemen  signified  their  wish  to  take  a  })artner  by  "  awkwardly 
placing  themselves  via-a-vis  to  their  fair  antagonist,  and  making 
a  sort  of  bow  so  stiff  that  as  the  head  slowly  inclines  towards  the 
floor  you  imagine  you  hear  the  spine  and  the  marrow  separating." 

Those  were  the  days  before  the  "Boston."  The  gay  youths  and 
lively  maidens  of  those  times  were  much  attached  to  country 
dances.  The  ladies  vied  with  each  other  in  introducing  the  most 
difficult  figures.  Few  steps  were  danced  but  all  were  deeply 
"  skilled  "  in  the  "  right  and  left,  six  hands  round,  and  down  the 
middle."  When  supper  was  announced  the  gentlemen  led  their 
partners  to  the  supper-room  and  immediately  returned  to  the  ball- 
room, where  they  waited  until  the  ladies  had  done.  The  gentle-^ 
men  then  "  su})ped  undismayed  by  female  presence."  After  supper 
dancing  recommenced  and  was  continued  until  daylight. 

This  aristocratic  but  not  untruthful  critic  says,  that  men  "of  the 
first  class"  in  Canada,  in  1823,  were,  with  very  few  exceptions,  of 
"  mean  origin" — by  which,  doubtless,  he  means  poor.  Put  they 
had  acquired  considerable  fortunes,  and  made  quite  "  a  genteel 
appearance."  Indeed,  he  found  them  "  very  little  inferior"  to  coun- 
try gentlemen  in  the  three  kingdoms,  either  in  look  or  address. 
He  could  not  say  as  much  for  the  women.  They  had  allowed  their 
fortunes  greatly  to  outstrip  their  minds  and  persons  in  improve- 
ment. "  That  graceful  and  dignified  carriage,  that  polite  and  fas- 
cinating address,  that  demeanour,  '  nor  bashful  nor  obtrusive,' 
which  so  eminently  mark  the  lady  of  family  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland,  are  nowhere  to  be  witnessed."  Nevertheless,  the 
majority  of  the  young  ladies  of  Upper  Canada  were  "  decently,  if 
not  fashionably,  educated,"  but  they  had  little  taste  for  reading, 
and  were  averse  to  conversation.  Again,  it  must  be  remarked — 
what  a  change  has  come  over  the  people  of  Canada !  It  must  be  re- 
membered this  man  saw  tlie  best  society  ;  that  he  is  a  competent 
witness.  He  declares  that  the  ladies  he  met  would  sit  for  hours 
in  the  company  of  gentlemen  without  once  interchanging  a  senti- 
ment, or  manifesting  the  slightest  ir  ist  in  conversation  of  any 
kind.    A  settled  melancholy  sat  upon  ».aeir  countenances, — 


MARRIAGE   IN    1823.      CLASSES. 


249 


And  Htealing  oft  a  look  at  tho  bijf  jiloom, — 

the  men  came  to  partake  of  the  same  "^luinijishncss."  You  might 
as  well  have  tried  to  reverse  the  order  of  nature,  as  have  attempted 
to  extort  a  smile  from  their  countenances.  Yet  he  was  told  when 
emancipated  from  the  presence  of  men  they  could  converse  with 
volubility. 

In  those  days  all  the  ladies  married  yonng,  nor  was  fortune  with 
them  a  matter  of  consideration.  If  one  attained  her  twenty-fifth 
year  without  marrying,  she  was  regarded  as  having  passed  her 
youth,  and  no  longer  entitled  to  gallant  attentions  from  the  other 
sex.  However,  an  old  maid  was  "  a  delicacy,"  of  which  few  man- 
sions could  boast. 

Not  only  has  a  great  change  for  the  better  come  over  our  Ca- 
nadian women,  a  great  change  has  come  over  our  Canadian  men — 
for  the  better?  In  those  days  it  seems,  every  man  on  attaining  his 
twenty-first  year  resolved  to  take  a  wife.  Women  were  therefore 
a  "  scarce  commodity  in  the  Canadian  market."  In  one  respect, 
the  difference  between  the  men  of  that  time  and  the  men  of  to- 
day is  specially  gratifying.  It  is  a  rare  thing  in  Canada  for  a 
man  who  has  any  respect,  for  himself,  or  who  occupies  the  position 
of  a  gentleman,  to  get  drunk.  But  Mr.  Talbot  found  the  Canadian 
gentlemen  very  fond  of  drinking  to  excess,  their  favourite  bev- 
erage being  Jamaica  spirits,  brandy,  shrub  and  peppermint. 

What  our  critic  calls  "the  second  or  lower  class"  had,  he  assures 
us,  much  the  same  manners  and  customs  as  the  higher  class.  They 
were,  however,  less  intelligent ;  their  women  were  very  poorly 
educated,  greatly  addicted  to  pleasure,  immoderately  fond  of 
dress,  and  after  eighteen,  determined  to  follow  their  own  hearts 
in  the  choice  of  a  husband.  He  gives  a  very  unpleasant  picture 
of  morals,  and  if  not  exaggerated,  we  have  only  to  congratulate 
ourselves  that  in  this  important  particular  we  have  made  great 
progress.  He  says,  Irish  women  were  held  in  high  esteem.  "  The 
Irish  ladies  are  such  as  might  naturally  be  expected,  such  as  have 
stamped  a  high  and  exalted  character  on  the  domestic  economy  of 
our  country,  and  have  rendered  her  in  this  respect,  the  envy  and 
admiration  of  the  world.  In  Europe  and  America,  in  every  place 
where  they  are  known,  the  daughters  of  Hibernia  are  regarded  as. 


-250 


THK    lUIHHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


the  Lucretias  of  modern  times  ;  as  the  proud  and  honouraV»l(>  ex- 
«in|)liHcati()U  of  the  wise  man'.s  words  :  '  She  will  do  her  husband 
j^ood  and  not  evil  all  the  days  of  his  life.  8he  openeth  her  mouth 
with  wisdom,  and  in  her  tongue  is  the  law  of  kindness.'" 

Mr.  Tali >ot  assures  us  that  in  the  House  of  Assembly  there  were 
many  who  could  neither  sign  their  names  nor  even  read,  and  lie 
comments  with  much  justice  on  the  bad  effect  it  must  have  on 
the  mind  of  the  country  to  see  incompetent  and  ignorant  persons 
filling  exalted  stations  and  responsible  positions.  There  is  no 
stimulus  to  culture.  His  remarks  indicate  a  want  of  appreciation 
of  the  necessary  conditions  of  a  new  country.  That  he  should 
comment  on  the  fact  that  in  Canada  in  1823  literary  merit  could 
not  anticipate  "  honour  and  renown,"  as  its  certain  rev/ard,  will 
create  a  smile  in  ]  877.  The  young  Canadian  "  looks  around  him 
and  plainly  discovers  that  a  superior  education  is  by  no  means 
necessary  to  qualify  him  for  the  highest  situation  in  tlie  land,  for 
he  finds  that  the  greater  part  of  those  who  ^^1  official  situations 
are  as  ignorant  as  himself."  Even  in  1877  a  prominent  merchant 
in  Toronto,  when  one  of  his  boys  showed  artistic  talent  _jrew 
alarmed,  and  when  it  was  suggested  to  him  to  cultivate  the  lad's 
gifts  replied  with  much  self-complacency  that  lie  would  do  nothing 
of  the  kind.  He  did  not  see,  he  said,  that  those  men  who  learned  so 
much  were  any  the  cleverer  at  making  money.  We  have,  I  would 
fain  believe,  improved  on  fifty  years  ago  in  reverence.  Mr.  Talbot 
found  there  was  a  pervading  and  persistent  propensity  to  «-d,ke  the 
name  of  God  in  vain.  There  was  a  perpetual  use  of  the  most 
dreadful  oaths  and  imprecations;  a  uniform  violation  of  all 
decency  and  a  practical  contempt  for  everything  which  bore  the 
character  of  virtue.  In  respect  to  swearing  which  is  a  practice 
as  vulgar  as  it  is  wicked,  there  is  still  room  for  progress  and  ground 
for  regret.*  The  criticisms  of  this  Irishman  who  has  long  past 
to  his  account  may  perhaps  have  a  reforming  infl.uence  to-day. 


'  I  once  count*"d  the  number  of  times  in  ten  minutes  a  prominent  man,  in  idle  con- 
versation, used  the  solemn  phrase — "  By  God."  He  used  it  thirty-five  times  !  nearly  as 
often  as  he  resorted  to  that  other  abominable  but  not  so  serious  American  vulgarism-^ 
"  you  know  :"  "  we  went  you  know  and  then  by  G —  you  know  whom  should  we  meet 
you  know  ?  A  and  B  themselves,  by  G — ,  and  you  know,  etc."  The  young  men  I  think 
do  not  swear  as  much  as  their  elders,  and  if  they  use  supernatural  expletives  content 
themselves  with  the  comparatively  inoffensive,  but  still  vulgar,  "  damn." 


J 


t 


1 


EXFEllIENCE   OF   EIGHTEEN   SETTLEllS. 


251 


Though  ho  (lenonncos  camp  iiieotings,  ho  pays  a  high  trihutc  to 
tho  work  tho  Metliodi.sfcH  did  in      oso  early  days. 

Fifty  or  .sixty  years  ag(j  the  wages  usually  paid  to  labourers  all 
over  Canada  was  two  shillings  and  sixpence  a  day  with  hoard  and 
lodging.  Carpenters  and  hewers  of  wood  received  double  this 
sum.  Mr.  E.  A.  Talljot,  on  the  first  of  July  1823,  addressed  a 
letter  to  those  of  "  my  fatlu'r's  settlers,  who  are  now  residing  in 
the  Township  of  London,"  asking  them  what  their  position  was 
and  whether  they  were  content  with  their  lot.  Eighteen  men,  all 
of  them  Irishmen,  replied  that  they  were  perfectly  satisfied  with 
their  adoj)ted  country.  It  may  be  well  to  go  over  their  names, 
because  their  descendants  are  flourishing  among  us  to-day.  William 
Geary  had  £300  when  leaving  Ireland.  He  took  up  200acres  of  land, 
had  cleared  thirty  acres,  possessed  one  yol^e  of  oxen,  six  cows,  no 
sheep,  eight  young  cattle  ;  and  had  no  acquired  capital.  Charles 
Golding,£100;150  acres;  2  yoke  of  oxen;  5  cows  ;  6 young  cattle;  10 
.sheep.  Joseph  O'Brien,  £100;  100  acres;  20  acres  cleared;  1  yoke 
oxen,  and  1  horse;  4  cows;  4  young  cattle;  20  sheep.  Thomas  Gush, 
£100  ;  200  acres  ;  15  acres  ;  1  yoke  oxen ;  3  cows ;  5  young  cattle  ; 
5  sheep.  Robert  Ralph,  £50  ;  100  acres;  15  acres  ;  no  oxen  ;  3 
cows  ;  5  young  cattle  ;  no  .sheep.  John  Grey,  £50  ;  100  acres  ;  26 
acres ;  1  yoke  oxen  ;  4  cows  ;  6  young  cattle ;  10  sheep.  William 
Haskett,  £100 ;  100  acres;  15  acres;  1  yoke  oxen  and  1  hor? e  ;  3 
cows  ;  5  young  cattle  ;  10  sheep.  Francis  Lewis,  £75  ;  100  ^res  ; 
2'  acres  ;  1  yoke  oxen  ;  2  cows  ;  4  young  cattle  ;  5  sheep.  Foilet 
Grey,  100  acres ;  25  acres  ;  1  yoke  oxen ;  5  cows  ;  G  young  cattle ; 
10  sheep.  John  Grey,  jun.,  £40 ;  100  acres ;  10  acres ;  1  yoke 
oxen  ;  2  cows  ;  3  young  cattle  ;  no  sheep.  Thomas  Howay,  £50  ; 
100  acres ;  25  acres  ;  2  yoke  oxen,  :vnd  1  horse  ;  1  cow  ;  2  sheep. 
James  Howay,  £20 ;  100  acres  ;  10  acres  ;  1  yoke  oxen  ;  4  cows  ; 
1  young  cattle  ;  5  sheep.  John  Turner,  £100  ;  100  acres  ;  20  acres  ; 
I  yoke  oxen ;  3  cows ;  5  young  cattle ;  no  sheep,  Thomas 
Howard,  £50;  100  acres  ;  25  acres ;  1  yoke  oxen ;  3  cows  ;  3  young 
cattle  ;  10  sheep.  Robert  Keys,  £50  ;  100  acres  ;  15  acres ;  1  yoke 
oxen  ;  3  cows ;  4  young  cattle ;  10  sheep.  William  Evans.  £50  ; 
100  acres  ;  15  acres  ;  1  yoke  oxen ;  2  cows  ;  2  young  cattle ,  no 
sheep.  William  Neil,  £50  ;  100  acres  ;  17  acres  ;  1  yoke  oxen  ;  3 
cows  :  4  young  cattle  ;  10  sheep.     George  Foster,  £30  ;  100  acres  ; 


^t^trnmrn 


252 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN    CANADA. 


15  acres ;  1  yoko  oxen  ;  2  cows  ;  3  3'oun^'  cattle  ;  10  sheep.  None 
had  any  accjuired  capital.  Mr.  Talbot  made  a  strong  appeal  for 
f^migratioi)  from  overcrowded  Ireland,  ai;d  against  pauper  emigra- 
tion. "  Were  I  a  poor  Irish  peasant,  compelled  to  toil  year  after 
year  without  a  hope  of  bettering  my  circumstances,  I  would 
endeavour  to  find  my  way  to  this  country  it  such  an  object  could 
be  achieved  by  any  human  exertions.  Nay,  if  I  could  not  other- 
wise obtain  money  sufllicient  to  defray  my  expenses,  I  would 
attire  myself  in  the  habit  of  a  common  beggar,  and  for  seven 
years,  if  necessary,  would  continually  solicit  alms,  in  order  thereby 
to  amass  the  necessary  .sum  to  effect  my  object." 

There  has  been  no  period  in  our  history  when  persons  were  not 
to  be  found  who  believed  our  manifest  destiny  was  annexation. 
Such  persons  rarely  appeared  among  the  Iiish,  nor  aic  they  found 
among  them  to-day.  In  1828,  annexation  was  thought  to  be 
very  near — who  has  proved  right  ?  The  men  who  said  in  1823, 
that  it  was  only  a  matter  of  a  few  years,  or  the  Irishman  who  put 
on  rejord  that  the  pro])hets  of  annexation  anticipated  an  event 
which  would  never  take  place  ?  Talbot  declared  from  his  knowledge 
of  the  people  of  Canada  then,  that  were  their  adopted  country 
invaded,  they  would  "  meet  the  foe  with  a  determined  resolu- 
tion that  w  luld  ensure  success  to  a  more  dangerous  enterprise." 
Inhabited  by  such  a  people,  he  asked  what  had  Canada  to  fear. 
Wj  had  England  to  fear  ?  Nothing.  But  she  had  much  to  do. 
Mr.  Talbot  s?w  the  governmental  bureaucratic  abuses  which  other 
Irishmen  were  to  sweep  away,  and  he  called  on  the  Imperial 
Parliament  to  adopt  measures  as  more  likely  to  issue  in  desirable 
results  than  some  of  those  acts  which  had  enian^.ted  from  the 
resident  authorities. 

Talbot  was  disgusted  with  Canadian  hotels,  and  the  carelessness 
of  their  proprietors  respecting  the  comforts  of  what  we  call 
"  guests,"  a  curious  euphuism,  by  which  an  hotel  keeper  describes 
his  patrons  and  employers.  He  was  also  offended  by  their  curi- 
osity and  frank  impertinence.  In  the  course  of  a  pedestrian  tour 
from  the  Talbot  settlement  to  Montreal,  he  stopped  at  an  hotel 
where  the  landlord,  finding  his  sly  inquisitorial  attempts  in  vain, 
after  many  guesses  asked  :  "  What  are  you  V  "  An  Irishman,"  re- 
plied Talbot.    "  Well,  1  swear  that's  pretty  particular  tarnation 


i 


HOTEL   KEEPERS   FIFTY   YEARS  AGO. 


253 


0(1(1  too,"  cried  this  Boniface,  who  proved  to  ])e  a  Yankee.  "  Why, 
I  vow  you  Hpeak  lunglish  nearly  as  well  as  we  Americans  does." 
Tliis  was  nearly  as  ^^ood  as  the  assurance  of  a  New  York  citizen  to  a 
well-known  Oxford  professor:  '"1  knew  at  once,"  said  the  New-york- 
er,  "  you  were  an  Englishman,  by  your  provincial  accent."  On  pre- 
senting himself  at  another  hotel  or  tavern,  and  asking  a  damsel 
to  get  him  some  dinner,  he  met  with  no  direct  response.    The  girl 
merely  turned  to  her  mother  and  said  :  "  Mother,  the  man  wants 
to  eat."     If  he  could  rise  from  his  ashes  and  come  to  Canada  to- 
day, he   would  find  our  hotels  and  taverns  in  many  respects 
changed.    The  hotel-keeper  to-day  is  too  important  or  too  polite 
to  manifest  any  curiosity  about  anyone,  if  his  conscience  is  at  rest 
as  to  the  matter  of  payment.     On  the  score  of  comfort  he  would 
have  little  to  complain,  beyond  the  fact  that  at  the  big  hotels,  fish, 
fowl,  beef,  mutton,  venison,  veal,  have  a  community  of  flavour,  sug- 
gestive of  the  belief  that  during  the  process  of  cooking  they  have 
been  endeavouring  to  solve  the  great  pi-oblem  of  young  countries 
in  modern  days :  how  to  make  the  heterogeneous  homogeneous. 
He  strongly  condemns  the  charivaris  then  common,  and  apparently, 
seeing  that  one  occurred  tlie  other  day,  not  wholly  extinct  yet. 
Ho  was  delighted  with  the  Lower  Canadians.     In  view  of  Mr, 
Gladstone's  legislation,  and  of  (juestions  frequently  raised  among 
ourselves,  it  is  hard  to  resist  ([noting  a  passage  from  the  pen  of  this 
Irish  Conservative,  as  he  describes  himself,  of  course  with  refer- 
ence to  home  politics,  in  1823.     But  I  nmst  content  myself  with 
giving  the  substance.     The  French  Canadians  seemed  to  him  the 
happiest  people  on  earth.   They  were  almost  to  a  man  in  that  en- 
viable state  of  mediocrity  which  Agur  considered  the  most  favour- 
able to  the  preservation  of  a  virtuous  mind,  when  he  prayed  for 
"  neither  poverty  nor  riches  "  Fo  had  frequently  observed  a  strik- 
ing resemblance  in  manr  >''   ius  well  as  in  religi(jn  between  the  Irish 
peasantry  and  the  Lowe    Canadians.   But  he  had  not  been  able  to 
pursue  the  compariscm  without  making  a  melancholy  contrast. 
The  liearts  of  his  "  oppressed  countrymen"  were  e(pially  light  and 
equally  susceptible  of  the  tenderest  impressions.  They  were  oq  ually 
ardent  in  tiieir  afl'ectionf-,  equally  hospitable,  but  more  sociable. 
But  in  every  other  resnect  how  different !     While  the  habitant 
appreciated  the  British  constitution,  which  guarded  his  civil  rights 


I 


254 


THE   IRISHMAN  IN   CANADA. 


and  religious  liberty,  and  lived  a  stranger  to  want  and  care,  misery 
and  wretchedness,  in  happ^  seclusion  from  disaffection,  discontent, 
and  bloodshed,  the  Irishman  dragged  out  a  wretched  existence, 
under  what  "  he  erroneously  conceives  to  be  a  government  whose 
grand  object  is  to  keep  him  in  poverty  and  slavery,  at  once  the  pity 
and  the  scorn  of  the  Avorld."     While  the  Catholic  Canadian  rev- 
ei'en(.ed   the  constitution  and  the  laws,  the  Catholic    Irishman 
seemed  to  exist  only  that  he  might  subvert  both.   But  why  was 
this  ?     Because  the  laws  were  wise  in  Lower  Canada,  and  dealt 
out  justice  to  the  Catholic  Canadian,  whereas  they  were  unwise  in 
Ireland,  and  dealt  out  injustice  to  the  Catholic  Irishman.     Had 
Pitt,  in  1800,  been  able  to  carry  out  his  policy  of  emancipation, 
and  had  the  land  laws  been  reformed,  the  miseries  of  sixty  years 
would  have  been  impossible.  "  I  have  often  heard  it  argued,"  says 
Mr.  Talbot,  himself  a  Protestant,  "  that  Catholics  cannot  feel  well- 
affected  to  a  Protestant  Government ;  but  surely  there  is  here  a 
full  refutation  of  this  absurd  opinion.     I  question  much  if  out  of 
England's  twelve  millions  Protestants  there  could  be  selected  l»ur 
hundred  thousand  individuals  better  affected  towards  the  English 
Government  and  constitution  than  the  Catholics  of  Lower  Canada.'* 
And  have  we  not  in  Upper  Canada  found  them  loyal  ?  Mr.  Talbot 
thoiTght  all  that  was  necessary  to  i)acify  Ireland  was  to  treat  them 
as  a  half  a  century  earlier  the  French  Canadians  were  treated. 
To-day  I  can  assure  my  fellow  Protestants  that  all  they  have  to  do 
in  order  to  remove  whatever  they  deem  objectionable  to  the  Catho- 
lic as  a  politician  is,  to  treat  him  on  equal  terms.    It  is  no  wonder 
that  they  should  be  peculiar  and  puzzling,  that  their  thoughts 
should  not  be  our  thoughts,  nor  their  political  passion  our  political 
paasion,  nor  their  language  our  language,  when,  partly  through  our 
fault  and  partly  thiough  their  own,  they  live  amongst  us  but  are 
not  of  us,  almost  as  separated  as  the  Jews  were  from  the  suri'ound- 
ing  populations  in  mediaeval  times.     Those  who  have  truth  on 
their  side  may  nullify  its  powers  by  associating  it  with  repellant 
ideas.     Injustice  in  any  form,  f<  nd  intolerance  however  subdued, 
clouds  up  this  3un  of  humanity's  hopes,  the  brightest  of  whose  at- 
tendant stars  is  toleration,  whose  beauty  has  ravished  the  choicest 
spirits  of  the  world — calm,  ruild-beaming  in  its  light,  and  sweet 
and  comforting  as  charity.  It  sometimes  appears  to  me  as  if  Catho- 


/h 


J 


HUMAN   NARROWNESS.      LITTLE  YORK   IN   1817. 


255 


A  > 


lies  and  Protestants,  with  passions  at  least  as  strong  as  their  con- 
victions, forget  that  the  God  whom  they  both  profess  to  serve  does 
not  hate  either ;  rather,  we  are  assured  on  all  hands  loves  both, 
though  one  or  both  may — for  man  is  fallible — hold  some  mistaken 
views.  So  far,  therefo'-o,  as  they  hate  each  other  they  are  actuated 
by  a  spirit  contrary  to  that  of  God.  The  people  of  Nineveh  were 
heathen.  Jonah  was  offended  with  Jehovah  because  he  did  not 
destroy  that  great  city.  God  spared  them,  and  rebuked  the  Jew- 
ish exclusiveness  of  the  narrow-minded  prophet,  who,  though  he 
waa  willing  to  see  Nineveh  in  ashes,  was  vexed  so  as  to  be  ready 
to  die  because  a  gourd  which  grew  up  in  a  night  withered.  Are 
we  not,  most  of  us,  occupied  with  our  gourds,  and  do  we  not  think 
too  little  about  humanity,  not  to  speak  of  the  teachings  of  One 
we  all  profess  to  revere  ? 

Among  the  earliest  fruits  of  the  work  of  war  and  bad  laws 
combined,  as  emigration  agents,  an  emigrant  ship  in  1817  stood 
out  from  the  port  then  know  i  as  the  Cove  of  Cork,  but  which 
on  the  occasion  of  the  Queen's  visit  some  three  decades  since 
changed  its  name.  To-day  across  the  hill  encircled  harbour,  un- 
rivalled in  beauty  w^A  .capacity,  there  shines  the  front  of  splendid 
hotels  and  stately  mansions  on  terrace  above  terrace.  But  in  1817 
Queenstown  was  nothing  better  than  a  good  sized  village  whose  ho- 
tels with  their  dining  rooms  over  the  mighty  b«.y  were  a  popular 
attraction.  Edward  Gate?,  a  Corkraan,  nad  chartered  a  vessel  to 
bring  out  emigrants  to  Montreal.  The  vessel  was  left  at  Quebec 
while  they  made  their  way  to  Montreal  in  the  "Swift-Sure"  steamer. 
Gates  having  loaded  his  vessel  for  the  return  voyage  travelled  with 
his  family  up  to  little  York  v/hich  was  then  a  miiddy  and  dirty 
little  place,  without  trottoirs.  The  seaman  was  an  enterprising 
fellow.  He  at  once  started  a  store  at  the  corner  of  Caroline  Street 
and  King  Stroet  and  commenced  manufacturing  soap  and  candles, 
and  tobacco.  In  1820  he  built  a  packet  to  run  between  little 
York  and  Niagara.  The  Duke  of  Richmond  was  then  Governor 
of  Lower  Canada,  and  the  boat  was  called  after  his  Grace,  who 
had  not  perhaps  quite  lost  his  popularity.  This  waa  the  iirst  re- 
gular packet  between  York  and  Niagara,  and  on  its  first  trij) 
Colonel  Johnson,  who  was  commanding  the  G8th,made  the  vesse!  a 
present  of  a  suit  of  flags  and  a  small  piece  of  ordnance,  to  be  fired 


25G 


THE  IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


of!  on  its  arrival  and  departure.  Gates  sailed  the  "Duke  of  Rich- 
mond" on  tlie  lake  until  1H2G,  when  Richardson  built  the  steamer 
"Canada."  He  then  got  a  situation  at  Port  l)alhousi(5,  being 
made  collector  just  as  a  canal  was  opened.  He  died  there  in  1827, 
and  was  buried  at  St.  Cathariner.. 

He  was  a  tall  man  of  dignified  bearing.  He  had  seen  service, 
had  been  master  in  the  navy,  and  commanded  a  privateer.  That 
the  above  facts  are  well  worthy  of  record  will  be  seen  by  the  fol- 
lowing extract  from  the  newspaper  of  the  day.  Having  described 
the  launch  and  informed  us  that  judges  consider  the  vessel  a  very 
fine  one  the  reporter  8a3'^H  : — "  It  is  now  several  years  since  any 
launch  has  been  had  here  ;  it  therefore,  though  so  small  a  ves8el,at- 
>acts  a  good  deal  of  attention. 

The  son,  R.  H.  Gates,  lives  in  Toronto.  He  has  been  engaged 
in  various  businesses  here  and  at  Bradford  where  there  are  many 
Irish  families,  such  as  the  Armstrongs  and  the  Stoddars.  He 
founded  the;  York  Pioneers  in  1869,  and  he  assisted  in  the  forma- 
tion of  the  United  Canadian  Association  in  1870,  of  which  for  the 
last  two  years  he  has  been  president.  This  is  the  gentleman  who 
in  1870  made  such  praiseworthy,  but  unsuccessful  efforts  to  find 
the  bones  of  Tecumseh,  and  who  ha^  in  his  possession  several 
valuable  relics,  among  others  a  gun  found  in  the  bay,  a  veritable 
"  brown  bess." 

To  return  to  the  passengers  in  Gates'  ship.  Crossing  the  Atlan- 
tic was  then  a  very  different  thing  from  what  it  is  to-day.  A 
graphic  account  of  the  voyage  might  be  made  from  a  little  book 
written  in  faded  ink  kept  by  one  of  the  passengers.  Diarists  are, 
as  a  inile,  an  imbecile  class.  A  diary  v/as  picked  up  some  twelve 
months  ago,  on  Front  Street,  in  which  the  owner  entered,  day 
after  day,  that  he  had  risen  at  six,  had  had  a  wash,  and  felt 
splendid  ;  at  certain  intervals  there  was  a  variation — he  seems  on 
occasions  to  have  risen  as  usual  at  six,  to  have  gone  through  his 
customary  ablations,  and  to  have  felt  not  "splendid  "  l*ut  "  first 
rate."  Charles  Stotesbury's  diary  was  kept  on  a  more  instructive 
principle.  Thecinigrant  sliip  left  Cork  harbour  on  Tlun-sday,  the 
15th  May,  1817,  at  7  o'clock.  Gn  the  IGth,  Stotesbuiy  saw  a 
crrampus.  After  they  were  at  sea  six  days,  during  the  last  thiee  of 
which  they  had  dirty  weather,  a  little  robin  (^ame  on  board.     It 


I 


t 

n 
Is 
It 


If 
It 


J 


AN   EMIGRANTS   DIARY. 


257 


w  a  pity  the  little  red-breast  died,  as  he  might  have  taken  his 
place  side  by  side  with  the  "  emigrant  lark."  On  the  24'th  of  May 
a  storm  took  away  the  top  sails  of  the  ship.  Stotesbury's  trunk 
and  the  long-boat  were  washed  over})oard.  The  main-sheet  was 
torn  away.  "  Our  shrouding  disabled.  Our  cook  and  evorything 
almost  drenched.  Every  p(}rson  on  board  in  be<l."  The  next  day 
was  spent  in  making  repairs.  "  Found  out,"  he  says,  "  some 
sweet  water  saved  by  the  sailors  which  was  of  great  service."  On 
the  4th  of  June,  we  have  the  entry  :  "  Put  on  three  potatoes  per 
day  at  our  dinner.  Water  very  bad.  Blowing  all  night.  Con- 
trary wind."  On  the  29th  of  July :  "  Going  to  heave  the  lead. 
Supposed  to  be  on  the  banks.  Saw  several  ice  islands."  If  voy- 
aging in  those  days  had  some  un})leasantness,  there  were  compen- 
sations. Who  coming  hither  in  one  of  the  Allan  Line  could 
write  at  the  end  of  a  six  weeks*  journey,  such  an  entry  as  the  fol- 
lowing :—"  June  *^()th,  wont  out  in  a  small  boat  fishing  and 
fowling;  a  perfect  calm;  got  sounding  on  the  banks  of  New' 
foundland,  and  caught  a  few  cod."  On  July  the  2nd,  there  is 
another  calm  day,  and  they  catch  a  large  quantity  of  turbot  and 
codfish.  "  Dined  on  iurbot  and  cod  pie,"  the  diarist  notes  with 
inward  satisfaction.  A  succession  of  fine  days  followed.  On 
Tuesday,  the  25th  August,  they  are  twen^.y-five  miles  from  Que- 
bec, and  Stotesbury  went  on  shore  with  four  passengers,  of  whom 
one  was  named  Daly,  who  had  his  family  with  him,  and  who  was 
about  "to  look  for  a  place  or  get  a  snug  farm."  The  diarist  adds  : 
"  Bought  some  bread  and  milk  at  a  l)ake-liouse.  The  owm^r  has 
three  windmills  on  the  sea  shore,  ilis  family  live  here  in  the  first 
style.  His  daughter  was  going  to  mass  in  a  hi>rse-ehair.  In  the 
summer  this  is  a  most  beautiful  plac(!.  But,"  he  sighs,  "  they 
have  but  five  months  summer  and  seven  of  winter."  On  the  Ifith 
of  August  they  passed,  at  four  o'clo(!k,  the  Falls  of  Montmor- 
ency and  in  half  an  hour  had  a  full  view  of  the  citadel-crowned 
city.  At  six  o'clock  they  were  at  the  <iuay,  the  journey  hav- 
ing taken  four  months. 

On  the  15th  August,  there  is  the  following  entry  :  "  Sent  Mr. 
SullivaTi  and  Miss  Jones  oft"  to  Montreal  in  the  steamboat.  There 
are  tiiree  of  them  at  present  running,  and  they  are  building  two 

17 


258 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


l^ 


h   ! 


moro,  one  of  .seven  hundred,  tlio  other  about  eij^lit  hundied  tons 
witli  a  Hixty  lior.se  power  engine." 

Mr.  Stoteshury  had  neitli(.'r  the  literary  power  noi-  th(!  culture 
of  Mr.  W.  D.  IIowelLs,  wh<j,se  genius  i.s  never  more  happy  than  when 
it  takes  wing  from  Preseott  gate,  alights  on  the  ('itadel  orhovei's 
over  the  Plains  of  Ahialiam,  But  it  is  extraordinary  what  a  vivid 
picture  he  gives  you  of  Quebec  in  his  own  liumble,  na'ive  way. 
Quebec  lie  tells  us  looked  very  "handsome"  from  a  short  distance. 
"  When  the  sun  is  up  it  has  a  most  })eautiful  appearance  as  the 
houses  are  covered  with  sheet  tin."  The  lowi'-r  town  ho  thought 
a  most  disagreeable  place,  the  streets  "  always  covennl  with  uiud." 
"There  are  two  ways  of  going  to  th<i  Uj)per  Town,  one  u])  a  hill 
the  way  the  horses  go,  tlu;  otlier  up  a  ladder  or  stairs  made  of  tim- 
ber. The  pathways  are  mostly  made  of  wood  as  also  the  shores, 
There  are  very  few  manufactures  here  of  any  kind.  Each  shop 
sells  everything  you  could  mention.  AH  the  goods  that  arrive 
here  are  sold  b}'-  auction.  When  th(;r(!  is  a  glut  of  anything  th(;y 
are  sold  for  little  or  nothing.  The  shop-keepers  charge  a  mcjst 
enormous  price  for  evcnything ;  as  they  do  little  or  no  lousiness  in 
tVie  winter  they  must  make  it  up  in  the  summer.  Boarding  houses 
are  from  6s.  to  10s.  per  day.  The  steand)oats  carry  about  eight 
liundnjd  persons  to  Montreal  at  a  time ;  £'S  jx^r  cabin  fare  and 
everything  found,  £1  for  steerage  and  nothing  found.  AlxAit 
three  days  to  go  up.  An  immense  number  of  Indians  t)'ade  iiere 
in  their  canoes.  They  always  carry  their  paddl(!s  in  their  hands. 
A  large  piece  of  cloth  or  blank(!t  wrapped  about  them,  tied  in  the 
middle,  a  hat  trimmed  with  silver  lace  and  silver  clasps  about 
their  arms  and  hanging  to  some  of  their  'oacks  lar-ge  plates  of  silver. 
They  are  of  a  black  complexion,  high  cheek  bones.  lj|ie  shops  do 
not  seem  to  do  much  business.  There  are  a  few  i-egular  butchers 
here  who  keep  stalls  in  the  Market  Place.  The  markets  are  sup- 
plied in  that  and  everything  else,  especially  fruit  by  the  couivtry 
people  who  come  to  town  in  a  light  kind  of  cart  and  gericrally 
driven  l>y  the  women  of  the  family.  They  draw  up  theii-  carts  in 
a  straight  line  across  the  Market  Placid  and  you  purchase  out  of 
their  carts.  They  also  carry  a  ))aras()l  to  keep  off  the  sun  in  sum- 
mer and  snow  in  winter.  In  wintei-  they  come  to  town  in  sleighs." 
Whai  a  Dutch  picture  he  makes  of  the  romantic  old  city.     Not  a 


FIRST   IMPUESSIONS  OF   QUEBKC. 


259 


lie 


lo 


Irs 


|i- 


a 


memory  is  .stirred  in  him  of  Wolfe,  of  Montgomery,  or  of  Arnold. 
"  It  is  very  hard,"  he  says  i)athetically,  "  to  do  biisinosH  here 
without  knowing  French.  The  watchmakers'  ami  silversmiths' 
shops  art!  the  handsomest  looking  shops  in  Quebec.  They  do  but 
little  business,  but  have  great  profit.  Very  few  shops  h(jre  have 
large  windows  ;  only  parlour  windows  as  we  call  them.  They  call 
them  (the  shops)  stores." 

"As  you  pass  along  the  river  from  Quebec  to  Montreal,  you  see 
the  houses  at  both  sides  and  a  chapel  which  are  built  all  alike  at 
about  nine  miles  distant  from  each  other  by  govei'innent.  Tho 
people  here  are  very  indolcmt.  As  soon  as  they  can  clear  as  much 
ground  as  will  (suable  th(!m  to  live  comfortably,  keep  a  horse  and 
cow  and  a  few  sheep  and  pigs,  a  few  acres  of  wheat,  oats  and  a 
snug  kitchen  garden  with  a  chaise  or  light  cart  which  they  use  to 
go  to  chapel  in  or  market,  and  a  sleigh  which  they  use  six  months 
of  the  year  on  the  river  on  the  ice  instead  of  the  road,  they  never 
think  of  tilling  any  more  of  the  land  but  let  it  lie  in  woods  as 
they  got  it  except  they  want  fire  wood,  tlwm  they  cut  down  the 
timber  ami  burn  the  branches  which  manui'cs  the  ground  for  them 
and  from  which  they  get  a  crop  tho  following  year," 

Here  we  have  evidently  Stotesbury's  own  observations,  mixed 
up  with  what  he  had  heard  from  others.  J3ut,  nevertheless,  thciro 
is  noi  a  word  which  has  not  historical  value.  He  concludes  his 
little  essay  headed  "  The  Town  of  Quebec,"  by  the  remai'k  :  "  Any 
man  that  has  a  wife  and  wisluis  to  live  in  the  country,  and  has 
about  (jne  hundred  guineas,  can  secure  an  imlependeiice  hereby 
getting  a  grant  of  land  and  clearing  it." 

Stotesbury  seems  to  have  had  friends  at  Quebec.  On  the  Sun- 
day after  his  landing,  he  tells  us  he  dine<l  at  one  Keatiug's,  in 
whose  garden  he  g(^  ))lenty  of  fruit.  In  the  morning  he  went  to 
the  Chuich  of  P]ngland.  The  church  and  organ  he  found  "  very 
line,"  and  the  minister  "very  good."  The  name  of  one  of  his  fel- 
^  low  passengers  was  Jefirys.  This  Jeffrya  had  taken  lodgings  in 
Quebec.  "  I  do  not  know  how  he  is  going  to  support  himself/' 
remarks  the  diarist.     "  I  do  not  think  he  knows  himself  ycst." 

On  the  loth,  we  have  later  entries,  which  give  us  an  inkling  re- 
garding eaily  emigrant  life,  and  show  that  already  there  was  the 
nucleus  of  an  Irish  colony  in  Quebec. 


i 


260 


THE  IRISHMAN    IN  CANADA. 


i    I 


On  Tnesrlay,  14th  of  August,  "met  Smith,  the  coppersmith,  and 
Mahony,  tlie  distiller.  Sold  about  ten  shillings  worth  of  my  wor- 
sted st(jckings.  Kept  three  pair  for  myself."  On  the  following 
day,  "  Sold  two  casks  of  my  glass  at  forty  per  cent,  profit."  On 
the  22nd,  "  Spent  the  day  with  Mr.  Gibb,  the  chandler,  who  is 
making  but  little  ;  there  is  such  a  quantity  of  soap  and  candles 
imported  here.  Drank  tea  with  Mr.  Doyle."  On  the  following 
day  he  drank  tea  with  Mr.  Atkins.  All  the  above  names  are  those 
of  Cork  families. 

On  the  24th,  he  embarked  in  a  sailing  vessel,  the  "  Lord  Welling- 
ton," which  weighed  anchor  atl2o'clock,  bound  for  Montreal.  The 
passengers  consisted  of  eight  men,  four  women,  and  eight  children. 
At  Three  jJivers,  two  of  the  passengers  got  work;  one  as  a  turner, 
at  SIO  per  month,  the  other,  as  a  boy  to  mind  horses,  at  S4.  Each 
got  beside,  diet,  washing  and  lodging,  The  charge  for  washing 
was  from  os.  to  6s.  a  dozen. 

On  the  1st  September,  they  anchored  in  Lake  St.  Peter,  and 
some  of  them  went  ashore.  Stotesbury  got  into  quiet  raptures 
over  the  black  currants,  the  best  he  ever  saw  ;  strawbemes,  rasp- 
berries, and  blackberries  and  some  gooseberries.  The  place  was 
for  the  most  part  wood.  A  few  cattle  were  grazing.  The  hi*^- 
was  at  least  six  feet  high.  As  he  picked  his  currants,  an  eagle 
wheeled  above  him.  He  fired,  but  the  king  of  birds  with  a  scream 
soared  unharmed  away.  On  the  3rd,  they  anchored  iifty  miles 
from  Montreal,  and  a  little  party  again  went  on  shore.  He  picked 
in  the  woods  the  handsomost  bunch  of  flowers  he  ever  saw.  The 
women  that  went  ashore  with  him  found  a  litter  of  young  pigs 
in  the  woods,  and  stole  two  of  them.  It  is  with  a  note  of  joy,  he 
marks  the  disappearance  of  tlie  mosquitos,  by  which  he  said  his 
fellow-passengers  had  been  terribly  bitten.  When  they  entered 
the  river  first,  some  of  the  passengers'  eyes  were  entirely  closed. 
Their  feet  and  hands  were  swelled,  and  even  at  this  Y)eriod  the 
"  bites"  had  not  left  the  legs  of  poor  Stotesbury.  They  reached 
Montreal  on  the  15th,  a  Sunday. 

Montreal  he  considered  half  the  size  of  Cork,  and  therefore,  it 
need  not  be  said,  that  it  must  have  grown  considerably  since. 
There  were  scarcely  any  public  buildings  to  attract  his  eye.  He 
thought  Nelson's  i  lonument  and  pillar  very  handsome.  The  Court 


i 


MONTREAL  AND  MUDDY   YORK   IN   1817. 


2G1 


trs 


118 


lit 


House  and  Gaol  were  the  only  public  buildings  he  thought  worth 
mentioning.  Thert;  wore  fourvery  handsome  brick  houses,  and  the 
man  who  built  them  had  made  the  bricks  liimself.  Auctions  were 
innumeral)le.  The  hotels  and  boarding-houses  charged  enor- 
mously. It  was  common  to  see  two  or  three  dogs  drawing  a  little 
cart,  and  one,  two,  three,  four,  five  or  six  bullocks,  drawing  a 
waggon.  There  were  three  or  four  chapels,  and  one  church,  "  the 
handsomest  finished  inside,  I  ever  saw."  There  were  three  soap 
manufactories,  which  did  a  good  business  ;  two  foundries,  one  of 
which  had  an  air  furnace,  the  other,  a  six-horse  power  engine  ; 
two  potash  manufactories.  The  only  ship-building  that  was  going 
forward  was  the  building  of  two  steamboats.  He  was  pleased 
with  Montreal.  "  This,"  he  says,  "  is  a  much  better  town  than 
Quebec  for  business,  or  for  a  person  to  live  in.  The  people  gener- 
ally get  up  at  five  o'clock,  eat  their  breakfast  at  eight,  dine  at 
one,  drink  tea  at  six.  Labourers  live  here  as  well  as  tradesmen  at 
home." 

Mr.  Gates  bought  two  horses  and  carts,  in  which  they  set  off*  for 
York.  In  the  first  part  of  the  journey  they  were  greatly  incon- 
venienced, in  consequence  of  their  ignorance  of  French  and  the 
ignorance  of  English  of  the  inhabitants.  After  fourteen  days  they 
arrived  at  Kingston,  where  they  swopped  one  of  their  horses. 
They  then  set  otf  for  York,  passed  the  Indian  woods,  which  were 
twelve  miles  square,  slept  at  an  Indian  tavern,  and  after  twelve 
days  arrived  at  York,  the  journey  from  Montreal  thither  having 
taken  them  twenty-six  days. 

His  description  of  York  is  so  concise  that  it  shall  be  given  word 
for  word.  "  York  is  a  very  snug  place,  very  beautifully  situated, 
a  great  many  stores  and  very  few  manufactories.  It  is  not  a  great 
deal  more  severe  in  winter,  nor  much  more  warm  in  summer,  than 
in  Ireland.  Scarcely  any  people  to  be  seen  in  the  streets;  and  the 
streets  are  so  confoundedly  muddy  that  there  is  no  walking." 
When  Mr.  Stotesbury  passed  a  January  and  a  July  in  York,  he 
changed  his  opinion  as  to  the  heat  and  cold  of  i*"^  relatively  to  Ire- 
land. 

Among  the  men  associated  with  the  advent  of  the  Oates's  to 
Canada  wtifi  John  Carey,  who  started  the  Observer  newspaper, 
which  he  printed  and  published  in  King  Street,  where  used  to 


j 


2G2 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


stand  tlie  cstaLlishmcnt  of  Hunter,  Rose  &  Co.  In  those  days  of 
small  things  this  paper  did  good  work  by  giving  the  debates,  and 
ultimately  exposing  the  sins  of  the  Government.  There  was  a 
rival  journal,  whose  crushing  satire  against  poor  Carey's  paper 
was  to  call  it  "Mother  C — y."  A  correspondent  stylos  it  "The 
Political  Weathercock  and  Slang  Gazeteer."  The  modern  Cana- 
dian journalist  must  see  that  even  before  his  time  delicate  and 
refined  satire  was  understood  in  Canada.  Carey  died  in  Spring- 
field, on  the  Credit. 

Another  Irish  journalistic  pioneer  was  Francis  Collins,  proprietor 
of  the  Freeman,  whose  editorials  were  remarkable  for  liAelinesS) 
and  breadth  of  information.  He  died  of  cholera  in  1834.  He  was 
imprisoned  in  1828,  for  applying  the  words  "native  malignity" 
to  the  Attorney-General.  It  is  pleasanter  to  be  a  journalist  in 
Canada  to-day  than  tifty  years  ago. 

At  this  period  there  arrived  in  York  from  Cork,  a  man  whoso 
family  was  destined  to  exercise  considerable  influence  on  the 
thought  of  Canada.  John  Tyner,  the  father  of  Mr.  Tyner  the 
brilliant  editor  of  the  Hamilton  Times,  and  of  the  late  Mr.  A. 
Tyner,  the  editor  of  the  Telegraph,  a  man  of  great  power  and 
brilliancy.  The  eldest  of  John  Tyner's  three  sons  was  intended 
for  the  church,  but  died  early. 

Mr.  Arthurs,  the  father  of  Colonel  Arthurs,  was  early  well- 
known  ;  and  his  name  is  one  of  the  first  which  appear  in  the 
books  of  the  Custom  House.  He  took  an  active  part  in  civic 
politics.  Another  remarkable  man  in  this  way  was  Rice  Lewis. 
With  much  clearness  and  native  force  of  character,  he  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  largest  iron  and  hardware  business  in  Toronto 
The  Monaghan  Hamiltons  have  sent  ofiTshoots  into  every  part  of 
this  continent,  aitd  it  gave  Toronto  a  worthy  branch  when  the 
father  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  the  painter,  settled  in  York.  Alex- 
ander was  born  in  Cavan,  whither  the  family  had  removed  prior 
to  crossing  the  Atlantic.  On  emigrating  they  sailed  direct  for 
New  York,  whence,  being  persecuted  on  account  of  their  loyalty 
to  Great  Britain,  and  strong  opinion  concerning  the  unrighteous 
war  of  1812,  they  came  to  Canada  and  cleared  ground  in  the  Tor- 
onto Township.  Alexander  Hamilton,  electing  to  lead  a  city  life, 
went  for  three  years  and  a  half  to  New  York,  to  learn  ft  trade. 


\^* 


THE  HAMILTONS.      ALEXANDER   DIXON. 


203 


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which  he  thou^^ht  would  prove  jirofitable  and  useful  in  the  growing 
City  of  Toronto.  His  charactei"  as  a  citizen  and  a  man  of  business 
is  well  known.  He  early  w^on  the  confidence  of  his  fellow-citizens, 
and  served  in  the  council.  He  was  captain  in  the  Toronto  militia 
in  1837,  and  served  against  the  rebels.  As  a  York  pioneer,  and 
a  meniV)er  of  the  Irish  Protestant  Benevolent  Society,  as  an 
active  Methodist  and  Sabbath -school  teacher  he  })is  done  good 
work.  Mr.  James  sJ.  Hamilton,  LL.B.,  is  the  second  son  of  the 
Rev.  Doctor  Hami'.on,  a  well-known  contributor  to  sacred  lite- 
rature. Mr.  Hamilton  is  a  member  of  the  law  firm  of  Beaty, 
Hamilton  &  Cassels.  He  has  written  a  book  called  "  The  Prairie 
Province." 

Thomas  James  Preston,  a  native  of  Old  Castle,  County  Meath 
settled  in  "  Muddy  York  "  in  1827,  where  he  became  a  leading 
draper.  He  secured  a  handsome  competence,  on  which  he  lived 
many  years  in  retirement,  until  his  <leath  in  1873.  He  left  a 
numerous  family.  The  Rev.  James  A.  Preston  of  Cornwall,  is  his 
eldest  son.  The  father  held  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel  in  the 
militia,  was  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  served  as  a  member  of 
the  City  Council  for  two  years. 

Alexander  Dixon  came  to  Upper  Canada  from  the  Cityof  Dublin, 
with  the  intention  of  proceeding  to  Mount  Vernon,  in  the  State  of 
Ohio,  where  a  large  number  of  Irish  Protestants  were  induced  to 
settle.  Mr.  Dixon,  finding  that  things  at  Mount  Vernon  differed 
altogether  from  the  highly  coloured  Utopian  rej)resentations  which 
induced  him  to  emigrate,  returned  to  Canada,  intending  to  go 
back  to  Ireland,  Owing  however  to  the  advice  and  urgent  repre- 
sentations of  Mr.  Dunn,  the  Recei/ej-General  of  that  time,  and 
father  of  the  dashing  cavalry  officer  who  won  the  Victoria  Cross  in 
the  memorable  Balaklava  charge,  he  determined  to  make  York  his 
home.  He  procured  a  lease  of  a  portion  of  an  orchard  which 
occupied  that  part  of  King  Street  where  Adelaide  Buildings  now 
stand.  In  a  shore  time  two  houses  arose  which,  at  that  period 
were  marvels  of  shop  architecture.  In  this  way  his  long  and  suc- 
cessful career  as  a  man  of  business  commenced. 

In  1834  Toronto  was  incorporated  and  changed  its  nam3  from 
York.  Shortly  after  this  Mr.  Dixon  was  chosen  Alderman  for  St. 
Lawrence  Ward.      In  Toronto  and  elsewhere  Irishmen  have  dis- 


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THE  IKISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


playefl  great  capacity  for  civic  government.  Some  of  our  most 
prominent  city  fathers  to-day  are  Irishmen.  In  1870,  Mr.  Henry 
Rowsell  published  a  pamphlet  giving  the  names  of  the  members 
of  the  Municipal  Council  and  Civic  Officials  of  the  City  from  the 
year  1834  forward.  An  analysis  of  this  tract  shows  that  the 
second  mayor  was  an  Irishman,  Robert  Baldwin  Sullivan,  the  first 
mayor  being  William  Lyon  Mackenzie.  From  1836  to  18-50,  in- 
clusive, the  mayors  are  Thomas  D.  Morrison,  M.D.  (one  year), 
George  Gurnett  (one  year),  John  Powell  (1838,  1840),  George 
Monro  (1841),  Hon.  Henry  Sherwood,  Q.C.  (1842-1844),  William 
Henry  Boulton  (1845-1847),  George  Gurnett  (1848-1850).  In 
1851  we  have  an  Irishman,  Mr.  Bowes,  in  the  chair,  and  he  ruled 
for  three  years.  After  a  leap  of  three  years — Joshua  George  Beard, 
the  Hon.  John  Beverley  Robhison  (1854),  the  Hon.  George  William 
Allan  (1855),  Hon.  John  Beverley  Robinson  (1856,)  we  have  in 
1857  an  Irishman,  John  Hutchinson,  in  the  chair.  In  1858,  we 
have  the  name  of  W^illiam  Henry  Boulton  and  David  Brecken- 
bridge  Read,  Q.C.  bracketed.  In  1859,  the  Hon.  Adam  Wilson, 
Q.C,  was  mayor ;  in  1860,  he  had  associated  with  him  John  Carr, 
as  president.  Then  follow  three  years  of  John  George  Bowes  ai»d 
three  years  of  Francis  H.  Medcalf.  Since  then  Mr.  Medcalf  has 
presided  as  mayor  for  more  than  one  year  in  the  City  CouDcil.  Mr. 
Manning  has  been  mayor  and  the  probability  is  that  an  Irishman 
will  be  our  mayor  f  jr  1878. 

In  1834  there  were  four  members  of  Council  and  two  Alder- 
men, Iri.sh  :  John  Armstrong,  John  Craig,  William  Arthurs,  James 
Trotter,  Councilmen ;  John  Harper,  Alderman  for  St.  Andrew's 
Ward.  Geo.  Duggan,  Sen.,  for  that  of  St.  Lawrence  ;  Mr.  Andrew 
T.  McCord  was  Chamberlain,  and  was  destined  to  hold  that  im- 
portant office  for  forty  years.  In  1835,  the  Irishmen  are  :  Coun- 
cilmen— John  Armstrong,  John  Craig,  Alexander  Dixon,  James 
Trotter,  Geo.  Nicol;  Aldermen: — John  Harper,  Hon.  R.  B.  Sul- 
livan (also  Mayor),  Geo.  Duggan,  John  King,  Richd.  H.  Thorn- 
hill.  Among  the  officials  in  addition  to  the  Chamberlain,  we 
have  Charles  Daly,  City  Clerk  and  Geo.  Kingsmill,  Chief  of 
Police.  In  1836,  Councilmen — Edward  McEIderry,  John  Craig, 
James  Beaty,  William  Arthurs,  James  Trotter;  Aldermen  John 
Hai-per,  John    King,  M.    D  ;  1837,  Councilmen — John  Ritchey, 


f^ 


'W'*.m 


TORONTO  TOWN   COUNCIL. 


266 


I'-'-i 


John  Craig,  James  Browne,  James  Trotter,  Robert  Blevins; 
Aldermen — John  Armstrong,  John  King,  M.  D.,  Alexander  Dixon  ; 
1838,  the  same  with  the  exception  that  Dr.  King  disappears  from  St. 
George's  Ward  and  Charles  Stotesbuiy  and  Geo.  Duggan,  Jun., 
are  Aldermen  for  St.  David's ;  Alexander  Hamilton  was  elected 
Councilman  instead  of  James  Turner ;  1839  saw  no  change  but 
the  replacement  of  Robert  Blevins  by  a  Scotchman,  Mr.  William 
Mathers.  In  1840  things  remained  unchanged  further  than  this, 
a  city  solicitor  was  appointed  and  the  appointment  feli  to  the  lot 
of  an  Irish  Canadian,  Mr.  Clarke  Gamble.  In  1841,  no  change  but 
the  re-appearance  of  Robert  Blevins.  Nor  is  there  any  change  in 
1842,  four  of  the  prominent  officials  are  still  Irish  and  the  Council 
and  Aideraien's  roll  remains,  so  far  as  our  purpose  is  concerned,  as 
they  were ;  and  so  until  1847,  when  nearly  every  man  in  the 
council  is  an  Irishman.  What  a  council  this  was  !  Among  the 
Aldermen  were  the  Hon.  John  Hillyard  Cameron,  Q.C.,  Scotch ;  and 
Irish — Joseph  Workman,  J .  H.  Hagarty,  Q.C.,  James  Beaty,  John 
Armstrong,  Geo.  Duggan;  of  twelve  councilmen,  ten  were  Irish, 
namely,  Samuel  Shaw,  John  Ritchey,  William  Davis,  George  Piatt, 
John  Craig,  Thomas  J.  Preston,  Alex.  Hamilton,  Samuel  Piatt, 
John  Carr,  James  Trotter.  In  the  officials  the  only  change  is  that 
Geo.  L.  Allan  has  superseded  Geo.  Kingsmill,  one  Irishman  super- 
seding another  and  James  Armstrong,  an  Irishman,  has  replaced 
Robert  Beard  as  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Fire  Brigade.  The  next 
year  we  miss  the  names  of  Cameron  and  Hagarty.  The  Irish 
Aldermen  for  1848  are  George  Duggan,  Jr.,  Richard  Dempsey, 
Jos'iph  Workman,  John  Armstrong,  James  Beaty ;  Councilmen: 
V/ni.  Dav^  ,  Alex.  Hamilton,  Robert  James,  Jr.,  Samuel  Piatt,  John 
Carr,  John  Smith.  In  1849,  James  Ashfield  was  among  the  other 
Irishmen  iv.  the  Council;  in  1851  Michael  Hays;  in  1852  Kivas 
Tully,  Adam  Beatt>  and  R.  C.  McMu  '3n;  in  1852  Samuel  Rogers, 
find  S^-iauel  T.  Green;  in  1853  James  Good  and  Thomas  McCon- 
key,  William  Murphy,  Thomas  Mara,  and  Theoi)hilus  Earl;  in 
1854  Ogle  R,  Gowan  appears  among  the  Aldermen;  for  1855  the 
names  of  John  Wilson,  Wm.  Murphy,  and  Robert  Moodie  should 
bv  mentioned,  that  of  Alexander  Manning  in  the  following  year ; 
in  1857  the  names  of  William  Ardagh,  William  Ramsay,  William 
W.  Fox,  and  Robert  Moodie  appear,  as  do  those  of  George  Boomer, 


M  1 


"  § 


-^'^^ 


266 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


John  Purdy,  Christopher  Mitchell,  Robert  J.  Griffith,  Wm.  Len- 
nox; in  1859  a^nong  the  list  of  Aldermen  we  find  Thompson 
McCleary,  John  O'Donoghue,  Kivas  Tully,  W.  W.  Fox,  and 
Michael  Lawlor,  M  D.  Among  the  Common  Councilmen  the 
only  new  name  is  that  of  George  Carroll;  in  1860  Patrick  Conlin 
appears  as  a  new  name,  as  does  James  Farrell;  in  1862  Patrick 
Hynes,  Alderman;  in  1863  John  Spence  and  Nathaniel  Dickey 
and  John  O'Connell  are  elected  for  the  first  time;  in  1864  John 
Canavan;  in  1866  Francis  Riddell;  in  1870  we  find  among  other 
Irishmen  already  mentioned,  Robert  Bell,  Arthur  Lepper,  and 
John  J.  Vickers,  Aldermen;  the  Judge  of  the  County  Court, 
George  Uuggan  ;  City  Clerk,  John  Carr  ;  Stephen  RadcliflPe, 
Assistant  Clerk;  and  Robert  Roddy,  Second  Clerk.  A  large  pro- 
portion of  the  minor  oflicials  were  Irish. 

But  to  return  to  Mr.  Dixon.  As  we  have  seen,  he  was  fre- 
quently chosen  alderman.  He  also  held  a  commission  of  the 
peace,  and  was  a  very  active  district  magistrate.  No  citizen  of 
Toronl/O  did  more  for  our  public  and  private  buildings.  Adelaide 
Buildings,  the  first  structure  on  King  Street  possessing  any  pre- 
tensions to  architectural  beauty,  we  owe  to  him  and  to  Mr.  Peter 
Paterson.  His  own  handsome  residence  on  Gerrard  Street,  now 
occupied  by  Dr.  Tupper,  set  the  example  for  the  numerous  man- 
sions which  adorn  the  city.  To  his  correct  taste  and  sound  archi- 
tectural judgment.  Trinity  Church  and  the  present  St.  James's 
Cathedi"al  were  not  a  little  indebted.  A  strong  Conservative  and 
a  zealous  churchman,  he  was  the  means  of  erecting  Trinity  Church, 
whose  "  father  and  founder  "  he  has  been  called.  Ho  was,  how- 
ever, helped  in  the  task  by  Messrs.  Gooderham,  Turner,  Beard, 
and  Kent.  A  good  writer  and  speaker,  he  took  an  effective  and 
useful  part  in  public  discussion.  His  eldest  son  is  the  Rrjv.  Canon 
Alexander  Dixon,  Rector  of  Guelph. 

Mr.  Williari  Dixon,  his  second  son,  educated  at  Upper  Canada 
College,  was  for  some  years  Chief  Agent  of  Emigration  for  the 
Dominion  in  Great  Britain.  His  connection  with  the  Canadian 
Government  commenced  at  the  time  of  the  Great  Exhibition  in 
1862,  when  he  had  charge  of  the  Canadian  Department ;  soon 
after  he  was  appointed  E.iigration  Agent  for  the  Dominion,  with 
his  head -quarters  at  Liverpool.     In  consequence  of  his  represen- 


f 


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WILLIAM   DIXON.      SCOTT  HOWARD, 


207 


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tations  the  head  ofRce  was  opened  in  London.  In  1870  he  was 
summoned  to  Ottawa,  and  was  for  several  weeks  there  aidin<;j  in 
the  organisation  of  a  general  and  comprehensive  system  of 
immigration.  In  1871  he  was  again  summoned  there,  to  consult 
with  the  Hon.  J.  H.  Pope,  who  was  appointed  iiead  of  that 
Department.  In  the  summer  of  1873  his  health  began  to  fail, 
under  the  severe  pressure  of  his  official  duties.  So  assiduous  was 
he,  that,  even  four  or  five  days  previous  to  his  death,  he  sent  off 
his  usual  weekly  despatches  to  Ottawa.  He  died  in  the  end  of 
October,  1873.  Shortly  after,  in  a  letter  written  to  his  brother, 
Canon  Dixon,  the  Hon.  J.  H.  Pope  said  : — "  He  was  the  most  care- 
ful and  conscientious  administrator  that  I  ever  knew.  His  loss  is 
not  only  a  loss  to  the  Department,  and  to  his  friends,  but  to  the 
public  service  of  the  Dominion  as  well."  In  a  speech  in  Parliament 
also,  Mr.  Pope  bore  very  high  testimony  to  his  services. 

A  third  son,  Mr.  F.  E.  Dixon,  was  Adjutano  of  the  Queen's  Own 
for  some  years,  and  did  much  towards  raising  that  regiment  to  its 
high  state  of  efficiency.  He  was  Captain  of  No.  2  Company  at 
the  time  of  the  Fenian  raid,  when  this  company  met  with  serious 
losses.  He  was  afterwards  promoted  to  be  Major,  and  wrote  a 
work  on  "  The  Internal  Economy  of  a  Regiment,"  which  was 
made  a  text  book  for  volunteers,  and  was  adopted  by  some  of  the 
regular  troops  then  qup,T',eroL  in  Canada. 

We  have  already  se.  :■  something  of  the  valuable  material  the 
Huguenot  Irishman  sent  to  Canada,  ames  Scott  Howard  })elonged 
to  a  family  who  sought,  away  from  the  sunny  lands  of  France,  from 
the  "  proud  city  of  the  waters,"  away  from  delusive  edicts,  from 
Vassys  and  Bartholomews,  an  asylum  for  their  faith  at  Bandon, 
in  the  County  Cork.  Here  Nicholas  Howard  established  silk 
manufactures.  Success  at  first  smiled  on  the  enterprise,  but  owing 
to  the  hostile  legislation  of  England  the  manufactures  languished, 
and  the  family  became  impoverished.  In  the  midst  of  the  stormy 
period  of  1798,  James  Scott  Howard  was  born.  In  1819,  when 
he  was  twenty-one  years  old,  he  arrived  in  York,  bearing  letters 
of  introduction  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Strachan,  and  to  Dr.  Baldwin. 
He  was  an  adventurous  follow.  Before  coming  to  '^anada,  he 
explored  the  maritime  provinces.  With  a  canoe  he  \\rnt  ^vhither 
he  listed.     Paddling  the  River. du  Loup   and  the  Madawaska,  he 


■'IP'— 


268 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


i! 


It  i 


h  H 


reached  the  head  waters  of  St.  John,  down  which  he  went  to 
Frtderickton.  Here  he  met  his  fate  in  the  fair  daughter  of  Captain 
Archibald  McLean.  Having  with  his  young  bride  come  on 
to  York,  he  entered  the  office  of  the  Hon.  Wm.  Allan. 
He  and  his  wife  stayed  for  some  time  with  Dr.  Baldwin  at 
Spadina,  which  was  then  reached  by  a  path  through  the  woods 
commencing  where  Yonge  Street  now  runs.  An  instructive  light 
is  thrown  on  the  condition  of  things  at  this  time,  by  merely  enu- 
merating the  functions  fulfilled  b^'  Mr.  Allan  ;  Postmaster,  Collector 
of  Customs,  Inspector  of  shop,  still,  and  tavern  licenses,  Trustea  of 
the  General  Hospital  for  Upper  Canada,  Treasurer  for  the  Society 
of  Strangers  in  Distress,  at  York,  Commissioner  for  vesting  the 
estates  of  certain  traitors  and  aliens  in  His  Majesty,  also  for  in- 
vestigating the  claims  for  losses  during  the  late  war  with  the 
United  States,  Director  of  the  Bank  of  Upper  Canada,  Treasurer 
of  the  Old  Home  District  which  at  that  time  consisted  of 
what  is  now  known  as  the  Counties  of  York,  Halton,  Peel,  Wel- 
lington, Grey,  Simcoe,  and  Ontario.  Collecting  the  customs 
was  in  those  days  a  light  matter  as  were  the  duties  devolving  on 
the  Postmaster.  Nevertheless,  the  aggregation  of  so  many  posi- 
tions must  have  kupt  the  hands  of  any  one  man  very  full.  All  the 
work  of  Mr.  Allan,  Mr.  Howard,  when  that  gentleman  was  in  Eng- 
land, performed  as  his  deputy.  He  ultimately  became  Postmaster, 
but  was  unjustly  deprived  of  his  office  in  1837,  for  alleged 
sympathy  vith  the  rebellion.  .In  1840,  he  went  to  reside  on  a 
farm  in  the  Township  of  Burfcrd,  County  of  Oxford,  where  he 
was  one  r,^  Mr.  Hincks'  warmest  supporters,  who  appointed  him 
Treasurer  of  fne  Home  District.  A  man  of  benevolence  and 
genuine  Irisl)  instincts,  he  was  Treasurer  for  the  Irish  Relief 
Fund,  raised  during  the  famine  year  of  1847.  He  was  one  of 
the  beat  secretaries  the  Bible  Society  has  had,  and  die  1  in  the 
very  act  of  writing  a  letter  in  its  behalf.  His  services  to  the 
Society  were  such  as  to  lead  them  to  present  him  with  a  valuable 
piece  of  plate.  He  was,  moreover,  Treasurer  of  the  Upper  Canada 
Tract  Society,  and  a  member  of  the  Council  of  Public  Instruction, 
from  its  formation  to  his  death,  and  a  Magistrate  for  the  Counties 
of  York  and  Peel. 

Another  well-known  official  has  already  been  mentioned  in  a  • 


CREDR'  OF  THE  CITY  OF  TORONTO. 


2G9 


passing  way.  Andrew  Taylor  McCord  is  the  son  of  the  late 
Andrew  McCord,  who  was  a  manufacturer  in  the  Town  of  Belfast, 
in  the  North  of  Ireland.  Mr.  McCord  was  educated  at  the  Bel- 
fast College  and  was  brought  up  to  mercantile  business  in  Bel- 
fast, which  city  he  left  in  the  year  1831,  for  Little  York,  which 
at  that  time  contained  not  more  than  6,000  inhabitants.  Mr^ 
McCord,  as  we  have  seen,  was  appointed  City  Chamberlain  and 
Treasurer,  the  first  year  of  its  incorpoio,Mon  as  a  city  and  held 
that  office  for  upwards  of  forty  years  until  he  resigned  in  the 
latter  part  of  1874,  when  the  city  had  increased  to  about  70,000 
inhabitants.  The  finances  of  the  city  so  far  as  he  had  the  manage- 
ment of  them,  were  administered  l>y  him  during  thfit  long  period, 
honestly  and  economically.  In  the  year  1856,  when  the  debentures 
of  the  city  only  realized  about  eighty  in  Toronto  he  went  to  Eng- 
land and  succeeded  in  placing  them  in  the  London  market  at  par, 
and  in  a  great-measure  owing  to  h's  punctuality  in  the  payment 
of  interest  and  principal  on  the  days  they  fell  due,  they  have  held 
to  that  figure  since.  At  times  indeed  they  have  sold  at  105.  In 
this  way  undoubtedly  a  very  large  amount  has  been  gained  by 
the  city. 

The  credit  of  the  corporation  bonds  stands  high  and  furnishes 
a  striking  contrast  to  the  state  of  things  in  the  year  1834,  when 
the  first  £1000  expended  for  improvements  was  raised  in  antici- 
pation of  the  taxes,  by  every  member  of  the  Council,  including 
the  Mayor  and  the  city  officials,  signing  a  promisfeory  note. 

Very  few  of  the  old  ro  nibers  of  the  previous  Council  are  now 
living.  The  only  persons  who  served  in  the  year  1834,  are  Wm. 
Cawthra,  Jas.  Lesslie  and  George  Monro. 

When  speaking  of  officials  it  would  be  wrong  to  forget  a  family 
which  has  given  us  one  of  the  ablest  heads  in  the  Post-office  de- 
partment to-day.  From  the  same  town  on  which  young  Howard 
turned  his  back  in  1819.  there  came  to  Little  York  four  years  later 
Matthew  Sweetnam,  His  wife,  Elizabeth  Reilly,  was  a  native  of 
Drun.\reilly,  County  Leitrira.  In  1831,  their  son  Matthew  Sweet- 
nam was  born.  Having  received  a  good  sound  education,  he  entered 
the  Post-office  service  in  1852  as  assistant  Post-master.  Five  years 
afterwards  he  was  appointed  Post-office  Inspector  of  the  Kingston 
postal  division.     In  1870  he  was  transferred  to  the  Inspectorship. 


r  »•.« 


It 


I  i 
I 


270 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


of  the  Toronto  division.  A  man  of  strong  religious  views  and 
active  public  spirit,  he  is  Vice  President  of  the  Upper  Canada 
Bible  Society  and  was  for  four  years  president  of  the  Toronto 
Mechanics'  Institute.  He  has  taken  an  active  interest  in  various 
literary  and  educational  societies,  in  hospital  management  and 
the  like.  Possessed  of  good  administrative  abilities  and  grea^  Torce 
of  character,  a  vigorous  writer  and  a  fair  speaker,  he  is  well  cal- 
culated to  play  a  useful  and  a  leading  part  in  an^-  ent^^rprise  of 
whatev-ji-  character  to  which  he  may  devote  himself.  One  of  the 
senior  Inspectors  of  the  Post-office  Department,  he  has  been  a 
guiding  influence  in  the  improvements  which  have  been  made  in 
post-ofjfice  management  within  the  last  twenty  years.  In  1857 
when  the  colonization  roads  were  being  opened  up  he  had  jurisdic- 
tion over  the  new  postal  arrangements  for  the  district.  In  18G2 
h  -  was  a  commissioner  to  examine  into  the  management  of  the 
j)ost-offices  at  Montreal,  Hamilton  and  London.        ♦ 

If  we  pass  to  Toronto  merchants,  we  find  ourselves  in  the  pre- 
sence of  success  and  integrity  sometimes  conjoined  with  large 
talent  for  public  affairs. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  men  who  came  to  Canada  during 
this  period  is  the  Hon.  William  McMaster.  The  present  writer 
believes  phrenology  is  trustworthy  only  to  a  limited  extent.  It 
seems,  however,  established  that  to  do  large  things  there  must  be 
a  large  brain.  Hood  used  to  say  that  no  man  ever  did  anything 
great  who  had  not  a  large  neck,  and  he  would  })oint  to  the  bust 
of  Walter  Scott  and  account  for  Scott's  easy  power  by  dwelling 
on  his  broad  neck.  To  have  force  it  is  necessary  that  the  back  of 
the  head  should  be  large.  A  phrenologist  could  not  have  a  better 
text  than  the  head  of  William  McMaster,  It  is  large  and  well 
balanced  and  his  life  partakes  of  the  same  character.  He  has 
known  how  to  make  money,  and  he  has  known  how  to  do  good. 

Born  in  1811  in  the  County  of  Tyrone,  he  emigrated  to  Canada 
in  1833.  He  entered  the  wholesale  and  retail  est  iblishraent  of 
Robert  Cathcart,  whose  store  was  on  the  south  fide  of  Kiug  street 
facing  Toronto  street.     There  could  be  no  higher  uroof  of  his  busi- 

O  O  J. 

ness  ability  than  that  after  a  year  he  became  a  partner.  Ultim- 
ately he  saw  his  way  to  do  better  still  and  set  up  for  himself  as  a 
wholesale  merchant  on  Yonge  Street,  just  below  King  Street. 


HON.   WILLIAM      MCMASTER. 


271 


-.V'- 


At  that  time  the  principal  distributing  centre  even  for  Upper 
Canada  was  Montreal.  But  Mr.  McMaster  saw  that  this  was  not 
destined  to  be  perpetual ;  that  a  change  had  already  set  in  and  that 
by  energy  and  business  talent,  Toronto  could  be  made  a  formid- 
able rival  to  Montreal.  "Mr.  McMaster  can  hardly  be  described  as 
a  pioneer  in  the  attempt  to  divert  the  trade  from  its  old  and  well- 
worn  channel,  but  hardly  any  one  has  done  more  than  he  has  to 
make  the  attempt  successful*."  He  extended  his  business  until 
all  Western  Ontario  was  his  market.  He  built  large  premises  and 
took  his  nephews  into  partnership  with  him.  Extended  business 
again  compelled  him  to  build.  The  magnificent  store  on  Front 
Street,  near  Yonge  Street,  now  occupied  by  his  nephews,  was  the 
lesult. 

Mr.  McMasver  began  to  give  more  attention  to  finance  than 
to  commerce,  and  in  time  left  the  whole  of  his  Dry -goods  business 
to  Captain  McMaster  and  his  brothers.  He  became  a  director  of 
the  Ontario  Bank,  and  of  the  Bank  of  Montreal.  He  has  been 
for  many  years  President  of  the  Freehold  Loan  and  Savings  Com- 
pany, Vice  President  of  the  Confederation  Life  Association,  and 
director  of  the  Isolated  Risk  Insurance  Company.  He  was  the 
founder  of  the  Canadian  Bar  '•:  of  Commerce  of  which  he  has  been 
President  for  sixteen  years,  and  the  success  of  which  is  mainly 
due  to  his  large  capacity  and  business  power.  His  conduct  as 
chairman  of  the  Canadian  Board  of  the  Great  Western  Railway 
reflects  on  him  the  highest  credit.  In  politics  a  reformer,  he  was 
in  1862  elected  for  the  Midland  Division  in  the  Legisl«tlv^e  Coun- 
cil of  Canada.  After  Confederation  he  was  chosen  as  one  of  the 
senators  to  represent  Ontario.  In  1 865  he  bef'ame  a  member  of 
the  Council  of  Public  Instruction,  and  for  tcu  years  represented  at 
the  Board  the  Baptist  Church  of  which  he  is  a  pillar.  In  1873 
he  was  nominated  one  of  the  members  of  the  Senate  of  Toronto 
University.  He  has  been  a  liberal  supporter  of  the  Canadian 
Literary  Institute  at  Woodstock.  His  contribution  to  the  build- 
ing fund  was  $12,000 ;  and  his  annual  donations  have  been  very 
liberal. 

The  foundation  of  the  Superannuated  Ministers'  Society  of  the 

*  Weekly  Globe,  March  10th,  1876. 


272 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


S^ 


t     ! 


:f 


Baptist  Church  of  Ontario  is  due  in  great  part  to  him,  and  he  has 
been  the  principal  factor  of  its  success.  The  new  Baptist  Church 
on  the  corner  of  Genard  and  Jarvis  Streets,  which  is  one  of  the 
handsomest  in  the  city,  would  never  have  been  erected  but  I'or 
him.  The  joint  contribution  of  himself  and  his  wife  exceeded 
$50,000.  He  is  the  treasurer  of  the  Upper  Canada  Bible  Society 
to  which  he  has  been  accustomed  liberally  to  subscribe.  Altogether 
it  must  a^-  once  be  admitted  by  any  one  who  runs  over  his  career 
that  his  life, beyond  that  of  most  men,  has  been  singularly  s\icces8- 
ful  and  useful,  and  well  asserts  the  capacity  of  Irishmen  to  take  a 
foremost  place  as  merchants  and  bankers.  He  is  a  strict  teetota- 
ler. At  his  parties  no  wine  is  to  be  seen,  and  those  parties  are 
not  less  pleasant  than  others  where  loaded  sherry  and  champagne 
of  doubtful  origin  circulate  freely.  The  energy  of  Mr.  McMaster 
in  his  sixty-sixth  year  is  a  fine  testimony  to  the  truth  preached 
by  Pindar  many  centuries  ago,  that  water  is  the  best  of  all  bev- 
erages. 

Mr.  Foy,  the  father  of  Mr.  J.  J.  Foy,  the  barrister,  came  to  Can- 
ada in  1832.  He  was  then  twenty  years  of  age,  not  possessed  of 
much  worldly  goods,  but,  having  industry  and  energy,  he  made  his 
way.  After  a  little  delay  at  Montreal  he  came  on  to  York,  where 
he  went  into  business  with  Mr.  Austin,  the  President  of  the  Dom- 
inion Bank.  " They  were,'  said  Mr.  Foy  to  the  writer, "  fortu- 
nate in  their  ventures,  and  are  an  example  of  what  Orange  and 
Green  might  do  when  working  in  harmony  instead  of  dissipating 
their  energies  against  each  othor." 

The  partner  of  the  deceased  Mr.  Foy,  Mr.  James  Austin,  happily 
still  survives,  a  wealthy  man,  and  a  useful  citizen.  Mr.  Austin 
was  bom  in  the  County  of  Armagh,  in  the  year  1813.  When  he 
was  sixteen  years  of  age,  his  parents,  who  had  heard  flattering 
accounts  of  Canada,  and  especially  of  York,  determined  to  emi- 
grate thither.  They  arrived  on  the  10th  October,  1829,  after  a 
passage  of  seventy  days,  ten  of  which  passed  away  between  Mon- 
treal and  Prescott,  in  the  small  flat-bottomed  boats  propelled  from 
the  shore  by  habitans,  with  poles.  When  a  rapid  was  reached, 
several  yoke  of  oxen  were  harnessed  to  the  craft  by  means  of  a 
strong  hawser,  and  she  was  dragged  through  until  she  was  once 
more  in  still  water.    At  this  time  there  were  no  side  paths,  sewers, 


■3      , 
1      ■ 


AUSTIN   AND   FOY.      SCOLLARD. 


273 


10 

)r 


tl 


or  any  means  of  li<^hting  the  streets  of  "  muddy  little  York."  The 
disappointment  of  the  family  was  extreme.  Only  that  the  season 
wa-s  so  far  advanced  they  would  have  returned  home  again ;  as  it 
was,  they  resolved  to  remain. 

In  DecemV)er,  Mr.  Austin's  father  determined  to  apprentice  him 
to  William  Lyon  Mackenzie  for  four  years  and  a-half,  to  learn  the 
printing  business.  His  boy  thus  provided  for,  he  purchased  a  farm 
in  the  Township  of  Trafalgar,  to  which,  with  the  remainder  of  his 
family,  he  removed.  His  son  spent  twelve  years  at  the  printing 
business,  and  he  attributes  whatever  success  he  has  achieved,  to 
the  gener.-'l  knowledge  he  acquired  of  men  and  things  during  his 
connexion  with  that  trade.  Having,  by  the  dint  of  close  appli- 
cation and  self-denial,  acquired  a  small  sura,  he  embarked  in  bus- 
iness with  Mr.  Foy,  in  184G,  and  after  sixteen  years  accumulated 
a  handsome  fortune.  In  the  crisis  which  followed  the  Russian  war 
he  and  his  partner  were  afraid  to  let  goods  out  of  their  j)ossession 
on  credit ;  the  business  naturally  fell  off ;  they  resolved  to  invest 
their  capital  more  securely  ;  and  each  having  his  own  views,  they 
decided,  in  1859,  to  dissolve  partnership. 

In  1870  Mr.  Austin  was  induced  by  some  friends  to  assist  in 
working  up  the  stock  of  the  Dominion  Bank.  This  was  accom- 
plished in  a  period  brief  beyond  precedent.  He  was  appointed 
President,  which  position,  togethei  with  others  of  a  responsible 
character,  he  still  holds.  Mr.  Austin  is  sixty-four  years  of  age,  and 
is  full  of  health  and  vigour.  He  has  witnessed  the  cholera  of  1832 
and  ISS^-,  when  the  deaths  often  averaged  from  twenty  to  forty  a 
day ;  the  emigrant  fever,  which  proved  more  disastrous ;  the  rebel- 
lion of  1837,  which  for  months  paralyzed  business,  and  demora- 
lized the  people  ;  together  with  agitations  for  responsible  govern- 
ment, and  against  clergy  reserves ;  and  Fenian  invasions,  such  as 
they  were. 

A  wit  as  well  as  a  banker,  was  Maurice  Scollard,  who  came 

here  from  Cork,  in  1819.  He  was  long,  well,  and  favourably  known 

in  connection  with  the  Bank  of  Upper  Canada.     He  was  a  good 

sample  of  the   Irish  gentleman.      Warm  hearted,  open  handed , 

genial  and  sparkling,  his  sayings  and  doings  are  still  referred  to 

with  pleasure.     His  humour  and  power  of  repartee  made  him  a 

coveted  companion  and  a  dangerous  foe  in  wordy  war.     His  gen- 
18 


n 


I 


274 


THR   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


uine  charactor  is  strikin/^ly  shewn  })y  a  deed  which  has  a  parallel 
in  the  conduct  of  another  Irislunan,  who  has  been  Mayor  of  Mon- 
treal. His  Itrotiier  in  Cork,  having  failed  for  a  large  amount, 
Maurice  charged  himself  with  the  debt  as  a  debt  of  honour.  He 
never  lost  sight  of  this,  and  had  a  few  years  before  his  death  paid 
it  to  the  uttermost  farthing,  Bank  clerks  have  not  princely  in- 
comes, and  this  almost  (quixotically  honourable  ct  duct  on  the  part 
of  Maurice  Scollard,  must  have  kept  him  poor  all  his  days.  Quix- 
otically :  for  no  man  should  hold  himself  responsible  for  his  bro- 
ther's conduct,  unless  that  brother  is  under  age,  or  unless  he  has 
been  the  means  of  inducing  others  to  trust  him.  Don  Quixote  is 
one  of  the  noblest  characters  ever  created  by  dramatist  or  novelist, 
but,  as  is  so  often  the  case  with  a  great  nature,  he  is  not  a  very 
practical  person. 

Mr,  John  Ritchey's  name  has  been  inentioned  in  connexion  Avith 
the  Cov.no' 1.  He  was  a  builder,  and  came  hither  from  Belfast,  in 
1811).  He  wiiS  for  many  years  one  of  the  leading  builders  in  Toronto, 
and  ovned  a-  large  amount  of  property  in  the  city.  He  maj'  be 
said  to  have  built  and  owned  the  first  theatre  in  the  place — The 
Royal  Lyceum.  Much  of  Toronto  was  built  by  four  brothers,  John, 
William,  Samuel  and  James  Rogers,  builders  and  painters,  &c., 
who  came  here  from  Coleraine,  in  1832.  The  Messrs.  Langley,  of 
Langley  &l  Burke,  one  of  the  leading  firms  of  Dominion  architects, 
are  the  sons  of  a  Tipperary  man. 

A  family  of  Somersets  from  the  County  Cavan,  carl}'-  came  here 
and  having  acquired  wealth  settled  on  a  farm  in  the  Township  of 
Toronto.  Mr.  Somerset  was  an  active  member  of  the  early  Metho- 
dist church  in  York.  The  families  of  Somerset  and  Harper  be- 
came allied,  and  both  in  time  mingled  with  the  family  of  Aikens. 
About  ohe  time  Mr.  Harper  came  to  York,  Mr.  James  Aikens  set- 
tled one  concession  north  of  the  Dundas  Road,  in  the  old  Township 
of  Toronto.  There  being  no  Presbyterian  clergyman  near,  Mr. 
Aikens  invited  the  itim  rant  Methodist  preachers  to  conduct  ser- 
vice in  his  house.  He  was  thus  led  to  connect  himself  with  the 
Methodist  church,  and  brought  up  his  family  within  its  precincts. 
It  is  no  unimportant  matter  that  Mr.  p  Mrs.  Aikens  became  a 
centre,  whence  radiated  religious  influence,  nor  that  the  wander- 


^ 


HON,  JAMES   AIKENS.      JOHN    UKATTY. 


275 


ing  ovangeliat  ev-.-r  found  a  hospitable  reception  in  their  comfort- 
al   !  home. 

Their  ehlestson  is  tlie  Hon.  James  Cox  Aikens.  Ho  married  the 
only  daughter  of  Mr.  Somerset,  and  lived  the  life  of  a  well-to-do 
yeoman,  a  few  miles  from  the  paternal  homestead,  fie  recciived 
a  liberal  education  at  Vict-./ia  College,  Cohourg.  Thus  litted  for 
public  life,  he  in  due  time  turned  his  attention  to  affairs,  and  as  a, 
member  of  the  reform  party,  was  returned  for  Peel  in  IS  He 

represented  this  constituency  until  18GI,  when  he  was  defeated. 
From  ISG2,  until  the  Union,  he  was  a  mend>er  of  the  Legislative 
Council  for  the  "  Home"  Division,  and  in  1807  was  called  to  the 
Senate  by  Royal  Proclamation.  In  18G9,  he  joined  Sir  John 
Macdonald's  government,  and  became  Secretary  of  State,  with 
charge  of  the  Dominion  lands  in  Manitoba  and  the  North- West 
Territories.  He  held  this  office  imtil  Sir  John  Macdonald's  resig- 
nation on  the  5th  November,  187.3.  He  is  still  down  in  "  Mor- 
gan" or  rather  "Mackintosh,"  as  a  "?liberal."  Since  18G9,  he  has 
resided  in  Toronto.  His  brother,  Dr.  Aikens,  is  well  known  in 
Toronto,  as  a  leading  physician.  Another  brotlier.  Dr.  Moses 
Aikens  lives  in  the  paternal  homestead — one  might  write  mansion 
— and  Ct^rries  on  an  extensive  practice. 

Many  of  Mr.  James  Aikens'  most  successful  fellow  immigrants 
and  colleagues  in  settling  that  part  of  the  country  known  as 
"The  New  Purchase,"  including  the  old  and  new  surveys  of 
Toronto,  Trafalgar,  Chinguacousy,  Erin,  Albion,  Gore  of  Toronto, 
and  adjacent  places,  were  Irishmen.  One  of  these,  John  Beatty, 
who  had  accumulated  wealth  in  New  York,  was  employed  by 
some  of  his  old  friends  in  Ireland  and  in  the  States  to  spy  out 
the  land  and  make  "  locations  "  for  them.  Mr.  Beatty  and  his 
fellow  commissioners  were  pious  men,  and  when  they  crossed  the 
Etobicoke,  and  entered  on  what  was  known  as  the  "  Back  Road,'' 
they  knelt  down  and  asked  the  guidance  of  Heaven.  Mr.  Beatty 
himself  settled  on  the  flats  of  the  River  Credit,  where  the  beauti- 
ful Village  of  Meadowvale  now  gleams  out  in  gai'dened  beauty  on 
the  traveller.  He  was  long  a  leading  mind  in  that  place,  in  mat- 
ters religious,  civil,  social  and  military.  He  was  a  local  preacher, 
magistrate,  and  militia  captain;  h"s  eldest  daughtei  married  an 
influential  Irishman,  who  had  put  down  his  stakes  in  Trafalgar — 


..I    ' 

I   31  1 


! 


276 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


James  Crawford,  son  of  Patrick  Crawford.  Ilis  second  daughter 
married  Stewart  Grafton,  the  s  i  of  a  patriarchal  Irish  yeoman — 
a  well-to-do  farmer,  who  resided  in  the  Township  of  York,  on  the 
lot  lately  occupied  by  Mr.  Isaac  Robinson.  The  son.  Dr.  John 
Beatty,  has  long  been  an  influentijLl  resident  and  practitioner  at 
Cobourg.  This  gentleman  n^arried  a  daughter  of  James  Rogers 
Armstrong,  who,  with  his  brother,  the  late  Dr.  Armstrong,  of 
Kingston,  were  of  North  of  Ireland  origin.  One  of  the  beautiful 
daughters  of  Dr.  Beatty  is  the  second  wife  of  the  Hon.  William 
McDougall. 

Time  and  space  alike  would  fail  to  tell  of  all  the  Irishmen  in 
Mr.  Beatty's  settlements  who  rose  by  their  industry  and  energy. 
One  might  dwell  on  Dr.  Todd  and  his  brothers ;  on  Alexander 
Broddy,  one  of  whose  sons  is  the  sheriff  of  the  county  and  the 
richest  man  in  his  vicinity  ;  on  Bartholomew  Bull,  at  Davenport, 
who  worked  his  way  up  from  bush-farming  to  be  a  large  property 
holder,  and  who  gave  to  the  country  two  physicians,  one  lawyer, 
and  one  magistrate — John  P.  Bull,  J.P.,  who  is  ever  helping  on 
all  kinds  of  improvement ;  nor,  perhaps,  if  particulars  are  to  be 
enlarged  on,  should  it  be  forgotten,  gave  wives  to  two  gentle- 
men— Dr.  Patullo  and  Mr.  James   Good — both  of  Irish  origin. 

The  eldest  son  of  Patrick  Crawford,  mentioned  above,  was  the 
Hon.  George  Crawford,  father  of  the  late  Lieutenant-Governor  of 
Ontario.  He  became  a  Government  contractor  on  the  Rideau 
Canal ;  made  wejilth,  and,  having  married  a  Miss  Sherwood — his 
sec(md  wife — settled  at  Brock ville.  His  brother  James  was  an 
amiable  man,  of  a  retiring  disposition,  who  early  retired  from 
business  and  lived  in  good  style — first  at  Meadowvale,  then  at 
Hamilton,  and  finally  at  Brantford,  where  he  died.  All  his  chil- 
dren occupy  good  positions,  and  his  youngest  son  is  a  well-known 
physici^n  in  Hamilton.  Another  brotiier,  Mr.  Lindsay  Crawford 
— called  Lindsay  after  an  Irish  family  in  that  quarter — early 
turned  his  attention  to  commerce,  and  boc:  me  a  dry-goods  mer- 
chant in  Hamilton,  where  he  marriea  the  daughter  of  an  Irish 
house — Miss  Magill.  Another  brother,  Patrick  Crawford,  never 
left  the  scenes  of  his  boyhood. 

The  second  son  of  the  Hon.  George  Ch-awford,  by  his  first  wife. 
Miss  Brown,  was  born  in  the  County  Cavan.     He  was  educated  in 


daughter 
eoman — 
k,  on  the 
)r.  John 
tioner  at 
s  Rogers 
trong,  of 
3eautiful 
William 

jlimen  in 
1  energy. 

lexander 

and  the 
avenport, 

property 
e  lawyer, 
;lping  on 
ire  to  be 
0  gentle- 
ih  origin. 

was  the 
pernor  of 
3  Rideau 
ood — his 
3  was  an 
fed  from 

then  at 
his  chil- 
li-known 
Crawford 
r — early 
)ds  mer- 
an  Irish 
d,  never 

rat  wife, 
icated  in 


1 


LIEUTENAJ^T  GO  PERNOR  CRAWFORD. 


277 


Toronto,  where  he  was  called  to  the  bar  in  1839.  He  became  a 
Queen's  Counsel  in  1867,  having  meanwhile  been  associated  with 
Mr,  Hagarty  (the  present  Chief  Justice),  in  business.  He  after- 
wards took  Mr.  Crombie  into  partnership.  He  sat  for  Toronto 
East  in  the  Canadian  Assembly,  as  a  Conservative,  from  1861  to 
1863,  and  for  South  Leeds  in  the  House  of  Commons  from  the 
Union  until  1872.  At  the  ensuing  general  election  he  was  re- 
turned for  West  Toronto.  He  was  President  of  the  Royal  Cana- 
dian Bank,  of  the  Imperial  Building,  Savings  and  Investment 
Society,  and  of  the  Canada  Car  Company  ;  a  Bencher  of  the  Law 
Society  of  Ontario,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  5th  Battalion,  Toronto 
Militia;  he  had  also  been  President  of  the  Toronto  &  Nipissing 
Railway  Company.  As  Lieutenant-Governor  his  bearing  was  all 
that  could  be  wished.  But  a  difficult  task  was  assigned  him  and 
Mrs.  Crawford.  To  follow  so  popular  a  woman  as  Mrs.  Howland 
was  a  trying  task.    He  died  before  the  expiry  of  his  term  of  office. 

In  the  same  part  of  the  country,  the  Watkinses,  who  W'  nt  in 
when  it  was  a  wilderness  and  achieved  wealth,  would  well  illus- 
trate the  en  rgy  and  perseverance  Irishmen  have  brought  to  their 
adopted  land ;  as  would  the  Baileys,  the  Websters,  families  more- 
over, whence  the  Methodist  Church  drew  some  zealous  local  preach- 
ers. Mr.  Webster,  the  local  preacher,  who  is  at  the  present  moment 
a  leading  influence,  was,  if  informants  do  not  deceive,  the  first 
editor  of  the  Canadian  Christian  Advocate.  He  has  published 
several  books,  amongst  them — adventurous  theme  ! — "  Woman, 
Man's  Equal."  His  last  work  is  the  admirable  "Life  of  Bishop 
Richardson."     His  writings  have  won  for  him  the  honorary  D.D. 

The  numerous  family  of  Morrows,  who  came  here  in  1820  and 
settled  in  the  Township  of  Hope,  one  concession  north  of  the  main 
road  running  from  York  to  Kingston,  have  scattered  tcions  all 
over  the  country.  The  Mahas,  the  Skellys,  the  Scullys,  tho  Prices, 
the  Allisons,  the  Sandersons,  the  Beattys  of  Thorold,  arid  others 
have  done  such  service  as  it  would  take  many  pages  to  recount. 
Take  an  instance.  Wm.  Beatty  settled  at  Thorold  in  1834.  He 
obtained  a  mill  privilege  from  the  directors  of  the  Welland  Canal. 
He  erected  a  mill  and  went  largely  into  the  busines.\  He  also 
went  into  tanning.  He  must  have  brouglit  considerable  capital 
with  him;  but  he  very  soon  greatly  increased  it.     He  at  one  time 


1    I'l 


E 


278 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


represented  tlie  County  of  Welland  in  the  Ontario  Assembly. 
His  sons  were  the  first  to  colonize  Parry  Sound,  and  build  a  mill 
there.  William  Beatty  is  still  the  principal  landowner;  he  has 
built  a  Methodist  church,  organized  a  Sabbath-school,  and  laid 
the  foundation  of  useful  institutions.  The  brothers  James  and 
William  Beatty  were  the  first  to  run  a  steamer  from  Colling- 
wood  to  Parry  Sound  and  under  their  auspices  the  first  weekly 
paper  was  launched  in  the  District  of  Algoma.  The  Beatty  line 
of  steamers  tells  its  own  story. 

Mr.  James  Beaty,  the  proprietor  of  the  Leader,  does  not  belong 
to  the  Beattys  of  Sarnia.  The  name  is  spelled  differently,  but  un- 
doubtedly all  the  Beaty s  are  of  the  same  family  originally.  James 
Beaty  came  here  in  1817  from  County  Cavan,  from  that  part 
where  the  river  divides  the  County  from  the  County  Leitrim. 
On  the  17th  of  March  he  dined  with  about  thirteen  Irishmen, 
amongst  them  bei'^g  the  father  of  Dr.  Bergin,  M.P.  One  of 
these  was  a  man  named  Rse,  who  came  out  in  the  vessel  with 
Mr.  Beaty.  R{b  was  a  Roman  Catholic,  and,  it  is  said  was 
the  first  who  read  mass  in  Little  York.  But  could  a  man  who 
was  not  a  priest  read  mass  ?  Mr.  Beaty,  as  we  have  seen, 
was  in  the  second  Council  of  this  city.  He  proposed  Dr.  Mor- 
rison for  mayor.  He  opposed  the  Family  Compact,  and  was  a 
strong  antagonist  of  the  clergy  reserves.  He  was  managing 
director  of  the  bank  of  which  Sir  Francis  Hincks  was  cashier,  and 
although  most  of  those  who  were  directors  of  that  bank  went 
wrong  in  1837,  he  never  wavered  in  his  allegiance.  He  loves 
to  talk  of  a  clever  Roman  Catholic  priest  named  O'Grad^'^,  who 
figured  prominently  on  the  eve  of  Mackenzie's  abortive  rebel- 
lion. One  night  O'Grady  moved  to  have  a  secret  committoe. 
"  Well,"  said  Mr.  Beat}^  "  I  have  no  secrets  in  politics  or  religion. 
I  will  belong  to  no  party  that  has  secrets  in  it."  O'Grady,  accord- 
ing to  Mr.  Beaty,  was  as  good-hearted  an  Irishman  as  ever  lived. 
According  to  Mr.  Beaty,  Foley  would  have  been  sent  for  when 
Sandfield  Macdonald  was  called  on  to  form  a  Govejnment,  but 
for  Sandfield's  intrigues.  Mr.  Beat)''  was  director  of  the  first 
Mutual  Insurance  Company,  in  the  Home  district ;  Presi  dent 
of  one  of  the  first  Building  Societies  ;  Commissioner  of  the  Pro- 
vincial Lunatic  Asylum  ;  Trustee  of  the  General  Hospital,  and   as 


a,^.i.Ji^.i.,aFt* 


JAMES  BEATY.      J.   G.   BOWES. 


279 


lill 

las 

lid 

Ind 

ine 


such  superintended,  with  others,  the  construction  of  the  New 
Hospital.  He  has  been  Alderman ;  was  for  nine  years  a  director 
of  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway,  and  has  long  been  proprietor  of  the 
Leader  and  the  Patriot.  He  was  returned  to  Parliament  for 
East  Toronto  in  1867,  and  re-elected  at  the  General  Election  fol- 
lowing. He  is  a  Conservative  in  politics  and  in  religion  a 
"  Disciple,"  the  Disciples  being  a  sect  like  the  Plymouth  Brethren 
in  all  respects  but  that  they  reject  the  notion  of  a  sinner  praj'ing 
to  be  converted,  and  do  not  believe  in  the  spiritual  illumination  on 
which  the  Brethren  set  so  much  store.  His  brother,  John 
Beaty,  came  here  in  1818,  and  remained  in  Trafalgar,  County  of 

vlton,  over  fifty  years,  until  his  death,  in  1870,  at  eighty  years 
of  age,  leaving  behind  him  sons  who  are  well  known  men — Robert 
Beaty,  John  Beaty,  and  William  C.  Beaty,  J.  P.,  of  Ashdale, 
Trafalgar,  an  active  and  leading  man  in  local  politics.  He  farms 
five  hundred  acres,  and  raises  thoroughbred  and  other  stock  exten- 
sively. His  youngest  son,  James  Beaty,  Jun.,  Q.C.,  an  alderman 
of  Toronto,  was  born  on  the  Ashdale  farm. 

Other  connections  of  Mr.  James  Beaty  are  Mr.  John  and  Mr. 
Samuel  Beaty,  both  enterprising  and  energetic  newspaper  men  who 
take  an  active  part  in  the  management  of  the  Leader.  The  Bel- 
ford  family  is  also  closely''related  to  Mr.  Beaty.  Charles  Belford 
is  a  well-known  journalist.  At  ont  time  editor  of  the  Leader,  he 
elected  when  the  Mail  was  started  to  OiU  its  staff*.  He  has  ever 
since  been  the  principal  political  writer  on  it.  His  brothers,  the 
Messrs.  Belford  Brotherr,  have,  as  publishers,  displayed  great  en- 
terprise, energy  and  taste,  and  thrown  a  new  light  on  the  possi- 
bilities of  the  trade  in  Canada. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  men  who  ever  walked  down  King 
Street  was  the  late  John  Geo.  Bowes.  He  was  born  near  (Clones,  in 
the  County  of  Monaghan  in  1812  and  came  to  Canada  in  1833.  He 
went  into  the  employment  of  his  brother-in-law,  Samuel  E.  Taylor, 
on  whose  decease  in  1838  he  wound  up  the  business  and  became 
manager  for  the  Messrs.  Benjamin  who  took  the  premises.  The 
Benjamins  removed  to  Montreal.  Bowes  took  his  brother-in- 
law  into  partnership  with  him ;  opened  a  wholesale  dry  goods 
warehouse ;  they  were  so  successful  that  after  three  years  they 
were  able  to  purchase  the  business  of  Messrs.  Buchanan,  Harris 


280 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


I 


^1 


&  Co.,  upon  these  removing  to  Hamilton.  Henceforth  he  was  in 
the  front  rank  of  the  wholesale  men  in  Canada.  As  a  financier 
he  had  few  equals. 

Of  middle  heigh  o  and  of  exceedingly  well  knit  frame,  he 
was  fond  of  manly  exercises  and  was,  in  expressive  coHof^aial  lan- 
guage, an  ugly  customer  in  a  row.  Character  lives  in  all  we  do, 
and  the  secret  of  his  success  may  be  extract. d  from  the  following 
incident,  perhaps  as  certainly  as  from  a  heavy  business  transac- 
tion. Having  occasion  when  mayor  to  visit  the  garrison,  he  took 
with  him  a  member  of  the  Council.  Thv  re  existed  at  the  time  a 
species  of  feud  between  the  military  and  the  civilians.  While 
Bowes  and  his  friend  were  walking  about  the  garrison,  making 
observations  in  vegard  to  certain  projected  civic  improvements, 
they  were  set  upon  by  five  soldiers  who  had  marked  them  for  an 
easy  prey.  The  warriors  had  made  a  grand  mistake.  Bowei 
handled  three  of  them.  The  first  he  struck  went  right  down, 
Bowes  having  caught  him  under  the  chin.  Two  of  the  soldiers 
rushed  at  him,  but  before  they  had  time  to  toucn  him — one !  two ! 
and  they  were  reeling  back  se  /eral  feet.  Meanwhile  the  first  had 
risen  and  sought  to  close  with  his  antagonist.  To  this  under  or- 
dinary circumstances,  Bowes  would  have  had  no  objection.  He 
had  now  however  to  keep  his  eye  on  more  than  one.  The  soldier 
struck  him  on  the  breast  bat  the  blow  had  no  more  effect  on  that 
iron  frame  than  a  pea  shot  against,  or  the  rat-tat  of  a  drummer  boy 
on  a  drum.  The  next  moment  a  blow  over  the  right  temple  again 
sent  the  man  of  war  to  the  ground.  On  came  his  comrades  to 
avenge  his  fall.  By  this  time  Bowes'  blood  was  thoroughly  up ; 
it  ran  lightning;  the  veins  his  companion  observed,  occupie;] 
though  he  was,  stood  out  on  his  foiehead ;  with  his  great  mane- 
like head  of  hair  he  was  suggestive  of  a  lion  at  bay.  His  blows 
rained  on  his  foes  who  felt  his  knuckles  as  though  he  wore  iron 
gauntlets.  In  a  few  minutes  he  was  able  to  come  to  iiis  friend's 
assistance  and  the  enemy  fied.  It  would  have  been  easy  to  find 
out  the  soldiers — for  there  was  not  one  of  them  on  whom  Bowes 
had  not  put  his  sign  manual,  and  to  have  had  them  punished.  But 
though  mayor  of  the  city,  feeling  for  them  that  kind  of  affection- 
ate t^  nderness  we  have  for  people  whom  we  have  well  beaten,  he 
refused  to  have  them  arrested. 


am 


llflBJliA. 


CATCHING  THE  HUMOUR  OF  THE  CROWD. 


281 


T-as  m 
incier 

e,  he 
1  lan- 
e  do, 
wing 
nsac- 
took 

ime  a 
hile 

iking 


An  alderman  of  St.  James'  ward,  1850,  we  have  seen  how  he 
was  3lected  Mayor  by  the  Council  for  1851-52-53,  and  by  popular 
vote  in  1861-62-63.  He  was  elected  one  of  the  members  for  the 
the  city  in  1854  and  took  an  eager  interest  in  the  legislation  of" 
the  period.  When  the  separate  school  question  was  agitating  the 
country,  he  threw  the  weight  of  his  influence  on  the  side  of 
separate  schools.  Fortunate  in  business,  he  lost  a  laige  portion  of 
the  wealth  he  had  made  by  expensive  political  contests  and  the 
reckless  speculation  of  his  partner. 

He  was  President  of  the  Toronto  and  Guelph  Kailway,  and  was 
connectec^  with  various  monetary  institutions.  He  died  on  the  20th 
of  May,  1864,  at  the  early  age  of  fifty-two.  His  funeral  was  the 
largest  ever  seen  in  Toronto,  and  was  attended  by  all  classes  of 
the  community.  He  left  a  widow  and  nine  children.  One  of  his 
sons  is  a  rising  young  barrister,not  unlike  the  father  in  appearance,, 
but  projected — physically — on  a  smaller  scale,  and  fair,  whereas 
the  father  was  somewhat  dark. 

Bowes  seems  tohave  been  capable  of  making  a  careless  statement 
to  catch  the  humour  of  a  crowd.  On  a  hustings  occasion,  Mr.  M. 
C.  Cameron  had  told  his  audience  with  what  aiwopos,  I  am  in  no 
position  to  say,  that  he  was  related  to  the  Stuart  line  of  Kings, 
a  line  of  men  the  least  admirable  Scotland  has  ever  produced. 
Mr.  Alexander  Manning  who  was  a  bosom  friend  of  Bowes,  said 
to  him :  "  Now  you  can  beat  that.  Say  j'ou  are  descended  from  a 
greater  man  than  any  Stuart,  Brian  Boru."  Accordingly,  when 
Bowes'  turn  came  to  speak,  he  said  : — "  Mr.  Cameron  says  he  is 
descended  from  the  Stuarts,  why,  I  am  descended  from  a  man 
greater  thfin  any  Stuart  ever  was.  I  am  descended  from  Brian 
Boru  himself."  The  crowd  which  was  mainly  Irish,  gaped  and 
then  cheered,  as  those  present  had  never  heard  a  crowd  cheer  be- 
fore. This  may  have  been  cleverly  done.  I  have  heard  Bowes 
praised  for  it  by  very  able  men  who  were  present  at  the 
time.  But  it  is  not  defensible.  In  the  first  place,  it  was  not 
true,  and  nothing,  no  not  the  heat  of  an  election  strife  will  justify 
even  what  are  called  "  harmless  fibs."  In  the  next  place,  it  was 
an  appeal  to  the  ignorance  of  the  audience,  and  the  duty  of  a 
public  man  is  not  to  appeal  to  the  ignorance  of  the  people,  but  to 
drive  away  as  far  as  in  him  lies  that  ignorance, and  appeal  to  reason, . 


1       M" 


n 


•282 


THE  IRISHMAN  IN   CANADA. 


i 


judgment,  and  the  living  passions  which  are  born  of  the  gi'eat 
issues  of  the  day.  There  was  a  much  better  answer  to  Mr. 
Cameron's  boast  or  joke,  for  it  is  hard  to  regard  his  statement  in 
a  serious  light.  That  answer  was  to  dwell  on  the  chai-acter  of 
the  Stuarts,  men  and  women,  and  show  what  a  pack  they  were, 
and  then  make  Mr.  Cameron  c  3sent  of  his  royal  relatives. 
Having  done  this,  Mr.  Bowes,  could  have  asked  what  on  earth  the 
family  tie  had  to  do  with  the  issue  of  the  moment. 

A  scandal  gathered  round  Mr.  Bowes'  name  in  connection  with 
a  profit  of  £10,000,  made  by  the  purchase  of  £50,000  city  deben- 
tures, in  regard  to  which  Mr.  Hincks  (Sir  Francis)  had  a  bill 
passed  through  Parliament.  No  one  can  doubt  for  a  moment 
that  such  a  purchase  was,  to  say  the  least,  an  improper  act.  It 
is  perhaps  only  just  to  his  memory,  to  give  the  following  account 
of  the  transaction  which  is  from  the  pen  of  a  surviving  friend. 

"Mr.  Bowes  thought  at  the  time  of  the  purchase  of  the  £50,000  of 
debentures  issued  by  the  city  that  he  had  a  perfect  right  to  buy 
them;  he  also  asserted  that  whatever  was  done  by  tl  Council  in 
the  matter  or  by  himself  as  mayor,  was  done  solely  upon  public 
grounds  and  with  a  view  to  public  interests ;  that  the  arrange- 
ments the  Council  did  enter  into  were  clearly  for  the  advantage 
of  the  fity,  and  in  no  manner  injurious  to  its  interests,  but  very 
much  tiie  reverse. 

"  Tiiere  is  no  doubt  the  credit  of  the  City  of  Toronto  was  greatly 
improved  b}'^  the  resale  which  Mr.  Bowes  succeeded  in  making  of 
the  debentures — but  in  after  life,  in  consequence  of  the  suspi- 
cions, the  discussions  and  contentions  to  which  it  gave  rise,  and 
the  unfavourable  inferences  drawn  from  his  silence  at  the  time  of 
the  transaction,  he  regretted  most  deeply  the  part  he  took  in  the 
matter. 

"  The  City  of  Toronto  lost  nothing  however,  by  the  transaction 
— in  fact  it  obtained  the  profit  made  on  the  sale  of  the  Debentures, 
some  $5,000. 

"  Mr.  Justice  McLean  in  giving  judgment  in  the  appeal  case  of 
Bowes  V.  The  City,  says : 

" '  In  all  this  I  confess  that  I  have  not  been  able  to  see  any  vio- 
lation of  duty,  or  of  any  obligation  which  the  appellant  owed  to 
he  City  o   Toronto  as  an  alderman  or  as  mayor ;  no  portion  of 


;  :|' 


mmm 


wm 


THE  DEBENTURES  SCANDAI,, 


283 


the  public  moneys  have  been  misapplied  or  diverted  to  the  benefit 
of  the  appellant :  no  loss  has  been  caused  to  the  city,  but  on  the 
contrary  a  considerable  gain  has  accriT  id  from  thj  whole  proceed- 
ing ;  and,  admitting  to  the  fullest  extent  that  the  appellant  was  in 
the  character  of  a  trustee  for  the  city  while  he  filled  the  ofiice  of 
mayor,  1  do  not  find  that  the  evidence  brings  home  to  him  any 
violation  of  trust  or  <any  dereliction  of  duty  which  can  entitle  the 
City  of  Toronto  to  insist  on  his  paying  into  its  treasury  an  amount 
which  has  been  derived  from  the  use  of  funds  furnished  by  a 
third  party.  In  coming  to  this  conclusion,  I  must  admit  that  I 
do  so  with  some  considerable  doubt,  knowing  that  the  point  has 
been  carefully  considered  and  ably  adjudicated  upon  in  the  court 
below  by  judges  much  more  experienced  in  the  consideration  of 
cases  of  trust;  bui,  I  have  not  been  able  to  satisfy  myself  that  the 
appellant  has  done  anything  which  can  entitle  the  respondents  to 
recover  against  him  in  this  action.  I  am  therefore  of  opinion  that 
the  judgment  of  the  court  below  should  be  reversed  and  that  the 
bill  filed  by  the  city  at  the  information  of  certain  parties  should 
be  dismissed.' 

"  The  majority  of  the  judges, however,  were  of  opinion  that,  tak- 
ing into  consideration  the  quasi  fiduciary  position  of  Mr.  Bowes, 
the  profit  made  by  the  sale  of  the  debentures  should  be  handed 
over  to  the  Corporation." 

Another  representative  man,  though  of  a  very  difierent  type  is 
the  Hon.  Frank  Smith.  He  was  born  at  Richfield,  Armagh,  in 
1832,  and  was  brought  by  his  father  to  Canada  in  1832.  The 
family  settled  near  Toronto.  From  1849  to  1867  he  carried  on 
business  in  London.  At  the  latter  date  he  removed  to  Toronto 
where  he  continues  hia  wholesale  grocery  trade.  He  was  an 
alderman  in  London  for  many  year.s,  and  was  mayor  of  that  city 
in  1806.  He  is  connected  with  some  large  institutions  such  as  the 
Northern  Extension  Railway,  of  which  he  is  president.  He  is  also 
president  of  the  Toronto  Savings  Bank,  and  a  director  of  the  Do- 
minion Bank.  A  conservative,  he  was  called  to  the  Senate  in 
Feb.,  1871. 

To  this  class  belong  the  Hughes,  the  McCrossons,  the  Merricks, 
and  the  like. 

A  representative  man  of  another  type  is  Mr.  Alexander  Manning, 


a 


284 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


one  of  our  largest  contractors,  who  has  been  aldi  rman  and  mayor, 
and  has  within  comparatively  few  yeai  s  raised  himself  to  wealth. 
During  his  mayoralty  he  entertained  the  Duke  of  Manchester, 
and  he  placed  his  handsome  residence  on  Wellington  Street 
with  its  commodious  grounds  at  the  disposal  of  Lord  Dutierin, 
when  the  Governor-General  was  visiting  Toronto.  Knowing  how 
expensive  politics  are,  he  has  hitherto  kept  out  of  those  engulfing 
waters.  He  has  a  reputation  it  would  take  a  Rembrandt  to  paint. 
Beneath  the  shrewdness  and  determination  without  which  wealth 
cannot  be  made,  there  is  a  tender  heart  and,  in  the  midst  of  shad 
ing  which  would  seem  to  indicate  hardness  of  character,  shine  out 
one  or  two  large  acts  of  spirited  and  apparently  even  reckless 
generosity.  A  deviser  of  schemes,  he  has  learned  how  to  use  men, 
and  always  on  the  alert  to  put  a  little  train  of  one  kind  or  another 
in  motion,  he  is  suspicious  lest  he  himself  should  be  taken  in  and 
too  cheaply  used.  When  addressing  the  electors  at  one  of  the 
hotels  during  a  contest  for  the  mayoralty,  he  properly  boasted 
that  he  liad  been  a  working-man.  There  could  not  be  a  better 
instance  than  is  furnislicd  by  Alexander  Manning  of  what  Canada 
can  do  for  persons  with  brains  and  thrift.  Mr.  Manning  has  been 
a  useful  citizen  and  may  yet  play  a  niore  prominent  part  when, 
sptisfied  with  the  wealth  he  has  acquired,  he  throws  contracting 
aside. 

A  man  whose  name  has  often  been  associated  with  that  of  Mr. 
Manning — they  arc,  if  I  do  not  mistake,  full  cousins — is  John 
Ginty,  himself  a  contractor.  Mr.  Ginty  glides  quietly  through  life 
and  exercises  considerable  influence  in  a  noiseless  way,  keeping 
meanwhile  his  own  counsel  with  considerable  success.  Deeper 
than  he  seems,  over  the  surface  of  his  character  might  be  written 
Denham's  lines : — 

"  Search  not  to  find  what  lies  too  deeply  hid 
Nor  to  know  things  where  knowledge  is  forbid." 

Though  careful  of  money  he  has  done  many  generous  acts  and 
lost  much  from  his  desire  to  help  others.  His  father  came  here 
in  the  year  1827  ;  but  he  must  be  dealt  with  later  on. 

A  family,  not  without  being  typical,  is  the  Morphy  family. 


Km 


THE   MOllPHYS.      THE   HARRTSONS. 


285 


Duiing  the  Napoleonic  wars,  a  young  Irishman  named  Morphy, 
devoted  to  tlie  crown,  and  anxious  for  military  distinction,  raised 
a  hundred  volunteers,  for  which  he  was  rewarded  with  a  commis- 
sion in  the  9oth  regiment.  He  served  in  the  Peninsula  and  at 
Waterloo,  after  which  battle  he  retired  on  a  captain's  half-pay, 
and  settled  in  Cork.  He  was  ai)pointed  magistrate.  He  died  in 
1831,  leaving  behind  him  a  consiuerable  amount  of  property — 
valuable  paintings,  works  of  art,  articles  of  vertu  collected  during 
his  campaigns — the  proceeds  of  which,  amounting  to  several  thous- 
and pounds,  were  equally  divided  between  his  next  of  kin,  four 
cousins,  two  of  whom  were  men. 

One  of  the  men,  who  had  seven  sons,  emigrated  to  Canada  on 
the  eve  of  Mackenzie's  rebellion,  and  settled  in  Toronto.  The 
lads  grew  up  in  Toronto,  and  entered,  some  the  professions, 
some  mercantile  life,  some  official  employ  ;  all  did  well,  and  won 
for  themselves  respectable  positions.  They  did  even  better 
than  this.  They  married  and  became  the  fathers  of  numerous 
families,  who,  if  collected  together,  would  make  a  respectable 
congregation  and  a  tolerably  large  town.  So  delighted  were  they 
with  their  adopted  country,  that  they  wrote  to  Ireland,  and  pre- 
vailed with  children  of  another  of  the  legatees  to  come  to  Canadq,. 
They  were  five  boys,  and  are  now  wealthy  merchants  and  good 
citizens  of  the  Province  of  Ontario.  Several  years  ago,  the  eldest 
of  the  seven  boys  went  to  Ireland,  and  brought  back  with  him 
to  Ontario  about  one  hundred  able-bodied  men  worth  many  thou- 
sand dollars  to  the  country.  Such  has  been  the  result  of  the  pic- 
tures and  articles  of  vertu  collected  by  the  captain,  during  his 
campaigns  on  the  continent. 

I  shall  have,  in  another  place,  to  speak  of  Chief  Justice  Harri- 
son— a  splendid  specimen  of  Irish  geniality,  power,  and  perseve- 
rance— but  his  family  will  claim  a  word  here.  The  family  is  a 
remarkable  one,  and  is  said  to  be  of  Danish  origin,  like  so  many 
of  the  greatest  families  in  Ireland.  To  speculate  on  the  form  of 
the  name  would  be  fruitless,  because,  in  Ireland,  a  process  has  gone 
forward  of  a  very  misleading  character.  As  I  have  shown  in  the 
introductory  chapters,  at  an  early  period,  the  Normans  assumed 
Irish  names  with  a  motive  akin  to  those  which  made  them 
mhernis  ipsis  Hiherniorea.    Something  must  be  put  down  to 


Ill 


! 


286 


TIIK    [RISIJMAN   IN   CANADA. 


the  attraction  of  which  Mr.  Froiido  npeaksso  emphatically  ;  some- 
thing I  fear  must  ho  put  down  to  the  (le.sire  to  increase  tlieir 
power  with  a  elan  or  clans,  even  as  the  tyranny  they  wen;  enal>led 
to  inflict  under  the  Irish  law  was  undoubtedly  a  factor  in  the 
aggregate  considerations  which  made  them  become  "  more  Irish 
than  the  Irish  themselves.*'  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  course  of 
time,  when  every  Irish  thing  fell  under  a  ban,  it  became  the  interest, 
and  sometimes  the  object  of  the  owners  of  Irish  names  to  denude 
them  of  their  distinctively  Irish  character.  Before  our  eyes  to- 
day, with  persons  who  could  have  no  reason  arising  out  of  fear  or 
favour  to  yield  to  this  process,  we  yet  see  their  names  become 
subject  to  it,  owing  to  the  quiet  but  enormous  and  overwhelming 
force  of  the  mere  fact,  that  a  race  whose  patronymics  have  a  cer- 
tain form  is  the  race  which,  at  least  in  the  past,  has  bet^n  domi- 
nant. Macaulay's  name,  in  its  Celtic  form  would  be  McCaulay — 
Macaulay  looks,  though  it  does  not  sound,  English.  The  Rev.  Mr. 
Macdonnell's  nan^e  in  its  Celtic  form  would  be  McDonellor  O'Don- 
nell,  for  the  "  Mc  "  and  "  O  "  mean  the  same  thing.  Thirty  years 
ago  Sir  John  Macdonald's  name  was  always  printed  in  the  news- 
papers McB..--ald,  as  was  that  of  the  present  Lieutenant-Governor 
and  his  brother,  Sandfield  Macdonald.  Neither  of  these  men 
could  be  supposed  capable  of  stooping  to  the  folly  of  modifying 
the  form  of  writing  his  name.  But  the  assimilating  power,  that 
power  which  has  made  the  Scotch  and  Irish  Gael  speak  a  Saxon 
dialect  on  pain  of  effacement,  that  power  which  has  made  Gaelic 
and  Erse  dead  languages,  works  vdiere  there  is  no  motive  of  the 
least  magnitude,  like  a  Nasmyth  hammer  which,  though  it  can 
crush  an  elephant  with  ease,  can  crack  a  nut  with  delicacy.  In  other 
days  there  were  strong  cogent  reasons  why  the  young  Scotchman, 
pushing  his  fortune  in  London,  should  seek  to  get  rid  of  his  accent 
and  all  that  reminded  the  conquering  Saxon  of  his  peculiar  origin  ; 
there  were  equally  strong  reasons  why  Irishmen  should  modify 
the  dangerous,  and  often  the  only  legacy  left  them  by  their 
fathers — a  Celtic  name.  It  was  easily  done.  Take  away  the  "0" 
or  "  Mac  "  and  put  son  at  the  end  of  the  name.  Iverson  and 
Wattson  sound  very  English — make  them  Mc  Watts  and  Mclver 
and  they  are  Celtic  again.  How  English  Morrow  sounds.  Yet  it 
is  the  same  as  Murrough — the  ne^me  of  Brian  Boru's  eldest  son. 


IRISH   NAMES.      REV.   RICHARD  HARRISON. 


287 


McMuiTogh  is  tho  same  name  with  tlie  patronymic  })refix,  and 
this  i.s  tho  Hamo  as  the  Irish  MacMurray  and  the  Scotch  McMur- 
rich,  and  all  are  prubuhly  tlie  same  as  Murpliy. 

If  a  process,  such  as  I  have  endeavoured  to  indicate,  liad  not 
gone  forward,  there  would  be  little  difficulty  in  assij,niin<,'  the 
Harrison  family  its  source.  As  it  is  we  must  he  content  with  the 
tradition  which  gives  it  a  Danish  classification.  Whether  they 
came  from  over  the  Noi-th  Sea  or  from  the  Continent ;  whether 
Celtic  or  Saxon  in  origin,  they  were  found  at  a  tolerably  early 
period  in  the  County  of  Monaghan,  where,  on  "  Harrison  Farm," 
Richard  Hamson  the  emigrant  was  born.  He  married  at  the  ajre 
of  twenty-seven  and  forthwith  removed  to  Canada.  He  settled 
first  at  Markham,  but  some  time  afterwards  removed  to  Toronto, 
where  by  attention  to  business  he  won  for  himself  a  handsome 
fortune. 

He  had  three  daughters  and  three  sons — the  present  Chief  Jus- 
tice of  Ontario,  the  Eev.  Richari'  Harrison  and  the  late  Mr.  Frank 
Harrison,  for  some  years  Lieutenant  in  the  IGth  Regiment. 

The  Rev.  Richard  Harrison,  after  a  distinguished  course  in 
honours  at  Trinity  College,  was  admitted  and  became  curate 
of  St.  George's,  Toronto,  Missionary  of  Beverley,  Incumbent  of* 
Woodbridge,  and  now  of  jSt.  Matthias.  In  1870,  he  married 
Cecilia  Marie,  daughter  of  William  Leslie,  of  the  County  of  Wel- 
lington, one  of  the  oldest  living  representatives  of  the  Leslies  of 
Fermanagh.  The  achievements  of  the  "  Leslie  Troop  "  in  India 
will  long  keep  his  relative.  Colonel  Leslie's  name  alive. 

The  father  of  Mr.  Leslie,  a  retired  captain,  removed  to  Canada 
some  thirty  years  ago,  having  married  a  French  lady  named  Le 
Vine.  He  was  lost  at  sea  while  returning  hither  after  a 
visit  to  Ireland.  The  weight  of  the  family  cares  fell  on  the 
shoulders  of  William  the  eldest  son,  then  only  nineteen.  This 
young  man  was  born  at  St.  Omer  in  France,  and  educated  at 
Portora,  Enniskillen.  An  I  ish  conservative  churchman  in  the 
midst  of  a  Scotch  Presbyterian  settlement,  there  is  no  name  in 
the  County  of  Wellington  more  honoured  than  that  of  William 
Leslie.  His  son,  Henry  Leslie,  having  graduated  at  Trinity  Col- 
lege, is  devoting  himself  to  the  ministry. 

I  am  now  about  to  speak  of  one  of  the  most  interesting  episodes 


i 


288 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


I 


in  tlie  history  of  emigration  ;  an  episode  wliich  can  only  find  a 
parallel  in  another  little  Irish  ((ua8i-arif;locratic  exodus,  an  account 
of  which  will  l)0  given  in  another  chapter.  What  an  incident  for 
an  emigration  novel !  What  a  suhject  foi  a  book  or  canto  of 
D'Arcy^McGee's  projected  emigration  epic  !  From  Kinsale,  whore 
early  in  the  seventeenth  century  the  last  of  the  independent  Irish 
chieftains,  O'Neill  and  O'Donnell,  were  overthrown,  and  a  thousand 
of  their  followers  having  fallen  before  the  swords  of  the  Lord  De- 
puty's horse,  lay  the  stark  emblems  of  a  lost  cause  within  reach  of 
the  roar  of  the  whitening  billows  of  the  upbraiding  sea — where 
James  II.  landed  in  1G89  and  was  received  hy  the  Roman  Catholic 
population  with  shouts  of  unfeigned  joy — which  fell  after  a  gal- 
lant resistance  before  the  all  conquering  sword  of  Marlborough, 
who  with  his  usual  skill  in  improving  a  victory  had,  on  the  fall  of 
Cork,  hurried  on  to  the  fort  which  of  all  others  was  most  imj)ortant 
from  the  point  of  view  of  French  aid  to  the  Irish — from  this 
historical  spot  four  roung  gentlemen  started  just  three  quarters  of 
a  century  ago  to  aeek  their  fortunes  in  Canada. 

Lawrence  Hayden  was  only  sixteen  years  of  age.  He  and  his 
school-fellows  John  and  William  Warren,  and  Callaghan  Holmes, 
with  their  hired  man  Pat  Deashy,  took  passage  in  a  brig  The  Orace 
of  llfracomhe,  determined  to  follow  in  the  distant  colony  "  agri- 
cultural and  farming  business."  In  due  time  they  touched  the 
shore  at  Quebec.  They  lingered  in  the  historic  city  to  visit  the 
fortifications  and  the  Falls  of  Montmorency.  They  then  pro- 
ceeded up  the  river  and  lake  to  York,  where  the  Warrens,  being 
related  to  the  family  of  Dr.  Baldwin,  that  generous  and  good  man 
gave  the  young  adventurers  an  Irish  welcome.  They  at  once  set 
about  obtaining  information,  and  at  length  decided  to  settle  in 
Whitby.  Prudence  dictated  that  they  should  not  commit  them- 
selves very  deeply.  They  purchased  a  lot  conjointly,  one  hun- 
dred acres  in  the  third  concession  of  Whitby,  upon  which  they  at 
once  settled.  Scarcely  had  they  entered  on  their  land  when  they 
heard  Pat  Deashy  shouting,  "  0  master  William  !  0  Master  John  I 
Come  here !  Come  here  ! "  Hastening  to  whence  the  shouts 
came  they  fo  and  Pat  looking  up  into  a  high  tree  on  which  were 
three  bears,  the  mother  e-^  J  two  large  sized  cubs.  Hayden  des- 
patched them  with  his  gun.     One  of  them  caught  in  a  fork  of  the 


THE  WEAKY   WILDEUNESS. 


iad 


branches.  There  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  leave  part  of  their  prize 
behind  tliem  or  fell  the  tree.  They  set  to  work  an<l  in  <luo  time  the 
tree  shuddered  and  shook  its  l')fty  cone,  and,  Wi^h  what  the  an- 
cients would  have  regarded  as  a  groan,  fi  .1.  The  bears  were 
skinned  and  for  several  winters  Hayden  wore  a  cap  uade  from  the 
pelt  of  the  old  bear. 

They  were  the  lirst  Irishmen  to  settle  in  that  section  of  the 
country  and  were  known  by  subse([uent  settlers  as  "  The  Four 
Irishmen."  After  a  time  they  found — mere  youths  that  they 
were  and  gently  nurtured — the  task  they  had  undertaken  too 
onerous.  New  and  pleasant  cnouifh  for  a  time,  when  the  novelty 
wore  off,  when  tho  sense  of  campinj.'  out  was  gone,  when  the  un- 
social monotony  appeared  in  all  its  grimness  of  stern  reality,  they 
found  it  unsufterable.  There  was  no  voice  of  woman  near  them 
to  round  their  lives  with  subtle  nnisic,  no  sympathetic  touch  of 
gentle  hand  to  soothe  them,  no  smile  bathed  in  tenderness — like 
early  sunshine  among  early  dew — to  cheer  them  on,  and  life 
Vjecame  as  weary  as  Mariana's,  and  they  discovered  that  in  the 
midst  of  boundless  wilderness  there  may  be  a  moral  prison-house. 
It  is  not  merely  that  they  missed  the  more  spiritual  assiduities 
with  which  women  cheer  and  charm;  those  little  household  duties 
which  women  best  attend  to  fell  to  the  lot  ot  young  men  who 
had  been  accustomed  to  the  refinements  of  the  home  of  Irish  gentle- 
men, where  the  women, si.-jter3, moth 3rs,  cousins,  and  sweethearts  are 
not  only  beautiful,  but  have  about  them  an  elevation  and  purity 
as  if  they  had  only  just  stepped  out  of  Bunyan's  "  House  Beauti- 
ful" and  were  own  sisters  to  Discretion,  Prudence  and  Charity, 
and  had  caught  the  serene  light  in  their  eyes  from  gazing  on  the 
Delectable  Mountains.  The  poor  young  adventurers  cooked  their 
own  meals,  made  their  own  bread,  mended  their  own  clothing, 
"  did  "  their  own  washing.  Their  ignorance  of  farming  was  very 
great.  The  following  incident  of  their  cooking  is  worth  relating. 
For  a  long  time  it  was  their  custom  to  take  alternate  Christmases 
at  Toronto,  when  they  were  entertained  by  Dr.  Baldwin.  Once 
when  the  two  holiday-makers  returned  to  Whitby  they  found  the 
edges  of  their  razors  hopelessly  blunt.  On  inquiring  the  cause  they 
learned  that  the  two  who  had  remained  at  home  had  killed  a  pig 


19 


290 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


, 


■tl 


;  I 


I  i'!! 


I! 

i 

I 


If 

ii" 


and  instead  of  taking  the  bristles  off  in  the  usual  v/ay,  by  scalding, 
had  shaved  them  off. 

At  length,  heartily  tired  of  the  "agricultural  and  farming  bus- 
iness," the  Warrens  sold  out  their  interest  to  Mr.  Hay  den,  as  did 
Mr.  Holmes.  The  Warrens  opened  a  store  near  what  is  to-day  the 
Town  of  Whitby.  The  brothers  soon  separated.  John  went  and 
opened  a  store  where  Oshawa  now  stands.  He  built  a  mill,  and 
laid  the  foundation  of  the  growth  and  prosperity  of  that  flourish- 
ing town.  He  named  it,  choosing  an  Indian  word  which  signifies 
the  crossing  of  two  paths.  Ho  was  very  successful.  He  still  re- 
sides at  Oshawa.  His  brother  William  became  Collector  of  Cus- 
toms at  Whitby  harbour.  The  duties  of  his  post  he  discharged  in 
a  Tery  satisfactoiy  manner  until  last  year,  when  he  was  superan- 
nuated. 

Callaghan  Holmes  died  of  the  chojora  on  his  way  to  Ireland  in 
183^5.  Pat  Deashy  remained  only  a  short  time  with  Mr.  Hayden, 
after  he  was  left  alone.  Pat  went  to  Buffalo,  where  he  soon  died. 
Hayden  sold  his  lot  and  purchased  another,  and  sold  this,  and 
opened  a  store  on  the  Kingston  road.  Finding  himself,  after  a  few 
years  of  store-keeping,  prosperous,  he  sold  out  his  stock  and  retired 
to  a  farm  he  had  purchased  in  the  meantime.  In  1830  he  mar- 
ried Barbara  Sullivan,  a  niece  of  Dr.  Baldwin.  About  the  year 
1840  he  furbished  up  his  c)  ssics,  passed  an  examination,  and  was 
entered  as  a  student-at-law.  A  long  illness  compelled  him  to  give 
up  the  study  of  the  law.  He  returned  to  his  farm  near  Whitby. 
In  1845  he  removed  with  his  family  to  Toronto,  to  take  charge  of 
the  large  landed  properties  of  the  Messrs.  Baldwin  and  their  cli- 
ents. He  was  thus  engaged  until  1850,  when  he  was  appointed 
Clerk  of  the  Crown  and  Pleas,  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  This 
office  he  held  until  the  death  of  Mr.  Small,  in  1864,  when  he  suc- 
ceeded that  gentleman  in  the  Crown  Office.  He  died  in  1868,  at 
his  residence  in  Bloor  Street,  having  played  many  parts,  and  played 
them  successfully.  He  was  placed  on  the  Commission  of  the 
Peace  as  early  as  1828.  In  1825,  he  received  his  commission  as  cap- 
tain in  the  2nd  regiment  of  East  York  Militia,  from  which  he  re- 
tired with  the  rank  of  Lieutenant-Colonel.  As  a  magistrate,  he  did 
much  towards  allaying  the  excitement  during  the  troublous  times 
of  1837-'38.    Grudges  and  hatreds  were  gratified  by  making  accu- 


HAYDRN   PROMOTES   IMMIGRATION. 


291 


sations  of  treason,  and  in  times  of  excitement  and  danger  such  cases 
were  difficult  to  handle.  The  delicate  task  Mr.  Hayden  seems  to 
have  performed  well.  In  those  days  magistrates  had  to  [)erf orra  the 
marriage  ceremony,  and  Hayden  united  together  in  the  happy  bond 
of  matrimony  thirty-eight  couples.  He  was  also  a  Commissioner 
of  the  Court  of  Requests,  Coroner,  and  frequently  Returning 
Officer. 

The  fam'Mes  of  "  The  Four  Irishmen,"  had  considerable  local 
infl  aence  in  their  part  of  the  County  of  Cork,  and  an  unremitting 
correspondence  being  kept  up,  many  of  their  countrymen  v.fjre 
induced  to  settle  at  Whitby.  Hayden  always  took  a  deep  and 
unselfish  interest  in  the  welfare  and  success  of  these  emigra?ii,s, 
many  of  them  being  forward  to  assert  to-day  that  they  owe  cheir 
prosperity'"  to  his  kindness  and  good  offices.  One  recf^Mnt  with 
gratitude  the  following  circumstance.  He  is  a  man,  now  highly 
prosperous,  who  had  for  some  reason  or  other  failed  to  procure  /or 
himself  a  farm.  He  was  induced  by  Mr.  Hayden,  to  lease  a  two 
hundred  acre  lot  on  a  term  of  years,  with  the  right  to  purchase  it 
at  a  given  price.  He  cleared  the  lot,  built  a  house,  paid  the  rent, 
raised  a  large  family,  but,  naturally  improvident,  forgot  all  about  the 
purchase,  until  the  time,  had  passed  for  paying  the  money.  Con- 
vinced that  ho  had  lost  his  farm,  he  came  to  Mr.  Hayden,  telling 
him  of  his  great  trouble.  What  was  his  surprise  and  joy  to  hear 
from  his  benefactor,  that,  fearing  something  of  the  kind  would 
happen,  he  had  himself  paid  the  money  ? 

Party  feeling  ran  high  between  the  Roman  Catholics  and 
Orangemen.  Hayden  worked  hard  to  allay  passions,  and  in  a  great 
measure  succeeded.  On  one  12th  of  July,  he  met  a  party  of  (Catho- 
lics on  their  way  to  contest  the  day  with  the  Orangemen.  An  en- 
lightened Catholic  himself,  he  sought  to  induce  them  to  return 
home,  and  after  much  entreaty  succeeded  in  persuading  them. 
Loyal  to  the  British  flag,  which  is  the  Irish  and  Scotch  flag  as  well 
as  the  English,  he  resisted  many  temptations  to  become  a  citizen 
of  the  United  States.  The  late  Mr.  Senator  Morgan,  of  New  York, 
who  had  married  a  sister  of  Dr.  Baldwin,  urged  him  in  vain  to  go 
to  New  York,  though  he  promised  what  he  had  the  power  to  per- 
form, to  look  after  his  advancement.  A  man  of  wealth,  named 
Dodge,  wished  him  to  become  a  partner,  and  take  charge  of  an 


292 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


^i     I 


extensive  iron  manufactory  in  Buffalo.  These  men  and  others, 
recognised  in  Hayden's  grave,  earnest,  intelligent  and  thoughtful 
character,  qualities  which  required  only  an  extended  field,  to  make 
a  great  mark.  Throughout  his  whole  life  he  bore  a  high  charac- 
ter, upright  in  business,  blameless  in  his  private  life. 

A  reticent  man,  not  given  to  speak  much  of  himself,  he  yet 
sometimes  told  of  a  narrow  escape  he  had  had  on  Lake  Ontario, 
when  he  used  to  take  his  wheat  to  York  to  be  ground.  On  one 
occasion  he  set  sail  from  Big  Bay,  now  the  harbour  at  Whitby,  in 
a  "  Dug-out,"  with  five  bags  of  wheat.  It  was  late  in  the  evening 
when  he  started.  It  was  important  to  gain  time.  He  made  the 
stretch  from  one  headland  to  another.  As  he  was  nearing  York, 
a  storm  came  on.  The  night  was  pitch  dark.  He  could  no  longer 
tell  his  bearings.  In  the  midst  of  his  bewilderment  the  boat  cap- 
sized. Like  most  Cork  men,  a  good  swimmer,  he  struck  out  un- 
daunted, until  he  touched  ohe  sides  of  the  unhappy  craft  which 
had  turned  turtle.  To  this  he  clung,  knowing  that  the  waves 
would  drive  it  ashore.  After  what  seemed  two  or  three  hours,  he 
touched  bottom.  He  pulled  his  boat  up  on  to  the  beach,  and 
dripping  wet,  took  shelter  underneath  it  until  the  morning,  when 
he  found  he  had  drifted  against  the  island.  He  dragged  the  boat 
across  the  sand  into  the  bay,  over  which  he  paddled  himself  to 
York.     His  grist  was  at  the  bottom  of  Lake  Ontario. 

On  another  occasion,  late  in  the  evening,  astride  of  a  young 
colt,  he  left  York.  Night  came,  and  a  thunderstorm.  A  tiash  of 
lightning  broke  athwart  his  path.  This  startled  the  young  beast. 
A  buck  jump — and  he  was  off  like  the  electric  gleam  which  had 
frightened  him.  A  good  rider,  Hayden  kept  his  seat.  The  horse 
stopped  on  a  sudden,  throwing  his  rider  on  to  his  neck.  The 
horse  screamed  with  terror.  A  great  broad  flash  which  lit  up  the 
whole  country  and  unveiled  the  face  of  the  lurid  waters  to  the 
horizon,  revealed  the  cause.  He  was  on  the  brink  of  Scarboro' 
Heights,  with  the  lake  roaring  eight  hundred  feet  below.  The  rider 
did  not  lose  his  nerve,  but  slid  quietly  off  the  horse.  The  animal 
then  recovered  his  position  on  the  bank.    When  the  storm 

"  Moaning  and  calliug  out  of  other  lands, 
Had  left  the  ravaged  woodland  yet  once  more 
To  peace," 


HAYDENS   FERTILITY   OF   RESOURCE. 


293 


Hayden  resumed  his  journey.  He  must  have  possessed  great 
physical  endurance.  On  one  occasion,  election  business  pressing, 
he  rode  from  York  to  Whitby,  back  again  to  York,  and  thence  back 
again  to  Whitby,  eighty-four  miles  in  the  daylight  of  one  day. 

He  was  full  of  resource.  When  alone  on  his  farm  at  the  Bay, 
finding  his  money  running  short,  he  determined  to  have  some. 
He  set  to  work,  chopped  trees,  and  made  ashes  sufficient  to  pro- 
duce a  barrel  of  potash.  This  he  shipped  for  Montreal,  taking 
passage  himself.  He  sold  his  ashes  to  advantage.  Not  caring  to 
go  back  the  way  he  went,  and  wanting  a  horse,  he  bought  one  at 
an  auction  and  rode  him  bare-backed  to  Whitby.  His  early  ex- 
periences in  Ireland,  where  even  young  gentlemen  are  accustomed 
to  take  out  a,  bridle  with  them  and  without  a  saddle  have  a  canter 
over  the  fields  on  one  of  their  father's  horses,  would  make  this  ride 
a  light  matter. 

He  always  retained  his  hold  on  the  affections  and  regard  of  the 
early  suttlei-s  in  and  about  Whitby,  and  on  their  families.  Mr. 
Blake,  when  he  accepted  the  Chancellorship,  represented  East 
York.  The  moment  the  vacancy  occurred,  some  of  the  principal 
men  of  East  York  belonging  to  each  side  oi  politics,  urged  him  to 
offer  himself  for  their  suffi-ages.  He  had  every  prospect  of  being 
elected  without  opposition.  The  offer  was  as  tempting  as  it  was 
gratifying.  But  f^s  he  would,  in  case  he  accepted  it,  have  had  to 
sacriffce  a  public  position,  which  he  felt  bound  in  the  interest  of  his 
family  to  keep,  he  declined. 

Mr.  Hayden  seems  to  have  had  decided  opinions  on  religious 
and  political  questions.  In  religion,  I  am  informed  by  a  relative, 
who  can  speak  with  ample  authority,  he  was  a  Roman  Catholic, 
and  as  such  was  the  first  to  settle  in  South  Ontario.  "  He  may," 
writes  my  informant,  "  be  styled  the  father  of  the  Catholics  in  that 
section,  in  more  senses  than  one.  He  was  possessed  of  a  sincere 
and  firm  conviction  of  religious  truth,  and  his  whole  life,  thoughts 
and  actions  were  governed  by  its  teaching  and  principles."  In 
politics,  he  was  a  reformer  of  the  Baldwin  type,  and  he  did  much 
to  keep  alive  the  principles  and  spirit  of  the  party.  He  possessed, 
at  all  times,  the  entire  confidence  of  his  leader,  Mr.  Baldwin,  with 
whom  his  public  and  private  relations  were  of  the  most  confiden- 
tial and  friendly  character.     While  living  in  East  York,  he  took  a 


:l  I 


!  i 


U        M< 


4 


294 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


deep  interest  in  all  undertakings  of  a  public  nature,  and  his  in- 
fluence with  the  Government  was  readily  exerted  to  benefit  public 
undertakings  and  individuals  whom  he  deemed  worthy  of  the 
confidence  of  those  in  power. 

The  father  of  John  Ginty,  mentioned  in  an  earlier  part  of  this 
chapter,  came  to  Canada  from  Old  Castle,  Westmear.h,  in  1827> 
and  settled  in  South  Simcoe.  He  was  a  good  public  speaker,  an 
exceedingly  clever  man  generally,  and  possessed  consi<lerable  local 
influence  which  he  exercised  in  support  of  the  late  Hon.  W.  E. 
Robinson,  Owing  to  his  exertions  and  exposure  in  the  rebellion 
of  1837  he  got  erysipelas  of  which  he  died.  His  wife  is  still  alive. 
In  1854  the  son  removed  to  Toronto. 

In  Simcoe  the  late  Mr.  Ginty  was  frequently  brought  in  contact 
with  a  remai'kable  man  who  did  a  good  day's  work  i:or  Canada, 
and  whose  family  are  in  various  ways  contributing  to  its  political, 
social,  and  intellectual  life.  Colonel  O'Brien  belonged  to  that 
interesting  cl^ss  the  ranks  of  which  have  been  fed  mainly  from 
Ireland — the  gentlemen  settlers — who  brought  to  their  adopted 
country  means,  talent,  and  culture,  and  to  whom  we  owe  nearly  all 
the  refinement  of  which  we  can  boast. 

Colonel  O'Brien  was  born  at  Woolwich,  on  the  9th  of  January, 
1798.  His  father,  who  had  married  the  eldest  daughter  of  Colonel 
Calendar,  was  a  Captain  and  Adjutant  in  the  Royal  Artillery, 
who  had  served  in  the  West  Indies  and  who,  for  his  services,  was 
allowed  to  retire  on  half -pay.  It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  put 
on  record  that  one  of  the  sisters  of  Miss  Calendar  maMed  Thom*^ 
Brinsley  Sheridan,  whose  wit  was  nearly  as  bright  as  his  father's. 
They  had  three  remarkable  daughters,  who  were  so  beautiful  that 
they  were  known  as  the  "  Three  Graces."  One  married  the  late 
Lord  Dufierin,  another  the  Honourable  Mr.  Norton,  and  the  third 
the  Duke  of  Somerset.  Both  Lady  DufFerin  and  the  Honourable 
Mrs.  Norton  won  for  themselves  a  place  in  literature.  Mrs.  Norton 
was,  at  fifty  years  of  age,  strikingly  handsome.  Seen  five  minutes 
she  made  on  the  mind  an  inefiaceable  impression,  and  her  second 
marriage  would  seem  to  indicate  that  like  all  supreme  beauties 
she  carried  with  her  into  the  sick  room,  and  to  the  verge  of  the 
grave,  the  power  and  charm  which  enchain  the  heart. 

Colonel  O'Brien's  earliest  days  were  passed  in  the  neighbourhood 


•GENTLEMEN  SMUGGLERS. 


295 


of  Cork,  where  his  father  was  stationed  for  several  years.  His 
education  which  was  commenced  at  Spike  Island — a  military 
station  and  a  scene  of  convict  labour  in  the  harbour  of  Cork — 
was  of  a  peculiar  cliaracter,  and  the  only  wonder  is  that  instead 
of  the  most  honourable  of  men,  he  did  not  develop  into  a  free- 
booter. Not  only  was  he  taught  the  usual  rudiments  of  a  liberal 
education,  especially  in  the  science  branches,  he  received  fruitful 
instruction  in  the  manly  art  with  the  history  of  which  in  Canada 
his  name  is  inseparably  connected.  In  those  days  amateur  smug- 
gling was  considered  a  good  joke.  A  gentleman  did  not  shrink 
from  it.  It  was  like  breathing  the  Proctor's  dogs  at  college.  It 
was  indulged  in  with  the  graceful  recklessness  of  a  "Prince  Hal," 
at  the  promptings  of  a  spirit  of  adventure  such  as  made  James  of 
Scotland  unconsciously  provide  material  for  the  most  effective  of 
Scott's  poems.  To  get  a  cask  of  wine  into  a  man's  cellar  without 
paying  duty,  though  a  malum  prohibitum  was  not  regarded  as  a 
malum  m  se.  Even  men  holding  His  Majesty's  commission  en- 
gaged in  the  "  sport."  Captain  O'Brien — the  Colonel's  father — 
fell  in  with  the  custom  of  the  hour.  An  expert  boatman,  with 
the  fastest  wherry  and  best  crew  in  the  harbour,  it  was  his  delight 
assisted  often  by  friends  from  the  men-of-wa.  riding  at  anchor  on 
the  bosom  of  this  unrivalled  bay,  or  better  still,  returning  from 
Spain  or  Portugal,  to  outwit  the  custom-house  officers  and  revenue 
cutters.  Often  pursued,  whether  in  sliine  or  storm  he  was  never 
caught.  When  the  revenue  dogs  were  in  full  cry  he  sat  confident:— 

Tunc  me  biremis  praesidio  scaphse 
Tutum  per  ^gseos  tumultua 

Aura  feret,  geminiisque  Pollux. 

And  loud  was  the  laughter  and  high  the  mirth,  as  they  broached 
the  cask,  and  drank  the  furtive  wine  singing : — 

"  Vive  la  contrebande  ! " 


Captain  Vansittart,  so  well  known  as  Admiral  Vansittart,  in 
Woodstock,  where  he  laid  out  the  beautiful  property  of  Eastwood, 
framed  with  woodland,  now  in  possession  of  Mr.  T.  C.  Patteson, 
used  to  tell  of  casks  of  P  rt  and  Madeira  brought  in  his  ship  and 
the  exciting  chases  which  took  place,  when  the  game  broke  cover 


296 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


I 


W 


i        i 


^mSt 


beneath  her  cannon-frowning  sides.  On  these  occasions  his 
father's  chosen  companion,  the  boy,  while  yet  a  stripling,  became 
an  adept  in  the  management  of  a  boat.  In  this  way  he  largely 
acquired  those  tastes  and  that  seaman-like  skill  which  influenced 
his  whole  career,  and  fitted  him  to  play  the  part  of  founder  of 
yachting  as  an  institution  among  us.  For  Irishmen,  founders  in 
so  much  else  Canadian,  are  also  founders  here. 

No  better  boatman  or  more  finished  yachtsman  than  Colonel 
O'Brien  has  ever  sailed  Canadian  waters.  lie  originated  and 
organised  the  first  yacht  club  in  Toronto.  Dr.  Hodder,  the  son 
of  an  Irishman  who  was  a  great  friend  of  Captain  O'Brien's, 
was  the  means  of  bringing  into  prominence  its  successor,  the 
Royal  Canadian  Yacht  Club.  Some  of  the  older  yachting 
men  still  talk  of  the  "  Coquette,"  built  in  O'Brien's  barn,  on 
the  shoies  of  Lake  Simcoe.  Her  rigging  and  sails  were  made 
with  his  own  hands.  The  "  Gazelle  "  followed,  and  the  "  Fan- 
qui."  Fanqui  is  a  Chinese  word,  and  means  "  foreign  rascal," 
a  term  applied  by  the  Celestials  to  the  outside  barbarians.  The 
yacht  was  thus  opprobriously  baptized  because  of  her  peculiar 
shape  and  rig.  His  son,  Mr.  Henry  O'Brien,  a  leading  member 
of  ^a  leading  law  firm  in  Toronto,  inheriting  his  father's  tastes  and 
aptitudes  formanly  exercises,and  especially  for  boating  and  yacht- 
ing, started,  some  few  years  ago,  the  Argonaut  Club.  The  last 
time  Colonel  O'Brien  was  on  the  water  he  took  an  oar  in  a  four- 
oared  boat  of  the  Argonauts. 

With  such  a  training  as  young  O'Brien  had,  it  was  natural  that 
the  sea  should  have  been  his  choice  when  the  question  of  a  pro- 
fession was  mooted.  Indeed,  with  or  without  this  training,  he 
would,  at  the  age  he  was  called  on  to  decide,  have  declared  for 
Neptune.  Every  boy  of  spirit  reared  in  Cork  wants  to  go  to  sea  ; 
and  anxious  mothers  and  ambitious  fathers  are  sorely  troubled  by 
their  young  hopefuls,  from  their  seventh  to  their  fourteenth  year, 
who  long  for  the  life  of  a  seaman  bold,  who  pine  for  the  stormy 
sea.  This  contiguity  with  the  sea  and  necessary  contact  with 
shipping,  with  foreigners  and  foreign  seamen,  with  stately  war- 
ships, with  regiments  embarking  and  disembarking;  the  blare  of 
the  bugle  in  the  morning  from  the  heights  of  Barrack  Hill ;  the 
recall  as  evening  settles  slowly  down  on  the  beautiful  city  and 


A  SEA-ROCKED  CRADLE  OF  GREATNESS. 


297 


darkens  over  the  wooded  terraces  of  the  pellucid  river,  and  clothes 
the  towering  belfry  of  Shandon  with  congenial  shadows  ;  the 
sham  battles  in  the  park ;  the  gaiety  of  the  princely  promenade  of 
the  New  Wall  ;  all  the  beauty  of  form  and  colour  of  the  various 
landscape  which  no  one  could  know  without  loving  it  in  its 
changing  moods,  as  though  it  were  a  beautiful,  capricious,  yet 
noble-hearted  woman ;  streets  which  run  over  the  graves  of 
heroes  ;  storied  towers  ;  associations  with  Spenser  and  kindred 
men  ;  all  this  expands  the  mind  of  the  child,  fills  it  with  vague 
longings  after  adventure  and  greatness,  sends  his  mind  down  the 
handsome  river,  like  a  little  rudderless  boat,  dreaming  out  to  sea  ; 
dreaming  Heaven  knows  what  of  grand  achievement  and  daring 
deed.  It  is  to  this  stimulating  surrounding  we  must  in  no  small 
part  attribute  the  fact  that  Cork  has  produced  so  many  remark- 
able men.  And  when  the  child,  while  the  disturbing  effeminacy 
of  the  passions  is  in  abeyance,  thinks  of  adventure,  and  his  eager 
nature  longs  for  action — what  horse  sa  sure  to  bear  him  at  once 
to  all  he  longs  for  as  the  white-maned  steed  that  frets  hard  by 
yonder  green-capped  cliff  ?  The  earliest  song  he  hears  praises  a 
life  on  the  ocean  wave,  and  exalts  beyond  all  quieter  homes,  a 
home  on  the  rolling  deep.  The  comely  mother  of  seven  or  eight 
sons,  and  looking  younger  than  one  of  our  young  women  of 
twenty,  has  not  made  your  acquaintance  an  hour  bbfore  you  hear 
from  her  maternal  but  rosy  lips,  that  the  fine  boy  whose  head  she 
pats  is  determined  to  go  to  sea.  She  supposes  it  must  be,  but  the 
sea  is  a  dreadful  life.  And  Tom  or  Bill  at  once  takes  you  into 
his  confidence,  runs  off  for  his  well-rigged  boat  which  he  sails  on 
one  of  the  inlets  of  the  river,  and  he  assures  you  he  means  to  be 
captain  of  just  such  a  ship  as  he  bears  in  his  arms. 

Young  O'  Brien  was  not  ten  years  of  age  when  he  had  fixed  his 
destiny.  Having  passed  through  a  short  preparatory  course  at  Ply- 
month,  when  only  eleven  years  of  age  he  went  to  sea  as  a  middy  in 
the  "Sybelle"  frigate,  having  received  from  his  mother  ere  the  ^ist 
embrace  the  admonition — "  Never  to  forget  his  Bible,  orthat  he  was 
the  SOP  of  an  Irish  gentleman."  This  was  at  the  close  of  the  gi'eat 
war  wuen  a  midshipman's  life  had  none  of  those  comforts  which 
now-a-days  make  it  one  of  comparative  luxury.  He  subsequently 
served  in  the  China  seas  in  the  craik  36-gun  frigate  "Doris,"  com- 


298 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


mantled  by  his  cousin  Captain  Robert  O'Brien,  who  afterwards 
came  to  this  country  an  Admiral,  and  Uved  at  Woodstook  and  at 
Tollendal,  n  jar  iiarrie.  Captain  O'Brien  obtained  his  promotion 
by  his  skill  in  taking  a  merchantman  off  the  Goodwin  Sands. 
The  peace  with  America  put  an  end  to  the  long  naval  contest  and 
an  end  also  to  any  speedy  advancement  in  the  navy.  O'Brien, 
therefore,  joined  the  army.  He  was  given  a  commission  in  the 
2nd  Dragoons,  but  finding  this  corps  d'elite,  in  all  senses,  too  ex- 
pensive, he  exchanged  into  the  58th  Regiment,  then  under  orders 
for  service  in  the  West  Indies.  Here  his  health  failing  he  retired 
on  half  pay. 

Now  his  mind  returned  to  its  first  love.  He  went  into  the  mer- 
chant service  and  made  several  voyages  to  the  East.  His  reputa- 
tion for  seamanship  and  general  capacity  brought  him  an  ofier  of 
one  of  the  fine  East  Indian  passenger  ships  of  that  day.  As  he 
was  about  to  take  command  he  was  attacked  by  a  severe  illness 
v^hich  compelled  him  to  give  up  the  sea  for  ever. 

His  restless  activity,  however,  would  not  permit  him  to  settle 
down  to  a  quiet  life  in  the  Old  Country.  He  determined  to  seek 
his  fortune  in  the  backwoods  of  Canada.  With  a  number  of  other 
half-pay  ofiicers  he  settled  on  the  North  Shore  of  Lake  Simcoe, 
taking  up  his  grant  in  the  Township  of  Oro.  Sir  John  Colborne 
had  put  him  in  charge  of  the  settlement.  Here  he  built  the  house 
where  he  ended  his  days.  A  beautiful  picture  of  this  house  has 
been  painted  by  his  son,  Mr.  Lucius  O'Brien,  whose  name  as  that 
of  the  foremost  artist  in  Canada  will  again  come  up.  Mr.  O'Brien 
was  the  only  settler  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Simcoe  who  retained  his 
grant  to  the  end. 

Here  with  his  newly  married  wife  and  a  family  growing  up 
about  them — all  the  children  survive — he  entered  on  the  toils  and 
hardships  of  the  backwoods.  He  and  his  wife  did  all  that  kind 
hearts  and  fertile  brains  and  ready  hands,  far  from  empty,  could 
do  to  promote  the  happiness  of  all  around  them.  They  visited 
and  succoured  the  sick  and  needy.  He  filled  many  offices  of  trust. 
He  became  Chairman  of  the  Quarter  Sessions,  Commissioner  of 
the  Court  of  Requests,  and  Colonel  in  the  Militia.  As  a  Justice 
of  the  Peace  he  was  fearless  and  active,  and  some  thought  severe. 
But  in  those  days  there  were  many  turbulent  characters  in  the 


AN   ENERQETIC  GENTLEIVIAN    SETTLER. 


299 


Simcoe  District  who  required  a  firm  hand.  In  the  suppression  of 
the  rebellion  he  took  an  active  part,  and  was  for  some  time  en- 
gaged at  Lloydtown,  a  hotbed  of  disaffection,  in  the  discharge  of 
magisterial  duties. 

Shortly  after  the  establishment  of  the  County  of  Simcoe  as  a 
municipality  Mr.  O'Brien  left  "The  Woods"  and  removed  to  Toronto 
where  he  lived  for  many  years.  With  his  accustomed  energy  he 
threw  himself  into  various  business  schemes.  He  was  one  of  the 
moving  spirits  in  the  first  projected  railway  from  Toronto  to  Lake 
Huron,  with  a  terminus  at  Sarnia,  and  was  secretary  of  a  company 
formed  to  promote  it.  He  was  opposed  to  having  a  terminus  at 
Collingwood.  He  was  the  organizer  and  first  manager  of  the  Pro- 
vincial Insurance  Company.  He  was  also  connected  with  the 
press,  and  at  one  time  owned  the  old  Patriot  and  the  Colonist.  A 
staunch  loyalist  and  a  strong  Conservative  he  took  an  active  part 
in  the  politics  of  the  day. 

Fis  chief  public  interest  like  that  of  Mr.  Dixon's  was  the  wel- 
fare and  prosperity  of  the  Church.  His  first  care  on  settling  at 
Lake  Simcoe  was  to  set  apart  a  portion  of  his  land  for  a  church 
and  glebe.  On  this  one  of  the  first  missions  north  of  Toronto  was 
established,  and  through  his  exertions  the  church  was  built.  To 
the  little  church -yard  of  this  church  over  the  bright  fields,  one  day 
in  the  summer  of  1875,  the  brave  old  man's  remains  were  carried 
by  his  sons  and  old  friends. 

He  hated  whatever  was  false  and  mean.  Owing,  perhaps,  to  his 
early  training,  his  manner  was  dictatorial.  He  had  strong  views 
on  men  and  things  which  he  fully  expressed.  He  used  to  hesitate 
or  rather  stutter  bu^  could  not  bear  to  be  helped  out  of  his  difii- 
culty.  On  one  occasion  he  was  saying — "  It  is  not  worth  a  si-si- 
si — ."  "  Sixpence,"  suggested  some  one.  "  No,  sir,"  replied  O'Brien, 
"  not  worth  a  shilling."  If  there  was  a  blemish  in  his  character 
it  was  of  the  most  superficial  nature,  while  his  sterling  qualities 
were  such  that  no  one  ever  knew  him  without  loving  him. 

Dr.  Lucius  O'Brien,  the  Colonel's  brother,  who  was  surgeon  to 
the  troops  engaged  in  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion  in  Jamaica, 
in  1831,  soon  after  left  the  army,  and  hearing  glowing  accounts 
of  Canada  from  the  Colonel,  came  here  and  settled  fourteen  miles 


300 


THE  IRISKtMAN   IN   CANADA. 


. 


111! 

Hi. 


north  of  Toronto,  at  Thomhill,  where  he  had  for  some  years  a  large 
practice. 

At  that  time,  the  indulgence  in  whiskey-drinking  was  carried 
to  unhappy  lengths  among  the  rural  population.  Dr.  O'Brien, 
though  hitherto  a  wine  drinker,  determined  to  become  a  teetotaler. 
He  established  a  temperance  .society  of  which  he  was  President, 
until  he  removed  to  Toronto  in  1838.  In  1837-8,  he  was  appointed 
chief  military  sur<:^eon  at  Toronto,  where,  when  the  troops  were 
disbanded,  he  settled  down  to  practice.  He  held  several  impor- 
tant public  positions  in  connection  with  his  profession.  A  re- 
ligious man,  he  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  Bible  Society,  of  which 
he  was  Vice-Presi'^ent  for  many  years  before  he  died.  In  1845, 
he  was  appointed  to  the  chair  of  Medical  Jurisprudence  at  King's 
College,  and  lectured  until  18.53,  when  the  school  was  done  away 
with.  A  strong  Conservative,  he  became  editor  of  the  Toronto 
Patriot,  which  he  continued  to  edit  for  eight  years.  If  he  was 
lesponsible  for  all  the  articles  in  that  paper  during  Lord  Elgin's 
time,  his  editorial  labours  are  not  so  creditable  as  his  medical. 
Having  lost  money  through  injudicious  speculations,  he  accepted 
the  office  of  Secretary  to  the  Hon.  Wm.  Cayley.  He  subscfjuently 
received  an  appointment  in  the  Finance  Department.  He  died 
at  Ottawa,  in  1870,  at  the  advanced  age  of  seventy-five. 

We  now  return  for  a  moment  to  the  County  of  Simcoe.  In 
1822,  the  McConkey  family  eniigrated  to  Canada  from  Tjrone, 
where  Thomas  David  McConkey  was  bom  in  1815.  The  family 
first  settled  in  the  Niagara  district,  but  in  1825  removed  to  the 
County  of  Simcoe.  Thomas  was  educated  at  a  common  school, 
and  when  he  came  to  man's  estate  he  opened  a  geneial  store  in 
Ban'ie,  immediately  after  the  new  district  was  set  apart  and  pro- 
claimed. Success  beyond  his  expectation  followed,  and  a  few 
years  ago  he  retired  from  business. 

Like  most  of  his  countrymen,  he  had  a  capacity  for  public  em- 
ployment, and  was  elected  a  member  of  the  first  Town  Council  of 
Barrie,  where  he  rendered  the  county  great  service.  He  held  the 
position  of  Reeve  of  the  town  for  nine  yeartf  In  1860,  he  was 
elected  Warden  of  the  Cc  mty  of  Simcoe,  an  office  he  held  for  two 
Vv^ars. 

A  strong  reformer,  he  in  1861  unsuccessfully  contested  North 


I 


s4to^ 


THE  TOWN-LINE  BLAZERS. 


301 


Simcoe  with  Mr.  Angus  MorriHon.  Ho  again  opposed  Morrison  in 
1803,  when  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  old  Canadian  parlia- 
ment. He  supported  Confederation,  and  at  the  general  election  of 
1867,  he  was  elected  unanimously  for  the  first  House  of  Counnons 
of  the  Dominion  of  Canada.  He  declined  a  nomination  in  1872. 
Ill  ^  875,  he  was  nominated  to  contest  West  Simcoe,  but  was  de- 
feated. For  nearly  twenty  years  up  to  his  appointment  in  1875 
to  the  Shrievalty  of  the  county,  he  was  a  justice  of  the  peace.  He 
is  a  good  speaker  and  a  man  of  convictions  and  integrity. 

The  greater  part  of  a  township  near  Streetsville,  County  of 
Peel,  is  settled  by  emigrants  from  "gallant  Tipperary."  Th  y  used 
to  be  Ctilled  some  years  age  the  "  Town-line  blazers."  The  names 
all  smack  of  Ireland— the  Cooks',  the  Cantlans',  the  Millers,'  the 
Coles,'  the  Waits,'  the  Orrs.'  They  were  accustomed  to  come  down 
to  town  with  their  guns,  a  practice  which  I  hope  they  have  dis- 
continued. "  One  old  boy,"  writ'^s  a  correspondt^nt,  "  would  come 
down,  and  when  he  took  a  glass  too  much  he  would  say  :  'Do  yoii 

think  you  could  box  a  Cole  or  a  Cantlan?    No!  nor  by could 

you  box  old  Rowley  himself.'" 

John  Hammond  and  his  wife  came  out  early  to  Canada.  He 
died  at  Lachine,  of  cholera,  and  his  wife  with  her  son  William 
Hammoi  d  (now  of  Yonge  Street),  went  on  as  far  as  Brampton. 
All  the  relatives  of  this  lady  have  done  well.  A  brother  of  Mr. 
Hammond  farms  two  hundred  acres  of  land  at  Owen  Sound, 
and  is  doing  "  first-rate,"  whilst  an  uncle  farms  300  acres  at  Bramp- 
ton, and  is  very  prosperous.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  Brampton, 
the  Whitehead  «/.he  Arnots,  the  Willis's,  and  a  score  of  other  fami- 
lies attest  at  once  the  energy  of  Irishmen,  and  the  scope  of  Canada 
for  industry. 

Already  it  has  been  shown  that  Ireland  has  sent  to  Canada  re- 
markable men,  and  furnished  interesting  incidents  for  the  histor- 
ian of  emigration.  But  the  story  is  not  half  told,  as  will  be  seen 
by  the  following  chapter. 


302 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


''ll 


I 


f 


CHAFTEP    VIII. 

Some  of  the  most  striking  facts  connected  with  the  early  Irish 
emigration  will  now  be  laid  before  the  reader. 

In  1H32  the  Messrs.  Edward  and  Dominick  Blake,  with  some 
connections  and  friends,  left  Ireland  for  Canada  to  seek  a  kinder 
fortune  beneath  colder  skies.  Nothing  was  to  be  despaired  of 
with  such  leaders.  It  was  hard  to  leave  a  country  where  the 
family  had  made  for  itself  a  name  and  place.  But  necessity  was 
severe  as  the  father  of  Teucer,  and  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to 
bedew  the  shamrock  with  wine  and  on  the  morrow  sail  the 
boundless  main. 

The  Blakes  of  Castlegrove,  County  of  Galway,  held  a  good  place 
p.mong  the  country  gentry.  Dominick  Edward  Blake,  of  Castle- 
grove, married  first  the  Honourable  Miss  Netterville,  a  daughter 
of  Lord  Netterville,  of  Drogheda,  by  whom  he  had  three  sons, 
Edward,  Andrew,  and  John  Netterville.  He  afterwards  maiTied 
a  daughter  of  Sir  Joseph  Hoai-e,  Baronet,  of  Annabella,  in  the 
County  of  Cork,  by  whom  he  had  four  sons,  one  of  whom  was 
Dominick  Edward  Blake,  who  chose  the  Church  as  his  profes- 
sion. He  married  Anne  Margaret  flume,  eldest  daughter  of  Wil- 
liam Hume,  of  Humewood,  County  Wicklow.  His  wife  survived 
him  as  did  his  three  daughters,  and  the  two  sons  Dominick  Ed- 
ward and  William  Hume,  both  of  whom  were  educated  at  Trinity 
College^  Dublin.  Dominick  Edward,  the  eldest,  was  ordained  as 
a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England,  while  his  brother  studied 
surgery  under  Surgeon-General  Sir  Philip  Crampton. 

The  Rev.  D.  E.  Blake  soon  married,  the  lady  being  a  Miss  Jones, 
the  eldest  daughter  of  a  man  who  was  connected  in  a  passing  way 
with  Canada,  and  whose  conversation  respecting  the  country  had 
no  small  influence  on  the  mind  of  his  son-in-law.  Major  Jones 
was  a  retired  oflUcer  who  had  held  commissions  in  the  37th,  49th, 
and  60th  regiments.  He  had  served  throughout  the  Peninsular 
War  and  in  Canada  during  the  war  of  1812.  He  took  part  in  the 
battles  of  Lundy^s  Lane  and  Queenston  Heights. 


THE   BLAKES   START    FOR  CAN  VDA. 


303 


William  Ilume  Blako  married  Mias  Catharine  Hume,  the  daugh- 
ter of  a  younger  brother  of  William  Hume,  of  Humewood.  In 
1832,  lie  and  his  brother  determined  to  emigrate  to  Canada.  In 
the  July  of  that  year  they  sailed  for  this  country,  accompanied 
by  their  mother  and  sisters  ;  by  the  late  Archdeacon  Brough,  who 
had  married  Miss  Wilhelmina  Blake ;  by  the  late  Mr.  Justice 
Connor ;  by  Dr.  Robinson  and  his  sons,  Arthur  Robinson,  now  of 
Orillio,  and  (Charles  Robinson,  the  present  Judge  of  the  County  of 
Lambton  ;  by  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Cronyn,  late  Bishop  of  Huron, 
and  tlie  Rev.  Mr.  Palmer,  now  the  Archdeacon  of  Huron.  TI.ey 
chartered  a  vessel  the  "  Ann  of  Halifax/'  and  with  high  hopes 
and  brave  hearts  stood  out  to  sea. 

When  only  three  days  out  one  of  the  crew  was  seized  with 
cholera  and  liefore  morning  his  body  was  thrown  overboard. 
Owing  to  the  prophylactic  measures  of  Dr.  Robinson  the  plague  was 
stayed.  Yet  for  some  time  there  was  an  inclination  in  the  breasts 
of  the  emigrants  to  put  the  ship's  head  about  and  return  to  Ireland. 
After  six  weeks  they  arrived  in  the  St.  Lawrence  and  were  .sub- 
jected to  a  long  quar^^  ntine  at  Grosse  Isle.  September  had  arrived 
before  they  were  allowed  to  proceed.  The  cholera  was  now  epi- 
demic. 

They  remained  about  six  months  in  Little  York,  and  then 
separated,  Mr.  Brough,  Mr.  SkefRngton  Connor,  and  Doctor  Robin- 
son going  northwards,  to  the  Township  of  Oro,  on  Lake  Simcoe, 
j,nd  the  remainder  going  west  to  the  Township  of  Adelaide,  of 
which  i]ie  Reverend  D.  E.  Blake  had  been  appointed  rector  by  Sir 
John  Colbome,  then  Governor  of  the  Province. 

Mr.  W.  H.  Blake  purchased  a  farm  at  Bear  Creek,  about  seven 
miles  from  Adelaide,  near  where  the  Town  of  Strathroy  now 
stands.  He  resided  there  about  two  years,  after  which  he  returned 
to  Toronto,  and  commenced  to  study  law.  The  Reverend  Mr. 
Blake,  with  whom  his  motht^r  resided,  remained  for  about  twelve 
years  in  Adelaide,  during  whiah  time  he  built  the  three  churches 
in  which  he  held  service.  Having  been  appointed  rector  of  Thorn- 
hill  in  the  year  1844,  he  removed  thither,  and  for  thirteen  years 
continued  his  ministrations  in  each  of  his  three  churches  every 
Sunda3^  Travelling  twenty-four  miles  in  all  weathers,  and  con- 
ducting three  services,  proved,  however,  in  time,  too  much  for 


Il 


rpir 


'  i 


#1 


I    Bi 


I!    il 


304 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


him,  and  he  had  reluctantly  to  abandon  the  most  distant  one  to 
the  care  of  others.  Notwithstanding  his  failing  health  he  con- 
tinued his  ministrations  in  the  remaining  two  churches  up  to  the 
time  of  his  death,  which  took  place  in  June,  1859,  at  Trinity 
College,  Toronto,  upon  the  evening  of  the  annual  convocation. 
His  widow  and  two  sons,  Dominick  Edward  and  John  Netterville, 
and  two  daughters  survived  him.  His  mother  lived  until  towards 
the  close  of  1867,  when  she  died  at  the  age  of  ninety-three,  in 
London,  Ontario,  at  the  residence  of  her  youngest  daughter,  the 
widow  of  the  Reverend  Richard  Flood,  late  of  Delaware.  A 
woman  of  remarkable  strength  of  mind  and  firmness  of  character, 
up  to  the  time  of  her  death  she  remained  in  full  possession  of  all 
her  mental  faculties. 

The  history  of  the  early  settlement  of  the  district  west  of 
London  differs  little  from  that  of  the  newer  districts  of  the  pre- 
sent day.  Roads  tL:;re  were  none,  except  one  or  two  leadirg 
colonization  lines  cut  out  through  the  wilderness.  The  present  site 
of  London  was  then  known  as  the  Forks  of  the  Thames,  and  the 
baggage  and  household  belongings  of  the  Blakes  had  to  be  dragged 
by  oxen,  through  quagmires  and  over  streams,  from  Port  Stanley 
to  Adelaide. 

For  some  time  the  nearest  post  office  to  where  the  Reverend  Mr. 
Blake  resided,  was  fifteen  miles  distant,  \7hat  is  now  the  Egre 
mont  Gravel  Road,  passing  through  a  rich  farming  district,  havisig 
on  either  side  comfortable  residences  and  farm  "steadings,"  war,  then 
a  mere  trail,  unfit  for  travel  except  with  oxen  and  waggons.  On 
either  hand  lay  a  dense  wilderness,  through  which  the  wolves 
howled  as  they  chased  the  deer  during  the  long  winter  nights.  At 
first  no  medical  man  could  be  found  nearer  than  London;  and  tho 
emigrants  with  whom  the  township  was  being  settled,  consisting 
chiefly  of  old  soldiers  (many  of  them  with  no  more  worldly  goods 
than  they  btood  up  in),  had  to  be  housed  and  fed  at  the  expense 
of  the  Government.  Typhus  fever  soon  broke  out  amongst  them, 
and  many  d'^^d  for  want  of  proper  treatment.  The  Revere?ad  Mr. 
Blake  fortunately  had  some  knowledge  of  medicine,  and  betv/een 
visiting  l:he  jick  and  attending  to  his  parochial  dutiee,  the  firfitfev 
years  of  ais  life  as  a  colonist  passed  rapidly. 

One  of  the,  LI  settlers,  the  late  Colonel  Johnston,  of  Strathroy, 


LOST   IN   THE  WOODS. 


805 


used  to  relate  the  following  anecdote  of  him  : — On  the  occasion  of 
a  visit  of  inspection  which  Sir  John  Colborne  paid  to  the  dis- 
trict, Mr.  Blake  invited  several  retired  officers  and  gentlemen  in 
the  township  to  meet  the  Governor,  and  accompany  him  on  a 
tour  amongst  the  settlers.  Passing  along  a  trail  through  the 
woods,  the  party  came  upon  a  large  oak  tree  which  had  fallen 
across  the  path,  fully  six  feet  high.  Each  one  took  a  look  at  it, 
but  did  not  care  to  try  such  a  leap.  Mr.  Blake,  however,  in  spite 
of  the  remonstrances  of  the  remainder  of  the  party,  put  his  horse 
to  a  gallop  and  cleared  the  obstruction  without  any  more  difficulty 
than  if  it  had  been  a  hedge,  and  the  occasion  a  hunt  with  the 
Castlegrove  pack.  The  remainder  of  the  party,  including  the 
Governor,  Arere  content  to  plunge  through  mire  and  brushwood 
around  the  tree,  until  they  reached  the  path  qgain. 

On  another  occasion,  of  a  wintry  afternoon,  late  in  November, 
Mr.  Blake  rode  on  horseback  some  miles  to  perform  service  at  one 
of  his  churches.  It  was  nearly  dark  by  the  time  service  was  over, 
and  the  homeward  road  a  mere  cow  path  through  the  woods. 
Just  as  he  had  mounted,  a  messenger  arrived  to  say  that  a  settler 
living  a  short  distance  was  dangerously  ill,  and  wished  to  see  him. 
Proceeding  onwards,  he  remained  with  the  dying  man  until  late 
in  the  night,  and  then  started  for  home.  Before  long,  however,  a 
snow-storm  set  in.  He  missed  his  way.  He  wandered  through 
the  woods  completely  lost.  The  cold  became  more  intense  as  the 
night  wore  on.  Packs  of  wolves  frequently  passed  close  to  him 
in  chase  of  deer,  and  at  such  times  his  horse  showed  tremulous 
symptoms  of  distress  and  panic.  It  was  difficult  to  restrain  him 
from  dashing  off  amongst  the  trees.  As  it  was,  Mr.  Blake  lost  his 
hat.  Several  times  he  had  like  to  be  torn  off  his  horse  by  pro- 
jectirg  limbs.  When  daylight  came,  the  animal  left  to  himself, 
found  his  way  home.  Mr.  Blake  became  dangerously  ill,  and 
never  quite  recovered  from  the  effects  of  his  exposure.  Both  the 
Blakes  had  been  in  Ireland,  like  the  rest  of  their  family,  Conser- 
vatives. In  Canada  the  Revd.  Dominick  Blake  remained  Conser- 
vative, but  never  took  any  part  in  political  contests,  as  he  co.i- 
sidered  doing  so  not  proper  for  a  clergyman.  After  his  appoint- 
ment to  the  Rectory  of  Thornhill,  near  Toronto,  he  took  an  active 

interest  in  the  Church  Society  of  the  Diccese,  and  fjr  many  years 
20 


hi 


it  fir 


;;ii  ! 


i>  j 
''\  i 


ill 


i  I  u 


if 


306 


THE  IRISHMAN  IN  CANADA. 


strove  earnestly  to  establish  harmonious  action  between  clergy 
and  laity  in  church  matters.  At  the  same  time  he  exerted  him- 
self to  improve  the  condition  of  those  of  the  clergy  who  were 
entirely  dependent  upon  voluntary  contributions  for  their  support, 
while  he  sought  to  extend  the  influence  of  religion  and  the. 
Church  into  the  newer  districts.  He  was  a  good  writer,  and 
published  some  able  essays  on  the  canons  and  other  matters  rela- 
tive to  church  government.  His  ability,  his  sound  judgment,  and 
the  well-known  moderation  of  his  views,  secured  for  him  the  res- 
pect and  confidence  of  Bishop  Strachan,  as  well  as  o*  the  clergy 
and  laity  generally.  His  death,  at  a  comparatively  early  age,  was 
a  serious  loss  to  the  church  of  which  he  had  been  so  able  and 
devoted  a  servant. 

William  Hume  Blake,  the  late  Chancellor,  will  appear  frequently 
in  the  couise  of  this  history.  His  sons,  the  Hon.  Edward  Blake, 
and  the  Hon.  Vice-Chancellor  Blake,  will  also  be  dealt  with  else- 
where. The  sons  of  the  Rev.  Dominick  Blake  are  not  unworthy 
of  the  gifted  family  to  which  they  belong. 

Dominick  Edward  Blake  has  been  compelled  to  occupy  himself 
altogeth'.r  with  agricultural  pursuits,  owing  to  the  state  of  his 
health.  At  the  age  of  thirteen,  in  consequence  of  the  death  of  his 
father,  Mr.  J.  N .  Blake  was  thrown  upon  his  own  resources,  and 
he  has,  wholly  unaided,  made  his  way.  In  1862,  he  commenced 
studying  law  and  in  1867,  at  the  age  of  21,  was  called  to  the  bar. 
A  severe  attack  of  illness  prevented  him  for  some  time  applying 
himsely  closely  to  practice.  In  1873,  he  projected  the  Lake  Sim- 
coe  Junction  Railway  (now  approaching  completion),  and  be- 
came Managing  Director  and  afterwards  President,  which  position 
he  still  occupies. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Flood  came  out  to  Canada  in  1833.  He  was  one 
of  the  missionaries  of  the  time,  and  his  career  was  similar  to  that 
of  his  brother-in-law,  Dominick  Blake.  He  settled  down  near 
the  Village  of  Delaware,  Township  of  Caradoc.  Not  only  did  he 
have  services  at  his  little  church  in  Delaware,  he  had  congrega- 
gations  at  the  neighbouring  Indian  villages. 

A  melancholy  occurrence,  which  nearly  proved  fatal  to  Mr. 
Flood,  took  place  at  Delaware,  on  the  second  Sunday  in  April, 
1843.      A  temporary  scow  was  constructed  for  the  purpose  of 


A   FATAL   SHIPWRECK. 


307 


;lergy 
him- 


crossing  the  river,  now  overriding  its  banks.  Flood  and  thir- 
teen others  returning  home  from  church  embarked  on  the  scow. 
Scarcely  had  they  reached  mid -current,  when  the  scow  was 
carried  violently  down  stream.  The  situation  was  perilous. 
The  swollen  waves  laden  with  drift  boiled  around  the  awk- 
ward craft  and  roared  in  angry  eddies.  There  was  nothing  for 
it  but  to  trust  in  Providence  ;  they  were  at  the  mercy  of  the 
merciless  river.  Down  they  went,  living  waifs  of  the  headlong 
heedless  waters.  As  they  turned  their  helpless  glances  each  on 
each,  vague  bewilderment  gave  place  to  imminent  peril  and  defi- 
nite alarm.  A  willow  leaned  across,  and  dipped  its  branches  into 
the  turbid  river.  Nothing  could  be  done.  In  a  moment  the  scow 
dashed  against  the  procumbent  tree.  A  shock ;  the  tree  swayed ; 
the  rifted  bark  shcved  the  white  ;  the  scow  was  swamped.  The 
whole  party  managed  to  lay  hold  of  the  tree,  which  the  weight 
of  fourteen  persons  brought  on  a  level  with  the  surface  of  the 
water. 

Luckily,  a  man  on  the  shore  saw  their  distress.  Taking  with 
him  a  rope,  he  put  off  in  a  skiff.  The  rope  was  attached  to  the 
tree ;  two  of  the  shipwrecked  got  into  the  boat ;  the  other  end 
of  the  rope  was  attached  to  a  larger  tree.  There  was  a  dan- 
ger of  the  roots  of  the  low-lying  tree  giving  way ;  the  rope 
was  to  enable  some  of  those  who  were  clinging  to  it  to 
lighten  the  burden.  Those  who  had  recourse  to  the  rope,  inched 
themselves  on  until  they  reached  the  large  tree  into  which 
they  climbed.  Meanwhile  the  gallant  little  skiff  upset.  All  hope 
was  now  abandoned  by  some.  But  after  nearly  an  hour  had  elapsed, 
another  skiff,  a  miserable  little  thing,  long  condemned,  was  patched 
up,  and  a  young  man  named  F.  Tiffany,  of  Delaware,  put  boldly 
off  to  the  rescue  of  the  sufferers.  By  this  time  three  persons  were 
drowned.  Mr.  Flood  and  two  others,  the  one  a  mechanic  in 
the  neighbourhood,  the  other.  Captain  Somers,  formerly  of  the 
British  army,  alone  remained  on  the  tree  first  seized.  Mrs.  Flood 
was  throughout  peifectly  calm  and  self-possessed,  as  was  her  hus- 
band, and  directed  Mr.  Tiffany's  efforts  in  the  first  place  to  Captain 
Somers,  who  was  ahnost  in  a  state  of  exhaustion.  Several  efforts 
were  made  to  g^t  ^\im  into  the  boat,  but  in  vain.  At  length  it 
was  discovered  that  one  of  the  drowned  men  had  laid  hold  on  one 


m 


S08 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


l! :  I 


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I 


of  his  legs,  and  held  it  in  the  grasp  of  death,  and  hy  a  stronger 
cord  than  Mezentius  ever  knew,  iiie  dead  and  the  living  were 
bound  together.  Each  together  had  taken  the  sacrament  of  Christ 
a  little  more  than  an  hour  before ;  but  in  the  last  desperate  effort 
for  life,  no  thought  of  charity,  no  ovei-whelming  motive  of  self- 
sacrifice  had  play.  Around  was  the  whitening  waters,  in  his  ear 
their  dreadful  hum.  Quickened  fancy  formed  and  framed  pictures 
of  the  past ;  the  happy  fields  of  busy  men  ;  the  sun  climbing  up  the 
sky  ;  the  myriad  mirroring  dew-drops,  spangling  expanding 
meads,  and  making  glitter  on  low-lying  leas ;  the  sunsets — those 
grand  rose  windows  of  the  cathedral  of  heaven  ;  the  sweet  domes- 
ticities of  life,  the  friendship  of  man,  the  love  of  lovely  woman  ;  all 
passed  in  a  moment ;  his  heart  dilated  with  the  passion  to  live ; 
he  clutched  his  companion;  a  struggle  and  his  spirit  is  mingling 
with  the  waters;  and  the  dead  hand  keeping  the  last  command  of 
the  will,  carries  within  the  cold  ghastly  knuckles  poor  Somers' 
doom. 

Every  effort  was  made  to  set  the  fated  captain  free.  But  while 
those  fruitless  attempts  at  .deliverance  were  going  forward,  Cap- 
tain Somers'  gi'asp  of  the  tree  relaxed  ;  he  cast  around  a  glance 
of  fearful  meaning,  and  sank  lifeless  in  the  waters,  leaving  be- 
hind him  a  wife  and  eleven  children.  Tiffany  was  now  at  liberty 
to  direct  his  attention  to  Mr.  Flood,  whom  he  succeeded  in  getting 
ashore.  The  names  of  those  who  perished  were  Captain  Somers, 
James  Rawlins,  George  Robinson,  and  William  Edmonds.  Mr. 
Flood  had  held  Edmonds  above  the  water  until  he  was  a  corpse 
and  was  himself  well  nigh  exhausted.  Poor  fellow,  when  he 
was  nearly  powerless,  asked  Mr.  Flood  if  there  was  any  sign  of 
the  raft  ?  The  reply  was  :  "  Dear  friend,  Christ  is  the  only  raft 
of  which  I  can  now  assure  you." 

A  son  of  Mr.  Flood,  Mr.  Edward  Flood,  is  settled  at  Lindsay, 
where  he  ably  edits  the  Victoria  Warder,  a  paper  of  which  he  is 
the  proprietor. 

There  were  emigrants,  a  contrast  in  every  way  to  the  Blakes, 
who  illustrate  not  less  strikingly  the  subject  and  object  of  this 
book.  At  the  very  time  the  Blakes  were  leaving  Ireland  in  their 
chartered  vessel,  another  emigrant  ship  was  sailing  out  of  Dublin 
Bay,  from  one  of  whose  passengers  I  have  received  a  letter,  in 


^11 


WHAT  CANADA   HAS  DONE. 


309 


)nger 
were 
ihrist 
iffort 
self- 


which  he  says  that  Canada  has  done  more  for  Irish,  English  and 
Scotch,  than  they  have  done  for  Canada,  which  is  quite  true. 
Canada  is  the  bountiful  mother  which  only  needs  a  little  coax- 
ing to  lay  bare  all  the  wealth  of  her  life.  The  writer  of  the  let- 
ter left  Dublin  with  his  father.  When  the  vessel  was  out  three 
weeks  the  cholera  attacked  the  passengers.  In  eight  days  they 
lost  forty-five  persons.  Throwing  bodies  overVoard  became  mo- 
notonous. The  writer's  father  and  mother,  a  sister  and  child  of 
tender  years,  all  died.  When  he  arrived  at  Montreal,  about 
seventy  were  dying  daily.  He  got  to  Middlesex.  Up  to  this 
time  he  and  his  brother  never  owned  a  new  pair  of  shoes  or  boots. 
Each  had  only  one  clean  shirt  for  Sunday,  and  very  little  of 
any  other  clothes  for  Sunday  or  Monday.  They  used  to  be  sent 
with  a  small  dish  of  dirty  grain  to  feed  about  eight  or  ter.»  hogs. 
It  was  hardly  safe  for  a  boy  to  go  near  so  many  starving  hogs  ; 
aboat  half  of  which  would  die  of  starvation  ere  spring.  "  One 
of  these  same  boys  is  now  worth  $20,000,  not  by  speculation, 
but  by  hard  work  on  a  farm,  and  he  is  respected  everywhere.  I 
remember,"  continues  my  correspondent,  "  when  a  brother  of  mine 
would  not  be  let  eat  only  out  of  the  pot,  when  the  family  which 
he  lived  with  had  had  their  share  taken  out  of  it.  He  was 
knocked  about  from  Tom  to  Dick  and  Harry,  and  had  scarcely 
a  home.     Now  some  people  say  he  is  worth  $30,000." 

About  the  same  time  there  came  to  Middlesex  a  young  man 
with  large  feet,  and  when  he  saw  the  "  minister  "  coming  his  way 
he  stood  in  a  great  bunch  of  weeds  to  hide  his  bare  feet  till  the 
"  preacher  "  had  passed.  That  man  is  now  well  to  do  in  a  flourish- 
ing county  of  Ontario,  and  "  it  is  likely  that  if  tho  Prince  of 
Wales  came  to  Canada,  his  daughter  would  be  invited  to  the 
Prince's  ball.  Does  a  man,"  asks  my  correspondent,  in  bad  Eng- 
lish and  bad  spelling,  but  with  much  strength  of  observation, 
"  think  that  the  Irish  are  a  more  superior  rac"  than  English  or 
Scotch  ?  Not  so.  The  Irish  need  mixing  with  the  canny 
Scotch." 

The  mixture  is  a  good  one.  But  even  without  the  mixture 
Irishmen  can  show  themselves  canny,  and  have  shown  themselves 
so.     The  great   thing  is  to  imist  on  education,  and  wide  and 


310 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


: 


! 

IT 


ill 


varied  reading.     Nothing  makes  men  differ  so  much,  even  in 
bodily  appearance,  as  mental  development. 

"  Forty  years  ago,"  the  same  gentleman  writes,  "  I  happened  to 
pass  by  a  poor  nan's  house.  I  saw  that  he  had,  by  some  means, 
bought  a  yoke  of  steer,  and  they  having  some  vermin  on  them, 
the  man  shook  some  wood  ashes  on  their  backs.  One  lay  dead, 
*'he  other  was  dying,  leaving  the  man  as  poor  ^s  Job's  turkey. 
Some  years  afterwards  I  passed  that  way.  There  was  a  house  fit 
for  the  Governor,  made  from  hard  industry  on  the  same  farm." 

The  man  who  has  thus  supplied  my  palette  with  colours  is  him- 
self worth  $20,000. 

There  are  several  counties  which  have  been  wholly,  or  almost 
wholly  cleared  by  Irishmen.  Foremost  among  these  stands  the 
County  of  Caileton,  which  comprises  the  Townships  of  Nepean, 
North  Gower,  Marlborough,  Goulburn,  March,  Huntley,  Torbolton. 
Fitzroy,  the  Village  of  Richmond  and  the  City  of  Ottawa. 
Throughout  the  county  the  Irish  element  predominates,  save  in 
the  Townships  of  Fitzroy  and  Torbolton,  which  are  chiefly  settled 
by  that  other  branch  of  the  Celtic  race  whose  hardihood  has  been 
nourished  in  the  land  of  heather  aiid  shaggy  wood,  amid  the  stern 
sublimities  of  mountains  and  mountain  streams.  In  the  northern 
part  of  March,  too,  there  are  a  great  many  of  the  Imperial  English 
blood.  Part  of  the  Township  of  Goulburn,  including  the  Village 
of  Richmond,  was  settled  by  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  about  1815, 
with  officers  of  the  99th.  Among  these  military  settlers  were 
Irishmen  such  as  Captain  Burke  ;  Lieutenant  Maxwell,  to  whom 
we  shall  have  again  to  refer ;  Captain  Lett ;  Rev.  Dr.  Short,  mili- 
tary chaplain  ;  Captain  Lyon,  laeutenant  Ormsby,  and  Lieutenant 
Bradley.  Into  this  settlement  some  naval  officers  also  found  their 
way.  The  northern  part  of  the  Township  of  March  was  settled 
by  Captain  Monk,  an  Englishman,  and  Colonel  Lloyd,  an  Irish- 
man. With  such  exceptions,  the  whole  of  the  raetropolitan 
county  of  the  Dominion  was  settled  by  the  Irish  emigi'ant,  with 
no  assistance  from  anybody :  his  capital,  his  friends,  his  patrons, 
were  his  strong  right  arm,  bis  resolute  will  and  the  axe  upon  his 
shoulder.  Some  particulars  relating  to  the  two  classes  of  pioneers 
will  not  be  uninteresting. 

George  ^  Burke,  of  the  99th  Regiment,  and  Colonel  of  the 

r. 


SOLDIER.      JOURNALIST.      LUMBERER. 


311 


jn  m 


him- 


iilage 


Carleton  Militia,  was  a  native  of  Tipperary.  He  served  in  the 
Peninaula,  and  afterwards  in  Canada,  during  the  war  of  181?. 
During  his  campaigns  here  he  contracted  that  fondness  for  Canada 
which  has  made  of  many  who  intended  no  more  than  a  flying  visit 
permanent  settlers.  When  he  retired  from  the  service  he  took 
up  his  residence  at  Richmond.  He  was  an  Irish  gentleman  of  the 
old  school,  a  Conservative  and  a  staunch  Loyalist.  He  was  the 
first  Registrar  of  the  County  of  Carleton,  a  position  which  he  re- 
tained until  his  death. 

His  son,  James  Henry  Burke,  early  gave  evidence  of  literary 
and  even  poetical,  talents.  Feeling  himself  walled  in  from  con- 
genial opportunity  in  the  wild  region  round  Richmond — Ottawa 
being  then  the  small  landing-place,  Bytown — he  made  a  voyage  to 
the  Arctic  Region,  and  saw  something  of  the  great  world  outside. 
In  1854,  he,  having  gained  much  experience  and  enlarged  his 
views,  settled  at  Ottawa,  and  started  the  Ottawa  Tribune,  in  the 
Irish  Roman  Catholic  interest.  This  paper  he  conducted  in  a  very 
able  manner  until  his  death.     On  the  decease  of  John  Egan,  in 

1857,  he  ran  for  Pontiac,  but  was  defeated  by  Mr.  Heath.  With 
the  exception  of  Mr.  Egan,  he  did  more  for  the  Ottawa  district 
than  any  man  of  his  day.  The  opening  up  of  the  Ottawa  Valley 
was  a  subject  on  which  he  held  enlightened  views,  and  one  on 
which  he  spoke  and  wrote  well.     He  died  on  the  8th  of  January, 

1858,  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-seven,  having  given  promise  of 
great  things,  both  in  statesmanship  and  literature. 

John  Egan  was  a  native  of  Aughrim.  He  emigrated  in  1832. 
He  died  at  the  early  age  of  forty-seven.  In  the  fifteen  years  he 
was  spared  to  his  adopted  country  he  did  as  much  as  any  man  ever 
achieved  in  so  brief  a  period.  Few  men  were  better  acquainted 
with  the  trade  of  the  Ottawa.  The  resources  of  the  countrv  and 
its  requirements  were  thoroughly  mastered  by  him.  He  worked 
his  way  from  nothing  to  the  head  of  the  largest  business  on  the 
river.  It  was  he  first  gave  system  to  its  lumber  trade,  a  trade 
which  has  yielded  a  return  equal  to  one-fourth  of  the  entire 
revenue  of  Canada.  Before  his  time  lumbering  on  the  Ottawa 
was  a  wild  venture.  The  annual  b-  ^iness  of  his  house  ran  up  a 
few  years  before  his  death  to  from  $800,000  to  $1,000,000.  It  gave 
employment  directly  to  over  2,000  men,     It  required  1,600  horses 


w 


312 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


m 


■\ 


WJl 


and  oxen.  His  living  machinery  consumed  annually  90,000  bushek 
of  oats,  12,000  barrels  of  pork,  15,000  barrels  of  flour.  The 
ramifications  of  the  house  occupied  a  portion  of  nearly  every 
stream  on  the  Ottawa's  course. 

A  handsome  man,  whose  life  was  divided  between  business  and 
generous  deeds,  he  was  very  popular.  He  represented  the  County 
of  Ottawa  until  it  was  divided,  whon  he  was  returned  by  acclama- 
tion for  Pontiac.  His  name  has  become  part  of  the  topographical 
nomenclature  of  the  Ottawa,  he  having,  with  his  clerk,  the  late  Mr. 
Michael  Joseph  Hickey,  founded  and  named  Eganville. 

Mr.  Hickey  was  born  at  Nenagh,  County  Tipperary,  in  1825. 
He  was  the  oldest  son  of  Mr.  Patrick  Hickey  of  the  same  place. 
He  came  to  Canada  while  quite  a  young  man  and  entered  as  clerk 
the  employment  of  Mr.  Egan,  who  soon  selected  him  to  take 
charge  of  his  important  business  on  the  River  Bonnechere,  where  a 
large  number  of  emigrants  from  Donegal  were  settled.  Hickey 
induced  Egan  to  build  gristand  saw  mills,  and  the  advance  of  civili- 
zation was  soon  attested  by  the  erection  of  a  tavern.  The  nucleus 
of  a  village  was  now  formed.  Hickey  suggested  the  name  of  Egan- 
ville to  the  Post-office  authorities.  Eganville  is  now  a  considera- 
ble place  with  chui*ches,  mills,  numerous  stores.  The  population 
is  about  six  hundred. 

Here  Hickey  commenced  business  under  the  name  of  Hickey 
Brothers.  But  owing  to  the  depression  in  the  lumber  trade  he  re- 
tired leaving  the  business  to  his  brothers,  John  and  Thomas,  men  of 
ability  and  genial  popular  manners.  Michael  Joseph  Hickey  had 
literary  ability,  and  edited  for  a  considerable  time  with  great 
success  the  Ottawa  Tribune.  It  was  in  connection  with  Hickey 
that  McGee  started  the  J^ew  Era.  Differing  on  the  seat  of  gov- 
ernment question — Hickey  being  stoutly  in  favour  of  Ottawa — 
they  severed  business  connection  but  maintained  their  friendship. 
Hickey  then  went  to  the  bar  and  practised  his  profession  in 
Ottawa.  Business  took  him  to  Toronto  in  the  November  of  1864. 
As  he  was  walking  along  the  Esplanade  he  fell  into  the  Bay  and 
was  drowned.  He  was  a  constant  contributor  to  Harper's  Maga-^ 
zine  and  a  paper  contributed  to  that  periodical,  entitled  "The  Capi- 
tal of  Canada,"  deservedly  attracted  a  great  deal  of  attention. 

When  speaking  of  those  connected  with  lumbering,  Robert  and 


na 


THE  FOUNDER  OF   PEMBROKE. 


313 


James  Cobum,  of  Pembroke,  should  not  be  forgotten.  When 
growing  youths,  in  1830,  they  with  their  mother,  a  widow,  emi- 
grated to  Canada.  They  first  resided  in  Nepean.  Ready  employ- 
ment and  good  pay  in  the  lumber  shanties  early  took  them  up  the 
Ottawa.  They  soon  began  to  do  business  for  themselves  and  suc- 
ceeded. They  live  on  their  own  estates  within  a  few  miles  of  the 
fast-growin-g  and  beautiful  Town  of  Pembroke,  and  are  now  as 
always  fast  friends  of  Methodism. 

The  founder  of  Pembroke  came  from  Tipperary,  Daniel  O'Meara 
was  born  in  1812.  His  family  is  a  respectable  one,  and  well 
known  in  that  part  of  Ireland.  Educated  at  his  native  town, 
and  in  Dublin,  on  the  death  of  his  father  in  1834,  he  came  to 
Canada,  After  a  brief  sojourn  in  Quebec,  he  joined  a  party  bound 
for  the  Upper  Ottawa.  Finally  he  settled  where  now  stands  the 
Town  of  Pembroke,  which,  in  conjunction  with  Alexander  Moflat, 
he  founded  in  1835.  He  carried  on  business  for  some  time  as  a 
general  merchant.  In  the  latter  years  of  his  life  he  engaged  in 
lumbering.  He  used  to  go  every  year  to  Quebec,  and  bring  emi- 
grant^s  thence  at  his  own  expense.  Not  a  few  of  the  prominent 
men  or.  the  Ottawa  valley  acknowledge  that  they  owe  the  foun- 
dation of  their  prosperity  to  O'Meara.  Shortly  before  his  death 
he  greatly  extended  his  business  by  the  establishment  of  numerous 
branches.  He  started  two  of  his  brothers,  Michael  and  William, 
in  business  as  merchants  and  lumbermen,  both  well  known  and 
greatly  respected,  in  the  County  of  Renfrew.  He  died  in  1859, 
at  the  early  age  of  47,  leaving  three  sons  and  two  daughters,  who 
survive.  Mr.  O'Meara  was  a  Roman  Catholic.  He  had  built  a 
church,  and  on  his  death-bed  gave  £500  towards  the  erection  of  a 
new  one.  He  was  a  Conservative  in  politics.  The  reform  journal  of 
Pembroke — the  Observer — in  its  issue  of  the  2?nd  April,  1859,  in 
the  course  of  an  eloquent  article,  mourns  the  loss  to  Pembroke  of 
its  leading  business  man,  and  dwells  in  terms  of  eulogy  on  the 
energy,  the  adherence  to  principle,  the  open-handed  generosity  of 
O'Meara. 

Another  man  whose  name  is  of  note  in  connexion  with  lumber- 
ing, was  John  Brady,  who  was  born  in  Cavan,  in  1797.  He  came 
to  this  country  in  1819,  having  suffered  great  hardships  during 
a  voyage  of  eighteen  weeks  across  the  Atlantic.  He  first  settled 


\ 


1  J 


'  I 


''f 

i.  ^1 


M 


•314 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


in  the  County  of  Glengarry,  where  he  was  married  to  Rachel 
McDonald,  at  St.  RapLael's  Chui-ch,  by  Bishop  McDonell.  He 
subsequently  removed  from  thence  to  the  Township  of  Alfred,  in 
the  County  of  Prescott,  near  the  Ottawa  river,  the  settlement 
being  known  to  this  day  by  the  name  of  the  Brady  Settlement. 
He  threw  himself  with  energy  into  farming  and  lumbering.  He 
was  elected  one  of  the  old  District  Councillors.  He  was  also 
Justice  of  the  Peace  and  Coroner  for  the  county.  These  offices 
he  filled  until  the  year  1847,  when  he  removed  to  the  County 
of  Oxford,  where  he  was  soon  elected  to  the  County  Council, 
which  office  he  filled  until  his  death,  in  1853.  In  politics  he  was 
a  Reformer,  and  took  a  very  active  part  in  affairs.  He  was 
a  Roman  Catholic.  His  wife  is  still  living  with  his  third  son,  James, 
in  the  Town  of  Ingersoll.  The  family  consisted  of  five  sons  and 
three  daught'drs,  all  of  whom  are  living,  except  one  daughter.  John 
Brady  had  a  brother  named  Thomas  Brady,  who  settled  in  the 
same  neighbourhood,  and  who  died  recently  at  the  age  of  95  years. 
John  Brady's  son,  James  Brady,  who  is  a  well-known  man  in  Inger- 
soll, was  born  at  Prescott,  in  1839. 

It  would  require  many  volumes  to  recount  the  lives  and  deeds  of 
all  those  Irishmen  who  have  made  the  County  of  Carleton  what 
it  is.    A  rapid  survey  must  content  us  here. 

John  Boucher  came  to  Canada  in  1819,  having  been  born  in 
1789.  He  worked  for  a  year  on  the  canal  in  the  employ  of  Colonel 
By.  With  what  he  saved  in  this  year  he  went  into  March  township 
and  began  to  clear  with  his  own  hands  a  dense  bush.  His 
daughter,  Mrs.  Riddel  1,  was  the  first  child  bom  in  the  Township 
of  March.  Boucher  was  married  three  times  and  had  in  all  twenty- 
five  children,  eleven  boys  and  fourteen  girls.  At  his  death,  this 
man — who  went  into  the  Township  of  March  with  his  axe  on  his 
shoulder — left  each  of  his  sons  a  farm  and  each  of  his  daughters  a 
portion  of  money.  He  worked  at  farming  all  his  life,  excepting 
about  twelve  years  which  he  devoted  to  the  business  of  hotel- 
keeping.  He  belonged  to  the  Church  of  England,  and  was  a  strong 
Conservative. 

If  all  his  children  have  proved  as  prolific  as  Mrs.  Riddell,  his 
great-grandchildven  alone  now  number  875.  His  descendants 
at  this  moment  are  very  numerous. 


A   PIONEER  BREWER. 


316 


Not  80  successful  was  Ralph  feinith,  who  was  born  in  Queen's 
County  in  1777,  and  emigrated  in  1819.  He  settled  in  the  wilder- 
ness near  where  the  City  of  Ottawa  stands  to-day.  The  only  farm 
in  the  whole  county  in  1819  was  one  occupied  by  Philemon 
Wright,  the  pioneer  of  the  North  Shore  of  the  Ottawa  River. 
Smith  built  the  first  house  of  any  kind  on  the  South  Shore,  from 
the  furthest  settlement  to  Point  Fortune.  The  second  was  a  hut 
raised  by  the  late  Nicholas  Sparks  on  his  purchase  of  "  Lot  C," 
Concession  C,  now  the  most  populous  portion  of  the  City  of 
Ottawa. 

Mr.  Smith  went  into  business  as  a  brewer  or  distiller.  He  was 
the  pioneer  of  this  trade  in  Central  Canada.  Possessed  of  ample 
means  when  he  arrived  in  Canada,  and  a  complete  master  of  a 
lucrative  if  not  a  very  useful  business,  he  ought  to  have  realized 
wealth.  But  confidence  in  others  led  to  pecuniary  losses  which 
swamped  the  greatest  portion  of  his  capital.  But — happy  consti- 
tution!— his  pecuniary  losses  never  affected  either  his  good  humour 
or  his  character,  nor  abated  in  the  least  from  the  esteem  in  which 
he  was  held.  He  die  t  an  advanced  age,  being  over  four  score 
years.  He  was  a  Conservative  and  a  member  of  the  Church  of 
England. 

Mr.  John  Nesbitt,  a  native  of  County  Cavan,  was  bom  in  1803, 
and  emigrated  in  1823.  He  settled  in  the  Township  of  March.  He 
ultimately  purchased  large  farms  in  the  Township  of  Nepean, 
where  he  has  since  resided.  He  has  done  much  to  settle  and  im- 
prove the  County  of  Carleton.  Genial  and  hospitable,  his  friends 
throughout  the  county  are  as  numerous  as  his  acquaintances. 
Always  an  active  member  of  the  Church  of  England,  he  liberally 
assisted  the  completion  of  the  parish  church  and  parsonage  in 
South  March.  He  has  always  been  an  energetic  Conservative. 
He  has  been  for  over  thirty  years  in  the  commission  of  the  peace. 
He  has  reared  a  large  family,  all  settled  in  Carleton,  and  all  in 
comfortable  circumstances.  Owing  to  a  slightly  aristocratic  man- 
ner, as  well  as  to  his  influence  in  the  township,  his  neighbours 
style  him  "  Lord  John,"  by  which  title  he  is  known  throughout 
the  County  of  Carleton. 

Thomas  Sproule,  who  died  in  1849,  is  still  remembered  in 
Ottawa.     He  was  born  at  Athlone,  County  Westmeath,  in  1772. 


_'  « 


310 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


n 


1    K     >a 


■ 
i 


I 


He  entered  the  Royal  Navy  as  iiiidshipinan  at  the  age  of  seven- 
teen and  afterwards  the  Ea.st  India  Company's  service.  He  was 
present  at  the  storming  of  Stsringapatam.  After  returning  to 
Ireland  he  served  in  the  yeonunry,  and  emigrated  in  1820.  He  at 
once  ]>roceeded  to  the  military  rer^erve  of  Richmond,  purchased 
land  and  settled  there,  a'  the  Chaudi^re  on  the  Ottawa,  where  the 
batteaux  from  Montreal  landed  their  freight.  Sproule  and  his 
party  arrived  in  the  spring  of  1820,  and  whilst  admiring  the  wild 
grandeur  of  the  scenery  from  the  bluff  on  which  is  now  erected 
the  Parliament  Buildings,  was  offered  the  whole  of  the  present 
Ordnance  Property  then  belonging  to  a  private  individual  and 
consisting  of  more  than  half  the  present  City  of  Ottawa,  inchiding 
the  hill  on  which  the  public  buildings  are  erected,  for  the  sura  of 
£7^>.  But  he  preferred  proceeding  to  the  settlement  of  Richmond, 
He  was  appointed  first  coroner  of  the  Bathurst  District,  which 
was  afterwards  formed  into  the  Counties  of  Carleton,  Lanark  and 
Renfrew,  and  made  a  captain  in  the  Carleton  Militia.  He  was 
one  of  the  first  in  organizing  a  Church  of  England  parish  at  Rich- 
mond. He  was  a  Tory  of  a  now  extinct  school ;  with  a  strong 
spice  of  the  old  sailor  in  him. 

The  founders  of  a  settlement  ir  Lanark  came  from  the  south  of 
Ireland.     If  ever  any  author  sb  ike  it  into  his  head  to  write 

"  Remarkable  Men  of  Can^  '  a  companion  volume  to  the 

"  Celebrities  of  Canada,"  .^even  Irishmen  must  be  given  a 

prominent,  if  not  a  forerao...  place  in  the  volume.  John  Quinn, 
Patrick  Quinn,  Terence  Doyle,  James  Power,  John  Cullen, 
William  Scanlen,  and  James  Carbe^'ry — six  from  the  County  of 
Waterford  and  one  from  the  County  of  Limerick,  all  young 
energetic  men,  decided  to  emigrate  to  this  country  in  the  year 
1820.  Previously  to  doing  so,  they  made  a  compact  that  they 
would  stick  together  through  every  trial  and  vicissitude,  in  evil 
report  and  good  report,  in  sickness  and  in  health.  Where  all  could 
not  get  work  none  would  remain.  They  were  determined  to 
fight  the  battle  of  life  together,  and  fought  their  way  through  all 
sort^  c'  difficulties  till  they  got  to  Perth,  then  a  military  station 
'..lull  . Txly  a  few  houses.  They  immediately  got  the  job  of  clear- 
ing Ujj  ten  acres  of  land,  fit  for  cropping  with  grain  the  following 
fall.    This  job  was  given  them  by  Col.  Powell,  father  to  the  present 


Ju. 


THE   SEVEN    IRISHMEN   SETTLEMENT. 


317 


Sheriff  of  Carloton,  and  tniu  to  fchuir  agreement,  they  wouhl  not 
separate,  V)Ut  built  a  log  slianty  on  tlieir  lot  and  all  lived  together. 
Col.  Powell,  learning  their  .secret,  ])rocured  for  them  a  lot  of  land, 
200  acres  for  each,  all  in  one  block.  They  built  a  house  upon  one 
of  the  lots  and  lived  together.  Each  was  cook  in  rotation.  They 
took  their  turns  at  carrying  provisions  from  Perth,  a  distance  of 
foui*teen  miles — two  of  them  going  to  Perth  for  a  bairel  of  flour 
and  relieving  each  other  on  the  road,  which  was  only  a  blaze 
through  the  bush.  One  of  them  used,  when  old,  to  tell  a  story  of 
liow  he  went  to  Perth  for  seed  corn,  but  unfortunately  on  his  way 
back  he  lost  the  blaze.  Patting  dovvn  his  corn,  he  went  to  seek 
his  lost  blaze.  He  found  the  Vjlaze  but  never  found  his  corn. 
Old  government  rum  had  perhaps  something  to  do  with  this. 
They  thus  worked  together  until  they  had  secured  enough  for 
each  one  to  settle  on  his  separate  lot,  and  having  done  so,  they 
toiled  indefatigably,  but  always  together,  and  always  succes.sfully, 
until  finally  the  settlement  became  known  as  that  of  the  Seven 
Irishmen.  Their  ho.spitality  became  proverbial.  Every  pei-son 
had  a  hearty  welcome ;  new  settlers  being  objects  of  special 
attention.  They  gave  them  information;  showed  them  the  best 
lands ;  how,  where,  and  v^hen  to  plant  the  different  seeds.  Their 
descendants  have  spread  out  and  flourish.  The  settlement  has 
become  a  large  and  important  one  in  the  County  of  Lanark.  All 
the  original  seven  settlers  are  dead.  The  last,  John  Quinn,  died 
in  the  year  1869,  after  having  passed  the  allotted  span.  They 
were  all  Roman  Catholics. 

Daniel  O'Connor,  a  man  of  considerable  capacity,  early  attracted 
the  attention  of  Colonc;!  By.  A.  native  of  the  City  of  Waterford, 
he  was  bom  in  179G.  He  was  twice  in  America  before  his  settle- 
ment in  Canada ;  once  as  a  volunteer  in  an  adventurous  expedi 
tion  to  South  America..  He  came  to  Canada  in  1826,  and  was 
about  to  return  to  Ireland  in  1827,  when  he  met  Colonel  By  at 
Kingston,  who  strongly  advised  him  to  settle  in  Bytoww.  He 
accordingly  went  to  Old  By  town,  where  he  immediately  opened 
business  as  a  mercha  it,  and  was  very  successful.  Colonel  By  had 
commenced  operations  on  the  Rideau  Canal,  and  By  town  wa.-^ 
very  rough  place.  This, was  the  time  of  the  "shiners,"  the  "  By- 
town  shiners,"  who  were  notorious,  not  only  in  Canada,  but  in  the 


mm 


318 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA, 


i    I 


United  States.  They  \\'ere  the  old  type  of  the  raftsmen  on  the 
Ottawa.  Mr.  O'Connor,  on  his  amval,  was  appointed  Justice  of 
the  Peace,  and  he  often  found  it  a  hard  job  to  fuhu  his  special 
position,  and  conserve  tlu  peace.  But  he  -exercised  a  great  deal  of 
influence  over  his  rough  charge,  and  waL.  .espected  by  the  wildest 
man  on  the  river. 

Shortly  afterward  J,  h(;  was  offered  by  the  Government  his 
choice  of  Sheriff  or  Treasurer  of  the  District  of  Dalhousie.  Being 
in  business,  he  chose  the  latter  office,  the  duties  of  which  he  dis- 
charged until  his  death.  The  District  of  Dalhousie  was  subsequently 
constituted  the  County  of  Carleton.  The  first  election  after  the 
triumph  of  responsible  government,  he  ran  against  Hon.  Thom:  3 
McKay,  for  the  District  of  Dalhousie,  and  although  he  polled  a  large 
vote,  was  beaten  by  a  majority  of  three.  The  election  lasted  a 
wef.k.  His  daughter,  Mrs.  Fricl,  widow  of  the  late  Mr.  H.  I.  Friel, 
who  was  Mayor  of  the  ciiy,  was  the  first  child  born  in  By  town. 
He  died  in  1858,  aged  62,  on  the  anniversary  of  the  day  he  landed 
in  Bytown.     He  was  a  (conservative  and  a  Roman  Co.tholic. 

Irishmen,  the  first  ia  so  many  things  in  Carleton  and  its 
incipient  capital  Bytown,  can  also  claim  to  have  been  the  first 
there  in  the  noble  band  of  pioneer  school-teachers. 

Hugh  O'Hagan,  born  in  Deny,  October  1788,  came  to  Canada. 
1799.  He  remained  soi  ae  time  at  Montreal,  and  then  removed  to 
St.  Maiy's,  where,  in  1824,  he  was  appointed  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace.  Owing  to  local  difficulties,  ^nd  in  order  to  avoid  violence 
he  sacrificed  his  property,  and  removed  to  old  Bytown,  in  1837, 
where  he  for  many  ycirs  taught  school.  He  was  one  of  the  first 
school-teachers  in  By«  )wn.  Many  of  the  old  inhabitants  were 
indebted  to  him  for  v  hat  they  know.  He  was  Captain  of  the 
Carleton  Militia,  was  i  Roman  Catholic,  and  a  strong  Conserva- 
tive. He  used  to  prou*  ly  call  himself  "  a  I'ory  of  the  Tories."  He 
was  a  gentlemanly  m  3  n,  and  very  hospitable.  He  died  in  the 
fall  of  1865,and,altho  i^h  a  Freemason  of  the  highest  orders,  was 
buried  in  the  family  ^  ault  under  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
Gatineau  Point. 

His  son,  Frank  O'Hagan  was  born  in  1833  at  Bytown.  He  was 
intended  and  studied  for  the  Church,  but  finding  his  tastes  were 
in  another  direction,  he  «Tfave  up  the  idea  and  entered  into  litorary 


A   PIONEER  STOCK-RAISER, 


319' 


pursuits,  for  which  he  w&s  eminently  fitted^  He  was  for  several 
years  a  newspaper  editor  in  New  York  and  the  Western  States. 
H.4  edit(  1  a  paper  in  Chicago.  He  was  a  great  lover  of  the- 
atricals, and  himself  an  actor  of  considerable  talent.  He  was  also  a 
poet,  and  published  several  poems.  One  particularly  called  "To 
my  Mother,"  written  when  quite  young,  is  very  touching.  He 
returned  to  Ottawa  several  years  before  his  death,  and  wrote  for  the 
Ottawa  Times  and  Citizen.  He  gradually  sank  under  the  great 
destroyer,  consumption.  He  died  in  1872  in  his  39th  year,  and 
was  laid  beside  his  father.  He  left  a  wife  and  two  children.  Had 
he  lived  more  by  rule  he  might  l/C  alive  to-day. 

I  have  mentioned  above  Lieutejiaut  Joseph  Maxwell  as  one  of 
the  foundation  stones  of  Richmond.  He  deserves  more*  than  a 
passing  word,  not  merely  as  a  public  spirited  man  whose  sword 
and  muscle  were  at  the  service  of  his  adopted  country,  but  as  one 
whose  clear  glance  even  at  that  early  day  anticipated  one  of  the 
most  useful  enterprises  of  our  own  time,  happily  richer  in  oppor- 
tunity. To-day,  Bow  Park  is  one  of  the  sights  which  an  intelli- 
gent visitor  to  Canada  must  see,  and  in  other  parts  of  Canada  Irish 
breeders  are  doing  a  good  work.  The  Honourable  George  Brown 
has  shown  in  the  most  practical  way  his  conviction  that  a  pro- 
gressive coil  ntry  must  have  well-bred  animals ;  if  we  are  to  have 
good  beef  and  mutton,  good  butter  and  wool,  attention  must  be 
paid  to  the  ;aising  of  stock.  In  soil  and  temperature  Canada  is 
well  adapted  for  raising  first-class  beasts.  We  have  grasses  capa- 
ble of  giving  an  excellent  flavour  to  mutton,  and  making  tender, 
nourishing  beef.  Short-horns  thrive  as  well  here  as  elsewhere,  as, 
notwil: -standing  <  ir  sudden  changes,  and  extremes  of  heat  and 
cold,  on  the  whole  do  sheep,  whether  English  Leicesters  and 
Downs,  or  the  Scotch  Cheviots  and  Blackfaced ;  and  the  day  is 
fast  approaching  when  the  Canadian  breeds  of  cattle  and  sheep 
will  be  second  to  the  breeds  of  no  other  country.  Mr.  Brown,  and 
other  rre&t  breeders,  who  have  the  honour  of  having  done  so  much 
in  thijt  important  particular,  will  perhaps  be  surprised  to  find  that 
they  v'ere  anticipated  by  an  Irish  lieutenant,  at  a  time  when  the 
noblest,  belts  and  stretches  of  Ontario  were  covered  with  bush  and. 
were  tl  le  haunts  of  bears  and  wolves. 

Lieui.entjnt  Maxwell  must  have  been  a  man  of  an  original  cast  of 


I  !^  f 


I:, 

1 

m 

11  : 


i 


f 


f          ! 
i 

Al' 

320 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


inincl,  for  even  at  this  hour  in  Iioland,  the  special  division  of 
stock-raising,  in  which  he  excelled,  is  attended  to,  but  perfunc- 
torily.  The  physical  characteristics  of  Ireland  are  well  adapted 
for  the  breeding  of  all  kinds  of  sheep.  No  intense  heat,  no  severe 
cold,  a  mean  of  48°  of  temperature,  forty  inches  annual  rainfall, 
a  noble  v  .ety  of  hill,  dale,  and  grasses,  Ireland  seems  marked 
out  for  sheep  husbandry.  The  native  breeds  are  not  of  the  best, 
and  the  introduction  of  others  has  as  yet  been  far  from  sufficiently 
extensiv^e.  The  Cottagh,  with  a  small,  pretty  head,  and  upright 
ears,  small  bones,  light  body,  and  a  neck  almost  as  long  as  a  deer  b, 
puts  up  very  sweet  meat.  The  Long  Woolled  has  long  legs,  a  long 
neck,  a  long  head,  large  car«.  grey  faces,  and  a  narrow  but  larg'^ 
body.  Of  both,  the  wool  is  good,  and  either  crossed  with  Downe 
or  Leicesters  would  make  a  noble  breed  of  sheep.  Something, 
but  yet  too  little  has  been  done.  In  Maxwell's  youth,  however,^ 
breeding  was  an  undiscovered  mystery  in  Ireland. 

Born  at  Roscrea,  in  the  County  Tipperary — as  a  boy,  he  often 
followed  the  hounds  around  the  base  of  Devilsbit,  or  as  they 
woke  the  morning  echoes  amid  the  frowning  shadows  of  Slieve- 
bloom ;  nor  could  so  intelligent  a  lad  see  without  reflectii'.g  the 
sheep  allowed  to  wander  indiscriminately  over  the  mountains,  or 
along  the  green  banks,  where  the  Suir  hurries  past  Templemore, 
eager  to  play  with  the  historic  memories  of  Cashel,  and  on  its 
way  to  the  sea,  catch  a  dim  ai^d  distant  glimpse  of  the  cloudy 
gloom  of  Knockmealdown.  But  if  any  thoughts  of  improving 
the  breeds  of  his  native  country  stirred  within  him,  they  were 
driven  away  by  the  call  of  the  bugle  bidding  him  to  the  battle 
field.  When  there  was  no  sign  of  manhood  on  his  cheeks  but 
dubious  down,  he  joined  the  99th  regiment.  With  this  regiment, 
nearly  every  man  in  which,  as  we  have  seen,  was  an  Irishman,  he 
came  to  Canada  and  took  his  part  in  the  war  of  1812.  When  he 
and  his  friends  settled  at  Richmond,  they  did  not  forget  their 
military  traditions.  They  at  once  formed  a  regiment  with  Cap- 
tain Geo.  J.  Burke  as  Colonel ;  Maxwell,  Lyon  and  Lett,  Captains; 
Sproule,  Lieutenant;  Short,  Chaplain,  and  Crawford  (a  large- 
hearted  Scotchman),  physician.  They  were  among  the  first  to 
turn  out  during  the  rebellion  of  1837-38.  Their  sons  got  up  one 
of  the  first,  if  not  the  first,  volunteer  battery  of  artillerj'  organized 


SHEEP   BREEDING.      CONSERVATIVES. 


321 


in  Upper  Canada.  William  Pitman  Lett,  the  city  clerk  of  Ottawa, 
was  one  of  the  most  prominent  in  raising  the  new  corps. 

Lieutenant  Maxwell,  on  first  settling  in  Richmond,  entered  on 
mercantile  pursuits.  Finding  commerce  uncongenial  he,  after 
two  years,  gave  it  up  and  settled  down  to  farming  on  one  of  the 
finest  tracts  of  land  in  the  neighbourhood.  There  he  devoted 
special  attention  to  the  raising  of  stock.  He  imported  the  best 
breeds  of  sheep,  and  his  stock  became  noted  throughout  the  en- 
tire country.  If  to-day  we  see,  in  Carleton  and  in  the  surround- 
ing counties,  sheep  which  are  a  credit  and  full  of  promise,  it  is  to 
no  small  extent  due  to  the  gallant  Irishman,  who,  in  the  dawn  of 
our  nation,  did  not  indeed  literally  beat  hi^  sword,  red  with  the 
blood  of  her  enemies,  into  a  pruning  hook  or  a  shepherd's  staff, 
but  who,  while  keeping  near  him  the  warlike  and  war-worn  brand, 
obtained  those  peaceful  weapons  which  fight  the  noblest  battles — 
the  plough  and  kindred  implements  of  the  field.  Maxwell 
was  one  of  the  first  Justices  of  the  Peace.  Hospitable  to  a  fault, 
his  house  was  open  not  only  to  friends,  but  it  is  said  even  to  foes. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  acted  with  the 
Conservative  party.     He  died  in  1848.  ^ 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  when  the  word  Conservative  is 
applied  to  a  man  at  the  period  of  Maxwell's  active  life,  it  means 
something  very  different  from  what  it  means  to-day.  The  differ- 
ence will  be  made  abundantly  clear  in  succeeding  chapters.  A 
Conservative,  prior  to  the  culmination  of  Baldwin's  long  and  heroic 
struggle  for  responsible  government,  was  on  the  side  of  bureau- 
crats, who  represented  the  last  defenders  of  a  decaying,  and  when 
decaying  no  longer  useful,  cai  se. 

There  was  a  time  in  the  history  of  Canada  when  something  like 
the  paternal  rule  of  a  crown  colony  wasfbest  for  it.  But  that 
time  had  passed  away,  at  least,  as  early  as  1825,  and  possibly  be- 
fore. The  true  distinguishing  names  for  the  two  parties  in  Cana- 
da up,  certainly,  to  Lord  Sydenham's  time,  and  it  may  be  for 
some  year?  afterwards,  are  not  "  Conservatives "  and  "  Lib- 
erals," but  the  Bureaucratic  Party  and  the  Popular  Party, 
the  Famil}*^  Compact  founded  on  selfishness  and  buttressed  by 
wrong,    and    teeming  with  the    fruitful    seeds   of    revolution ; 

the   "Popular    Party"    raised  on  the  rock  of  eternal  justice j 
21 


Im 


322 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


m  \ 


i! 


Mi' 


the  cleternuned  bravery  of  its  garrison,  the  heroism  of  its 
skirmishing  parties,  braced  by  grievances,  commanded  by  a  man 
of  unstained  conscience  and  spotless  repute.  The  battle  was  bit- 
terly fought,  but  the  victory  could  not  at  any  time  have  been 
doubtful.  It  never  is  doubtful  where  one  side  lights  for  a  great 
cause,  for  justice,  and  therefore  for  God;  and  the  other  struggles, 
with  heroic  b".  eness,  to  preserve  the  ignoble  and  perishable  ram- 
parts of  egotism. 

An  Englishman,  Mr.  Howard,  has  presented  to  Toronto  a  park 
which  is  destined  to  be  the  finest  park  on  this  Continent.  It  is  a 
noble  gift  and  Mr.  Howard  should  always  be  gratefully  remem- 
bered by  our  citizens  ;  nor  should  Mr.  P.  G.  Close's  exertions  in 
regard  to  this  splendid  lung  for  Toronto  be  forgotten.  In  1816 
there  came  to  this  country  a  poor  young  fellow  who  was  destined 
to  be  to  Ottawa  a  benefactor  nearly  as  splendid  as  Mr.  Howard 
has  been  to  Toronto. 

Nicholas  Sparks  was  a  native  of  Wexford,  who  emigrated  to 
Canada  in  1816.  Having  worked  his  way  up  to  the  Township  of 
Hull,  on  the  North  shore  of  the  Ottawa  River  and  directly  oppo- 
site the  site  of  the  presejit  City  of  Ottawa,  he  engaged  as  a  farm 
servant  with  Philemon  Wright.  He  saved  a  sufEciert  sum  to  pur- 
chase lot  C  in  Concession  C,  Rideau  froxxt,  in  the  Township  of 
Nepean,  consisting  of  two  hundred  acres,  on  the  south  side  of  the 
Ottawa  River.  He  bought  the  lot  from  John  B.  Honey,  the 
patentee  from  the  Crown,  on  the  20th  of  June,  A.D.  1826,  for 
ninety-five  pounds  sterling.  At  the  time  of  his  purchase  the  lot 
was  a  wild  bush,  which  it  wfts  his  intention  to  turn  to  farming 
purposes.  Having  with  his  own  hands  cleared  a  spot  he  built  a 
shanty.  The  commencement  of  the  Rideau  Canal  in  the  follow- 
ing year,  however,  changed  his  purpose.  With  his  natural  shrewd- 
ness, he  perceived  that  his  and  the  surrounding  property  was  des- 
tined to  be  the  site  of  a  town  of  some  importance,  and  the  lot 
purchased  by  him  for  ninety-five  pounds  is  now  one  of  the  most 
populous  and  wealthy  portions  of  the  City  of  Ottawa,  where 
stand  the  Court  House,  the  Jail,  the  City  Hall,  the  Post-Office, 
the  Ladies'  College,  the  Opera  House,  the  Orange  Hall,  the  Pro- 
testant Orphans'  Home,  Christ  Church,  St.  Andrev^r^,  Baijk  Street 
Church,  the  Dominion  Wesleyan.  Methodist  *Chur6li,  the  Baptist 


FOUNDER  OF  ORANOEISM  IN  CANADA. 


323 


Church,  the  Congregational  Church,  the  Catholic  Apostolic  Church, 
Russell  House,  several  first-class  hotels,  and  every  bank  in  the 
City.  The  property  with  the  buildings  is  now  estimated  as  worth 
four  million  dollars. 

Mr.  Sparks  was  a  Conservative  in  politics,  but  never  pushed  him- 
self forward  in  political  life,  the  only  public  positions  he  held 
being  that  of  alderman  for  the  city,  during  the  years  1855-6-7, 
and  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  the  County  of  '"'"ripton.  Unosten- 
^tious  in  his  prosperity,  he  was  made  of  the  .oest  human  clay. 
/The  Court-house  and  Jail  Square,  and  City  Hall  L  .^uare  were  pre- 
1  sented  by  him  to  By  town ;  and  to  the  Cb"-<  ch  of  England,  of  which 
Tie  was  a  member,  the  site  for  Christ  Church,  with  parsonage  and 
school.  He  died  on  the  27th  February,  1862,  aged  sixty-eight 
years,  leaving  one  son,  who  has  since  died,  and  two  daughters,  who 
survive. 

Another  Carleton  pioneer,  who  died  a  millionaire,  was  "William 
Hodgins,  who  came  to  Canada  in  1820.  He  was  bom  in  Tipperary, 
in  1787.  He  settled  about  twelve  miles  from  where  Ottawa  stands. 
His  history  is  the  history  of  hundreds  :  he  cleared  land  and  made 
wealth,  dying  worth  $250,000.  He  was  eighty-one  years  of  age 
when  he  died. 

A  representative  man  of  the  Orange  body  was  Arthur  Hopper, 
Ogle  R.  Gowan  has  usually  been  considered  the  founder  of 
Orangeism  in  Canada.  This  opinion  is  not  correct.  The  real 
founder  was  the  venerable  old  man  who  died  in  1872,  in  his 
eighty-eighth  year,  to  whose  ample  board,  though  he  sported  the 
orange  lily  every  12th  of  July,  the  Catholic  priest  was  as  welcome 
as  the  Protestant  minister ;  who  was  a  devoted  friend  to  men  of 
every  creed,  if  they  carried  under  their  waistcoat  the  talisman  of 
an  Irish  heart. 

Born  at  Roscrea,  in  1784,  Mi-.  Hopper  emigrated  to  Canada  in 
1812.  He  carried  on  a  business  for  three  years  at  Montreal,  and 
in  1825  he  set  up  in  the  Township  of  Huntley  as  a  merchant. 
While  residing  here  his  advice  was  sought  by  all  the  inhabitants, 
especially  by  his  own  countrymen.  Catholic  and  Protestant.  Sub- 
sequently he  purchased  six  hundred  acres  in  the  Township  of  Ne- 
pean,  where  he  finally  settled.  Situated  six  miles  from  Ottawa, 
witfh  three  Churches,  a  School-house,  an  Hotel,  an  Orange  Hall,  and 


S24 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


several  tradesmen's  shops,  is  the  thriving  village  of  Merivale.  It 
is  settled  almost  entirely  by  Irish,  all  of  whom  are  in  comfortable 
circumstances.     This  village  owes  its  existence  to  Arthur  Hopper. 

He  became  a  member  of  the  Orange  Association  in  his  eighteenth 
year.  He  took  his  first  degree  in  Dublin,  in  1802,  where  he  served 
as  a  yooman  during  the  disturbance  of  1803.  Having  filled  several 
subordinate  ofiices,  he,  for  many  years,  occupied  the  chair,  as  De- 
puty Grand  Master  of  the  County  of  Tipperary. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  in  Montreal,  he,  with  the  late  Mr.  William 
Burton,  Mr.  John  Dyer,  Mr.  Francis  Abbott,  and  about  six  or  eight 
others,  formed  the  first  Orange  Lodge  ever  opened  in  British  Ame- 
rica. This  was  done  under  warrant  from  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Ire- 
land. This  warrant  William  Burton  went  home  expressly  to  pro- 
Cure.  Burton  was  elected  the  first  master.  From  such  small  be- 
ginnings, nearly  sixty  years  ago,  the  present  powerful  Orange  As- 
sociation has  grown. 

In  subsequent  years  Arthur  Hopper  was  elected  to  fill  the  chair 
with  the  additional  power  of  granting  warrants  to  subordinate 
lodges,  given  under  the  Great  Seal  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Ireland, 
of  which  the  Earl  of  Enniskillen  was  the  Grand  Master.  The  first 
warrant  ever  granted  to  a  subordinate  lodge  in  British  America 
was  granted  to  Mr.  Robert  Birch,  of  Richmond,  under  the  hand 
and  seal  of  Mr.  Arthur  Hopper,  as  Grand  Master,  and  Mr.  William 
Burton  as  Deputy-Grand  Master.  Soon  after  Ogle  R.  Gowan 
came  here  with  credentials  from  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Ireland.  A 
council  with  the  lodges  then  in  existence  was  held,  and  the  present 
system  inaugurated.  When  Mr.  Hopper  settled  in  Huntly  he 
opened  the  first  lodge  in  that  township.  He  subsequently  inaugu- 
rated lodges  in  difierent  parts  of  the  County  of  Carle  ton.  The  last 
one  which  he  inaugurated  was  Number  Eighty -five  of  Nepean,  of 
which  he  was  first  Master,  and  of  which  he  was  made  an  honorary 
member  for  life,  when  through  infirmity  he  could  no  longer  attend 
the  meetings.  When  he  died,  in  1872,  he  had  been  seventy  years 
in  connection  with  the  Order  during  which  he  had  attained  all  the 
degrees  from  the  Orange  to  the  highest  Black.  When  grown 
garrulous  with  years  he  loved  to  talk  over  old  days.  He  had  seen 
the  fajl  of  one  national  government  and  the  rise  of  another.     He 


RICHARD   BISHOP.      THE  BATTLE  FAMILY. 


325 


was  present  at  the  closing  of  the  last  Irish  Pariiament  and  at  the 
opening  of  the  first  Pariiaraent  of  the  Doiuinion. 

As  an  instance  of  success  it  would  not  be  easy  to  find  a  more 
remarkable  man  than  Richard  Bishop,  who  was  bom  in  the  County 
Limerick,  and  emigrated  with  his  father,  Richard  Bishop,  in  1829. 
The  father  purchased  land  and  settled  in  the  Township  of  March 
He  amassed  a  considerable  fortune  and  died  in  18()3,  aged  sixty- 
eight.  His  son,  who  is  now  fifty-six  years  of  age,  is  one  of  the 
most  successful  of  a  successful  family.  At  an  early  age  he  left  his 
father's  house  and  struck  out  for  himself  in  Bytown.  He  rapidly 
rose  both  in  wealth  and  public  estimation.  A  large  landed  pro- 
prietor of  the  County  of  Carleton,  he  is  now  able  to  retire  a  rich 
man.  He  is  a  Conservative  and  an  active  member  of  the  Church 
of  England. 

The  Battle  family  is  in  its  way  representative.  They  belong  origi- 
nally to  the  County  of  Sligo,  whence  they  came  to  Canada  in  1832. 
The  elder  members  of  the  family  consisted  of  three  brothers, 
Patrick  Battle,  v^ho  settled  in  Quebec ;  John  Battle,  who  settled 
in  Toronto  ;  and  Matthew  Battle,  who  settled  in  Liverpool,  Eng- 
land. Patrick  Battle  resided  in  Quebec  where  he  lived  until 
1870,  when  he  removed  with  his  family  to  Ottawa,  where  his  son 
is  now  Collector  of  Inland  Revenue.  This  gentleman,  Mr.  Martin 
Battle,  was  bom  in  1828,  in  Ballymote.  He  lived  in  Quebec  till 
18.56,  when  he  removed  to  St.  Catharines  where  some  of  his  rela- 
tives were  settled.  There  he  was  employed  in  responsible  work 
by  Sheckluna,  the  celebrated  Lake  Ship  Builder.  In  1859 
he  was  appointed  to  superintend  the  removal  of  Government 
stores  from  Toronto  to  Quebec.  Subsequently  he  had  charge  of 
stores  in  connection  with  the  trips  of  H.  R.  H.  the  Prince  of  Wales 
and  H.  R.  H.  the  Duke  of  Edinburgh,  and  the  chief  management 
of  the  stores  when  the  Government  was  removed  from  Quebec  to 
Ottawa.  For  his  efficient  discharge  of  these  duties  Mr.  Battle  re- 
ceived appreciative  letters  from  the  eminent  persons  concerned, 
and  was  complimented  by  the  London  Times.  In  1870  he  was 
appointed  Collector  of  Hydraulic  Rents,  and  in  1873  Collector  of 
Inland  Revenue  at  Ottawa.  He  has  always  been  a  strong  advo- 
cate of  temperance,  having  taken  the  pledge  from  the  well-known 
Father  McMahon,  of  Quebec.     He  is  one  of  those  who  founded 


326 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


IF 


\ 


the  St.  Patrick's  Orphan  Asylum  at  Ottawa,  and  has  acted  as 
Sfcijretary  to  the  Institution  for  seven  years.  He  was  also  instni- 
mentai  in  the  formation  of  the  Ottawa  Irish  Catholic  Temperance 
Society,  Benevolent  Branch,  which  is  now  a  strong  institution 
and  which  has  been  of  the  greatest  advantage  to  the  working  men. 
Mr.  Battle  attributes  his  advancement  in  life  to  his  teetotalism. 
Like  all  his  family  Martin  Battle  is  a  member  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  and  a  genuine  Irishman.  He  was  the  first  per- 
son who  presented  an  address  to  D'Arcy  McGee  when  that  great 
orator  came  to  Canada. 

Another  official,  well  and  favourably  known  in  the  capital,  is 
Zechariah  Wilson,  the  eldest  son  of  Hugh  Wilson,  who  early  in 
the  present  century  emigrated  from  the  County  Tyrone,  and  set- 
tled first  at  St.  Johns,  in  the  Province  of  Quebec,  where  his  son 
was  born  in  1815.  Having  received  the  best  education  available 
at  the  time  and  place,  he  in  1836,  removed  to  Bytown,  and  entered 
into  business  with  his  brother,  Hugh  L.  Wilson.  The  firm  was 
successful  The  partnership  was  dissolved,  when  Hugh  determined 
to  go  to  New  York  to  enter  business  on  a  larger  field.  Zechariah 
remained  in  Canada.  He  is  now  collector  of  Customs  at  the  port 
of  Ottawa,  where  his  amiable  qualities  have  won  for  him  friends 
amongst  all  classes.  He  was  a  good  working  member  of  the  Irish 
Protestant  Benevolent  Society  at  Ottawa,  when  it  was  one  of  the 
forem<;st  national  organizations  there. 

A  good  instance  of  what  Canada  has  done  for  Irishmen  is  Peter 
Egleson,  an  extensive  land  owner  and  capitalist.  He  is  a  native 
of  Cavan.  He  came  to  Canada  about  1834,  and  for  awhile  was  at 
Grenville — half-way  between  Montreal  and  Ottawa,  and  then  a 
more  important  place  than  Bytown.  On  coming  to  Ottawa,  he 
went  into  service  as  coachman  to  Colonel  Bolton,  Commandant  of 
the  Engineers  at  work  on  the  canal.  He  married  Bolton's  house- 
keeper, a  widow  with  one  child.  He  soon  quarrelled  with  Bolton, 
and  set  up  as  a  country  schoolmaster  in  Gloucester  township, 
County  of  Carleton.  After  a  year's  experience  of  the  tr}  mg  life 
of  a  pedagogue  in  the  country,  he  returned  to  Bytown,  and  con- 
tinued the  same  work.  At  the  end  of  two  years  he  abandoned 
the  ferule  for  a  general  trader's  counter.  He  has  since  made 
money  rapidly,  and  is  now  worth  at  least  $200,000.     He  has  been 


m  ^f 


AN   OTTAWA   POET. 


327 


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ce  made 
has  been 


an  active  promoter  of  the  local  building  societies,  from  which  he 
has  derived  considerable  personal  benefit.  He  was  for  some  years 
member  of  the  school  board  and  municipal  council. 

His  son  James  is  a  colonel  in  a  volunteer  corps,  and  is  even  a 
better  business  man  and  more  wealthy  than  his  father.  There  is 
a  large  family  of  the  Eglesons  about  Ottawa,  some  Catholics  and 
some  Protestants  and  all  well  to  do. 

While  Ireland  thus  supplied  Carleton  with  pioneers  and  busi- 
ness men,  she  also  poured  in  humanizing  influences,  and  amongst 
those  whose  literary  turn  has  helped  to  brighten  and  spiritualise 
existence,  a  prominent  place  must  be  given  to  William  Pittman 
Lett,  bom  at  Wexford,  the  second  son  of  the  late  Andrews  Lett, 
who  was  a  captain  in  the  26th  Cameronian  regiment,  with  which 
corps  he  saw  considerable  service  in  Spain,  under  the  command  of 
Sir  John  Moore ;  who  was  present  with  his  regiment,  then  under  the 
command  of  the  Earl  of  Dalhousie,  at  the  battle  of  Corunna  ;  and 
was  a  witness  of  the  moonlight  obsequies  of  Sir  John  Moore,  ren- 
dered doubly  immortal  by  the  pen  of  his  fellow-countryman,  Wolfl[. 
He  and  his  son,  as  we  have  seen,  came  to  Canada  in  1820,  and  set- 
tled at  the  Village  of  Richmond.  In  1828,  after  the  death  of  the 
captain,  the  family  removed  to  what  is  now  Ottawa.  Young  Lett 
obtained  his  education  in  the  public  schools  of  Bytown,  and  in 
the  High  School  of  Montreal.  He  was  for  a  few  years  a  pupil  of 
the  late  Rev.  Alexander  Fletcher,  of  Plantagenet,  who  is  said  to 
have  been  an  accomplished  scholar.  From  1845  until  1853,  Mr. 
Lett  was  connected  editorially  with  the  Conservative  press,  and 
during  thirty  years  he  has  written  not  only  in  prose,  but  in  verse 
for  the  newspapers.  He  l;as  acquired  a  considerable  local  reputa- 
tion as  a  poet,*  He  has  published  "  Recollections  of  Bytown  and 
its  Inhabitants."  He  is  the  author  of  the  letters  signed  Sweeney 
Ryan,  which  displayed  no  small  amount  of  humour.  Had  he  been 
able  to  devote  himself  to  literature,  he  might  have  achieved  an 
unviable  reputation.  Whether  he  would  have  been  a  happier  man 
is  another  question. 


♦  On  a  recent  occasion  he  composed  some  lines  of  which  a  couple  of  verses  deserve, 
both  for  sentiment  and  expression,  quotation  here. 


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328  THE  IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA.  • 

Come,  let  us  in  thifl  far-off  land, 

From  Erin's  sea-girt  shore 
One  blood,  one  race,  in  union  stand 

Round  memories  of  yore. 
To-day  we'll  gently  level  down 

The  barriers  that  divide  ; 
And  close  together  hand-in-hand, 

Stand  brothers  side  by  side. 

We  ask  not  wliat  may  be  your  name. 

Come  to  us  whence  you  may  ; 
We  ask  not  by  what  path  yon  came, 

Or  where  you  kneel  to  pray. 
Your  common  birthright  of  the  lan<i 

Is  all  we  seek  to  scan, 
To-day  we  offer  friendship's  hand 

To  cTery  Irishman ! 

.  To  the  knowledge  without  which  our  schemes  of  development 
would  be  like  rudderless,  compassless  ships,  Irishmen  have  given 
a  stimulus  which  has  borne  practical  fruit.  John  McMullin,  now 
residing  at  Eganville,  deserves  a  place  among  those  who  have  made 
us  acquainted  with  the  geological  character  of  a  countr}'^  which 
is  rich  in  scientific  suggestion.  Born  at  Newry,  in  1817,  he  came 
with  his  parents  to  Canada  in  1820.  The  family  resided  for  some 
years  in  Quebec,  While  quite  young  John  McMullin  engaged  in 
the  lumber  trade  on  the  Ottawa.  Having  a  great  desire  for  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge,  his  inquisitive  mind  busied  itself  with 
geology.  He  attracted  the  attention  of  the  late  Sir  William  Logan, 
in  whose  Department  at  Montreal  he  was  engaged  for  two  years. 
While  there  he  discovered  the  Dawn  of  Life.  The  late  Dr.  Beau- 
bien  frequently  quoted  him  in  his  lectures. 

If  I  were  to  attempt  to  write  the  history  of  all  who  live  in 
Montreal  and  dfeserve  a  place  in  this  book,  I  should  have  to  write 
a  whole  volume  about  that  noble  city,  and  call  it  the  "  Irishmen 
in  Montreal."  There  are,  however,  a  certain  number  who,  for  one 
reason  or  another,  are  so  prominent  that  there  is  no  difficulty  in 
selection,  for  public  rumour  has  already  made  the  selection  for  me. 

The  name  of  Mr.  Thomas  White-  -or  "  Tom  White,"  as  he  is 
familiarly  called — has  become  a  house-hold  word  in  Canada.  Bom 
at  Montreal  in  1830,  his  father  came  from  Westmeath,  while  his 
mother  was  of  Scotcli  descent.  When  young  White  was  growing 
up,  the  principal  school  in  Montreal  was  Mr.  Workman's.  Thither 
Thomas  White  was  sent.     When  the  High  School  was  opened  he 


TOM   WHITE.       EFFIOIRNCY   OF  PARLIAMENT. 


fi29 


left  Mr.  "Workman's  and  attended  the  classes  of  the  new  school. 
He  passed  through  his  school -boy  studies  with  credit.  When  six- 
teer  years  of  age  he  was  engaged  in  the  office  of  a  merchant.  At 
the  <  nd  of  three  years  he  entered  the  office  of  the  Queen's  Printer 
as  an  apprentice.  When  in  1851-2  the  Government  removed  to 
Quebec  he  followed  it,  and  through  the  influence  of  Stuart  Derby- 
shire he  was  appointed  to  the  office  of  assistant  editor  on  the 
Quebec  Gazette.  In  the  spring  of  1853  he  went  to  Peterborough, 
where  he  started  the  Peterborough  Review.  In  1860  he  turned 
his  back  on  newspaper  work  for  a  time  and  entered  the  office  of 
the  Honourable  Sidney  Smith  to  study  law,  and  four  yeai-s  after- 
wards was  called  to  the  bar  of  Upper  Canada.  He  did  not  prac- 
tise long,  A  newspaper  man  to  the  finger  tips,  he  pined  for 
printer's  ink.  In  connection  with  his  brother,  he  purchased  the 
Hamilton  Spectator.  In  1866  he  ran  for  South  Wentworth,  but 
was  defeated  by  the  small  majority  of  three  votes.  In  1869,  at 
the  request  of  the  Honourable  John  Carling,  Emigration  Commis- 
sioner for  Ontario,  he  went  to  England  and  delivered  lectures  on 
■Canada  fl  roughout  Great  Britain.  In  the  following  year  he  again 
went  to  England  on  the  ^^arae  errand.  Meanwhile  his  brother  made 
arrangements  for  the  purchase  of  the  Montreal  Gazette,  and  on  his 
return  he  settled  in  Montreal  and  took  charge  of  the  editorial  de- 
partment of  the  leading  Conservative  newspaper  of  Lower  Canada. 

In  the  general  election  of  1872,  he  ran  for  Prescott  and  was 
defeated  by  five  votes.  He  subsequently  ran  for  Montreal  West 
and  was  again  defeated  by  a  small  majority, — seven  votes.  In  the 
same  constituency  he  again  ran  against  Mr.  Thos.  Workman.  He 
was  beaten  by  fifty  votes,  but  polled  two  hundred  more  than  on 
the  previous  occasion. 

Mr.  White's  return  to  Parliament  for  some  constituency  is  only 
a  matter  of  time.  There  must  be  many  an  electorate  throughout 
the  country  that  had  rather  be  represented  by  a  man  than  by  a 
voting  machine.  The  intelligence  of  a  constituency  is  to  be  mea- 
sured by  its  representative.  Mr.  White  is  one  of  the  rising  young 
men  of  the  Dominion,  whom  all  parties  would  like  to  see  in  the 
House  of  Commons.  His  wide  information,  his  talents,  his  facility 
of  expression,  his  strong  political  instinct,  would  make  him  a 
great  accession  to  those  whose  utterances  tend  to  raise  our  Dominion 


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^30 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


Parliamont  to  a  position  comriionHU rate  with  the  character  of  this 
young  nation  ;  to  constitute  it  tliat  lever  of  echication  and  pul>lic 
spirit  whicli  it  must  become,  when  it  shall  be  ruled  by  our  best 
minds  and  shall  march  forward  in  the  serene  consciousness  of 
power  sa<,'cly  directed  to  great  ends. 

Mr.  White  has  published  much  in  a  pamphlet  form.  He  is  a 
leading  Mason,  President  of  the  Rej)orters'  Gallery  of  the  House 
of  Connnons,  President  of  the  Press  Association  of  Uyper  Canada. 
He  has  for  many  years  represented  St.  George's  Church  in  the 
Diocesan  Synod.  He  did  that  wise  thing,  marry  early.  He  was 
only  tw  j!*y-three.  Even  this  gives  him  claims,  for,  as  old  Fuller 
says,  though  bachelors  are  the  strongest  stakes,  married  men  are 
the  bef;t  binders  in  the  hedge  of  the  commonwealth. 

Few  business  families  have  b3en  more  useful  to  Canada  than 
the  Miller  family,  of  whom  Robert  Miller  is  now  the  leading  re- 
presentative. Born  in  the  City  of  Cork  in  1810,  ho  is  the  youngest 
son  of  the  late  Adam  Miller  and  Theodora  Lovtll.  The  family 
emigrated  to  Canada  in  the  year  1820,  and  settled  at  St.  Johns, 
where  his  father  occupied  the  position  of  teacher  in  the  Govern- 
ment School  until  his  death  in  1 826.  Mr.  Miller  removed  to  Mon- 
treal in  1833,  and  after  serving  an  apprenticeship  with  the  late 
Ariel  Bowman  and  the  late  Campbell  Bryson,  booksellers,  St. 
Francois  Xavier  vStreet,  commenced  business  on  his  own  account  in 
1841.  He  subseijuently  formed  a  partnership  with  his  brother 
Adam,  and  the  business  was  for  many  years  carried  on  under  the 
firm  of  R.  &  A.  Miller,  both  in  Montreal  and  Toronto. 

Having  obtained  permission  from  the  Commissioner  of  National 
Education  in  Ireland,  they  republished  the  Irish  National  series 
of  school  books,  which  were  authorized  by  ih;^  Upper  Canada 
Council  of  Public  Instruction.  This  series  was  for  a  number  of 
years  in  general  use  throughout  Canada. 

On  the  dissolution  of  the  partnership  between  the  two  brothers 
in  1803,  Adam  went  to  Toronto  where  he  died  a  few  years  ago. 
His  brother  Robert  retained  the  business  of  the  Montreal  House. 
His  establishment  is  now  one  of  the  largest  in  the  city. 

Mr.  Miller  has  been  from  its  foundation  a  member  of  the  Irish 
Protestant  Benevolent  Society.  He  has  been  the  Managing 
Director  for  some  years  cf  the  Danville  School-Slate  Company, 


SIDNEY   IlOUKllT   BELLINOHAM. 


331 


He  has  taken  an  active  part  in  the  Young  Men's  CliriHtian  Asso- 
ciation, and  been  one  of  its  vice-prnsidents.  For  a  great  many 
years  ho  has  been,  and  is,  a  working  niendjer  of  the  Methodist 
Church. 

The  name  of  Sidney  Robert  Bellingliam  was  at  one  time  a 
name  of  power  in  Montreal,  and  known  throughout  Canada. 
Tlie  fourth  son  of  the  late  Sir  Allan  Bellingham,  Baronet,  of 
Castle  Bellingham,  County  Louth,  by  Elizabeth,  second  daughter 
of  the  Reverend  Edward  Walls,  of  Boothby  Hall,  Lincolnshire, 
he  was  the  grandson  of  Sir  William  Bellingham,  the  tirst  Baronet, 
who  was  some  time  Secretary  to  the  Right  Honourable  William 
Pitt ;  afterwards  Commissioner  of  the  Royal  Navy  ;  and  who 
represented  Reigate  in  the  English  House  of  Commons.  Mr. 
Bellingham  was  born  on  the  second  day  of  August,  1808.  He 
was  educated  in  Ireland.  After  his  residence  in  Canada  for  some 
time,  he  married  Arabella,  the  daughter  of  William  Holmes,  of 
Quebec.  He  was  called  to  the  Bar  of  Lower  Canada  in  1841.  He 
was  one  of  the  best  known  political  writers  for  the  newspaper 
press  of  Lower  Canada,  principally  for  the  Montreal  Times,  and 
afterwards  for  the  Montreal  Daily  N&wh. 

During  the  troubles  of  the  Rebellion,  in  1837,  Mr.  Bellingham 
was  the  magi.^trate  sent  with  Col,  Wetherall  to  attack  St.  Charles. 
He  afterwards  devoted  much  time  to  develop  the  military  spirit 
of  the  county,  he  so  long  represented  in  Parliament,  and  as  Lieut.- 
Colonel  of  the  Argenteuil  Rangers,  he  brought  up  the  regiment 
to  a  high  state  of  drill.  He  sat  for  the  county  in  the  Canadian 
Assembly  from  1854  to  I860,  when  he  was  unseated.  Mr.  Bel- 
lingham had  the  honour  of  being  President  of  the  St.  Patrick's 
Society  of  Montreal  at  that  pe .  'od  when  Catholic  and  Protestant 
were  alike  eUgible  for  the  office.  Retiring  a  year  or  two  ago  from 
public  lif  3,  he  bade  farewell  to  Canada,  and  now  resides  in 
Ireland.  During  O'Connell's  Repeal  agitation,  Mr.  Bellingham 
used  to  speak  strongly  in  favour  of  that  policy. 

Neale,  in  his  History  of  the  Puritans,  speaks  of  the  Rev.  William 
Workman,  who  was  lecturer  at  St.  Stephen's  church,  in  Glouces- 
i  "^,  from  1618  to  1633.  Neale  describes  him  as  a  man  of  great 
piety,  wisdom  and  moderation.     His  wife  was  a  fruitful  bough. 


ill 


i:;: 


332 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA, 


In  consideration  of  small  salary  and  large  family — common  but 
perplexing  antithesis ! — the  City  of  Gloucester  voted  him  an 
annuity  of  twenty  pounds. 

Meanwhile  Laud  had  attained  the  Archiepiscopal  mitre,  and 
was  addressing  himself  with  energy  to  stemming  the  tide  of 
"afornmtion.  The  images  and  pictures  were  restored  to  the 
churches.  The  clergy  indued  themselves  in  gorgeous  vestments, 
such  as  those  used  by  the  elegy  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 
They  who  disapproved  of  the  new  order  of  things  and  resented 
the  policy  of  Laud,  were  naturally  enough  regarded  by  the 
Primate  with  no  friendly  eye.  Workman  in  one  of  his  sermons 
stigmatized  pictures  and  statues  of  the  founders  of  Christianity, 
the  Apostles,  the  fathers,  eminent  Christian  women,  as  unfit  orna- 
ments for  churches.  He  declared  that  to  set  up  images  of  Christ 
or  of  the  Saints  in  the  private  houses,  was,  according  to  the  Hom- 
ily, unlawful,  and  tended  to  idolatry.  He  was  brought  before 
the  Court  of  High  Commission.  After  a  trial,  in  which  the 
charges  agains^  ^im  wer©  easily  proved,  he  was  deposed  and 
excommunicataa. 

He  now  opened  a  school  in  order  to  support  his  family.  As  an 
excommunicated  person,  he  was  inhibited  from  teaching  youth. 
He  then  commenced  the  practice  of  medicine,  in  which  he  had 
some  skill.  The  Archbishop  forbade  him.  Those  were  the  days 
of  persecution,  when  Protestants  and  Catholics  alike  abused  power, 
the  days  before  the  newspaper  and  the  emigrant  ship,  and  Work- 
man, not  knowing  where  to  turn  in  order  to  support  his  family, 
fell  into  a  settled  melancholy  and  died. 

These  circumstances  naturally  made  a  deep  impression  on  his 
children.  His  oons  eagerly  joined  the  Parliamentary  army,  in  which 
William  Workman,  fi'om  whom  the  Canadian  Workmans  spring, 
held  a  commission,  and  was  one  of  those  who  met  the  charge  of 
Rupert  on  the  field  of  Naseby.  He  served  until  1648,  when  he 
went  over  to  Ireland  with  Cromwell.  On  the  close  of  the  Irish 
campaign  he  retired  from  military  life,  receiving  as  a  reward  for 
bis  services,  a  grant  of  the  two  town  lands  of  Merlacoo,  and  two 
sizeacks  in  the  County  of  Armagh.  Of  these  lands,  the  old  soldier 
held  possession  for  some  time.  But  he  was  in  the  midst  of  a 
hostile  population,  different  in    race  and    religion,  with  bitter 


THE   WORKMAN  S   IN   IRELAND. 


333 


memories  of  defeat,  and  a  passionate  hunger  for  vengo^'acc  jorn 
of  great  wrongs,  and  whetted  by  the  policy  of  eminent  men,  vsing 
the  peasant  as  a  pawn  in  a  game  for  empire,  calling  a  brave, 
ignorant,  enthusiastic  people,  from  wise  acquiescence  in  the  inevi- 
|iable,  to  fling  t^iemselves  on  the  spears  of  fate,  under  the  banner 
of  a  doomed  cause.  During  Tyrconnel's  administration,  he  removed 
to  the  County  Down,  near  Donaghadee,  whence  he  was  obliged  to 
flee  and  shelter  his  old  age  behind  the  fortress  of  Derry,  soon  to 
be  invested  by  the  Irish  army,  He  must  have  succumbed  to  the 
appalling  privations  of  the  siege,  as  his  name  does  not  appear  in 
the  history  of  an  event,  which  in  all  its  particulars  is  as  well  known 
as  the  transactions  of  one  of  our  local  Parliaments. 

When  at  last,  the  besieging  army,  a  long  column  of  pikes  and 
standards,  was  seen  retreating  up  the  left  bank  of  the  Foyle  to- 
wards where  Carleton  was  to  be  born,  his  two  sons  and  their 
wives  emerged  from  the  war-scarred  walls  of  Derry,  and  settled 
in  the  County  Antrim,  In  the  following  year,  William  III  landed 
at  Carrickfergus  The  inhabitants  hurried  to  the  shore  to  welcome 
him.  The  wife  of  one  of  the  Workmans  was  a  comely  person,  and 
had  taken  her  child  in  her  arms  and  joined  the  crowd.  William, 
with  his  habitual  coldness,  passed  hurriedly  through  the  throng. 
But  ol»serving  the  beauty  of  the  infant  in  Mrs.  Workman's  arms, 
and  perhaps — for  that  stern  eye  was  not  insensible  to  female 
charms— not  unmindful  of  its  mother's;  aware  too,  no  doubt,  that 
no  act  could  appeal  more  strongly  to  the  popular  heart,  than  a 
great  statesman  and  leader  of  armies,  pausing  in  the  midst  of  a 
dangerous  and  momentous  enterprise  to  fondk  a  babe;  he  stopped 
and  k'ssed  the  child,  and  whispered  a  compliment  to  the  proud 
matron  whose  blushes  did  not  make  her  less  beautiful.  Hence 
the  saying,  that  the  first  person  King  ^''^illiam  kissed  on  landing 
in  Ireland  was  a  Workman. 

One  of  the  brothers  settled  at  Brookend  Mills,  near  Coagh, 
whence  he  removed  to  Monyraore  to  take  charge  of  the  mill 
there.  For  more  than  a  century  this  mill  remained  in  charge  of 
successive  generations  of  Workmans.  Joseph  Workman,  the 
father  of  Dr.  Workman,  was  the  last  of  the  family  who  occupied 
the  Monymore  mill.  This  man  having  made  a  visit  of  three 
years  to  the  Uxiited  States  returned  to  Ireland  and  took  up  his 


IN 

i 

ill .' 


ih 


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d  t 


i 


334 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


abode  in  Ballymacash,  a  mile  and  a  half  west  of  the  village  of 
Lisburn,  where  his  family,  nine  in  uumbe",  were  born,  all  of 
whom  with  their  father  ultimately  emigrated  here. 

Benjamin,  the  eldest,  came  in  1819.  He  in  connection  with  his 
brother  established  the  Union  School  at  Montreal.  For  twenty 
years  it  was  the  largest  English  school  in  Canada.  Among  its 
pupils  were  several  men  who  were  afterwards  distinguished :  Sir 
Henry  Smith  at  one  time  speaker  of  the  Houss  of  Assembly  ;  Hon. 
Lewis  Wallbridge,  who  also  became  speaker ;  Henry  Myers,  M.P.P.; 
Hon.L.  H.  Holton,M.P. ;  Thomas  Workman,  M.P.,  and  many  others 
who  attained  eminence  in  commercial  and  professional  walks.  Ben- 
jamin Workman  did  more  than  teach  school  in  order  to  diffuse  en- 
lightenment among  his  fellow-  citizens.  He  published  the  Canadian 
Gourant  for  five  years.  It  was  prospering  when  he  sided  with 
the  teetotallers,  wliereupon  the  licensed  victuallers  withdrew  their 
patronage  and  the  paper  died. 

He  now  determined  to  study  medicine.  After  six  years  at 
McGill  College  he  in  1853  was  admitted  to  practice.  Three  years 
afterwards  he  accepted  the  appointment  of  Assistant  Medical 
Superintendent  in  the  Provincial  Lunatic  Asylum,  Toronto,  where 
his  brother  Joseph  was  Superintendent,  whence  in  1875  he  re- 
tired superannuated  by  old  age. 

WilliaiQ  Workman  emigi-ated  in  1829,  having  spent  the  three 
years  preceding  his  emigration  with  the  Royal  Engineers  on  the 
Irish  survey.  He  became  assistant  editor  of  the  Gourant.  Aban- 
doning journalism  he  entered  an  important  establishment  in 
the  hardware  trade.  He  soon  became  partner  and  the  firm  still 
retains  his  name.  He  retired  from  the  firm  in  1859.  In  1849 
he  was  elected  President  of  the  City  Bank,  a  position  which  he 
held  for  twenty-four  years.  He  was  the  first  President  of  the 
City  and  District  Savings  Bank,  an  institution  of  which  he  was 
the  founder.  In  1868  and  for  the  two  following  years  he  was 
elected  Mayor  of  Montreal,  and  performed  the  duties  of  that  great 
office  with  a  dignity  and  hospitality  worthy  of  the  great  city  over 
which  he  presided.  So  satisfactorily  did  he  do  his  work  that  he 
was  twice  honoured  with  a  public  banquet  in  which  all  classes  and 
creeds  joined.  When  he  refused  re-election  as  president  of  the 
City  and  District  Sa'/ings  Bank  the  officials  presented  him  with 


AN   ENERGETIC   RACE. 


335 


a  grand  epergne  and  plate,  very  costly,  and  on  the  occasion  of  his 
retirement  from  the  Mayoralty  the  citizens  gave  him  a  diamond  ring 
which  cost  a  little  fortune,  and  with  it  two  massive  pieces  of  plate 
accompanied  by  a  flattering  address.  Chief  Justice  Cockburn, 
when  addressing  the  jaiy  in  the  famous  Tichborne  suit,  said  with 
truth  that  in  the  discharge  of  a  public  duty  no  man  can  be  insen- 
sible to  public  opinion.  Mr.  William  Workman  may  well  feel 
gratified  that  his  services  in  great  and  responsible  positions  met  with 
the  appreciation  of  his  fellow -citizens.  During  the  visit  of  Prince 
Arthur  he  had  the  honour  of  receiving  not  the  least  frank  and  en- 
gaging of  the  sons  of  his  Sovereign.  Still  the  president  of  the  Pro- 
testant House  of  Industry  and  Refuge,  of  the  Montreal  Dispensary^ 
of  the  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Animal,  i,  and  of 
the  Western  Hospital,  he  has  been  an  active  and  directing  mind  in 
most  of  the  great  philanthrophic  and  commercial  institutions  of 
Montreal.  He  was  president  of  the  St.  Patrick's  Society  in  Mon- 
treal when  that  society  was  composed  of  Catholics  and  Protest- 
ants. 

Alexander  Workman  is  at  present  a  hardware  merchant  at  Ot- 
tawa. He  it  was  who  co-operated  with  Benjamin  Workman  in 
school  teaching  at  Montreal.  Leaving  Montreal,  he  went  to  the 
Ottawa  district,  and  for  a  few  years  worked  a  farm  in  Huntly 
township.  This  did  not  suit  him.  He  again  tried  Montreal,  only 
once  more  to  return  to  By  town,  and  embarked  in  the  hardware 
trade  with  Edward  Griffin.  Griffin  left  the  firm  some  years  ago. 
The  business  has  since  been  carried  on  by  Mr.  Workman,  who  is 
now  nearly  eighty  years  of  age. 

Like  all  ^is  family,  he  is  a  man  of  versatile  talents,  and  large 
capacity  for  public  life.  For  several  years  a  member  of  the  Otta- 
wa City  Council,  and  Mayor  cl  the  City  in  1860  and  1861.  In 
this  year  the  Prince  of  Wales  laid  the  corner  stone  of  the  Parlia- 
ment Buildings,  and  Mr.  Workman  performed  his  part  of  the 
ceremonies  with  credit.  Though  possessing  so  much  public  spirit 
and  talents  for  public  life,  he  is  like  so  many  of  his  countrymen, 
a  man  of  retiring  disposition.  He  has  therefore  shunned  the 
broadest  glare  of  the  public  stage,  and  never  sought  "parliament- 
ary honours,"  though  he  might  have  been  easily  returned  to  Par- 
liament.    A  shrewd  business  man,  he  has  a  generous  heart.     The 


■  1  i 


.    ! 


I 


S36 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


f  I  . 


I  if'' 


County  of  Carloton  Protestant  Hospital  owes  him  much.     On  it 
neither  his  time  nor  hiS  money  has  been  spared. 

The  brave  old  man's  later  years  have  been  beclouded  by  be- 
reavement. Nine  years  ago  he  lost  his  only  son,  a  promising 
young  man.  with  his  father's  ability,  wealth  of  philanthropic  feel- 
ing, and  popular  manners.  A  few  years  elapsed  and  he  laid  his 
wife  in  the  grave,  in  which  lay  buried  their  mutual  hopes.  It  is 
the  common  tragedy  of  life.  He  will  go  to  them ;  they  caanot 
return  to  him. 

Thomas  Workman,  the  member  for  Montreal  West,  is  the  only 
one  of  his  family  who  is  not  Conservative.  He  was  born  at  the 
Monymore  Mill,  in  1813,  and  was  educated  at  Montreal,  where  he 
is  senior  partner  in  the  hardware  firm  of  Frothingham  &  Work- 
man. His  business  capacity  is  attested  by  the  fact  that  he  is 
Vice-President  of  Molson's  Bank,  President  of  the  Sun  Mutual 
Life  Insurance  Company,  Chairman  of  the  Montreal  Branch  of 
the  Stadacona  Fire  Insurance  Company,  a  Director  of  the  Canada 
Shipping  Company.  He  has  been  President  of  the  Irish  Protestant 
Benevolent  Society.  He  sat  for  Montreal  Centre  in  the  House  of 
Commons  from  the  Union  until  1872,  when  he  retired  from  Par- 
liament. As  we  have  seen,  he  defeated  Mr.  White,  for  Montreal 
West,  in  1875.  He  is  described  in  "  Mackintosh  "  as  a  Liberal, 
and  a  supporter  of  Mr.  Mackenzie.  Like  all  the  Workmans,  he  is 
a  man  of  great  energy  and  ability,  with  those  qualities  which  win 
public  confidence. 

Befo.  3  proceeding  to  the  great  Irish  settlements  of  Victoria  and 
Lindsay,  there  are  a  few  individual  cases  worthy  of  note,  which 
may  be  taken  up  in  a  draaltory  way. 

James  Cross  was  born  in  the  County  Fermanagh,  and  came  to 
Canada  in  1825.  He  settled  at  Spring  Brook,  in  the,  Township 
of  Caledonia,  in  the  County  of  Prescott.  His  place  is  within  a 
few  miles  of  the  Ottawa  River,  and  close  to  the  celebrated  Cale- 
donia Springs.  Here  he  first  sat  down,  one  of  the  earliest 
settlers  in  the  district.  He  lumbered  as  well  as  farmed.  Having 
accumulated  a  fortune,  he  retired  from  active  business  twenty 
years  ago,  and  devoted  his  attention  to  the  improvement  of  his 
lands.  Like  his  countryman.  Maxwell,  he  has  done  much  for  the 
advancement  of  agriculture,  and  the  improvement  of  stock.     He 


MM 


KING  OF  THE   IRISH.      OFFICIALS. 


337 


it 


served  many  years  in  the  Municipal  Council,  and  vras  captain 
in  the  Militia.  He  has  been  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  twenty-live 
years. 

In  1829  he  married  Ann  Holms,  a  highly  cultivated  lady, whose 
parents  came  here  from  the  County  Carlow.  The  fruit  of  the 
marriage  was  five  sons  and  three  daughters.  Three  of  the  sons 
settled  on  the  paternal  acres,  one  went  into  merchandise,  one  into 
the  army,  and  one,  James  Fletcher  Cross,  LL.B.,  is  a  barrister 
practising  in  Toronto. 

In  the  Township  of  Oxford,  not  far  from  Norwichville,  dwells 
an  Irish  Roman  Catholic,  Mr.  McNally,  a  man  respected  by  every- 
body, and  so  influential  among  his  countrymen  that  he  is  ca.ied 
the  King  of  the  Irish. 

The  name  of  Bull  is  well  known  in  Hamilton,  Toronto  and 
Montreal.  In  1835,  we  find  George  Perkins  Bull  publishing  the 
Reader,  in  Toronto.  A  few  years  afterwards  he  removed  to 
Hamilton,  where  he  published  the  Gazette.  Mr.  H.  B.  Bull  brought 
the  Gazette  to  an  end,  and  published  a  church  newspaper  in  Tor- 
onto. His  son,  Richard  Bull,  is  secretary  to  the  Life  Association 
of  Scotland. 

As  I  write,  the  York  Pioneers'  flag  is  half-mast  high  at  St. 
Lawrence  Hall,  in  respect  to  the  memory  of  Mr.  J.  P.  Dunn,  of 
the  Custom  House.     The  poet  writes — 

"  The  flag  is  hoisted  half-mast  high, 
A  mournful  signal  o'er  the  main, 
Seen  only  when  the  illustrious  die, 
Or  are  in  glorious  battle  slain." 

But  for  good,  though  comparatively  humble  service  in  a  new 
cor.jitry,  the  honour  may  be  as  appropriately  paid  as  if  around  the 
cold  brows  of  the  dead  there  twined  the  bloody  laurels  of  war. 

Mr.  Dunn  came  to  Canada  from  the  County  Kildare,  in  1823, 
and  settled  in  Toronto  in  1 833.  He  was  the  oldest  revenue  officer 
in  the  country,  having  been  for  thirty-five  yeai's  an  official  in 
the  Custom  House.  He  was  a  Mason,  an  Odd  Fellow,  a  York 
Pioneer,  and  a  member  of  the  Irish  Protestant  Benevolent 
Society. 

Another  Irish  official,  who  should  not  be  forgotten,  died  some 
months  before  Mr.  Dunn.  Christopher  Walsh  came  to  this 
22 


J 


f|   h 


338 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


country  in  1842,  ho  being  then  thirty-two  years  of  age.  Soon 
afterwards  he  received  an  appointment  as  clerk  in  the  Toronto 
Post-oflfice,  where  his  courtesy  and  business  ability  gained  him 
friends.  In  1853  he  was  appointed  Collector  of  Customs  at  New- 
castle ;  in  1854  he  was  removed  to  Oshawa,  where  he  filled  the 
duties  of  collector  until  1875,  when  he  was  superannuated.  He  was 
a  generous  man  to  his  Church  and  to  all  worthy  objects.  Never 
having  married,  and  having  no  relatives,  he  left  his  property  t(^  be 
divided  between  the  House  of  Providence,  the  Catholic  Church, 
St.  Gregory's  Church,  Oshawa,  and  his  housekeeper.  At  his  burial, 
his  old  priest  and  friend.  Dean  Proulx,  of  Toronto,  officiated,  and 
Father  Berrigan,  of  Duffin's  Creek,  preached  the  funeral  sermon. 

The  parents  of  the  Hon.  John  O'Connor  settled  at  Maidstone, 
County  of  Essex,  in  1828,  when  he  was  only  four  years  of  age. 
The  country  was  wilderness.  A  few  Irish  families  had  settled 
on  a  line  through  the  Township  of  Sandwich,  Maidstone  and 
Rochester,  forming  what  was  afterwards  called  the  Iri.h  Set- 
tlement. 

The  distance  from  the  house  of  the  O'Connors  to  Sandwich  was 
fourteen  miles,  the  road  being  a  mere  cart-road  cut  through  the 
wood.  It  used  to  occupy  two  days  with  an  ox- team  and  cart 
going  to  Sandwich  and  two  more  to  return.  This  part  of  the 
country  is  level  and  only  slightly  diversified  in  places  by  small 
ridges  of  dry  ground.  Between  the  ridges,  water  might  at  times, 
in  the  spring  and  fall,  be  seen  for  miles.  The  first  improvement 
in  the  roadway  was  a  path  made  by  slashing  trees  one  after  another 
upon  which  the  people  walked  balancing  themselves  with  a  long 
pole.  The  timbers  throughout  were  very  heavy  on  the  ridges 
consisting  of  white  oak,  beech,  hard  maple,  hickory,  iron-wood 
and  other  varieties;  in  the  low  grounds  elm,  butter- wood,  black 
ash.  By  degrees  the  land  along  the  line  of  road  was  cleared  in 
patches,  drained  and  tilled.  The  settlers  were  nearly  all  Roman 
Catholics.  The  first  church  in  the  settlement  was  built  in  the 
yea.r  1839  or  1840,  a  log  building'at  a  place  called  Maidstone  Cross, 
hard  by  the  Willow  Swamp.  It  was  a  dismal  place.  The  log 
building  in  time  gave  way  to  a  handsome  brick  church  and  the 
parish  is  now  one  of  the  most  wealthy  in  the  county.  The  first 
resident  priest  was  Father  Michael  McDonnell,  a  native  of  Lime- 


HARDSHIPS  OF   EARLY  SETTLERS. 


339 


rick.  Before  his  arrival  the  parish  used  to  be  visited  by  clergy- 
men from  Detroit  {ind  Sandwich ;  Father  Cullen,  from  Detroit,  a 
native  of  Queen's  County,  Ireland,  visited  the  place  every  second 
Sunday  for  two  or  three  years. 

As  an  instance  of  the  hardships  and  privations  of  the  first  set 
tiers,  the  Honourable  John  O'Connor  tells  of  a  family  from  Kil- 
kenny, named  Kavanagh,  consisting  of  the  father,  mother,  three 
sons,  and  two  daughters.  The  father,  the  sons,  and  the  daughters 
set  to  work  clearitjg  up  the  land  and  tilling  it  from  year  to  year. 
While  they  were  thus  employed,  the  mother,  a  brave  little  woman, 
forty-five  years  of  age,  supplied  them  with  provisions,  which,  for 
two  long  years,  she  carried  on  her  back  from  Sandwich,  a  distance 
of  thirteen  miles,  froquently  bringing  a  hundred-weight  of  flour, 
while  at  every  step  she  was  almost  knee  deep  in  mud  and  water. 
She  deserves  a  place  side  by  side  with  the  most  distinguished  of 
the  Kavanaghs.  A  man  might  well  be  prouder  of  her  than  if  she 
were  a  luxurious  lady,  full  of  idleness  and  vapours,  wasting  her 
time  in  fashionable  follies,  and  dissipating  whatever  mind  she 
might  happen  to  have,  over  insane  novels  and  the  propagation  of 
the  latest  scandal. 

The  settlement  having  been  cleared  with  such  heroic  labom^ 
the  country  having  been  drained  and  tilled,  is  now  one  of  the 
most  flourishing  in  the  Dominion.  James  Cahill,one  of  the  original 
settlers  is  still  living,  a  hale  old  man  of  ninety  years,  as  is  William 
Colter,  another  original  settler. 

The  Honourable  John  O'Connor,  who  was  called  to  the  bar  of 
Upper  Canada  in  1854,  and  created  a  Q.C.  in  1872,  has  been  Reeve 
of  the  Town  of  Windsor.  He  was  Warden  of  Essex  for  three  years 
and  for  twelve  y  ears  he  fulfilled  the  duties  of  Chairman  of  the 
Board  of  Education  of  the  Town  of  Windsor.  He  is  the  author- 
of  "  Letters  addressed  to  the  Governor-General  on  the  subject  of 
Fenianism  (1870)."  He  was  sworn  of  the  Privy  Council  and  was 
President  of  that  body  from  July  2nd,  1872,  until  March,  1873, 
whenhe  was  appointed  Minister  of  Inland  Revenue.  An  unsuccess- 
ful candidate  for  Essex  in  1861,  he  was  returned  by  that  constitu- 
ency in  1863,  only  however,  to  be  soon  after  unseated.  At  the 
general  election  of  1867,  he  was  returned  to  the  Commons  and  was 
re-elected  in  the  following  general  election,  but  in  that  of  1874, 


I'  * 


it 


C  ' 


m 


ii 


340 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


he  was  beaten  l»y  William  McGregor  hy  a  large  majority.  Mr. 
McGregor  having  been  unseated  on  petition,  Jeremiah  O'Connor 
ran  against  him,  but  McGregor  again  won  the  seat  by  a  still 
larger  majority. 

William  Moore  Kelly  instituted  the  Provincial  Reformatory,  of 
which  he  is  Warden.  He  belongs  to  the  family  of  the  Kellys,  of 
Cinuigmore,  County  Galway,  and  is  a  nephew  of  the  late  Arch- 
bishop of  Tuam.  He  came  here  immediately  on  the  eve  of  th(; 
Rebellion  of  1837.  He  was  appointed  Captain  in  the  4th  Batta- 
lion of  Incorporated  Militia,  and  served  with  his  regiment  until 
1842.  On  its  being  disbanded  he  was  appointed  Collector  of 
Customs  at  Toronto.  When  Baldwin  came  into  power  Kelly  was 
dismissed.  Men  carrying  out  f^overnments  are  quite  justified  ii 
appointing  their  own  friends  to  offices,  provided  always  that  their 
friends  are  fit.  But  Metcalfe  seems  most  improperly  to  have 
ignored  the  nominee  of  his  constitutional  advisers.  He  appointed 
Robert  Stanton,  who  was  not  a  friend  of  the  Government.  This 
was  one  of  the  earliest  acts  which  showed  the  arbitary  autocrfttic 
temper  of  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe,  and  heralded  the  struggle  winch 
aggravated  his  ailments,  injured  the  country,  emphasized  the  evils 
of  the  Family  Compact,  and  finally  sent  poor  Metcalfe  frorji  our 
shores  to  die,  painfully  conscious  that  in  Canada  he  had  AvhoUy 
failed,  all  of  which  will  be  told  at  length  later  on. 

Mr.  Kelly's  friends  said  he  was  dismissed  without  any  charge 
being  made  against  him,  or  without  the  grounds  for  any  charge 
such  as  would  justify  his  dismissal.  A  long  and  acrimonious  cor- 
respondence between  the  Finance  Minister  and  Mr.  K  41y  followed. 
The  matter  was  frequently  discussed  in  the  Assembly.  Mr.  Kelly 
and  his  friends  called  for  a  searching  scrutiny  into  every  act  of 
his  official  life.  He  was  paid  upwards  of  $1,700  balance  due  him. 
It  would  be  out  of  place  at  this  day  and  here  to  discuss  the  ques- 
tion between  Mr.  Kelly  and  the  Government  of  the  time.  The 
important  fact  connected  with  his  dismissal  is  that  which  throws 
light  upon  Lord  Metcalfe's  rule.  The  idea  of  a  man  coming  to 
carry  out  responsible  government  refusing  to  listen  to  his  Ministers 
in  the  matter  of  the  appointment  of  a  collector  of  customs  !  But 
the  mistakes  and  blunders,  the  faults  and  follies  of  Lord  Metcalfe's 
rule  must  await  another  chapter. 


1 


THE  BARBERS  AND  VHE   BIORDANS. 


341 


It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  two  leading  firms  of  paper  manu- 
facturers in  Ontario  are  Irish — the  Barbers  and  the  Riordans.  The 
histoiy  of  both  in  business  would  be  a  record  of  success  and  there- 
fore would  have  little  of  those  elements  out  of  which  an  interest- 
ing narrative  could  be  built  up.  The  incidents,  however,  of  the 
emigration  and  settlement  of  one  of  these  families  is  so  character- 
istic, and  so  illustrative  of  the  country  of  over  fifty  years  ago,  that 
I  am  tempted,  though  anxious  to  hurry  forward  to  the  more  im- 
portant events  of  succeeding  chapters,  to  linger  a  little  around  this 
bit  of  private  history,  which  is  also  well  calculated  to  stimulate 
hope  and  brace  resolve  for  long  endeavour. 

On   the   12th  of  May,  1822,  a    family  named    Barber — con- 
sisting of  the  father,  mother,  four  sons,  and  a  daughter,  all  of 
whom  were  born  in  Antrim,  sailed  from  Belfast  for    Quebec, 
where  they  arrived  on  the  10th  of  July.  The  next  day  they  went 
up  the  river  in  a  steamer  to  Montreal ;  thence  to  Lachine ,  a  dis- 
tance of   nine  miles,  in  carts.      Here  they  took  a  Durham  boat 
for  Prescott  and  compassed  the  rapids  as  we  have  seen  Mr.  Aus- 
tin and  his  friends  do.     The  passengers  were  ordered  at  times  to 
pioceed  on  foot  for  miles  along  the  banks.     On  such  occasions  they 
were  much  alarmed  by  the  song  of  the  gi'asshoppers,  which  they 
took  for  the  hissing  of  snakes.     The  greater  part  of  the  way  was 
wood  with  only  a  few  clearings.     They  were  not  accustomed  to 
bush,  and  the  grasshoppers'  cry  caused  more  alarm  than  it  would 
have  done  had  the  country    been  open.    After  eleven  days  they 
airived  at  Prescott.     The  distance  is   now  run  by  rail  in  four 
hours.    Old  Mr.  Barber,  who  was  a  mason  and  bricklayer-,  found  at 
Preiicott  employment,  for  the  remainder  of  the  season,  at  good 
wages,  of  which  a  certain  part  was  in  kind,  or  as  it  was  called 
then,  "  store  pay,"  the  balance  being  in  money.     Prescott  was,  in 
those  days,  a  very  important   town.     All  produce  coming  down 
the  lakes  for  Montreal  or  Quebec  had  to  be  transhipped  there.. 
This  consisted  for  the  most  part  of  flour,  staves,  and  tobacco, 
■w^hich,  at  Prescott,  had  first  to  be  put  on  board  of  Durham  boats,, 
as  none  of  the  lake  vessels  could  live  in  the  rapids. 

The  season  for  mason  work  over,  and  the  impression  being 
general  tiiat  the  country  westward  was  better  to  settle  in,  Mr. 
Barber  determined  to  go  to  Niagara,  where  he  arrived  on  the 


I 


t     :, 


342 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


12th  December.  Niagara  was  then  a  flourishing  town.  From 
the  head  of  the  lake  and  from  York,  people  went  thither  to  buy 
their  goods.  After  some  time  the  Hon.  James  Crooks  went  to 
Niagara  to  try  to  find  a  mason  to  go  with  him  to  West  Flam- 
borough.  He  offered  employment  to  as  many  of  the  family  as  could 
work.  He  was  carrying  on  an  extensive  and  various  business  ;  a 
flour  mill,  saw  mill,  oil  mill,  woollen  factory,  tannery,  distillery 
and  a  large  general  store.  A  few  years  afterwards  he  built  the 
first  paper  mill  in  Upper  Canada,  for  which  he  received  a  bounty 
from  the  Government  of  five  hundred  dollars. 

The  eldest  of  the  young  Barbers  went  into  the  woollen  fac- 
toiy  and  served  his  time  to  the  trade.  The  second  learned  the 
paper-making  business  ;  the  third,  the  mill-wright  business  ;  the 
youngest,  like  the  eldest,  going  into  the  woollen  factory.  In  1831, 
the  father  died.  But  the  family  kept  together  and  remained  with 
Mr.  James  Crooks,  two  of  the  brothei-s  renting  the  woollen  fac- 
tory from  him. 

In  1837,  they  bought,  from  George  Kennedy,  a  small  woollen 
factory,  at  Georgetown,  in  the  Township  of  Esquesing,  County 
of  italton,  where  the  four  brothers  sat  to  work  "^A-ith  great  energy. 
Georgetown  is  situated  on  the  River  Credit,  and  possesses  great 
water  advantages.  It  has,  to-day,  a  population  of  1,282.  It  is 
served  by  two  railways,  and  will  be  served  by  another  when  the 
Credit  Valley  is  completed.  It  contains  paper  mills,  a  tannery,  a 
brewery,  an  ironfoundry,  a  grist  mill,  marble  works, a  printingoffice, 
three  hotels,  twenty  stores.  It  is  the  theatre  of  a  large  lumber, 
grain,  and  general  produce  trade.  It  can  boast  of  a  weekly  paper. 
Forty  years  ago  there  were  only  three  families  in  the  place.  The 
township  was  thinly  settled,  the  clearings  being  small.  The  roads 
were  bad,  and,  as  elsewhere,  there  were  plenty  of  wolves.  In  the 
fall,  especially,  their  long  howling  made  the  night  dismal.  The  four 
brothers  were  in  the  wilderness,  and  never  could  have  got  on  had 
they  not  had  quick  brains,  fertile  in  resource.  Anything  they 
required  in  the  way  of  machinery,  they  had  to  make.  At  this 
time  all  the  farmers  manufacturecl  their  own  cloth.  But  when  the 
Barbers  had  their  machinery  goi:  the  farmers  gradually  began 
to  exchange  their  wool  for  the  machine-made  cloth.  After  a  few 
years  the  manufacture  of  cloth  was  extended  beyond  the  require- 


QROWING   WITH  THE  COUNTRY. 


848 


nients  of  the  home  department.  Another  market  must  be  found. 
This  was  not  easy.  Ultimately  Messrs.  Walker  &;  Hutchinson 
became  customers ;  Messrs.  Ross  &;  Mitchell  next  bought,  and  con- 
tinued to  do  so  until  they  retired  from  business.  Other  customers 
now  presented  themselves,  and  the  difficulty  of  a  market  trouliled 
the  young  manufacturers  no  more. 

Business  increased.  A  second  mill  was  started  at  Streetsvillc,  in 
1843.  Later  on.  the  water  power  at  Georgetown  failing,  the  two 
woollen  mills  were  consolidated,  and  the  large  mills,  now  known 
as  the  Toronto  Woollen  Mills,  were  erected  in  1853.  Three  of  the 
brothers  remaining  at  Georgetown,  and  James  being  a  practical 
paper  maker,  it  was  decided  to  commence  that  business  near  George- 
town, on  the  main  stream  of  the  River  Credit.  The  first  mill  was 
erected  in  1854,  the  second  in  1858,  since  which  time  large  addi- 
tions have  been  made.  During  the  building  of  the  Grand  Trunk 
Railway,  the  firm  supplied  all  the  car  and  other  iron  work,  except- 
in|^  that  for  bridges,  used  between  Toronto  and  Guelph.  The  only 
serious  reverse  was  experienced  in  1861,  when  the  woollen  mill  at 
Streetsville  was  totally  destroyed  by  fire,  entailing  a  loss  of  $80,- 
000  dollars  above  insurance.  The  same  year  a  large  boiler  exploded 
at  the  paper  mills,  the  loss  being  over  $8,000.  The  woollen  mills 
contain  seven  set  of  the  most  improved  machinery,  and  turn  out 
on  an  average  one  thousand  yards  of  tweed  per  day.  The  paper 
mills  are  supplied  with  three  of  the  best  machines,  and  make  daily 
over  five  thousand  pounds  of  the  material  for  books  and  newspa- 
pers. All  the  paper  used  by  the  Canadian  Government,  during 
the  past  seventeen  years,  has  been  made  here.  The  firm  was 
dissolved  in  1809,  after  an  existence  of  thirty-two  years,  without 
a  deed  of  partnership  or  any  division  of  profits,  each  one  drawing 
according  to  his  requirements.  William  and  Robert  Barber  pur- 
chased the  woollen  business  ;  James,  the  paper  mills ;  while  Jose})h 
Barber,  and  Benjamin  Franklin,  a  brother-in-law,  retired.  William 
Barber,  during  his  residence  in  Halton,  was  one  of  the  oldest  mem- 
bers of  the  County  Council.  He  was  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  since 
the  first  commission  was  issued  in  the  county.  He  represented 
Halton  in  the  first  and  second  Parliaments  of  Ontario.  James  Bar- 
ber is  one  of  the  oldest  coroners  in  the  county,  and  the  other  bro- 
thers are  magistrates  of  many  years'  standing.    Of  the  family  of 


1  j< ' 


Pi 


M- 


I 


f 


344 


THE    IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


five  cliiklren  who  loft  Ireland  in  1822,  all  are  yet  alive  and  in  good 
health.  So  many  years  of  hard  work  and  close  economy  could 
have  only  one  effect  in  Canada,  namely,  the  accumulation  of  pro- 
perty. Those  competent  to  judge  estimate  the  combined  family  to 
represent  close  on  three-quarters  of  a  million  dollars.  Of  the  five 
families  there  are  now  twent3'-five  children  living,  many  of  th«'m 
married,  and  having  families  of  their  own,  so  that  the  name  is  not 
likely  to  pass  out  of  Canadian  history  for  some  tune  ;  and  unless 
the  offspring  were  to  degenerate  very  sadly — a  most  unlikely  . 
thing — from  tlieir  sires,  it  is  desirable  that  the  name  should  long 
illustrate  our  commercial  and  political  annals. 

Few  counties,  if  any,  have  advanced  more  rapidly  than  Victoria, 
as  few  towns  have  made  more  vigorous  progress  than  Lindsay. 
On  the  30th  of  July  of  the  present  year  a  trip  was  made  to  Lind- 
say on  the  occasion  of  the  opening  of  an  extension  there  of  the 
Whitby  &  Port  Perry  Railway.  The  Pres..  .it,  an  Irishman,  of 
whom  something  lias  already  been  said,  Mr.  Austin ;  Mr.  James 
Michie,  a  Scotchman,  the  Vice-President — a  man  who  if  Ik  were 
an  Irishman,  could  not  have  a  larger  or  kinder  heart,  nor  if  he 
were  an  Englishman,  a  fairer  or  more  unprejudiced  mind — and  a 
large  number  of  gentlemen  from  Toronto  were  on  the  special  cars. 
The  train  stopped  for  a  moment  at  Manilla,  where  the  stalwart 
men  and  tall  comely  women  spoke  well  for  their  race.  Mr.  Caw- 
thra  turning  to  a  gentleman  near  whom  he  sat  observed,  as  the 
wheels  began  to  move  over  the  level  lines,  that  they  were  entering 
the  beautiful  Township  of  Mariposa.  He  further  remarked  on 
the  wealth  of  the  township  and  neighbouring  townships;  on 
their  cultivation  and  prosperity  ;  that  Canadians  had  much  to  be 
proud  of;  and  told  how  when  he  was  a  boy  the  people  used 
to  go  over  crude  paths  all  the  way  to  his  father's  store  in  New- 
market to  buy  their  goods.  Mariposa  is  now  a  scene  of  beauty 
and  wealth.  A  typical  township,  it  is  settled  in  great  part 
by  Irish  and  a  good  deal  by  Scotch  and  English  ;  over  the  smil- 
ing country, one  of  the  finest  for  wheat-growing  in  Canada,  in  the 
character  of  the  people,  m.  the  faces  of  the  children,  the  splendour 
of  the  rose,  tlie  beauty  of  the  shamrock's  refreshing  tint  and  ex- 
quisite form,  the  independence  of  the  sturdy  thistle  with  its  heart 
as  if  stained  by  the  blood  of  battle,  seem  blended  in  magnificent 


' 


THE  CAPITAL   OF   VICTOIUA. 


84^ 


pronii.se  of  tlie  homogeneous  Canadian  race  that  is  to  be.  When 
the  train  arrived  at  Lindsay,  crowdin,  on  each  side  of  the  plat- 
form were  the  citizens,  men  and  women,  all  looking  wealthy  and 
comfortable  and  happy,  well-(h-es,sed  and  good  looking,  with  the 
gleam  of  hope,  the  untroubled  light  of  pros[)erity  in  their  eyes. 
Not  a  trace  of  the  terrible  listlessness  which  a  few  years  ago 
would  be  in  the  faces  of  a  crowd  in  Ireland. 

Lindsay  settled  by  Irishmen  of  energy,  in  a  land  where  there 
was  room  for  hope,  her  past  has  been  as  successful  as  her  future 
is  brilliant.  Forty  years  ago  where  Lindsay  stands  ;  with  a  prin- 
cipal street  which  is  twice  as  wide  as  King  Street,  Toronto,  built 
on  either  side  with  large  busy  stores  ;  with  its  large  lumber  and 
and  grain  trade,  its  telegraph  offices,  branch  banks,  county  build- 
ings, schools,  gi'ist  and  saw  mills,  manufactories  of  iron  castings, 
machinery,  leather,  woollen  goods,  wooden  ware,  boots  and  shoes  ; 
with  its  brewery  and  spacious  hotels  ;  two  weekly  newspapers, 
each  edited  by  able  men,  the  Reform  paper  by  Mr.  Barr,  a  skilful 
journalist  who  learned  his  craft  on  the  Olobe — the  Conservative, 
by  Mr.  Flood,  who  like  so  many  successful  newspaper  men  ex- 
changed a  commercial  position  for  the  printing  office ;  with  its 
population  of  six  thousand ;  where  all  this  busy  prosperity 
astonished  not  a  few  from  the  Capital  of  Ontario,  forty  years  ago 
was  a  dense  forest.  In  1854,  the  population  of  Lindsay  was  about 
400,  which  increased  by  rapid  strides  until  1861,  when  it  number  d 
3,000.  In  the  July  of  that  year  a  destructive  tire  took  piace 
which  consumed  the  whole  of  its  business  portion.  In  1877  the 
population  is  close  upon  6,000.  One  of  the  greatest  events  in  the 
early  history  of  Lindsay  was  the  building  of  the  Midland  Rail- 
way in  1857.  Up  to  that  time  it  was  little  more  than  a  small 
village.  Then  the  tide  of  prosperity  began  to  flow,  and  now  it 
has  three  railways  and  a  fourth  is  being  built.  Its  water  com- 
munication extends  over  hundreds  of  miles.  In  short  it  is  one 
of  the  most  flourishing  towns  in  Ontario.  These  great  results  are 
in  part  due  to  the  natural  advantages  of  its  position.  But  it  has 
been  achieved  principally  by  the  exertions  and  perseverance  of 
its  inhabitants,  who  despite  the  difficulties  and  privations  they  had 
to  endure,  have  succeeded  in  making  the  town  one  on  which  the 
largest  hopes  may  be  built.     Nearly  S200,000  has  been  voted 


ill 


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f-  •• 


-346 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


in  '  '•  of  the  various  railways.  The  one  thing  which  more  than 
any  other  strikes  the  visitor  to  Lindsay,  and  the  Township  of  Ops, 
is  the  prevailing  nationality  of  the  inhabitants ;  they  are  almost 
wholly  Irish.  Here  ard  there  we  see  an  English  or  a  Scotch 
face,  but  the  Irishmen  are  in  an  overwhelming  majority.  The 
earliest  inhabitants  of  both  town  and  township  were,  as  will  be 
seen,  almost  without  exception  Irish,  and  it  is  to  them  and  their 
undaunted  pluck  in  the  main  that  Lindsay  owes  its  present  jjros- 
perity. 

In  the  Town  of  Lindsay,  ar.  the  present  moment,  we  have  many 
successful  Irishmen  v/hose  intelligence  and  culture  equal  their 
business  ce.pacity.  M  ^jor  Deacon,  now  Colonel  Deacon,  a  hero  of 
the  Crimean  war,  who  cracked  many  a  joke  with  Dr.  Russell 
over  the  camp  fire  and  in  the  trenches,  came  out  here  in  1866, 
and  at  once  by  his  gi'eat  energy,  business  cai)acity  and  genial 
nianrers  made  himself  popular.  He  has  been  Reeve  of  the  Tcjwn. 
Mr.  William  Grace,  descended  from  a  well-known  Irish-Norman 
family,  whose  ancestors  often  led  the  charge  of  feudal  warfare  to 
the  cry  of  "  OrciySfteach  ahoe,"--the  Grace's  cause — came  to  Canada 
in  1850.  He  is  clerk  of  the  County  Court  of  Lindsay,  Registrar 
of  tlie  Surrogate  Court,  Deputy  Clerk  of  the  Crown  and  Pleas, 
H.  Dhairman  of  the  School  Board.  Mr.  John  Dobson,  is  one  of 
the  most  prominent  merchants  in  Lindsay.  He  came  originally 
from  Cavan.  After  some  stay  in  Toronto  he  settled  at  Lindsay, 
where  he  has  now  conducted  a  successful  business  for  over  four- 
teen years.  His  partner,  Mr.  Thomas  Niblock  is  also  an  irishman. 
One  of  the  most  remarkable  men  in  this  ,[)art  o^'  the  country  i.s  one 
who  enjoys  more  than  a  local  fame.  Mr.  William  McDonnell  is  at 
once  one  of  Lindse^'s  oldcsr  inhabitants  and  brightest  ornaments. 
Few  men  have  done  as  much  to  build  up  the  town.  Ho  is  a  large 
property  holder.  In  the  early  days  of  Lindsay  he  performed  im- 
portant serv^ices.  He  was  the  only  acting  magistrate  up  to  the 
incorporation  of  the  town,  which  took  place  in  1857.  He  is  the 
embodiment  of  public  spirit.  His  success  as  an  author  is  beyond 
the  arbitration  o"  criticism  His  "  Exeter  Hall,"  and  "  The 
Heathens  of  the  Heath,"  vindicate  his  claini  to  a  place  in  the 
literary  Pantheon.  Another  public  spirited  man  is  Mr.  Thon)9 
Ke^iuan,  who  came  to  Canada  nearlv  forty  years  ago.     He  began 


LINDSAYS  LEADING  MEN. 


347 


business  in  a  small  way.  By  energy,  by  probity,  by  pru- 
dence and  ability,  he  has  accumulated  a  large  amount  of  property 
both  in  the  Town  of  Lindsay  and  the  Township  of  Ops.  Mr.  John 
Kennedy  has  been  a  resident  of  Lindsay  for  twenty  years.  He 
is  a  successful  merchant,  and  was,  for  over  fifteen  years.  Treasurer 
of  the  Town.  He  has  alao  been  Treasurer  of  the  Township  of  Ops. 
Mr.  James  McGibbon,  has  done  good  service  to  the  county.  He 
is  the  Crown  Land  Agent.  Another  old  and  respected  inhabitant 
and  one  of  the  first  settlers  is  Jeremiah  O'Leary,  whose  two  sons, 
Arthur  and  Hugh,  are  now  successful  practising  bai'risters. 
Thomas  W.  Poole  M.D.,  who  published  in  18G7  a  very  interesting 
sketch  of  the  settlement  of  Peterborough,  having  thrown  away 
the  quill  for  the  lancet,  and  fled  from  printers'  ink  and  "  printers' 
devils "  to  patients,  settled  at  Lindsay  ten  years  ago.  He  has 
proved  a  successful  practitioner,  and  has  twice  won  the  confidence 
of  his  fellow  citizens  as  a  candidate  for  the  mayoralty.  Mr. 
William  L.  Russell  is  another  successful  man — a  broker  and  com- 
mission merchant.  He  Las  resided  in  Lindsay  for  twenty -five 
years.  He  is  from  the  County  of  Kilkenny,  and  is  a  man  of  good 
family,  Mr.  Thomas  Matchett,  the  County  Treasurer,  was  the 
first  representative  to  the  Local  Legislature,  for  the  South  Riding 
of  the  County  of  Victoria,  under  the  Sandfield  Macdonald  regime. 
He  lived  in  Omemee  for  forty  years.  He  received  his  present 
appointment  on  the  Honourable  Samuel  Casey  Wood  becoming  a 
member  of  Mr.  Mowat's  administration.  Mr.  Edward  Veitch  is  an 
old  resident  of  Lindsay,  having  been  in  that  town  not  less  than 
twenty  years.  He  is  a  successful  hotel-keeper,  and  has  thus 
passed  the  preat  test  of  merit  below  the  line.  He  owns  large 
property.  He  is  an  ardent  politician,  and  possesses  a  greitu  deal 
of  ability.  He  is  a  well-read  man  and  full  of  public  spirit.  Mr. 
William  Bell  is  among  the  o)  :s\,  and  most  entei"prising  residents 
of  the  town,  and  has  done  eat  deal  to  build  it  up.  Mr.  Lan-y 
Maguire  occupied  the  Mayor's  chair  for  two  yea,rs.  He  is  a  mer- 
chant. His  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Joseph  Dundas,  is  doing  a  large 
commercial  business,  and  is  one  of  Lindsay's  heaviest  grain  buyers. 
J\les8rs.  Grace,  McJ3onnell,  Veitch  and  Kennedy  and  Colonel 
Deacon  have  been  forw  a'd  in  raiiway  enterprise.  Among  those 
who  have  passed  away  was  Mr.  Donner,  for  a  short  time  a  mem- 


'   i 


'i 


.   i 


348 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA, 


^1 


ber  for  South  Victoria.  He  was  the  son  of  an  Irishman,  was  a 
lawyer  of  considerable  power,  and  a  man  of  great  social  brilliancy. 

When  we  go  outside  Lindsay  into  the  township,  the  first  man 
we  think  of  is  venerable  John  Walker,  with  his  strong  noble  face 
and  white  hair  sweeping  Vjack  over  his  shoulders.  He  was  born 
in  1798,  and  came  to  Canada  in  1832,  with  his  five  sons,  among 
whom  was  Samuel,  then  seven  years  old.  They  first  landed 
at  Quebec,  whence  they  got  to  Montreal  in  a  steamer.  Part  of  the 
way  to  Cobourg  was  travelled  in  l)oats  towed  by  horses  known  as 
Durham  boats.  At  Cobourg,  Mrs.  Walker  and  her  children 
remained  in  the  emigrant  sheds  until  the  father  prospected  the 
land  on  which  he  now  lives.  They  got  to  Peterborough,  having 
travelled  in  scows  across  Rice  Lake.  At  Peterborough  they 
stopped  two  weeks.  They  were  taken  across  Mud  Lake  and 
Pigeon  Lake  to  the  place  where  Omemee  now  stands.  There  were 
plenty  of  Indians  about  then.  They  were  cast  for  lot  fifteen  in 
the  seventh  concession.  There  came  at  that  time  to  the  neigh- 
bourhood a  family  named  Drummond,  with  the  view  of  driving  a 
trade  with  the  emigrants,  who  had  come  to  settle  in  the 
wilds.  They  charged  so  much  for  showing  the  land  allotted  and 
building  the  shanty.     In  a  month  the  Walkers  were  at  work. 

The  only  emigrant  here  before  Mr.  John  Walker  was  the  father 
of  Mr.  John  Connolly.  The  clearing  progress  went  on.  The 
branches  were  lopped  from  the  trees  which  were  then  cut  so  as 
to  fall  in  the  same  direction.  The  branches  were  then  burned. 
This  done,  the  trees  were  sawn  into  lengths  and  piled  on  each 
other  and  burned.  For  some  time  logging  bees  were  out  of  the 
question.  But  when  the  immigrants  increased,  the  logging  bee 
and  pig-sticking  bee  and  other  kinds  of  bee  came  into  vogue. 
Numbers  of  men  assembled  and  helped  to  cut  and  piie  up  the 
logs,  and  the  whiskey  flowed ;  so  nmch  whit- key  was  set  in  motion 
by  a  logging  bee ;  a  smaller  quantity  for  a  pig-sticking  bee,  and 
so  on. 

Meanwhile  they  had  to  send  to  Port  Hope,  or  Kingston  for  food. 
If  a  man  wanted  an  axe  ground  he  went  to  Kingston  and  marked 
with  an  axe  or  V)lazed  his  way  through  the  woods  in  order  t  >  kno^t 
how  to  return.  Sometimes  they  ground  the  wheat  with  theii  teeth 
for  dinner.     But  I  am  anticipating.     In   the   second  year   the 


A   PROLIFIC  SKTTLER.      A   PHILOSOPHER. 


340 


Walkers  planted  potatoes,  and  hy  and  by  grain.  So  fruitful  are 
the  Irish  loins,  and  so  conchicive  to  health  is  Canada  that  the  de- 
scendants of  old  Mr.  Walker  now  number  themselves  by  hundreds.. 
One  is  a  senator  below  the  line.  One  son  had  fourteen  children,  one 
daughter  fifteen.  Another  son  had  twelve  children,  a  third  eleven, 
a  fourth  ten,  and  a  fifth  nine ;  one  had  four  and  another  three,  A 
daughter  now  living  in  Lindsay  is  the  moth(;r  of  six  children. 

Samuel  Walker  is  now  a  rich  man  in  Lindsay,  living  on  and 
placing  his  money  where  it  may  be  most  jn-ofitable.  Mr.  Samuel 
Walker  is  a  philosopher,  who  thinks  for  himself,  and  believes  a 
great  deal  is  wasted  on  mere  fashion, — and  who  can  doul)t  but 
that  he  is  right  ?  He  tells  with  graj)hic  power  how  the  boys,  in 
the  depth  of  winter,  cut  out  a  piece  of  bass-wood  in  the  shape  of 
a  sole,  and  having  warmed  it  at  the  fire,  tied  it  on  with  leather 
wood  and  made  for  the  school-master,  who  lived  in  a  little  bit  of 
a  shanty.  "  We  were  far  happier  then,"  said  Mr.  Samuel  Walker, 
with  a  tone  of  regret,  as  though  ^e  despised  wealth  as  well  as 
fashion,  "  no  fashions,  no  style,  no  doctors  to  pay,  and  when  Sun- 
day came  all  you  did  was  to  take  a  walk  in  the  Inish."  "  And 
what  did  you  do  for  the  consolations  of  religion  ?"  "  We  did 
without  them."  By-and-by  they  learned  to  make  maple-sugar, 
and  with  that,  potatoes,  and  wheat,  lived  like  "  fighting  cocks." 
The  man  who  carried  the  wheat  to  the  mill, — it  took  him  four 
days  to  go  and  come, — would  keep  for  wages  half  the  floui-  and 
all  the  brin. 

The  McHugh  family  is  a  remarkable  one.  The  first  McHugh 
was  a  .sergeant,  who  came  to  Canada  ii^  1831.  His  eldest  son 
was  the  first  warden  of  the  County  of  Victoria ;  his  f(;ur  other 
sons  are  now  large  farmers  in  the  township.  I  have  already 
sj)oken  of  Mr.  John  Connolly.  His  father  came  out  from  Ireland 
in  1830,  and  settled  in  the  Township  of  Ops.  John,  who  is  the 
owner  of  a  large  proj.'erty  in  the  Township  of  Ops,  has  for  many 
years  held  the  position  of  Reeve.  Mr.  William  O'Keefe  came  out 
about  the  same  time  as  Mr.  Connolly,  and  is  vary  highly  respected. 

Mr.  Alexander  Byson  is  one  of  the  oldest  settlers.  He  has 
brought  up  a  large  family, — nine  sons  and  one  daughter.  A  man 
known  as  "  King  Connell,"  or  "  King  of  Ops,"  h  said  by  some 
to  have   preceded    Connolly ;    and    he    and    his    son    Maurice 


I 


i 


i 


9mm 


350 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN    CANADA. 


ih.. 


own  considerable  property  on  the  banks  of  the  Scugog.  Opa  was  a 
Catholic  settloinont,  one  of  Mr.  Peter  Robinson's. 

In  Emily  Township  and  the  Village  of  Omeniee,  one  of  the  first 
names  that  occur  is  that  of  McQuade.  Mr.  McQuade  is  the  member 
for  the  South  Riding  in  the  Dominion  Parliament.  He  is  a  veiy 
Ifir'fj^i'  property  holder  in  real  estate.  He  is  from  Cavan,  where  he 
was  born  in  1817.  His  father,  Henry  McQuade,  died  in  Ireland ; 
his  mother,  whoso  maiden  name  was  Mary  Curran,  came  to  the 
United  States  with  a  large  family,  Thence  the  family  removed 
to  the  Township  of  Emily,  where  they  arrived  in  1837.  Most 
of  ^  hti  brothers  and  sisters  are  dead.  One  sister  is  still  alive 
in  West  Durham,  where  she  is  married  to  a  Mr.  Henry  Gibson,  an 
Irisliman  from  the  North  of  Ireland.  Arthur  McQuade,  when  he 
first  came  to  Canada,  "  hired  out "  to  a  farmer  for  ten  dollars  a 
month  ;  he  worked  with  the  same  man  for  a  second  year  at  eleven 
dollars  per  month.  He  then  purchased  from  his  employer  one  hun- 
dred acres  of  land.  He  married  Susan,  a  daughter  of  Thomas 
Trotter,  who  came  from  Fermanagh,  and  was  one  of  the  oldest 
settlers  of  that  section  of  the  country.  Mr.  McQuade  has  seven 
children  living,  all  well  to  do  ;  five  died.  He  at  present  owns  one 
thousand  acres  of  land,  and  has  considerable  investments  in  stocks, 
mortgages,  and  the  like.  He  is  probably  worth  $100,000.  He 
has  for  years  resided  in  Emily  Township  ;  he  was  for  twenty 
years  collector  of  taxes  there,  deputy-reeve  for  eleven  years,  being 
fiequently  returned  by  acclamation.  He  was  school-teacher  for 
fifteen  years,  and  can  look  back  on  a  career  of  usefulness 
and  success.  He  is  a  hale,  hearty,  open-hearted  man ;  a  Con- 
servative in  politics.  Hj  is  a  Protestant,  and  has  been  County 
Master  of  the  Loyal  Orange  Society  in  the  County.  The  wise 
liberality  of  the  Roman  Catholics  in  Victoria  could  not  be  more 
sti'ikingly  shown  than  in  the  election  of  Mr.  McQuade.  Mr.  Mc- 
Quade is  a  great  man  at  agricultural  association». 

The  late  Morris  Cottingham  was  one  of  the  eldest  settlers. 
I  le  took  an  active  part  in  all  public  movements  having  relation 
to  the  interest  and  welfare  of  the  country.  He  was  a  large 
property  holder  and  died  in  1876  leaving  a  large  family.  He  and 
his  wife  and  sons  sailed  from  Belfast  in  1820.  The  voyage  from 
Belfast  to  Quebec  occupied  seven  weeks  and  three  days  ;  from  La- 


1     : 


THE  COTTINQHAMS. 


351 


chine  to  Kingston  they  took  passage  in  Durham  boats.  On  the 
])a.ssage  up  an  accident  occurred  to  one  of  the  fellow -passengers. 
At  Cornwall  a  woman  named  Trotter  was  robbed  of  all  her  money 
V)y  an  AMencan  sharper  who  joined  the  party.  He  cut  out  her 
pocket  and  took  100  guineas  and  forty  doubloons.  They  went 
from  Kingston  to  Port  Hope  in  a  sailing  vessel  and  were  wrecked 
on  Gull  Island.  Finally,  they  reached  Port  Hope  which  consisted 
of  only  a  few  houses.  John  Brown  and  J.  I).  Smith,  who  were  the 
pioneers  of  the  business  of  Port  Hope  had  stores  there.  The  Cot- 
tinghams  purciiased  a  cow  from  John  Brown  and  drove  her  through 
the  wilderness  to  the  present  Township  of  Emily,  to  the  site  of  the 
Village  of  Omemee.  The  son,  Samuel  Cottingham  having  felled 
the  first  tree,  crossed  over  Pigeon  River  on  it.  They  made  the 
first  clearing  where  the  Methodist  Church  now  stands,  but  did  not 
settle  on  the  lot  till  the  spring  of  1821.  They  lived  meanwhile 
in  the  neighbouring  Township  of  Cavan. 

They  had  not  long  settled  in  their  new  home  when  they  were 
visited  by  Indians  who  were  without  clothing,  but  seemed  very 
inoffensive,  and  at  once  made  friends  with  the  family,  calling  them 
all  names  of  their  own.  One  day  the  Chief  having  imbibed  pretty 
freely  of  Fire  Water,  began  asking  what  brought  theni  to  settle  in 
th(^ir  country,  and  being  answered  that  King  George  had  sent 
them,  he  replied  :  "  King  Geoige — <lamn  rascal." 

In  the  year  1824  William  and  Samuel  went  to  Montreal,  and 
|)urohased  clothing  for  the  Indians,  sup[)lie8,  ammunition,  and 
otluir  merchandise. 

In  the  summer  of  1825  occurred  what  is  known  as  Pei'T  Robin- 
son's emigration,  principally  from  the  south  of  Ireland.  The  emi- 
grants settled  in  this  and  the  neighbouring  townships.  They 
landed  at  Cobourg,  and  the  brothers  were  employed  in  locating 
theiu.  The  Government  acted  very  liberally,  giving  <  ach  family 
100  acres  fite,  supplying  them  with  farm  impUments  for  work, 
besides  building  for  each  settler  a  shanty  twelve  l)y  fourteen 
feet.  From  that  time  to  the  present  the  Irish  race  has  predomi- 
nated in  this  section  of  the  country,  which  has  kept  pace  with  any 
other  part  of  Canada.  The  hardships  and  innumerable  difficulties 
which  beset  the  family  at  that  early  period,  would  take  a  large 
book  to  chronicle.     The  present  Town  of  Peterborough  contained 


: 


u 


352 


THE   IKIHHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


K 


ono  liouso,  kept  })y  a  man  who  corultinod  a  saw  and  grist  mill,  and 
blacksmith  .sh<)|) ;  ho  aftorward.s,  in  1820,  built  for  William  Cot- 
tin^diam,  the  first  mill  in  the  county.  Their  |,'rain  had  previously 
to  be  taken  some  fifteen  nnles  to  V)e  ground,  through  a  long 
stretch  of  swamp  and  heavy  timbenid  land.  Samuel  (Nottingham 
assisted  in  the  survey  of  four  townships,  B'enelon,  Verulam, 
Methuen,  and  Ops.  Colonel  McDonald,  of  Glengarry,  liad  the 
surveying  of  the  Township  of  Op.s,  in  which  the  site  for  the 
present  Town  of  Lindsay  was  laid  out,  but  some  time  elap.sed 
before  any  one  settled  there.  He'  also  collected  the  first  taxes  for 
this  township,  having  to  make  his  return  to  John  Bundiam,  of 
Col)<)urg,  a  distance  of  forty  miles.  He  carried  tlie  whole  sum  to 
him,  amounting  to  four  dollars,  his  fees  for  the  same  being  one 
shilling.  In  183G  he  ct»ntracted  with  the  Government  to  l)uild 
twelve  houses  for  tiie  Indians,  on  wliat  is  now  known  as  Indian 
Point,  in  Balsairi  Lake.  He  had  to  go  to  Toronto  to  draw  his  pay. 
It  is  now  a  very  valua]»le  property,  and  is  in  a  liighly  cultivated 
state.  In  the  fall  of  1837  the  Cottinghams  and  their  neighlxmrs 
promptly  marched  to  Bowmanville  at  the  call  of  the  Government 
to  (piell  the  rebellion  under  Mackenzie.  They  wintered  at  Bow- 
manville, and  left  in  May,  1838,  William  being  diseliargcid  with  a 
captain's  commission,  and  Samuel  with  a  lieutenant's.  Indeed  no 
people  proved  more  loyal  to  the  Government  on  that  occasion 
than  did  the  Irish  in  this  district.  William  Cottingham  is  at  pre- 
sent Reeve  of  the  Village  of  Omemee. 

An<jther  prominent  man,  and  a  successful  merchant  and  large 
l)roperty  holder,  is  Mr.  Thomas  Stephenson,  Reeve  of  the  Town- 
ship of  Emily.  Then  there  is  Mr.  John  Scully,  Mr.  Denis  Scully, 
and  Mr.  Jeremiah  Scully,  who  settled  in  the  township  tliirty  years 
ago.  They  have  succi;eded  by  their  energy  and  industry  in  accu- 
mulating a  large  amount  of  real  estate.  Michael  Lehane  is 
a  prominent  agriculturist,  and  identified  with  all  movements  bear- 
ing on  the  cultivation  of  the  soil.  He  is  one  of  the  oldest  magi.s- 
trates  in  that  part  of  Victoria. 

In  Fenelon  Township  we  have  Hugh  Crawford,  a  prominent 
man  as  an  agriculturist ;  Samuel  Raizin,  who  has  done  much  for 
railway  enterprise  ;  Henry  Raizin,  who  is  a  County  Inspector  of 
Public  Schoch  ;  both  men  of  great  intelligence,  and  of  social  md 


THE  WORTHIES   OF  THE   VICTOUIA  TOWNSHIPS. 


353 


|)ublic  ;iHofulne.sH.  There  arc  William  and  Henry  Downer,  botli 
practici'  a;^riculturi.st.s  ;  Joseph  and  Samuel  McCiee,  prosperous  far- 
mers ;  the  Jordan  family  ;  Henry  Perdue,  a  Tipperary  man,  noted 
foi"  liis  spl(;rjdid  breed  of  Devon  cattle  ;  Jolm  Daniel,  another  suc- 
cessful farmer,  who  has  1,500  acres  under  cultivation,  and  is  rapidly 
HulMhiiiiir  the  wilderness. 

In  Marij)osa,  already  mentioned,  William  Foster  and  John 
Glenny  aie  first-class  a^^riculturists,  and  are  full  of  puldic  spirit. 
Here  is  the  prosperous  family  of  tlie  Irvins,  and  as  fruitful  as 
pi  osperous.  Stephen  Dundas  is  also  pr(jminent  as  an  a/^ricul- 
turisl,  as  is  James  Moffat.  The  Davidsons  represent  "  Old 
S<iuire  1  Javidson."  There  is  a  whole  settlement  of  them — millers, 
agricult-iirists,  and  all  most  successful. 

Behind  Fenelon  is  the  Township  of  Bexley,  ^^  here  we  find  the 
Staples,  of  whom  Joseph  Staple  is  the  head.  This  gentleman  re- 
presented North  Victoria  in  the  Commons  as  a  Conservative.  Ho 
is  the  first  and  only  Reeve  of  Bexley,  and  was  for  several  years 
Warden  of  the  County.  James  Moore  is  one  of  the  foremost 
agriculturists  of  Bexley. 

In  the  I'ownsliip  of  Bixhjy,  Robert  Sta|)les  stands  in  the  front 
as  a  lumberer  and  agriculturist.  He  represented  the  town.ship  in 
the  (y'ounty  Council  for  years.  And  there  is  John  Bailey,  the 
present  Reeve. 

In  the  Township  of  Soiuerville,  in  the  foremost  ranks  of  prac- 
tical agriculturists  stands  James  Eliot,  tlien  we  have  Benjamin 
BurclnjU,  Mr.  Per<lue,  and  others. 

In  the  Township  of  Verulam,  there  is  Morsom  Boyd,  "  the  King 
of  Pines,"  as  Mr.  George  Laidlaw  called  him — the  ])rince  of  lum 
berint'U  in  that  part,  and  one  of  the  first  settlers.  Then  we  have 
the  Junkin  family,  sixteen  of  them,  all  practical  agriculturists 
and  taking  a  deep  interest  in  munici{)al  matters.  The  principal 
hotel  keeper  is  Mr,  John  Sim})8on,  po.ssessed  of  plenty  of  Irish 
geniality,  and  no  mean  judge  of  a  hoi'se.  Then  there  is  the  Ire- 
ton  family,  a  large  connection  of  them,  all  connected  with  the 
Episcopal  Church.  There  is  also  the  Bell  family,  agriculturists 
and  manufacturers.  Nor  should  we  forget  that  prime  agricuU 
turisi,  William  Playfair ;  nor  Jabez  Thurston,  agriculturist  and 
lumberman,  at  the  head  of  a  large  family  connection.     Then  there 

:-5;3 


354 


THE  IRISHMAN    IN  CANADA. 


is  honest  Ned  Kelly,  and  W.  B.  Reed,  a  successful  merchant  in 
Bobcaygeon. 

In  the  Township  of  Garden,  James  Fitzgerald  is  Reeve,  a  quiet 
good  fellow,  a  great  pioneer,  warring  with  the  bush,  but  all  the 
time  taking  a  lively  interest  in  iii'inicipal  affairs. 

Mrs.  Foley  {n^e  Sullivan),  of  Garden,  is  a  genuine  heroine.  She 
was  bom  on  the  shores  of  those  beautiful  lakes  which  every  sum- 
mer attract  tourists  from  all  parts  of  the  world  to  Killainey.  She 
married  early,  and  had  three  children.  One  day  she  said  to  her 
husband  :  "  We  shall  never  do  anything  here.  They  say  Gana<Ui  is 
a  fine  country,  let  us  go  out  there,  in  the  name  of  God,  and  try  our 
luck."  But  the  husband  would  not  hear  of  it.  She  then  said  : 
"  Well,  I  must  go  myself  ;"  and  the  brave  little  dark -eyed  woman 
saved  enough  money  to  biing  her  to  Toronto.  In  Toronto  she 
took  in  washing,  and  saved  enough  money  to  send  for  her  hus- 
band and  her  children.  She  then  said  to  her  husband  :  "  If  we 
are  to  do  anything  for  our  children,  we  must  push  out  into  the 
woods."  She  heard  there  was  land  to  be  had  in  Victoria,  and 
tiuther  she  went  with  her  family,  and  worked  like  a  brave  woman. 
Slie  has  now  200  acres  of  land  well  cultivated,  and  each  of  he; 
four  ssons  has  1 00  acres.  All  four  are  married,  and  are  raising 
happy  families. 

It'  will  not  be  out  of  place  to  record  an  incident  which  Mr 
Gla.  ke,  an  Irish  settlei  in  the  Township  of  Drummond,  has  often 
told.  Glarke  had  been  a  soldier.  He  found  he  was  being  plun- 
dered. One  little  pig  after  another  disappeared.  He  suspected 
a  neighbour  who  bore  no  good  character,  and  determined  to  sit  up 
and  watch.  Accordingly,  having  loaded  his  gun,  he  lit  his  pipe, 
and  listened  for  the  sound  of  intruding  footsteps.  He  waited  and 
watched  the  whole  night,  but  no  sound  alarmed  him.  Just  at  the 
dawn  he  heard  the  squealing  of  a  pig.  He  darted  out.  The 
squealing  came  from  the  Beaver  meadow.  Jumping  the  fence,  he 
saw  the  form,  as  he  thought,  of  MacNaughton,  bearing  away  his 
pig.  He  called  m  him,  but  the  call  was  unheeded.  He  drew 
near  and  said  :  "  MacNaughton,  if  you  do  not  stop,  I'll  shoot  you." 
The  warning  was  ^ot  regarded.  Glarke  raised  his  gim  and  fired 
at  the  legs  of  the  robbi  '^.  The  next  moment  he  saw  that  the 
robber  was  a  she  bear  which  was  taking  the  little  pig  to  her  cubs. 


THE  COUNTY  OF   PETERBOROUGH. 


355 


The  ball  grazed  the  bear's  leg.  She  paused,  threw  the  pig  on  the 
ground,  and  with  a  stroke  of  her  paw  killed  it ;  then  made  for 
Clarke.  Clarke  ran.  Luckily  he  had  brought  ammunition  with 
him,  and  as  he  ran  he  loaded,  doubled  and  fired,  hitting  the  brute, 
which,  however,  only  uttered  a  cry  of  anger,  and  continued  pursuit. 
Clarke  loaded  again.  He  was  now  near  the  fence,  and  the  bear 
close  on  his  heels.  He  turned  and  fired,  striking  the  animal  in 
the  forehead.  As  he  fired,  he  s))rang  over  the  fence.  It  was  well 
he  did,  for  the  bear  uttering  a  cry  such  as  Clarke  could  never 
forget,  sprang  towards  where  he  had  been,  and  fell  dead  in  the 
act  of  hugging  her  fancied  prey. 

The  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of  the  present  member  for  South 
Victoria  has  been  mentioned.  The  father  of  this  lady,  Thos.  Trotter, 
one  of  the  oldest  settlers  of  South  Victoria,  came  to  Canada  previous 
to  the  formation  of  the  "  Robinson  Settlement."  His  wife  is  still 
alive,  and  lives  with  her  son  in  Emily  Township.  The  old  gentle- 
man is  long  dead,  and  the  family  much  scattered.  One  daughter 
lives  near  Cobourg.  One  son  lives  on  Manitoulin  Island,  and  one 
at  Owen  Sound.  Another  son  went  to  the  United  States,  and  has 
not  been  heard  of  for  years.  Old  Mr.  Trotter  seems  to  have  been 
a  wealthy  man  when  he  died,  and  Mr.  McQuade,  through  his  wife, 
received  a  portion  of  the  property. 

Sixty  years  ago  the  County  of  Peterborough  was  an  unbroken 
forest.  In  the  Autumn  of  1818  a  few  pioneers  found  their  way 
into  the  Township  of  Smith.  The  next  year  another  exploring 
party  started  for  a  region  where  most  of  them  had  drawn  land 
and  returned  well  pleased  with  w^tal  they  saw. 

Where  there  are  now  busy  factories  and  well-lighted  streets  and 
all  the  life  and  wealth  of  Peterborough,  prior  to  1825  there  were 
only  one  or  two  families.  The  most  sanguine  settlers  were  in  des- 
pair. But  during  the  Autumn  of  that  year,  the  Honourable  Peter 
Robinson,  after  whom  Peterborough  is  named,  conducted  a  large 
emigration  from  the  South  of  Ireland.  In  the  May  of  1825,  the 
hill  of  Cove, now  known  as  Queenstown,  was  a  scene  of  heart-rend- 
ing grief.  Bitter  tears  were  shed.  Bitter  cries  went  up  to  Heaven, 
At  first  Cove  appeared  like  a  vast  f  lir.  More  than  four  thousand 
persons  had  crowded  from  the  country  into  it.  Half  the  number 
were  bound  for  a  distant  land  which  lay  beyond  the  vast  and  dan* 


^^ 


35G 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


.':  *r 


gerouH  ocean.  The  other  half  had  como  to  h)ok  their  last  on 
daughters  and  brothers  and  sons.  Gay  ribbons  were  flying  from 
the  head-dress  of  the  women.  The  men  tall,  stalwart  fellows,  the 
women  with  the  ^low  of  health  and  the  beauty  for  which  their 
country  is  renowned  sauntered  about,  talking,  bu^  ing  articles  for 
the  voyage,  and  with  them  the  old  people,  the  grey-headed,  wrink- 
led fatlu'iH,  the  mothers  with  a  countenance  in  wi.ich  the  lines  of 
tenderntss  contended  against  the  furrows  of  care.  The  black 
ships  are  lying  in  that  harbour  which  is  among  the  most  beautiful 
of  the  works  of  God.  Monkstown  shines  white  against  the  hill 
and  on  the  heights  opposite,  which  overlook  the  road  leading  from 
Queenstown  to  Cork,  t'te  furze  were  already  yellow  with  blossom. 
The  terraced  curves  of  the  harbour  circle  on  either  side  of  tlie 
harbour's  mouth, beyond  wliich  the  Atlantic  beats  into  foam  against 
the  rocky  bases  of  the  groen  hills.  No  wonder  men  find  it  hard 
to  leave  such  a  country.  It  is  like  a  lover  tearing  himself 
away  from  the  woman  he  has  loved  and  loves.  In  that  hour  of 
giief  and  madness  and  tears,  her  eye  seems  brighter,  her  smile 
sweeter  than  ever,  and  her  sobs  accentuate  with  fatal  charm 
every  beauteous  outline.  The  hour  comes.  The  bells  sound. 
The  boats  put  off'  to  the  ships.  Anchor  is  weighed.  Those  left  be- 
hind press  over  the  low  wall  which  fringes  the  long  straggling  hill 
commanding  the  view  sea-ward.  The  emigrants  press  to  the  side 
of  the  ship.    They  wave  their  handkerchiefs,and  as  the  ships  move 

away,  a  wail  from  the  shore  rises  like but  that  is  indescribable 

and  beggars  comparison.  Some  faint,  others  rush  madly  down  to 
the  water's  edge.  None  turn  homewards.  Seaward  they  strain 
their  eyes  until  the  ships  have  become  specks  and  disappeared. 

On  boaid  the  vessels,  grief  and  sickness  prostrate  most.  But 
one  emigrant  sits  in  the  bow.  He  watches  the  waves  rise  between 
him  and  his  beloved  country.  When  the  last  shadowy  outline  is 
gone,  to  an  old  harp,  an  heirloom  of  his  family,  which  may  have 
sounded  in  the  halls  of  Tara,  and  with  his  forefathers'  prowess  of 
song  not  wholly  degraded,  he  pours  forth  in  words  somewhat  as 
follows,  a  farewell  to  his  country,  in  which  he  mourns  over  her 
history  and  dilates  on  her  tender  beauty  : — 


AN  emiorant's  farewkll.  ^''7 

They're  gone  !    The  green  hillu  <>'  uiy  country  no  more, 

IndiHtinct  a«  a  dream  I  beh.ld  o'er  tlic  Hpray  ; 
The  wild  wavoH  that  daah  in'-o  foam  on  the  Hhoro, 

Will  roll  darkly  and  deei).y  between  us  to-day. 

Farewell !  O,  farewell !  my  infancy's  clime  1 

BrighteBt  gem  of  the  sea!  choicest  flower  of  the  e-vrth  ! 

Gum  tyranny-soiled  !  flower  sullied  by  crime  ! 

Sunny  isle  doomed  to  tears  from  the  hour  of  thy  birth  ! 

Did  a  hove  -pan  thy  sky,  my  place  were  not  here  ; 

The  w<ja,lth  of  Golconda  woidil  not  tempt  me  to  roam  ; 
But  afar  I  can  pay  my  sole  tribute   -a  tear, 

And  strike  the  old  harp,  so  long  nilenced  at  home. 

Be  still,  breaking  heart !    A  star  gleauis  in  the  west ; 

In  Canadian  wilds  her  old  airs  sliall  resound  ; 
There  her  cliildren,  hopeftd,  ccmtented  and  blest, 

A  nation  of  freemen  contribute  to  found. 

No  more  shall  we  fight  the  foul  feuds  of  sorrows  ; 

The  sinister  strife  cf  dark  ages  shall  cease  ;  • 

Our  eyes  be  aglow  with  the  light  of  glad  morrows. 

Our  breasts  with  the  Ijehests  of  the  Preacher  of  Peace. 

Late  in  June  the  vessels  arrived  ao  Quebec.     The  passenoers, 
2,024  souls,  were  immediately  forwarded  to  Kingston.    Thi  re  they 
remained  for  some  weeks.     The  weather  was  intensely  hot,  and 
many  suffered  in  consequence  from  fever  and  ague.     Mr.  Robinson, 
meanwhile,  proceeded  to  Sc(jtt's  Fhiins,  as  Peterborough  was  then 
called,  and  spent  a  week  exploring  the  townships.     On  the  llth 
of  August,  he  embarked  five  hundred  on  board  a  steamboat  and 
landed  them  the  next  day  at  Oobourg.     The  remainder  of  the 
settlers  were  brought  up  in  the  same  manner,  the  boat  making  a 
trip  each  week.     They  were  next  taken  from  Cobourg  to  Smith 
at  the  head  of  the  Otonabee  River.     The  route  lay  through  a 
country  very  thinly  inhabited.     The  twelve  miles  of  road  from 
Lake  Ontario  to  the  Rice  Lake  were  hardly  passable.     The  Oton- 
abee River  is  in  many  places  very  rapid,  a  ad  this  year  the  water 
was  much  lower  than  usual.     I'he  first  thing  Mr.  Robinson  had  to 
do  was  to  repair  the  road  and  make  it  fit  to  bear  loaded  waggons. 
In  ten  days  so  much  progress  was  made  that  provisions  and  bag- 
gage could  be  sent  over  it  with  ease.     Three  laige  boats  were 
transported  on  wheels  to  Rice.  Lake.     A  boat  was  built  for  the 
special  purpose  of  being  able  to  ascend  the  rapids  of  the  Otonabee. 


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THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


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The  ague  and  fever  attacked  old  and  new  settlers  alike.  The 
first  party  Mr.  Peter  Robinson  ascended  the  river  with,  consisted 
of  twenty  men  of  the  country,  hired  as  axemen,  and  thirty  of  the 
healthieet  settlers,  not  one  of  whom  escaped  falling  ill  r.nd  two  of 
whom  died.  The  immigrants,  while  waiting  to  be  "  located  "  on 
their  lands  sheltered  themselves  from  the  heat  by  constructing 
rude  huts  or  wigwams  built  of  slabs,  bark,  the  branches  of  trees, 
sous  and  the  like.  The  emigration  was  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Government,  and  Government  rations  were  given  out  to  the  poor 
settlers,  one  pound  of  pork  and  one  of  flour  for  each  person  over 
fourteen  years  of  age,  half  a  pound  of  each  to  children  between 
five  and  eleven  years,  a  pound  of  meat  and  a  pound  of  flour  to 
every  four  children  under  five  years  of  age.  The  provisions  were 
brought  from  Cobourg  or  other  places  equally  happily  situated, 
and  the  rations  were  given  out  for  a  period  of  eighteen  months. 
It  is  easy  to  see  that  persons  with  a  large  family  of  young  chil- 
dren wouk^  have  more  food  than  they  required.  The  excess  of 
rations  provided  some  with  the  luxury  of  whiskey. 

The  immigrants  accompanied  by  guides  went  out  in  groups  to 
examine  the  land  and  fix  on  the  portions  allotted  them.  To  each 
family  of  five  persons  was  given  one  hundred  acres.  Each  grown 
up  son  also  got  a  hundred  acres.  Contracts  were  made  by  Mr 
Robinson  with  older  settlers  to  erect  .shanties  at  the  rate  of  ten 
dollars  each.  Roads  were  extemporised  through  the  forest.  Teams 
of  oxen  and  horses  weie  purchased  for  transporting  the  settlers 
vnih  their  eflfects  to  the  spot  where  with  axe  and  spade  they  were 
to  dig  the  foundations  of  a  civilized  community.  Before  the  close 
of  autumn  the  vast  immigration  had  distributed  itself  into  homes, 
each  family  being  supplied  with  a  cow,  an  axe,  an  auger,  a  hand 
saw,  a  hammer,  one  hundred  nails,  two  gimlets,  three  hoes,  one 
kettle,  one  frying  pan,  one  iron  pot,  five  bushels  of  seed  potatoes, 
and  eight  quarts  of  Indian  corn. 

But  there  were  many  trials  yet  in  store  for  these  poor  settlers. 
Fever  and  ague  which  had  assailed  them  on  their  landing  in  the 
countiy,  pursued  them  to  the  bush.  During  the  passage  to  Quebec 
fifteen  of  them  had  died.  Before  the  spring  of  1826  had  well 
begun  eighty-seven  more  laid  their  bones  in  the  earth  they  had 
come  to  till.     Scarcely  a  family  escaped  the  scourge.     Entire 


FEVER  AND    AGUE.      SLANDER. 


359 


households  shook  for  months  sc  that  they  could  not  hand  each 
other  a  glass  of  water.  In  a  single  day  eleven  funerah  of  immi- 
grants saddened  the  streets  of  Kir.g  iton.  In  the  remoter  settle- 
ments, away  from  medical  aid,  hhe  most  loathsome  devices  of  a 
desperate  quackery  were  resorted  to,  and  miseries  untold  and 
indeseiibable  were  endured,  The  people  were  perishing  continu- 
ally as  though  some  offended  God  had  discharged  his  arrows  on  a 
guilty  race.  But  as  the  land  was  cleared  and  the  soil  became  drier, 
liability  to  this  depressing  and  afflicting  disease  diminished.  At 
the  present  day  this  region  is  omiriently  healthy. 

In  the  Newcastle  district  six  hundred  and  twenty-one  men,  five 
hundred  and  twelve  women,  seven  hundred  and  forty-five  children; 
in  all  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-eight  were  settled ;  in  that 
of  Bathurst  a  total  of  fifty-five ;  in  Montreal,  twenty-six  ;  Kings- 
ion,  two. 

We  need  not  be  surprised  that  the  immigrants,  were  regarded 
with  critical  distrust  f>y  the  older  inhabitants.  Were  one  to  be- 
lie/e  their  slanderers,  we  should  write  that,  while  their  rations 
lasted,  they  acted  like  many  a  young  gentleman  who  inherits  a 
small  patrimony ;  that  they  put  forth  no  exertions.  They  found 
it  difficult  to  face  the  new  order  of  things,  and  to  gird  them- 
selves to  work  and  exacting  toil.  But  calumnies  of  this  sort  are 
abundant,  where  there  is  the  least  difference  in  the  circumstances 
of  sections  of  humanity,  placed  aide  by  side.  The  ordinary  human 
heart  unaccustomed  to  generous  impulse,  cort^'ullpj  by  the  egotism 
which  would  be  amusing,  were  it  not  cojitemptible,  is  the  narrow 
factory  of  misrepresentation.  It  is  a  solaje  to  ])ett}'  characters,  to 
try  anc  make  themselves  out  superior  in  some  small  way  to  other 
persons.  What,  however,  are  the  facts  ?  From  the  third  report  of 
the  Emigration  Ccnmittee  of  the  British  Parliament,  18/?7,  we 
learn  that  th  jie  were  sixty  lots  xxi  Douro,  on  which  245^  acres 
were  cleared  in  1826  ;  8,251  bushels  of  potatoes  grown ;  4,175 
bushels  of  turnips;  1,777  bushels  of  Indian  corn  ;  that  80f  bushels 
of  wheat  had  been  sown.  1,159  lbs.  of  maple  sugar  were  made 
by  those  settlers  in  Douro  ;  11  oxen  purchased  by  themselves,  18 
cows  and  22  hogs.  In  the  Township  of  Smith,  we  find  like  re- 
sults :  34  locations  ;  113J  acres  cleared  ;  4,800  bushels  of  potatoes, 
1,150  bushels  of  turnips,  637  bushels  of  Indian  corn,  grown  ;  40| 


360 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


bushels  of  wheat  sown  ;  889  lbs.  maple  suga**  productd.  Pur- 
chased by  the  emigrarits,  6  oxen,  7  cows,  21  hogs.  In  Otonabee, 
again  we  find  51  locations;  186  acres  cleared ;  produced  10,500 
bushels  of  potatoes,  4,250  of  turnips,  1,395  of  Indian  corn  ;  1,419 
lbs.  of  maple  sugar.  38  bushels  of  wheat  were  sown,  and 
4  oxen,  13  cows,  and  11  hogs,  were  bought.  In  Emily,  of  which 
we  have  already  said  somethii^g,  the  figures  are  as  follows  : — 
Locations,  142;  acres  cleared,  251^.  Produce:  potatoes  22,200 
bushels,  turnips  7,700,  Indian  com  3,442  ;  maple  sugar  2.280  lbs ; 
sown,  44^  bushels  wheat ;  bought,  6  oxen,  10  cows,  47  hogs.  For 
Ennismore,  the  figurej  are  equally  eloquent.  Locations  67  ;  acres 
cleared  195  ;  produce  8,900  bushels  of  potatoes,  3000  of  turnips, 
104|  of  Indian  com;  1,330  lbs.  of  maple  sugar ;  sown  44|  Imshels 
of  wheat ;  bought  4  oxen,  9  cows,  10  hogs.  Asphod  1  :  Locations 
36  ;  acres  cleared,  173  ;  produce,  9,150  bushels  of  potatoes,  2,850 
of  turnips,  1,733  of  Indian  com ;  1,345  lbs.  of  maple  sugar  ;  sown, 
86  bushels  of  wheat ;  bought  2  oxen,  8  cows,  32  hogs.  The  esti- 
mated value  of  the  produce  of  the  immigrants  of  1825,  up  to  the  ^-^ 
24th  November,  1826,  was  in  Halifax  currency,  £12,524  1 9s.  Od. 
If  the  idleness  of  the  Iri,sh  immigrants  could  do  this,  what  might 
not  be  expected  from  their  industry  ? 

Oddly  enough,  in  the  Colonial  Advocate,  of  Decemlte]  8th, 
1826,  William  Lyon  Mackenzie  attacked  the  loyalty  and  patriotism 
of  the  immigrants  !  The  man,  who  ten  years  afterwards,  was  to 
head  an  abortive  rebellioi>,  who  had  published  a  series  of  biogra- 
phies in  pamphlet  form,  extolling  the  genius  of  Irishmen,  who  was 
proud  of  his  descent  from  a  remote  Irish  ancestor,  assaile<l  these 
helpless  strangers  in  their  most  vulnei-r.ble  point.  The  men 
whose  sons  are  now  the  lords  of  smiling  farms  in  the  richest  part 
of  the  Dominion,  had  an  ardent  desire  to  go  to  the  United  States. 
The  $30,000  which  had  been  expended  in  bringing  them  out  and 
settling  them  was  thrown  into  the  sea.  Worse,  it  was  a  bounty 
paid  out  by  Canadian  councillors  to  recruit  in  Ireland  soldiers  for 
the  United  Siatos.  What  baseness  is  there  to  which  low  ambi- 
tion and  factious  opposition  will  not  descend  ?  The  charge  was  at 
oiivte  refiited.  Two  communications  were  published  in  a  London 
paper,  one  from  Mr.  Thomas  Orton,  of  the  Land  Registfr  Office  of 
Port  Hope,  the  other  from  Mr.  James  Fitzgibbon,  better  known  as. 


r 


THE  TOWN   OF  PETERBOROUQH. 


361? 


Colonel  Fitzgibbon, a  heroic  noble  character,  to  whom  we  shall  have 
again  to  refer.  Fitzgibbon  pointed  out  that  it  would  not  have 
been  surprising,  if  many  of  the  settlers,  skilled  mechanics,  antl 
other  strangers  to  forest  life,  who  could  find  employment  and  gooil 
wages  everywhere  between  the  settlement  and  New  York,  had 
spread  themselves  abroad.  As  a  fact,  they  had  not  done  so.  Nor, 
concluded  the  gallant  i'ellow,  had  they  since  their  arrival,  done 
aught  for  which  he  or  any  other  countryman  of  theirs  need  blush. 
Meanwhile,  Peterborough  began  to  rise.  The  few  immigrants 
who  had  remained  on  tlie  plains,  built  themselves  little  dwellings'. 
They  plied  a  trade,  they  turned  their  hands  to  what  they  might. 
John  Boates  started  that  sure  and  sinister  mai  k  of  modern  civili- 
zation, a  tavern.  Adjoining  it  was  a  log  house,  in  which  Oapt. 
Armstrong  lived.  Captain  Armstrong  was  engaged  in  distribut- 
ing rations  to  the  settlers.  John  Sullivan  put  up  a  log  house  on 
the  south-west  corner  of  George  and  Charlotte  Streets,  and  ho  too 
kept  a  tavern.  William  Oakely  started  a  bakery,  and  made  the 
staff  of  life,  while  Boates  and  Sullivan  dispensed  a  perilous  solace 
which  would  not  be  too  harshly  described  as  the  fluid  of  death. 
There  are  ruined  children,  heart-broken  widows,  who  would  not 
think  me  harsh  if  I  called  it  the  instrument  of  hell.  Tlic  next 
house  was  on  the  south  side  of  King  Street,  where  Timothy 
O'Connor  lived.  East  of  O'Connor's  another  was  built,  by  James 
Hurley,  in  the  \vinterof  182G.  Mr.  Stewart  opened  a  small  store  ; 
gave  credit ;  charged  the  bar  of  si  p,  or  the  half  pound  of  candles, 
or  the  ounce  of  tea,  or  the  quarter-pound  of  tobacco,  to  "  the 
woman  with  the  red  cloak,"  the  "  man  with  the  iron  grey  beard," 
the  "  girl  with  the  mole  on  her  cheek."  Need  we  wonder  he  was 
bought  out?  James  Bailey,  a  north  of  Ireland  man,  in  1826, 
built  his  house,  and  kept  a  tavern.  In  1828,  John  CruAvford,  of 
Port  Hope,  put  up  a  frame  house.  And  so  the  town  grew.  The 
Irishman  became  fond  o*  his  adopted  country,  and  the  grief  of 
his  heari,  stilled,  he  was  at  leisure  to  turn  his  thoughts  to  the 
happy  cares  of  life,  and  the  happier  joys  of  friendship  and  love*. 
Cupid  follows  the  human  family  everywhere.  All  climates  agree 
with  him.  He  discharges  his  arrows  with  as  murh  s];U  in  a 
Canadian  winter  as  in  the  slumberous,  almost  volupi  loa-,  atrno  - 
phere  of  the  tropics.     His  song  is  ever  fresh.     He  fails  in  with 


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^62 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


the  cadence  of  the  sleigh  bells,  as  well  as  with  the  tones  of  the 
lute.  Under  a  maple  tree  he  is  as  much  master  of  the  situation 
as  under  a  palm.  And  so  men  fell  in  love  and  married,  and 
begot  large  families,  to  gladden  them  with  the  tenderer  love  of 
parent  and  child,  when  the  fierce  wild  heat  of  the  passions  could 
make  their  veins  run  with  lightning  no  more,  and  when  all  the 
soft  and  pleasant  appliances  of  civilization  should  sarround  the 
home  of  their  old  age.  Were  this  not  so  amid  the  toil"  and  pri- 
vations of  a  pioneer  life,  what  a  mournful  light  would  steal 
through  the  sunless  forest,  what  a  gloom  would  rest  on  xhe  am(ir- 
phcus  beginnings  of  early  settlements.  Even  in  the  heart  of  capi- 
tals, and  in  the  midst  of  wealth, 

"  The  hours  were  dreary, 
Life  withe 'it  love  does  buc  fade  ; 
Vain  it  wastes  and  we  grow  weary." 

Love,  more  powerful  than  imagination,  cannot  merely  irradiate 
the  gloom  of  a  dungeon,  and  render  us  independent  of  that  mob 
we  call  society,  it  makes  the  couch  of  poverty  softer  than  down, 
and  infuses  into  the  heart  of  privation  a  IjtIc  joy. 

In  the  winter  of  1826,  His  Excellency  Sir  Peregrme  Maitland, 
visited  the  town  and  settlement.  Save  where  the  few  houses  stood, 
that  portion  of  the  town  then  cleared  was  c  isfigured  with  stumps. 
The  Governor  was  accompanied  by  Colonel  Talbot,  the  Hon.  John 
Beverley  Robinson,  the  Attorney  General,  and  others.  The  Vice- 
regal party  were  entertained  by  Captain  Rubridge.  He  held  a  rude 
levee,  at  which  a  large  number  of  settlers  attended.  Various  ud- 
dres;4ts  were  presented.  One,  from  the  Magistrates,  dwelt  on  the 
good  con-'Iu^'.t  of  the  immigrants  who  had  given  ground  to  hope  that 
they  would  pro^'^e  a  valuable  acquisition  to  the  Province.  A  de- 
putation from  the  colony  of  Smith,  came  with  a  verbal  address. 
The  chosen  spokesman  broke  down,  as  raw  onvtors  will,  Bui  he 
had  presence  of  rnind  enough  to  turn  round  to  Mr.  Jacob  Brom- 
wellandsay:  "Speak  it  you,  sir."  The  difficulties,  occasional 
•distress,  the  want  of  a  mill  were  dwelt  on:  "  SavJig  your  presence, 
sir,"  said  Bromwell,  "  I  have  to  get  up  at  night  to  chew  corn  for 
the  children."  They  were  promised  assistance.  I'atrick  Barragan, 
-a  school-teacher,  presented  an  a-ddress  on  behalf  of  the  Irish  Ro- 
niftn  Catholics.  The  Irish  immigrants  expressed  their  gratitude  to 


8 


^ 


7 


A   VICE-REGAL  VISIT. 


363 


their  "  gracious  good  King,  and  to  His  Majesty's  worthy,  good  and 
humane  Government,"  for  all  that  had  been  done,  "  and,"  said  the 
address,  very  characteristically,  "  we  hope  yet  intend  to  do  for 
us."  They  were  equally  alive  to  what  Mr.  Peter  Robinson  had 
done  for  them,  and  equally  mindful  of  the  future,  so  far  as  he  was 
concerned.  "  We  are  fully  sensible  that  his  fine  and  humane  feel- 
ings will  not  permit  him  to  leave  anything  undone  that  nii^y  for- 
ward our  welfare."  They  were  satisfied  with  the  doctor  and  the 
officers  placed  over  them.  "  Please  your  Excellency,"  the  address 
proceeds,  still  characteristically,  and  not  without  some  humour  ; 
"  we  agree  very  well,  and  are  pleased  with  the  proceedings  of  the 
old  settlers  amongst  us,  as  it  is  the  interest  of  us  all  to  do  the 
same.  And  should  an  enemy  ever  have  the  presumption  to  in- 
vade this  portion  of  His  Majesty's  dominions,  your  Excellency 
will  find  that  we,  when  (.ailed  upon  to  face  and  expel  the  common 
foe  will,  to  a  man,  follow  ov  brave  commanders ;  not  an  Irish 
soul  will  stay  behind."  They  deplored  "  the  want  of  a  clergy- 
man to  administer  to  us  the  comforts  of  our  Holy  Religion."  They 
also  said  they  wanted  good  schoolmasters  to  instruct  their 
children. 

The  next  day  the  Governor  drove  out  to  Ennismore.  Mud 
Lake  was  crossed  on  the  ice.  The  party  put  up  at  the  shanty  of 
Mr.  Eugene  McCarthy,  the  father  of  Mr.  Jeremiah  McCarthy  who 
was  Reeve  of  Ennismore.  Equally  loyal  addresses  were  forwarded 
from  various  townships  to  Earl  Bathuist,  Col  jr/ial  Secretary. 

The  vice-regal  visit  bore  fruit.  A  grist  mill  containing  two  run  of 
stones,  was  completed  in  1827,  and  was  at  once  oflTered  for  sale  by 
the  Government.  Mr.  John  Hall  and  Mr.  Moore  Lee  became  the 
purchasers.  A  bridge  was  built  across  the  Otonabee.  Henceforth 
the  prosperity  of  the  town  and  the  success  of  the  settlement  were 
assured. 

In  1832  the  cholera  visited  this  continent  and  penetrated  to 
Peterborough.  Out  of  a  population  of  five  hundred,  twei.  *.;y  -three 
persons  died  of  this  disease.  In  1833  the  lawyers  began  to  arrive. 
Stafford  Kirkpatrick  "  put  out  his  shingle  "  in  1834.  In  the  year 
1832  a  couple  of  small  steamers  were  placed  on  Rice  Lake.     About 


ii^ 


um 


304 


THE   IRISHM.iN   IN    CANADA. 


the  same  time  the  great  work  was  conceived  of  renderinsjf  navi- 
gable the  chain  of  waters  from  the  Bay  of  Quinte  to  Lake  Simcoe. 

In  the  civic,  legal,  and  militia  affairs  of  the  district  the  names 
which  occur  most  frequently  are,  as  we  might  expect,  Irish.  In 
1847  the  immigrants  arriving  from  Ireland  brought  w^t,h  them  a 
fever  of  a  malignant  ^ype.  In  1860  the  Prince  of  Wales  was 
received  magnificently  in  Peterborough.  A  pavilion  was  erected 
on  the  Court  House  Green  for  the  presentation  ol  ad  Iresses.  In 
front  of  the  pavilion,  seats  had  been  fixed  for  one  thousand  children  • 
The  rising  ground  of  the  Court  House  Park  would  have  atlbrded 
easy  standing  room  for  thirty  thousand  people.  But  whether 
thirty  thousand  or  only  fifteen  thousand  availed  themselves  of  it 
is  lefj  uncertain  by  contemporary  accounts.  In  any  rasa  the 
splendour,  the  arches,  the  population,  all  indicate  what  progress 
had  been  made  as  far  back  as  seventeen  years  ago.  Schools  had 
long  been  opened  and  ministers  of  the  various  forms  of  Christianity 
established  in  Peterborough.*  I  need  not  tell  the  reader  what 
Peterborough  with  its  .5,000  inhabitants,  its  stores,  factories,  mills, 
newspapers,  railway  and  telegraph  accommodation,  its  well  laid 
out  find  well-iit  streets  is  to-day-  Nor  is  it  necessary  to  describe 
the  county  with  its  prosperous  townships.  The  greater  part  of 
all  this  wealth  and  prosperity  and  usefulness  to  the  Dominion  is 
due  to  I-ish  heads  and  hands. 

A  remaikably  able  business  man,  whose  history  has  already 
been  written  in  one  of  our  own  periodicals,  is  William  Cluxton. 
Born  at  Dundalk,  County  Louth,  in  1819,  he  lost  his  father  when 
he  was  only  six  years'  old,  and  his  mother  before  he  had  passed 
his  twelfth  year.  On  her  death  the  orphaned  family  was  scatter- 
ed, and  he  went  to  reside  with  an  uncle  who  carried  on  a  busi- 
ness at  Cootehill,  County  Cavan.  His  uncle  soon  urged  him  to 
emigrate  to  Canada.  He  found  himself  among  friends  three 
miles  from  the  small  village  of  Peterboro'  of  that  time.  Here  he 
soon  discovered  that  nature  did  not  intend  him  for  farming.  With 
his  friends'  consent  he  sought  and  o))tained  a  very  humble  situa- 
tion in  the  employment  of  the  late  John  Hall,  the  father  of  Judge 


*  This  word  is  spelled  either  Peterborough  or  Peterboro',  apparently  according  to  the 
whim  of  the  writer. 


A   SUCCESSFUL   IRISH   LAD. 


365 


•  the 


Hall,  also  deceased,  who  was  then  the  leading  merchant  in  the 
village.  He  was  soon  promoted,  and  in  1836  we  find  him  at  Port 
Hope  in  charge  of  an  establishment  belonging  to  the  late  John 
Crawford.  He  next  went  to  Peterboro'  to  take  sole  charge  of  a 
branch  of  Mr.  Crawford's  business.  In  1842,  he  set  up  business 
on  hi.s  own  account.  Why  particularize  ?  His  history  is  the  his- 
tory of  thousands.  In  1872,  he  retired  from  the  dry-goods  busi- 
ness with  an  amjjle  fortune.  One  of  its  branches,  established  at 
Lindsay,  he  sold  to  a  clerk,  who  is  now  one  of  the  wealthiest 
and  best  business  men  in  that  town.  To  his  two  sons  and  an- 
other clerk  he  sold  the  Peterboro'  establishment.  His  grain  and 
lumber  transactions  are  so  large  that  he  has  as  yet  been  unable  to 
extricate  himself  from  these  branches  of  speculation.  For  the  last 
twenty  years  he  has  moved  the  princi^ml  part  of  the  grain  along 
the  whole  line  of  railway  from  Lindsay  to  the  front.  His  transac- 
tions, it  is  said,  have  amounted  to  half  a  million  annually. 

In  1852,  he  became  manager  of  the  Peterboro'  branch  of  the 
Commercial  Bank  of  Canada,  a  position  he  held  for  eight  years. 
He  has  been  President  of  the  Midland  Railway  Company  ;  of  the 
Marmora  Mining  Company  ;  of  the  Little  Lake  Cemetery  Com- 
pany ;  oi'  the  Port  Hope  and  Peterboi'o'  Gravel  Road  Company  ; 
he  is  still  President  of  the  Lake  Huron  and  Quebec  Railway  Com- 
p.iny.  He  has  been  both  in  the  Town  and  County  Council.  He 
iv.  ?.  magistrate  of  several  years'  standing. 

after  hours,  whether  clerk  or  manager,  instf'Cvd  of  chatting 
in  bar  parlours,  he  devoted  liiaiseif  to  the  cultivation  of  let- 
ters and  music,  in  which  last  humanizing  "li  he  became  a  profi- 
cient. He  was  thus  fitting  himself  fo''the  respon.sibilities  of  the 
future.  He  was  returned  to  Parliament,  in  1&G7,  for  West  Peter- 
borough. 

In  Kingston,  we  find,  in  the  early  days,  among  prominent  Irish- 
men, the  Rev.  M.  Salmon,  P.P.  ;  Jaines  Salmon,  merchant ; 
Walter  Mc(!1unniffe,  merchant ;  Anthony  Manahan,  the  first  M.P. 
for  Kingston  aftei*  the  Union,  and  of  whose  career  particu- 
lars will  '  .  given  later  on  ;  Thomas  Turpin,  merchant ;  Dr.  James 
Sampson,  who  came  to  Canada  in  1820  as  army  surgeon,  and  who 
settled  in  Kingston,  of  which  he  ultimately  became  Mayor  ;  Dr. 
Macaulay,  Dr.  Tierney,  Dr.  Keating,  Bishop  Phalen,  Peter  Mac- 


I       ' 


36f! 


THK   IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


i  i! 


doiidld  Mecham,  Michael  Brennan,  J.  W.  Armstrong,  R.  B.  Ann- 
strong,  P.  Driscoll,  Robert  Deacon,  the  present  postmaster  ;  George 
Douglas,  Thomas  Murphy,  John  Rourke,  A.  Forster,  Mr.  Jennings, 
of  T.  C.  D.,  a  teacher  ;  Rev.  A.  Balfour,  Thomas  Kidd,  the  poet ; 
Thomas  &  J.  Baker,  H.  Benson,  Colonel  J.  Ferguson,  Messrs.  Breen 
&  Harty,  J.  &  J.  Greer,  J.  Williamson,  the  Messrs.  Cunnin-^ham, 
large  iron  merchants  ;  H.  Scanlan,  auctioneer  in  1834 ;  the  Rev. 
T.  Hancock,  Church  of  England  minister,  son  of  Sir  V.  Hancock  ; 
Keough,  a  poet ;  John  &  W.  Breden,  now  wealthy  men  ;  Patrick 
Slaven,  whose  descendants  are  numerous, 

Anthony  Manahan,  mentioned  above,  was  born  in  17f)4.  in 
Mount  Bellew,  County  Galway.  He  went  to  the  Island  of  Trini- 
dad in  1809,  with  his  brother,  a  merchant  in  high  repute,  who 
was  private  secretary  to  Sir  Ralph  Woodward.  He  married 
Sarah,  third  daughter  of  the  Hon.  John  Nugent,  who  was  Ad- 
ministrator of  the  Government  during  an  interregnum  ol  two 
years,  and  came  to  Kingston  in  1824.  which  he  left  to  take  the 
management  of  the  Marmora  Iron  Works,  in  1825,  established  by 
Mr.  Hayes,  like  himself  an  Irishman.  After  the  death  of  that 
gentleman,  who  sunk  a  large  fortune  in  the  undertaking  (Manahan 
also  lost  a  considerable  sum),  he  returned  to  Kingston  in  1830. 
Mr.  Edmond  Murray  'of  Irish  descent)  and  himself  ran  on  the 
Conservative  side,  in  the  election  for  Hastings  in  1834,  when  both 
were  returned.  He  was  elected  for  Kingston  in  1840,  after  a 
very  severe  contest  with  Mr.  J.  R.  Forsyth,  owing  to  the  fact  that 
both  Orange  and  Green  united  in  supporting  him  ;  for  though  a 
Catholic,  he  was  most  'popular  with  his  Orange  countrymen.  He 
was  defeated  in  1844  by  Mr.  (now  Sir)  John  A.  Macdonald,  and 
died  at  Kingston,  in  1849. 

Peter  O'Reilly,  descendant  of  the  O'Reillys  of  Oavan,  was  born 
at  Westoort,  County  of  Mayo,  in  1791,  and  emigrated  to  Canada 
in  1832,  the  year  of  the  first  cholera.  He  nettled  at  Belleville,  and 
there  carried  on  the  business  of  a  merchant  for  several  years. 
When  the  rebellion  of  1837  broke  out,  Mr.  O'Reilly  offered  hie 
services,  and  received  the  appointment  of  Captain  of  No.  2  Com- 
pany in  the  Hastings  Regiment  of  Militia,  in  which  position  he 
remained  in  active  service  for  two  years,  under  Colonel  the  Baron 
de  Rottenburgh,  his  company  being  the  first  which  was  called  out, 


JAMES  O  REILLY,   Q.C. 


ZQ7 


and  on  hie  retirement  he  received  the  thanks  of  the  Governor  of 
Upper  Canada  for  his  services  and  loyalty  to  the  Crown.  During 
the  sixteen  years  he  spent  in  the  County  of  Hastings  where,  in  the 
old  days,  politics  did  really  exist,  and  party  lines  w*^re  well  de- 
fined, Peter  O'Reilly's  voice  and  influence  did  much  for  the  side  he 
espoused. 

Mr.  O'Reilly  took  a  strong  interest  in  public  questions,  ard  was 
the  intimate  friend  of  the  truly  "honourable"  Robert  Baldwin,  by 
whom  he  stood  in  many  c,  hard  fought  contest  for  constit  a  clonal 
government  in  this  country.  He  moved  to  Kingston  in  1847,  the 
year  alter  that  in  which  his  son,  the  late  Mr.  James  O'Reilly,  Q.C, 
commenced  the  practice  of  law  there.  Shortly  afterwards  he  was 
appointed  Clerk  of  the  Crown,  Clerk  of  the  County  Court,  and 
Registrar  of  the  Surrogate  Court  of  the  United  Counties  of  Fron- 
tenac,  Lennox  and  Addington.  In  Kingston  he  for  many  years 
exercised  a  strong  influence  over  his  countrymen,  by  all  of  whom 
he  was  much  beloved,  and  there  he  died  full  of  years. 

His  son,  Mr.  James  O'Reilly,  Q.C,  was  bom  at  Westport,  in  the 
County  Mayo,  on  the  16th  of  September,  1823.  In  1842  he  com- 
menced the  study  of  the  law.  He  was  the  first  student  examined 
by  the  late  Secretary  of  the  Law  Society,  Mr.  Hugh  N.  Gwynne. 

He  first  entered  the  law  office  of  Mr.  Charles  Otis  Benson,  in 
Belleville,  where,  a  short  time  before,  he  had  completed  his  educa- 
tion under  the  direction  of  the  late  Mr.  William  Hutton,  the  head 
of  the  Grammar  School  of  the  County  of  Hastings.  A  relative  of 
Sir  Francis  Hincks,  Mr.  Hutton  was  a  man  of  learning  and  ability, 
who  subsequently  held  an  important  position  in  the  Bureau  of 
Statistics  in  the  old  Province.  Mr.  O'Reilly  after  a  short  tine 
with  Mr.  Benson  entered  the  office  of  the  Hon.  John  Ross,  Q.C, 
subsequently  Attorney-General  for  Upper  Canada,  then  engaged 
in  the  practice  of  his  profession  and  supposed  to  have  secured  the 
largest  practice  of  any  lawyer  in  the  Province. 

He  remained  a  few  months  in  Mr.  Ross'  office  until  he  was 
called  to  the  Bar,  when  he  went  to  Toronto,  and  completed 
his  studies  in  the  office  of  Messrs.  Crawford,  the  late  Lieutenant- 
Governor  of  Ontario,  and  Hagarty,  the  present  Chief  Justice 
of  the  Common  Pleas.  He  was  called  to  the  Bar,  9th  of 
August,  1847,  and  immedi^teiy  commenced  the  practice  of  his  pro- 


"868 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


fesHiori  in  the  City  of  Kingston.  The  leading  mem}>ers  of  the  Bar 
of  Kingston  were  Mr.  (Sir)  John  A.  Macdonald  ;  the  Hon.  Alex- 
ander Campbell,  Senator  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada ;  the  late 
Tliomas  Kirkpatrick,  Q.C.,  M.P. ;  and  the  late  Sir  Henry  Smith, 
Q.C.  Mr.  O'Reilly,  in  a  short  time,  secured  a  large  and  lucrative 
practice,  and  at  one  Assize  held  no  less  than  o'ghty -seven  briefs  on 
the  civil  side  of  the  Court,  besides  a  number  f  criminal  cases  in 
which  he  was  engaged  as  leading  counsel. 

His  first  important  capital  case  created  much  public  notice  at 
the  time  from  trio  extraordinary  circumstances  connected  with  the 
alleged  commission  of  the  crime.  After  two  days*  investigation 
of  the  evidence  the  Jury  ac(juittcd  the  prisoner,  and  Sir  James 
Buchanan  Macaulay,  the  presiding  Judge,  paid  a  high  compliment 
to  the  young  advocate  for  the  skill  and  ability  shown  in  the  de- 
fence of  his  client.  Shortly  after  this  he  was  associated  with  Mr. 
Kenneth  McKenzie,  Q C,  now  Judge  of  the  County  Court  of  the 
County  of  Yr>rk,  for  the  defence  in  the  case  of  the  Queen  vs.  Mrs. 
Smith,  for  poisoning  by  strychnine.  The  prisoner,  after  an  extra- 
ordinary effort  on  the  part  of  her  counsel,  was  acquitted.  So  great 
was  the  jniblic  indignation  at  the  escape  of  the  prisoner  that  a 
guard  had  to  accompany  her  to  the  American  steamer  to  save  her 
fiom  tlie  violence  of  the  people.  Mr.  O'Reilly  shared  largely  in 
the  pre.stige  of  the  acquittal.  The  case  attracted  considerable 
notoriety  in  England,  and  \;'as  reported  in  the  Medical  Journal  as 
the  tirst  in  the  Colonies  t'ov  murder  by  strychnine  where  the 
colour  te,' !. — well  known  to  chemists — was  employed. 

When  Mr.  McKen.'-:e,  Q.C.  brought  a  libel  suit  against  the 
publisher  of  the  Daily  New.",  Kingston,  for  an  alleged  libel  on  his 
professional  character,  Mr.  O'Reilly  was  opposed  by  the  late  Hon. 
J.  Hilly ard  Cameron,  Q  C,  yet  he  won  a  verdict  for  the  plaintiff 
and  S250  damages ;  a  sum  at  that  time  considered  large  damages, 
especially  as  against  a  public  journalist. 

Next  to  the  celebrated  McGee  case,  that  of  the  Queen  vs.  Mrs 
Bridget  Farrally,  for  the  murder  of  her  brother-in-law  by  poison- 
ing, is  the  most  remarkable.  The  case  was  tried  at  the  spring 
assizes  of  1867,  in  the  County  of  ^  '.oria.  The  plea  was  that  of 
insanity,  which  was  one  of  the  first  cases  known  either  in  Ca- 
nada or  the  old  country  where  a  plea  of  insanity  proved  successful 


a 

V 


PROSECUTINO  THE   MURDF.RER  OF   MOOEE, 


36!) 


in  a  charge  of  homicide  by  poisoning ;  the  fact  of  the  administra- 
tion of  poison  to  procure  death  requiring  forethought  and  design 
would  seem  to  be  incompatible  w'th  the  presence  of  insanity  at 
the  time  of  the  commission  of  the  oftence. 

In  September,  1868  Mr.  O'Reilly  was  appointed  crown  prose- 
cutor in  the  case  of  ..le  Queen  vs.  Whelan,  for  the  murder  of 
D'Aicy  McGee.  A  warm  personal  friend,  a  devotee*  admirer  and 
follower  of  the  muidered  statesman,  Mr.  O'Reilly  v  ked  inde- 
fatigably  in  preparing  for  the  trial,  which  lasted  seven  days  and 
ended  in  the  prisoner  being  found  guilty  and  suffering  deatli. 

In  the  course  of  his  speech  O'Reilly  used  the  following  language 
very  characteristic,  but  perhaps  too  warm  for  a  prosecutor  who 
should  prove  his  case  up  to  the  hilt  but  show  no  fceling : — 

"  God  forbid  that  the  man  who  committed  the  foul  deed  should 
not  suffer  the  just  punishment  consequent  upon  his  crime.  The 
people  of  this  country  desire  to  see  the  murderer  punished ;  the 
press  unanimously  agree  that  every  effort  should  be  made  to  lay 
bare  the  murder,  and  if  I  have  been  instrumental  in  drawing  it  to 
lig'it  I  shall  go  down  to  my  grave  satisfied  that  I  have  tracked 
the  felon  who  killed  D'Arcy  McGee."  Again  alluding  to  the 
manner  in  which  the  assassin  accomplished  his  work,  he  said : — 
"  Who  saw  him  ? — God  in  heaven  saw  him  on  that  beautiful 
night  v/hen  all  heaven  was  lighted  up,  on  that  night  when  a 
dastardly  deed  was  perpetrated  which  will  bring  down  the  ven- 
geance of  God  and  man." 

Mr.  O'Reilly  served  in  the  Council  of  Kingston  as  an  alderman 
for  many  years,  being  elected  almost  unanimously  after  a  resi- 
dence in  that  city  for  one  year  and  a  half.  He  was  often  urged 
to  enter  political  life,  particularly  during  the  local  general  elec- 
tions in  1867.  In  1864  he  was  appointed  a  Queen's  Counsel  and 
succeeded  the  late  Mr.  A.  J.  Macdcnnell  as  recorder  of  Kingston, 
which  ofH^'-e  he  continued  to  fill  until  it  was  abolished  in  1861)  by 
the  Local  ^'^ovemment  of  Ontario.  He  was  a  bencher  of  the  Law 
Society  and  in  1869  he  was  called  to  the  bar  at  Quebec.  For 
many  years  he  was  president  of  the  St.  Patrick's  Society  of  King- 
ston. His  full  length  portrait  was  presented  to  him  by  the  Corpor- 
ation at  the  time  of  the  "  Trent "  affair  when  he  raised  a  company  of 

volunteers.     He  held  for  several  years  a  commission  in  the  active 
24 


i 


370 


THt'   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


i 


militia,  a-:J  in  1872  retired  with  the  rank  of  Major.  He  was 
otherwise  identified  with  tht  interests  of  the  surrounding  district, 
having  been  a  director  and  the  standing  counsel  of  the  Kingston 
and  Pembroke  Railway  Company. 

In  1872  he  was  elected  to  the  Dominion  Parliament  for  South 
Renfrew  and  sat  during  <^  .^o  short  life  of  the  second  Parliament. 
Upon  the  dissolution  in  1874  he  refused  again  to  enter  political 
life,  which  interfered  too  much  with  his  profession.  He  was  a 
devoted  admirer  of  Sir  John  Macdonald,  and  but  a  few  days  be- 
fore his  death  expressed  high  admiration  for  that  statesman. 

It  is  not  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  Mr.  O'Reilly,  having  tor 
thirty  years  been  a  pr^lic  man,  looked  forward  to  a  seat  upon  the 
Bench  and  comparative  relaxation  from  labour.  Alluding  to  his 
prospects  not  long  before  his  death,  he  expressed  satisfaction  at 
h  .ving  been  assured  that  had  Sir  John  Macdcnald's  Government 
remained  in  power,  it  was  their  intention  to  elevate  him  to  tiio 
Bench  whenever  a  vacancy  should  occur.  He  was  a  fine  manly 
fellow;  amiable;  a  shrewd  observer  of  human  nature;  of  great  per- 
ceptive powers,  and  although  a  strong  believer  in  the  religion  of 
his  forefathers,  bigotry,  intolerance  or  prejudice  were  entirely 
foreign  to  his  nature  ;  he  judged  a  man's  practices,  not  mere  pro- 
fessions, and  frequently  alluded  when  discussing  this  point  to  the 
noble  lines  of  Thomas  Moore — 


. 


"  Shall  I  ask  the  brave  soldier  who  fights  by  my  side. 
In  the  cause  of  mankind,  if  our  creeds  agree  ?  " 

Mr.  O'Reilly  was  one  of  the  wittiest  members  of  the  legal  pro- 
fession in  the  Dominion  ;  he  frequently  convulsed  the  Bench,  Bar 
and  public,  and  at  times  fairly  laughed  cases  out  of  court.  A  few 
years  ago  Harpers  Monthly  published  a  number  of  his  witticisms, 
alh'iing  to  him  as  a  distinguished  member  of  the  Canadian  Bar. 
His  was  an  active  life.  Canada's  able  men  have  seldom  found  a 
bed  of  roses  to  rest  on  after  the  la'^nurs  of  their  early  days 
and  prime;  so  it  was  with  James  O'Reilly.  Dispensing  char- 
ity like  a  prince  —charity  without  ostentation — he  found  it 
necessary  to  work  indefatigably  at  his  profession,  going  circuit 
regularly,  and  toiling  over  briefs.  By  his  death  the  Bar  of 
Canada  lost  a  distinguished  member  and  the  poor  of  Kingston 


T 


O  REiLLY  S  DEATH.      HIS  WIT. 


371 


a  good  friend  :  an  amiable  wife  and  an  attractive  family  lost 
an  affectionate,  thoughtful  husband,  and  an  indulgent  father.  I 
will  not  trust  myself  to  describe  his  death — his  advent  to 
a  happy  home  after  a  successful  circuit — his  complaining  of  a 
slight  pain  in  the  head — speaking  affectionately  to  his  wife — -the 
breaking  of  the  silver  chord  during  her  momentary  absence  from 
the  room — and  her  return — the  wild  cry  of  sorrow — over  this 
scene  of  tragedy  and  breaking  hearts  I  must  cast  a  veil.  .^ 

I  have  spoken  above  of  his  wit.  He  was  at  one  time  entrusted 
with  the  brief  for  the  plaintiff"  in  a  breach  of  promise  case.  His 
client  was  an  elderly  cook.  She  was  fat  as  every  good  cook  should 
be.  Her  face  was  red.  She  had  lost  one  eye.  Her  lover  was  a  man 
of  humble  station.  O'Reilly  had  an  inspiration.  He  proved  that 
the  defendant  used  to  visit  the  plaintiff"  and  sigh,  protest  and  eat, 
that  moreover  during  his  acquaintance  with  the  cook  he  had 
gained  not  less  than  forty  pounds  in  weight.  F.e  put  in  two 
photographs  of  the  defendant.  One,  taken  before  his  days  of  court- 
ing, showed  him  lean  and  hungry  ;  the  other  plump  ss  a  peach 
and  fat  as  an  over-fed  lap-dog.  "  To  whom,"  asked  the  advocate 
who  had  evidently  read  the  Merchant  of  Venice,  "  do  these  forty 
pounds  belong  if  not  to  my  client  ?  "  The  jury  convinced  that 
the  woman  had  a  claim  to  at  least  a  portion  of  the  plaintiff  and 
evidently  estimating  adipose  tissue  at  $5  a  pound  gave  her  a  ver- 
dict of  $200. 

The  member  for  Kingston  in  the  Local  House,  Mr,  William 
Robinson  was  born  in  Ballymony,  County  Antrim,  in  1823.  He 
came  to  Canada  and  settled  at  Kingston  in  1846.  He  is  President 
of  the  Kingston  and  Marmora  Railway.  He  \7as  an  Alderman  of 
Kingston  for  sixteen  years  and  held  the  office  of  Mayor  for  1869- 
70.  He  was  first  returned  to  Parliament  in  1871,  and  re-elected 
at  the  last  general  election. 

Henry  Cunningham,  of  the  wealthy  firm  of  Cham  and  Cun- 
ningham— both  Irishmen — has  been  Mayor  of  Kingston,  as  also 
has  been  William  Ford,  wh  >oe  son,  R.  M.  Ford,  is  President  of  the 
Board  of  Trade,  as  was  William  Harty,  prominent  among  King- 
ston merchants. 

In  1864,  a  very  noble  character  in  his  way  died  at  Kingston. 
Matthew  Rourke  was  born  in  Armagh,  in  1796.     He  emigrated  to 


s 


372 


THE  IRISHMAN  IN   CANADA. 


fS 


this  continent  in  1817,  and  remained  for  a  short  time  in  the  State 
of  New  York,  where  he  met  his  wife,  Mary  Malloy,  a  young  wo- 
man from  his  own  country,  pious,  of  great  attractions  and  ami- 
ability. Soon  after  marriage  he  removed  into  British  terri- 
tory, and  settled  at  Kingston  where  he  commenced  business.  His 
path  at  that  time  was  not  strewn  with  roses.  But  Rourke  was 
made  of  a  fibre  which  does  not  quail  before  difficulties.  By  force 
of  character  and  int-igrity  he  succeeded.  He  was  emphatically  a 
self-inade  man.  He  brought  to  the.  battle  of  life  nothing  but  his 
keen  Irish  intellect  and  his  indomitable  will.  He  not  only  made 
a  fortune,  he  gained  the  confidence  and  respect  of  all  classes  of 
his  fellow  citizens.  His  career  is  a  triumphant  answer  to  those 
who  assert  that  the  Irishman  in  this  country  has  cot  the  ability 
to  raise  himself  to  prominence.  He  occupied  many  of  the  posi- 
tions of  trust  ir  che  gift  of  his  fellow  citizens.  He  was  a  roan  of 
a  charitable  disposition,  as  the  poor  and  the  leading  Roman  Ca- 
tholic institutes  of  Kingston  experienced.  Like  nearly  all  his 
countrymen,  he  was  blessed  with  a  large  family ;  his  excellent 
wife  bearing  him  twelve  children,  seven  of  whom  survive.  Three 
of  his  daughters  embraced  the  conventual  life.  Of  his  sons,  Daniel, 
the  eldest,  and  John,  ex-alderman  of  Kingston,  are  the  proprietors 
of  the  well  known  Kingston  Mills,  a  splendid  property  situated 
on  the  Rideau,  not  far  from  Kingston.  They  employ  a  large  num- 
ber of  men.  Shiewd  business  men,  they  are  an  example  in  the 
interest  they  manifest  in  all  that  concerns  the  welfare  of  their 
workmen — a  duty  which  capitalists  neglect  at  their  peril.  No 
man,  or  class  of  men,  can  with  impunity  treat  their  brother  men, 
as  "  hands."  This  brings  its  retribution  in  the  hardening  effect  on 
the  capitalist  himself,  in  the  emphasis  of  class  distinctions  with 
all  their  dangers,  in  those  periodical  wars  between  the  rich  and  the 
poor,  and  in  the  long  run,  revolutions  with  their  bloody  train  of 
ghastly  disasters. 

The  youngest  son,  Francis,  is  a  Doctor  in  Montreal.  He  gained 
much  experience  during  the  Americin  civil  war.  He  has  invented 
a  plan  for  exhausting  sewers  of  sewer  gas,  which  is  thought  highly 
of  by  scie  i^tific  n)en. 

In  Percy  we  find  a  represe/iiative  man — a  namesake  of  the 
late  J  imes  O'Reilly,  but  apparently  no  lelative. 


T 

1 


DIFFICULTIES  AND   DECISION. 


873 


\ 


. 


James  O'Reilly,  born  of  Catholic  parents,  in  the  Parish  of 
Moiirne,  near  Kilkeel,  County  Down,  in  1800,  was  one  of  a  large 
family  of  sons.  He  emigrated  to  Canada  in  1830,  and  having 
been  raised  on  the  sea  shore,  naturally  took  to  the  water,  and  for 
the  summer  worked  a  "  batteau "  in  Quebec.  In  the  fall  he 
removed  to  Upper  Canada,  and  in  the  succeeding  An  crust  married 
Ellen  Dunne,  from  the  County  Kildare.  He  still  clung  to  the 
water,  working  on  the  old  Durham  boats.  Shortly  afterwards  he 
removed  to  Queenston,  where  he  was  for  some  time  in  the  employ 
of  Hon.  John  Hamilton.  In  the  summer  of  1834«,  he,  with  a  com- 
rade, Lawrence  Granitch,  a  native  of  Cork,  set  out  for  Percy  to 
"  locate  "  land.  They  went  by  steamer  co  Cobourg,  then  but  a 
small  village,  whence  they  proceeded  on  foot  to  the  Township  of 
Percy.  They  came  to  view  some  land  owned  by  the  Revd.  John 
Carroll,  Point  Pleasant,  Niagarji,  but  finding  neither  roads  nor 
neighbours,  and  being  unused  to  backwoods  life,  they  gave  up  the 
prospect  in  disgust.  They  had  proceeded  to  Cobourg  where  tiiey 
met  Mrs.  O'Reilly  on  her  way  to  the  backwoods.  After  gaining 
some  idea  of  the  hardships  of  the  life  of  the  backwoodsman,  lier 
husband  had  sent  word  that  she  should  remain  where  she  was,  but 
the  messenger  had  delivered  a  wrong  message,  viz  :  to  come  imme- 
diately. Here  was  a  coil.  On  leaving  Queenston,  Mrs.  O'Reilly 
had  sold  at  a  sacrifice  every  article  of  furniture  not  easily  removed ; 
the  remainder  she  had  with  her.  IJIer  husband,  after  explaining 
the  difficulties  to  be  encountered,  and  the  hardships  to  be  under- 
gone, left  the  future  course  to  her  decision.  She,  in  the  spirit  of 
the  heroine  of  Victoria,  answered,  "  In  God's  name,  let  us  go  to  the 
woods."  His  comrade,  Lawrence,  or  as  he  was  familiarly  called, 
"  Larry,"  decided  to  throw  in  his  lot  with  them.  They  all  re- 
turned to  Percy,  where  a  hospitable  Irish  Protestant,  William,  or 
as  ne  was  called  "  Billy  "  Wilson  received  them  with  the  genero- 
sity of  his  race.  The  two  men  prficeeded  to  their  lot  which  they 
occupied  in  partnership,  and  began  "  underbrushing."  Now  their 
hardships  began.  It  may,  however,  be  remarked,  that  throughout 
the  early  yesrs  of  their  settlement,  the  hardship  fell  principally 
to  the  lot  of  O'Eeilly,  "  Larry  "  being  a  bachelor,  and  free  at  any 
time  to  leave  for  the  "  shanties,"  and  having  less  care  and  expease. 
O'Reilly's  situation  now  may  be  imagined.     Living  in  an  old 


m 


^74 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


*'  lumber  shanty  "  without  a  door,  unless  a  blanket  hung  over  an 
opening  in  the  wall  may  be  so  described,  and  with  other  openings 
in  the  centre  of  uhe  roof — troughs —  to  permit  the  free  egress 
of  smoke  and  the  ingress  of  light,  as  well  as  wind,  rain  or  snow ; 
with  small  means  and  a  large  stock  of  inexperience,  but  with 
plenty  of  health  and  strength,  and  strong  hope  for  the  future,  he 
began  to  hew  from  the  primaeval  forest  a  home  which  he  could 
call  "  mine,"  where  agents,  bailiffs  and  tithe  proctors  were  un- 
known. 

During  the  following  winter,  while  Larry  went  to  the  "  shanty," 
O'Reilly  occupied,  with  his  \,  ife,  a  house  belonging  to  his  friend, 
"  Billy  '■"  Wikon,  and  here  hij  eldest  daughter  was  born.  In  the 
spring  of  1835,  they  removed  to  their  new  home  in  the  woods, 
situated  six  or  seven  miles  from  the  nearest  known  settler.  They 
were  twelve  miles  from  the  nearest  store  or  mill — Percy  Mills, 
now  Warkworth — and  about  thirty  miles  from  a  post  office.  He 
had  to  carry  the  grist  on  his  back  twelve  miles.  Having  no  team, 
he  had,  after  underbiaishing,  to  "  change  works  "  with  some  more 
fortunate  settler,  that  is  to  say,  for  one  day  with  a  team,  he  had 
to  work  two  in  return.  He  had,  besides,  to  earn  a  living  for  his 
family,  and  as  there  was  no  settler  near,  he  had  to  go  to  the  front 
of  the  township,  a  distance  of  eight,  ten  or  twelve  miles,  where- 
ever  some  one  might  perchance  require  rail-splitting,  logging, 
reaping  with  either  the  sickle  or  the  like,  carrying  hie;  pay  home 
on  Saturday  night.  In  the  mean  time  his  wife  remained  in  the 
woods  with  no  one  to  speak  to,  no  company  but  her  infant  daugh- 
ter, unless  strolling  Indian  hunters  came  for  a  loaf  of  bread  in 
exchange  for  venison.  A  nighdy  serenade  of  wolves  did  lot  add 
to  the  cheerfulness  of  the  lonelj'^  dwelling.  But  never  was  the 
slightest  insult  offered  to  her  ;  never  was  imposition  practised,  or 
other  advantage  taken  of  her  lonely  and  helpless  position  by 
those  untutored  children  of  the  woods.  Perhaps  the  courage  with 
which  .he  bore  hardship  and  isolation  engendered  respect  in  the 
minds  of  the  aborigines,  and  was  her  best  shield. 

Had  these  been  the  extent  of  the  hardships,  they  would  prob- 
Abl}'  soon  have  surmounted  them,  as  settlers  were  beginning  to 
come  in.  But  now  the  bread-winner  for  the  family  was  stricken 
down  by  the  grea«;  enemy  of  the  backwoodsman — fever  and  ague. 


i  j 


SICKNESS   IN  THE  BUSH. 


375 


Other  diseases  ma}^  be  thrown  off  and  the  former  strength  reco- 
vered, but  where  the  ague  takes  firm  hold  of  a  man  his  previous 
strength  is  never  regained.  Thus  James  O'Reilly,  the  backwoods- 
man, a  man  of  one  Imndred  and  seventy  or  one  hundred  and  eighty 
pounds,  with  broad  chest  and  erect  carriage,  who  at  the  age  of 
forty  had  not  known  what  sickness  was,  and  was  as  vigorous  as 
when  twenty-one,  was  in  three  years  hopelessly  prostrated.  He 
never  completely  got  rid  of  the  ague.  During  the  continuance  of 
the  fe-'or,  he  became  delirious  ;  when  it  passed  he  frequently 
fainted,  and,  though  afterwards  in  good  health,  never  thoroughly 
recovered  his  former  vigour.  It  is  very  easy  to  realize  what 
difficulties  and  hardships  such  sickness  entailed.  The  husband 
fallen  sick,  the  wife  did  not  escape,  and  ro  their  substance  was 
consumed.  Their  furniture,  and  even  clothing,  had  to  be  given 
for  doctor's  bills. 

But  all  difficulties  must  have  an  end,  and  theirs  proved  no  ex- 
ception. Settlers  came  in ;  roads  were  built ;  villages  arose  in 
suitable  positions  ;  as  their  family  grew  up  their  labour  became  less 
onerous,  and  if  not  rich,  they  were  independent  and  respected. 

In  a  pioneer's  life  there  are  many  points  worthy  of  remark,  the 
most  important  of  which  relates  to  religion  and  its  influence  on 
the  lives  of  the  settlers.  Thus  on  O'Reilly's  migration  to  the 
back-woods  there  was  no  minister  of  his  persuasion  permanently 
established  nearer  than  Belleville,  a  distance  of  forty  miles.  There 
the  late  Reverend  Father  Brennan  was  missionary  for  immense 
distances  both  up  and  down  the  lake,  and  could,  therefore,  but 
seldom  visit  any  one  locality.  The  consequence  was  that  many 
of  the  people  became  indifl':>rent  or  careless.  Sometimes  eight 
children  of  the  one  mother  were  baptised  at  the  same  time,  private 
baptism  having  been  previously  administered.  Thus  it  was  a 
standing  joke  with  an  old  Protestant  friend  that  he  vwas  the 
"  priest  "  who  christened  the  children  of  the  O'Reillys.  Subse- 
quently the  settlers  in  this  locality  were  visited  by  Father  Butler, 
of  Peterborough.  The  first  priest  permanently  established  in  their 
midst  was  the  Reverend  Edward  Vaughan,  who  arrived  in  1845. 
Picture  the  life  of  a  minister  of  religion  in  those  times.  Then 
buggies  were  not  in  use  for  there  were  no  roads  to  drive  them  on, 
ti*avel  being  either  done  on  foot  or  on  horseback.    His  life  was  not 


mmmn 


sm 


376 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


one  of  either  ease  or  luxury.  Mr.  Vaughan's  mission  included  the 
Townships  of  Seymour,  Percy,  Asphodel,  Dummer  and  Belmont, 
which  still  remain  the  same  mission.  Father  Vaughan  was  soon 
recalled.  By  his  removal  the  mission  lost  a  most  zealous  pastor 
and  charitable   man.     He  succt.ded    by  the  Reverend   J. 

Bernard  Higgins,  who  bad  kindred  difficulties  to  surmount.  Tn 
1852  Father  Higgins  was  removed  and  the  Reverend  James,  now 
Vicar-General  Farrelly  appointed,  who  erected  a  priest's  house  at 
Hastings,  which,  when  O'Reilly  "  moved  in,"  had  not  a  house  of 
any  kind  or  a  tree  cut  where  the  village  now  stands.  At  that 
time  there  were  two  wooden  churches  erected  by  the  present  }ms- 
tor.  Reverend  John  Quirk,  one  at  Hastings  and  one  at  Norwood, 
besides  a  frame  church  at  Campbellford.  Warkworth  Chuich  has 
been  enlarged.  During  Father  Vaughan's  time  any  small  room 
would  hold  the  congregation,  but  now  commodious  churches  are 
becoming  crowded.  These  churches  have  been  erected  almost 
wholly  by  the  Irish  people. 

Among  the  hardships  of  life  in  the  woods  there  is  hardly  any- 
thing, as  we  have  already  seen,  more  distressing  to  the  settler  than 
the  presence  of  wolves.  Tlieir  hideous  howling,  their  treaclierous 
and  ferocious  disposition,  and  their  destructive  habits  make  them 
a  formidable  enemy.  Every  night  sheep,  calves,  and  such  helpless 
animals  had  to  be  secured  from  harm.  This  was  usually  done  by 
building  a  square  pen  of  rails  which  was  then  weighted.  1  his 
pen  had  what  was  called  a  "  slip  gap  "  for  the  admission  of  the 
sheep.  The  space  between  the  rails  left  the  poor  shivering  animals 
in  full  view  of  their  terrible  foes.  The  snow  was  frecjuently 
tramped  as  solid  as  a  road  on  all  sides  of  the  pen.  Wolves  hunt 
in  packs.  They  surround  a  sheep  pen  and  encourage  each  other 
with  their  dismal  howls,  seek  for  entrance,  and  woe  to  the  poor 
animals  if  any  weak  part  is  discovered  in  the  pen.  The  pack 
usually  send  out  a  scout,  an  old  and  experienced  wolf  which  will 
view  the  ground  before  a  raid  is  made.  In  old  times  the  large 
chimneys  were  the  only  means  of  warming  the  houses  or  "  shan- 
ties "  of  the  settlers.  The  fire  was  kept  up  with  wood  like  cord- 
wood  but  split  somewhat  finer,  such  wood  being  piled  at  nigh<^  at 
the  side  of  the  hearth.  At  one  or  two  o'clock  one  morning  the 
family  was  disturbed  by  the  dog  which  rushed  madly  against  the 


I 


WOLVES   AND  BEARS. 


37r 


bolted  door  a ''d  then  ran  off  only  to  return  with  greater  force, 
O'Reilly  arose  to  see  what  was  the  matter.  There  was  a  moon. 
By  its  light  he  saw  a  large  wolf  that  chased  the  dog.  Seizing  a 
stick  of  wood,  and  advancing  towards  the  wolf  whloh  retreated, 
he  cast  the  wood  at  him.  The  animal  deftly  dodged  the  stick  and 
returned  after  O'Reilly  to  the  door.  O'Reilly  pelted  him  with 
sticks  of  wood  which  the  wolf  cunningly  avoided,  without  leaving 
his  post.  Finding  stick-throwing  to  no  purpose  and  bethinking 
him  of  an  old  musket  which  he  possessed,  he  determined  to  try 
that.  The  musket  was  not  in  very  good  condition  having  the  bar- 
rel bent,  or  as  one  of  his  friends  said,  "  built  for  shooting  round 
comers."  He  fired  without  striking  the  wolf.  No  sooner  was  the 
report  heard,  however,  than  every  fence  corner,  stump,  and  stone 
seemed  alive  with  dismal  howls.  On  another  occasion  O'Reilly 
started  before  daylight  to  a  neighbouring  pond  to  fish  for  bass. 
Having  caught  a  nice  string  offish  he  was  returning  when  he  heard 
on  every  side  of  the  path  through  the  woods  howl  answering 
howl.  He  was  in  the  centre  of  a  scattered  pack.  Pulling  the  fish 
from  the  rod  on  which  he  had  them  strung,  he  cast  them  away, 
thinking  the  wolves  would  be  detained  to  devour  the  fish.  He  soon 
reached  home,  and  subsequently  visiting  the  place  he  found  the 
fish  untouched.     Wolves  evidently  are  not  fond  of  fish. 

Bear  stories  are  plentiful.  While  laid  up  with  ague,  O'Reilly 
had  a  hired  man,  who  proved  a  lazy  fellow.  He  frequently  ne- 
glected to  do  work  which  should  have  been  done.  Some  wheat 
in  the  stack  having  become  wet  and  sprouted  was  taken  down 
and  set  around  to  be  given  to  the  pigs.  The  man,  one  night  after 
dark,  acknowledged  that  he  had  not  fed  the  pigs,  and  was  de- 
spatched to  do  so.  What  was  his  horror  on,  as  he  supposed,  seizing 
a  sheaf  of  wheat,  to  find  that  he  had  a  live  bear  by  the  shaggy 
coat.     Bruin  gave  an  angry  growl  and  left. 

An  old  Indian  Chief,  Penashie,  with  his  two  grandsons,  started 
out  on  a  hunt  in  the  woods.  The  old  man  proceeded  to  the  flat 
while  the  boys  took  the  ridge.  After  advancing  some  time  the 
old  Indian  discovered  a  cub  on  a  tree,  and  rashly  fired.  He  only 
wounded  the  young  bear,  whose  cries  brought  the  mother  to  its 
assistance  before  the  Indian  could  reload  his  gun.  The  beer  im- 
mediately "went"  for  the  Indian,  who,  for  his  age,  used  his  feet 


378 


THR   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


in  a  very  lively  manner.  Knowing  that  he  would  be  caught  if  he 
moved  in  a  straight  line,  he  ran  in  cirnles  roTind  a  large  basswood, 
closely  followed  by  the  bear.  Such  a  race  could  have  but  one  end. 
But  luckily  the  young  men  had  been  attracted  by  the  report  and 
came  running  to  see  what  their  grandfather  had  shot.  They  found 
him  not  the  hunter  but  the  hunted.  They  shot  the  bear  and  none 
too  soon,  as  the  old  man  was  completely  exhausted. 

Two  whii;<^  hunters  named  Perry,  with  a  horse  and  a  small  dog 
were  going  through  the  woods,  and  seeing  a  cub  in  a  tree,  although 
wholly  unarmed,  determined  to  take  it  home  in  a  bag  which  they 
happened  to  have  with  them.  One  of  them  climbed  the  tree  whose 
branches  approached  the  ground.  On  the  approach  of  the  man 
the  cub  began  to  cry,  which  brought  the  mother  to  the  foot  of  the 
tree.  Here  she  proceeded  to  climb  after  the  man  but  was  seized 
by  the  dog  in  the  rear,  which  so  exasperated  her  that  she  turned 
to  punish  his  temerity.  Immediately  letting  go  and  keeping  out 
of  her  reach,  he  returned  on  her  attempting  to  climb  the  tree,  and 
thus  kept  her  employed  until  the  man  had  bagged  the  cub  and 
handed  it  from  the  limbs  to  his  comrade  on  horseback  below.  He 
^nen  dropped  on  to  his  horse  and  left  the  field. 

Nearly  all  the  early  settlers  were  distinguished  for  their  kind- 
ness to  each  other  during  sickness  and  more  especially  the  Irish 
and  Scotch  settlers.  In  spite  of  religious  and  political  prejudices 
and  in  defiance  of  contagion,  the  sick  were  tended  with  the  utmost 
care. 

There  was  another  trait  of  charactei  not  so  praiseworthy. 
Many  of  the  early  settlers  contracted  a  pernicious  habit  of  "  visi- 
ting," or  as  it  used  to  be  called  "  cabin  hunting."  Thus  the  wife 
with  the  "  baby  "  would  go  to  see  some  of  her  neighbours,  and 
have  "  tea,"  which  would  consist  of  all  the  "  good  things  "  that 
their  scanty  means  could  afford,  and  very  often  at  the  expense  of 
their  future  necessities.  The  husband  went  in  the  evening  to 
carry  home  the  baby. 

There  was  another  trait  among  Irish  settlers,  a  curse  entailed 
by  landlord  oppression  and  by  the  system  of  "  tenant-at-will." 
They  were  very  backward  in  making  good  permanent  improve- 
ments, usually  putting  up  some  temporary  affair  that  "  will  do  for 
this  year."     Like  the  children  of  Israel  they  required  one  genera- 


1 


I 


7 


BUILDERS-UP  OF   BELLEVILLE  AND   HAMILTON, 


879 


tion  of  free  life  in  the  wildeixess  to  eradicate  the  cnnker  of  sir  very. 
These  anecdotes  and  obtiervations  I  have  leam^  from  Mr. 
O'Reilly's  son,  who  also  tolls  me  of  kindnesses  she^n  hin  during 
disease  and  trouble  by  a  Scotch  Presbyterian  fan^i'ly.  Angus  was 
the  name  of  these  good  Samaritans. 

Among  the  builders  up  of  Belleville  and/Che   neighbourhood 

were  :  Wm.  Alford,  John  Allan,  Geo.  Armj>wong,  T.  Atkins, 

Buckley,  Col.  Wm.  Bell,  S.  Briton,  H/Bulgar,  R.  Bullen,  -^-- 

Burke,  ^.  Beatty,  Robt.  Bird,  ^/^rennan,  Rev.  ^l,.€!afnpbell, 

S.  Carroll,  Jas.  Coulter,  R.  Cummings,  Rev.  J.   Cochrane,  

Callaghen,  D.  Crombie,  Deagan, Doherty,  J.  Donaghue, 

A.  Dunn, Dacey,  P.  Fahey,  Francis  Fargey,  Robt.  Francis, 

J.  English,  R.  German,  Rev;  Jno.  Grier,  John  Graham,  Charles 

Hayes,  Jas.  Harrison,  J.  J.  Haslett,  Dr.  Wm.  Hope, Horam, 

Hanley,  M.  Jellett,  P.  Johnson,  Jones,  J.  Kerr,  S.  Nyle> 

J.  Kennedy, J-arkin,  D.  Le wler,  P.  Lynch,  Wm.  Morton,  Jno 

V.  Murphy,  A.  Manahan,  H.  McGuire,  Jas.  McDonnell,  J.  Meag- 
her, Jacob  Moore, !^cCreary,  Wm.  McDavid,  J.  McConohey 

Mormacy,    W.  McOowan,  J.  Garvey,  W.  Mclnnich,  J.  McMa- 

niara,  J,  McAnnary,  H.  McGinnis,  M.  Nulty,  C.  O'Brien,  Saml. 

On',  P.  O'Reilly, O'Donnell,  Jno.  Patterson,  W.  Perkins,  Jas. 

Power, Prentice,  M.  Ryan,  R.  Tanderson,  J.  Shannon, 

Shanks,  P.  Shehan,  Sennett,  Jas.  Stead,  Dr.  R.  Stewart,  O. 

Shaughnesey,  Shea,  D.  Sullivan,  Wm,  Templeton,  Gordon 

Thompson, Tracy,  Wm.  Watt, White,  Jas.  Whiteford. 

In  Dundas  and  Brantford  and  Hamilton  we  have  a  large  Irish 
population.  In  Hamilton,  Mr.  John  Barry,  who  came  to  this 
country  many  years  ago,  is  an  eminent  Irish  barrister,  who  has 
won  the  confidence  of  his  fellow-cieizens  as  alderman.  Mr  Neill 
O'Reilly  is  a  child  of  Irish  parents,  and  has  brought  to  great  per- 
fection that  gift  of  fl.uent  utterance  with  which  his  countrymen 
are  credited.  The  Stinsons,  the  Bradleys,  and  the  Murphys  took 
an  active  part  in  the  first  settlement  of  Hamilton. 

Judge  O'Reilly,  now  Master  in  Chancery,  in  Hamilton,  is  pro- 
bably the  oldest  settler  in  that  city.  The  old  judge  is  still  full 
of  activity.  He  did  good  service  in  early  life  as  a  volunteer  sol- 
dier in  Canada,  and  as  a  leading  lawyer  and  judge  he  performed 
his  part  of  our  great  work  here. 


mi^ 


380 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


In  writing  of  the  Talbot  Settlement,  what  Irishmen  did  for 
London  has  been  indicated.  It  is  not  possible,  without  altering 
the  plan  of  the  book,  to  do  more  than  mention  the  names  of  the 
prominent  early  settlera  whose  families  fiourit-h  'n  thu  capital  of 
the  West  and  the  surrounding  country.  The  Hodgins  and  O'Neals, 
the  Deacons  and  Shoebottoms,  the  Talbots  and  Fitsgeralds,  the 
Waldens,  the  Langfords,  the  Gowens,  the  Stanleys.  Freeman 
Talbot  has  done  irore  for  this  part  of  Canada  in  the  matter  of 
roads  than  any  other  man.  Then  we  have  the  Eadys  and  Jer- 
myns  from  Cork,  and  the  Weirs  from  the  North  of  Ireland  ;  the 
Westmans,  the  Ardills,  the  Guests,  the  Hobbs.  All  these  have 
done  good  work  in  clearing  the  wilderness  and  making  comfort- 
able homes  for  themselves.  The  Irish  are  pre-eminent  as  mer- 
chants, lawyers,  teachers,  and  preachers  in  London.  I  have  not 
mentioned  the  Densmores,  the  Willises,  the  Ryans,  the  Dickeys, 
the  Dickinsons.  Old  Mr.  Dickenson  boasts  one  hundred  and  seven 
years.  Forty  years  ago  those  men  have  carried  a  bag  of  wheat 
on  their  backs  forty  miles  to  get  it  ground.  Dr.  Evans  was  on 
the  London  circuit  thirty-two  years  a^'o,  and  often  slept  in  a  log 
shanty  in  which  he  could  not  stand  upjlght. 

The  Fergusons  settled  in  London  about  fifty-five  years  ago. 
They  came  from  the  County  Cavan.  There  were  only  two  stores 
in  London  at  this  time.  One  was  owned  by  the  late  Honourable 
G.  J.  Goodhue  and  L.  Lawrason,  the  present  Police  Magistrate. 
Mr.  Tom  Ferguson  is  a  son  to  the  eldest  of  the  brothers.  William 
Glass  should  also  be  mentioned.  His  father  is  still  living.  The 
family  has  been  a  long  time  in  the  country.  Col.  Shanley,  one  of 
the  finest  old  fellows  in  Canada,  is  Master  in  Chancery. 

Judge  Daniels,  formerly  of  London,  was  born  in  the  County  of 
Monaghan,  and  came  to  this  country  early.  In  1845  he  was  called 
to  the  bar.  He  was  for  fourteen  years  in  the  Council  of  London. 
His  father  used  to  keep  an  inn  at  the  comer  of  Queen  and  Yonge 
Streets,  Toronto,  a  man  about  four  feet  high  and  weighing  near 
400  pounds.  Judge  Daniels  is  full  of  stories  concerning  old  times 
in  Canada. 

The  member  for  London,  William  Ralph  Meredith,  LL.B.,  one 
of  the  most  promising  young  men  in  the  Ontario  Assembly,  is  the 
son  of  John  Cook  Meredith,  a  native  of  Dublin,  who  early  came 


LONDON   AND  QUELPH. 


381 


to  Canada,  Mr.  William  Ralph  Meredith  was  bom  at  Westmins- 
ter, Middlesex,  Ontario,  in  1840,  and  was  educated  at  the  London 
Graniniar  School  and  the  Toronto  University.  He  was  called  to 
the  bar  in  1861,  and  ten  years  afterwards  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  Law  Society.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Senate  of  Toronto  Uni- 
versity. He  was  first  returned  to  Parliament  in  1872.  He  is  a 
Liberal  Conservative.  His  father,  Mr.  John  Cook  Meredith  is 
Clerk  of  the  Division  Court.  Two  of  the  brothei-s  are  lawyers. 
The  ittdies  of  the  family  are  remarkable  for  their  beauty. 

Mr.  Hugh  Macmahon,  of  London,  is  one  of  the  most  enlightened 
Irishmen  in  the  Dominion  and  uses  his  voice  and  pen  to  promote 
that  cordial  feeling  between  his  countrymen  which  it  is  so  desirable 
should  exist  in  their  own  interest  and  in  the  interest  of  Canada. 
On  the  penultimate  day  of  July  he  wrote  to  the  London  Free 
Press  a  letter,  which  it  would  be  well  for  many  Irishmen  if  it 
were  graven  on  their  hearts. 

Nathaniel  Currie  was  the  first  representative  of  West  Middle- 
sex in  the  local  House.  He  came  to  Canada  early.  The  Hon. 
Marcus  Talbot,  sometime  M.  P.  for  East  Middlesex  was  lost  in  the 
"  Hungarian."  Strathroy  was  founded  by  an  Irishman,  Mr.  Bu- 
chanan, the  son  of  the  English  Consul  at  New  York.  He  called 
the  place  after  his  father's  farm  in  the  County  Tyrone,  where 
there  is  now  a  post  village  of  the  same  name.  The  English's 
settled  in  London  and  afterwards  at  Strathroy.  James  and  John 
English  are  well  known  men.  John  English  is  rapidly  winning 
the  confidence  of  his  fellow  citizens,  and  may  one  day  be  called 
on  to  play  a  public  part. 

The  picturesque  Town  of  Guelphwaslargelybuiltupby  Irishmen. 
In  1828  Mr.  Timothy  O'Connor  settled  on  a  farm  in  the  Township 
of  Eramosa.  At  that  time  there  were  but  few  settlers  in  the 
vicinity,  and  only  five  houses  in  what  is  now  the  town.  Arch- 
deacon Palmer  shortly  afterwards  emigrated  to  Guelph,  and  the 
town  gradually  advanced.  Many  Irishmen  put  do  „  i  their  stakes, 
amongst  whom  the  Mitchells,  the  Heflernans,  the  Chadwicks, 
the  Carrolls  and  others  were  prominent,  and  one  or  more  members 
of  their  families  took  leading  positions.  Their  children  are  now 
engaged  in  various  pursuits,  and  are  doing  their  part  towards 
building  up  the  country.    In  1849  Mr.  Timothy  O'Connor  moved 


382 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


to  Guelph  Township.  He  had  seven  sons  and  two  daughtere. 
The  eldest  is  the  pioprlotor  of  the  Qu  en'fc  Hotel ;  the  second  a 
prominent  farmer;  the  third  a  n-anufacturer ;  the  fourth  a  law- 
yer ;  the  fifth  who  distinguished  hiii  .sell  at  Fordham  College, 
New  York,  is  the  manager-in-chief  of  an  extensive  New  York 
manufacturing  house.  The  oldest  of  the  Mitchell  family  haH  fillj  j 
the  Mayor's  chair  in  Guelph  ;  the  second  is  a  merchant ;  the  third 
a  minister ;  the  fourth  a  lawyer.  Heffernan  Brothers  are  suc- 
cessful dry -goods  mexhants.  The  Carrolls  are  fa»*»ncio,  seven 
fine  men,  all  over  six  feet  high.  Mr.  Carroll  was  an  extensive 
builder,  and  reputed  the  wealthiest  man  in  Gue^iph.  One  of  the 
most  prominent  Irishmen  in  the  town  is  Mr.  James  Hazelton, 
one  of  the  Hazletons  of  Cookstown,  Ireland.  This  gentleman 
was  several  times  president  of  the  St.  Patrick's  Society.  By  his 
energy  and  industry  he  has  amassed  considerable  wealth.  There 
are  besides,  uhe  Dorans,  the  Grahams,  the  Sweetnams,  the  Mays, 
the  O'Donnells. 

I  had  almost  forgotten  John  Craven  Chad  wick,  fourth  son  of 
John  Craven  Chadwick,  of  Ballinard,  Tipperary,  who  settled 
at  "  Cravendale,"  near  Ancaster,  County  Wentworth,  in  1836, 
and  removed  thence  to  Guelph  in  1851,  where  he  still  resides. 
He  served  on  the  Niagara  frontier  during  the  rebellion  of 
1837-8,  as  a  volunteer,  in  Capt.  Alexander  Mill's  troop  of 
cavalry.  Subsequently  he  held  a  commission  in  1st  Regiment  of 
Gore  Militia.  He  has  been  twice  named  in  the  Commission  of  the 
Peace  for  the  County  of  V^ellington.  He  served  as  a  delegate  to 
the  Diocesan  Synod  of  Toronto,  almost  continuously,  from  1853 
until  the  separation  of  the  Diocese  of  Niagara  from  that  of  To- 
ronto, when  he  was  appointed  by  the  Bishop  of  Niagara  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Corporation  of  Trinity  College,  Toronto.  He  is  a  Vice- 
President  of  Guelph  St.  Patrick's  Society,  ^^^e  has  four  sons,  viz., 
John  Craven  Chadwick,  residing  roar  Guelph  ;  Frederick  Jasper 
Chadwick,  of  Guelph,  who  has  taken  an  active  part  in  political 
and  municipal  afiairs  for  some  years,  and  is  Mayor  of  Guelph  this 
present  year,  1877.  He  also  has  been  President  of  Guelph  St. 
Patrick's  Society,  jildward  Marion  Chadwick,  of  Toronto,  Bar- 
rister-at-Law,  Honorary  Major  and  Captain  in  the  Queen's  Own 


THE   IRISH    IMMIGRATION   BEFORE   1887. 


383 


Rifles  ;  Austin  Cooper  Chadwiek,  oi  Ouelph,  Junior  Judge  of  the 
County  of  Wellington. 

An  old  resident  o!  Guelph  is  Col  uel  Higinbotham,  the  member 
in  the  Dominion  i'arlianient  for  North  "W  .^lington.     Born  in  the 
County  Cavan,  in  1830,  he  was  educated  at  the  National  School 
there,  an  1  aftei'wards  by  the  Rev.  Wra.  Little,  of  Cootehill.     He 
early  came  to  Canada  and  settled  at  Guelph,  where  for  twenty 
years  he  caiTi^d  on  business  as  chemist  and  druggist.     He  is  Pre- 
sident of  the  Guelph  St.  Patrick's  Society.     He  was  a  member  of 
the  Tov/n  Council  of  Guelpb  for  many  years,  and  on  several  occa- 
sions has  hold  the  office  of  D :>puty  Reeve  and  Mayor.    He  has  been 
long  connected  with  the  Volunteer  movement.     He  joined  the 
active  force  in  1856,  and  was  for  four  months  ou  the  frontier  on 
the  occasion  of  the  first  Fenian  raid.     He  commanded  the  30th 
Battalion  Rifles  (ten  companies)  from  its  organization  until  1872, 
when  he  retired,  retaining  the  rank  of  Capta.n.     He  was  first  re- 
turned to  Parliament  in  1872,     He  is  described  in  "  Mackintosh  " 
as  a  Liberal,  and  a  supporter  of  the  Mackenzie  Administration. 
I  have  now  put  the  reader  in  a  position  to  judge  of  the  charac- 
ter of  the  Irish  migration  prior  to  the  rebellion  of  1837.     I  have 
not  scrupled  to  complete  a  subject  by  giving  particulars  which  re- 
late to  the  present  tir.ie.     While   showing  what  kind  of  settlers 
Ireland  sent  here,  I  hnve  also  shown  wiiat  were  the  difficulties 
which  had  to  be  8urmount(5d  by  all  the  settlers,  whether  Scotch, 
or  English,  of  those  early  d&yn.    Founded  as  much  of  the  informa- 
tion is,  on  the  experience  of  the  pioneers,  told  by  themselves  either 
in  conversation  or  by  letter,  or  else  on  the  testimony  of  their  chil- 
dren, in  this  and  the  preceding  chapters,  we  have  historical  ma- 
terial of  the  highest  value.     These  chapters  will  have  enabled  the 
student  of  Canadian  history  to  realize  the  early  beginnings  of  our 
national  existence  in  the  era   anterior  to  politics ;  he   will  have 
been  prepared  for  th  j  impending  struggle  into  which  we  are  about 
to  enter ;  he  will  have  been  supplied  with  a  part,  and  not  the 
least  valuable  part,  of  the  data  by  which  he  must  judge  the  charac- 
ter, physical,  mental,  and  ethnological  of  our  present  population  ; 
he  will  have  been  put  in  possession  of  not  the  least  suggestive 
facts  by  which  he  must  appraise,  if  he  will  appraise  justly,  the 
claims  of  a  great  people.     Other  facts  remain  to  be  told,  more  in- 


:384 


THE   IRISHMAN   I.N   CANADA. 


teresting,  perhaps,  but  not  more  suggestive.  I  shall  have,  by-and- 
bye,  to  describe  the  post-rebellion  Irish  immigration,  with  all  the 
cultivating  and  refining  influences  which  came  in  its  train.  But 
before  doing  that,  the  most  stirring  and  instructive  events  in  our 
annals  will  have  to  be  recounted  more  fully  than  has  yet  been 
done  by  anybody,  but  not  more  fully  than  they  deserve — the 
heroic  struggle  against  a  tyrannical  oligarchy,  the  birth  amid  bitter 
throes  of  our  constitutional  life. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


1 


I  proceed  to  pass  in  review  an  eventful  period  during  which 
many  of  the  greatest  men  Canada  has  produced  rose  to  their 
full  stature.  If  we  have  in  us  the  spirit  of  our  sires,  if  we 
are  made  of  the  fibre  of  which  ancestors  should  be  made,  if  we 
have  such  hearts  as  are  the  fit  foundation  stones  of  nations,  these 
men  built  for  themselves  an  everlasting  name. 

In  those  years  two  j  )ung  men  came  into  prominence  who  were 
destined  to  play  great  parts,  who  are  still  amongst  us,  whose 
hands  have  done  much  to  mould  this  young  country,  but  whose 
career  and  character  it  will  not  fall  to  my  lot  to  paint.  I  speak 
of  Sir  John  Macdonald  and  the  Honourable  George  Brown.     I 


[Authorities  for  Chapter  IX.— Gourlay's  Works;  Lord  Durham's  Report;  News- 
papers ;  "Travel  and  Transportation,"  by  Thomas  C  Keefer,  C.  E.,in  "  Eighty  Years' 
Progress  from  1781  to  1861 ; "  "  Historical  Sketch  of  Education  in  Upper  and  Lower 
Canada,"  by  J.  George  Hodgins,  LL.D.,  F.R.G.S.,  in  "Eighty  Years'  Progress  from 
1781  to  1861;"  "Sch<x)i..  and  Universities  on  the  Continent,"  by  Matthew  Arnold; 
"  The  Emigrant  to  North  America ; "  "  McMuUen's  History ; "  Kaye's  "  Life  of  Lord 
Metcalfe  ; "  "  Our  Portrait  Gallery "  in  the  Dublin  University  Magazine ;  Willis's 
"  Sketches  in  Canada  ; "  Sir  B.  Bonnycastle's  "  Canada  and  the  Canadians  ; "  "  Bio- 
graphy of  the  Hon.  W.  H.  Merritt,  M.P.;"  Original  sources  :  ''Salmon-Fishing  in 
Canada,"  by  a  Resident,  edited  by  Colonel  Sir  James  Edward  Alexander,  Knt., 
K.C.L.S.,14th  Regiment,  with  illustrations;  London:  Green,  Longman  8c  Roberts, 
1860.  This  is  dedicated  to  an  Irishman,  Lieutenant-General  Sir  William  Rowan, 
K.  C.B.,  Colonel  19th  Regiment,  lately  commanding  the  forces  and  administrator  of 
the  Gorsmment  of  Canada.     Hansard.] 


CHARACTER   OF  THIS   HISTORY. 


885 


shall,  however,  have  to  allude  briefly  to  the  parts  played  by  these 

gentlemen  in  the  great  struggle  ;  briefly,  because  I  am  dealing 

with  Canadian  history  from  a  special  standpoint,  and  yet  that 

special  stand-point  will  not  prevent  me  treating  the  period  on 

which  we  are  now  entering  in  the  broad  epic  spirit  of  history. 

Singularly  happy  for  this  work  is  it,  that  the  two  great  periods  of 

C*  ladian  history  were  controlled  by  Irish  genius.     In  other  parts 

of  the  book — 

"  We  must  tread  a  tamer  measure 
To  a  milder  homelier  lyre." 

and  this  little  essay,  from  first  to  last,  is  but  a  tributary  to  the  great 
river  of  history,  and  may  one  day  be  lost  in  its  capacious  stream. 
But  the  rivulet  can  quench  the  thirst  of  the  faint,  and  refresh 
the  weary  limb ;  in  its  depths  gems  serene  of  ray  may  rest ;  the 
precious  ore  be  cast  up  on  its  shores ;  beautiful  lives  gll ^e  through 
its  crystal  arcades ;  and  this  little  book  may  likewise  refresh,  and 
inspire,  and  correct,  and  in  the  future  even,  speak  fruitfully  to 
men,  undeceive  the  deceived,  recall  the  betrayed  from  the  mazes 
of  betrayal,  and  help  in  that  straightening,  setting-up  process, 
which  I  think  is  going  on,  and  which  years  of  slavery  and  a  prop- 
aganda of  passion  and  ignorance  have  made  so  necessary.  It  is 
better  to  be  useful  than  famous.  If  these  humble  pages  do  a  good 
day's  work,  others  will  take  up  the  thread  ;  echo  will  answer  echo ; 
an  influence  unknown  and  unthought  of  will  live  in  the  lives  of 
Irishmen,  nay,  of  all  Canadians,  when  the  hand  that  traces  these 
letters  will  be  a  clod  of  the  valley.  Beautiful  results  will  bloom 
around,  because  wounded  feelings  have  been  healed,  drooping 
hopes  invigorated,  noble  ambitions  kindled,  charity  diffused,  jus- 
tice vindicated,  the  truth  told. 

The  rebellion  of  1837-8,  and  the  union  of  the  two  Canadas,  were 
but  incidents  in  the  gretj  struggle  for  responsible  government,  of 
which  the  foundation  was  laid  in  the  closing  years  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century.  But  the  structure  rose  slowly  amid  difficulty  and 
strife.  The  building  was  a  roofless  shell  until  1841,  and  the 
coping  stone  was  not  placed  until  six  years  afterwards. 

Early,  in  both  Lower  and  Upper  Canada,  inevitable  difficulties 

arose  out  of  the  fact  that  popular  government  was  allied  with 

personal  government,  qualified  by  the  cupidity  of  a  second  chamber. 
25 


886 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


I 


A  tendency  towards  independence  in  Lower  Canada,  and  a  dispute 
between  the  provinces  respecting  import  duties,  led  the  Imperial 
Parliament  to  attempt  a  solution  by  a  Union  Bill,  which,  while 
conceding  the  claims  of  Upper  Caiiada  in  respect  to  import  duties, 
leant  strongly  in  the  direction  of  making  the  Executive  indepen- 
dent of  the  Assembly,  a  measur  ?  whicn  caused  much  alarm  among 
the  people  of  French  origin  in  Lower  Canada.  At  a  time,  when 
the  great  question  whether  Frenchmen  are  fit  for  parliamentary 
government,  is  still  discussed,  it  would  be  instructive  to  study  the 
period  now  before  us,  in  Lower  Canada,  and  to  note  how  much 
better,  men  of  French  descent  understood  the  genius  of  popular 
institutions,  than  the  English  governcrs,  or  indeed  English  states- 
men, alw'^ys  excepting,  to  go  back  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century, 
that  t\traordinary  raan  Cliarles  James  Fox,  whose  genius  made 
the  future  present,  and  the  distant  near. 

In  Lower  Canada,  in  1825,  the  estimates  were  laid  before  the 
Assembly  without  any  distinction  between  the  funds  appropriated 
by  the  Crown,  and  the  supplementary  vote  required  from  the 
House,  The  next  vear.  Lord  Dalhousie  having  returned  from  his 
short  leave  of  absence  in  England,  great  indignation  was  created 
by  the  estimates  bein^^  laid  before  the  Assembly  in  two  classes, 
and  its  fancied  power  over  the  Executive  destroyed.  With  French 
Canadians  of  talent  excluded  from  office ;  the  mass  of  the  people 
speaking  a  language  alien  to  the  Imperial  isles;  favouritism;  seig- 
norial  rights ;  what  could  be  expected  but  discontent  on  the  part 
of  a  Province,  now  numbering  four  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
souls,  and  ojiposition  and  protest  on  the  part  of  a  chamber  whose 
functions  were  reduce  1  to  the  level  of  farce  ? 

In  Upper  Canada,  the  Crown  and  Clergy  Reserves  which  inter- 
fered with  the  settlement  of  the  Province,  as  Mr.  Talbot  points 
out  very  eloquently  in  his  book,  and  other  abuses,  created  discon- 
tent. When  in  1817,  the  Assembly  wished  to  inquire  into  such 
matters,  it  was  prorogued  by  the  Governor — contemptuous  treat- 
ment which  could  have  Imt  one  result,  to  aggravate  discontent. 
Amid  discontent  and  discussion,  the  root  of  existing  evils  was 
seen,  and  responsible  government,  in  one  form  or  another,  began 
to  take  outline  in  thoughtful  minds. 

About  this  time  a  Scotchman  named  Gourlay,  appc  ared  like  a 


BM 


GOURLAY  AND  MACKENZIE. 


387 


portentous  comet  on  the  horizon  of  "The  Family  Compact."  He 
was  full  of  inquiries,  and  full  of  schemes,  and  therefore  a  visitor 
most  unpleasant  to  those  who  were  farming  this  great  Province 
for  themselves.  The  foolish  Governor,  Sir  Peregrine  Maitland, 
instead  of  seeing  that  whatever  tended  to  raise  discussion,  and 
to  foster  interest  in  the  country,  was  calculated  to  create  a  public 
spirit,  without  which  free  institutions  are  a  doubtful  blessing, 
levelled  a  paragraph  of  a  speech  from  the  throne  at  the  head  of  a 
persecuted  man,  who,  whatever  his  eccentricities,  had  new  ideas, 
which  are  more  valuable  to  a  community  than  a  thousand  emi- 
grants, being  to  it,  indeed,  what  light  and  sunshine  are  to  the  phy- 
sical world,  bringing  freshness,  op(^ning  r.p  lanes  of  beauty  and 
avenues  of  wealth.  In  a  population  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
thousand,  meetings  of  delegates  were  prohibited,  in  order  to  hit 
poor  Gourlay.  This  Act  was  a  couple  of  years  afterwards  re- 
pealed, under  the  influence  of  an  impending  election.  Every  year 
the  Reform  Party  was  taking  shape  and  consistency.  The  General 
Election  of  the  Autumn  of  1825,resulte  1  in  an  Assembly  in  which 
the  Family  Compact  was  in  a  minority,  and  outside  the  Assembly 
the  mantle  of  Gourlay  had  fallen  on  William  Lyon  Mackenzie. 
Little  need  be  said,  especially  in  this  work,  of  Mackenzie.  His 
story,  surely,  notwithstanding  some  faults  not  an  unaffecting  one, 
has  been  told  by  an  appreciative  and  able  pen.*  It  would  be  un- 
generous to  deny  either  Mackenzie  or  Gourlay,  some  of  the  credit 
for  responsible  government.  But  neither  of  them  conceived  the 
idea  of  responsible  government  as  we  enjoy  it.  Mackenzie  advo- 
cated making  the  Legislative  Council  elective.  This,  he  thought, 
would  remedv  all  existinr/  evils.  Baldwin  was  the  first  to  see 
how  the  knot  might  be  cut,  and  it  is  to  him  we  owe  our  present 
form  of  government,  and  that  the  country  tided  successfully  over 
a  dangerous  crisis. 

That  there  were  ample  grounds  for  complaint  and  agitation  in 
those  days  may  be  easily  shown.  In  1825,  a  question  arose  re- 
specting the  reporting  of  the  debates  of  the  House  of  Assembly.  A 
vote  was  passed  to  meet  the  expense,  but  was  dishonoured  by  the 
governor.     In  1826,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  inquire  into 


♦  Charles  Lindsey. 


388 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


m 


the  expediency  of  encouraging  reporting,  with  power  to  send  for 
persons  and  papers.  John  Rolph  was  chairman,  and  he  reported 
on  the  26th  of  December.  It  was  submitted  that  in  every  free 
country  the  public  had  encouraged  the  reporting  of  Legisla- 
tive proceedings,  that  the  English  House  of  Commons  had  never 
succeeded  in  embarrassing  or  suppressing  their  publication,  that 
valuable  knowledge  relating  to  parliamentary  histoiy,  the  usages 
and  privileges  of  parliament,  and  ',he  liberties  of  the  people  had 
been  derived  from  such  publication,  that  in  the  then  state  of  the 
Province  there  was  not  suiScient  patronage  given  to  any  one  jour- 
nal to  reward  a  reporter  for  the  time  and  labour  which  would  be 
consumed  in  reporting  the  debates,  and  that  as  the  vote  of  the 
previous  years  had  been  dishonoured  by  His  Excellency,  it  was 
the  duty  of  the  (Committee  to  recommend  in  the  strongest  manner 
such  measures  for  the  security  and  independence  of  the  press  as 
was  in  the  power  of  the  House,  &nd  free  from  the  veto  or  control 
of  the  present  administration.  It  is  evident  from  this  what  was 
the  arbitrary  character  of  the  Government  in  1826. 

Again,  on  February  14th,  1827,  John  Wilson,  the  speaker  of  the 
Commons  House  of  Asivjmbly,  in  the  name  of  the  House,  addressed 
His  Excellencj% saying  that  they  had  learned  that  it  was  his  de- 
sign to  prorogue  parliament  on  the  following  Saturday.  The 
number  and  importance  of  the  measures  in  progress  before  them 
and  which  it  would  be  impossible  to  despatch  by  that  time  in- 
duced them  to  request  that  His  Excellency  would  be  p^  ised  to 
defer  the  prorogation  to  a  more  distant  day.  The  request  was 
refused,  and  the  House  was  prorogued  on  Saturday  the  19th. 

Sir  P.  Maitland,  in  his  reply,  said  it  was  with  reluctance  he  had 
in  the  previous  year  acceded  to  a  similar  request  from  the  Legisla- 
tive Council.  To  avoid  the  occurrence  of  such  a  necessity  he  had 
that  session  given  an  early  intimation  of  the  intended  time  of  pro- 
rogation. If  any  unforesoen  objects  of  great  moment  had  presented 
themselves,  he  took  it  for  granted  that  they  would  have  referred 
to  them.  If  none  such  had  occurred  he  would  rather  leave  it  to 
the  Legislature  to  resume  at  a  future  session  any  matter  not  of 
extraordinary  public  moment  which  might  be  left  unfinished,  than 
"  produce  uncertainty  on  all  future  occasions  by  departing  from 
the  day  I  have  named." 


DOCTOR  BALDWIN. 


389 


At  this  time  we  find  W.  W.  Baldwin  in  parliament,  he  and  Wm. 
Lyon  Mackenzie  apparently  working  together.  The  Honourable 
Henry  John  Bolton,  Solicitor-General,  was  censured  by  the  House 
for  his  conduct  in  what  was  known  as  the  Hamilton  Outrage,  and 
for  his  bearing  before  a  committee  appointed  by  the  House. 
The  reproof  of  the  Speaker  is  on  the  journals.  Dr.  Baldwin  was 
active  in  bringing  Bolton  and  Allan  MacNab  before  the  House. 

Dr.  Baldwin  had  a  firm  grasp  of  the  principles  of  popular 
liberty,  and  he  bequeathed  his  principles  as  well  as  his  integrity 
to  his  son.  Indeed  his  son  expressly  declares  in  a  letter  written 
to  a  member  of  the  House  of  Assembly,  with  reference  to  his 
negotiations  with  Sir  Francis  Bond  Head,  that  hid  opinions  were 
not  hastily  formed,  but  were  imbibed  from  his  father.  The  student 
of  the  journals  of  the  Upper  Canada  House  of  Assembly,  will 
find  Dr.  Baldwin  mooting  constitutional  questions  in  1825.  The 
last  most  striking  glimpse  we  get  of  him  was  at  the  great  Reform 
demonstration  held  in  Yonge  Street,  and  called  the  Durham  meet- 
ing. "  The  old  Doctor,"  says  an  eye-witness,  "  was  pulled  off  the 
waggon,  and  they  told  him  it  was  only  his  gray  hairs  saved  him. 
Hincks  was  there  too,  and  he  had  .  o  run  for  his  life." 

He  early  removed  to  Toronto,  where  his  son  Robert  was  born, 
in  1804.  Here,  if  a  Canadian  colloquialism  is  permissible,  he  went 
back  on  iEsculapius,  and  began  to  court  the  stern  Muse  of  law. 
Rather  would  it  be  more  correct  to  say  that  he  united  medijal  and 
forensic  practice.  He  had,  so  early  as  1802,  employed  himself  in 
the  even  more  useful  character  of  pedagogue.  Advertisements 
appeared  in  the  public  prints  of  those  days,  saying  that  Dr.  Bald- 
win, understanding  tliat  some  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  Town  of 
York  were  anxions  for  the  establishment  of  a  classical  school, 
intended  to  open  a  school  in  which  he  would  instruct  twelve  boys 
in  writing,  reading,  classics,  and  arithmetic,  the  terms  for  each  boy 
being  eight  guineas  per  annum,  payable  quarterly  or  half-yearly, 
"  one  guinea  entrance,  and  one  cord  of  wood  to  be  supplied  by 
each  of  the  boys  on  opening  the  school."  A  note  to  the  advertise- 
ment said  that  the  advertiser  would  meet  his  pupils  at  Mr,  Will- 
cocks's  house  m  Duke  Street.  The  date  is  York,  Dec.  18th,  1802, 
and  the  school  was  to  commence  on  the  1st  of  January.  One  of 
his  pupils  was  the  late  Chief  Justice  McLean,  who  used  to  tell 


390 


THE   IIUSHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


how  the  pupils  got  a  holiday  on  the  biiih  of  tho  future  statesman, 
in  1804.  Dr.  Baldwin  was,  with  a  number  of  others,  called  to  the 
bar  without  having  received  any  previous  training.  In  connexion 
with  his  dual  practice,  some  annising  anecdotes  are  told.  It  was 
not  an  uncommon  thing  for  him  to  receive,  vrhile  engaged  in  an 
intricate  law  suit,  a  peremptory  call  to  be  present  at  the  advent 
into  the  world  of  some  who  were  destined  to  become  well-known 
citizens  of  Toronto.  The  judge  would  usually  adjourn  the  court, 
pending  the  interesting  event. 

Travelling  on  circuit  in  those  days  was  not  a  pleasant  matter. 
The  journey  from  York  to  Niagara,  when  navigation  closed,  had 
to  be  performed  on  foot,  there  being  no  roads  or  paths  for  even 
a  single  horse.  On  one  such  journey  Dr.  Baldwin  lost  his  way, 
and  was  compelled  to  sleep  in  the  woods  all  night,  and  next  day 
swim  the  River  Credit,  which  was  swollen. 

There  is  perhaps  but  one  street  in  Toronto  worthy  of  its  pro- 
gress and  its  future.  All  our  streets  are  too  narrow  with  one  ex- 
ception. But  Spadina  Avenue  is  worthy  of  any  capital  in  the 
world.  This  avenue  which  is  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  wide 
was  laid  out  by  Dr.  Baldwin  as  an  approach  to  his  residence  at 
Spadina,  where  he  fondly  hoped  a  Baldwin  would  for  ever  dwell. 
He  wished  to  found  a  family,  the  head  of  which  should  draw  a 
princely  revenue  from  an  entailed  estate.  Oddly  enough,  it  was 
his  son  who  csrried  through  the  legislature  the  bill  abolishing  the 
rights  of  primogeniture.  He  died  in  1844,  and  another  Irishman, 
Sir  Francis  Hincks,  placed  a  chaplet  on  the  tomb  of  one  so  worthy, 
so  disinterested  and  so  excellent,  whose  loss  was  of  a  magnitude 
it  was  difficult  to  appreciate,  and  still  more  difficult  to  repair. 

There  had  already  long  entered  on  the  stage  of  public  life  one 
well  calculated  to  repair  that  loss,  who  was  connected  by  the  dear- 
est ties  with  the  versatile  professional  man  and  enlightened  states- 
man, who  had  thus  passed  away  amid  eulogy  which  was  without 
affectation,  and  a  regret  whose  universality  defied  hyperbole.    The 

name  of  Robert  Baldwin  is  a  household  word  in  Canada.  But 
perhaps  his  character  is  frequently  misapprehended  by  all  classes, 

and  to  the  rising  generation  his  remarkable  career  is  known  only 

in  outline.     To  a  man  who  was  not  without  fairness  and  who  had 

a  respectable  amount  of  literary  ability,  the  most  spotless  states- 


BALDWINS  COURAGE. 


891 


man  Canada  has  produced  seemed  an  unscrupulous  agitator.* 
To  others  his  character  lias  appeared  weak,  because  his  views  on 
religious  (questions  were  what  would  be  called  high  church.  A 
great  hand  has,  however,  demonstrated  that  we  cannot  measure 
the  strength  of  a  man's  mind  by  his  beliefs  within  that  region 
which  admits  of  no  tests,  on  which  the  accumidated  expeiience  of 
mankind  throws  little  or  no  light,  which  according  to  pecidiarity 
of  faculty  and  character  assumes  such  different  hues  and  vary- 
ing importance,  on  which  some  tread  as  Ciirist  did  v.'r>  the  sea, 
as  though  it  was  solid  land,  and  on  which  others  are  explorers 
without  compass  or  chart,  wandering  voyagers  of  despair,  for 
whom  no  guiding  stai'  ever  glitters  and  for  whom  no  port  is  re- 
served. Mr.  Mackenzie,  the  present  prime  minister,  once  s})oke  of 
Baldwin  as  a  pure-minded  but  timid  statesman.  But  the  truth 
is  he  exemplified  in  the  happiest  manner  the  family  motto,  "  iiee 
ti/mide  nee  tertiere."  He  has  been  described  as  a  man  of  one  idea ; 
one  idead  men  are  never  timid.  If  he  shrank  from  dealing  in  a 
sweepingly  radical  manner  with  the  Clergy  Reserves,  it  was  not 
timidity  held  him  back,  but  his  scruples.  "  Alas ! "  said  the 
Elector  Prince  Frederick,  when  the  Bohemians  would  choose  him 
as  their  King.  "  If  I  accept  the  crown  I  shall  be  accused  of  ambi- 
tion, if  I  reject  it  I  shall  be  branded  Avlth  cowardice."  When  at 
one  time  it  seemed  that  Mr.  Hiucks  was  flirting  with  the  Govern- 
ment, and  the  Inspector-General  at  the  time  called  out,  "  Go  it 
Hincks,  we'll  take  care  of  you,"  Baldwin  dropped  Mr.  Hincks  a 
note,  telling  him  to  decide  at  once  to  which  side  he  belonged. 
Did  this  look  like  timidity  ?  The  scathing  tongue  of  Hincks  was 
not  a  lash  a  timid  man  would  gratuitously  provoke.  For  a  long 
time  he  had  in  the  House  onlj-  a  following  of  seven.  Ho  lived  to 
have  too  many  supporters.^f*  But  did  he  shun  the  wilderness  ? 
On  the  last  occasion  of  his  election  he  was  speaking  at  Sharon, 
north  of  Newmarket,  when  an  elector  said  to  him,,  that  they  would 
elect  him  if  he  would  pledge  himself  to  do  avfuy  with  the  Cleigy 


*  Bonnji^castle's  "  Canada  and  the  Canadians."    Vol.  2,  p.  157. 

fWhen  at  the  head  of  the  Government  and  in  the  full  tide  of  his  success  he  used  to 
say  :  "  When  a  government  has  too  many  supporters  the  members  of  the  jiai-ty  are 
too  exacting.  Whereas,  wh  n  there  is  a  strong  opposition,  you  can  say — '  Oh  we  cannot 
do  that,  we  should  lose  our  position-' " 


392 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


Reserves.  Baldwin's  reply  reminds  us  of  Macaulay's  and  Mill's, 
when  each  was  asked  about  his  religious  beliefs  "  Have  I  ever," 
said  Baldwin,  "  pledged  myself  on  any  question  ?  I  go  to  the 
House  as  a  free  man.  I  am  here  to  declare  to  you  my  opinions. 
If  you  approve  of  those  opinions  and  elect  me  I  will  carry  them 
out  in  parliament.  If  I  change  those  opinions  I  will  come  back 
and  surrender  my  trust  and  give  you  an  opportunity  of  re-electing 
me  or  choosing  another  candidate,"  He  would  go  to  parliament, 
not  as  their  delegate,  but  as  their  representative.  He  saw  that 
what  Frjnch  radicals  have  so  often  insisted  on  and  their  imita- 
tors in  other  countries  have  preached,  the  "mandat  imperatif" 
degrades  the  member,  and  in  degrading  the  member  degrades 
parliament.  Not  only  so.  It  deprives  the  country  of  the  best 
fruits  genius  has  to  bestow.  Did  such  language  look  like  that  of 
cowardice  ?  He  lost  his  seat  on  the  next  occasion,  because  he  had 
the  courage  of  his  opinions.  There  was  a  person  in  North  York 
named  Pearson,  a  very  strong  local  man.  This  important  indivi- 
dual called  one  day  on  Baldwin  and  urged  his  views  about  the 
Clergy  Reserves.  Baldwin  was  firm  respecting  his  view  of  the 
way  the  question  should  be  settled.  His  firmness  was  mistaken 
for  haughtiness.  The  local  magnate  was  offended,  went  home, 
made  his  ring  and  vowed  Baldwin  should  be  beaten  iiext  election. 
If  the  constituency  was  in  favour  of  sweeping  away  the  abuse  of 
the  Clergy  Reserves  and  doing  this  in  a  way  of  which  Baldwin 
would  disapprove,  it  was  quite  right,  whatever  Mr.  Baldwin's 
past  services,  to  choose  another  candidate.  I  have  been  assured 
however  that  but  for  the  supposed  offence  to  Pearson,  he  would 
have  been  again  elected.  The  moral  for  ambitious  candidates  is 
clearly  to  cultivate  local  magnates.  The  moral  for  the  people  is 
that  they  should  think  for  themselves  and  rise  above  sectionalism. 
The  proposition  that,  in  dealing  with  the  character  and  capa- 
city of  a  public  man,  you  have  nothing  to  do  with  his  private  life 
unless  his  private  conduct  should  interfere  with  the  efficient  dis- 
charge of  his  public  functions,  is  incontrovertible.  There  is  a 
danger  even  in  dwelling  or  private  virtues  while  the  man's 
career  is  yet  unfinished,  because  attention  is  diverted  from  the 
real  issue  of  capacity  and  integrity.  Nor  has  it  been  uncommon 
to  hear  the  private  virtues  of  the  man  pleaded  in  extenuation  of 


BALDWINS   COURAGE. 


393 


the  inaptitude  of  the  statesman.  When  it  was  pleaded  for  Mr. 
Percival  that  he  was  a  good  father,  Sydney  Smith  wittily  said  ho 
had  prefen'ed  that  that  gentleman  had  whipped  the  little  Perci- 
vals  if  he  had  saved  his  country.  When  however  a  man  has 
passed  from  the  scene,  his  private  chanicter  may  for  a  double 
reason  be  dwelt  on  ;  he  is  no  longer  a  candidate  for  public  place, 
and  he  is  beyond  hypocrisy.  Then  if  the  statesman,  or  soldier, 
or  poet,  or  orator  has  worn  the  white  rose  of  a  blameless  private 
life,  it  ought  to  be  pointed  out.  Baldwin  was  not  a  man  of  genius 
as  that  term  is  properly  understood.  But  though  he  had  not  the 
incommunicable  gift  he  seems  to  have  been  made  of  the  choicest 
human  clay ;  no  where  does  this  show  more  beautifully  than  in  hia 
private  life.  A  tenderly  affectionate  father,  as  a  I'^ver  and  a 
husband,  this  man  of  somewhat  cold  and  stern  manners,  takes  his 
place  side  by  side  with  the  heroes  of  romantic  attachments.  His 
wife  was  the  sister  of  the  Hon.  Robert  Baldwin  Sullivan,  and  there- 
fore his  own  first  cousin.  She  was  singularly  beautiful.  They  were 
married  in  1827  ;  she  died  in  1836,  when  he  was  only  thirty-two 
years  of  age,  and  for  twenty-two  years  he  cherished  her  memory, 
as  Petrarch  that  of  Laura,  as  Dante  that  of  Beatrice.  He  was 
accustomed  to  retire  to  his  room  on  the"  anniversary  of  her  death, 
and  meditate  and  recall  in  a  happy  melancholy,  the 'touch  of  that 
vanished  hand,  and  hear  in  the  stillness  of  his  sorrow  the  silvery 
note  of  that  voice  which  was  forever  hushed.  1  have  said  he  was 
not  a  man  of  genius,  but  his  speeches  show  })ower  and  breadth 
of  argument  and  sometimes  not  a  little  humour.  It  was  he  chris- 
tened Lominick  Daly,  the  permanent  secretary,  the  Vicar  of  Bray 
of  Canadian  politics,  the  lily  of  the  valley.*  He  had  that  which 
Cicero  says  is  one  of  the  greatest  powers  an  orator  can  have, 
authority.  At  a  reform  demonstration  which  took  place  in  the 
County  of  Hastings,  on  the  17th  Feb.,  1848,  a  speaker  said  he 
had  been  asked  how  it  was  that  Mr.  Baldwin  carried  conviction 
when  he  had  so  little  of  the  orator  about  him.  The  reply  was, 
"  I  am  not  surprised  Avhen  I  consider  the  patriotic  and  able  course 


"Coming  to  the  character  of  the  Hon.  Dominick  Daly,  he  fMr.  Baldwin)  stopped 
and  asked  what  he  should  say  of  him.  That  honourable  gentleman  said  he  is  like  the 
lily  of  the  valley— he  toils  not,  neither  does  he  spin.  Really  we  can  afford  to  make  him 
a  present  to  the  government  (loud  laughter)."      Parliamentary  report. 


394 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


!i 


I 


lie  ha.s  pursued  in  public  life."  His  reading  was  not  wide,  but 
his  literary  taste  wns  g()o<l.  Moore  was  his  favourite  poet.  The 
same  fervour  which  carried  conviction  to  political  audiences  per- 
suaded juries.  They  felt  he  was  a  nian  who  dared  not  lie.  Mr. 
James  Stitt  u.sed  to  travel  with  him  on  his  electioneering  tours,  and 
he  has  often  heaid  him  say: — '  I  would  ratlier  never  be  elected 
at  all  than  tell  an  untruth  to  one  of  these  men."  His  life  has 
something  of  the  completeness  and  beauty  of  a  well-kept  garden, 
where  tree,  and  hill,  and  streai'i  balance  each  other,  where  if  there 
is  no  sublimity  there  is  no  deformity,  where  the  air  has  no  wild 
stimulus  of  the  mountain  breeze,  no  smiting  thrilling  power  of 
ocean  wave,  but  only  the  domestic  i)urity  of  the  well-kept 
home.  Milton  was  a  disagreeable  husband  and  a  harsh  fath  n- ; 
Howard  could  turn  away  from  his  philanthrophic  labours  to  play 
the  tyrant  in  his  own  house,  and  to  invent  the  dreadful  system  of 
solitary  confinement ;  Marlborougn  was  a  miser  and  a  corruption- 
ist ;  the  victor  of  Trafalgar  was  the  slave  of  a  childish  vanity ; 
Wolfe  was  at  times  a  vain-glorious  boaster ;  Pitt  was  too  fond  of 
the  bottle ;  the  heroic  William  was  unfaithful  to  his  wife ;  the 
youth  of  Alfred  was  stained  by  dissipation.  But  though  Bald- 
win was  neither  a  Milton,  nor  a  Marlborough,  nor  a  Pitt,  but  a 
brave  wise  statesman  who  was  equal  to  the  demands  made  on 
him  by  his  country,  if  we  cannot  claim  for  him  that  his  life  was 
as  splendid  as  that  of  those  great  men,  we  can  that  it  was  more 
balanced. 

Baldwin  was  born  on  the  12th  of  May,  1804,  on  the  north- 
west corner  of  Frederick  Street  and  Palace  (now  Front),  at  the 
house  of  his  grandfather,  Mr.  Willcocks.  This  gentleman  was  a 
native  of  Cork,  who  in  1790  conceived  the  project  of  founding  a 
settlement  in  Canada.  He  was  promised  a  township,  n  condition 
that  he  should  settle  it  with  emigrants.  When  he  arrived  with 
his  emigrants  as  far  as  Osw^pgo,  he  found  that  the  Government 
had  rescinded  the  Orders  in  Council.  Of  the  emigrants  he 
had  brought  out  he  sent  back  at  his  own  expense  as  many  as 
wished  to  return.  Those  who  were  so  disposed  dispersed  themselves 
throughout  the  United  Stat.es,  while  he  and  his  family  came  to 
Canada  and  received  allotments  of  land.  Dr.  Baldwin,  shortly 
after  coming  to  Canada,  married  a  dauj^terof  Mr.  Willcocks,  by 


I 


1 


POLITICS   IN   1825. 


395 


whom  lie  had  five  sons,  two  of  whom  .survived  liim,  Robert  nnd 
William  Augustus. 

Robert  was  called  to  the  bar  in  tlie  Trinity  Tenn  of  1825,  and 
practised  with  his  father  under  tlie  name  of  Baldwin  &  Son.  They 
afterwards  associated  with  them  Robert  Baldwin  Sullivan. 
Robert  early  became  a  member  of  the  Osgoode  Society,  and  at 
his  death  lield  the  office  of  Treasurer.  He  knew  the  value  of  a 
high  chnractei-  to  the  profession,  and  as  a  bencher  was  very  strict 
in  enforcing  ])rofessional  rules.  We  have  seen  how  he  early  mar- 
ried his  cousin.  He  had  by  her  two  sons  and  two  daughters.  One 
of  the  daughters  married  the  Honourable  John  Ross.  One  of  the 
sons  chose  the  sea  for  a  profession.  The  eldest  son,  W.  Willcocks, 
occui)ied  for  some  time  a  large  farm  handed  down  from  his  great 
grandfather,  Mr.  Willcocks. 

In  1824  be  ran  for  the  County  of  York  with  James  E.  Small, 
afterwards  Judge  of  the  County  of  Middlesex,  but  both  were 
defeated  by  Messrs.  Ketchum  and  Mackenzie.  In  the 
following  year,  Mr.  John  B  Robinson,  who  then  represented 
York  (Toronto),  vacated  his  office  of  Attorney-General,  and 
his  seat  in  Parliament,  on  becoming  Chief  Justice  of  the 
Court  of  Queen's  Bench.  Baldwin  came  forw.  rd,  his  opponent 
now,  being,  oddly  enough,  Mr.  James  E.  Small.  Baldwin  was 
returned  but  lost  his  seat  on  petition,  there  being  an  informality 
in  the  Writ  which  was  issued  by  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  instead 
of  by  the  Speaker  of  the  TTouse.  This  was  one  of  the  first  pro- 
tests against  personal,  and  in  favour  of  parliamentary,  govern- 
ment. Mr.  Baldwin,  on  again  presenting  himself  was  again 
elected.  The  next  year,  on  the  death  of  George  IV.,  parliament 
was  dissolved,  and  Mr.  Baldwin  on  seeking  re-election  was  de- 
feated by  Mr.  Jarvis*  whom  he  had  beaten  twelve  months  before. 
From  that  period  until  the  Union  he  did  not  seek  a  seat  in  Parlia- 
ment :  but  he  continued  to  watch  the  progress  of  events  and 
never  ceased  to  contend  that  so  long  as  the  executive  officers 
were  independent  of  the  people,  no  change  in  the  character  of 
the  Legislative  Council  would  be  other  than  illusory,  or  as  he 


*  Mr.  W.  B,  Jarvis,  then,  and  for  many  years  afterwards  sheriff  of  the  Home  T>ia- 
trict  and  afterwards  ot  the  County  of  York. 


306 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


i 


somutiiiujH  put  it,  that  tho  Executive  Council  to  })o  effective  should 
always  l)e  able  to  connnand  tho  support  of  the  Legislative  Assem- 
bly. We  have  here  the  key  note  to  his  whole  political  career. 
He  laboured  to  make  the  Executive  dependent  on  the  will  of  the 
people,  when  such  a  claim  was  denounced  as  revolutionary.  It 
was  to  secure  this  object  as  we  shall  see,  that  he  tbuglit  with 
such  unbending  purpose,  that  generous,  noble  character,  but  re- 
actionary governor.  Lord  Metcalfe,  with  his  ideas  of  Government 
borrowed  from  India  and  Jamaica. 

In  1835,  Baldwin  visited  England  and  the  Continent.  While 
in  England  he  carried  on  a  correspondence  with  Lord  Glenelg, 
the  Minister  for  the  Colonies — for  he  was  denied  an  interview 
— urging  the  necessity  of  giving  the  Canadian  people  a  real 
constitution  instead  of  the  sham  by  which  they  were  mocked. 
On  his  return  to  Canada,  he  found  Sir  Francis  Bond  Head 
at  war  with  the  Assembly  and  with  popular  opinion.  Influ- 
enced perhaps  by  instructions  from  home,  and  perhaps  by  a 
sincere  desire  to  serve  the  Province,  Sir  Francis  Head  determined 
to  have  an  Executive  Council  composed  of  the  leaders  of  brfth  parties. 
He  was  confessedly  no  politician.  We  have  had  for  many  years  in 
our  midst  a  distinguished  man  who  is  not  only  infinitely  superior  to 
Sir  Francis  Head  as  a  literary  man,  but  is  a  veteran  political 
writer.  He  has  contended  for  government  without  party,  but  has 
never  explained  the  manner  in  which  such  a  government  could  be 
worked  under  a  constitutional  system.  W^hen  Head  made 
-overtures  to  Baldwin,  Baldwin  said  he  would  afford  him 
assistance  on  condition  that  he  had  his  entire  confidence,  and  that 
responsible  government  should  be  established  ;  pointing  out  that 
under  responsible  government  His  Excellency  would  have  the  full 
power  of  a  constitutional  king,  which  was  all  that  the  Canadian 
constitution,  properly  understood,  gave  him ;  that  he  would 
always  have  the  right  to  accept  or  reject  the  advice  of  any  of  his 
exe<^,utive  councellors,  they  of  course  resigning  on  their  advice  be- 
ing rejected.  "  His  Excellency,"  says  BaMwin  in  his  letter  to  Mr. 
Perry,  "'very  candidly  declared  his  entire  dissent  from  such  views 
and  opinions.  He,  nevertheless,  with  the  most  gracious  expres- 
sion of  satisfaction  at  the  very  full  and  candid  manner  in  which  I 
had  opened  them  to  him,  renewed  his  soliv  >   «,tion  for  my  accept- 


SIR   FRANCIS   BOND    MEAD. 


sor 


ance  of  a  soat  in  the  Executive  Council,  suf^j^esting  as  an  induce- 
ment for  such  acceptance  the  increased  facilities  which  my 
place  in  the  Executive  Council  would  afford  me  towards  the 
more  efficiently  representing  and  urging  my  views."  Baldwin  told 
him  that  no  administration  could  give  him  much  assistance  that 
had  not  the  conhdonce  of  the  majority  of  the  Provincial  Pai'Ha- 
mont,  and  tliat  he  did  not  think  this  confidence  could  be  obtained 
without  more  help  than  his  single  name  would,  bring.  In  the 
seconfl  place  he  said  he  had  no  confidence,  politically  speaking,  in 
the  existing  councillors,  all  of  them  Tories.  These  were,  Peter- 
Robinson,  Commissioner  of  Crown  Land.i,  O.  H.  Monkl.viul,  In.spec- 
tor  General,  and  Joseph  Wells,  Bursar  of  King's  College.  After  a 
consultation  with  Dr.  Baldwin  and  Dr.  Rolph,  Robert  Baldwin 
declined  to  enter  the  Government. 

The  Lieutenant-Governor  again  sent  for  him  and  requested  him 
to  state  more  explicitly  what  the  assistance  was  to  which  he  harl 
alluded.  Baldwin  replied  that  the  assistance  of  Dr.  Rolph,  Mr. 
Bidwell.  his  father,  and  Mr.  Dunn  was  most  desirable.  After 
further  negotiations  Baldwin,  with  his  friends  Rolph  and  Dunn,, 
were  sworn  in.  The  new  councillors,  as  we  have  seen,  did  not 
conceal  from  the  Lieutenant-Governor  their  views  as  to  tiie  pro- 
priety of  the  Executive  Council  being  consulted  in  all  public 
affairs.  They  patriotically  gave  Sir  Francis  Head  a  trial,  especially 
as  he  urged  that  in  the  Council  thpy  would  have  more  opportunity 
of  advancing  thoir  views.  Sir  Francis  began  to  make  appoint- 
ments on  his  own  responsibility — appointments  which  were 
censured  by  the  Assembly.  The  duties  of  the  Council  were  re- 
stricted to  land  matters,  and  they  were  kept  in  ignorance  of 
administrative  acts  for  which,  nevertheless,  public  opinion  held 
them  responsible.  Contrary  altogether  to  the  expectations  of  the 
Lieutenant-Governor,  of  the  House  of  Assembly,  and  of  uhe  public, 
the  old  members  of  the  Council  joined  the  new  in  sigaing  a  re- 
monstrance against  s.  system  of  government  under  which  the 
sworn  councillors  ',vere  kept  studiously  in  the  dark  as  to  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Lieutenant-Governor.  It  can  scarcely  be  doubted 
that  Sir  Francis  Head  expected  that  he  would  have  the  support 
of  the  three  councillors  who  had  been  for  years  acting  under  the 
old  irresponsible  system.     He,  however,  did  not  hesitate  as  to  his; 


398 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


1  ' 


I 


i  I 


course,  which  was  to  require  hiw  councillors  either  to  abandon 
their  principles  or  to  forfeit  his  confidence.  The  result  was  the 
resignation  of  the  entire  Council,  luid  a  breach  between  Sir  Fran- 
cis Head  and  the  House  of  Assembly,  which  had  been  but  recently 
elected,  and  which  contained  a  majority  of  Reformers. 

At  tiiis  crisis  an  Irishman  stept  prominently  forward  on  the 
political  stage,  who  was  to  play  a  brilliant  and  even  distinguished 
part,  and  till  a  great  space  in  history,  though  his  career  unfor- 
tunately leaves  on  the  mind  the  impression  that  he  was  cynically 
indifferent  as  to  the  side  he  espoused.  This  impression  is  in  part 
true,  in  part  false.  The  weak  side  of  his  character  comes  out  in 
the  reply  he  made  to  a  friend  who  complimented  him  on  a  bril- 
liant speech  made  on  one  side  of  a  question.  "  Yes,"  he  said  "  it 
was  a  good  sj  'ech,  but  not  half  so  good  as  the  one  I  made  a  year 
ago  from  the  other  point  of  view."  This,  however,  may  have  been 
in  part  jest.  The  strong  side  of  his  character  appears  in  his 
large  grasp  of  political  issues.  Robert  Baldwin  Sullivan  was  a 
contrast  to  his  cousin  Robert  Baldwin.  Intellectually  brilliant, 
and  morally  weak,  he  yet  did  work  for  Canada  which  should 
never  be  forgotten.  He  is  indeed  the  most  shining  figure  among 
the  Irishmen  who  took  part  in  the  political  struggles  which  pre- 
ceded the  establishment  of  parliamentary  or,  as  it  has  been  gen- 
erally termed  in  Canada, — Responsibk  Government.  A  native 
of  Baudon,  in  the  County  of  Cork,  whence  his  fathe  .•  emigrated 
to  Upper  Canada  in  the  year  1819,  when  the  future  statesman  was 
a  youth  of  about  eighteen  years  of  age,*  his  mother,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  a  sister  of  Dr.  William  Warren  Baldwin,  and  it  was  ow- 
ing to  the  fact  that  many  members  of  his  wife's  family  had 
made  Canada  their  home,  that  Mr.  Sullivan's  father  was  led  to 
come  here, 

Robert  S".llivan  was  for  a  short  time  employed  in  business,  his 
elder  brother  Daniel,  who  died  soon  after  arriving  at  manhood 
having  been  destined  for  the  legal  profession.  Robert  soon  deter- 
mined to  follov/  the  same  career  as  his  brother,  and  v/a.>  articled 
to  his  uncL  Dr.  Baldwin  about  the  same  time  as  his  disti;iguished 
cousin.     Mr.  ^"llivan  speedily    attained  great  eminence  in  his 

*  Morgan,  with  his  usual  accuracy,  says  Sullivan  was  born  in  Toronto. 


1    ■^      *^T 


ROBERT   BALDWIN   SULLIVAN. 


391) 


profession,  to  which  he  devoted  himself  most  assiduously.  At  this 
period  of  his  career  he  had  not  taken  any  active  part  in  politics, 
although  from  his  family  connexions  he  was  looked  upon  as  belong- 
ing to  the  liberal  party,  with  which  his  uncle  and  brother-in  law 
had  been  identified.  Both  had,  however,  in  a  great  measure  with- 
drawn from  public  life,  when  R.  B.  Sullivan  entered  on  his  pub- 
lic career.  About  this  time  a  letter  was  addressed  by  Mr.  Joseph 
Hume,  M.  P.,  to  Mr,  William  Lyon  Mackenzie  in  which  he  refer- 
red in  strong  terms  to  the  "  baneful  domination  of  the  Moth  jr 
Country/'  and  expressed  a  hope  that  the  subsisting  connexion 
would  soon  terminate.  This  language  created  intense  excitement 
throughout  Upper  Canada,  and  a  public  meeting  was  called,  the 
avowed  object  of  which  was  to  unite  all  classes  of  the  people,  who 
were  favourable  to  British  connexion,  without  reference  to  home 
views  or  questions  of  domestic  policy.  On  this  occasion  Mr.  Sul- 
livan took  a  prominent  part  in  opposition  to  Mr.  Mackenzie,  who 
had  recently  returned  from  England,  whither  he  had  gone  on  a 
political  mission  after  his  expulsion  from  the  fourth  Parliament  of 
Upper  Canada. 

About  this  time  the  City  of  Toronto  was  incorporated,  and  Mr. 
Mackenzie  became  its  first  mayor  in  the  year  1834,  During  this 
year  Mr.  Sullivan  took  considerable  interest  in  municipal  affairs, 
acting  in  concert  with  the  minority  of  the  corporation,  who  were 
members  of  the  Conservative  party.  At  the  next  municipal  elec- 
tion he  became  a  candidate  for  St.  David's  Ward,  in  opposition  to 
Mr.  Mackenzie,  and  carried  his  election,  after  which  he  was  chosen 
mayor  of  the  city.  He  was  filling  that  office,  and  devoting  him- 
.self  most  energetically  to  the  improvement  of  the  city,  and 
more  especially  to  its  drainage,  when  Sir  Francis  Head  at  the 
commencement  of  the  year  1830,  succeeded  Sir  John  Colborne  a.s 
Lieutenant-Governor.  The  earliest  acts  of  the  new  Lieutenant- 
Governor,  with  their  results  have  been  recorded. 

In  the  present  crisis  Sir  Francis  Head  applied  for  assistance 
to  Mr.  Sullivan,  whose  term,  of  office  as  mayor  had  recently  ex- 
pired. Sir  Francis  Head  was  evidently  desirous  to  avoid  identi- 
fying himself  with  the  ^Id  official  party,  and  Mr.  Sullivan 
occupied  exactly  the  position  that  was  likely  to  render  him  a 
valuable  ally.     He  had  no  sympathies  with  the  old  party,  and  yet 


400 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


i 


i 


I 


he  had  by  a  popular  vote  in  the  capital  city  defeated  the  most 
active  member  of  the  Reform  party,  and  had  thus  become  for  the 
time  being  the  leader  of  the  Conservatives.     Sullivan  accepted  the 
offer  made  to  him,  in  conjunction  with  the  Honourable  William 
Allan,  Captain  (afterwards  Admiral)  Baldwin,  uncle  of   Robert 
Baldwin,  John  Elmsley,  and  Mr.  Cross.     Mr.  (noAV  Chief  Justice) 
Draper  was  soon  after  added.     The  House  of  Assembly  passed  a 
resolution  of  want  of  confidence  in  the  new  councillors.  The  sequel 
is  like  a  burlesque.    Sir  Francis  and  the  Assembly  entered  on  a  war 
of  words,  in  which  the  literary  training  of  the  former  helped  him 
to  extemporise  an  artillery  of  Billingsgt    .,  with  which  the  old 
worn  metal  of  the  latter  could  not  compare.     In  agitation  he  beat 
Mackenzie,  who  beaten  at  constitutional  weapons  placed  himself 
at  Sir  Francis  Head's  meicy.  by  leaning,  however  lightly  at  first, 
to  rebellion  in  a  Province  which  was  as  loyal  then  as  it  is  to-day. 
This  enabled  Sir  Francis  to  impress  the  people  with  the  idea  that 
the  constitution  was  in  danger,  and  that  the  edge  of  the  axe  was 
on  the  rope  that  bound  us  to  British  rule.     Not  only  did  the 
demagogic  talents  of  the  Lieutenant-Governor  weaken  Mackenzie 
7        and  Bid  well, — men  like  Baldwin  stood  completely  aside  from  them. 
Bidweil  was  foolish  enough  to  lay  before  the  House  a  seditious 
letter  of  Papineau.     The  majority  of  the  A.s»embly  still  playing 
into  the  hands  of  the  Governor  stopped  the  supplies.    Government 
retorted  by  stopping  theirs.     Every  money  bill  passed  during  the 
session  was  blocked,  including  that  for  the  allowances  of  members. 
Sir  Francis  Head  prorogued  the  House,  and  in  doing  so  scolded 
the  members  roundly.   He  was  a  vain  man,  and  was  delighted  with 
the  excitement  he  had  created.     Nor  was  it  the  less  gratifying 
because  an  element  of  it  was  the  shock  of  disappointment  he 
had  given   the   Liberals.     When   he   arrived  some   few    weeks 
earlier,  the  walls  were  placarded  v/ith  "Sir  Francis  Head,  a  tried 
Reformer; "  words  which  caused  no  nraall  surprise  to  a  man  who, 
up  to  that  moment  had,  as  he  said  himself,  no  more  connection 
with  human  politics  than  the  horses  which  were  drawing  him. 
Sir  Francis  Head's  conduct  contrasted  very  unfavourably  with  that 
of  Lord  Gosford  in  Lower  Canada ;  and  if  anything  could  justify 
Mackenzie  it  would  have  been  the  wild  and  ur-cerly  unconstitu- 
tional conduct  of  the  representative  of  Majesty  in  Upper  Canada. 


in 


1 


AN   EXCITING  GENERAL   ELECTION. 


401 


1 


He  dissolved  the  House,  and  put  before  the  country,  not  the  issue 
as  to  the  responsibility  of  the  Executive,  but  that  of  the  existence 
of  British  connexion.  "  Sir  F.  Head,"  says  Lord  Durham's  report, 
"  who  appears  to  have  thought  that  the  maintenance  of  the  connex- 
ion with  Great  Britain  depended  upon  his  triumph  over  the 
majority  of  the  A  ssembly,  embarked  in  the  contest  with  a  deter- 
mination to  use  every  influence  in  his  power  in  order  to  bring  it 
to  a  successful  issue.  He  succeeded,  in  fact,  in  putting  the  issue 
in  such  a  light  before  the  Province,  that  a  great  portion  of  the 
people  really  imagined  that  they  were  called  upon  to  decide  the 
question  of  separation  by  their  votes." 

A  most  exciting  general  election  took  place,  at  which  Baldwin 
was  not  a  candidate,  which  resulted  in  the  return  of  a  House  of 
Assembly  opposed  to  the  introduction  of  responsible  government. 
Mr.  Sullivan,  shortly  after  his  acceptance  of  office  as  an  Executive 
Councillor,  wa;-  created  a  Legislative  Councillor  and  Commissioner 
of  Crown  Lands,  which  latter  office  he  continued  to  hold  until  the 
Union. 

The  general  election  of  1836  was  followed  by  a  commercial 
crisis,  one  incident  of  which  was  the  suspension  of  specie  payment 
by  nearly  all  the  Canadian  Banks.  This  involved  an  extra  ses- 
sion of  the  Legislature,  which  was  speedily  followed  by  the  rebel- 
lion. 

We  have  already  seen  how  Irishmen  of  every  creed  turned  out 
in  defence  of  the  British  Canadian  flag.  "  The  great  mass  of  the 
emigrants,"  says  Sir  Richard  Bonnycast'e  writing  in  1846,  "  may 
however  be  said  to  come  from  Ireland,  ar  d  to  consist  of  mechanics 
of  tlie  most  inferior  class,  and  of  labourers.  If  they  be  Orange- 
men, they  defy  the  Pope  and  the  devil  as  heartily  in  Canada,  as 
in  Londonderry,  and  are  loyal  to  the  backbone.  If  they  are  Re- 
pealers, they,  come  here  sure  of  immediate  wealth,  to  kick  up  a 
deuce  of  a  row,  for  two  shillings  and  six  pence  is  paid  for  a  day's 
labour,  which  two  shillings  and  sixpence  was  a  hopeless  week's 
fortune  in  Ireland ;  yet  the  Catholic  Irish  who  have  been  long 
settled  in  the  country  are  by  no  mear  s  the  worst  subjects  in  this 
Transjitlantic  realm,  as  I  can  personally  testify,  having  had  the  com- 
mand of  large  bodies  of  them  during  the  border  troubles  of  1837-8. 
They  are  all  loyal  and  true.  In  the  event  of  a  war,  the  Catlioiic 
26 


402 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


Irish  to  a  man  will  be  on  the  side  of  England."  The  same  writer 
proceeds  to  pledge  himself  for  the  loyalty  of  the  Catholic  priesthood. 

On  the  18th  of  November,  1837,  Mackenzie,  Rolph,  and  Morrison, 
with  others,  had  decided  at  a  secret  meeting  on  a  plan  of  opera- 
tions, in  unison  with  Fapineau.  The  rebellious  bund  were  io  be 
marched  by  Yonge  Street,  on  Toronto.  The  place  of  rendezvot  s  was 
Montgomery's  tavern;  the  time,  between  six  o'clock  and  ten  o'clock 
at  night  on  the  17th  of  December.  Four  thousand  men  were  to 
march  on  Toronto,  seize  the  arms  in  the  City  Hall,  and  capture 
the  Lieutenant-Governor  and  his  advisers.  Rumours  had  reached 
Sir  Francis  Head,  of  the  intended  rising,  but  he  was  incredulous. 
On  the  2nd  of  December,  our  old  friend  Captain  Fitzgibbon  learned 
that  quantities  of  pikes  had  been  collected  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Markham.  Still  nothing  was  done,  and  one  of  the  Judges 
was  heard  to  declare  that  the  over  zeal  of  the  Captain  had  given 
him  a  good  deal  of  trouble. 

How  Rolph  deranged  Mackenzie's  plans,  who  was,  with  his  ac- 
customed energy,  hurrying  about  the  country,  preparing  for  the 
rising ;  how  the  insurgent  leader  learned  \/ith  dismay,  on  the  3rd 
of  December,  that  Rolph  had  altered  the  day  of  attack  to  the  -ith  ; 
how  with  a  small  force  he  determined  to  advance  on  the  city  ;  how 
at  last  Sir  Francis  Head  became  alarmed,  and  asked  Baldwin  to  sfo 
and  meet  the  rebels  with  a  flag  of  truce,  and  ask  them  what  they 
wanted;  all  this  is  well  known.  Baldwin  said  he  had  no  objec- 
tion to  go,  but  he  wanted  to  have  some  one  with  him,  and  suggested 
Bidwell.  Bidwell  refused  to  go,  and  suggested  Dr,  Rolph.  Dr. 
Rolph,  the  "  secret  traitor,"  as  McMuUen  callt>  him,  rode  out  with 
Baldwin,  and  was  guilty  of  an  act  of  treachery,  which  left  an 
undying  impression  on  the  mind  of  the  honourable  man  he  had 
betrayed.  When  the  flag  of  truce  was  sent  forward,  Mackenzie 
replied  they  wanted  independence,  and  that  the  Governor  would 
have  to  put  his  message  in  writing  within  an  hour.  Rolph  and 
Baldwin  returned  with  the  answer  that  the  Lieutenant-Governor 
refused  to  comply  with  the  demands  of  the  insurgeuos.  Dr.  Rolph 
now  rode  up  to  Mackenzie,  and  advised  him  to  wait  until  six 
o'clock,  and  enter  the  city  under  cover  of  night.  Rolph  had  be- 
trayed his  Mend  and  his  country,  and  Baldwin  never  spoke  to  him 
again.     How  the  insurgent  mob  fled  before  the  fire  of  a  picket  of 


AN   ORATOR   IN   HUMBLE   LIFE. 


403 


loyalists,  need  not  be  dwelt  on,  nor  the  further  .stages  of  the  miser- 
able rebellion.  The  Irish  throughout  the  country.  Protestant  and 
Catholic,  turned  out  from  lonely  shanty  and  city  home.  Fitzcrib- 
bon,  by  his  precautionary  measures,  saved  many  lives  and  much 
money  for  the  country.  Thrice  the  Council  generously  voted  Iiim 
hve  thousand  acres  of  land,  and  thvice  was  the  vote  magnanimcusly 
disallowed.  The  Provincial  Parliament  parsed  a  vote  of  thanks  to 
him,  and  presented  him  with  a  sword  and  some  money.    In  1850 

M-v!'''^''r^'''.V^  ^''  "^'^'^^'y  ''"^^^^«'  Her  Majesty  created  him  a 
Mihtary  Knight  of  Windsor,  and  in  England,  therefore,  he  pas.sed 
away  the  evening  of  his  days.  There  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  nu.u- 
bers  of  Irish  who  turned  out,  in  1837,  for  the  flag;  but  it  is  only 
fair  to  state  that  in  the  list  of  those  arrested  on  weak  or  good 
grounds,  there  occur  a  good  many  Irish  names. 

In  Lower  Canada  an  important  part  was  played  by  a  compara- 
tively humble  man.  At  the  time  of  the  outbreak  there  was  in  Que 
bee  something  like  the  same  proportion  of  Irishmen,  or  men  of 
Irish  blood,  to  the  mass  of  the  French  Canadians,  as  there  is  to-day 
and  the  former  were  thought  likely  to  join  the  rebels.    Most  of 
them  were  Cathohcs  who  had  fled  from  a  land  for  whose  tenants 
no  Gladstone  had  yet  arisen,  and  when  the  voice  of  O'Connell  was 
thundering  against  England   But  though  they  had  not  had  great 
advantages  in  schooling,  their  mother  wit  told  most  of  them  that 
there  was  no  excuse  for  bringing  to  a  new  country  the  quarrels  of 
the  old,  that  here  they  had  aU  the  freedom  man  could  covet,  and 
that  It  was  imperative  on  them  to  play  a  patriotic  part,  and  swell 
the  ranks  of  the  volunteers.  There  were  a  few  waverers  in  Quebec 
and  their  numbers  were  exaggerated  in  reporiis  to  the  Government' 
It  would  be  a  serious  thing  if  the  Irish  swelled  the  Gallic  stream* 
The  moment  was  critical.    In  this  crisis,  distinguished  and  noble 
service  wa^  rendered  to  the  country  by  a  Catholic  Irishman,  John 
Molloy,  who,  though  belonging  to  humble  life,  had  an  influence 
akm  to  that  of  a  veritable  leader  with  his  countrj^men.  Molloy  was 
born  in  Queen's  County,  and  came  to  Canada  in  1822.  His  charac- 
ter was  not  unobserved,  and  when  there  appeared  to  be  danger 
that  Papmeau's  misguided  ranks   would   be  reinforced  by  that 
va  our  which  had  won  f .  r  itself  the  highest  place  on  the  battle- 
helds  of  Europe,  Sir  James  Stuart  sent  for  Molloy  and  said  he 


404 


THF   IRISHMAN  IN   CANADA, 


must  address  his  countrymen,  and  urge  them  to  strengthen  the 

volunteers. 

It  is  a  vulgar  error  to  suppose  that  Irishmen  are  not  modest, 

but  it  is  one  v/hich  it  would,  probably,  be  a  waste  of  time  to  seek 
to  uproot.     There  is,  however,  a  universe  between  clumsiness  and 
modesty,  while  a  diffident  character,  clothed  with  versatility,  and 
instinct  with  nicety  of  perception,  may  act  in  a  manner  which 
would  prevent  observers  for  ever  from  retlecting  that  beneath  the 
bright  and  strong  armour,  beats  a  heart  too  large  not  to  think  lowly 
of  itself.     Be  the  truth  about  Irish  modesty  what  it  may,  when 
Sir  James  Stuart  said  :  "  Molloy,  you  address  your  countrymen 
and  urge  them  to  strengthen  the  volunteers;"  the  reply  he  re- 
reived  was  :  "  Sir  James,  this  is  no  time  for  joking.     You  would 
not  ask  a  man  of  my  humble  rank  of  life  to  take  a  prominent 
part  at  such  an  hour."     Sir  James  replied  :  "  Mi  >lloy,  you  are  the 
man  we  want."     Molloy  accordingly  attended  a  large  meeting  of 
his  countrymen,  which  was  called  for  that  evening,  and  when  he 
came  forward  to  address  them  grew  nervous  as    jven  experienced 
orators  will,  as  indeed  Cicero  says,  the  true  orator  is  sure  to  do 
for  the  first  few  moments.     The  audience  cheered,  and  Molloy 
recovered  his  self-possession,  and  spoke  as  follows  :  "  My  fellow- 
countrymen  and  fellow- citizens,  you  must  not  expect  refined  lan- 
guage from  me.     Neither  must  you  expect  much  dignity.     But 
what  we  want  now  is  reality.     It  is,  indeed,  an  unexpected  thing 
that  a  man  such  as  I  am  should  be  called  on  to  address" —  and 
here  he  looked  around  him — "  such  an  assembly  as  this,  at  a  time 
when  it  is  of  the  most  vital  importance  I  should  counsel  what  is 
right.     But  I  have  been  called  upon.     I   have  obeyed  that  call, 
and  may  the  Providence  wlio  has  found  for  us  Irishmen  a  happy 
home  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  give  me  fit  speech. 

"  When  I  arrived  in  Canada  more  than  thirteen  years  ago,  a 
total  stranger,  before  I  was  three  days  in  Quebec,  my  ears  became 
familiar  with  expressions  v^hich  are  insults  to  you.  But  notwith- 
standing such  expressions  of  the  French  Canadians,  from  English 
and  Scotch  I  met  with  the  gi'eatest  kindness.  By  George  !  one 
day  I  dined  with  an  Englishman,  and  we  had  the  roast  beef  of 
Old  England  and  French  pudding,  and  the  next  day  I  dined  with 
a  Scotchman,  and  we  had  equally  good  fare." 


AN   EFFECTIVE  PERORATION. 


4(y5 


J 


The  reader  %vill  perceive  how  truly  an  crator  was  this  compara- 
tively untutored  man.  He  plays  on  the  sensitive  pride  of  a  peo- 
ple, easily  touched  by  kindness  or  moved  to  resentment  by  con- 
tumely. He  had  been  a  good  deal  about  the  world  and  had  used 
his  eyes  and  ears ;  what  he  lacked  in  letters  he  made  up  by  obser- 
vation.    He  proceeds : — 

"  Sir  James,  if  they  would  travel  other  countries  as  I  did  and 
see  constitutional  principles,  see  the  despotism  of  France  and 
Spain  ;  the  contempt  in  which  the  poor  man  is  held  by  the  Ger- 
man aristocrat,  the  tyranny  of '  Roosha,'  they  would  come  back  to 
the  British  isles  from  whose  escutcheon  I  hope  the  stains  of  tyr- 
anny and  the  blots  of  penal  enactment  will  soon  be  wiped  away 
and  they  would  say ;  '  Oh  British  isles,  we  love  you  with  all  j'^our 
faults.'  I  now  take  upon  myself  to  assert  boldly  that  Pompey 
never  entered  Jerusalem  with  greater  hate  and  determination  to 
uproot  the  Jews  thari  the  present  Clique  are  to  exterminat<^  us 
from  this  country." 

Now  here  with  historical  allusions  which  thd  scholar  would 
not  make,  and  which  are  in  some  respect  at  fault,  how  effective  is 
the  rhetoric. 

"But"  he  went  on,  "they  never  will  do  this.  They  would 
drive  Englishmen,  Scotchmen,  Iri.shmen  out  if  they  could. 
Well,  let  me  remind  you  that  united  we  stand  and  divided  we 
fall,  or  as  somebody  before  me"  has  expressed  it  in  a  nobler 
manner, — 

'  United  and  happy  at  liberty's  shrine, 

May  the  rose  and  the  thistle  long  flourish  and  twine, 

Round  the  sprig  of  Shillalah 

And  shamrock  so  green.' " 

Copies  of  the  speech  were  struck  off  and  circulated  in  thou- 
sands over  thj  lower  province  and  it  had  a  great  effect. 

Molloy,  who  had  had  some  military  experience,  soon  joined  the 
volunteers  as  sergeant.  He  was  then  sent  on  a  mission  to  Lon- 
don where  he  had  interviews  with  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  the 
late  Lord  Derby  and  othe.  leading  men. 

A  very  different  class  of  man  so  far  as  birth  and  station  go  was 
Colonel  G.  Hamilton,  a  native  of  Meath,  who  died  in  consequence 
of  a  cold  he  took  while  reviewing  the  reserve  company  of  the 


406 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


Plantagenet  township  in  the  December  of  1838.  Another  Irish 
name  connected  in  a  distinguished  manner  with  Canada  at  this 
time  is  that  of  Sir  W.  Rowan,  who  was  military  secretary  to  Lord 
Seaton,  and  who  ultimately  commanded  the  forces  in  this  country 
from  1849  to  1855,  and  administered  the  government  during  the 
absence  of  Lord  Elgin  in  England. 

Sir  Francis  Head  was  succeeded  by  Sir  George  Arthur,  during 
whose  government  the  American  sympathisers  kept  the  whole 
population,  but  especially  those  who  resided  on  the  frontier,  in 
a  constant  state  of  excitement.  The  Earl  of  Durham's  mission 
which  was  suddenly  terminated,  the  invasions  at  Windsor,  Nia- 
gara, Prescott,  and  in  Lower  Canada,  and  the  numeroiis  execu- 
tions in  both  provinces  were  events  which  followed  in  rapid  suc- 
cession, and  which  caused  great  anxiety  to  the  members  of  the 
Executive  Council 

At  this  time  the  condition  of  the  whole  of  British  North 
America  was  eminently  unsatisfactory.  The  most  serious  discon- 
tent had  hardly  yet  been  calmed  in  Prince  Edward  Island ;  the 
troubled  waves  had  barely  subsided  in  New  Brunswick  ;  the 
Government  was  in  a  minority  in  the  Lower  House  in  Nova 
Scotia ;  violent  dissensions  raged  in  Newfoundland  ;  in  Canada, 
the  representative  body  was  hostile  to  the  Government.  It  would 
have  been  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  the  natural  state  of  govern- 
ment in  all  these  colonies  was  chronic  collision  between  the  Exe- 
cutive and  the  elected  of  the  people.  In  all  of  them  the  adminis- 
tration of  public  affairs  was  habitually  confided  to  those  in  whom 
the  Assembly  would  not  confide.  Constantly  the  Government 
was  proposing  measures  which  the  majority  of  the  Assembly 
forthwith  rejected ;  as  constantly  assent  was  refused  to  bills  which 
that  body  had  passed. 

Such  collisions  showed  a  deviation  from  sound  constitutional 
principles.  The  present  century  was  bom  and  had  learned  to  use  its 
legs  before  the  people  of  Lower  Canada  began  to  understand  the 
representative  system.  In  time  constitutional  principles  were 
grasped.  But  the  moment  the  Assembly  sought  to  put  forth  its 
powers,  it  found  how  limited  those  powers  were.  Then  the  strug- 
gle commenced.  From  that  moment  the  Assembly  was  determined 
to  obtain  that  authority  which  reason  and  analogy  proclaimed  in- 


r^s 


EARLY   STRUGGLES   FOR   LIBERTY. 


407 


Tierent  in  representative  bodies.  The  first  incident  in  the  struggle 
was  discouraging.  The  freedom  of  speech  of  the  members  offended 
the  Governor.  The  principal  leaders  were  thrown  into  prison.  As 
in  the  history  of  England,  so  in  Lower  Canada,  the  purse  was  the 
lever  which  the  Parliament  could  wield  with  most  effect.  In  the 
course  of  time  the  Government  was  led  by  its  necessities  to  accept 
the  Assembly's  offer,  to  raise  f*n  additional  revenue  by  fresh  taxes, 
an(i  the  Assembly  thus  acquired  a  certain  control  on  the  levying 
and  appropriation  of  the  public  revenue.  From  that  time  until 
the  final  abandonment,  in  1832,  of  every  portion  of  the  reserved 
revenue,  excepting  the  casual  and  territorial  funds,  the  contest  was 
carried  on.  Every  inch  the  Assembly  gained  it  made  use  of  to 
gain  an  ell.  Wave  by  wave  it  reached  the  high-water  mark  of 
complete  control  over  the  revenue  of  the  country, 

A  cause  of  contest  still  remained.  The  Assembly  having  ob- 
tained entire  control  of  the  revenue  still  found  itself  deprived  of 
all  voice  in  the  choice  or  even  designation  of  the  persons  entrupted 
with  the  administration  of  affairs.  Public  functionaries  were  in- 
dependent of  it.  A  body  of  office-holders  entirely  independent 
of  the  representatives  of  the  people  .must  infallibly  acquire  a 
power  not  short  of  despotic  over  a  Province,  and  destroy  the  use- 
fulness of  a  Governor  and  even  limit  his  power.  For  what  hap- 
pens ?  A  Governor  arrives  who  knows  little  of  the  colony,  less 
of  the  state  of  parties,  nothing  of  the  character  of  individuals. 
He  has  no  choice  but  to  place  himself  in  the  hands  of  the  officials 
whom  he  finds  in  place  and  power.  From  that  moment  he  is  at 
their  mercy. 

These  remarks  apply  to  Upper  as  v^ell  as  to  Lower  Canada, 
with  the  difference  that  from  the  first  the  English-speaking  settlers 
in  the  Upper  Province  had  clear  constitutional  ideas  on  the  sub- 
ject of  government. 

When  Lord  Durham  came  here,  one  of  the  most  versatile  men 
Ireland  has  given  to  Canada — the  Montague  of  Canadian  Finance 
— Mr.  (now  Sir  Francis)  Hincks  commenced  the  publication  of  the 
Examiner  in  Toronto,  and  by  the  ^^igour  and  incisive ness  of  his 
style  attracted  so  much  attention  that  he  was  invited  to  stand  at 
the  next  general  election  as  the  Liberal  candidate  for  the  County 
of  Oxford.     Thn  Exa'ininer  was  the  exponent  of  Responsible  Gov- 


408 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


emment,  and  Mr.  Hincks  had  an  easy  task,  especially  with  his 
facility  as  a  w  riter,  in  proving  that  Responsible  Governinent  was 
consistent  with  loyalty  to  the  Crown.  This  distinguished  man  to 
whom  whatever  he  has  attempted  has  seemed  easy — journ;<list, 
financier,  orator,  statesman — was  born  in  the  City  of  Cork,  on  the 
14th  of  December,  1807.  His  father,  the  Reverend  T.  D.  Hincks, 
LL.D.,  was  for  many  years  Head  Classical  Master  and  Profes- 
sor of  Oriental  Languages  in  the  Royal  Belfast  Academical  Insti- 
tution, where  Francis  Hincks,  who  was  the  fifth  son,*  attended 
the  college  classes  during  the  session  of  1823-4.  Luckily  for  us 
the  bent  of  the  future  statesman  was  neither  divinity,  nor  archeeo- 
logy,  nor  natural  history,  but  commerce.  There  is  no  school  in 
the  world  better  than  Belfa.st  to  make  a  shrewd  business  man,  and 
the  five  years  he  spent  in  the  mercantile  house  of  John  Martin  & 
Co.,  exercised  a  beneficial  influence  on  his  career.  When  twenty- 
two  years  of  age  he  visited  ^ho  West  Indies  in  a  ship  belonging 
to  the  firm,  which  was  bound  for  Barbadoes,  Demerara  and  Trini- 
dad. He  was  then  a  young,  friendless,  Irish  adventurer.  Nobody 
threw  away  any  notice  on  him  as  he  stepped  ashore  at  Barba<^^loes, 
unless  they  were  struck  by  his  quick  eye  which 

"  Took  in  at  once  the  landscape  of  the  world  ;" 

yet  twenty-five  short  years,  and  he  was  to  land  at   Barbadoes 
under  the  salute  accorded  to  the  Governor. 

His  voyage  over,  he  returned  to  Barbadoes,  and  while  there, 
made  the  acquaintance  of  a  Canadian  gentleman  named  Ross,  who 
recommended  him  to  return  home  by  way  of  Canada.  He  accom- 
panied Ross  to  Quebec  in  1830,  after  a  short  stay  at  Montreal, 
still  having  no  intention  of  remaining  in  Canada.  But  the  course 
of  our  lives  is  determined  by  small  circumstances ;  a  scrap  ^f 
poetry  ;  glance-seizing  pearls  shining  from  between  two  red  lips ; 


•  The  whole  family  was  talented.  The  eldest  son,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Edward  Hincks, 
once  F.  T.  C.  D.,  sometime  rector  of  Killyleagh  in  the  diocese  of  Down,  obtained  a  re- 
putation as  wide  as  Christendom  as  a  critic  on  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  archieology.  The 
second  son,  the  Rev.  William  Hincks,  F.  L.  S.,  was  for  several  years  Professor  of 
Natural  History  in  Queen's  College,  Cork,  yome  twenty-five  years  ago  he  removed  to 
Toronto  to  fill  the  same  chair  there.  The  third,  the  Venerable  Thomas  Hincks,  Arch- 
deacon of  Conner ;  the  fourth  the  Rev.  John  Hincks  who  died  at  Liverpool  at  an  early 
age,  having  previously  distinguished  himself  as  a  student  in  the  Belfast  Institution. 


THE  SWITCH   OF   A  GREAT  CAREER. 


409 


the  HipVik  of  a  bit  of  moss ;  a  verse  of  the  Bible  learned  at  a 
mother's  knee.  Young  Hincks  met  at  Montreal  a  number  of  per- 
sons settled  in  Upper  Canada,  and  heard  them  talk  of  it  in  lan- 
guage of  praise.  He  also  met  some  old  Belfast  friends  about  to 
settle  there.  He  was,  it  seems,  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of  Moore's 
poetry,  but  had  never  seen  the  "poems  relating  to  America," 
until  he  found  them  on  the  table  of  his  friends.  Lines  already 
referred  to  in  an  earlier  part  of  this  work,  which  occur  in  the 
letter  addressed  to  Lady  Catharine  Rawdon,  commencing — 

"  I  dreamt  not  then  that  ere  the  rolling  year 
Had  filled  its  circle,  I  should  wander  here, 
In  musing  awe~" 

seized  on  his  imagination  anl  ruled  his  fancy.  He  determined 
to  spend  the  winter  at  York.  Having  attended  the  debates  in 
the  Provincial  Parliament,  and  seen  something  of  the  country, 
he  returned  home  in  the  spring  of  1831.  Can  yo.i  not  follow 
him  across  the  Atlantic,  musing  over  the  possibilities  of  Canada, 
and  his  c  ^  future  ?  His  quick  eye  had  discerned  that  among 
Canada's  legislators  and  business  men  there  was  room  for  him. 
In  the  July  of  1832  he  was  again  sailing  for  Canada.  In 
Walton's  little  directory,  published  in  1834,  I  find  the  entry, 
among  the  H's,  "  Hincks,  Frs.,  wholesale  warehouse,  21  Yonge 
Street,"  which  I  have  learned  was  at  the  corner  of  Yonge  and 
Melinda  Street,  a  wine  cellar  in  the  midst  of  orchards,  and  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  Baldwins.  At  number  23,  the  occupants 
were  Dr.  W.  Baldwin,  Robert  Baldwin,  Esq.,  Attorney,  &c.,  and 
Baldwin  &l  Sullivan,  Attorney's  Office.  It  would  seem,  from 
letters  written  during  the  early  years  of  his  residence, 
he  was  much  disappointed  with  his  business  prospects,  for 
though  he  spoke  of  a  wide  field,  he  also  dwelt  on  the  fearful 
credit  system  which  was  encouraged  by  the  banks,  the  risk  of 
•  bad  debts,  and  he  indicated  that  a  deteii'iination  was  shaping 
itself  to  look  out  for  employment  of  a  different  kind.  An  oppor- 
tunity soon  presented  itself.  His  financial  genius  had 
not  been  unnoticed,  and  in  1835,  he  was  entrusted  with  the 
management  of  a  new  bank.  Such,  thus  far,  was  the  career  of 
the  man  whom  we  now  find  engaged  in  discussing  political  ques- 


i! 


i 

i 

1 

i 

410 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


tions,  as  a  journalist,  and  whom  we  shall  soon  meet  in  another 
field. 

In  the  latter  end  of  1830  Mr.  Poulett  Thonip.son,  afterwards 
Lord  Sydenham,  a.ssumed  the  Goveri'inent,  as  succcHsor  to  the  Earl 
of  Durham.  His  main  object  was  to  effect  the  union  of  the  Cana- 
das,  in  accordr  nee  with  the  recommendation  in  the  Earl  of 
Durham's  Reimrt,  and  after  obtaining  the  concurrence  of  the 
S})ecial  Council  of  Lower  Canada,  ho  determined  to  proceed  to 
Toronto,  to  assume  the  Government  of  Upper  Canada,  which 
was  included  in  his  commission.  It  wan  at  this  time  tliat  Lord 
John  Russell's  celebrated  despatch  on  the  subject  of  Responsible 
Government  was  published  for  general  information.  Its  language 
was  vague,  but  it  distinctly  gave  tlie  high  officials  to  understand 
that  in  future  their  offices  were  to  be  held  on  a  different  tenure, 
and  that  they  would  be  called  on  to  vacate  them  whenever 
public  interest  should  require  them  to  do  so.  Up  to  that  time, 
all  the  principal  offices  had  been  considered  i)ermanent.  They 
were  held  during  good  behaviour,  instead  of  pleasure.  Mr.  Poulett 
Thompson  found  the  political  parties  in  a  state  of  complete  disor- 
ganization. Those  members  who  had  been  elected  as  Reformers, 
and  who  were  inclined  to  support  the  new  Governor  General,  were 
in  a  small  minority,  b'  asiderable  number  of  the  Conserva- 

tives were  unwillin  the  consequences  of  opposition  to  the 

Governor,  and  W(  eover,  not  disinclined  for  political  changes. 

The  leaders  of  the  ^ory  party  had  to  choose  between  adhesion  to 
their  principles  and  the  st  «;rific«  of  their  offices.  Mr.  Hagerman, 
the  leader  of  that  party^  was  permitted  to  vote  against  the 
GoveiAiment  resolutions  for  the  Union,  with  an  understandi:ig 
that  he  would  resist  all  the  amendments  which  a  sf  ction  of  the 
unionists  desired  to  impose  as  conditions.  One  of  these  was, 
that  the  seat  of  government  should  be  fixed  in  Upper  Canada, 
which,  moreover,  was  to  have  a  majority  of  the  representatives. 
Mr.  Thompson  was  firm  in  adhering  to  the  pi 'in  to  which  he  had 
obtained  the  consent  of  the  Special  Council  cf  Lower  Canada,  and 
in  Mr.  Sullivan  he  found  his  ablest  sui)porter.  The  opposition  in 
the  Legislative  Council  was  even  more  formidable  than  in  the  As- 
sembly, but  Mr.  Sullivan  exertec'  his  oratorical  powers  with  great 
effect,  and  became  one  of  Mr.  Thompson's  most  trusted  councillors. 


A    IIEMARKAIILE   PAMPHLET   BY   OOWAN. 


411 


^1 


His  collei,guo,  the  present  Chi. if  Ju:>tico  Draper  took  the  manage- 
uient  of  tlie  principal  busin';.s.s  in  the  House  of  Assembly. 

In  1 839,  an  Irishman,  Liout.-Colonel  Oowan,  M.P.P.  for  the 
Coun  y  of  Leeds,  contributed  to  the  discussion  of  the  issue  of  the 
houi,  by  a  pamphlet  in  favour  of  Responsible  Government.  Oj^le 
R.  GDwan  was  a  remarkable  man,  and  we  shall  meet  with  him 
agaia.  A  native  of  the  County  ^i  Wexford,  and  a  leading  mem- 
ber of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the  Orange  In.stitution.  he  emigrated 
with  his  family  to  Canada  in  1829,  and  settled  at  Escott  ]*ark,  in 
the  County  of  Leeds.  Destined  frefjuently  to  rej)re.sent  his 
county,  to  be  Alderman  of  the  City  of  Toronto,  to  serve  as  Captain, 
in  the  Queen's  Own  llifles,at  the  cai)turc  of  Hickory  Island, in  1838, 
to  rise  to  Lieutenant-Colonel,  and  distinguish  iiimself,  winning 
honourable  scars  at  the  "  Windmill,"  near  Prescott,  his  best-known 
distinction  has  been  his  power  and  prominence  among  the  Orange- 
men, of  whom  he  has  boon  .  jnsidored  the  founder  and  father. 
When  the  history  of  the  pamphlet  is  known,  it  indicates  a  great 
deal  of  liberal  insight  oi  ii.e  part  of  Mr.  Gowan.  Republished 
and  modified  in  1839,  it  had  already  appeared  .so  early  as  1830, 
and  when  republished.  King  was  changed  to  Queen,  and  other 
alterations  made  to  suit  the  more  modern  date.  No  stronger  ap- 
peal could  be  made  in  favour  of  that  forwliich  Baldwin  had  con- 
tended. Coming  from  a  Tory  and  an  Orangeman,  such  iinguage 
as  the  following  was  well  calculated  to  produce  a  deep  impres- 
sion : — "  The  Queen's  deputy  is  allowed  to  do  more  in  the  capital  of 
Canada  than  the  Queen  herself  in  the  capital  of  England  and  the 
very  heart  of  the  empire.  He  may  act  as  a  powerf"i  and  colonially 
irresponsible  despot,  while  she  must  act  as  a  constitutional  and 
limited  monarch  !  ♦  ♦  *  Do  we  not  read  that,  in  England, 
even  his  Grace  the  Duke  of  Wellington  and  Sir  Robert  Peel,  the 
highest  '  Tory  '  and  '  prerogative  '  statesmen  of  modem  times, 
actually  declare  that  the  Queen's  confidential  advisers  are  responsi- 
ble to  Parliament,  even  for  the  very  household  appointments,  aye, 
even  down  to  Her  Majesty's  waiting-maids?"  Again:  "  An  ir- 
responsibly administered  Government,  instead  of  b'^ '  -  allied  to 
anything  British  in  name,  nature,  or  practice,  is  the  most  conspic- 
uous feature  of  a  democracy  ;  it  is  a  democracy  by  birth.  In  princi- 
ple it  is  fallacious ;  in  piactice  it  \:  republican  and  Yankee.    Since 


^m^mmmmmm 


ira 


412 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


the  glorious  days  of  '  the  great  and  good  King  William,'  it  never 
formed  any  part  of  the  open,  manly,  'be  just  and  fear  not'  conduct 
of  a  true  Briton,  who,  instead  of  evading  direct,  immediate,  and 
present  accountability.  '..5  prr  1  of  it ;  solicits  a  scrutiny  into  all 
his  actions  ;  and  stands  with  clean  hands,  and  an  open  heart,  re- 
sponsible to  his  God,  to  his  sovereign,  and  to  his  country."  Mr. 
Gowan  gives  extracts  from  the  press,  some  of  which  have  an  in- 
terest for  us,  for  he  gives  the  namci  and  nationality  of  the  editor. 
The  extracts  are  all  in  favour  of  Responsible  Government ;  the  first 
from  the  pen  of  an  Irishman,  being  taken  from  the  Toronto  Mirror, 
whose  editor  was  Mr.  Covey,  the  publisher  of  which  v;as  Charles 
Dunlevy,  another  Irishman  ;  the  next  is  from  the  Examiner  ;  the 
third  from  the  Peterborough  Backwoodsman,  whose  editor  was  Mr. 
Darcus,  Justice  of  the  Peace.  The  pamphlet  we)-  deserved  re- 
publication. 

We  shall  not  be  suiprised  at  the  ascendancy  accjiuired  by  the 
Governor  General  over  the  mind  of  Sullivan.  Poulett  Thompson 
had  the  great  advantage  of  parliamentary  experience,  and  a  firm 
belief  in  the  advantages  which  the  Union  would  bring  to  all  par- 
ties. The  official  correspondence  in  the  blue  books  shows  how 
much  he  was  trusted  by  the  Home  Government,  and  how  much 
he  ueserved  to  be  trusted.  He  was  no  passive  instrument  in  the 
hands  of  Minister^},  but  a  guiding  spirit.  In  the  face  of  all  sorts 
of  difficulties  he  bv^nt  hi  nself  to  his  task.  There  was  opposition 
on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  Mr.  Thompson  was  indefatigable 
in  consulting  with  everybody  who  could  give  him  infomiation  as 
to  the  state  of  feeling  throughout  the  country.  The  best  minds 
of  both  Provinces  were  undoubtedly  on  the  side  of  Union,  but 
there  were  important  differences  in  regard  to  detail. 

On  the  12th  June,  1839,  the  Marquis  of  Normanby  sent  a  des- 
patch to  Sir  John  Colborne,  containing  copies  of  bills  extending 
the  powers  of  the  Special  Council  and  the  draft  of  a  bill  for  the 
reunion  of  the  Provinces.  Sir  John  Colborne  replied,  that  it  was 
evidently  the  desire  of  the  British  portion  of  the  population,  that 
the  union  should  not  be  delayed  ;  that  the  French  Canadians  were 
not  averse  to  it,  as  they  had  been  ;  that  while  public  opinion  on 
the  question  had  been  much  divided  in  the  Upper  Province,  most 


POULETT   THOMPSON'S  STATESMANLIKE   RESOLVE. 


413 


of  the  districts  were  now  looking  forward  to  Union  as  likely  to 
Improve  their  commercial  position. 

In  November,  1839,  Mr.  Thompson  sent  Lord  John  Russell  a  re- 
markable despatch.  He  was  determined  to  proceed  to  Upper 
Canada,  having  requested  Sir  George  Arthur  to  summon  the  Legis- 
lature of  that  Province.  According  to  the  information  he  had  re- 
cei>?ed,  he  was  convinced  that,  in  Lower  Canada,  a  union  with 
Upper  Canada  on  just  and  equitable  principles  was  desired  by  the 
vast  majority  of  the  intelligent  of  all  parties.  He  debated  for  a 
time  whether  he  should  call  together  the  Assembly  in  Upper 
Canada.  He  would  have  desired  to  ascertain  by  personal  residence 
the  state  of  public  opinion.  The  time  necessary  for  that  would 
throw  back  the  meeting  of  the  Assembly  if  he  decided  to  call  it 
together,  or  that  of  a  new  one,  had  he  thought  calling  a  new 
Assembly  expedient.  There  were  but  two  courses — to  dissolve  at 
once,  or  call  together  the  existing  Assembly.  There  was  little  in 
the  character  of  that  Assembly  to  render  it  an  improper  tribunal 
to  adjudge  on  the^  question.  It  was  always  in  his  power  to  make 
an  appeal  to  the  people.  A  body  of  men,  who,  in  the  natural 
course  of  things,  would  soon  be  sent  back  to  their  constituents, 
coul'".  not  be  very  deaf  to  popular  feeling.  Another  consideration 
had  great  weight  with  him.  If  the  Legi.slature  of  Upper  Canada 
should  decide  in  favour  of  the  Union  of  the  Provinces,  and  agree 
to  such  terms  as  the  Imperial  Parliament  would  approve,  the 
measure  might  be  brought  into  practical  operation  at  a  very  early 
date.  It  would  have  been  very  undesirable  that  the  Upper  Province 
should  be  subjected  to  two  general  elections  within  a  short  space  of 
time,  one  for  the  Provincial,  and  another  for  the  United  Assembly. 

Parliament  met  early  in  December.  In  the  Governor's  message, 
he  said  that  every  British  statesman  desired  that  the  Canadas, 
which  had  for  years  occupied  so  much  of  the  attention  of  Par- 
liament, should  be  contented  and  pros]^. i3rous ;  that  the  tie* 
binding  them  to  the  parent  state  should  be  strengthened,  and 
even  their  administration  should  be  conducted  in  accordance 
with  the  wishes  of  the  people.  In  Lower  Canada,  the  consti- 
tution was  suspended,  while  the  powers  of  the  Government 
were  limited.  In  Upper  Canada,  the  finances  were  deranged, 
public  improvements  were  stopped,  private  enterprise  checked, 


414 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


iilt 


the  tide  of  imroigration  no  longer  lowing,  many  dissatisfied 
with  the  system  of  government.  By  reunion  alone,  could  the 
difficulties  be  overcome,  and  he  urged  on  them  that  the  time 
had  arrived  beyond  which  a  settlement  could  not  be  postponed. 

On  the  14th,  he  wrote  to  the  Colonial  Office,  saying  that  the 
T  gislative  Council  had  sanctioned  the  Union.  "  I  cannot"  he  says, 
"  but  feel  satisfied  that  this  decided  expression  of  opinion  on  the 
part  of  gentlemen  so  well  acquainted  with  the  affairs  of  Canada, 
and  possessing  so  large  a  stake  in  the  Province,  will  have  •..  very 
beneficial  eflfect  both  on  this  continent  and  in  the  Mother  Country.'' 
The  following  is  a  list  of  the  Members  of  the  Legislative  Coun- 
cil who  voted  on  this  occasion  for  the  Union : — Adams^n.  Home 
District ;  Baldwin,  Toronto  ;  Crooks,  Flamboro' ;  Dunn,  Toronto  ; 
De  Blaquiere,  Oxford  ;  Fraser,  Glengarry  ;  Fergusson,  Hamilton  ; 
Macaulay,  John,  Toronto  ;  Morris,  Perth  ;  McDonald,  Ganan>  jue ; 
M'Gillivray,  Glengarry  ;  Radcliffe,  Western  District ;  Sullivan, 
Toronto  ;  Wells,  Toronto,  fourteen  :  Against  the  Union : — The 
Bishop  of  Toronto ;  Allan  ;  Crookshank ;  Elmsley  ;  Macaulay,  J. 
S.  ;  M'Donnel,  all  of  Toronto ;  Wilson,  Gore  District,  and  Van- 
koughnet,  Cornwall,  eight.     Majority,  six. 

In  the  House  of  Assembly,  which  had  already  considered  the 
question  favourabl}^  there  was  little  difficulty.  Four  resolutions 
were  adopted.  By  a  vote  of  forty-  seven  against  six,  the  proposition 
that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  representatives  of  the  people  of  the  Pro- 
vince to  consider  the  provisions  by  which  the  measure  might  be 
carried  into  eflfect  was  carried.  A  vote  of  thirty-three  i^gainst  twenty 
carried  equal  representation  of  each  Province.  In  the  address  to 
Her  Majesty,  moved  by  Mr.  Cartwright,  it  was  recommended  that 
the  use  of  the  English  language,  in  all  judicial  and  legislative 
records  should  be  forthwith  introduced,  and  that  at  the  end  of  a 
certain  number  of  years,  after  the  Union,  all  debates  in  the  Legis- 
lature should  be  in  English ;  that  the  seat  of  the  Provincial 
Government  should  be  established  in  Upper  Canada ;  that  a  suffi- 
cient qualification,  in  real  estate,  should  be  required  from  any 
person  holding  a  seat  in  the  Legislature  ;  that  immigration  should 
be  promoted  and  encouraged ;  and  that  a  system  of  municipal 
government  and  local  taxation  should  be  established  in  Lower 
Canada,  on  the  same  principles  as  obtained  in  Upper  Canada. 
Tlie  qualification  of  members,  which  was  fixed  at  £600  value  in 


■Ml 


DIVERSITY   OF  OPINION   llEGARDING  THE  UNION. 


415 


land,  led  to  much  discussion.  The  importance  of  the  recommen- 
dation respectirg  municipal  government  was  great.  If  a  road  was 
to  be  improved,  a  Bill  in  the  Assembly  had  to  be  proposed.  In 
Upper  Canada  the  power  of  taxation  was  limited  to  the  imposi- 
tion of  one  penny  an  acre  on  cultivated  land,  and  one-fifth  of  a 
penny  an  acre  on  wild  land.  Lord  Durham  had  pointed  out  in 
his  report  the  need  in  Lower  Canada  of  municipalities.  When  I 
come  to  Lord  John  Russell's  speech  introducing  the  question  to  the 
Imperial  Parliament,  this  important  matter  of  municipal  reform 
will  be  better  understood. 

In  the  debate  which  preceded  the  passing  of  the  resolutions 
there  was  much  diversity  of  opinion.  Ogle  R.  Gowan  would  never 
vote  for  Union  but  on  conditions.  Equal  representation  seemed 
to  him  to  be  a  measure  of  "  degradation,  pains  and  penalties."  He 
was  afraid  a  majority  of  loyal  men  would  not  be  returned  to  the 
United  Legislature.  He  would  not  vote  for  the  Union  unless  the 
existing  representation  was  continued  to  Upper  Canada.  He  was 
afraid  of  the  spread  of  democratic  principles.  The  seat  of  govern- 
n)ent  should  be  in  Upper  Canada.  He  contended  for  the  abolition 
of  the  French  language  in  all  public  'prcceedings.  This,  perhaps, 
was  a  question  which  should  have  been  grappled  with  earlier. 
Some  .spoke  in  a  very  narrow  way,  and  in  a  tone  of  great  illiberality 
to  Lower  Canada. 

Sullivan's  speech  was  the  best  made  in  either  House,  and  dealt 
with  all  the  arguments  against  the  Union.  He  made  the  assurance, 
that  Her  Majesty  was  determined  to  maintain  the  connexion  be- 
tween these  colonies  and  the  Mother  Country,  the  foundation  of 
his  remarks,  and  dwelt  on  the  finances.  The  cry  of  discontent, . 
he  said,  had  come  from  loyal  British  subjects  in  Lower  Canada. 

The  Honourable  Mr.  Willson  here  insisted  that  Union  could 
do  no  good.  Discord  and  mischief  would  follow  in  the  train  of 
evils  and  he  called  on  honourable  gentlemen  to  pause  and  consi- 
der before  they  adopted  a  measure  the  result  of  ^  .'hich  it  was  not 
in  the  judgment  of  m,'.n  to  determine. 

Sullivan  laughed  at  such  fears  and  pointed  out  the  impolicy  of 
injustice  to  Lower  Canadians.  People  had  declared  their  willingnesB 
to  vote  for  a  Union,  but  upon  what  terms?  The  disfranchisement 
of  the  French  Canadians.     Such  a  plan  of  Union  would  be  wholly 


ff^'  •* 


il 


416 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


I 


II! 


ij      I 


unsupported  in  the  British  Parliament.  England,  which  had  been 
pursuing  steadily  a  course  of  emancipation  from  slavery,  would 
never  consent  to  establish  a  nation  of  serfs  without  political 
rights  in  any  part  of  the  British  dominions.  Honourable  gentle- 
men had  seen  a  rebellion  amongst  a  people  complaining  of  imagin- 
ary grievances  ;  but  they  would  be  rash  to  found  their  calculation 
from  this  poor  experience,  of  Avhat  a  rebellion  would  be  amongst 
a  people  struggling  against  r  :1  and  tangible  oppression.  It  was 
true  that  by  the  disfrancl.isement  of  Lower  Canadians  they  might 
banish  sedition  from  the  halls  of  legislation ;  they  might  impose 
silence  upon  the  discontented,  but  would  they  make  discontent  less 
dangerous  ?  Would  there  be  a  sword  less  to  be  drawn,  or  an  arm 
less  to  wield  it?  Would  the  American  emissary  be  less  active  or 
less  successful  amongst  a  nation  of  sla^'es  ?  Would  the  dislike  of 
Lower  Canadians  to  British  Institutions  be  less  active,  or  would 
not  an  effective  and  real  regard  to  American  liberators  be  added 
to  the  natural  prejudices  with  which  they  had  to  contend.  He 
put  it  to  honourable  gentlemen,  would  they  consent  to  be  dis- 
franchised for  the  sake  of  a  few  ?  Would  they  live  in  quiet  in  a 
country,  in  which  they  and  their  race  were  branded  with  dis- 
gi-ace  and  exclusion  from  common  right? — or  if  they  consented 
to  such  exclusion,  what  man  amongst  them  could  so  command 
his  children?  Ask,  he  cried,  the  rising  youth  of  the  country 
meekly  to  bow  their  necks  to  the  chain,  and  be  contented  slaves 
in  the  country  of  their  forefathers!  He  had  seen  the  experiment 
tried;  he  had  seen  the  energies  of  a  noble  and  brave  people  ex- 
hausted in  struggles ;  he  had  seen  guilt  and  murder  prevail  in  a 
land,  in  which  the  attempt  was  made  to  exclude  and  disfranchise 
a  people  upon  the  grounds  of  difference  in  religion,  or  of  national 
origin;  and  he  could  not  but  shudder  at  the  prospect  of  introduc- 
ing such  a  system  into  a  British  Province.  He  preferred  to  meet 
the  bold  and  open  declamations  of  the  demagogue;  he  preferred 
contending  with  him  under  the  protection  of  law  and  within  the 
walls  of  Parliament,  to  meeting  his  bitter,  concealed,  but  uncx- 
tinguishable  hatred.  On  the  one  hand,  truth,  justice,  intelligence, 
British  principles,  would  however  severe  the  struggle,  beat  length 
triumphant.     0^:.  the  other, 

"  The  muffled  rebel  would  steal  forth  in  the  ('ark," 


'■aikan 


Ra 


SULLIVAN  S   SPEECH   CONTINUED. 


417 


and,  night  by  night,  add  a  brand  to  the  pile  which  would  consume 
the  country. 

Again,  it  was  said,  keep  Lower  Canada  in  the  present  state  for 
ten  or  for  twenty  years.  But  he  would  ask,  from  whom  had  the 
complaints  of  late  proceeded  against  the  present  system  ?  Who 
had  stated  that  it  was  intolerable  ?  Not  the  French  Canadian. 
No;  he  had  been  for  a  time  confounded  and  silenced  by  late 
events.      The  ciy  of    disconter  /   came  from  loyal   British 

brethren  in  Lower  Canada  ;  and  ».  aing  from  such  a  quarter,  it 
was  not  to  be  resisted.  Hon.  gcatleinen  were  also  desirous  to 
attach,  as  a  condition  to  tl  *  measure,  the  establishment  of  the 
seat  of  the  United  Government  in  Upper  Canada.  He  could  not 
but  feel  surprise  at  a  proposition,  to  limit  one  of  the  undoubted 
prerogatives  of  the  Crown,  coming  from  such  a  quarter.  Even  in 
England  no  seat  of  Government  was  fixed  by  Legislative  enact- 
ment ;  the  Sovereign  had  the  right  of  summoning  Parliament  in 
any  part  of  the  British  Isles.  Where  she  was,  there  was  the  seat 
of  the  Government ;  and  he  trusted  that  hon.  gentlemen  would  at 
once  see  that  such  a  proposition,  as  a  condition  to  accompany  the 
assent  of  that  House,  tended  to  defeat  the  whole  measure — that 
it  was  unwise,  unconstitutional,  and  impracticable. 

The  immediate  abolition  of  the  French  language,  in  public  pro- 
ceedings and  debates  in  Parliament,  was  also  proposed  as  a  condi- 
tion. He  hoped  to  see  the  day  when  such  a  plan  might  be  adopted 
without  oppression  or  injustice  to  any  party.  At  present,  it  would 
work  grievous  wrong,  without  any  corresponding  benefit.  This 
was  a  matter  which  might  be  safely  left  to  the  United  Legisla- 
ture ;  it  was  not  of  sufficient  importance  to  form  an  obstacle  to 
this  great  measure,  and  there  could  be  no  good  reason  given  why, 
at  all  events,  it  might  not  form  the  subject  of  a  recommendation, 
on  the  part  of  this  House,  instead  of  a  positive  condition. 

It  was  urged  as  a  condition  to  the  assent  of  that  House  to  the 

Union  of  the  Provinces,  that  the  Constitution  of  '91  should  be 

preserved.     He  apprehended  that  this  condition   had  reference 

principally  to  the  constitution  of  the  honourable  body  to  which 

he  had  the  honour  to  belong.     It  had  given  him  the  most  lively 

satisfaction  to  be  able  to  state,  from  authority,  to  that  honourable 

House,  that  it  was  not  the  intention  of  His  Excellency  the  Gov- 
27 


f**^. 


418 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


emor-General  to  recommend  to  Her  Majesty  any  change  which 
could  affect  its  stability,  permanence,  or  constitutional  authority ; 
that,  on  the  contrary,  it  was  his  desire  to  build  up  and  establish  it 
as  a  strong  bulwark  of  tho  Constitution — to  add  to,  and  not  to 
take  from  its  consequence ;  and  that  the  clause  introduced  into 
the  Bill  laid  before  the  Imperial  Parliament,  which  might  have 
injuriously  affected  it,  had  been  abandoned.  The  Government 
being  with  them  on  the  point,  it  would  be  exceedingly  unwise 
to  introduce  any  conditions  into  the  Bill,  which  would  tend  to 
relieve  the  Government  from  an  iota  of  responsibility.  He 
considered  it  was  their  measure :  he  wished  to  leave  the  conse- 
^juences  with  them,  and  that  could  be  done  in  no  way  so  effec- 
tually, as  by  accepting  the  measure  precisely  as  it  was  proposed, 
leaving  the  details  of  the  plan  to  those  who  were  responsible  for 
the  consequences. 

Honourable  gentlemen,  who  sought  to  attach  to  it  conditions 
which  would  defeat  and  stultify  the  assent  of  the  House,  had 
called  themselves  Tories,  when  they  denounced  the  Lower 
Canadians,  and  wished  to  leave  them  without  the  privileges  of 
British  subjects.  They  still  called  themselves  Tories,  and  gloried 
in  the  name ;  but  he  would  like  to  inquire  in  what  quarter  they 
looked  f 01  support  in  the  British  Parliament  ?  The  suspension  of 
the  Constitution  of  Lower  Canada  was  not  a  Tory  measure  ;  it  was 
not  carried  by  Conservatives  in  Parliament,  and  it  was  to  the 
opposition  and  objections  of  Conservative  members,  that  the  prac- 
tical impossibility  of  continuing  the  suspension  of  the  Constitution 
in  Lower  Canada  was  mainly  to  be  attributed.  He  would  repeat 
the  question,  whence  could  honourable  gentlemen,  so  decid- 
edly Tory,  look  for  support  in  England  ?  Not  from  the  extreme 
Radical  party,  who  showed  themselves  willing  to  sacrifice  colonies 
and  institutions  and  connexions,  upon  which  the  greatness  and 
stability  of  the  empire  were  founded,  to  impracticable  theories  of 
popular  right — not  frora  the  Conservatives,  who  had  reproached 
the  Government  so  bitterly  for  the  suspension  of  Constitutional 
Government  in  Canada — not  surely  from  the  Whig  Government, 
which  had  formally  declared  the  impossibility  of  continuing  the 
present  state  of  political  affairs  in  Lower  Canada.  Honourable 
gentlemen  were  to  be  complimented  upon  the  moral  courage  which 


, 


mm 


SEPARATION   FROM    ENGLAND. 


419 


permitted  them,  upon  their  own  responsibility,  to  lay  down  a  plan 
of  Colonial  Government,  which  they  were  to  carry  out  with  their 
own  influence,  and  sustain  with  their  own  power.  But  however 
such  projects  might  answer  for  declamation  and  debate,  it  was  but 
too  plain  that  for  any  other  purpose  they  were  vain  and  useless. 

He  had  read  and  heard  speculations  upon  the  separation  of 
these  Colonies  from  England ;  but  he  must  acknowledge  that  he 
did  not  possess  the  coolness  and  philosophy  to  consider  the  ques- 
tion with  a  view  to  consequences  ulterior  to  such  an  event.  He  was 
certain  the  honourable  gentlemen  around  him,  so  many  of  whom 
had  spent  their  early  lives  in  the  service  of  that  great  empire  to 
which  it  was  their  pride  to  belong,  would  not,  for  light  causes,  take 
from  their  children's  inheritance  the  pride  of  England's  glory. 
Those  who  had  so  often  stood  in  the  fast  thinning  ranks  of  British 
battle,  would  not  readily  give  up  the  trophies  of  the  Peninsula  or 
the  medal  of  Waterloo,  for  the  cotton  bags  of  New  Orleans,  or  the 
much  vaunted  heroism  of  Chippawa.  To  them  and  to  him  the  sound 
of  the  Bi'itish  drum,  which  would  beat  the  last  retreat,  would  in- 
deed be  a  funeral  note ;  and  the  lowering  the  "  meteor  flag  of  Eng- 
land," in  the  country  of  their  adoption,  would  be  a  sight  which 
would  leave  little  behind  worth  seeing  or  living. for.  The  loss  of 
this  rising  and  beautiful  country  would  be  a  sad  blow  to  England's 
prosperity,  a  blot  upon  the  age  in  which  it  would  happen,  a  dis- 
grace to  the  rulers  under  which  it  would  be  permitted  to  take  place. 
But  he  would  turn  from  this  distressing  picture  of  the  downfall 
of  England's  Colonial  Empire,  acquired  with  so  much  toil,  defended 
with  so  much  valour,  and  consecrated  by  so  much  British  blood, 
to  the  more  cheering  and  inspiring  prospects  opening  before 
them.  "We  have,"  he  exclaimed,  "  conquered  our  great  enemies — 
indifference  on  the  part  of  the  Mother  Country,  and  distrust  in 
our  attachment  to  her  interests,  and  loyalty  to  our  Sovereign.  We 
have  convinced  British  statesmen  of  the  value  of  our  country ; 
we  have  shown  the  true  and  loyal  spirit  of  its  inhabitants; 
we  have  obtained  from  our  Queen  that  invaluable  declaration, 
that  she  will  maintain  the  connection  between  these  Colonies  and 
the  Empire.  Let  us  then  join  heart  and  hand  with  Her  Govern- 
ment, let  us  cordially  support  measures  intended  for  our  safety 
and  our  welfare ;  let  us  not  impair,  by  conditions  implying  dis- 


420 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


I     11 
'I 


trust,  the  generous  confidence  we  are  invited  to  offer ;  but  bestow 
it,  readily  and  cheerfully,  in  the  same  spirit  in  which  it  is  asked, 
looking  forward  with  confidence  to  a  bright  future  of  rapidly  ad- 
vancing i)rosperity,  secure  in  the  powerful  protection  of  the  Em- 
pire. 

Lord  John  Russell  was  highly  gratified  at  the  news  Mr.  Thomp- 
son was  able  to  send  home.  The  charge  was  made  in  the  local 
papers  that  the  Union  had  been  carried  in  the  Upper  Province  by 
an  unustial  exertion  of  infiuence  over  the  members,  Fearinsr  this 
statement  might  be  repeated  in  England,  the  Governor  wrote, 
pointing  out  that  in  two  of  the  most  important  amendments 
moved  in  the  House,  that  of  Mr.  Robinson  for  negativing  alto- 
gether the  Union,  and  that  of  Mr  Cartwiight  for  negativing  the 
Union,  except  on  certain  specified  conditions,  the  minority  con- 
sisted, in  the  former  case,  of  ten,  of  whom  five  held  places  during 
pleasure ;  and  in  the  latter  of  twenty-one,  of  whom  nine  held 
places  during  pleasure. 

Mr.  Thompson  was  in  favour  of  the  Union  taking  place  as  soon 
as  possible,  and  of  a  Legislative  Council,  the  members  of  which 
should  be  elected  for  life.  He  determined  to  adhere  as  closely  as 
possible,  for  electoral  pui-poses,  to  the  territorial  divisions,  only 
reducing  the  number  of  representatives  from  two  for  each  district 
to  one.  No  new  surveys  would  be  required.  The  number  of  repre- 
sentatives for  districts  would  be  diminished;  but  this  was  not  only 
necessary,  but  would  prove  highl}^  advantageous.  Its  propriety 
was  urged  by  all  whose  opinion  was  of  most  value.  "  In  a  county 
like  this,"  says  Mr.  Thompson,  "  where  there  are  few,  if  any,  per- 
sons of  independent  fortune — where  almost  every  man  is  occupied 
upon  pursuits  which  demand  his  whole  time  and  attention — where 
to  be  absent  from  home  is  attended,  not  only  with  expense  which 
can  ill  be  afforded,  but  with  a  sacrifice  of  interests  which  few  will 
submit  to — a  numerous  representation  is  a  most  serious  evil. 
There  is  great  difficulty  in  finding  fit  representatives.  They  must 
be  paid,  which  entails  heavy  expense  on  the  district  vrhich  sends 
them ;  and  even  with  payment,  many  of  those  who  would  be  best 
qualified  to  serve  will  not  submit  to  the  loss  of  time  and  neglect  of 
their  private  affairs." 

We  have  made  some  progress  in  public  spirit  since  that  time . 


LOUD  JOHN   UUSSKLL   ON    THE   UNION. 


421 


)\V 

|ed, 

icl- 

liin- 


Now  the  difficulty  is  not  to  get  candidates,  but  to  choose  from  the 
number  who  are  amb'  ious  of  serving  tlieir  country.  A  despatch 
from  Lord  John  Russell,  dated  the  20th  of  March,  thanks  the 
Governor-General  in  a  very  emphatic  manner.  The  promj)titude 
with  which  he  had  acted  in  ascertaining  the  sentiments  of  the 
Special  Council — the  decision  with  which  he  had  resorted  in  person 
to  the  Upper  Province — the  conciliatory  spirit  in  which  he  met 
the  Legislature  of  that  Province — and  the  zeal  for  Her  Majesty's 
service  and  the  good  of  her  people,  which  he  had  on  all  occasiona 
evinced,  had  been  observed  by  the  Queen  with  the  gi-eatest  satis- 
faction, and  had  inspired  Her  Majesty  with  a  confident  hope 
that  he  might  successfully  complete  the  work  he  had  so  ably 
commenced. 

The  Bill  had  yet  to  run  the  gauntlet  of  opposition  in  the  Imperial 
Parliament.  On  the  23rd  March,  Lord  John  Russell  made  a  very 
able  speech  in  its  favour.  Her  Majesty's  subjects  in  Upper  and 
Lower  Canada,  amounted  to  upwards  of  a  million.  Some  Coti- 
mated  the  number  at  one  million  one  hundred  thousand,  residing 
partly  in  one  of  the  great  valleys  of  the  American  continent,  aH 
partly  on  the  "  shores  of  that  series  of  magnificent  lakes,  situated 
on  the  borders  of  Upper  Canada."  To  provide  for  the  interests  of 
such  a  people,  was  a  subject  of  very  deep  moment.  He  was  anx- 
ious to  bring  forward,  at  the  earliest  period,  such  measures  as  were 
best  calculated  to  put  a  stop  to  that  interference  on  the  part  of 
the  Imperial  Parliament,  which,  though  necessary,  had  become  too 
frequent  of  late  years.  In  1828,  Mr.  Huskisson,  who  then  presided 
at  the  Colonial  Office,  stated  in  Parliament  the  grievances  of  the 
Canadas,  and  especially  of  Lower  Canada,  and  proposed  a  commit- 
tee to  inquire  into  the  subject.  Since  that  period  every  detail  had 
been  enquired  into.  In  two  successive  years,  attempts  had  been 
made  to  separate  the  Provinces  from  their  allegiance  to  Her  Ma- 
jesty by  open  insurrection  within,  and  by  inroads  of  armed  bandits 
from  without.  Such  circumstances  must  secure  the  attention  of 
the  House  to  the  subject. 

He  then  proceeded  to  describe  the  measure  which  he  readily 
admitted  would  not  be  advisable,  if  those  principally  interested 
entertained  a  repugnance  to  it.  Such,  however,  was  not  the  case, 
as  the  Governor-General  had  ascertained.     The  first  great  evil  to 


Nil     > 


422 


THE   IIUSHMAN  IN   CANADA. 


be  grappled  with,  waa  the  existence  of  a  system  of  feudal  law  in 
Lower  Canada;  the  second,  the  state  of  representation  which  gave 
a  preponderance  to  the  French  race.  For  these  evils,  a  union  of 
the  Provinces  was  the  most  appropriate  remedy.  The  Earl  of 
Durham  had  sliown  in  a  clearer  manner  than  had  ever  been  done 
before,  how  little  they  ought  to  confound  the  conduct  of  the  As- 
sembly of  Lower  Canada  with  that  of  advocates  of  constitutional 
freedom.  The  truth  was,  that  the  Assembly  of  Lower  Canada  while 
"sing  the  weapons  of  freedom,  and  while  resorting  to  constitu- 
tional arguments  to  attain  their  objects,  really  employed  those 
means  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  close  monopoly  of  power 
in  the  hands  of  the  race  to  which  they  belonged,  to  the  exclusion 
of  the  British  race  from  all  participation  in  it.  Lord  Durham  had 
shown,  that  though  all  the  appearance  of  constitutional  freedom 
was  on  the  side  of  M.  Papineau,  and  though  the  English  party 
was  obliged  to  seek  refuge  and  support  in  the  Legislative  Council 
and  consequently  to  use  arguments  in  favour  of  prerogative,  and 
opposed  to  popular  assemblies,  yet  that  the  English  party  was,  in 
fact,  upholding  those  principles  which  they  in  England  held  in 
reverence,  while  the  opposite  party  supported  with  the  weapons 
of  Hampden,  the  principles  of  Richelieu. 

They  were  endeavouring  to  establish  a  species  of  government 
extremely  exclusive,  and  extremely  hostile  to  all  improvement. 
The  development  of  the  resources  of  the  country  by  the  British 
empire  was  not  encouraged,  but  repressed.  A  break  was  placed 
on  the  wheel  of  advancing  civilization.  For  such  evils,  for  this 
narrow  spirit,  there  was  no  better,  no  more  efficient  remedy  than 
reunion. 

That  Canada  should  have  a  free  constitution  was  beyond  dis- 
cussion. But  under  a  free  constitution  the  spirit  of  monopoly 
could  not  be  allowed  to  run  rampant,  and  the  only  way  to  crush 
it,  was  to  deprive  the  French  race  of  "that  preponderance  of  which 
they  made  so  ill  an  use."  He  thought  the  whole  blame  should 
not  be  thrown  on  the  leaders  of  the  French  party.  The  unhappy 
events  of  the  intervening  years  had  naturally  arisen  out  of  the 
singular  position  iu  which  the  Provinces  were  placed  by  the  Act 
of  1791  —  an  Act  against  which  the  Englishman  Fox>  and  the 
Irishman,  Dorchester,  had  protested  in  vain.     There  could  be  no 


Pitt's  mistakes.    Baldwin's  statesmanship. 


423 


m 

ive 

of 

of 

me 


better  proof  of  the  greatness  of  the  younger  Pitt,  than  that  his 
fame  as  a  statesman  outlives  his  blunders.  It  is  only  fair  to  say, 
however,  that  both  Pitt  and  Grenvilie  appear  to  have  contemplated 
a  time  when  it  would  be  expedient  to  reunite  the  sei)arated  Pro- 
vinces. 

Lord  John  Russell  proposed  that  the  new  Assembly  should  not 
meet  until  1842,  a  view  of  the  situation  of  which  he  was  disabused 
by  the  wisdom  aud  firmness  of  Mr.  Thompson  In  conformity  with 
English  constitutional  views  and  maxims,  it  was  determined  that 
money  votes  should  never  be  voted  without  u  message  from  the 
Governor,  of  course  leaving  the  Assembly  '.he  power  of  addressing 
the  Governor  on  the  subject.  Lord  John  Russell  thought  this  a 
most  important  provision,  deeply  connected  and  interwoven  with 
the  whole  of  the  misfortunes  which  had  occurred  in  the  Loweri 
and  with  some  of  the  difficulties  which  had  presented  themselves 
in  the  Upper  Province.  It  would  affect  the  whole  future  of  the 
country. 

The  following  passage  in  regard  to  Responsible  Government  from 
the  lips  of  so  great  and  so  liberal  a  statesman  as  Lord  John  Russell, 
(Earl  Russell)  surely  attests  the  sagacity  and  capacity  which  lay 
behind  Baldwin's  meditative  eye.  The  English  statesman  could 
not  see  his  way  to  Responsible  Government  as  clearly  as  our  own 
great  reformer. 

"  He  was  not  going  to  agitate  what  was  called  the  question  of 
Responsible  Government.  He  was  not  of  opinion,  e,s  he  had  often 
declared,  that  they  could  have  the  official  servants  of  the  Governor 
subject  to  exactly  the  same  responsibility  as  the  Ministers  of  the 
Crown  here,  because  the  Governor  must  receive  his  orders  directb/ 
from  the  Crown,and  therefore,it  was  impossible  to  listen  altogether 
to  the  representatives  of  the  Assembly.  But  he  thought  the 
division  that  had  prevailed,  of  having  one  set  of  men  employed 
in  the  confidence  of  the  Governor,  forming,  as  it  were  a  par- 
ticularly small  party,  distributing  according  to  their  own 
notions,  with  the  skill  and  practice  which  long  experience  gave, 
the  property,  and  guiding  the  administration  of  the  Colony,  while 
other  ambitious  and  stirring  men,  perhaps  of  great  public  talents, 
were  entirely  excluded  from  all  share  in  the  administration  of 
affairs,  had  been  an  unfortunate  and  vicious  practice;  and  by  some 


424 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN    CANADA. 


i! 


i  "i 


i|? 


I  III 


t  : 


rule  of  administration,  a  b(>tter  practice  ou;,dit  to  be  introduced. 
In  conformity  with  this  opinion  Lord  Normanby,  when  at  the 
Colonial  office,  informed  ^^he  Governor  of  Nova  Scotia  that  when- 
ever a  vacancy  occurred  in  the  Executive  Council,  he  should  fill 
it  up  l)y  .selecting  some  one  who  Ams  ]>ropeiIy  (jualified,  fi'om  the 
majority  of  the  Assembly;  and  altl  ou^fh  the  occasion  did  not  arise 
till  after  he  (Lord  John  Russell)  had  succeeded  to  the  oifice,  when 
the  Governor  of  ^ova  Scotia  applied  to  know  whether  he  should 
give  effect  to  the  reconnnendation,  he  told  him,'theio  whs  no  better 
way  of  giving  confidence  to  the  Colony,  and  at  the  same  time  of 
making  the  members  of  the  Assembly  men  of  business,  disposed  to 
look  well  to  all  the  circumstances  of  the  '^ountry,  than  to  give 
them  official  station  and  responsibility.  He  did  not  think  as  he 
'  had  stated,  that  they  could  lay  down  any  positive  inffexible  rule, 
but  as  a  general  .system  of  policy  tho.se  who  were  among  the 
leaders  of  the  majority  of  the  Assembly  should  not  be  excluded 
from  all  concern  in  the  Executive  Govci  lunent," 

With  regard  to  Municipal  Reform,  Lin-d  John  Ru.ssell  said  : — 
"  It  had  been  the  custom,  in  reference  to  the  improvement  of. 
roads  or  any  local  establishment,  and  in  reference  to  grants  of 
money  for  local  courts  of  justice,  to  propose  a  Bill  in  the  Assem- 
bly, and  to  appropriate  the  required  funds  out  of  the  public 
taxes  of  the  Province.  Inst<3ad  of  this  mode  of  proceeding,  he 
pxoposed  that  there  should  be  brought  into  more  regular  and 
uniform  operation,  municipal  government  in  those  Provinces.  In 
Uppfjr  Canada  there  already  existed  the  form  of  municipal  gov- 
ernment. There  were  townships  and  elective  officers,  and  also 
counties,  but  the  latter  vrera  merely  divisions  for  the  choicse  of 
members  for  the  xissembly.  There  were,  however,  local  districts, 
consisting  of  two  or  throe  counties  conjoined,  in  which  taxes  were 
raised  for  the  maintenance  of  Courts  of  Justice,  for  the  exp.enses 
of  Sheriff's  and  Constables,  and  of  the  local  a'Jministiation  oi"  the 
district.  But  these  powers  were  extremely  limited.  In  Ui)per  Can- 
ada the  power  of  taxation  "was  limited  to  the  impo.sition  of  one 
penny  an  acre  on  cultivated  Lnd,  and  of  one-fifth  of  a  penny  an  acre 
on  wild  land.  The  ol)vious  effect  of  this  limitation  was  to  prevent 
the  carrying  into  effect  many  improvements  oat  of  the  pub'icfunds; 
and  the  holdijrs  of  lands  to  a  vast  amount,  being  taxed  extremely 


MUNICIPAL    RKFOUM, 


425 


ced. 
the 
en- 
fill 
the 
rise 
hen 

)Ul(l 

tter 
e  of 
1  to 
^•ive 
s  he 
ule, 
the 
ided 


lightly,  (lid  not  feci  iheinHclvcs  oV)ligu<l  to  devote  their  capital  to 
the  cultivation  of  their  property  He  tlu'i'efore  propose<l  that 
thiw  pov'er  of  taxation  should  he  inereased,  and  that  pcrininHion 
should  be  jjfiven  to  levy  three-pence  i)er  acre  on  all  landH.  A  report 
by  Lord  hurhani  on  this  sul)ject,  in  reforence  particularly  to  Lower 
Canada,  .^liowed  how  extremely  useful  some  municipal  authority 
wouldbe,  by  whicii  local  improvements  mi^dit  be  effected.  In  Lower 
Canada  it  <lid  not  aj>pear  that  any  such  powers  as  he  hadnuintioned 
existed  for  this  purpose,  but  he  proposed  to  exteii'l  to  that  Pro- 
vince the  pov/ers  now  exercised  in  Upper  Canada,  giving  the  Gov- 
ernor authority  to  form  local  districts,  and  to  settle  the  boundaries 
of  such  districts.  In  Upper  Canada  there  weie  fifteen  districts, 
and  there  might  be  formed,  perhaps,  twenty-five  in  Lower  Canada. 
Theye  districts,  as  formed  by  the  Governor,  would  not,  of  course, 
be  80  large  as  to  make  it  inconvenient  for  members  to  attend,  nor 
would  they  partake  in  any  way  of  the  character  of  political  bodies. 
They  were  simply  intended  to  eflfect  mere  local  objects,  such  as  the 
improvement  of  the  roads  and  other  connimnications,  as  well  as  to 
attend  to  a  variety  of  local  purposes,  which  could  not  otherwise  be 
provided  for.  He  thought  it  necessary  that  some  arrangement  of 
thia  kind  should  be  adopted  by  Parliament, because  it  was  (u-oposed 
in  other  parts  of  the  bill  to  take  away,  as  he  had  before  said,  from 
the  Assembly  ihe  power  of  originating  money  votes ;  and  as  this 
was  one  of  those  subjects  on  which  great  dissension  would  proba- 
bly arise  among  the  different  parties  in  Canada,  he  thought  it  desir- 
able, on  that  account  also,  for  Pailiament  to  lay  down  the  basis  on 
which  the  local  districts  should  be  formed." 

With  the  question  of  the  Clergy  Reserve.^,  we  shall  have  briefly 
to  deal  at  a  future  period.  Lord  John  Russell  concluded  his 
speech  with  words  v.hich  find  an  echo  in  our  hearts  to-day.  He 
had  read  thai;  day  a  passage  in  an  author,  to  whose  woi'k  on  Ame- 
rica much  reference  had  been  made.  Speaking  of  the  colonists, 
M.  do  Tocquoville  said:  "  The  political  education  of  the  people  has 
long  been  complete;  nay,  rather  it  was  complete  when  the  people 
first  set  foot  on  the  soil."  No  doubt  it  was  a  proud  feeling  of  the 
grandeur  and  dignity  of  the  country  to  which  he  belonged,  that 
led  Cicero  to  dwell  on  the  powerful  declaration,  Civis  liomanus 
sum.     That,  it  was  suflicient  for  a  man  to  declare,  in  order  to  ob- 


426 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


I    , 


I 

f 


,1 


I. 


!i;i 


tain  pri\  ileges  all  over  the  globe ;  but  those  privileges  and  immu- 
nities were  limited  by  the  extent  of  the  Roman  Empire  ;  they 
were  temporary,  they  lasted  only  so  long  as  the  legions  of  Rome 
could  Hixpport  the  power  of  that  Empire  :  but  with  regard  to  the 
British  colonies  in  America,  it  was  their  boast  that  they  had 
made  them  for  such  privileges  an  enduring  heritage  ;  that  they 
had  sent  them  there  with  feelings  and  maxims  and  principles  im- 
pressed on  their  minds,  which  fitted  them  to  be  the  progenitors  of 
a  great  people ;  that,  mingled  with  all  they  had  given  them,  was 
the  love  of  free  institutions ;  that  they  had  taught  theiu  the  "  way, 
and  the  manner,  and  the  method  "  in  which  that  love  of  free  insti- 
tutions could  best  be  exercised.  It  was  his  belief,  therefore,  that 
England  might  still  maintain  her  connexion  with  the  Colonies, 
without  imposing  on  them  any  terms  which  they  would  feel  it 
incumbent  on  them  to  resist.  Where  the  bonds  of  union  were  of 
that  kind,  he  believed — it  was  also  the  opinion  of  Sir  James  Mac- 
kintosh— thai  colonies  would  see  nothing  to  envy  in  those  nations 
ab'^ut  them  who  might  possess  greater  supremacy  than  themselves. 
With  .  espect  to  the  burdens  of  supreme  government,  to  none  of 
all  those  which  were  entered  into,  in  order  to  maintain  the  British 
power  by  sea  and  by  land,  were  they  subject ;  the  reputation  of 
Great  Britain  protected  thm,  her  mighty  arm  covered  them, 
while  their  own  resources — not  without  aid  from  England — were 
left  available  for  the  promotion  of  internal  improvements,  for  the 
education  of  the  people,  and  for  the  advancement  of  the  general 
welfare  of  their  own  provinces.  He  was  convinced  that  by  passing 
the  Bill,  as  he  proposed,  with  any  alterations  which  mature  con- 
sideration might  biggest — and  thereby  establishing  free  institu- 
tions to  which  the  British  might  resort,  and  under  which  the 
British  might  reside,  they  would  be  adding  strength  to  the  British 
Empire,  by  uniting  under  it  a  body  of  subjects  as  loyal  as  any  in 
the  British  isles ;  that  they  would  not  be  establishing  there  any 
form  of  slavery,  but  that  while  the  freedom  and  happiness  of 
Great  Britain  would  be  extended,  the  freedom  and  happiness  of 
the  Canadas  would  be  secured.    The  speech  was  loudly  cheered. 

Mr.  Hume,  the  member  for  Kilkenny,  referrinj;;  to  the  despatches 
of  Lord  John  Russell  on  the  subject  of  Responsible  Government 
and  the  tenure  of  office  in  the  Colonies,  said  that,  if  such  measures 


DETAILS  OF   UNION   BILL. 


42r 


nmu- 
they 
Rome 
0  the 
had 
they 


con- 


had  been  recommended  long  ago,  there  never  would  Lave  been 
any  troubles.  Howtver,  j!C  disapproved  of  many  of  the  details  of 
the  Union  Bill. 

Lord  John  Russell  explained,  that  in  Upper  Canada  the 
Governor  and  Judges  would  have  a  permanent  appropriation,  while 
with  regard  to  the  civil  establishment,  the  civil  secretary,  and  other 
civil  expenses,  the  amount  would  be  voted  either  for  a  period  of 
years,  cr  for  the  life  of  the  Queen.  The  Governor-General  was 
not  able  to  fix  the  precise  amount;  but  the  estimate  for  the 
Governor  and  the  Judges  w&a  £45,000,  and  the  other  expenses 
of  the  civil  government  £30,000  more.  It  was  therefore  pro- 
posed that  £75,000  per  annum,  should  be  set  apart,  including 
also  a  sum  of  from  £5,000  to  .26,000  "or  pensions — permanent 
appropriation  being  made  for  the  Governor  and  Judges,  and 
the  remainder,  for  a  period  of  years  or  during  the  life  of  the 
Queen.  On  the  demise  of  the  Crown,  the  whole  of  the  territorial 
revenues  of  the  Crown  would  revert  to  Her  Majesty's  successor. 
It  was  also  proposed  that  the  duties  given  by  Lord  Ripon's 
Act  te  the  Assembly,  arising  from  the  14th  of  George  III,  should 
be  considered  part  of  the  Crown  revenue.  The  Assembly  not 
having  the  power  of  originating  money  votes,  and  an  ample 
Civil  List  being  given  for  carrying  on  the  Government  of  the 
Province,  and  defraying  the  necessary  expenses  of  the  Courts 
of  Justice,  it  was  hoped  that  one  great  source  of  contention 
between  the  Assembly  and  the  Crown  would  be  taken  away. 
It  seemed  to  I  ord  John  Russell  that  partly  from  defect  of  con- 
stitutional law,  and  partly  likew  se  from  defect  of  administra- 
tion, evils  which  could  not  occur  under  the  regular  form  of  the 
Constitution  in  England  had  occurred,  in  several  of  the  Colonies,, 
and  in  none  more  than  in  ^ '  Canadas.  It  was  not  only  the  theory, 
but,  generally  speaking,  the  practice  of  the  Constitution,  that  to 
the  Executive  Government  belonged  the  appropriation  of  money; 
they  were  responsible  for  asking  the  House  of  Commons  for  the 
votes  they  considered  necessary  for  the  publ'c  service,  the  House  of 
Commons  exercising,  at  the  same  time,  a  due  control  on  that  head. 
But  in  the  Colonics,  there  had  neither  been  this  division  nor  this 
control.  !n  the  first  place,  it  had  too  frequently  been  the  case  that 
the  persons  entrusted  with  the  confidence  of  the  Governor  were 


!■ 


428 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADV. 


I    III 


\t  i 


ill 


I  1^  |)  ! 


above  all  control  of  the  Assembly,  totally  regardless  of  all  votes 
passed  by  the  Assembly,  and  therefore  they  escaped  from  the  due 
responsibility  to  which  persons  holding  important  offices  of  great 
public  expenditure  should  be  subject.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Assembly  not  having  the  power  of  control,  p.oper  and  essential 
to  the  due  performance  of  their  functions,  had  assumed  what 
of  right  belonged  to  the  Executive  Government,  and,  according  to 
their  own  personal  views  and  interests,  or  those  of  their  immediate 
constituents,  proposed  votes  of  money,  which  were  not  beneficial 
to  the  public  at  large.  Thus  while  there  had  been  no  real  power 
of  control  in  the  Assembly,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  an  undue  power 
in  regard  to  certain  functions,  the  people  at  large  lost  the  benefit 
of  that  kind  of  government  which  they  were  told  was  established 
among  them,  and  neither  had  the  power  of  preventing  undue 
expenditure  by  the  advisers  of  the  Governor,  appointed  by  the 
Governor,  nor  the  security  that  their  own  popular  Assembly  had 
no  power  to  lay  out  the  moneys  and  taxes  of  the  people  according 
to  special,  interested,  and  local  views. 

Mr.  Hume  did  not  share  all  these  views.  What  the  Colonies 
wanted  was  the  control  of  their  resources,  and  the  power  of  grant- 
ing a  Civil  List  to  what  amount  they  thought  proper.  Unless 
this  power  were  given  in  the  Canadas,  the  object  of  the  Union  of 
the  Provinces,  which  was  to  strengthen  their  connexion  with  En- 
gland, would  not  be  attained.  He  also  objected  to  the  qualifica- 
tion of  £500  for  a  member  of  the  United  Assembly.  A  long  dis- 
cussion took  place  on  the  second  reading  of  the  Bill,  Mr.  Hume 
contending  that  the  Bill  would  not  satisfy  the  Canadas.  He  saw 
no  security  in  ic  for  resi)onsibility. 

Want  of  responsibility  had  been  pointed  out  by  Lord  Durham, 
who  had  suggested  a  fit  remedy.  A  great  injustice  was  about 
to  be  perpetrated  against  the  French  population  of  v.'anada. 
The  Bill  violated  the  principle  of  equal  justice  promised  by  the 
noble  lord  in  his  letter  to  the  two  Colonies.  It  was  intended  to 
swamp  the  French  population,  by  not  giving  them  a  fair  share  in 
the  representation.  The  same  cause  of  complaint  which  existed 
in  Upper  Canada  existed  in  Lower  Canada.  Both  desired  free 
institutions.  Did  the  noble  lord  imagine,  that  when  the  two  Pro- 
vinces were  united,  they  would  abate  one  jot  of  their  claim  for 


r 


HUMES  SPEECH.      OPPOSITION. 


42» 


votes 
|he  due 

great 
id,  the 
MentJa] 

what 

[ding-  to 

lediate 

leficial 


popular  institutions?  The  Executive  Council  was  to  be  the  same 
as  before  ;  the  Governor  was  to  choose  the  members  as  before. 
What  security,  then,  had  the  people  of  Canada  that  they  should 
have  persons  in  whom  they  could  confide  ?  There  was  no  measure 
to  render  the  Judges  more  independent  of  the  Crown,  and  they 
had  seen  Judges  removed  by  Sir  Joim  Colborne  because  they 
would  persevere  in  just  administration  of  the  law.  Ifc  was  true 
there  was  a  civil  list,  and  the  Colonial  Legislature  might  give 
the  Judges  salaries  as  they  pleased,  but  there  ougho  to  be  a 
clause  rendering  the  Judges  independent.  In  the  next  place,  the 
revenues  were  put  under  the  control  of  the  Home  Government, 
But  the  people  of  Canada  were  determined  that  the  revenues 
should  be  placed  under  the  absolute  control  of  the  Government 
of  the  country.  They  wanted  to  have  the  management  of  their 
own  affairs.  This  was  the  source  of  all  the  disputes,  and  the 
noble  lord  might  depend  upon  it,  that  the  Assembly  of  the 
United  Province  would  not  let  the  revenues  be  administered  by 
Downing  Street,  a  system  the  abuse  of  which  had  been  pointed 
out  by  Lord  Durham. 

Sir  Robert  Peel  made  a  fine  patriotic  speech.  When  he  said  in 
the  midst  of  his  criticisms,  "  I  make  these  remarks  in  no  party 
spirit,"  he  was  cheered  from  both  sides  of  the  hou^e.  If  they  were 
to  maintain  the  connexion  with  Canada,  it  was  out  of  the  ques- 
tion that  they  could  rule  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  the  inhabitants. 
He  paid  a  high  tribute  to  the  loyalty  of  Canadians  who  had 
afforded  a  noble  example  not  only  of  valour,  but  of  the  feeling  of 
pride  which  they  entertained  for  their  British  extraction. 

The  Order  of  the  Day  for  going  into  Committee  on  the  Bill  was 
moved  by  Lord  John  Russell  on  the  29th  of  May,  whereupon  Mr. 
Goulborn  presented  petitions  just  received  from  Lower  Canada 
against  it.  This  petition  contained  thirty-nine  thousand  signa- 
tures, and  stated  that  no  steps  had  been  taken  to  ascertain  the 
feeling  of  Lower  Canadians,  except  by  calling  a  Special  Council,  half 
the  members  of  which  did  not  attend.  Moreover,  the  Special 
Council  did  not  represent  the  sentiments  of  the  people.  After  the 
long  separation  of  the  Provinces,  their  union  would  only  produce 
discontent  and  suspicion.  The  petition  further  asserted  that- 
many  of  Lord  Durham's  statements  were  founded  in  error. 


I  i 


!i 


I 


■mw 


iiiii 


'i 
>  11  !l 


i  '!i!! ' 


i't" 


1      I 


430 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


Sir  J.  Pakington  moved,  what  we  in  Canada  elegantly  call  the 
six  months'  hoist.  And  who,  amid  cries  of  "  divide,"  should 
put  on  his  armour,  and  strike  a  blow  for  Canada  ?  Mr.  Gladstone, 
whose  face  was  not  then  ploughed  with  the  wrinkles  of  care  and 
thought,  and  furrowed  by  labour,  as  it  is  to-day,  who  at  that 
time  was  one  of  the  handsomest  men  in  England,  as  he  was 
undoubtedly,  even  then,  one  of  the  greatest  orators  using  the 
English  tongue,  felt  bound  to  explain  the  vote  he  was  about  to 
give  in  supporting  Her  Majesty's  Government,  and  he  dwelt  on 
the  fact  that  the  measure  before  the  House  came  backed  by  great 
authorities  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  and  by  the  Special  Coun- 
cil in  Lower  Canada  and  the  Legislative  Council  and  Hoase  of 
Assembly  of  Upper  Canada. 

The  Union  Act  received  the  royal  assent  on  the  23rd  of  July, 
1840,  but  in  accordance  with  a  suspensory  clause  did  not  take 
effect  until  the  10th  February,  1841.  An  Address  had  in  the 
previous  year  elicited  from  the  Governor-General  the  important 
message  that  he  had  been  commanded  by  Her  Majesty  to  ad- 
minister the  Government  in  accordance  with  the  well  under- 
stood wishes  of  the  people,  and  Mr.  Baldwin  had  accepted  the 
office  of  Solicitor-General  on  the  conviction,  as  he  explained  to  a 
Reform  meeting  held  in  Toronto,  that  the  Government  was  to  be 
carried  on  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  Responsible 
Government. 

There  was  at  thid  time  the  same  divergence  of  opinion  on  the 
part  of  newspapei  writers  which  enlivens  our  own  day,  and 
the  character  of  tho  machinery  which  brought  about  the  Union 
was  bitterly  assailed  in  certain  quarters.  Some  even  went  so  far 
as  to  say  that  the  legislation  of  the  Special  Council  had  been 
conducted  in  a  spirit  of  distrust  of  the  people  of  Lower  Canada 
and  hostility  to  their  rights.*  But  the  car  rolled  forward  as  day 
dawns,  whether  rooks  caw  in  the  trees,  or  wolves  howl  on  the 
hill  tops,  over  which  the  purple  sun  climbs  with  what  seem  to  be 
lingering  paces  and  languid  fires. 

Lor  J  Sydenham  (Thompson)  was  accused  of  despisingpublic  sen- 
timent, and  of  holding  the  Mephistophelian  opinion  that  what  is 

*The  Montreal  Times,  1841. 


DOMINICK   DALY.      DllAPER. 


431 


ill  the 
ihould 
stone, 
•e  and 
t  that 
le  was 


theoretically  true  is  practically  false.  His  Executive  Council,  in 
which  there  were  at  least  three  Irishmen,  Baldwin,  Sullivan,  and 
Dominick  Daly,  was  attacked.  The  two  former  we  know.  Do- 
minick  Daly  we  have  already  met,  and  shall  meet  again.  He 
belonged  to  a  Roman  Catholic  family  of  Galway,  and  came 
to  this  country  in  the  first  place  as  secretary  to  one  of  the 
Governors.  He  afterwards  became  Provincial  Secretary  for 
Lower  Canada,  and  at  the  Union  received  a  like  position  for 
all  Canada,  with  a  seat  in  the  Council.  He  was  a  good  speci- 
men of  an  Irish  gentleman  of  good  address  and  polished  manners, 
and  seems  to  have  had  an  extraordinary  capacity  for  recommending 
himself  to  those  in  pov/er,  arising  I  fancy  from  th^  ''act  that  he 
had  little  political  passion.  The  verdict  on  him  ought  perhaps  to 
be  that  at  a  transition  period  he  fulfilled  a  useful  purpose,  though 
it  is  impossible  to  regard  him  with  any  warmer  feeling  than  one 
of  criticism,  which  is  baulked  for  want  of  a  standard.  After 
leaving  Canada  he  was  appointed  Governor  of  Tobago.  He  sub- 
sequently became  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Prince  Edward  Island. 
While  acting  in  this  last  capacity  he  was  knighted. 

After  Baldwin,  in  the  Council,  the  most  remarkable  man,  and 
after  Sullivan  the  most  brilliant,  was  Mr.  Draper,  the  present 
Chief  Justice,  a  man  who  possessed  and  happily  possesses  powers 
of  mind  which  would  have  shone  in  any  sphere.  His  speeches 
are,  as  read  now,  instinct  with  power,  which  was  enhanced  by  a 
flowing  and  dignified  elocution,  and  a  voice  whose  silvery  tones 
explain  the  nick-name  "  Sweet  William."  I  know  not  whether 
I  am  obnoxious  to  Horace's  graceful  lash  as  a  praisor  of  old 
times,  but  it  seems  to  me  the  debates  in  those  days  were  far 
better  than  at  present. 

The  general  elections  took  place  in  the  spring  of  1841.  There 
was  much  violence  and  corrupliu...  Two  valuable  Hves  were 
lost.  Baldwin  was  chosen  for  two  ccnstituencies :  the  North 
Hiding  of  York  and  Hastings.  He  elected  to  sit  for  the  latter 
place.  J.  W.  Dunscombe,  one  of  the  Dunscombes  of  the  County 
Cork,  contested  Beauharnois  against  one  De  Witt,  an  American 
by  birth.  He  was  proposed  by  Mr.  John  McDonald,  and  seconded 
by  M.  W.  Harrison,  the  only  Irish  magistrate  in  the  county.  He 
was  returned  by  two  hundred  and  ninety-five  against  seventy- 


\'i 


I 


lijllli,! 


illii! 


432 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


four.  He  was  escorted  to  Baker's  Point  on  the  Chateauguay 
by  upwards  of  fifty  sleighs  filled  with  his  supporters.  These, 
reinforced  by  some  friends  from  Lachine,  accompanied  him  to 
Montreal.  The  procession  was  a  large  one.  They  entered  the 
city  by  Great  St.  James  Street,  passing  through  Notre  Dame 
Street, "  cheered,"  says  the  report,  "  as  if  it  was  the  Governor- 
General."  They  went  to  Dunscombe's  house,  where  having  given 
three  hearty  cheers,  they  separated.  Dominick  Daly,  the  Pro- 
vincial Secretary,  was  returned  for  Megantic. 

For  the  second  Riding  of  York,  George  Duggan,  jr.,  was  re- 
turned. Mr.  Duggan  was  afterwards  well  known  to  the  present 
generation  as  an  upi'ight  judge,  who  leant  perhaps  a  little  to  seve- 
rity. If  he  was  a  Rhadamanthus,  he  knew  the  characters  with 
whom  he  had  to  deal,  and  he  always  listened  patiently  before 
he  punished. 

The  man  whom  the  second  Division  of  York  chose  to  repre- 
sent it  was  bom  in  the  South  of  Ireland  in  1812,  and  together 
with  his  brother,  the  late  John  Duggan,  Q.  C,  was  brought  by  his 
father  to  Canada  early  in  this  century.  He  was  called  to  the  bar 
in  1837,  and  became  a  bencher  in  1850.  He  was  an  officer  in  the 
Volunteer  Artillery,  and  took  an  active  part  in  snuffing  out  the 
farthing  dip  of  rebellion  in  ]  837.  While  reconnoitering,  with  the 
mayor  of  the  city  and  several  others,  the  whole  party  were  made 
prisoners.  But  why  did  they  allow  themselves  to  be  made  pri- 
soners ?  In  1838  he  was  elected  to  represent  St.  Davids  Ward 
in  the  Council.  In  1841,  as  we  have  just  seen,  he  was  returned 
to  Parliament  as  a  supporter  of  Mr.  Draper.  It  is  not  correct  to 
speak  of  the  "  Draper  Government "  of  1 841.  It  was  Lord  Syden- 
ham's government.  In  1842,  he  went  into  opposition  to  the  La- 
fontaine -Baldwin  Government.  Again  in  1844  he  was  elected  to 
Parliamtmt  as  a  supporter  of  the  Viger-Draper  Ministry.  Mr.  Dug- 
gan also  sat  from  1843  to  1850  in  the  Council  as  one  of  the  alder- 
men of  St.  Andrew's  Ward.  In  1850  he  was  chosen  Recorder 
of  the  City  of  Toronto,  and  in  1858  became  Police  Commissioner, 
On  the  death  of  Judge  Harrison,  in  1868,  he  undertook  the  duties 
both  of  Recorder  and  County  Judge.  In  1869  the  former  office 
was  abolished,  and  he  was  appointed  Judge  by  the  Dominion 
Government.     He  married  a  daughter  of  Mr.  J.  R.  Armstrong,  by 


um 


KILLALY.      SALMON   FISHINO. 


433 


whom  he  had  two  sons,  John  and  Frederick.     Mr.  John  Duggan 
is  Clerk  of  the  Division  Court  for  the  Western  Division  of  Toronto, 

John  Moore  was  returned  for  Sherbrooke,  and  as  we  already 
know,  Francis  Hincks  for  Oxford,  who,  as  Chairman  of  the  Select 
Committee  on  Banking  and  Currency,  was  to  do  such  good  service 
to  the  country  during  this  the  first  Parliament  of  United  Canada. 
A.  Monahan  was  returned  for  Kingston,  and  for  London,  H.  H. 
Killaly,  one  of  Lord  Sydenham's  Executive  Councillors.  Of  this 
gentleman,  who  as  a  ministerial  figure,  a  contractor,  and  a  large- 
hearted  though  somewhat  eccentric  man,  gathers  to  himself  con- 
siderable interest,  another  Irishman,  who  was  subsequently  Chap- 
lain to  Lord  Sydenham,  has  in  his  "  Salmon  Fishing  in  Canada," 
left  us  a  striking  piece  of  portraiture. 

The  sketch  of  Killaly  or  the  "  Commissioner,"  as  Dr.  Adamson 
calls  him,  is  not  the  less  vivid  because  there  seems  to  be  about  it 
a  soupgon  of  malice.  In  the  month  of  July,  1846,  a  little  cutter 
yacht  having  on  board  the  "  Commissioner,"  the  Baron,  the  Cap- 
tain, Adamson,  and  a  crew  of  three  men,  a  boy  and  tA\o  servants, 
entered  the  Saguenay,  In  a  nook  among  tho  mighty  mountains 
near  Tadousac  was  a  settlement  of  Mr.  Pace,  who  received  the  fisher- 
men, and  gave  notice  that  there  would  be  Divine  service  on  board 
the  yacht  the  following  day.  In  the  evening  they  had  some  good 
sea-trout  fishing,  their  enjoyment  being  qualified  only  by  mosqui- 
toes and  black  flies.  There  being  too  many  to  fish  together  one 
of  the  party  struck  out  for  himself.  Sport  went  hand-in-haiid 
with  good  cheer  and  pleasant  converse,  until  the  shades  of  evening 
and  the  glooip  of  the  overhanging  cliffs  having  warned  the  party 
to  return  home,  they  went  in  search  of  their  friend.  They  came 
suddenly  on  a  dark-visaged  gentleman  who  at  the  moment  was 
playing  a  fish.  The  Commissioner  inquired  whether  he  had  seen 
another  fisherman  during  the  evening,  and  was  answered  by  a 
laugh.  The  voice  was  the  voice  of  the  friend  they  were  in  search 
of,  but  the  face  was  the  face  of  a  "  negro  in  convulsions."  He  had 
been  attacked  by  the  black  fly.*  I  hope  a  long  sermon  the  next 
day  consoled  the  poor  wretch. 

*  The  assault  of  Lhe  black  fly  is  generally  sudden  and  unexpected.  The  first  indica- 
tion you  have  of  his  presence  is  the  running  of  a  stream  of  blood  over  some  part  of  your 
face,  which  soon  hardens  there.  These  assaul*^-^  being  renewed  ad  infinitum,  under 
favourable  circumstances,  soon    render  it  difficult,  even  for  his  dearest  and  nearest 

28 


: 


1 

1 

!    1 

11 

lllj 

1 

1 

1 

! 

! 

i 

434 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN    CANADA. 


In  describing  a  Sunday  on  the  Sagucnay  Dr.  Adamson's 
literary  touch  at  times  falters.  But  he  gives  us  a  good  picture  of 
himself.  The  morning  bright  and  clear.  All  on  board  the  cutter 
cleanliness.  At  half -past  ten  o'clock  Mr.  Price  accompanied  by 
half  a  dozen  mechanics  came  on  board,  followed  by  several  gentle- 
men from  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  post,  and  a  few  Indians. 
Having  been  received  by  Mr.  Commissioner  (Killaly),  they  are 
seated  round  the  cabin  at  each  side  of  the  dinner  table,  where  also 
sat  the  servants  and  crew  ;  "  the  whole  representing  a  fair  num- 
ber of  the  various  religious  denominations  into  which  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  Province  are  divided,  together  with  a  goodly  number 
of  the  Church  of  England.  At  the  head  of  the  table,  clad  in  a 
sober  suit  of  black,  with  a  decent  white  choker,  stood  the  gaunt 
and  melancholy-looking  parson — melancholy-looking  I  say,  for  the 
man  was  not  melancholy,  but  of  a  sanguine  and  cheerful  disposi- 
tion." Here  follows  a  sermon  which  surely  was  out  of  place  in 
such  a  book.  Sterne,  indeed,  put  one  of  his  sermons  into  "  Tristram 
Shandy,"  but  he  gets  Corporal  Trim — that  unequalled  master  of 
natural  elocution — to  read  it.  The  text  was  certainly  appropri- 
ate— "  I  go  a  fishing." 

With  the  portraiture  of  the  Baron  and  the  Captain  we  have  no 
concern.  It  is  otherwise  with  the  Commissioner,  who  was  a 
curiosity.  The  most  expensively  and  the  most  ill-dressed  man 
on  the  continent  of  North  A  merica — one  would  almost  have  been 
incli  ned  to  think  that  he  studied  incongruities  as  the  model  after 
which  he  arranged  himself,  only  that  his  slovenliness  forbade  the 
idea  of  his  having  ever  bestowed  a  thought  on  the -subject.  "I 
have  seen  him  at  one  time,"  says  Adamson,  "  promenading  a  po- 
pulous city  in  a  dirty,  powder-smeared,  and  blood-stained  shoot- 
ing coat,  while  his  nether  man  was  encased  in  black  dress  panta- 
loons, silk  stockings,  and  highly- varnished  French  leather  dancing 


relatives,  to  recognise  the  victim  of  the  pest.  The  eflfect  during  a  night  following  a 
mastication  of  this  sort  is  dreadful.  Every  bite  swells  to  about  the  size  of  a  filbert- 
itches  like  a  bum  and  agonizes  like  a  scairt.  If  you  scratch  them  you  only  add  to  the 
anguish.  The  whole  head  swells,  particularly  the  glandular  and  cellular  parts,  behind 
and  under  the  ears,  the  upper  and  lower  eyelids,  so  as  in  many  cases  to  produce  utter 
inability  to  see.  The  poison  is  imbibed  and  circulated  through  the  whole  frame,  pro- 
ducing fever,  thirst,  heat,  restlessness  and  despondency.  See  "Salmon  Fishing  in 
Canada,"  pp.  118,  119. 


\ 


; 


, 


A   PORTRAIT  BY   A  FRIEND. 


48!$ 


pumps.  At  another  time  I  have  met  him  with  one  of  Gibb.«'  most 
recherchS  dress  coats,  a  ragged  waistcoat,  and  worn-out  trousers, 
all  looking  as  if  he  had  slept  in  them  for  weeks,  and  lain  inside 
of  the  bed  among  the  feathers.  His  shirts  never  had  a  button 
on  them,  which  constantly  caused  his  brawny  and  hairy  chest  to 
be  exposed  to  view,  while  a  fringe  of  ravelled  threads  from  their 
wrists  usually  hung  dangling  over  his  fat,  freckled  and  dirty 
hands." 

Where  he  obtained  all  the  old  hats  he  wore  puzzled  his  ac- 
quaintances. That  he  changed  his  hats  frequently  was  evident, 
for  the  hat  of  one  day  was  never  the  same  shape  the  next.  Their 
general  outline  was  that  which  might  be  expected  in  the  hat  of 
an  Irishman  w)io  had  been  beaten  at  a  fair — who  had  encoun- 
tered a  rain-storm  as  he  returned  homewards,  and  who  had 
finally  determined  to  sleep  all  night  in  a  ditch.  His  head  was 
white  and  his  face  was  purple — a  red  calibage  in  snow.  A  won- 
derful specimen  of  winter  green,  he  carried  his  years  well.  With 
his  brisk  and  vigorous  step,  and  his  hale  and  hearty  laugh  and 
aspect,  he  looked  a  man  with  whom  old  age  and  infirmity  had  no 
business.  His  laugh  was  defiant  and  jocund  as  the  crow  of  a 
cock — his  voice  was  like  the  blast  of  a  clarion. 

Looked  at  merely  as  an  animal,  he  was  a  very  satisfactory 
object,  with  his  wholesome  system,  his  unflagging  capacity  to 
enjoy  all  or  nearly  all  the  pleasures  which  he  had  ever  aimed  at 
or  conceived.  His  careless  security,  in  an  official  situation,  on  a 
regular  income,  with  but  slight  and  infrequent  apprehensions  of 
renewal,  had  contributed  to  make  him  proof  against  the  assaults 
of  time.  The  original  and  more  efficient  causes,  however,  lay  in 
the  rare  perfection  of  his  animal  nature.  "  To  hear  him  talk 
about  roast  meat  was  as  appetizing  as  a  pickle  or  an  oyster. 
It  made  one's  mouth  water  to  listen  to  him  expatiating  on  fish  or 
poultry,  and  the  most  eligible  methods  of  preparing  them  for 
table.  His  reminiscences  of  good  cheer  seemed  to  bring  the 
savour  of  turkey  or  lobster  under  one's  very  nostrils.  It  was 
marvellous  to  observe  how  the  ghosts  of  bygone  meals  were  con- 
tinually rising  up  before  him,  not  in  anger  or  retribution,  but  as 
if  grateful  for  his  former  appreciation,  and  seeking  to  renew  an 
endless  series  of  enjoyments  at  once  shadowy  and  sensual.     A 


ill! 


Ill 


I    n 


\W     ' 


436 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


tender  loin  of  beef,  a  spare  rib  of  pork,  a  particular  magnum  of 
claret,  or  a  remarkably  praiseworthy  jorum  of  punch,  which  had 
satisfied  hia  appetite  or  appeased  his  thirst  in  days  long  gone  by, 
would  be  remembered,  while  all  the  subsequent  experience  of  our 
race — all  the  ovents  that  had  brightened  or  darkened  his  indivi- 
dual career — all  memory  of  the  friends  who  had  clung  to  him  in 
his  misfortunes — had  as  little  effect  on  him  as  the  passing  breeze. 

"  His  temper  was  as  uncertain  as  the  wind  towards  his  subor- 
dinates ;  sometimes  familiar  as  a  play-fellow,  at  others  as  impe- 
rious, arbitraiy,  and  unreasoning  as  a  lurk:.  He  was  more  cau- 
tious, however,  with  his  superiors,  and  with  those  whose  opinions 
might  affect  his  interests.  But — he  was  capable  of  a  good-na- 
tured act,  was  a  persevering  fisherman,  could  tie,  roughly,  a  killing 
fly,  enjoyed  a  joke,  made  no  objection  to  hard  work  or  coarse 
diet  by  *  flood  or  field,'  and  altogether  was  not  a  bad  sort  of  com- 
panion for  an  expedition  to  the  rivers  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Law- 
rence. One  of  his  boasts  was  to  travel  with  the  smallest  possible 
quantity  of  luggage,  indeed  he  seldom  encumbered  himself  with 
a  change  of  linen." 

Such  was  Killaly  something  less  than  two  decades  after  the 
time  he  is  introduced  to  the  reader  amid  the  excitement  of  an 
election.  What  the  man  in  his  prime  was  may  easily  be  guessed. 
The  reader,  however,  must  be  reminded  of  the  remark  with 
which  we  introduced  this  sketch.  Killaly  had  many  of  the  best 
points  of  a  fine  old  Irish  country  gentleman,  and  in  his  younger 
days  was  a  "  swell."  His  picture  will  leave  no  unfavourable 
impression  on  most  minds. 

•'  Bear  lightly  on  their  foreheads,  Time  ! 
Strew  roses  on  their  way ; 
The  young  in  heart,  however  old, 
That  prize  the  present  day." 

From  salmon  fishing  we  are  taken  to  whale  fishing,  in  a  very 
readable  volume  which  must  have  done  no  small  service  to  Canada 
in  its  day.  Dr.  Adamson  has  kept  us  too  long  from  more  important 
matter. 

In  their  election  iresses,  candidates  pledged  themselves  to 
support  the  Union,  and  to  make  United  Canada  the  '  brightest 
jewel  in  the  crown  of  our  youthful  Sovereign.'  "I  am  of  opinion," 


THE    FLECTION   OF   1841. 


437 


sajTH  one  candidate,  "that '  the  responsibility  to  the  United  Legis- 
lature of  all  public  officers,  should  be  secured  by  every  means 
known  to  the  British  Constitution,'  and  that  the  '  Governor  should 
carry  on  his  government  by  Heads  <)f  Dopprtraents  in  whom  the 
United  Legislature  shall  repose  coniide .  "  \'  I  am  decidedly  in 
favour  of  municipal  institutions,  and  it  is  supposed  that  this  sub- 
ject will  be  brought  before  the  Legislature  at  an  early  day.  These 
institutions  wouli  confer  on  you  the  power  of  local  assessment, 
for  local  purposes.  Our  election  laws  require  to  be  materially 
altered  and  amended,  and  I  would  advocate  the  introduction  of 
township  elections,  with  suitable  provisions  to  insure  peace  and 
good  order.  Were  such  a  law  now  in  force,  not  more  than  two  or 
three  days  would  be  required  to  poll  the  votes  in  this  county.  As 
your  representative,  I  gave  the  measure  of  the  re-union  of  the 
Provinces  my  hearty  oupport ;  and  I  believe,  that  in  doing  so,  I 
have  received  your  unqualified  approbation.  Of  the  defects  of 
the  Union  Bill,  with  regard  to  the  representation  and  other 
points,  it  is  unnecessary  now  to  speak,  as  these  will  engage  the 
attention  of  the  Legislature.  It  is  required  of  us  to  meet  our 
Lower  Cfinadian  brethren  with  the  utmost  cordiality." 

This  is  a  good  sample  of  all,  or  nearly  all,  the  addresses.  The 
advancement  of  education,  and  the  extension  and  improvement  of 
internal  (3ommunications  were  also  among  the  subjects  dwelt  on 
in  those  bids  for  confidence. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  of  all  the  elections  was  that  of  Mon- 
treal City,  for  which  two  memb^srs  were  returned — the  Hon.  George 
Moffatt  and  Benjamin  Holmes,  an  Irishman,  who  was  destined  to 
do  his  country  and  his  constituency  good  service  whenever  bank- 
ing or  commercial  questions  came  before  the  House.  In  returning 
thanks  for  his  election,  Mr.  Holmes  used  language  which  would 
not  be  without  meaning  to-day. 

With  the  local  distinctions  of  Whig,  Tory,  or  Radical,  they  in 
that  section  of  the  Empire  had,  or  should  have,  nothing  to  do.  All 
had  but  one  interest,  and  should  have  but  one  object — the  pros- 
perity of  the  Province.  What  was  desirable,  what  was  beneficial 
to  those  of  Bri  jish  blood,  could  not  be  disadvantageous  to  those 
of  Frenclti  extraction.    No  partial  legislation,  therefore,  should  or 


Iii 


!    I 


.1  i 


II!  I 


438 


THE   miSHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


could  take  place.     The  Uiiion,  the  long-wished-for  union,  of  the 
Piovince.s  had  at  length  been  effected. 

An  Irishman  by  bii-th,  he  might,  he  hoped,  bo  excused  if  he  ad- 
dressed a  few  words  specially  to  his  own  countrymen — not  that 
he  had  any  desire  to  keep  up  distinctions,  where  all  sectional  dif- 
ferences should  cease  to  exist;  for  he  believed  thi  time  would 
come  when  the  children  of  Irishmen,  Scotchmen,  an  1  Englishmen 
wou'd  be^willing  and  proud  to  assume  the  appellation  of  Cana- 
dians. He  then  urged  Irishmen  to  avail  themselves  of  the  great 
opportunities  offered  them  by  Canada.  He  would  encourage  emi- 
gration. With  good  schools,  public  improvements,  good  roads,  and 
union,  they  would  have  nothing  to  envy  when  they  looked  across 
the  line,  but  rather  see  reason  to  rejoice  that  this  Province  stood 
in  opi)osition  to  a  country  where  the  laws  were  trampled  under 
foot,  and  wherp  consi  ■'mt  ci''-*^ns  prated  abort  liberty  in  the 
slave  market.  Ho  would  gladly  support  any  measure  having  for 
its  object  the  extinction  of  that  "odious  systei  "  the  feudal  tenure. 
He  would  not,  however,  invade  the  rights  of  private  property 
without  making  adequate  compensation  where  compen.sation 
was  due. 

On  the  15th  of  May  we  find  the  people  oc  Kingston  eagerly 
expecting  Lord  Sydenham. 

The  new  Canadian  Parliament  was  to  meet  in  the  General  Hos- 
pital, which  was  fitted  up  temporarily  for  the  purpose.  The  room 
for  the  Legislative  Council  was  forty  feet  long,  twenty-two  feet 
wide,  and  twelve  feet  high.  The  room  for  the  Assembly  was  the 
same  size.  A  correspondent  shrewdly  remarked  that  members 
might  not  have  the  same  facilities  for  transacting  their  private 
business  as  in  Toronto,  but  they  would  have  the  necessary  accom- 
modation for  transacting  '^hat  of  the  public.  The  space  below  the 
bar  was  small,  and  there  ^  as  little  accommodation  for  reporters. 

Fifteen  of  Major  Magrr.cii's  dragoons  went  down  from  Toronto 
for  the  purpose  of  cai  yi-i^  despatches,  and  Kingston  was  all 
alive ;  the  troops  were  arriving  and  departing;  the  assizes  were 
sitting.  Attorney-General  !^)raper  was  conducting  cases  for  the 
Crown.  On  the  JJSth  of  May,  at  one  o'clock  P.M.,  the  "Brockville" 
accompanied  by  Her  Majesty's  steamer  "  Traveller  "  rounded  iutO' 
the  harbour.     His  Excellency  was  on  board.     The  greater  number 


LORD   SYDENHAM'S   ENTRANCE   INTO   KINGSTON. 


439 


If  the 

10  ad- 
that 

tl  (lif- 

7oulil 
Ihinon 
ICana- 

greafc 


of  tho  naval  officers  stxtioned  hero  wero  in  tlie  "Traveller"  on 
whcse  uppiir  deck  vms  a  j.  ;"ty  of  royal  marineH.  The  advance 
battery  of  Fort  Henry  fired  three  .signal  gun.s.  A  flotilhi  of  gun 
boats  stationed  across  Navy  Bay  fired  a  salute  as  the  "Traveller" 
passed.  Every  vessel  in  the  harbour  was  hidden  in  bunting. 
The  day  was  kept  as  a  general  holiday.  The  sun  shone  in  an 
unclouded  sky.  A  light  breeze  rippled  where  it  struck  the  water, 
and  gave  it  a  steel-like  hue.  AU  the  national  societies  were  at 
the  chosen  ground  at  the  appointed  hour ;  the  St.  Andrews  So- 
ciety headed  by  tlie  first  Vice-President,  Mr.  (now  Sir)  John 
A.  Macdonald,  who  wore  a  kilt ;  the  St.  Patrick's  Society  by  Dr. 
Sampson,  the  President ;  the  St.  George's  Society,  the  Mechanicr/ 
Institute,  the  Volunteei-  Fire  Company,  which  was  marshalled  by 
a  brave  Irishman  named  Daley,  were  there.  Capt.  R.  Jackson 
led  the  whole  pageant  which  included  members  of  the  bar  in 
robes,  the  Common  Council,  the  Mayor  and  the  members  for  tho 
Town  and  Coimty.  Between  the  dwelling  which  is  still  known 
as  Mr.  Kirby's  and  the  Bank  of  Upper  Canada,  a  triumphal  arcli 
of  evergreens  was  thrown  across  the  street,  adorned  with  parti- 
coloured festoons  and  mottoes  .  '*  God  save  the  Queen,"  "  Welcome 
to  Lord  Sydoniiam,"  "  United  wo  stand — divided  we  fall,"  "  Bri- 
tish Connexion."  As  the  Governor  landed,  the  Royal  Artillery 
fired  a  salute.  A  guard  of  honour  of  the  24th  regiment  received 
him  at  the  wharf.  B[e  then  mounted  his  horse,  and  proceeded 
under  the  arch  to  the  head  of  the  procession,  the  lines  uncovering 
as  he  passed.  Each  of  the  national  societies  had  five  or  six  flags. 
The  Scotchmen  had  a  piper  at  their  head.  The  Irishmen  had  a 
large  figure  of  St.  Patrick. 

It  was  said  that  at  least  one-eighth  of  the  members  had  been 
returned  by  violence  or  something  worse.  Bitter  were  the  com- 
plaints that  the  greater  number  of  those  who  composed  the  Legis- 
lative Councils  of  the  late  Provinces  of  Lower  and  Upper  Canada, 
were  excluded  from  the  Legislative  Chamber  of  United  Canada. 
The  Family  Compact  elected  but  seven  men.  The  newspapers 
expressed  their  indignation  at  the  scenes  which  had  taken  place 
in  Lower  Canada  in  connexion  with  the  elections,  and  their  sur- 
prise at  the  course  of  the  Governor-General,  who,  in  Upper  Canada, 
was  supposed  to  have  thrown  himself  upon  the  "  Liberal  party"  for 


n 


440 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


!l 


!■    I 


Wll 


l! 


■  I 


( 


8l^pport.  Two  lives  had  been  lost,  one  in  Durham,  the  other  in 
Toronto.  It  was  feared  that  the  accounts  of  the  scenes  in  Lower 
Canada  would  chock  the  t'de  of  emigration.  In  Upper  Canada 
the  Reformers  had  secured  a  large  majority.  They  were  pledged 
to  sustain  the  Union,  but  desired  that  the  measure  establishing  it 
should  be  amended.* 

The  journal  quoted  below  complained  that,  while  Parliament 
had  undertaken  to  restore  freedom  to  the  people,  and  to  extend  to 
them  all  the  advantage';  of  the  representative  form  of  government, 
the  Constitution  of  1840  was  a  mockery  and  a  delusion,  con- 
trasted with  that  which  a  Conservative  Ministry  bestowed  on  the 
country  iu  1791.  It  abridged  the  real  liberty  of  the  people,  and 
as  intei'preted  and  carried  out  by  Lord  Sydenham,  it  would 
only  confirm  the  evils  to  which  attention  was  drawn  by  Lord 
Durham's  Report.  What  was  the  picture  presented  by  the  coun- 
try ?  A  regular  army,  which  must  be  recruited  from  England — 
a  large  body  of  he  people  at  enmity  with  their  Government — a 
partisan  population,  courting  a  monopoly  of  power,  animated  by 
the  worst  spirit  of  political  intolerance,  and  hardly  less  to  be 
dreaded  than  their  opponents — antipathies  on  one  side,  envy  and 
distrust  on  the  other — and  a  Republic  of  seventeen  millions  of  men, 
stretching  along  a  frontier  of  two  thou.sand  mileS;  ready  Lo  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  weakness  of  Canadians,  and  to  convert  their  distrac- 
tions to  its  own  profit.  The  destinies  of  the  country  should  hence- 
forth be  confided  to  the  discretion  of  its  people.  The  fret.uent 
recurrence  to  England,  and  aj)peals  to  the  British  Parliament  in 
all  the  struggles  of  party,  or  whenever  the  wishes  of  the  popular 
will  were  thwarted  by  the  local  administration,  had  been  produc- 
tive oi  serious  mischief.     Such  appeals  had  left  on  the  minds  of 

*The  Times  and  Commercial  Advertiser  (Montreal,  April  7,  1841,)  Hays:  "Lord 
Sydenham  wauld  have  his  majority.  His  doctrine  will  be  received  as  convenient,  if 
not  as  favourable.  He  will  find  the  integrity  of  many  of  the  members  of  the  new 
House  vO  be  of  a  very  malleable  character,  and  he  and  they  will  sing  in  chorus : — 

'  Man's  ct.nscience,  like  a  fey  horse, 
Will  atnmble,  'f  yoa  checK  his  course ; 
But  rid(3  him  with  an  easy  rein, 
And  rub  him  down  with  worldly  gain. 
He'll  carry  you  through  thick  and  thin, 
Safe,  although  dirty,  to  yo'irinn.' " 


MEETING   OF   PARLIAMENT. 


441 


in 

rer 

ida 

bed 

tit 


numbers  an  impression  that  the  colonists  possessed  no  rights  but 
what  might  be  subverted  at  pleasure.  Other  journals  held  a  dif- 
ferent tone,  and  were  confident  that  Lord  Sydenham  would  adr-.in- 
ister  the  Government  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  the  people, 
as  exj)ressed  through  their  representatives. 

On  th<^  14th  June,  1841,  the  Legislative  Assembly  of  the  Pro- 
vince of  Canada  mot.  The  situation  was  full  of  interest,  and  not 
removed  from  anxiety.  Men,  such  as  the  late  Chief-Justice 
Robinson,  in  Upper  Canada,  representing  but  a  small  and  de- 
clining party,  were  opposed  to  the  Union.  In  Lower  Canada 
there  was  a  far  more  formidable  opposition.  The  members  were 
total  strangers  to  each  other ;  there  was  no  understanding  as  to 
the  policy  to  be  pursued  ;  most  of  the  French  Canadian  members 
were  extremely  hostile  to  the  Governor  as  the  ostensible  author 
of  the  Union.  That  Union  was  brought  about  chiefly  by  the  ne- 
cessities of  Lower  Canadian  politics,  and  the  Lower  Canadian 
memrers  were  discontented  with  it.  The  most  distinguished  men 
in  the  Province  were  present,  and  the  Hon.  Joseph  Howe,  then 
Speaker  of  the  Nova  Scotia  House  of  Assembly,  had  a  seat  within 
the  bar. 

With  the  feeling  such  as  existed  in  Lower  Canada,  it  would 
naturally  suggest  itself  as  a  prudent  thing  to  propose  a  Low^ir 
Canadian  for  the  Speakership.  Accordingly,  M.  Morin,  mem-, 
ber  for  Nicolet  (for  which  M.  Gaudet  now  sits),  proposed  Austin 
Cuvillier.  The  motion  was  .seconded  by  Mr.  Men*itt,  the  member 
for  the  North  Riding  of  Lincoln.  Colonel  Prince,  the  member  for 
Essex,  spoke  in  favour  of  it.  When  Prince  sat  down,  up  rose 
Ml.  Hincks,  the  member  for  Oxford,  and  infused  a  disturbing  ele- 
ment into  the  debfi,te.  He  supported  M.  Cuvillic*,  but  he  felt  it 
his  duty  to  his  constituents  and  himself  to  state  that  he  gave  that 
support  because  ^<  nad  satisfied  himself  that  that  gentleman  was 
opposed  to  the  (.  ernment.  He  was  opposed  to  many  details  of 
the  Act  of  Union,  particularly  to  that  part  which  related  to  the  Civil 
List.  He  was  strongly  opposed  to  the  Lower  Canada  policy  of  the 
Government.  He  had  no  confidence  whatever  in  the  administra- 
tion PS  then  constituted.  This  brought  up  Mr.  Cart  wright,  who  said 
that  after  a  aeclaration  of  the  kind  from  such  a  qoarter  he  had  no 
choice  but  to  move  another^andidate.    He  accordingly  moved  that 


442 


THE   imSllMAN   IN   CAN  AD  V, 


li  '! 


the  lato  Spoakor  of  the  dofunct  Upper  Canada  AHscinbly,  Sir  Allan 
MacNab,  was  a  fit  and  proper  person  to  preside  over  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  now  House.  Tliis  l(id  to  a  discu^-.-ion  as  to  what  was 
meant  by  Mr.  Hincks,  who  ultimately  explained  that  his  remarks 
had  referoLce  solely  to  the  Council  of  His  Excellency.  Demands 
were  made  that  M.  CuvilJier  should  explain  his  views.  Reformers 
urged  that  the  character  of  M.  Cuvillier  for  al»ility,  impartiality 
and  integrity  was  such  that  the  House  had  no  occasion  to  inquire 
too  scrupulously  into  his  opinions.  Several  Conservatives  having 
spoken  in  the  same  strain,  arxd  the  leaders  being  evidently  desir- 
cus  of  making  a  peace-offering  at  the  opening  of  the  session,  Mr. 
Cartwright  withdrew  his  modon.  M.  Cuvillier,  having  been 
unaniniously  elected,  was  conducted  to  the  throne  by  his  mover 
and  seconder.  Standing  on  the  lower  step,  he  modestly  begged 
the  House  to  reconsider  their  choice,  an  appeal  which  was  greeted 
with  loud  cries  of  "  no  !  " 

It  caused  great  dissatisfaction  in  quarters  favourable  to  th(3 
Union  that  His  Excellency  did  not  open  the  session  in  person, 
and  that  the  Speaker  did  not  present  himself  immediately  for  the 
Govfjrnor's  ajtprobation.  The  departure  from  the  recognised 
monarcliical  practice,  it  was  said,  savoured  of  Republicanism  and 
Democracy,  and  i-elin([uished  without  higitimate  grounds,  a  [)arlia" 
mentary  prerogative  of  the  Crown.  A  great  and  unprecedented 
innovation  had  been  made.* 

Sir  Allan  MacNab  moved  the  adjournment  of  the  Hou.se.  The 
n::>tion  having  been  put,  Mr.  Aylwin,  the  member  for  Portneuf, 
who  liad  voted  for  the  Speaker  because  he  believed  him  to  be  op- 
posetl  to  the  Government,  declared  that  the  H  *use  had  no  power 
to  ftdjouni,  that  not  having  met  either  the  "great  men"  of  the 
country  or  the  representative  of  che  Queen,  they  could  not 
take  a  single  step  beyond  the  election  of  a  Speaker.  A  dis- 
cussion of  three  hours  followed,  in  whicli  the  same  view  was  taken 
by  Hincks  and  four  or  five  others,  including  Price  and  Small. 
Th<!  right  of  th'L'  House  to  adjourn  was  maintained  by  Attorney- 
Geru  rals  Ogden  and  Draper,  an<I  Solicitor-General  ]3ay.  They 
maintained  that  the  Union  Act  having  done  away  with  the  ne- 


•  See  Montreal  Oazette,  June  17,  1841. 


SPEECH   FROM  THE  THRONE. 


443 


ilan 
bcoed- 
It  was 
barkH 
[aands 
)rmerB 
-iality 
[iquire 
[laving 
<leHir- 
\n,  Mr. 

m(;ver 

M-ggO(l 

roeted 


cesHity  of  obtaining  the  sanction  of  Royal  authority  to  t}i(;  choice 
of  Speaker,  tlie  House  stood,  after  the  election  of  that  officer,  in 
the  same  position  as  the  House  of  Commons  after  a  Speaker  had 
been  chosen.  Baldwin,  though  frequently  appealed  to,  remained 
silent.  Ultimately,  Sir  Allan  MacNab  withdrew  iil,^  inotion,  and  a 
resolution  that  the  House  should  .stand  adj<jurned  until  two 
o'clock  on  tlui  following  day, was  (tarried  by  forty-seven  to  twenty- 
seven.  Mr.  Baldwin  voted  with  the  minority.  It  was  evident 
that  the  Reform  party  had  no  confidence  in  the  Government,  and 
Baldwin  soon  resigned. 

On  the  15th  of  June,  a'  tA\  o  oclock,  the  Governor  went  in 
state  to  the  chamber  of  the  Legishitive  Council.  There  was  a  full 
attendance  of  the  members  of  the  Upper  House.  His  Excellency 
having  commanded  the  attendance  of  the  members  of  the  Assen»bly, 
there  was  a  rush  to  the  Lc'^islative  Cham})er,  and  Austin  Cuvillicr, 
informed  His  Excellency  that  the  choice  of  the  Assembly  had 
fallen  on  him  aw  Speaker. 

The  customary  privileges  having  been  demanded  and  granted, 
the  First  Session  of  the  First  Parliament  of  the  Province  of  Canada 
was  opened  with  a  speech  from  the  Throne,  which  was  received 
with  conflicting  feeling  throughout  the  country. 

The  first  paragraph  referred  to  the  case  of  McLeod.  A  subject 
of  Her  Majesty,  an  inhabitant  of  the  Province,  had  been  forcil)ly 
detained  in  the  neighbouring  State,  charged  with  a  pretended 
crime.  No  time  was  lost  l)y  the  Executive  of  the  Province  in  re- 
monstrating against  this  proceeding,  and  provision  was  made  for 
insuring  to  the  individual  the  means  of  defence,  pending  the 
fuither  action  of  Her  Majesty's  Oovtsmtneni.  The  Queen's  repre- 
sentative at  Washington  had  since  been  instructed  to  demand  his 
relefise.  The  result  of  that  demand  the  Governor  liad  not  yet 
learned,  but  he  had  the  Queen's  comnuinds  to  assure  her  faithful 
S'lbjer^w  in  Canada  of  Her  Majesty's  fixed  determination  to  protect 
them  with  the  whole  weight  of  her  power. 

Arrangements  had  been  completed  durirg  the  summer,  by  which 
the  rates  of  postage  l)etween  all  parts  of  the  Colony  and  the  United 
Kingdom  had  been  greatly  reduced.  A  more  s{)eedy  and  /c^ular 
conveyance  of  letters  between  different  parts  of  the  Province  ha<.l 
Bince  been  established  ))y  arrangements  made  by  the  Heputy  Post 


! 


Ii 


rf 


444 


THE    IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


H 


I!  1 


Master  General.  A  commission  had  been  appointed  to  enquirt; 
into  and  report  upon  tlio  whole  Post  OtHce  system  of  North 
Am(!rica,  and  it  was  confidently  anticipated,  that  the  result  of  its 
labours  would  be  the  establishment  of  a  plan  securing  improve- 
ments in  tlie  internal  communication  (n\ua\  to  those  already 
obtained  with  the  Mother  Countr}'. 

AuKjng  those  subjects  demanding  consideration,  first  in  impor- 
tance was  the  adoption  of  measures  for  developing  the  resouices 
of  the  Province  by  Public  Works. 

The  !mi)roven)ent  of  the  navigation  from  the  shores  of  Lake 
Erie  and  Lcke  JIuron  to  the  ocean — the  f!sta))lishment  of  new 
internal  communications  in  the  inland  districts,  ware  works  requir- 
ing a  great  outlay,  but  which  pi-omised  connnensurate  returns.  I'o 
undertake  them  successfully,  large  funds  would  be  recjuired,  and 
the  financial  condition  of  the  Province  would  seem  to  for])id  the 
attempt.  But  His  Excellency  had  the  satisfaction  of  informing 
them  that  ho  had  received  authority  from  Her  Majesty's  Govern- 
ment to  state,  that  they  were  prepared  to  assist  these  important 
undertakings,  l>y  affording  a  guarantee  for  a  loan  to  the  extent  of 
no  less  than  a  inillion  and  a  half  sterling,  to  aid  the  Province,  for 
the  double  purpose  of  diminishing  the  pressure  of  the  intevest  on 
the  Public  De}»t,  and  of  enabling  it  to  proceed  with  those  great 
pu})lic  undertakings  whose  prcjgress  during  the  last  few  years  had 
been  arrested  by  the  financial  difficulties.  A  measure  for  this 
purpose  was  in  course  of  preparation. 

In  innnediate  connexion  with  outlay  ui)on  public  works  was 
the  subject  of  inimigration,  and  the  disposal  and  settlement  of  }>ub- 
lic  lands.  The  assistance  for  the  Public  Works  would  provide 
employment  for  labour,  and  thus,  in  the  surest  manner,  stimulate 
omigration.  Not  only  .so,  Her  Majesty's  Govtrnment  were  pre- 
pared to  assist  in  facilitating  the  passage  ol  th(!  immigrant  from 
the  port  at  whicli  he  was  landed  to  the  place  whore  his  labour 
might  be  made  available.  A  vote  of  money  for  this  purpose 
would  be  proposed  to  the  Impeiial  Parliaiii'iit. 

It  was  highly  desirable  that  the  principles  of  local  self-govern 
raent,  which  already  prevailed  to  some  extent  throughout  that 
part  of  the  Provinc«i  that  was  formerly  Upper  Canada,  should 
receive  a  more  extensive  'aj>plication,  and  that  the  people  should 


i4.i  i' 


r 


A   PRECiNANT    F'HOFUKCY. 


445 


[is 


t>r- 

5es 


exerciHc  a  ^rcatcjr  do^ioo  of  powoi"  over  tlieir  own  l()(':al  affairs. 
A  measure  upon  tlii.s  subject  would  b(;  HuVjniitted  to  Parliament, 
and  provision  would,  he  hoped,  be  made  for  eHtal)liHhiti^  local 
self-government  in  districts  unprovided  with  it.  Lord  Sydeidiam 
knew  the  advantages  of  Municipal  Councils,  "  tliose  walks  and 
commons  of  a  free  people,"  as  Walter  Savage  Landor  called  thein. 

A  due  provision  for  the  (iducation  of  the  people  was  one  of  the 
first  duties  <jf  the  State,  and  in  this  F^rovince  especially  the  want 
of  it  was  grievously  felt.  The  esta})lishment  of  an  efficient  sys- 
tem by  \vhich  the  blessings  of  instruction  niight  be  placed  within 
the  reach  of  all,  was  a  work  of  difficulty — but  its  overwhcdming 
importance  demanded  that  it  should  be  undertaken. 

"  The  eyes  of  England,"  the  speech  concluded,  "  are  anxiously 
fixed  upon  the  result  of  this  great  experiment.  Should  it  suc- 
ceed, the  aid  of  Parliament  in  your  undertakings — the  confidence 
of  British  capitalists  in  tin;  credit  you  may  require  from  them — 
the  aecuiity  which  the  British  people  will  feel  in  seeking  your 
shores  and  establishing  themselves  on  your  fertile  soil — may  carry 
improvement  to  an  unexampled  height.  The  rapid  advance  of 
trade  and  immigration  within  the  last  eighteen  months  afford  am- 
ple evidence  of  the  effects  of  tranquillity  in  restoring  c(jnildoncG 
and  promoting  prosperity.  May  no  dissensions  mar  the  flattering 
prospect  which  is  open  before  us — may  your  efforts  be  steadily 
directed  to  the  great  piactical  improvements  of  which  the  Province 
stands  so  much  in  need,  and  under  the  blessing  of  that  Providence 
which  has  hitherto  preserved  this  portion  of  the  British  dominions, 
may  your  councils  be  soguide<!  as  to  ensure  to  the  Queen  attached 
and  loyal  subjects,  and  to  United  Canada  a  prosperous  and  con- 
tented pe()|>le." 

With  this  speech  the  siipporters  of  the  Government  were  well 
pleased.  But  the  Opposition  press  complained  that  it  lai<i  down 
no  princijdes  i'ov  the  futuT(!  guidance  of  tl.o  Government. 

The  Government  did  not  come  down  at  once  with  an  answer  to 
the  Speech.  Mr.  Malcolm  Cameron,  when  proposing  a  series  of 
resolutions  echoing  the  speech,  grew  quite  enthusiastic  about  the 
first  clause.  He  thought  if  hon.  members  had  but  "a  s[);irk  of 
the  patriotism  of  the  ancient  Romans,"  or  "  one  particle  of  the  lovo 
of  country  manifested  by  the  Highlander,"  they  would  advocate 


t4f) 


TlfE   lUISnMAN    TN    CANADA. 


Htrongor  arul  more  (Iccisivo  action.  On  the  mocond  c1iiuh(!,  n-spoct- 
infjj  a  now  ariJiii^'oniont  for  the  Post  Office,  Mr.  ( 'ariioron  Hpoko  aH 
follows,  and  hi.s  words  call  up  a  vivid  j)ictur(i  of  early  timoH  in 
Canada,  when  isolated  familii^s  lonj^ing  to  hear  from  and  to 
conuniinicate  with  their  fri(!ndH,  were  unahlo  to  do  ho,  owin^  to 
tlie  expense  attending  such  conumniication.  "  To  tin;  Tnnn<!rous 
families  scattond  over  the  rrovince  who  have  severed  riH  the  ties  of 
relationship  with  liome,  tluj  hi^d)  rat(^s  of  j)osta;.,'e  fornusriy  charged 
had  effectually  cut  off  every  approacrh  at  corniapondence.  He 
could  tell  them  tliat  a  change  from  /js.  or  .'{s.  to  the  sum  of  Is.  2d. 
was  hailed  with  joy  and  gratitude.  Ho  had  SiMii  the  tears  roll 
from  the  eyes  of  old  setlltira,  when  they  found  they  c<»uld  renew 
the  correspondence  with  theii-  I'riemls  ahroad  on  such  moderate 
terms." 

In  the  course  of  the  discussion  Mr.  Hincks  said  he  was  sorry 
that  there  should  he  a  desire  to  seek  any  further  delay.  The  cus- 
tom of  England  was  for  the  servaiits  of  the  Crown  to  come  down 
with  an  answ(;r  ready  to  suhndt  to  the  House.  Tlic  gentlemen 
■  opposite,  on  the  Treasury  benclHis,  had  failed  in  their  duty.  They 
ought,  ere  this,  to  have  j)ro|)08ed  their  address — and  whe;)  't  was 
linderstood  tliat  this  discussion  was  to  he  now  proceeded  with,  the 
r(^8olutions  ought  to  have  been  submitted  at  the  morning  sitting 
without  ohliging  a  further  delay  until  to  morrow.  However, 
time  should  he  given  for  consideration,  in  order  that  no  one  should 
be  taken  by  surprise. 

A  question  of  Mr.  Buchanan,  relating  to  Responsible  Govern- 
ment, brouglu  up  Mr.  Attorney-General  Draper,  and  his  speech, 
which  is  a  valuable  document  in  the  liistory  of  our  constitutional 
progress,  is  the  best  apology  for  Baldwin's  resignation.  Mr. 
Buchanan,  well  known  to  us  to-day  as  Isaac  Buchanan,  ask(<l 
whether  the  Members  of  the  Executive  acknowledged  their  re- 
spcmsibility  to  Canadian  public  opinion,  as  expressed  by  the 
majority  of  that  House,  for  the  advice  tliey  gave  the  Head  of  the 
Government,  to  tlie  extent  that  they  would  not  remain  connected 
with  an  Administration  against  which  a  vote  of  want  of  confi- 
dence was  passed  in  the  As.sembly,  unless  in  case  a  dissolution  of 
Parliament  was  imminent  ?     Or  did  they  intend  to  recognise  the 


MTl.   DIIAI'KR  ON   UESPONSIBLE   OOVEUNMKNT. 


447 


fct- 

in 
to 
b  to 

[oUH 

(h  of 

lie 

2d. 

roll 

now 


priiiciplo  of  Hitainin^'  ofKco,  aft(3r  th(3y  found  thoy  could  not  Hccuro 
a  majority  in  tlio  AKHombly? 

Mr.  JJrapor'H  ,spo(;ch  was  an  admirable!  pioco  of  niasonin^'  and 
oratory,  and  it  bears  not  only  on  Loi'd  Sydenliatri's  conduct,  but  on 
the  j)()litic.s  of  the  pr<;Heiit  moment.  Few  j)oliticianH  liave,  pcu'liaps, 
considered  the  did'ereiice  Ixitwoen  the  (Jonstitution  of  the  P^mpiro 
and  the  (Jonstitution  of  ('anada. 

Mr.  Draper  said  that  ordy  so  long  as  he  felt  that  in  sustaining 
the  (lolicy  of  the  Hi^ad  of  the  (jovernriKint  lu;  did  not  sacnfico 
th  .»8C  opinions  he  conscientiously  entertained  would  ho  continue 
to  hold  office.  This  very  first  declaration  of  Mr.  Drapcir  tallies 
with  the  view  of  Lord  Sydcjnham  taken  })y  impartial  critics.  Ho 
had  come  to  introduce  Responsible  Government,  but  clearl}'  not 
R(iS})onsible  G(jvernmcnt  as  understood  by  Baldwin.  "  Never  for 
a  moment,"  said  tlie  London  Colonial  Gazette,  when  noting  his 
death,  "did  Lord  Sydenham  hit  the  reins  out  of  his  own  hands." 
But  he  had  immense  dilhculties  to  cont(jnd  with.  He  de.serves 
til  is  great  praise  that  he  was  the  man  for  the  liour.  Sagacious, 
strong,  of  great  in<luHtry  and  not  overweightcid  with  scruples, 
like  all  great  men,  his  personal  iniluence  entered  largely  into  his 
success  and  this,  which  was  perhaps  advantageous  at  the  moment, 
was  attended  with  evil  fruits  afterwanJs.  His  policy  undoubtedly 
was  to  deal  with  individuals  rather  than  parties,  and  thus  secure 
"to  himself  the  whole  power  of  the  Executive.  He  intendefl  to  be 
his  own  chief  secretary.  He  aspired  to  be  for  Canada  what  Louis 
Philip} Mi  was  for  Franco.  It  was  ])robably  fortunate  for  his 
reputation  that  his  career  was  prematurely  cut  short. 

Mr.  Draper  said  in  the  first  place  he  would  refer  to  the  office 
and  duties  of  th(j  Governor  of  the  Province.  The  office  was  one 
of  a  mixed  character,  the  Governor  being  the  representative  of 
Royalty  and  also  a  Minister  responsible  alike  to  his  Sovereign  and 
to  the  Imperial  Parliament  for  the  faithful  discharge  of  the  duties 
of  his  station,  liable  to  be  im])eachcd  for  misconduct  before  the 
highest  tribunal  of  the  Empire,  a  tri})unal  before  which  he  could 
not  discharge  himself  by  declaring  that  the  course  f.^r  wliich  he 
was  accused  had  been  followed  under  the  advice  of  any  man  or  any 
set  of  men,  of  the  officers  of  hi,?  Government,  or  of  his  Executive 
Council.     If  this'  vdew  was  con'ect,  it  followed  as  a  necessary  con- 


Ill 


11 

; 

h  ^t  h 

: 

.  .... 

fA 


448 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


sequence,  that  where  the  responsibility  attached,  there  the  power 
must  be  vested.  To  give  power  without  responsibility,  was  incon- 
sistent with  the  pririciples  of  the  constitution  ;  to  enforce  respon- 
sibility where  no  power  was  given,  was  to  violate  the  principles 
of  natural  justice.     The  two  were  inseparable. 

He  then  proceeded  to  justify  his  views,  by  quoting  Lord 
Gleneig's  despatch,  in  which  it  was  affirmed  that  experience  proved 
that  the  administriition  of  public  affairs  in  Canada  was  by  no 
means  exempt  from  the  control  of  practical  responsibility.  To 
His  Majesty  and  to  Parliament  the  Governor  of  Upper  Canada 
•w  as  at  all  times  most  fully  responsible  for  his  official  acts.  That 
this  responsibility  was  not  merely  nominal,  for  that  His  Majesty 
felt  the  most  lively  interest  in  the  welfare  of  his  Canadian  subjects, 
and  was  ever  anxious  to  devote  a  patient  and  laborious  attention 
to  any  representations  which  they  might  address  to  him,  either 
through  their  representatives,  or  as  individuals,  was  shown  by 
the  whole  tenour  of  the  correspondence  of  his  predecessors  in 
office.  That  the  Imperial  Parliament  were  not  disposed  to  receive 
with  inattention  the  representations  of  their  Canadian  fellow- 
subjects,  was  attested  by  the  labours  of  the  Committees  which 
had  been  appointed  by  the  House  of  Commons,  uoring  the  last 
few  years,  to  enquire  into  matters  relating  to  these  Provinces.  It 
was  the  duty  of  the  Lieutenant-Governor  to  vindicate  to  the  King 
and  to  Parliament  every  act  of  his  administration.  In  the  event 
of  an}  1  (presentations  being  addressed  to  His  Majesty  upon  the 
Lieutenant-Governor's  official  conduct,  he  would  have  the  highest 
possible  claim  to  a  favourable  construction — but  the  presumptions 
which  might  reasonably  be  formed  in  his  behalf,  w(»u!d  never  su- 
persede a  close  examination,  how  far  they  coincided  with  the  real 
facts  of  each  particular  case  which  might  be  brought  under  dis- 
cussion. This  responsibility  to  His  Majesty  and  to  Parliament 
was  second  to  none  which  could  be  imposed  on  a  public  man,  and 
it  was  one  which  it  was  in  the  power  of  the  House  of  Assembly, 
at  any  tinvo  by  address  or  petition,  to  bring  into  active  operation.* 

Mr.  Draper  then  passed  from  Lord  Glenelg  to  what  Lord  Syden- 
ham himself  stated  in  answer  to  an  addrjss  presented  to  him  at 

*  Lord  Glciiolts'a  despatch,  5th  Deciiinber,  1835. 


WHAT  IS  RESPONSIBLE  GOVERNMENT  ? 


449 


power 
} incon- 
respon- 
nciplcB 

l    Lord 

proved 

by  no 

|ty.     To 

Canada 

That 

Majesty 

ubjects, 

tention 

,  either 

lown  by 

Bsors  in 


receive 

fellow- 

which 

the  last 

ices.    It 

lie  King 

le  event 

pon  the 

highest 

mptions 

ever  sii- 

the  real 

ider  dis- 

•1  lament 

lan,  and 

jsembly, 

sration.* 

Syden- 

him  at 


Halifax,  in  which  he  had  in  a  few  but  well-considered  expres- 
sions embodied  the  substance  of  the  foregoing  remarks. 

The  second  branch  of  the  subject  involved  the  office  and  duties 
of  Her  Majowty  's  servants  in  this  colony,  and  particularly  of  those 
who  were  members  of  that  House;  responsibility  and  power  must 
go  hand  in  hand.  He  who  was  responsible  for  the  exercise  of 
power  could  not  and  dare  not  (for  he  would  be  impeachable  for  the 
act)  transfer  that  power  into  other  hands.  Confusion  of  idea  had 
been  not  infrequently  occasioned  in  this  matter,  by  attaching  the 
same  meaning  to  the  use  of  the  terms  "Responsible  Government" 
and  "  Responsible  Executive  Councillor."  It  was  one  of  the  condi- 
tions of  free  institutions,  that  Governments  should  not  be  irrespon- 
sibly conducted  ;  but  the  character  of  that  responsibility  varied  with 
the  character  of  the  Constitution,  whether  it  was  of  the  Colony  or 
of  the  Mother  Countr3^  So  long  as  the  latter  in  a  greatei-  or  less 
degree  controlled  the  former,  so  long  it  was  impossible  that  the 
whole  responsibility  could  devolve  upon  those  conducting  affairs 
here,  and  if  that  control  were  put  an  end  to,  the  connection  would 
exist  but  in  name.  In  accepting  office  under  the  Government,  he 
had  taken  upon  himself  the  duty  of  giving  his  honest  advice,  to 
the  best  of  his  judgment,  upon  all  subjects  on  which  he  should  be 
consulted,  and  of  advocating  and  sustaining  in  his  place  in  that 
House,  those  measures  which  the  Head  of  the  Government  might 
think  it  his  duty  to  recommend  to  the  country,  as  calculated  to 
promote  its  prosperity  and  improvement.  It  was  his  duty,  so  long 
as  he  held  office,  to  follow  this  course,  and  when  measures  were 
determined  on  by  the  Head  of  the  Government,  who  in  that 
respect  was  to  be  regarded  as  the  responsible  Minister  of  the  Crown , 
to  which  he  could  not  give  his  support,  honour  and  duty  could 
point  out  but  one  path,  that  of  resignation.  A  man  must  be  in- 
deed hardened  in  sentiment  and  feeling,  who  did  not  feel  his 
responsibility  to  public  opinion,  not  to  that  hasty  expression  of  it 
which  excitement  or  feeling  gave  rise  to,  but  that  which  resulted 
from  the  conviction  of  a  long  course  of  time. 

It  is  easy  to  see  through  this  rhetoric  chat  what  Mr.  Draper  really 
meant  was  a  negative  to  the  first  and  an  affirmative  to  the  second 
of  Mr.  Buchanan's  questions.     He  then  quoted  from  the  same  des- 
patch of  Lord  Glenelg  to  the  effect  that  the  principle  of  effective 
29 


450 


THK   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


responsihility  should  j)erva(lo  ovcry  «l(ipaitinu»t  of  (iovcininont, 
and,  thoroforc,  thai  every  piihlic  officer  sliouhl  deuond  on  HIh 
Majesty 'h  pleaHurc  for  the  tenure  of  Ids  office.  If  the  liead  of  any 
dcjiartineiitHliould  place  Idiiiself  in  <leeided  opposition  to  the  Lieu- 
tenant-(jlovernor,  whetlier  that  opposition  were  avowed  or  latent, 
it  would  he  his  duty  to  resign  Ids  ollicc,  because  tlie  sysieni  of 
gov  .'rnnient  could  not  proceed  witli  safety  on  any  otlioi'  principle 
than  that  of  the  cordial  co-operation  of  all  its  various  niendters  in 
tfie  same  general  plan  of  promoting  tlie  })uhlic  good.  Son)e  of  tlie 
n»end)ers  of  the  local  Government  would,  also,  occasion.''ly  be 
representatives  of  the  people  in  tfie  Assend>ly,  or  would  hold  seats 
in  the  [.cgislative  (Jouncil.  As  members  of  tlie  local  Legislature, 
they,  of  course,  must  act  with  fidelity  to  the  public,  advocating  and 
fjupporting  no  measure  which,  upon  a  laige  view  of  the  general 
interests,  tlw>,y  would  not  think  it  incuudtent  on  them  to  advance. 
But  if  any  such  person  should  find  himself  compelled,  })y  his  sense 
of  duty,  to  counteract  the  i)oIicy  pursued  by  the  Lieutenant-Oov- 
ernor,  as  the  Head  of  tfie  (iovernment,  it  must  be  distinctly  under- 
stood that  the  immediate  resignation  of  his  office  is  expected  of 
him,  and  that,  failing  such  a  resignation,  he  must,  as  a  general  rule, 
be  sus[)ended  from  it.  Unless  tfiis  course  were  pursued,  it  would 
be  impossible  to  rescue  tlie  Head  of  tfie  Government  from  the 
imputation  of  insincerity,  or  to  conduct  tfic  administration  of 
pul)lic  affairs  with  the  necessary  firmness  and  decision.  Lord  Jolin 
Russell's  «lespatch  of  the  f  4tfi  Oct(/oer,  LS3J),  was  then  quoted,  and 
tlie  reasoning  is  w(jrth  pondering  to-day.  Perhaps  we  have  here 
an  illustration  of  Ijord  Sydenham's  apothegm  that  what  is  theoret- 
ically true  is  often  practically  false. 

Lord  John  Ru.^sell  distinguishing  botweei:  the  Imperial  Cabinet 
and  its  oijuivalent  in  a  colony,  says:  "But  if  we  seek  to 
apply  such  a  practici'  [the  English  constitutional  practice]  to  a 
colony,  we  shall  at  once  find  ourselves  at  fault.  The  power 
for  which  a  Minister  is  responsible  in  England  is  not  his  own  power 
but  the  power  of  the  Crown,  of  which  he  is,  for  the  time,  the  organ. 
It  is  obvious  that  the  executive  councillor  of  a  colony  is  in  a  situa- 
tion totally  different.  The  Governor  under  whom  he  serves  receives 
his  orders  from  the  Crown  of  England  ?  But  can  the  Colonial  Coun- 
cillors be  advisers  of  the  Crown  of  England?  Evidently  not ;  for  the 


LOUD   JOHN    HUHSKU/h    VIKWS, 


4-)! 


inumt, 
III  His 
r  any 
Lieu- 
liitunt, 
ion  I  of 
nciplu 
toi'M  in 
of  the 
'My  be 
I  Heats 
slature, 
ingand 
{general 
dvance. 
i.H  Hen.se 
iit-Oov- 
'  und er- 
ected of 
;ral  rule, 
it  would 
loia  the 
ation  of 
)rd  John 
ited,  and 
ave  here 
tlieorct- 

Cahinet 
seek  to 
ce]  to  a 
e  power 
vn  power 
he  organ. 
L  a  situa- 
j  receives 
ial  Coun- 
b ;  for  the 


Crown  has   other   adviscM'",,   tor   the   same   functions,   and    with 
superior  authority.    It  jmay  happen,  tlusrefore,  tliat  the  (iovernor 
roctiives,  at  one  and  tlic  same  time,  innt'Mictions  fn^m  the   Queen 
and  advice  from  liis  Executive  Counci,'  totally  at  variance  with 
each  other.     If  he  is  to  obey   Ins  instructions  from  Knghmd,  the 
parallel  of  constitutional  reHponnihility  itntin^ly  fails.     If,  on  the 
other  hand,  he  is  to  follow  the  advice  of  his  <;oijncil,  he  is  no 
longer  a  subordinate  officer,  hut  an  independent  sovert^ign.      It  is 
now  sai<l  that  internal  government  is  alone  intcjnded.      I^ut  there 
ure  some  cases  of  internal  governnuint  in  wiiich  the  honour  of  tluj 
Crown,  or  the  faith  of  Parliamfsno.  or  fclu!  salety  of  the  State,  are 
s(j  seriously  involved  that  it  would  not  be  itossible  for  h(!r  Majesty 
to  deh'gate  her  authority  to  a  Ministry  in  a  colony."     Mr.  l)!Uper 
then  called  to  the  recollection  of  the  connni^tee  the   r-  4olution 
moved  by  Lord  John  Russell,  an<l  which  was  onflrmed   by   '  oth 
Lords  and  Commons — "  That  while  it  is  exj)edient  to  improve  the 
composition  of  the  Executive  Council,  it  is  unadvisuble  to  suSjject 
it  to  the  rtisponnibility  deman<led  by  the  House  (jf  Asnembly."    To 
the  foregoing  principles,  thus  clearly  laid  down,  Mr.  Draf)er  ga'/e 
his  unqualified  assent.     Upon  them  he  ha<l  accepted  office — and 
he  would  resign  office  whenever  his  ten\ire  of  it  bicame   incon- 
sistent with  their  application.  As  to  the  maintenance  of  liaruiony 
between  the  Executive  and  the  Legislature  :  to  preserve  the  har- 
mony, His  Excellency  liad  on  a  former  occasion  decla^id  tliat  he 
had  received  Her  Majesty's  comiuands  to  administer  the  Govern- 
ment in  accordance  with  the  well  understood  wishes  anc]  inten;sts 
of  the  people.     In  carrying  out  this  pledge,  it  was  felt  right,  and 
a  part  of  the  duty  which  the  Oovernmcmt  owed  to  the  people,  to 
endeavour  to  anticipate  the  wants,  and  prepare  such  measunjs  as 
would  promote  the  prosperity  of  the  Province,     in  pursuing  this 
object,  nhould  discord  arise,  the  restoration  of  harmony  l)(!came 
the  duty  of  the  Head  of  the  Government.  For  this,  he  was  respon- 
.tible.  The  Council  were  not  to  dictate  to  him.  If  he  found  that  he 
was  embarrassed  by  dishonest  or  incapable  servants  of  the  Crown, 
he  could  at  once  relieve  himself  of  them,  and  by  the  appointment 
of  more  fitting  officers   endeavour  to  restore  the  harmony  which 
had  been  disturbed.     11 -s  plan  might  be  defeated — his  efforts  to 
promote  the  public  welfare  thwarted  by  other j  causes.     It  wa-s 


V] 


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IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3} 


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452 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


I   '•(■. 


n 


impossible  to   foresee   in    what    shape    such    difficulties    might 
arise. 

But  in  whatever  shape  they  arose  an  appeal  might  be  made 
to  the  people  by  dissolution.  Circumstances  might  be  in.agined 
which  would  render  it  impossible  for  the  Governor  to  continue 
the  administration  of  public  affairs,  with  honour  to  himself,  or 
advantage  to  the  people.  In  some  one  or  other  of  these  modes, 
however,  the  effort  to  restore  harmony,  when  interrupted,  must 
be  made.  If  so  improbable  and  lamentable  a  contingency  should 
arrive,  that  every  effort  should  prove  unsuccessful,  then  a  state 
of  things  would  arise,  on  which,  until  it  occurred,  Mr.  Draper  felt 
it  out  of  place  to  offer  any  observations. 

In  a  word,  he  was  pleading  for  a  state  of  things  which  was  the 
antipodes  of  Responsible  Government.  Nor  can  there  be  a  doubt 
that  he  was  expressing  Lord  Sydenham's  views.  It  will  have 
been  observed  that  he  always  speaks  of  the  Governor  as  the 
"  Head "  of  the  Government. 

Mr.  Hincks,  who,  like  Mr.  Holmes,  busied  himaelf  with  ques- 
tions relating  to  banking,  commerce,  school  laws,  &c.,  took  a  vig- 
orous part  on  the  great  question  of  the  hour.  He  opposed  the 
civil  list,  and  said  that  no  Reformers  would  admit  the  right  to 
take  "  our  "  money  without  "  our  "  consent. 

Mr.  Baldwin  was  attacked  with  great  virulence  for  resigning. 
He  was  denounced  with  the  vehemence  of  narrow  intelligence 
and  violent  j)assion,  the  congenial  slander  of  the  interested,  the 
natural  oillingsgate  of  the  insincere.  On  the  21st  of  June  he 
explained  his  motive  for  resigning. 

He  had  accepted  office  after  the  Go\  emment  began  to  be  ad- 
ministored  by  the  present  Governor-General.  The  views  which 
w^ere  entertained  upon  the  subject  of  Responsible  Government  by 
the  Governor-General — views  already  expressed  in  Lord  Durham's 
report — those  views  were  in  practical  application  from  the  time 
of  his  taking  office  up  to  the  commencement  of  the  present  session. 
Having  accepted  office,  he  had  formed  no  coalition  with  the  gen- 
tlemen who  then  composed  the  Council  of  his  Excellency.  He 
had  always  acted  with  a  party  which  was  entirely  opposed  to 
them.  The  Union  of  the  Provinces  having  been  declared,  he  was 
called  on  to  take  his  seat  in  the  executive  cabinet.     He  then  rei- 


wmm 


mm 


BALDWINS    EXPLANATION. 


453 


terated  to  those  gentlemen  his  original  opinions,  and  that  he  had 
not  changed  the  position  which  he  held  in  respect  to  them.  At 
that  time  there  was  no  parliament  of  Canada  which  might  give 
expression  to  the  confidence  of  the  people  ;  but  when  the  result 
of  the  election  became  known,  when  it  was  ascertained  of  what 
materials  the  House  of  Assembly  was  composed,  it  then  became 
his  duty  to  inform  the  Head  of  the  Government  that  the  adminis- 
tration would  not  po'-  38S  the  confidence  of  the  House  of  Assem- 
bly, and  to  tender  the  lesignation  of  hi.s  office,  having  first,  as, 
according  to  the  duties  of  his  office,  he  was  bound  to  do,  offered 
his  advice  to  his  Excellency  that  the  administration  of  the  coun- 
try should  be  re-constructed.  This  advice  vms  not  adopted.  His 
resignation  followed  and  was  accepted.  A  speaker  had  been  pro- 
posed whose  opinions  with  respect  to  the  Government  were  de- 
nounced, because  he  had  no  confidence  iu  the  administration. 
But  the  admini^ '  .-tion  dared  not  propose  another.  Some  might 
look  upon   in's  as  a  triflinoj  matter,  but  he  considered  it  very 


grave. 


Colonel  Prince  made  an  impertinent  speech,  in  which  he  said 
he  did  not  think  Baldwin's  resignation  of  sufficient  importance 
to  justify  the  explanation.  Baldwin  was  at  this  time  the  darling 
of  the  people,  and  therefore  the  object  of  the  hatred  of  the  hate- 
ful, and  the  petty  insults  of  envious  mediocrity.  Men  like  Prince 
and  the  whole  Family  Compact  saw  him  take  a  leading  part  with 
the  same  feelings  the  Barons  watched  v'aveston  carry  the  Con- 
fessor's crown. 

Solicitor-General  Day  followed  Prince  with  a  more  able  and 
more  elaborate  attack  on  Baldwin.  Like  every  man  who  is  going 
to  transgretjs  the  courtesies  of  public  discussio:^,  he  commenced 
by  saying  he  had  no  desire  t  do  so.  Baldwin,  he  declared,  i^hould 
have  refused  to  accept  office  with  men  in  whom  he  had  no  -jonfi- 
dence.  This  would  have  been  the  manly  and  straightforward 
course.  Parliament  was  called  together  under  extraordinary  cir- 
cumstances ;  the  gates  of  a  new  era  were  thrown  open.  Wiiat 
did  Baldwin  do  ? 

Two  days  before  the  meeting  of  Parliament,  a  commilnicatioa 
was  made  to  the  Governor-General  that  he  would  retire  from 
office.     In  consequence  of  what  ?    Not  that  he  had  discovered  a 


454 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


rlifforenee  of  opinion  between  himself  and  his  colleagues,  for  he 
had  not  tr^ken  the  trouble  to  ascertain  their  opinions — no,  but 
because  he  had  found  by  secret  inquiry,  by  attending  secret 
meetings,  that  he  could  form  a  party  to  overturn  the  Govern- 
ment [-ninisterial  cheei-s].  Instean  of  bringing  his  party  to  the 
support  of  th.'i.  Oovernniont,  whose  servant  he  w^as,  he  endeavour- 
ed to  make  it  the  instrument  of  his  own  purposes.  "  And  I," 
cried  Mr.  Day,  "  would  put  it  to  the  heart  and  understanding  of 
every  meml>er  of  this  House,  whether  he  has  not  placed  liimself 
in  a  i)redicament — upon  the  horns  of  a  dilemma  ?  I  would  ask, 
whether  the  mere  facts  then\selves  would  not  justify  the  suppo- 
sition, that  he  had  entered  the  administration  with  the  intantion 
of  coirnnitting  a  delil)erate  act  of  perlldy  ?  "  The  cheering  was 
renewed  as  the  Solicitor-General  sat  down. 

Mr.  Durand  followed  defending  Baldwin.  Nothing  which  had 
been  said  or  which  could  be  said  would  have  sufficient  weight  to 
injure  the  character  of  that  gentlemen.  He  was  held  in  too  high 
estimation  both  in  this  couritry  and  in  England  [hear,  hear]. 
He  had  long  been  known  in  this  country  as  the  champion  of  lib- 
eral principles  of  government,  and  he  could  have  been  returned 
for  any  county  in  the  Province  [no,  r\o].  He  d./  erved  well  of 
the  country  for  having  made  the  attempt  to  heal  dissension,  and 
for  being  a  man  who  would  not  for  the  sake  of  office  abandon  his 
princi})les  [h  jar,  hear]. 

Mr.  Merritt  said  the  aimouncement  of  the  resignation  of 
Baldwin,  would  be  received  throughout  the  Province  with  feelings 
of  deep  regret.  From  his  fixed  and  determined  adherence  to 
principle,  he  had  gained  the  confidence  of  the  great  body  of 
the  Reformers.  Was  a  proof  of  this  needed  ?  It  was  at 
hand.  When  his  Excellency  the  Governor-General  arrived  in  To- 
ronto, although  he  was  well  known  to  have  been  the  advocate  of 
liberal  principles  in  England,  great  doubts  existed  as  to  his  sin- 
cerity in  carrying  into  operation  the  new  colonial  system  of  gov- 
ernment recommended  by  Lord  Durham.  But  the  appointment 
of  the  learned  gentleman  was  taken  as  an  evidence  of  his  sincer- 
ity, and  gave  a  confidence  to  his  adminiMtration,  which  no  other 
man  in  Canada  could  at  that  moment  have  ensured. 

After  the  speech  of  Day  it  was  impossible  for  Baldwni  to  re- 


BALDWINS   EXPLANATION   CONTINUED. 


•too 


iiself 


main  silent.  He  rose  to  explain  more  at  length.  On  the 
threshold  of  his  remarks,  there  occurred  one  of  those  Pick- 
wickian scenes  which  are  so  amusing  and  so  insincere,  Mr.  Bald- 
win said  that  after  the  disclaimer  on  lie  part  of  the  hon.  and 
learned  gentleman  from  Ottawa  (Day)  of  any  desire  to  wound  his 
feelings,  he  was  bound  to  believe  that  no  such  intention  existed. 
He  would  therefore  treat  those  terms  which  that  hon.  and  learned 
member  had  thought  proper  to  apply  to  him  in  their  restricjed 
and  parliamentary  sense  and  not  as  designed  to  be  personally  of- 
fensive. Mr.  Day,  who  had  only  accused  him  of  perlidy,  leaned 
across  the  table  and  assured  him  that  he  had  meant  to  speak  of 
him  in  no  other  terms  than  those  of  personal  respect.  He  had 
told  him  his  conduct  was  an  outrage.  Mr.  Baldwin  w^as,  however 
satisfied,  and  ])roceeded  with  his  explanation; 

He  admitted  he  was  responsil»le  to  the  bar  of  public  opiniois. 
The  course  which  he  had  taken  in  accepting  office  on  the  procla- 
mation of  the  Union  had  been  condemned.  It  had,  however,  been 
forgotten,  that  he  was  not,  at  ohe  time,  in  the  position  of  one  out 
of  the  Administration,  and  then,  for  the  first  time,  invited  to  join 
it;.  The  Head  of  the  Government,  the  heads  of  departments  in 
both  Provinces,  and  the  country  itself  wore  in  a  position  almost 
anomalous.  That  of  the  Head  of  the  Go  /ernment  was  one  of  great 
difficulty  and  embarrassment.  While  he  felt  bound  to  protect 
himself  against  misapprehensions  as  to  his  views  and  opinions,  he 
also  felt  bound  to  avoid,  a^  far  as  possible,  throwing  any  difficul- 
ties in  the  way  of  the  Governor-General.  At  the  time  he  was 
called  to  a  seat  in  the  L^xecutive  Council,  he  was  already  one  of 
those  public  servants,  the  political  character  newly  applifjd  to 
whose  offices  made  it  necessary  for  them  to  hold  seats  in  that 
council.  Had  he  on  being  called  to  take  that  seat  refused  to 
accept  it,  he  must  of  course  have  left  office  altogether,  or  have 
been  open  to  the  imputation  of  objecting  to  an  arrangement  for 
til  e  conduct  of  public  affairs,  which  had  always  met  with  his  most 
decided  approbation.*  In  either  case  what  a  position  he  would 
have  been  placed  in.     How  triumphantly  would  those  who  con- 


"  By  the  Act  of  Union,  ^as  a  principal  officer  of  the  Provincial  Government,  he  was 
giA'en  a  seat  in  the  Council. 


456 


THE  IRISHMAN    IN  CANADA. 


:4. 

-■V 


demued  him  for  accepting  that  seat,  have  then  dpinounced  him  as 
one  utterly  impracticable,  if  not  absolutely  factious. 

What  doubts  and  fears  would  have  be  >r  raised.  No  step,  as 
Baldwin  did  not  hesitate  to  say — without  assuming  Bvy  impor- 
tance, other  than  siich  as  the  connection  of  his  humble  name  with 
the  great  principle  of  Responsible  Government  had  in  the  public 
eye  attributed  to  him — could  have  been  taken  which  would  have 
been  more  calculated  to  produce  distrust  and  alarm.  It  was  under 
a  deep  sense  of  the  responsibility  which  he  would  in^ur  in  taking 
such  a  step,  that  he  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  his  course 
was  to  accept  the  seat  to  which  the  Head  of  the  Government  had 
called  him.  In  the  peculiar  position  in  which  he  was  placed, 
coupled  with  his  well-known  jiolitical  opinions,  eitlier  as  to  men 
or  measures,  neither  the  Head  of  the  Government  nor  the  members 
of  the  Council  who  now  condemned  him  would  have  had  any  just 
ground  of  complaint  against  him.  He  had  taken  office  originally 
with  a  full  avowal  of  his  principles  and  of  liis  want  of  political 
confidence  in  certain  gentlemen.  He  had  not  rested  satisfied  with 
that,  but  had,  in  order  to  prevent  any  possible  misconception, 
explicitly  declared  those  opinions,  both  to  the  Head  of  the  Govern- 
ment and  to  those  honourable  gentlemen,  previous  to  his  accept- 
ance of  a  seat  in  the  Executive  Council. 

On  the  13th  of  February,  1841,  Lord  Sydenham  had  written  to 
him  that  he  was  called  upon  to  name  an  Executive  Council  for 
this  Province  without  delay,  which,  for  the  present  would  be  com- 
posed exclusively  of  the  chief  officers  of  the  Government,  and  that 
he  had  therefore  inserted  his  name  in  the  list.  Did  not  that  note, 
argued  Baldwin,  show  that  the  Governor  himself  looked  forward 
to  such  changes  as  the  calls  of  public  opinion  might  afterwards 
demand,  "  more  particularly  when  attention  to  such  cars  formed 
the  very  basis  of  the  new  priiiciple  to  which  allusion  had  been  so 
often  made?"  A  few  days  i«fterwards,  on  the  18th  or  19th  of  the 
same  month,  he  had  replied  that  he  had  to  acknowledge  the  re- 
ceipt of  the  Governor-General's  note,  informing  him  that  His  Excel- 
lency  had  done  him  the  honour  of  calling  him  to  the  Executive 
Council  of  the  United  Province  ;  tha,t  he  was  still  ignorant,  except 
from  rumour,  who  the  other  councillors  were  to  be  ;  that  assuming 
that  the  gentlemen  to  whom  rumour  had  assigned  seats  in  the 


BALDWIN  AND  LORD  SYDENHAM. 


457 


1  as 


urse 


new  Council  were  those  who  His  Excellency  felt  it  necessary 
should  "  at  present"  compose  it,  rich  an  administration  would  not 
counuand  the  support  of  Parliament ;  that  he  had  an  entire  want 
of  political  confidence  in  all  of  them  except  Mr.  Dunn,  Mr.  Harrison 
and  Mr.  Daly,  and  that  had  he  reason  to  suj^pose  that  the  generally 
understood  political  principles  and  views  of  the  other  gentlemen  of 
the  Council  As^ere  those  upon  which  the  Oovernmeut  was  to  be 
administered,  it  would  be  his  duty  respectfully  to  decline  continu- 
ing to  hold  office  under  them. 

At  such  a  critical  moment,  however,  he  shrank  from  every  thing 
that  would  be  in  the  least  calculated  to  embarrass  the  Govern- 
ment. He,  therefore,  would  not  feel  justified  in  refusing  the 
place  to  which  he  had  been  appointed.  His  silent  acceptance  of 
office  might,  however,  be  misinterpreted  by  the  members  of  the 
Council,  in  >  houi  he  had  no  confidence,  as  an  expression  of  his 
confidence.  He  wouid  take  it  for  granted  there  could  be  no 
objection  to  his  making  them  acquainted  with  his  sentiments. 

He  accordingly  addressed  letters  tj  those  gentlemen  informing 
them  of  his  utter  want  of  political  confidence  in  them.  Could  he 
have  done  more  to  prevent  raisooncuptioa  ?  True,  he  might  have 
retired  from  the  Government  at  the  time,  but  so  might  the  gen- 
tlemen to  whom  he  objected,  who  were  precisely  in  the  same  po- 
sition as  he  was.  If  he  did  not  take  that  course,  it  was  because 
he  was  impelled  to  a  contrary  one  by  a  strong  sense  of  duty.  He 
had  felt,  as  he  took  it  for  granted  they  had  done,  that  the  verdict 
of  the  country  was  to  decide  whether  their  political  views  or  his 
were  most  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  and  interests  of  the 
people.  The  charge  of  not  having  interchanged  with  his  tempo- 
rary colleagues  those  communications  which  might  have  led  to  a 
correct  estimate  of  the  respective  political  opinions  of  each,  was 
no  charge  at  all,  except  upon  the  supposition  that  he  had  entered 
into  a  coalition  with  them.  Without  that  ground  of  complaint, 
all  the  charge  amounted  to  was,  that  he  haci  not  acted  inconsis- 
tently with  his  already  avowed  opinion  concerning  them,  and 
misled  them  by  a  show  of  confidence  into  a  belief  that  his  pre- 
viously expressed  opinions  had  been  modified  ;  or  it  resolved  itself 
into  a  repetition  in  a  new  shape  of  the  first  charge  of  accepting 
the  office  of  Executive  Councillor  at  all,  to  which  he  had  already 


4.58 


rUt:   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


,:       i 


given  a  sufficiently  satisfactory  answer.  Those  (gentlemen  of  the 
Administration  in  whom  he  had  felt  and  avowed  political  confi- 
dence, knew  that  he  had  communicated  with  them  in  the  fullest 
and  frankest  mannei  upon  every  topic  connected  with  the  state 
of  the  country,  and  upon  none  more  fully  than  that  involved  in 
the  subject  of  the  ]>re.sent  discussion.  The  third  charge  was,  that 
he  had  not  at  an  earlier  period  tendered  that  advice  upon  the 
rejection  of  which  he  had  felt  himself  called  ur;oij.  to  resign.  It 
was  hard  that  he  was  on  the  one  hand  accused  of  precipitancy, 
and  on  the  other  of  dola^.  But  when  the  circumstances  in  which 
he  was  {)]aced  were  fairly  considered  ;  when  it  was  remembered 
that  from  the  time  of  his  aj)pointmont  to  the  time  of  his  proceed- 
ing to  Montreal,  he  had  been  actively  engaged,  first  with  the 
Upper  Canada  elections,  ond  more  particularly  the  contest  for 
Hastings  and  the  City  of  Toronto,  and  afterwards  with  the  duties 
of  his  office  of  Solicitor-General  as  public  prosecutor  on  the  Home 
Circuit ;  that  he  had  not  only  expressly  communicated  to  the  Head 
of  the  Grovernment  at  the  time  of  accepting  the  seat  in  the  Execu- 
tive Council  his  expectations  of  the  result  of  the  elections  then 
about  to  come  off,  but  had  never  concealed  his  opinion  that  those 
anticipations  had  been  realized  ;  that  he  had,  when  in  Lower 
Canada  the  advantage  of  seeing  only  a  portion  of  the  reform 
members  who  had  been  returned  to  the  United  Parliament,  and 
had  not  had  an  opportunity  of  ascertaining  how  far  the  Reformers 
of  both  sections  of  the  Province  were  prepared  to  act  together — a 
course  on  their  parts  which  he  had  always  deemed  of  the  most 
vital  importance  to  the  best  interests  of  his  country ;  when  these 
circumstances  were  considered,  he  felt  convinced  tiiat  every  dis- 
passionate man  in  the  community  would  acquit  him  of  unneces- 
sary delay  in  tendering  his  advice  to  Lord  Sydenham. 

Mr  Day  had  accused  him  of  caballing,  of  course  in  an  inoffen- 
sive sense,  as  if  there  was  any  meaning  in  such  an  expression  used 
in  an  inoffensive  sense.  He  had,  it  was  said,  caballed  in  secret 
meeting  to  overthrow  the  Government  of  which  he  was  a  mem- 
ber. Was  he  right  in  his  opinion  that  those  only  who  re- 
tained the  confidence  of  Parliament  were  to  be  retained  in  the 
confidence  of  the  C/own  ?  If  so,  how  was  he  to  ascertain  the 
estimation  in  which  the  Government  was  held,  unless  by  commu- 


■^'v 


BALDWIN  S  LOYALTY  TO  HIS  COLLEAGUES. 


459 


the 
nfi- 
lest 
.ate 

in 
hat 
the 

It 


nicating  with  the  representatives  of  the  House,  and  holding  what 
Day  had  clmracterized  as  midnight  meetings  and  secret  cabals  ? 
He  had  always  been  a  j)arty  man.  Nor  did  he,  any  more  than 
anybody  else  see  how  popular  government  could  be  worked 
without  party — though  neither  to  party,  nor  to  the  people,  nor  to 
the  Crown,  nor  to  its  representative,  would  he  sacrifice  one  particle 
of  principle.  In  truth  he  had  a  ready  answer  to  the  charge  of 
want  of  loyalty.  On  the  Ilth  of  Juu'^  he  had  written  a  letter  to  M. 
Morin,  saying  that  he  could  not  attend  a  meeting  of  Reformers 
where  the  (juestion  ol'  testing  on  the  election  of  a  Speaker  the 
strength  of  the  administration  of  wliich  he  was  a  member,  was 
to  be  discussed. 

He  then  read  the  passage  from  the  letter  of  the  12th  June, 
1841,  in  which  he  tendered  his  advice  to  the  Governor.  In  that 
letter  he  informed  him  that  the  union  of  the  Reformers  of  the 
Eastern  and  those  of  the  Western  sections  of  the  Province,  into 
one  united  party,  had  taken  place  ;  that  that  party  represented 
the  political  views  of  the  vast  majoiity  of  the  people  of  the 
Province ;  that  its  members  had  no  confidence  in  the  admi- 
nistration, the  want  of  confidence  however  not  extending  to 
the  Head  of  the  Government ;  that  he  was  bound  therefore  to  de- 
clare to  his  Excellency,  that  the  administration,  as  then  con- 
stituted, did  not  possess  the  confidence  of  Parliament  or  the 
country  ;  that  to  place  it  upon  a  footing  to  obtain  such  confidence, 
it  would  be  expedient,  that  Mr.  SuP:  'an  (his  own  cousin  and 
brother-in-law),  Mr.  Odgen,  Mr.  Dr':„per,  and  Mr.  Day  should  no 
longer  form  a  part  of  it ;  and  tliat  some  gentlemen  from  among 
tlie  reformers  of  Lower  Canada  should  be  introduced  into  the 
administration,  whose  accession  to  office  would  bring  with  thera 
the  support  of  the  Lower  Canada  section  of  reformers,  and  with 
that  the  confidence  of  the  whole  reforin  party  of  the  United  Pro- 
vince. In  the  faithful  discharge  of  the  sacred  duty  imposed  upon 
him  by  his  oath  of  office,  he  felt  bound  respectfully  to  tender  to 
His  Excellency  his  humble  advice  that  the  reconstruction  of  the 
administration  upon  the  basis  suggested  was  a  measure  essential 
to  the  successful  and  happy  conduct  of  public  affairs. 

Could  anything  be  more  reasonable  ?    Could  anything  be  more 
statesmanlike  ?     What  course  so  calculated  to  conciliate  Lower 


'I',  it 


, 


460 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


Canada  an  that  suggested  ?  How  true  a  statesman  Baldwin  was, 
the  history  of  the  country  since  proves.  His  advice  not  being 
taken  he  resigned.  He  couchided  by  throwing  him.s^lf  with  con- 
fidence on  the  judgment  of  the  House  and  the  country.  He  was 
supported  both  by  the  House  and  the  country.  In  the  House, 
Isaac  Buchanan  stated  that,  when  the  exact  position  of  parties  was 
kept  in  view,  the  retirement  from  office  of  Mr.  Baldwin  would  be 
seen  to  be  a  much  more  important  circumstance  in  the  discussion 
of  the  address  than  some  honourable  members  seemed  willing  to 
allow.  It  was  not  to  be  pretended  that  the  address,  or  indeed  any 
future  mettsure  of  government,  could  pass  this  House  without  the 
assistance  of  the  liberal  members  from  Upper  Canada.  That  large 
porti(jn  of  the  House,  whatevei  might  be  their  individual  views 
as  to  the  propriety,  under  the  circumstances,  of  Mr.  Baldwin's  re- 
signation, still  reposed  full  confidence  in  his  political  integrity,  and 
still  continued  to  hold  that  it  was  only  on  liberal  principles  that 
the  Colonial  Government  could  hope  to  succeed.  Outside  the 
House  the  feeling  in  Baldwin's  favour  was  not  less  pronounced. 
A  meeting  of  the  Reformers'  of  the  City  of  Toronto,  was  convened 
at  Elliott's  Temperance  House,  Yonge  Street,  on  Saturday  even- 
ing, the  3rd  July — Captain  Eccles  in  the  chair ;  Mr.  J.  Lesslie 
acting  as  secretary. 

Captain  Eccles  was  an  old  Peninsular  officer,  who  entered  the 
61st  regiment  as  ensign  in  1802.  He  was  a  native  of  Wicklow, 
and  was  educat-ad  at  Trinity  College,  where  he  took  his  degree  of 
B.A.  the  same  year  in  which  he  joined  his  regiment.  He  served 
with  distinction  throughout  the  entire  Peninsular  campaign.  At 
Corunna  he  was  wounded  in  the  side  and  leg.  His  arm  was 
shattered  on  a  later  field.  He  retired,  in  1817,  on  his  laurels, 
and  having  married  settled  down  in  Wales.  In  1830,  he  went 
to  Somersetshire,  and  in  1835  emigrated  to  Canada,  resid- 
ing at  Niagara  until  1841,  in  which  year  he  removed  to  Toronto, 
where  he  died  in  his  eighty-second  year  in  1858. 

Captain  Eccles  came  to  emigrate  in  this  wise :  During  the 
great  reform  movement  in  England  he  was  chairman  of  the 
^committee  of  the  Liberal  candidate  for  Somersetshire.  After 
.a  hard  contest  the  Liberal  candidate  was  returned.  This  gave 
•Captain  Eccles  some  claims  on  the  Government  of  Earl  Grey, 


CAPTAIN   ECCLES. 


461 


and  he  was  sent  to  Canada  to  receive  a  report  on  lands  suitable 
for  emigrants  from  Admiral  Vansittart  and  Captain  Drew,  R.N. 
Having  received  their  report,  he  returned  to  England  and  reported 
unfavourably  on  their  scheme,  but  most  favourably  on  Upper 
Canada  as  an  agricultural  country.  He  contended  that  no  private 
company  should  be  permitted  to  control  emigration,  that«t  should 
be  a  matter  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  Government,  and  advised 
the  authorities  to  encoura»?e  in  every  way  the  settlement  of 
British  sul>jects  in  Upper  Cannda. 

From  the  time  of  his  arrival  in  Canada  to  his  departure  he 
evinced  gi\iat  interest  in  political  affairs,  and  shortly  after  he 
sent  in  hiw  report  on  Admiral  Vansittart  and  Captain  Drew's 
emigration  scheme,  he  made  a  report  on  the  political  condition  of 
Canada,  denouncing  some  of  the  most  prominent  political  leaders 
there  as  disloyal,  and  described  the  country  as  in  much  the  same 
disorganized  condition  as  the  New  England  colonies  on  the  eve  of 
the  lebellion.  He  urged  the  necessity  of  speedy  action  in  regard  to 
Canada.  As  he  was  not  sent  to  Canada  to  make  a  report  on  the 
political  condition  of  that  colony,  he  was  censured  for  exceeding 
his  instructions,  and  his  report  was  not  acted  upon. 

Having  decided  to  come  to  Canada  with  his  family,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  the  Town  of  Niagara,  near  which  he  purchased  some 
farms  and  a  house  in  the  town.  He  brought  out  a  few  families 
from  Somersetshire,  farm  implements  and  several  head  of  blooded 
live  ^cock.  At  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion  of  1837,  he  or- 
ganized and  commanded  a  regiment  of  volunteers  on  the  Niagara 
frontier,  doing  good  service  for  the  Government.  He  was  always 
intensely  loyal,  and  could  not  forgive  a  man  who  raised  his  hand 
against  the  British  flag. 

On  the  arrival  of  Lord  Durham,  who  had  with  him  the  report  of 
Captain  Eccles,  he  sent  for  the  veteran,  and  consulted  him  as  to 
the  most  fitting  measures  of  redress.  Captain  Eccles  remained 
with  Lord  Durham  for  several  weeks  assisting  him.  In  return 
for  his  services  he  was  offered  several  Government  positions,  which 
he  declined. 

In  Toronto,  he  took  an  active  part  in  public  questions,  and 
actively  supported  charitable  institutions.  Though  he  had  acted 
as  colonel  of  volunteers,  he  never  allowed  himself  to  be  addressed 


4(12 


THK   IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


by  any  rank  but  Captain.  He  was  of  tbe  old  school.  In  personal 
appearance  he  was  every  incli  the  soldier — six  feet  high,  with 
iron  grey  hair  and  moustachios,  and  perfectly  erect  up  to  a  year 
or  two  before  his  death  ;  his  helpless  right  arm  in  a  sling,  a  last- 
ing memento  of  "  the  Peninsula."  He  left  behind  him  three  sons 
and  three  daughters.  Among  the  sons  was  the  late  Henry  Eccles, 
the  eminent  Q.  C,  who  was  so  pt  'erful  as  an  advocate. 

Such  was  the  chairman  of  the  mee- '»ig,  which  was  the  fore- 
runner of  the  great  meetings  in  the  time  of  Metcalfe.  In  opening 
the  proceedings  he  stated  that  the  object  they  had  in  view  was  to 
giVe  fciome  public  testimony  to  the  noble  conduct  of  the  Hon. 
Robert  Baldwin,  in  retiring  from  the  Executive  Council,  and  re- 
signing the  office  of  Solicitor-General.  A  committee,  composed  of 
Me.ssrs.  Beaty,  McLellan,  O'Beirne,  Dunleavy,  and  Lesslie,  was 
apfiointu  1  to  prepare  a  series  of  resolutions.  The  first  resolution 
expressed  the  confidence  of  Reformers  in  Baldwin,  as  the  uncom- 
promising champion  of  the  civil  and  religious  liberties  of  the  peo- 
ple of  United  Canada.  The  second  resolutitn  declared  his  ex- 
planations in  Parliament  entirely  satisfactory.  An  honourable  and 
independent  man  had  no  course  but  to  resign.  The  third  resolution 
declared  the  reorganization  of  the  Cabinet  a  step  imperatively 
called  for. 

At  this  distance  of  time  we  can  appreciate  both  Baldwin  and 
Sydenham.  While  the  Tory  press  attacked  Baldwin  for  his  resig- 
nation, and  his  name,  though  associated  with  inflexibility  of  prin- 
ci))le,  sterling  integrity,  and  irreproachableness  of  character,  be- 
came an  object  of  foul  aspersion.  Lord  Sydenham  was  assailed  by 
his  enemies  with  a  corresponding  vituperative  exaggeration. 
The  journals  of  those  days  are  not  uninteresting  reading.  The 
editors  used  to  do  some  things  which  would  create  a  smile 
now.  Thus  a  vigorous  attack  on  Draper  is  ushered  in  with 
a  latin  scene.  The  admirable  manner  in  which  Lord  Syden- 
ham kept  his  own  counsel  was  peculiarly  irritating.  This  was 
in  part  policy,  in  part  explicable  on  the  same  principle  as  the 
apathy  of  Canning's  needy  knife-grinder.  But  it  maddened  the 
brilliant  editors,  who  thr  \t  they  ought  to  know  everything. 
With  a  satire  which  seems  strangely  blunt  to-day,  it  was  pointed 
out  that  in  Pagan  times  there  was  a  secret  worship  paid  to  divin- 


A  SKETCH   OF   DllAPER. 


403 


ities,  to  which  none  were  admitted  hut  those  who  had  heeii  care- 
fully initiated.  Of  the  secret  worship  there  were  two  mysteries, 
the  lesser  and  the  greater.  A  knowledge  of  the  greater  mysteries 
was  generally  reserved  for  the  favoured  few,  whose  understanding 
scorned  the  i.i  posture  which  their  policy  approved  ;  and  both  the 
greater  and  the  lesser  mysteries  were  sedidously  concealed  from 
the  multitude  lest  their  disclosure  should  c  ^vert  reverence  into 
contempt.  The  cln,ssical  recollections  of  L*.  i  Sydenham  taught 
him  to  apply  this  practice  to  his  system  of  politics;  and,  save  him- 
self, and  perhaps  the  "gifted  Draper,"  there  was  no  man  in  the 
country  who  could  safely  pronounce  upon  his  Lordship's  meas- 
ures, or  pierce  the  shroud  which  invested  his  intentions. 

,  At  this  time  one  of  the  newspapers  of  Kingston  had  a  series  of 
sketches  of  prominent  members  of  the  House.  The  first  arvi^le 
was  devoted  to  Mr.  Draper  and  Mr.  Hincks.  Draper  was  described 
as  "the  most  plausible  of  mortals,  bland,  insinuating,  persuasive, 
and  somewhat  eloquent.  When  apeaking,  one  would  su})pose  he 
was  honesty  ot  intention  personified.  If  you  don't  look  out  he  will 
make  you  belie  e  he  is  the  most  candid,  open  and  frank  of  all 
public  men.  While  he  is  making  earnest  declarations  of  -all  this, 
he  is  squirming,  twisting  and  moulding  a  delicate  little  loop-hole, 
which  few  but  himself  see,  out  of  which  he  will  afterwards  creep, 
and  no  one  can  daie  accuse  him  of  inconsistency.  His  manner  is 
the  most  taking,  and  he  gains  a  great  deal  by  this.  Himself  the 
nio.st  prejudiced  of  mortals — the  greatest  stickler  for  pr^  scriptive 
rights  and  usages — he  takes  good  care  not  to  •'  j  violence  to  the 
prejudices  of  others.  No,  ho  is  not  to  be  forced  into  any  srdi 
imprudence,  any  more  than  he  is  to  be  compelled  to  make  open 
confession  of  all  he  thinks.  Wedded  to  notions  of  Church  and 
Statu,  he  is  a  century  behinu  the  spirit  of  the  age.  Yet,  to  gain 
his  end,  he  will  even  ape  liberality  of  sentiment."  The  writer  goes 
OK  to  say,  that  he  had  no  political  liberality,  that  he  A/as  a  faint 
imitator  of  Sir  Robert  Peel,  that  his  enemies  admitted  he  was  the 
most  easy  and  most  ready  speaker  in  the  House,  and  that  he  had 
few  competitors  in  debate ;  that  he  was  a  thorough  Tory ;  that 
though  smooth  and  insinuating,  he  often  involved  a  subject  and 
left  it  more  misty  thi  n  he  found  it,  and  that  the  polish  of  educa- 
tiof'  had  done  much  for  him. 


tkM 


t{l<llil 

m 


1    '■¥'[ 


464 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


The  following  '3  th 0  sketch  of  Mr.  Hincks : — "  The  first  look  at 
this  frentloman  will  be  apt  to  deceive  the  common  observer.  There 
is  nothing  of  empressement  about  him,  and  it  strikes  one  that  there 
cannot  be  anything  01  Intellectual  dignity  or  power  in  such  a  head 
as  his.  About  Mr.  Hincks,  there  is  evidently  considerable  force 
of  character,  clearness  of  perception,  and  shrewd  concentration  of 
mind  ;  whatever  powers  he  does  possess,  he  has  the  ability  to  make 
the  most  of  them  ;  and  this  is  no  ordinary  talent.  "Without  fancy, 
indeed  without  a  single  spark  of  that  celestial  force  of  ideality, 
which  throws  a  charm  even  around  matters  of  fact,  he  is  a  com- 
mon sense  person,  who  makes  everything  he  ^vrites  or  speaks  go 
home  at  once  to  the  understanding  of  the  least  enlightened.  Want 
of  commanding  weight  is  compensated  for  by  great  activity  of 
temperament  and  the  power  of  concentrating  his  thoi^ghts.  Shrewd, 
concise,  clear,  he  is  not  to  be  misled  by  plauaibilit}'- ,  v  rronhlstry. 
Viewing  things  through  a  practical  medium — he  has  not  the  fore- 
thought and  grasp  of  conception  to  follow  out  his  premises  to  their 
conclusions.  He  has  that  organization  which  leads  to  popularity 
with  the  people,  and  his  power  will  emanate  from  and  lie  entirely 
with  them.  Careless  of  the  opinions  of  the  great,  he  would  court 
that  of  the  many.  He  wiU  not  owe  his  popularity  to  his  power  of 
addressing  himself  to  the  passions  of  the  people.  If  he  reaches 
them  at  all,  it  will  be  through  an  array  of  facts,  applied  in  such  a 
way  as  to  rouse  indignation  and  excite  anger.  To  speak  at  once 
to  the  passions  requires  eloquence  and  high  command  of  language 
and  he  has  not  the  remotest  pretension  to  the  one  and  saircely 
any  to  the  other.  But  he  is  matter  of  fact — clear.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  misunderstand  what  he  aims  at.  He  has  not  the  faculty  of 
comprehensively  summing  up  the  whole.  Mr.  Hincks'  talents  are 
more  useful  than  brilliant — more  practical  than  poetical.  He  is 
exactly  such  a  man  as  is  useful  to  the  people.  Such  as  he  will  be  a 
stumbling  block  in  the  path  of  any  man  or  set  of  men  who  aim  at 
illegal  power  or  the  abridgement  of  their  rights." 

R.  B.  Sullivan,  William  B.  Coffin  and  W.  FuUam  were  appointed 
to  enquire  into  the  disturbances  which  took  place  in  Toronto^,  a 
day  or  two  after  the  election,  at  which  a  man  lost  his  life. 

At  this  time  Messra.  Baldwin  and  Hincks  sat  on  the  extreme 
left. 


taam 


look  at 
.  There 
at  there 
1  a  head 
le  force 
ation  of 
to  make 
t  fancy, 
deality, 

a  com- 
Baks  go 
,  Want 
vity  of 
Shrewd, 
ohistry, 
he  fore- 
to  their 
Hilarity 
mtirely 
d  court 
ower  of 
reaches 
I  such  a 
at  once 
ngaage 
icarcely 

impos- 

culfcyof 

mts  are 

He  is 

rill  be  a 

aim  at 

pointed 
ronto,  a 

jxtierae 


ATTACKS  ON  LORD  SYDENHAM*!?  GOVERNMENT. 


465 


On  the  18th  of  June  in  the  Legislative  Council,  M.  Quesnel 
spoke  11  opposition  to  one  of  the  clauses  of  the  address,  and  was 
replied  to  by  M  \  Sullivan,  who  made  a  masterly  speech  in  defence 
of  the  Government  and  its  policy. 

Not  many  we^ks  passed  before  the  power  of  Baldwin  in  the 
country  was  seen.  Had  he  remained  m  the  Council  the  attacks 
on  it  of  a  reformtd  House  would  have  been  robbed  of  their  sting. 

In  July,  Hinck?  supported  an  enquiry  into  the  riots  at  the  elec- 
tions in  the  Lov/er  Province,  an  enquiry  which  the  Government 
opposed.  Even  at  this  time,  the  promises  of  the  Government  as 
+0  Responsible  Government,  were  regarded  by  many  Reformers 
and  others  as  idle  mockery.  "  The  men,  who  only  ten  days  since 
so  pompously  pledged  themselves  to  resign  if  unsupported  by  the 
country  in  their  policy  actually  array  thsm^elves  against  the 
Province,  and  are  banded  together  not  in  defence  of  the  sovereism's 
prerogative — not  in  a  patriotic  resistance  to  n  invasion  of  the 
public  liberty — but,  they  are  found  united,  opposing  the  demands 
of  the  people  of  Canada."*  What  demands  ?  The  demands  for 
enquiry  into  the  cc»ndition  of  things  during  the  elections  in  Lower 
Canada.  But  it  had  been  decided  that  tho  laws  relating  to 
contested  elections  in  Lower  Canada  were  in  force,  and  the  neces- 
sary recognizances  not  having  been  entered  into,  the  petitions 
fell  through.  Some  thought  that  the  House,  notwithstanding, 
would  entertain  them. 

Lord  Sydenham  and  his  advisers  were  accused  of  having 
"  suckled  corruption  and  famished  freedom ;"  of  having  obtained 
from  the  people's  representatives  a  dishonourable  surra :i  lerolthe 
people's  liberties ;  of  having  eluded  all  that  was  really  valuable 
in  the  promised  concessions  to  colonists.  Hv'sr  Majesty's  advisers 
had  resisted  Sir  Allan  MacNab's  Bill  to  securt  to  the  "  defrauded 
constituencies"  of  Lower  Canada  the  power  of  efttablishing  the  facts. 

The  session  of  1841,  was  a  memorable  one.  In  it  was  laid  the 
foundation  of  our  municipal  system,  and  the  important  questions 
connecteJ.  with  educati'  u,  customs,  and  currency  were  placed  in 
right  ch8,nnels.  On  the  6th  of  August,  the  House  sat  until  long 
after  midnight  debating  the  Municipal  Council  Bill  for  Upper 


Tinus,  Montreal,  July  27th,  1841. 
30 


* 


466 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


Canada.  The  debate  turned  entirely  on  the  question  of  the  ap- 
pointment of  the  Warden,  whether  it  should  be  in  the  hands  of 
the  Executive,  or  should  be  elective.  After  everything  had  been 
said  that  could  be  said  for  and  against  the  point,  in  a  two  days' debate 
a  division  was  taken  at  a  late  hour,  and  the  numbers  stood  34  to 
34.  The  vote  of  the  Chairman,  Mr.  Caleb  Hopkini.,  ^vas  then  given 
in  favour  of  the  Governor  having  the  appointment. 

During  the  discussion,  Mr.  Hincks  came  out  strongly  in  behalf 
of  the  Ministry,  and  virged  upon  the  House  the  necessity  of 
abandoning  the  contest  as  to  the  appointment  of  the  Warden, 
rather  than  lose  all  chance  of  the  Province  obtaining  the  other 
benefits  to  be  derived  from  the  municipal  system.  His  position 
created  some  surprise  in  the  minds  of  a  greater  audience  than  had 
ever  assembled  within  the  walls  of  the  House.  The  union  of  Sir 
Allan  McNab,  Messrs.  Moffatt,  Cartwright,  and  others,  with 
Messrs.  Viger,  Baldwin,  iylwin,  and  the  rest  of  the  Opposition, 
was  looked  upon  as  equally  strange.  Sir  Allan  MacNab  and  his 
friends  opposed  the  Bill,  as  tending  too  much  to  democracy ;  while 
Messrs.  Viger  and  Baldwin,not  satisfied  with  the  concessions  already 
made  to  popular  influence,  opposed  the  Ministerial  measure,  because 
it  was  not  democratic  enough.  "  The  effect  of  this  coalition,"  wrote 
a  correspondent,  "  is  truly  to  be  regretted :  the  local  Ministry  must 
be  embarrassed,  when  they  do  not  receive  a  fair  share  of  that  sup- 
port to  which  they  have  proved  themselves  entitled." 

The  leading  Conservative  papers  of  Montreal  denounced  the  atti- 
tude of  Sir  Allan  MacNab  and  Mr.  Moffatt.  Baldwin's  great 
objection  to  the  Bill  that  the  Wardenship  was  not  made  elective 
was  peculiarly  offensive  to  the  supporters  of  the  Government. 
"  This  objection  has  been  stated  in  various  forms,  and  advocated 
in  speeches  of  different  degrees  of  merit  and  length,  in  the  specious 
and  Joseph-Surface-like  oration  of  Mr.  Baldwin — the  excited  and 
passionate  phillipic  of  that  violent  admirer  of  British  institutions, 
Mr.  Viger — and  in  the  sparkling  antitheses  anc'  well-rounded 
periods,  remarkable  for  so  much  neatness  and  so  little  matter,  of 
Mr.  Ay  1  win.  There  has  indeed  been  a  great  amount  of  talk 
expended,  but  very  little  argument  that  will  stand  a  moment's 
examination.  We  contend  that  the  appointment  of  the  Wardens 
by  the  Crown  is  in  every  view  preferable  to  their  election  by  the 


THE   VOTES   ON   THE  MUNICIPAL    BILL. 


467 


people.  It  is  more  consonant  U)  the  spirit  of  the  other  insti- 
tutions of  the  empire ;  it  secures  to  Government  in  each  district 
the  services  of  an  individual  in  whom  they  have  complete  confi- 
dence— with  whom  V\ey  can  unreservedly  communicate  in  all 
matters  relating  eiuier  to  its  improvement  or  ite  security."* 

On  the  19th  the  Assembly  was  in  session  till  after  midnight, 
the  whole  subject  of  discussion  being  the  third  reading  of  the 
Municipal  Bill.  Mr.  Baldwin  moved  that  it  be  read  a  third 
time  that  day  six  months.  This  produced  a  long  and  pro- 
tracted debate — in  which  everything  that^had  been  hitherto  said 
was  repeated,  and  every  member  seemed  anxious  to  have  a  word  on 
this  "  most  important "  measure  ;  there  being  a  clear  impossibility, 
of  his  giving  a  "  silent  vote."  At  near  midnight  the  vote  was 
taken.     Yeas,  30  ;  Nays,  42. 

Several  speakers  having  given  their  reasons  for  their  votes,  Mr. 
Hincks  said  that  when  first  called  on  to  give  a  vote  on  the  ques- 
tion, he  felt  considerable  embarrassment  for  he  found  himself  com- 
pelled to  vote  in  opposition  to  Baldwin,  with  whom  he  was 
accustomed  to  act.  But  he  was  convinced  the  course  he  took 
was  called  for  by  his  duty  to  his  constituents  and  his  country. 
"  Now,  sir,"  said  Mr.  Hincks,  with  some  acidity,  "  I  confess  that 
it  is  a  matter  of  some  surprise  to  me  to  hear  the  very  extraordin- 
ary differences  of  opinion  that  have  been  expressed  on  this  sub- 
ject. In  another  part  of  this  building,  only  a  few  minutes  ago,  I 
heard  it  pronounced  a  measure  '  liberal  without  a  precedent.'  The 
honourable  and  gallant  Knight  from  Hamilton,  and  the  honour- 
able the  learned  member  for  Lennox  and  Addington  say  that  it  is 
republican  and  democratic  in  principle,  and  that  if  it  be  adopted, 
the  people  will  have  Irncst  uncontrolled  power.  At  the  same 
time  we  are  assured  by  the  honourable  and  learned  member  for 
Hastings  that  it  is  '  an  abominable  Bill,'  '  a  monstrous  abortion,' 
which  he  views  with  detestation.  It  is  certainly  not  a  little  sur- 
prising that  two  parties,  so  very  opposite  in  their  views  on  this 
very  question,  should  unite,  and  I  cannot  help  observing  that 
charges  of  coalition  are  quite  as  applicable  to  one  side  of  the 
House  as  to  the  other." 


Oazette.  (Montreal),  August,  1811. 


468 


TITE  IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


r\ 


!   Ii 


Y.       II 


Thenewspaper  of  which  Mr.  Hincks  was  editor,hadcomeoutveiy 
strongly  on  reform  principles,  and  the  power  Reformers  would  have 
in  the  House,  and  wlien  he  took  the  course  he  did  on  the  Muni- 
cipal Bill,  it  was  natural  that  he  should  be  denounced  as  a  rene- 
gade. He  had  regularly  joined  a  party.  The  leader  of  that  party 
had  a  right  to  rely  on  him,  and  the  detail  of  a  municipal  bill  was 
not  a  suffieiont  ground  for  playing  fast  and  loose  with  party  alle- 
giance.    His  defence  was  as  follows  : — 

"  I  know,  Mr.  Speaker,  the  deep  responsibility  I  have  taken  on 
myself  in  adopting  this  course.  I  am  well  aware,  sir,  that  already 
every  species  of  slander  and  calumny  has  been  resorted  to,  in  order 
to  destroy  my  public  character.  I  have  been  held  up  in  the  pub- 
lic prints  as  having  sol!  riyself  to  Government.  From  political 
opponents  I  can  expect  nothing  else  but  such  attacks,  but,  sir,  I 
confess  I  have  been  pained  at  the  insinuations  which  have  pro- 
ceeded from  other  quarters.  The  allusions  to  '  expectants  of 
office,'  to  '  government  injfluence,'  I  cannot,  I  ought  not  affect  to 
misunderstand.  I  shall  leave  the  Reformers  of  Upper  Canada  to 
judge  whether  I  have  deceived  them,  and  I  have,  1  think,  some 
claims  upon  the  sympathy  of  Reformers.  My  first  connexion 
with  political  life  was  at  a  very  eventful  period  in  the  history  of 
this  Colony,  at  a  time,  Sir,  when  hardly  a  journal  in  the  Province 
dared  to  stand  forth  in  defence  of  the  great  principle  which  is  now 
recognised  as  the  only  one  on  which  our  government  should  be 
administered.  During  a  very  dark  period  of  our  history,  I 
defended  that  principle  and  the  party  who  supported  it,  and  it 
was  a  time  when  I  hud  nothing  to  expect  but  incarceration  in  a 
dungeon  as  my  re  wart'-.  The  difficulties  and  embarrassments  to 
which  a  public  journalist  is  exposed  cannot  readily  be  imagined 
by  those  who  have  not  encountered  them,  and  not  the  least  of 
them  is  the  oduim  to  which  a  faithful  advocate  of  popular  rights 
is  necessarily  exposed.  He  is  the  mark  for  all  the  animosity  of  the 
hostile  party.  I  have,  Sir,  at  least  endeavoured  to  discharge  my 
arduous  duty  faithfully  and  conscientiously.  I  have  never  asked 
a  favour  from  any  Governor  since  I  took  up  my  residence  in  this 
Province,  and  no  one  knows  better  than  the  hon.  and  learned 
member  for  Hastings  (Baldwin),  that  when  he  was  in  i)lace,  and 
when  there  were  prospects  of  <.>ur  party  having  influence,  I  cnrev 


HINCKS'   EXPLANATION. 


469 


stipulated  for  any  personal  reward.  1  was  willing  uo  give  our 
party  an  independent  support  to  the  utmost  of  my  ability.  With 
regard  to  the  people  of  Lower  Canada,  I  feel  that  from  them  I 
<;ertainly  deserve  better  than  that  they  should  ascribe  to  me  im- 
proper motives,  I  have  fought  their  battles  through  good  report 
and  through  evil  report,  and.  Sir,  it  is  with  deep  regret  that  I 
ever  give  a  vote  in  opposition  to  them.  I  am  not  desirous,  Mr. 
Speaker,  of  occupying  the  time  of  the  House  with  remarks  •;,  hich 
must  be  in  some  degree  of  a  personal  character.  I  wo;  M  not 
however  have  done  justice  to  myself,  had  I  not  availed  myself  of 
the  present  opportunity  to  repel  the  insinuations  which  have  been 
made  against  my  political  integrity,  and  to  assert  that  my  vote  in 
favour  of  that  bill  is  as  conscientious  and  independent  as  that  of 
any  hon.  member  on  the  floor  of  this  House.  It  is  dictated  solely 
by  a  deep  sense  of  the  duty  which  I  owe  to  my  constituents  and 
my  country,  and  I  know  and  feel  that  it  will  be  appreciated  by 
them." 

While  Hincks  was  speaking,  he  was  warmly  cheered  by  Draper. 
Mr.  Price  said,  if  he  was  always  found  voting  with  Ministers  on 
questions  the  loss  of  which  would  endanger  the  administration, 
and  against  them  on  matters  not  of  so  serious  a  character,  he  must 
not  think  it  strange  if  he  was  accused  of  deserting  his  party.  *'  He 
states  "  continued  that  gentleman  "  that  on  the  Ballot  he  voted 
against  Ministers,  Did  he  on  that  important  question  say  a  single 
word  ?  No,  not  one  word.  Did  he  not  know  that  if  that  question 
had  carried,  the  Ministers  would  not  have  cared  ?  They  never 
considered  it  a  question  to  affect  the  Administration,  one  way  or 
the  other.  Only  one  question  during  the  session  came  up,  on 
the  loss  of  which  the  Ministry  would  have  resigned ;  and  upon 
that  question  the  hon.  member  not  only  voted  with  the  Ministers, 
but  canvassed  and  repeatedly  spoke  for  them.  I  should  like  to 
know  from  the  hon.  member,  if  he  and  others  did  not  make  some 
compromise  with  the  leader  on  the  treasury  benches,  that  upon 
certain  concessions  being  made  by  the  Government,  the  Bill  would 
be  supported  by  the  Liberals  ?  Were  not  those  coi^cessions  acceded 
to  by  the  hon.  leader,  and  was  it  not  understood  that  many  of  the 
appointments  of  officers  provided  for  in  the  Bill  were  to  be  in  the 
hands  of  the  people  ?    How  then  does  it  happen,  that  the  most 


470 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


I 


i    it: 


""'"''ii 

i 


m 


! 


strenuous  advocate  of  those  concessions,  should,  on  the  very  next 
day,  surrender  them  up  to  the  Government,  and  quietly  swallow 
the  bill,  the  whole  bill,  and  nothing  but  the  bill  ?" 

Baldwin  then  rose  and  said,  that  with  respect  to  the  doubts 
which  had  insinv-  i  themselves  in  some  quarters  as  to  Hincks* 
course,  he  had  neitucr  originated  them,  repeated  them,  nor  sanc- 
tioned them,  and  with  the  hon.  member  himself  must  neces- 
sarily rest  the  means  of  demonstrating  their  utter  grovmdless- 
ness.  Again,  the  hon.  member  had  referred  to  the  support  which 
he  had  afforded  to  the  Reform  cause.  No  one  more  highly  appre- 
ciated his  talents  than  he  did,  and  no  jne  was  more  ready  to 
acknowledge  the  important  benefits  which,  as  a  journalist  and  an 
orator,  Mr.  Hincks  had  conferred  upon  the  country  by  his  power- 
ful advocacy  of  the  great  principle  of  Responsible  Governr-ient. 
These  most  valuable  services  of  the  hon.  member  he  ever  haa,  now 
did,  and  ever  should  acknowledge  with  cheerfulness  and  s'otisf ac- 
tion, whatever  the  political  relati  ^  in  which  that  hon.  gentle- 
man and  himself  might  stand  to  ea^h  other ;  and  he  was  equally 
ready,  and  should  be  on  all  occasions,  to  acknowledge  the  per- 
sonal support  which  he  had  received  from  that  hon.  gentleman. 
But  if,  what  he  could  not  and  did  not  believe,  the  charge  of  ingra- 
titude, which  had  escaped  the  lips  of  the  hon.  member,  was  meant 
to  be  applied  to  h'm,  he  would  take  leave  to  say,  and  no  one  knew 
it  better  than  the  hon.  member  himself,  that  support  had  not  been 
all  on  one  side ;  that  on  all  occasions  and  in  all  places,  w^herever 
he  thought  he  could  be  useful  to  him,  as  well  in  the  highest  soci- 
ety in  the  Province  as  in  that  of  the  honest  yeomen  who  had  done 
the  hon.  member  the  honour  of  returning  him  to  that  House,  he 
had  stood  by  his  chaiaccer,  private  and  political,  and  not  unfre- 
quently  with  the  discomfort  of  knowing  that  he  was  listened 
to  with  anything  but  satisfaction.  He  did  this  in  those  hours 
of  storm  to  which  the  hon.  gentleman  had  so  feelingly  alluded, 
as  well  as  when,  from  altered  circumstances,  more  cheering  pros- 
pects opened  upon  the  cause.  For  himself,  all  who  knew  him 
were  aware,  that  though  slow  bo  enter  into  connexions  of  any 
kind,  he  ever  clung  with  tenacity  to  such  as  he  did  once  form,  and 
he  assured  the  hon.  member  for  Oxford,  that  if  the  time  should 
come  when  the  political  tie  whi<!h  bound  them  to  each  other  was 


10\ 


LORD   SYDENHAM  S  DEATH. 


471 


to  be  severed  for  ever,  it  would  be  to  him  by  far  the  most  painful 
which  had  occurred  in  the  course  of  his  political  life. 

When  in  September  some  members  of  the  House  were  looking 
impracticably  at  the  loan  which  the  Imperial  Government  was  to 
guarantee,  Mr.  Hincks  brought  them  to  their  senses  by  a  few 
shrewd  remarks.  He  had  heard  it  said  that  the  loan  vv  as  all  a 
huiubug.  He  was,  therefore,  desirous  of  throwing  it  upon  the 
Adr^ini  stration  to  carry  out  their  own  offer,  and  fulfil  the  pledge 
they  ha(i  given.  The  plain  and  business-like  view  of  th.  .'ase 
was  this.  Tliey  had  a  rever.ue  of  £300,000.  They  owed  a  debt 
of  about  £1,300,000.  And  the  expenses  of  the  Government,  with 
the  interest  of  the  debt,  were  about  equal  to  the  revenue.  The 
Gcvernment  were  willing  to  lend  a  million  and  a  half  to  pay  the 
debt,  or  as  much  of  it  as  could  be  demanded — provided  that  they 
had  the  security  that  the  interest  of  that  debt  would  be  the  first 
claim  on  the  revenue,  as  provided  by  the  Union  Act ;  but  he 
doubted  whether  the  Imperial  Parliament  would  be  disposed  to 
guarantee  so  large  a  sum  on  the  security  of  new  taxes,  the  pro- 
ductiveness of  which  had  never  been  tested. 

On  the  3rd  of  September,  Baldwin  moved  and  passed  a  series 
of  resolutions  emphatically  affinning  the  principles  of  Responsible 
Government.  On  the  7th  of  September,  Lord  Sydenham's  horse 
fell  with  him  and  the  fall  aggravated  the  gout  from  which  his 
lordship  suffered.  Pleasure  and  toil  doing  the  work  of  years  had 
broken  down  his  constitution,  and  he  died  on  the  19th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1841.  His  last  act  was  to  subscribe  the  instruments  of  the 
first  Legislature  of  United  Canada,  his  last  wish,  to  be  buried  at 
Kingston.     He  must  ever  remain  one  of  our  great  men. 

He  seems  to  have  been  a  man  of  singular  tact,  easy  of  access,, 
unaffected  in  manners.  Affable  and  ready  in  conversation,  he  knew 
how  to  introduce  the  topic  he  desired  to  discuss.  He  was  a  con- 
summate man  of  business  and  a  born  statesman. 

He  evidently  felt  the  cold  hand  stealing  near  him.  In  July 
he  had  asked  leave  to  resign,  and  immediately  devolve  the 
Government  on  the  officer  next  to  him.  He  said  Neilson,  of 
Quebec  was  stirring  up  the  habitans,  but  he  had  no  fear.  Nover 
was  there  a  man  in  Canada  who  had  more  faith  in  itc  future,  and 
when  a  column  is  raised  to  his  memory,  the  words  he  wrote  of 


472 


THE   IRISHMAN   iN   CANADA. 


' 


the  country,  he  adopted  on  his  death  bed,  should  be  inscribed  on 
the  well-deserved  memorial. 

"  I  should  do  injustice  to  my  own  feelings  if  I  were  not  to  state 
to  your  Lordship  the  impression  which  has  been  left  on  my  mind 
by  the  inspection  which  I  have  made  of  the  Upper  Province.  It 
is  really  impossible  to  say  too  much  of  the  advantages  which 
nature  has  bestowed  upon  it,  especially  that  part  of  the  country 
Tv^hich  lies  between  the  three  Lakes — Ontario,  Erie,  and  Huron. 
If  these  great  advantages  be  properly  used,  I  foresee  in  the  course 
of  a  very  few  years  Upper  Canada  must  become  one  of  the  most 
valuable  possessions  of  the  British  Empire.  Its  population  may 
be  trobled,  and  its  products  increased  in  an  immense  ratio ; 
whilst,  if  properly  governed,  its  inhabitants  will,  I  am  satisfied, 
become  the  most  loyal,  intelligent,  and  industrious  subjects  which 
Her  Majesty  can  number," 

It  was  a  melancholy  thing  to  read  in  the  speech  closing  Parlia- 
ment,— "  Well,  I  cannot  look  back  on  the  last  two  years  without 
feelings  of  the  deepest  emotion.  My  anticipations  for  the  future 
are  full  of  hope  and  confidence" — and  to  know  he  was  lying 
dead.  On  the  24th  September  he  was  buried  at  Kingston  with 
becoming  pomp.* 

*  The  following  epitaph  ia  engraven  on  his  tomb  :— 

Near  this  Hpot  lies  the  body  of 
The  Right  Honourable 
Chaules  Poulett  Thompson, 
Baron  Sydenham, 
Of  Sydenham,  County  of  Kent,  and  Toronto,  in  Canada. 

Bom  September  13th,  1799, 
Bred  a  Merchant  of  London  and  St.  Petersburgh, 

He,  from  an  early  age, 
Devoted  himself  to  the  service  of  his  country. 
He  sat  in  Parliament  for  Dover  and  Manchester 
From  1826  to  18:^9  : 
Was  Vice-President  of  the  Board  of  Trade 

From  1830  to  1834, 
And  President,  with  a  Seat  in  the  Cabinet, 
From  1834  to  August,  1839 ; 
When  he  was  appointed 
Governor-Gee  eral  of  British  North  America. 
While  in  this  High  Office  he  accomplished 
The  Re-union  of  the  Canadaa, 
And  laboured  unceasingly 


STATE  OF    EDUCATION. 


473 


The  first  Parliament  of  United  Canada  had  ended  well.  A 
foundation  for  valuable  legislation  had  been  prepared,  and  the 
priucli»le  of  responsible  government  unmistakeably  asserted. 
Nevertheless  the  great  fight  was  still  to  come  oft! 


(JHAPTER  X. 


Up  to  1816  education  in  Canada  was  at  a  very  low  ebb.  In  that 
year,  the  Legislature  provided  lot  the  establishment  and  mainten- 
ance of  Common  Schools  in  Upper  Canada,  but,  owing  to  jobbery 
and  the  sii.opicion  which  was  thus  created,  the  grant  wr..^  reduced 
in  1820  from  $24,000  to  $10,000.  This  brought  the  grant  to  each 
district  down  to  $1,000,  and  to  each  teacher  from  $500  to  $250 
per  annum. 

In  1819,  the  Executive  Council  had  recommended  that  500,000 
acics  of  land  should  be  sold  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  Uni- 
versity in  Upper  Canada.  In  1823,  Sir  Peregrine  Maitland  sub- 
mitted to  the  Colonial  Office  a  plan  for  a  general  system  of  edu- 
cation, and  obtained  permission  to  establish  a  Board  for  the 
management  of  the  University  and  School  lands.  In  1827,  he 
obtained  a  charter  for  King's  College,  and  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment granted  $5,000  per  annum  for  erecting  the  necessary  build- 
ings, the  fund  to  be  taken  out  of  the  moneys  paid  by  the  Canada 
Company.     The  Governor  was  authorized  on  receipt  of  the  des- 


To  found  a  system  of  institutions  fitted  to  secure 

The  permanent  peace  and  prosperity  of  this  country. 
A  fatal  accident  occasioned  his  premature  death 
At  this  place,  on  the  19th  September,  1841.     ^tat.  42. 
"  He  rests  from  his  labours,  and  his  works  do  follow  him." 

[Authorities  for  chapters  X  and  XI.— Ori^nal  sources.  "  A  View  of  t  njier  Cana- 
da," by  Mr.  Smith,  Baltimore.  "The  Origin,  History  and  Management  -i  *h'^  TJni- 
versity  of  King's  College,  Toronto  : "  printed  by  George  Brown,  Yonge  Streoi.,  1844. 
"  Eighty  Years'  Progress,  from  1781  to  1801."  "  Life  of  Lord  Metcalfe,"  by  J^lu 
William  Kaye.     MacMuUeu's  "History."    Newspapers  of  the  period.     "Hansard."] 


tl*> 


474 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN    CANADA. 


'It 


patch  to  exchange  such  Crown  Reserves  as  had  not  been  made 
over  to  that  Company  for  an  equal  portion  of  the  lands  set  apart 
for  the  purpose  of  education  c'nd  the  foundation  of  a  University 
and  to  proceed  to  ondow  King's  Colkg  .\  The  charter  of  the  new 
college  did  not  escape  criticism.  It  w&h  too  exclusive.  A  Com- 
uiittee  of  the  House  of  Commons  in  1828  recommended  that  the 
Established  Churches  of  England  and  Scotland  should  each  be 
represented  by  a  professor.  Even  this  mild  suggestion  in  the  di- 
rection of  liberality  and  justice  was  not  acted  on. 

In  1829,  Sir  John  Colborne  (afterwards  Lord  Seaton)  established 
Upper  Canada  College  on  the  ruins  of  the  District  School  of  York, 
having  obtained  for  it  an  endowment  of  66,000  acres  of  school 
lands  together  with  some  town  lots.  On  the  4th  of  January,  1830, 
the  college  was  formally  opened.  At  this  time  many  of  the 
school  teachers  wcie  from  below  the  line,  and  children  were 
taught  false  history  and  inspired  with  passions  hostile  to  the 
parent  state;  nor  was  it  until  1846,  that  a  stop  was  pvt  to  this 
abuse  of  confidence  by  men  whom  Dr.  Rolph  characterised  a* 
"  anti-British  adventurers."  Meanwhile  in  the  midst  of  ignorance 
and  impudent  suggestions  from  men  honoured  with  the  confidence 
of  constituencies,  but  unfit  to  be  anything  in  parliament  but  a 
door-keeper  or  sergeant-at-arms,  the  best  minds  of  the  country 
were  actively  engaged  on  the  vital  question  of  public  instruction, 
and  in  1836  a  Commission  was  appointed  by  the  Legislature  to 
examine  the  system  pursued  in  the  United  States.  The  three 
Commissioners  deputed  Dr.  Charles  Duncombe  to  make  the  neces- 
sary investigations.  The  result  was  a  report  and  carefully  draugh- 
ted bill  in  which  he  proposed  that  $60,000  annually  should  bo 
granted  in  aid  of  schools.  He  thought  the  system  of  eduoAtion 
at  that  time  prevailing  in  the  States  as  bad  as  that  which  they 
were  seeking  to  remedy  in  Canada.  Of  eighty  thousand  teachers 
in  the  Republic,  hardly  any  had  made  preparations  for  the  duties 
they  had  to  discharge. 

The  Legislature  petitioned  the  King  to  amend  the  charter  for 
King's  College  University  in  a  less  excluaive  direction.  The  peti- 
tion was  granted  and  the  Provincial  Legislature  endowed  with 
the  necessary  powers.  A  biE  amending  the  charter,  and  incor- 
porating Upper  Canada  College  with  the  University  was  passed 


I 


THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   TORONTO. 


475^ 


in  the  Spring  of  1837.  In  April,  1842,  the  foundation  stono  of 
King's  College  was  laid  by  Sir  Charles  Bag<jt,  Chancellor  of  the 
University,  and  a  library  was  formed.  Tn  1843  the  University 
was  opened  with  Bishop  Strachan  for  President.  Up  to  this  time 
the  Council  for  the  University  used  to  meet  in  a  frame  house  just 
opposite  the  College  Avenue.  In  1849  as  the  result  of  agitation 
and  enlightened  discussion,  the  faculty  of  divinity  was  abolished 
in  order  fhat  the  University  should  be  truly  national. 

These  educational  movements  attracted  more  than  one  remark- 
able Irishman  to  the  Province.  A  young  man,  named  Mack,  was 
studying  for  a  fellowship  at  Trinity  College,  when  he  fell  in  love. 
Falling  in  love  would  not  prevent  him  being  a  Fellow  of  his  col- 
lege. Many  a  Fellow  has  fallen  in  love.  But  Mack  went  further 
and  married,  and  that  put  an  t»nd  to  his  dreams  of  a  fellowship- 
He  determined  to  come  to  Canada.  Armed  with  letters  to  Sir 
John  Colborne,  from  the  Provincial  Secretary,  he  expected,  on 
arriving  in  Canada,  to  be  appointed  the  first  classical  master  of  Up- 
per Canada  College.  He  was  disappointed,  and  was  on  his  way  back 
to  Ireland,  when  he  was  persuaded  by  Bishop  Stuart  to  enter  the 
Church.  He  opened  up  the  parish  of  Osna^?ruck,  near  Cornwall.. 
His  son,  Theophilus  Mack,  who  was  about  four  years'  old  when 
he  left  Ireland,  was  in  due  time  sent  to  Upper  Canada  College. 
Young  Mack  was  one  of  the  first  boys  who  entered  under  Dr.- 
Hams,  who  preceded  Dr.  McCaul. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Mack  opened  up  another  parish  at  Wellington 
Sqnare.  He  was  then  removed  to  Amhertsburg,  where  he  was 
rector  and  garrison  chaplain.  He  retired  from  active  work  about 
five  or  six  years  ago. 

Dr.  McCaul  came  out  here  in  1839.  He  was  educated  at 
Trinity  College,  Dublin,  where,  at  an  unusually  early  age,  he  ob- 
tained the  highest  honours.  Dr.  Harley,  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury had  heard  of  his  reputation  for  scholarship,  and,  in  1838,  of- 
fered him  the  Pi  .ncipalship  of  Upper  Canada  College.  The  offer 
was  accepted,  and  in  the  following  year  Mr.  McCaul  entered  on 
his  duties,  which  he  discharged  with  such  credit,  that,  in  1842,  he 
was  made  Vice-President  of  King's  College,  and  Professor  in  that 
University,  of  the  Council  of  which  he,  as  Principal  of  Upper 
Canada  College,  had  been  an  ex-ofUdo  member.     Six  years  after- 


476 


THE    IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


! 


'i 


wards  ho  was  appointed  President  on  the  resignation  of  the  office 
by  the  Bishop  of  Toronto,  •^nd  thenceforward  took  a  useful  and 
active  part  in  all  matters  of  |  ublic  interest.  Ho  used  to  bo  particu- 
larly happy  as  an  after-dinne-  speaker.  His  heart  wns,  however, 
centered  in  the  University.  As  we  should  expect  one  of  the  ob- 
jects at  which  he  aimed  M'as  a  Consolidated  University,  whose 
degrees  wouhl  bo  respected,  and  whoso  honours  would  be  highly 
prized.  His  hopes  in  this  direction  were  blighted  when  the  Legis- 
lature gave  University  powers  to  other  inst'^'V.lons.  The  way 
the  students  speak  of  him  is  the  best  testimony  to  his  character 
as  President.  His  reputation  as  an  author  is  as  wide  as  the 
world  of  erudition. 

The  late  Vice  Chancellor  Blake  was  Professor  of  Law  in  the 
University,  and  of  the  five  medical  lecturers  throe  were  Irish, 
Doctors  King,  Herrick,  and  Gwynne.  The  ideas  of  Dr.  Owynne 
vlch  regard  to  education  were  advanced,  and  he  petitioned  the 
Legislature  with  regard  to  the  constitution  of  the  Council.  This 
was  regarded  by  Bishop  Strachan  as  "  a  contoomaashus  sleight  of 
our  authority,"  and  he  tried  to  have  Dr.  Gwynne  and  his  friends 
dismissed.  But  liberal  ideas  were  then  coming  to  the  front,  and 
the  efforts  of  Dr.  Strachan  failed.  Dr.  Gwynne  next  devoted 
himself  specially,  and  not  without  success,  to  reforming  the 
financial  affairs  of  King's  College.  As  to  the  general  principles 
•of  foundation  and  management,  he  advocated  every  reform  which 
was  ultimately  made.  He  denounced  class  distinctions  such  as 
can  hardly  be  conceived  at  the  present  time.  His  skill  in  physi- 
ology, comparative  anatomy,  and  cognate  subjects,  combined  with 
happiness  of  expression,  made  him  a  lecturer  to  whom  the  student 
listened  with  rapt  attention. 

In  1S41,  the  Tories  came  into  power  in  England,  with  r,  very 
•strong  Government;  Sir  Robert  Peel,  the  Duke  of  Wellington, Lord 
Lyndhurst,  Sir  James  Graham,  tie  Earl  of  Aberdeen,  Lord  Stan- 
ley (the  late  Lord  Derby)  and  others.  The  Ministry  was  after- 
wards reinforced  by  Sidney  Herbert  and  Mr.  Gladstone.  Sir 
Charles  Bagot  who  was  chosen  to  succeed  Lord  Lyndhurst  was, 
as  we  ir  *ght  expect,  a  Tory.  There  need  be  no  surprise  )ha«  he 
showed  a  strong  grasp  of  constitutional  questions,  for  no  truer 
friends  of  the  Constitution  existed  at  that  time  than  Sir  Robert 


SIR  CHARLES   BAOOT's  CHARACTER. 


477 


Peel  and  Sir  Jarne-;  Graham.  On.at  fears  were  expressed  that  he 
would  not  find  it  e»sy  to  follow  "  ord  Sydenham.  Lord  Syden- 
ham had  bet  his  own  Execuf'^'^e  Council  and  his  own  Chief  Sec- 
retary. He  !  .^d  done  nothing  to  im  )rove  the  defective  adminis- 
trations of  the  various  executive  departments,  and  blame  would 
fall  -^n  his  successor  alone  if  the  wor''  which  he  had  so  well  begun 
was  not  earned  to  completeness. 

The  Conservatives  of  that  day  made  a  mistake  which  hi^i  often 
been  made.  They  supposed  that  English  Conservatives  must 
necessarily  feel  drawn  to  Canadian  Conservatives,  and  English 
Reformers  to  Canadian  Reformers.  They  fell  into  further  error 
in  thinking  that  the  natures  of  all  Governors  are  the  same,  and  in 
not  perceiving  the  changes  which  were  going  forward.  Wrapped 
up  in  their  own  self-conceit,  they  thought  Sir  Charles  Bagot 
would  act  like  a  Governor  of  ten  or  fifteen  years  before,  without 
Sir  Charles  Bagot's  constitutional  views,  in  a  Canada  quite  dif- 
ferent from  that  in  which  he  was  about  to  commence  his  pro-con- 
sular career,  and  having  been  educated  in  an  England  different 
from  that  in  which  he  had  received  his  most-recent  lessons  on 
political  questions.  The  Governor  threw  himself  into  the  hands 
of  neither  party. 

During  the  winter  and  the  spring,  he  occupied  himself  in  ac- 
quiring a  knowledge  of  the  condition  of  the  country.  He  deter- 
mined from  the  first  to  act  with  that  party  which  had  the  support 
of  the  country  and  a  majority  in  the  House  of  Assembly.  Unlike 
Lord  Sydenham,  he  would  have  had  no  objection  to  admit  to  his 
Council,  even  those  who  had  been  connected  with  the  rebellion, 
if  only  they  had  the  f'onfidence  of  the  people  and  the  requisite 
ability,  and  this  at  a  time  when  loyal  men  and  men  of  culture 
were  driven  from  society  by  the  "  best "  people  as  "  rebels,"  be- 
cause they  had  stopped  a  few  days  in  the  house  of  Mr.  Francis 
Hincks,  or  been  guilty  of  some  equally  heinous  act  of  treason. 

In  June,  1842,  Mr.  Hincks  was  induced  to  join  the  Government 
as  Inspector-General,  a  st-ep  for  which,  in  the  press  and  parlia- 
ment, he  was  severely  criticised.  Several  appointments,  calcu- 
lated to  conciliate  the  discontented,  especially  among  the  French, 
had  been  made.  An  amusing  discussion  on  this  policy  took 
place,  when  the  Solicitor-Generalship  of  Canada  West  was  offered 


'V:-^ 
,«(..    I 


478 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


i 


to  Mr.  Cartwright.  This  gentleman  declined  the  position,  and 
the  letter  in  which  he  informed  the  Governor  of  his  deterrnina- 
^  tion,  shows  him  to  have  been  a  narrow-minded  man,  utterly  unfit 
to  play  any  part  requiring  statesmanlike  capacity.  The  Conser- 
vatives of  Upper  Canada  were  disgusted  with  recent  appoint- 
ments, and  considered  them  as  evidence  that  the  Government  was 
indifferent  to  the  political  principles  of  men,  even  though  theii* 
principles  were  unfriendly  to  British  supremacy  in  the  British 
North  American  Colonies.  The  dangerous  character  of  Responsi- 
ble Government  was  dwelt  on,  and  its  incompatibility  with  the 
position  of  Canada  as  a  colony  explained.  He  pushed 
the  people  on  one  side  with  splendid  disdain,  and  then  "  went 
for  "  Mr.  Hincks,  the  "  apologist  of  the  movement  party,"  the  de- 
fender of  Papineau  and  Mackenzie  up  to  the  very  moment  of  the 
outbreak.  To  go  into  a  Government  with  "  this  individual  ' 
would  ruin  his  character  as  a  public  man.  The  "  individual's  " 
talents  were  admitted,  but  it  would  be  imp^-ssible  for  Mr.  Cart- 
wright  to  enter  the  same  Government  with  such  a  character. 

Sir  Charles  Bagot  hastened  to  assure  Mr.  Cartwright  that  the 
grounds  on  which  he  based  his  refusal  showed  the  steadiness  of 
his  principles  and  the  elevation  of  his  feelings.  He  was,  indeed, 
anxious  to  '  vail  himself  of  Mr.  Hincks'  veiy  superior  talents  in 
the  inspection  of  the  public  accounts,  and  he  confessed  he  would 
consider  it  a  serious  misfortune  to  the  country  if  his  employment 
of  such  services  as  he  felt  best  suited  for  any  particular  purpose, 
should  deprive  him  of  the  support  and  assistance  of  men  for  whom 
he  felt  an  unfeigned  respect. 

The  House  met  on  the  8th  September.  The  change  for  the 
better  which  had  taken  place  in  the  revenue,  the  advancement  of 
the  public  works,  the  progress  of  education,  the  spirit  of  content 
which  pervaded  all  classes,  such  were  the  topics  dwelt  upon  in 
the  speech  from  the  throne.  A  debate  took  place,  the  upshot  of 
which  was,  that  the  Reformers  came  into  power.  Both  Lafon- 
taine  and  Baldwin  had  severally  refused  office,  though  accompa- 
nied by  offers  respecting  friends  which  were  considered  by  the 
Conservative  press  far  too  generous.  The  fact  was,  Baldwin,  at 
this  time,  had  nearly  the  whole  of  Lower  Cai-ada,  a&  well  as  all 


EXPLANATION   OF   MINISTERS. 


479 


Lion,  and 
jterrnina- 
erly  unfit 

Conser- 
appoint- 
nent  was 
igh  thei)" 
e  British 
lesponsi- 
with  the 

pushed 
jn  "  went 
"  the  de- 
nt of  the 
iividual  ' 
vidual's  " 
Mr.  Cart- 
<cter. 

;  that  the 
idiness  of 
is,  indeed, 
:alents  in 
he  would 
ployment 
'  purpose, 
for  whom 

;e  for  the 
3ement  of 
P  content 
\,  upon  in 
upshot  of 
jh  Lafon- 
accompa- 
id  by  the 
ildwin,  at 
rell  as  all 


the  Reformers  of  Upper  Canada,  vath  him,  and  he  did  not  waiit 
to  come  into  power  unless  as  master  of  the  situation. 

On  the  13th  September  the  jTouse  of  Assembly  was  crowded  to 
suffocation  in  order  to  hear  an  exciting  debate  on  the  considera- 
tion of  the  reply  to  His  Excellency's  speech.  Nor  were  those 
who  crushed  into  the  scant  accommodation  disappointed.  Mr. 
Forbes  introduced  the  resolutions  for  the  adoption  of  a  reply,  and 
Mr.  J.  S.  Macdonald  *  seconded  them.  In  doing  this  he  drew 
a  very  gratifying  picture  of  the  prosperityof  the  country.  He 
called  for  a  response,  unanimous  and  cordial,  to  the  address  of  the 
Representative  of  Her  Majesty. 

Mr.  Draper  then  spoke  at  great  length  and  with  his  usual  elo- 
quence. He  dwelt  on  the  offers  which  had  been  made  to  Lafon- 
taine,  and  explained  the  circumstances  which  led  to  the  existing 
state  of  things.  In  the  course  of  his  remarks,  he  declared  he 
could  not  sit  in  the  same  Government  as  Baldwin.  About  the 
same  time,  Sullivan  was  making  an  explanation  to  the  Legis- 
lative Council.  On  the  death  of  Lord  Sydenham,  there  was  but 
one  opinion  amongst  the  advisers  of  the  Crown,  that  instead  of 
carrying  on  the  Government  by  bare  majorities,  and  slavishly 
courting  a  few  leading  men,  the  Administration  should  be  formed 
on  a  broader  basis,  and  liberal  oflers  be  made  to  all  parties  to 
come  in  and  work  harmoniously  together.  In  order  to  do  this, 
many  of  them  were  prepared  to  sacrifice  their  own  private  opi- 
nions. This  policy  had  been  urged  on  His  Excellency  (Sir 
Charles  Bagot),  and  they  were  delighted  to  find  that  the  advice 
commended  itself  to  him.  Many  of  them  forgetting  old  pre- 
judices and  animosities,  had  gone  so  far  as,  to  recommend  that 
the  very  persons  who  had  poured  obloquy  on  the  Government 
should  be  invited  to  forget  the  past,  and  to  come  and  give  their 
strength  to  the  conduct  of  affairs.  This  was  a  wise  and  states 
manlike  resolve.  If  carried  out  it  would  have  closed  the  mouths 
of  the  people  whom  they  represented.  It  would  have  given  con- 
fidence to  that  portion    >f  the  people  hitherto  treated  with  con- 


*The  newspapers  of  the  day  spell  the  name  Mncdonnell  and  sometimes  McDonald. 
There  is  in  the  case  of  many  oth«>r  nameu  a  like  conflict.     In  all  instances  the  spelling 
adhered  to  haj9  been  decided  to  be  the  better  or  the  best  after  the  fullest  investigation 
•at  my  command. 


480 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


I 


I    ( 


tempt.  "  I  never,"  said  Sullivai:,  "  was  so  vain  as  to  imagine  that 
the  people  of  the  other  Province  would  consent  to  accept  of  jus- 
tice at  my  hands ;  I  knew  it  must  come  from  some  of  them- 
selves." The  object  was  frustrated,  owing  to  the  difficulty  of 
conferring  favour.  This  had,  in  many  instances,  prevented  the 
progress  of  upef ul  measures.  At  last  this  eventful  session  came. 
"  Now,"  cried  Mr.  Sullivan,  with  what  the  reporter  describes  as 
much  energy  and  emphasis,  while  his  broad  square  forehead  shone 
over  his  dark  brows — '  We  wish  tc  know  whether  we  are  to 
carry  on  the  Government  faidy  and  upon  liberal  principles,  or  by 
dint  of  miserable  majorities ;  whether  by  the  latter,  or  by  the 
united  acclamations  of  the  people  (cries  of  '  hear,  hear.') — whe- 
ther, in  fact,  there  is  sufficient  patriotism  to  allow  us  to  work  for 
the  good  of  the  people  ?  "  Kindly  and  fraternal  affections  might 
have  prevailed.  But  they  iiad  not ;  and  Sullivan  proceeded  to 
tell  how  Lafontaine  and  Baldwin  and  their  friends  had  met  all 
the  overtures  of  the  Government. 

Now  we  leave  the  Legislative  Council  and  go  back  to  the 
Assembly.  Draper  having  made  a  speech  not  unlike  that  of  Sul- 
livan in  the  Upper  House,  Lafontaine  got  up  and,  speaking  in 
French,  read  the  offer  made  to  him  of  the  Attorney-Generalship 
east,  told  how  he  had  refused  the  position,  as  well  as  the  ap- 
pointments for  his  friends  placed  at  his  disposal. 

Then  Baldwin  rose.  It  was  his  hour  of  triumph.  The  advice 
he  had  given  twelve  months  before  as  to  the  necessity  for  con- 
ciliating the  French  Canadians,  and  of  conducting  the  affairs  of 
the  country  in  accordance  with  constitutional  principles,  was 
acknowledged  to  be  not  only  sound  but  imperative  by  those  very 
persons  who  had  bitterly  opposed  him  then.  He  concluded  by 
moving  an  amendment  to  the  address. 

Lafontaine  again  spoke.  How  could  he  accept  office  while  the 
member  who  had  stood  forward  in  defeice  of  Lower  Canada  was 
excluded  from  the  Government?  This  v,^as  Baldwin.  The  attempt 
to  draw  away  his  Lower  Canadian  support  had  failed.  Lafon- 
taine complained  that  there  was  not  a  single  Lower  Canadian  in 
the  Council. 

Other  Reformers  followed,  amongst  them  Mr.  Aylwin,  who 
defended  Baldwin,  attacked  Draper  and  Hincks,  and  character- 


BB 


. 


FIDELITY  TO  PARTY. 


481 


ized  the  late  Governor  as  the  greatest  curse  which  had  ever  be- 
fallen the  country.  Some  barbs  had  entered  between  the  joints 
of  Hincks'  harness.  He  ^arted  up  made  a  vigorous  defence  of 
his  conduct,  and  denied  that  he  had  been  a  pupil  of  Baldwin.  He 
had  fought  by  hh  side  for  Union,  which  he  had  advocated  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  the  interests  of  Lower  Canada,  and  he  pro- 
ceeded to  recount  his  f  srvices  as  a  journalist. 

In  the  course  of  the  debate  a  very  effective  weapon  v/as 
used  against  him.  It  was  shewn  that  the  Examiner  had 
attacked  the  character  of  the  "  gifted  Draper  "  and  of  Mr.  Harri- 
son. His  political  apostacy  was  denounced.  Baldwin  said  he  had 
never,  prior  to  entering  the  Government,  consulted  him  or  the 
party  to  which  he  belonged.  Nor  from  the  point  of  view  of  party 
morality  can  Hincks'  conduct  be  defended  if  we  admit  that  the 
machinery  of  party  was  then  in  full  operation.  It  was  twelve  o'clock 
when  Draper  closed  the  debate.  Everybody  left  the  House  deter- 
mined to  return  at  three  o'clock  on  the  morrow,  when  a  stormy 
sitting  was  expected. 

From  an  early  hour  what  the  reporter  of  the  period  calls  the 
"  halls  of  legislation  "  were  thronged.  There  was  but  one  desire, 
wrote  a  parliamentary  correspondent,  that  the  fight  should  go  for- 
ward. The  reply  to  the  address,  and  Baldwin's  amendments 
the*"  ;C0,  was  the  first  order  of  the  day.  Much  to  the  annoyance 
of  the  impatient  crowd,  a  large  number  of  small  topics  were 
brought  on,  causing  an  irritating  delay. 

At  last  the  supreme  morajnt  arrived.  What  had  happened  ? 
A  change  had  come  o  v  er  tho  spirit  of  somebody's  dreams.  M  ember 
who  yesterday  were  full  of  excitement  to-day  chatted  and  joked 
or  sat  listless  and  meditative.  There  was  a  stir  among:  the 
audience  and  then  a  hush  of  expectancy  when  Mr.  Hincks  rose. 
That  incisive  tongue  would  say  something  which  would  draw 
blood.  But  the  Inspector-General  merely  moved  that  the  debate 
on  the  amendment  of  Mr.  Baldwin  should  be  postponed  until 
Friday.  Not  a  voice  from  the  regular  opposition  was  raised 
against  this  motion. 

One  or  two  independent  members,  Mr.  Johnston  and  Dr.  Dun- 
lop — "Tiger  Dunlop,"  as  he  was  called — opposed  'U'lay.     But  the 

motion  was  carried,  and  the  disappointed  crowd  dispersjd. 
31 


482 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


On  Friday,  the  16th,  the  galleries  were  again  thronged.  There 
was,  however,  no  sanguine  hopes  of  a  fight,  for  in  the  meantime 
Mr.  Draper  had  resigned,  and  Baldwin  and  Lafontaine  had  been 
induced  to  enter  the  Government.  On  the  19th,  Mr.  Buncombe 
moved  a  resolution  congratulating  the  Governor  on  calling  Baldwin 
to  his  Councils,  and  inviting  that  large  portion  of  Canadian  citi- 
zens who  were  of  French  origin  to  share  in  the  government  of  the 
country.  The  resolution  was  carried  in  an  amended  form.  Hincks 
expressed  his  gratification  at  the  souice  whence  it  came — a  Bi itish 
merchant  connected  with  the  British  people,  who  had  no  con- 
nexion and  no  probability  of  connexion  with  the  Government. 
The  press  throughout  the  Province  had  abused  the  change  v.diich 
had  lately  taken  place  in  the  Government.  This  abuse  would 
have  gone  to  England  as  the  oj)inion  of  the  people,  and  the  sooner 
it  was  corrected  by  a  vote  of  that  House  the  better. 

In  re]  )ly  to  Mr.  Mofi'att,  Mr.  Hincks  said  he  had  never  pledged 
himself  to  support  the  Union  as  it  was  passed.  He  was  strongly 
opposed  to  the  Civil  List,  unless  voted  by  the  Assembly  and  not 
by  the  Imperial  Parliament.  Upon  this  Mr.  Cartwright  attacked 
him.  There  had  been  he  said  "  suspicions  as  to  him."  Mr. 
Hincks  started  to  his  feet  and  called  the  Speaker'^  attention  to 
tli'j  words.  Though  re(iuested  by  the  Speaker  to  do  so,  Mr. 
Cartwright  would  not  withdraw  them.  Then  followed  a  scene  of 
dreadful  confusion,  during  which  the  galleries  were  cleared. 

At  this  sitting  the  policy  of  giving  a  pension  to  Mr.  Ogden  and 
others  was  mooted,  and  was  strongly  opposed  by  several  mem- 
bers. Mr.  Ogden  had  been  a  member  of  the  Executive  Council. 
This  question  was  taken  up  a  few  weeks  afterwards.  On  the 
nth  of  October,  Mr.  Hincks  moved  an  address  to  His  Excellency, 
praying  that  a  pension  should  be  granted  to  Messrs.  Ogden  and 
Davidson.  An  amendment  by  i  r.  Neilson,  that  the  consideration 
of  the  address  should  be  postponed  until  the  following  session, 
was  carried  by  thirty-five  to  fifteen.  Adequate  ground  for  Mr. 
Hincks'  proposal,  there  was  ncme. 

The  House  was  prorogued  on  the  22nd  of  October.  Little  work 
could  have  been  done  in  a  session  of  six  weeks,  during  which  a 
change  of  government  had  taken  place.  Thirty  Acts  had  been 
passed,  most  of  them  of  small  importance.  But  the  law  respecting- 


DEATH   OF   SIR  CHAllLES   BAGOT. 


483 


the  vacating  of  seats  by  members  of  parliament  on  taking  office, 
had  been  made  uniform,  and  authority  was  given  to  raise  a  loan 
in  England  of  $7,500,000,  for  public  works. 

As  the  winter  of  1842  laid  its  benvimbing  fingers  on  the  life 
of  nature.  Sir  Charles  Bagot,  unfortunately  for  Canada,  felt  his 
vital  powers  failing,  and  requested  to  be  recalled.  Like  his  pre- 
decessor, he  was  destined  never  to  leave  our  shores.  The  chestnut 
trees  of  Canada  excited  his  admiration  on  his  arrival  liere.  When 
he  fell  ill,  the  trees  were  bare.  But  life  was  in  the  frozen  bough, 
and  ere  he  lay  dead,  the  rapid  vegetation  had  made  all  the  world 
green,  and  scattered  white,  tower-like  blossoms  amid  the  wealth 
of  foliage  of  the  trees  he  loved  so  well.  He  died  on  the  19th  of 
May,  1843. 

On  the  receipt  of  Sir  Charles  Bagot's  resignation,  Sir  Charles 
Metcalfe  was  api)ointed  Governor-General.  The  new  Governor 
had  arrived  nearly  two  months  before  Sir  Charles  Bagot's  decease. 
Reentered  Kingston  on  the  2J)th  of  March,  1843.*  On  the  follow- 
ing day  he  took  charge  of  the  government.  It  was  a  i)ity  he  ever 
came  t(^  Canada.  He  had  been  eminently  successful.  He  had 
climbed  up  the  ladder  of  proraotio.i,  from  a  writership  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  East  India  Company,  until,  in  1834,  he  wielded  the 
government  of  that  vast  territory  from  which  Her  Majesty  is 
proud  to  take  an  additional  title  to-day.  Neither  his  exp  n*ience 
in  India,  nor  as  Governor  of  Jamaica,  was  calculated  to  dispose 
his  mind  to  the  study  of  constitutional  government.  Rather  was 
it  calculated  to  unfit  him  for  the  part  of  a  constitutional  ruler.  A 
cancer  in  his  face  drove  him  from  Jamaica.  His  health  improved 
in  England.  But  it  was  not  without  hesitation,  not  without  mis- 
givings that  he  accepted  Lord  Stanley's  offer  of  the  Governorship 


*  Mao  Mullen  says  he  arrived  at  Kingston  on  the  2.5th  of  March,  but  this  must  be  a 
mistake,  He  writes  on  the  24th  of  March,  from  Albany,  whence  he  ili''  not  depart 
until  daylight  of  the  25th.  He  took  that  whole  day  to  get  to  Utica.  From  Utica  to 
Kingston  was  170  miles  by  sleighs.  Owing  to  the  bad  winter,  that  journey  took  nearly 
four  da,y8.  It  must,  therefore,  have  been  the  29th  when  he  arrived  at  ]  ''-ngston,  the 
day  on  which  his  Wographer  declares  he  arrived.  On  the  30th  he  took  charge  of  the  gov- 
ernment. The  Tiw  •  of  Montreal,  writing  on  the  27th,  said  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  had 
arrived.  In  Sir  Oharies  Metcalfe's  own  letter  he  says  he  did  not  arriv  until  the  29th. 
-Kaye's  Life,  VoL  ii,  p,  468. 


484 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


f 


: 


of  Canada.  Such  misgivings  are  the  monitions  of  fi^te.  When 
our  hearts  fail  us,  we  are  bure  to  fail.* 

What  he  says  about  his  duties  shows  how  unfit  he  M^as  for  the 
responsible  and  weighty  task  he  had  before  him.  "  My  official 
prospects  are  not  better  than  they  were  when  I  accepted  the 
charge  that  I  have  undertaken.  Party  spirit  is  acrimonious  in 
the  extreme.  My  chief  object  will  be  to  bring  all  into  harmony ; 
but  I  do  not  expect  success.  I  have  not  the  same  materials  to 
work  with  that  I  had  in  Jamaica."  When  we  leave  his  political 
int.elligence,  and  go  to  .his  character,  we  can  do  nothing  but 
admire  the  man.  "  My  establishment,"  he  says,  "  will  be  larger  and 
more  expensive  than  it  was  in  Jamaica.  My  official  income  is 
less.  And  as  there  it  was  not  sufficient  without  aid  from  my 
private  fortune,  I  must,  of  course,  expect  the  same  will  be  the 
case  here  to  a  large  extent.  This,  however,  is  a  matter  of  little 
consequence,  and  I  [wish  that  all  others  could  be  as  easily 
managed." 

The  whole  male  population  of  Kingston  turned  out  to  meet 
him.  The  sleigh  was  met  by  a  va^'t  concourse  of  people,  by  a 
military  escort,  composed  of  a  detachment  of  the  incorporated 
lancers,  and  the  guard  of  honour  from  the  23rd  Regiment.  There 
had  been  many  disappointments,  as  he  was  expected  on  the  25th, 
but  the  enthusiasm  was  none  the  less.  The  St.  Patrick  Society, 
the  St.  Andrew's,  and  the  St.  George's  turned  out  with  their 
banners.  The  streets  through  which  he  should  pass  were  lined 
by  the  military.  A  newspaper  correspondent  describes  him  as 
"  a  thorough-looking  Englishman  with  a  jolly  visage,  but  old- 
looking." 

*  He  wrote  to  Captain  Higginson  : — "  I  have  accepted  the  Government  of  Canada, 
without  being  sure  that  I  have  done  right.  For  I  do  not  see  mj'  way  so  clearly  as  I 
wish  ;  neither  do  I  expect  to  do  so,  before  I  reach  my  destination."  [Dated  Mivart's 
Hotel,  January  19th,  1843.]  On  the  same  date  he  wrote  to  Mrs.  Smythe  : — "  I  have 
just  returned  from  Lord  Stanley.  I  have  accepted  the  Government  of  Canada.  And 
thus  there  is  an  end  to  the  happiness  that  I  was  enjo3ring  with  you,  and  that  I  hoped 
would  last  during  my  life.  What  is  it  that  moves  me  to  resign  such  a  prospect  for  the 
cares  and  uncertainties  of  public  life  and  distant  service  ?  Is  it  pure  patiiotism,  and  a 
sense  of  duty,  or  is  it  foolishness  and  lurking  ambition  ?" 

On  the  21st  he  writes  to  the  same  lady  : — "  When  I  wrote  my  first  note  this  morning, 
I  had  a  gleam  of  hope  that  I  might  have  a  justifiable  ground  for  declining  to  go  to  Can- 
ada ;  but  I  have  since  been  at  the  Colonial  Oflice,  and  the  obstacle,  which  was  of  a 
public  nature,  has  been  removed.    So  I  must  still  go. "    Kaye's  Life,  Vol.  ii.  p.  458. 


PUBLIC   SLANDEa.      BAOOT  S   POLICY. 


485 


When 

"or  the 
official 
}d  the 
lous  in 
mony ; 
•ials  to 
olitical 
ig   but 
rer  and 
ome  is 
lorn  my 
be  the 
)f  little 
easily 

,0  meet 
»le,  by  a 
'porated 
There 
he  25th, 
Society, 
th  their 
ire  lined 
;  him  as 
but  old- 


of  Canada, 
clearly  as  I 
ed  Mivart's 
: — "  I  have 
aada.  And 
hat  I  hoped 
spect  for  the 
atism,  and  a 

liis  morning, 
;o  go  to  Can- 
ch  was  of  a 
li.  p.  458. 


When  he  looked  into  the  system  of  government  now  estab- 
lished in  Canada,  the  question  he  asked  himself  was,  not  what 
course  he  should  take,  which  would  be  the  best  for  the  country, 
but  what  under  such  a  state  of  things  was  to  become  of  the 
Governor-General  ?  W^e  are  perhaps  bound  to  suppose  he  consi- 
dered the  question  synonymous  with,  what  was  to  become  of  the 
Imperial  authority  ?  There  is  a  further  excuse  to  be  made  for 
Metcalfe.  There  are  times  when  Canada  presents  one  of  the 
most  hateful  spectacles  that  can  be  witnessed  on  earth — when 
slander,  fired  by  political  passions,  is  rampant,  and  the  impression 
is  conveyed  that  every  man  hates  his  fellow.  It  is  bad  enough 
to  have  some  real  but  small  human  defects  having  public  bearings 
made  the  foundation  of  invective.  But  when  a  tower  of  men- 
dacity is  built  on  a  fact  utterly  unconnected  with  public  affairs 
— a  pyramid  of  calumny,  a  mountain  of  abuse  piled  on  some  com- 
paratively virtuous  life,  the  country  is  easily  misunderstood, 
especially  by  a  stranger. 

The  moment  it  became  known  that  his  term  was  drawing  to  a 
close,  the  opposition  press  began  to  howl  about  the  "  downfall  of 
Sir  Charles  Bagot,"  and  to  proclaim  that  he  had  been  recalled 
because  he  had  disregarded  his  duty  to  his  sovereign.  No  vilifi- 
cation was  too  vile  to  hurl  at  the  head  of  the  departing  governor, 
and  it  was  said  that  Lord  Stanley  and  the  whole  Imperial  Cabinet 
were  dissatisfied  with  his  policy  and  were  determined  to  dismiss 
him.  Now  British  loyalty  would  raise  i^A  drooping  head.  Con- 
stitutionalism had  proved  a  failure.  A  faction,  as  weak  as  it 
was  wicked,  had  been  forced  on  the  people.  The  worst  of  such 
diatribes  is  this — they  have  a  tendency  to  give  false  impressions 
and  in  the  present  instance  had  probably  tr}eir  designed  efiect  in 
the  capital  of  the  Empire. 

When  the  question  was  brought  before  the  Imperial  Parlia- 
ment, Lord  Stanley  expressly  declared  that  when  Sir  Charles 
Bagot  went  out  to  Canada  as  Governor  General,  his  ins*«ructions 
were,  if  possible,  to  reconcile — to  unite — all  parties ;  to  bring 
about  a  combination  for  the  general  good  and  prosperity  of  the 
Province,  and  he  had  wisely  acted  under  these  orders.  The  acts 
of  Sir  Charles  Bagot  were  in  unison  with,  and  in  conformity  to, 
the  instructions  he  had  received  from  Her  Majesty's  Government. 


486 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


I 


Without  entering  into  abstract  questions  of  policy,  he  would  say 
that  it  was  the  duty  of  Her  Majesty's  Government  to  act  as  far 
as  possible  in  unison  with  the  wishes  of  the  Legislative  Assembly. 
Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  might  well  have  thought  that  the  method 
of  Sir  Charles  Bagot  had  not  been  the  best  means  of  fulfilling  the 
instructions  he  received.  Yet,  as  the  new  Governor  was  leaving 
English  shoi.s,  the  utterances  regarding  Canada  of  two  distin- 
guished statesmen,  occupying  seats  on  different  sides  of  the  House 
of  Commons — utterances  meant  for  his  ears — were  precisely  what 
Mr.  Baldwin  would  have  echoed.  But  one  of  the  persons  who  sent 
a  sinister  blessing  after  the  new  Governor  was  Sir  Francis  Bond 
Head.* 

It  is  impossible  to  defend  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  save  at  the  ex- 
pense of  his  political  intelligence.  He  seems  to  have  looked  with 
scorn  on  power  in  the  hands  of  the  people.  Contempt  and 
hatred  are  excited  by  the  very  idea  of  Responsible  Government. 
In  his  first  confidential  despatch  to  the  Colonial  Office,  he  wrote 
that  Lord  Sydenham  had  no  intention  of  surrendering  the  govern- 
ment into  the  hands  of  the  Executive  Council.  He  was  not  aware 
that  any  great  change  had  taken  place  during  the  period  of  the 
administration  of  Sir  Charles  Bagot,  which  preceded  the  meeting 
of  the  Legislature.  But,  after  this,  were  seen  the  consequences  of 
making  the  officers  of  the  Government  "  virtually  dependent  for 
the  possession  of  their  places  on  the  pleasure  of  the  Representa- 
tive body.'  He  sneers  at  the  habit  of  speaking  of  the  "Ministry," 
as  one  might  sneer  at  a  person  who  stole  a  crest.  He  gives  the 
history  of  the  fall  of  the  Draper  Government.  The  two  extreme 
parties  in  Upper  Canada,  most  violently  opposed  to  each  other, 
coalesced  solely  for  the  purpose  of  turning  out  the  "office  holders" 
or,  as  it  was  termed,  "  the  Ministry  of  that  day,"  with  no  real  bond 
of  union,  and  with  a  mutual  understanding  that  having  accom- 
plished that  purpose,  they  would   take  the  chance  of  the  conse- 


*  Previous  to  Siv  Charles  Metcalfe's  departure  from  London,  he  was  entertained 
by  the  Colonial  Assodatiou.  Among  thoie  present  was  Sir  Francis  Bond  Head,  who 
said  what  was  undotibtedly  and  deservedly  true,  that  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  went  out 
to  Canada  with  the  confidence  of  the  whole  empire.  The  hints  and  advice  of  a  man 
like  Head  must  )iiive  been  anything  but  wholesome  for  a  governor  with  such  little 
political  knowledge  as  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe. 


MEfCALFR  ON   THE   SITUATION. 


487 


(juonces  and  shouM  bo  tit  liberty  to  follow  their  respoctivo  conrson. 
The  French  party  joined  in  this  coalition,  an<l  compact  and  united 
formed  its  greatest  stren<^th.  Those  parties  tof^ether  accom- 
plished their  purpose.  They  had  exi)ecoed  to  do  so  by  a  vot'!  of 
the  Assembly,  but,  the  Governor  General,  in  apprehension  o\'  the 
threatened  vote  of  want  of  confidence  in  members  of  his  Council, 
opened  negotiations  with  the  leaders  of  the  French  party  and 
these  neg(jtiations  terminated  in  the  resignation  or  removal  from 
the  Council  of  "  those  members  who  belonged  to  what  is  called  by 
themselves  the  Conservative  party."  Five  members  of  the  united 
French  and  Reform  parties  were  introduced  into  the  Council, 
The  remaining  members  of  the  Council  were  either  of  "tho  so- 
called  Reform  party,  or  if  not  formerly  of  that  party,  wure  willing 
to  fight  under  its  banners."  All  over  the  country,  and  l)y  all 
classes  and  parties,  he  admits  that  these  events  were  considered  as 
bringing  the  system  of  Responsible  Government  into  full  lorce. 
Henceforward  the  "  tone  of  the  members  of  Council,  and  the  tone 
of  the  public  voice  regarding  Responsible  Government "  became 
"  greatly  exalted."  He  adds  with  insolent  contempt :  "  The 
Council  are  now  spoken  of  by  themselves  and  others  generally  as 
'  the  Ministers,'  '  the  Administration,'  '  the  Cabinet,'  '  the  Govern- 
ment '  and  so  forth."  And  were  they  not  ?  Was  the  inquiry  of 
Lord  Durham  to  be  fruitless  ?  Was  the  inauguration  of  Responsi- 
ble Government  a  sham  ?  To  the  horror  of  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe, 
the  pretensions  of  those  poor  Colonial  St<.tc,imen  were  on  a  par  with 
their  new  nomenclature.  They  actually .  '^garded  themselves  ^u;  a 
Responsible  "  Ministry,"  and  expected  that  the  policy  and  conduct 
of  the  Governor  should  be  subservient  to  their  views  and  party 
purposes."*  And  why  not  »  That  is  just  what  Lord  Melbourne 
and  Sir  Robert  Peel  would  have  demanded  of  their  Royal 
Mistress.  When  Lord  Stanley  received  this  despatch  he  ought  to 
have  recalled  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe. 

At  this  time  the  Ministry  was  a  singularly  capable  one  and  must 
have  been  free  from  any  strong'  desire  to  "  shoot  Niagara  "  or  do 
anything  else  that  waf*  reckless.f      It  contained,  at  least,  three 

'  Lord  Metcalfe's  Conf.denti».l  Despatch  to  Colonial  Office,  24th  April,  1843. 
fThe  following  conatituted  the  Government :— Robert  Baldwin,  Attorney-General 
West ;  L.  H.  Lafontaine,  Attorney-General  East ;  J.  E.  Small,  Solicitor-General  West ; 


t.  . 

! 


488 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


men  superior  in  ability  to  the  Oovemor-Goneral,  and  their  only 
fault  evidently  was  that,  with  unblushing  audacity,  they  insisted 
on  styling  themselves  a  Ministry,  and  believed  the  Government 
should  stand  or  fall  according  as  they  had  or  had  not  the  confi- 
dence of  Parliament. 

It  is  quite  evident  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  hated  Responsible 
Govi  ninient,  and,  studying  his  life,  it  is  hard  to  escape  from  the 
conviction  that  there  was  some  ground  for  the  charge  that  from 
the  first  he  acted  secretly  against  his  Ministers.  In  May  he 
again  wrote  to  the  Colonial  Office,  and  complained  that  he  was  re- 
quired to  submit  himself  entirely  to  the  Council ;  to  abandon 
himself  altogether  to  their  discretion ;  to  have  no  opinion  of  his 
own;  to  confer  the  patronage  of  the  Government  exclusively  on 
their  partizans  ;  to  proscribe  their  opponents,  and  make  some  pub- 
lic and  unequivocal  declaration  of  his  adhesion  to  such  conditions 
as  would  carry  with  them  the  complete  nullification  of  her  Ma- 
jesty's Government.  When  the  speech  of  Lord  Stanley  containing 
these  words,  quoted  from  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe's  despatch,  appeared 
in  Canada,  the  Ministers  were  astonished,  for  up  to  the  date  of 
the  despatch,  they  never  had  the  least  diflference  with  HiS  Ex- 
cellency, and  the  foundation  of  the  statement  seemed  to  be  an 
after  dinner  conversation  between  M,  Lafontaine  and  one  of  the 
Secretaries  of  the  Governor,  Captain  Higginson. 

The  biographer  and  apologist  of  Lord  Metcalfe  says  he  was 
called  on  to  govern,  and  to  submit  to  the  government  of  Canada,  by 
a  party,  and  that  party  one  with  which  he  had  no  sympathy. 
But  as  a  Constitutional  ruler,  he  had  no  business  to  have  sympa- 
thies, and  if  he  had  them,  he  had  no  right  to  act  on  thtm.  How 
had  he  seen  the  Queen,  his  Sovereign,  act  within  the  period  of 
his  letnrn  to  England  and  his  departure  jr  Canada  ?  Had  he 
not  seen  her  transfer  her  confidence  from  Lord  Melbourne,  for 
whom  she  had  a  filial  attachment,  to  Sir  Robert  Peel,  whom  she 
never  leally  liked  ?  And  why  ?  Because  she  knew  as  a  Con- 
stitutional Sovereign,  her  business  was  to  give  her  confidence  to, 

T.  C.  Ayhvin,  Solicitor-Genera^  ht^t ;  J.  H.  Dunn,  Receiver-General ;  Francis  Hincks, 
InBpectcr-iientral ;  A.  N.  Morin,  Commissioner  of  Crown  Lands  ;  B.  B.  Sullivan, 
Preeident  of  the  C'ouncil ;  D.  Daly,  Secretary  of  the  Province  ;  H.  H.  Killaly,  Presi- 
dent of  Board  of  V^  orks.  Not  of  the  Cabinet — Thomas  Parke,  Esq.,  Sun'eyor-General ; 
Malcolm  Cameron,  Esq  ,  Cummissiiiner  of  Customs, 


-.A^timig-sjit- 


METCALFE  8  COUNCIL. 


489 


}ir  only 
nHisted 
mnient 
e  confi- 

lonsible 

om  the 

at  from 

May  he 

was  re- 

bandon 

>n  of  his 

ively  on 

me  pub- 

nditions 

her  Ma- 

ntaining 

appeared 

!  date  of 

His  Ex- 

to  be  an 

le  of  the 

he  was 
nada,  by 
mpathy. 
5  sympa- 
1.  How 
jeriod  of 

Had  he 
ume,  for 
horn  she 
s  a  Con- 
ence  to, 

cis  Hincks, 
'.  Sullivan, 
laly,  Preei- 
T-General ; 


and  call  to  her  councils  those  men  who  had  the  suppoib  of  the 
Representatives  of  the  people. 

John  William  Kaye,  who  seems  to  have  been  one  of  those 
wretches  or  whose  mind  the  contemplation  of  human  liberty  acts 
like  a  red  rag  on  a  bull,  tells  us  that  foremost  among  the  great 
difficulties  which  bes  ;t  Metcalfe's  career  in  Canada,  was  the  compo- 
sition of  his  Council.  There  were  indeed,  ho  admits,  able  and 
honest  men  in  the  administration,  but  for  the  most  part,  they  were 
not  moderate  ;  they  held  extreme  opinions ;  they  were  men  of  in- 
tractable temper.  "They  were  principally  Irishmen,  Frenchmen,  or 
men  of  American  stock.  The  true  British  element  in  the  Execu- 
tive Council  was  comparatively  small."  There  were  five  Irish- 
men in  the  Cabinet,  eveiy  one  of  whom  was  as  truly  British  in 
the  proper  acceptation  of  that  tei-m  even  then,  as  Sir  Robert  Peel 
or  the  Duke  of  Wellington.  There  was  at  least  one  Scotchman 
and  two  Frenchmen.  The  rest  were  probably  English,  certainly 
Dunn  was.  Dunn  was  not  a  man  of  ability.  Killaly,  as  we 
might  infer  from  Adamson's  sketch,  did  not  care  much  for  politics. 
But  he  was  a  good  head  of  a  department,  and  was  never  happier 
than  when  engrossed  with  its  practical  duties.  Small  was  a  man 
of  honour  and  respectable  talents,  Aylwyn  was  the  best  debater 
in  the  Assembly,  adroit,  pointed,  eloquent.  Hincks  is  admitted 
by  Kaye  to  be  a  remarkable  man.  "  Even  the  mast  strenuous  of 
his  opponents  admitted  his  fitness  for  the  office  he  held."  Lord 
Metcalfe's  apologist  adds  however  that  this  able  Minister  was 
vehement  and  unscrupulous,  and  had  a  tongue  which  cut  like  a 
sword,  and  no  discretion  to  keep  it  in  order.  The  abilities  of 
Sullivan  are  admitted  to  have  been  such  as  would  have  made 
him  conspicuous  in  any  part  of  the  world.  Mr.  Daly  was 
peculiarly  acceptable  to  Lord  Metcalfe.  He  would  have  pro- 
bably made  himself  acceptable  to  the  devil,  had  that  dark  person- 
age come  to  govern  Canada.  Lafontaine  the  leader  of  the  French 
party  is  also  admitted  to  have  been  a  man  of  ability,  all  whose 
better  qualities  were  natural  to  him,  while  his  worse  qualities 
were  the  growth  of  circumstances,  which  cradling  him  and  his 
people  in  wrong  had  made  him  mistrustful  and  suspicious ;  a  just 
and  honourable  man ;  his  motives  above  suspicion  j  warmly 
attached  to  his  country ;  occupying  a  high  position  rather  by  the 


490 


THB   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


I 


force  of  his  moral  than  his  intellectual  qualities ;  trusted  and  re- 
spected rather  than  admired,  occupying  as  a  leader  of  n  United 
Party,  a  large  space  in  the  eyes  of  th<j  public.  A  far  ahler  and 
more  energetic  man  in  Kayes  opinion,  and  therefore,  in  Metcalfe's, 
was  Robert  Baldwin,  on  whoso  mind  the  lessons  he  had  learned 
fromhis  father  were  deeply  impre.ssed  by  the  atrocious  raisgovern- 
ment  of  his  country,*  the  oppressive  exclusiveness  of  a  dominant 
faction.  "  He  was  thoroughly  in  earnest,  thoroughly  conscientious, 
but  to  the  last  degree  uncompromising  and  intolerant." 

The  man  who  stinck  those  who  knew  him  best  as  mildness  itself, 
who  never  lifted  a  hand  to  one  of  his  children,  to  the  prejudiced 
mind  of  Kaye,  seemed  to  delight  in  strife.  The  might  sf  mild- 
ness he  laughed  to  scorn.  He  was  not  satisfied  to  conquer  unless 
his  victory  was  attended  with  violence.  Concessions  were  value- 
less unless  wrenched  from  opponents  by  the  strong  hand  of  "  un- 
bounded arrogance  and  self-conceit;"  he  neither  made  nor  sought 
for  allowances.  "  There  was  a  sort  of  sublime  egotism  about  him 
— magnificent  sel '-esteem,  which  caused  him  to  look  upon  him- 
self as  a  patriot,  whilst  he  was  serving  his  own  ends  by  the 
promotion  of  his  ambition,  the  gratification  of  his  vanity  or  spite. 
His  strong  passions  and  his  uncompi-omising  spirit  made  him  a 
mischievous  party  leader  and  a  dangerous  opponent.  His  influ- 
ence was  very  jt'reat ;  he  was  above  corruption  ;  and  there  were 
many  who  acce^  ted  his  estimate  of  himself  and  believed  him  to 
be  the  only  true  patriot  in  the  country.  The  activity  of  Sir 
Charles  Metcalfs,  who  did  everything  himself  and  exerted  himself 
to  keep  every  one  in  his  proper  place,  were  extremely  distasteful 
to  him."  In  this  dark  photograph  the  impartial  eye  recognises 
the  statesman,  the  patriot,  the  great  party  leader  who  was 
not  to  be  turned  away  by  fear  or  favour  from  the  work  before 
him.  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  wrote  himself  that  the  men  c^m- 
posing  his  Council  were  generally  able  men.-f* 

Scarcely  was  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  six  weeks  in  the  country 
^v^hen  the  clouds  began  to  gather.     When  a  just  demand  was  made 


*  lie  describes  him  as  the  son  of  a  gentleman  of  Toronto,  of  American  descent ! 
t  Despatch,  April  24th,  1843. 


li"* 


'^' ■■"■"^ 


FIOHTINO   OLD  WORLD  GHOSTS. 


4OT 


respecting   patronage  he  chose  to  consider  it  as  an  attack  on 
the   prerogative  of  the  Crown. 

Sir  Charles  M^'tcalfe's  conduct  in  certain  conjunctures  shewed 
that  had  he,  in  youth  or  middle-age,  been  placed  in  favourable 
circumstances  he  would  have  become  an  able  constitutional  ruler. 
In  the  summer  the  Irish  [)resented  a  sad  spectacle  in  Kiiafston. 
The  streets  were  i)lacarded  with  bills  invit'ng  the  people  to 
att(ind  a  meeting  to  strengthen  the  hands  rf  repealers  in  Ire- 
land. On  the  same  walls  stood  other  bills  calling  together 
another  class  of  Irishmen  to  put  down  such  a  meeting — "  peace- 
ably if  possible,  forcibly  if  necessary."  To  see  Irishmen  at  hfvme 
flying  at  each  other's  throats  is  painful.  To  see  them  here  in 
Canada,  .settled  here,  with  all  their  interest  here,  removed  from 
the  only  fruitful  standpoint  of  practical  citizenship  by  which  to 
judge  old  country  issues,  fighting  old  country  battles  and  squab- 
bling over  the  ghosts  of  old  country  controvei*sies,  is  about  the 
most  absurd  thing  which  can  well  be  imagined.  The  magistrates 
wei<;  alarmed.  Metcalfe  was  appealed  to.  He  should  suppress 
the  meeting  by  force.  The  Governor-General,  like  a  wise  man,  re- 
commended that  til  powei'  of  persuasion  should  be  tried.  This 
was  done  and  the  meeting  was  not  held. 

Suspicions  of  dislojia^^y  were  cast  on  the  Irish  Roman  Catholics, 
though  they  had  fought  in  1837  on  the  side  of  the  British  flag, 
under  which  they  enjoy  an  aggregation  of  advantages  such  as 
they  could  not  have  in  any  of  the  great  countries  or  empires  of  the 
world.  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  writing  on  this  subject  to  the  Colo- 
nial Office  adumbrates  the  miserable  Fenian  raids.  If  colliions 
were  to  occur  in  Ireland  between  the  Government  and  the  disaffect- 
ed, it  was  thought  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Irish  in  the  States 
would  pour  into  Canada,  who  would  at  once  be  reinforced  by  the 
Roman  Catholic  Irish  here.  French  officers  weredrillingthe  Irish  in 
New  York, with  a  view  to  the  invasion  of  Canada.  "  I  cannot  say," 
adds  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  "  that  I  give  credit  to  this  intelligence." 
It  is  possible  some  fools  in  New  York  were  being  drilled  when  they 
should  have  been  attending  a  night  school.  But  Sir  Charles  Met- 
calfe had  seen  too  much  of  the  world  not  to  know  that  alarming 
gossip  such  as  that  dwelt  on  in  his  despatch  furnishes  no  grounds 
for  alarm  or  even  serious  thought.     U  naccustomed,  however,  as , 


492 


THK  IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


he  was  to  popular  institutions,  it  naturally  seemed  to  him  that 
Responsible  Government  was  an  impossibility,  with,  as  he  up'^d  to 
put  it,  war  between  Upper  Canada  and  Lower  Canada,  between 
the  French  and  English  settlers,  between  the  Roman  Catholic 
and  Protestant  Irish,  between  the  Radical  and  Conservative 
English,  and  finally  between  himself  and  his  Council,  Not  even 
the  grand  receptions,  loyal  addresses  and  abundant  display  of 
bunting  when  he  went  through  the  country,  could  afford  him 
comfort  and  assurance.  He  feared  the  whole  concern  was  rot- 
ten at  the  core.*  Amid  the  deluge  of  addresses  which 
poured  on  him  one  from  the  Irish  inhabitants  of  Brantford, 
struck  the  noblest  key.  "  We  anxiously  wish,"  said  these  Irish 
people,  who  were  doing  so  much  to  build  up  what  to-day 
is  the  City  of  Brantford,  "to  live  in  good-will  with  our 
fellow  inen  of  every  creed  and  clime,  and  will  hail  with 
delight  reciprocal  feelings,  for  we  are  pcfectly  aware  that  noth- 
ing conduces  more  to  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  a  town  or 
people  than  peace  and  good  order."  Sometimes,  he  received  two 
contradictory  addresses  from  the  same  place,  each  claiming  to  be 
the  address  of  the  people.  At  Pelham  he  was  presented  with  an 
address  for,  and  another  address  against  the  Government.  Some 
of  the  addresses  gave  a  deplorable  picture  of  the  condition  of  the 
country.  Thus,  we  find  the  inhabitants  of  the  Township  of 
Compton  mourning  that  agriculture  was  depressed,  that  they  had 
no  market,  that  Americans  shut  them  out  of  their  market,  and 
then  drove  them  from  their  natural  market  in  Canada  Their 
municipal  institutions  were  insufficient.  The  administration  of 
justice  was  not  what  it  should  be. 

In  July  he  seems  to  have  had  a  long  conversation  on  the  con- 
dition of  the  Province,  with  Mr.  Ogle  R.  Gowan,  M.P.P.,  who  was 
then  Grand-Master  of  the  Grand  Orange  Lodge  of  Canada,  and 
who  wielded  an  enormous  power.  Mr.  Gowan  wrote  a  letter  to 
his  partner  Mr.  William  Harris,  giving  an  account  of  his  inter- 
view with  the  Governor-General,  a  letter  which  that  partner  was 
wretch  enough  to  give  to  the  public  in  the  fallowing  year.i" 

•  Sir  Charles  Metoalfe  to  Mrs.  Smythe,  Kaye's  Life,  Vol.  II,  pp,  504,  506. 
t  "  I  have  been  at  Government  House  since  you  left ;  beiriff  specially  sent  for  I  After 
a  very  long  interview  of  a  atzietly  confidential  nature,  and  dinifig  there  the  same  evening. 


THE  SPEECH   FROM  THE  THRONE. 


49S 


1  that 
■"^d  to 
tween 
itholic 
vative 
t  even 


The  tug  of  war,  as  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  phrased  it,  was  now 
fast  approaching.  The  Assembly  was  summoned  for  the  28th  of 
September.  Metcalfe,  with  a  consciousness  of  coming  strife  in  his 
breast,  hurried  to  Kingston.  At  two  o'clock,  p.  m.,  he  drove  to 
where  Parliament  met.  The  streets  were  gay  with  troops.  A 
large  body  of  people  followed  the  Governor  and  his  suite.  In  the 
chamber  all  the  beauty  and  fashion  of  Kingston  and  of  the 
United  Province  was  to  be  seen.  The  speech  from  the  throne 
was  a  satisfactory  one,  but  was  of  a  nature  to  call  for  no  com- 
ment, especially  here,  Harrison,  the  member  for  Kingston,  differ- 
ing with  Metcalfe  and  his  colleagues  on  the  seat  of  Government 
question,  retired  from  the  Provincial-Secretaryship.  Among  those 
gazetted  as  members  of  V  .e  Legislative  Council  wan  William 
Warren  Baldwin,  the  fdther  of  Robert  Baldwin. 

Tie  Opposition  in  the  Legislative  Assembly  failed  to  take  up 
immediately  the  gauge  thrown  down  to  them.  The  conseqn  ^nce 
was  that  the  wind  was  taken  out  of  their  sails  by  a  spirited  de- 
bate in  the  Legislative  Coimcil.  On  the  30th  September,  the 
debate  was  closed  in  the  Legislative  Council  by  ?i.  masterly  speech 
from  the  rapid  Sullivan,  the  Rupert  of  debate  in  Canada  as  Stan- 
ley was  the  Rupert  of  debate  in  England.  The  Opposition,  he 
said,  had  pursued  an  unusual  course.  Instead  of  remarking  on 
subjects  to  which  their  attention  had  been  called  by  the  Speech, 
they  had  gone  into  a  review  of  the  whole  policy  of  the  Govern- 
ment ;  instead  of  confining  themselves  to  some  part  or  expected 
part  of  the  policy  of  the  Executive,  they  had  waded  through  the 
whole  encyclopaedia  of  colonial  government. 

The  resolutions  having  been  passed  a  Committee  was  appointed 
to  draught  an  address  and  present  it  to  His  Excellency. 

On  Monday,  the  2nd  October,  when  the  debate  in  the  Assembly 


I  have  given  in  my  views  maturely  and  in  writing,  next  day.  I  have  no  doubt  my  plan 
has  been  approved,  as  the  first  person  named  in  it  by  mean  the  long  list  of  shelving 
and  shifting  (the  Chief  Justice)  has  ab-eady  arrived  at  Head-Quarters— what  the  result 
may  be  it  will  take  some  time  to  tell,  as  a  great  deal  of  negotiation,  and  many 
removals  are  involved.  Don't  be  surprised  if  Baldwin,  Hincks,  and  Harrison  'walk,' 
or  that  Cartwright  succeeds  the  latter.  This  may  all  be  done  without  ofendititf  the 
Radicals,  and  without  losing  the  interest  of  either  of  the  three  who  retire  !  This,  to  you, 
mu3t  ,%pi>ear  a  paradox,  but  it  is  so  neverthelesi.  I  have  received  in  writing,  marked 
•  Private,'  His  Excellency's  thankp  for  my  memorandum  of  plan." 


% 


494 


THE    IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


was  expected,  Mr.  Jamos  Johnston  and  Dr.  Dunlop  made  charac- 
teristic speeches.  M.  Viger  then  proposed,  and  Mr.  Merritt 
seconded  the  resolution  in  answer  to  the  Speech.  On  the  follow- 
ing day  Mr.  Hincks  encountered  Mr.  Sherwood  and  gave  a  good 
account  of  him.  Everybody  thought  the  matter  of  the  address 
was  settled  on  the  2nd  of  October,  but  the  Opposition,  as  it  were 
on  second  thought,  raised  a  debate  which  had  to  be  adjourned. 
Sir  Allan  MacNab  actually  made  it  a  matter  of  reproach  to  Bald- 
win that  he  had,  in  1837,  gone  with  a  flag  of  truce  to  the  rebels. 
At  whose  instance  did  he  go  ?  Was  it  not  at  the  personal  desire, 
and  upon  the  urgent  solicitation  o:''  ^^  panic-stricken  Government 
of  Upper  Canada,  which  came  to  him  in  the  person  of  the  High 
Sheriff,  to  request  his  interference  to  stop  the  deluded  men  who 
were  approaching  the  city  ? 

Mr.  Lossing,  the  Warden  of  the  District  of  Brock,  had  been 
falsely  accused  of  complicity  in  the  rebellion.  When  Mr.  Bald- 
win dealt  with  Sir  Allan  MacNab's  threats  against  tfiis  person  and 
his  unjustifiable  insinuations  against  him  after  a  verdict  of  a  jury 
had  set  him  free,  the  galleries  broke  through  all  the  restraints  of 
decorum. 

In  reply  to  the  extraordinary  charge  that  he  gave  patronage 
to  the  members  of  his  own  party,  he  explained  his  position  which 
was  that  which  every  party  leader  must  assume.  If  he  found 
capable  men  in  his  own  party,  he  would  alw.v'3  give  them  the 
preference.  This  is  the  only  course  which  can  be  taken  by  a  party 
leader,  and  the  people  may  rejoice  if,  not  finding  competent  men 
in  their  own  party, political  leaders  will  go  outside  of  it.  He  con- 
cluded in  a  manner  which  displayed  his  powers  of  satire  and  in- 
vective. "  What  had  been  said,  and  what  had  not  been  said  fully 
warranted  the  conclusion  that  there  were  in  fact  no  substantial 
objections  to  bring  forward.  Had  it  been  otherwise,  yesterday 
probably  they  would  have  known  it.  That  was  the  day  appointed 
by  the  gallant  knight  and  his  friends  for  that  onslaught  upon  the 
ministerial  benches  which  was  to  prove  their  destruction.  But 
the  day  came  and  passed  away.  The  gallant  knight  and  his  friends 
came  down  in  their  panoply,  and  when  the  fearful  hour  arrived, 
in  which  he  (Mr.  Baldwin)  and  his  colleagues  were  to  receive  their 
quietus  from  the  formidable  Opposition,  not  a  blo\s'  did  they  strike, 


rmmssn 


METCALFE   AND   HIS   MINISTRY. 


495 


not  a  word  had  they  to  offer.  The  great  business  of  the  day  was 
allowed  to  pass  almost  sub  ailentio.  The  honourable  and  gallant 
knight,  however,  did  not  intend  they  should  escape  so  easily.  If 
his  spirits  drooped  yesterday,  he  was  in  full  courage  to-day  ;  and 
after  five  days'  deliberation,  and  then  another  day's  postponement, 
the  great  statesman  upon  whom  the  hopes  of  the  Opposition  were 
fix<;d,  actually  got  the  length  of  an  amendment  upon  the  address  to 
the  important  effect,  of  its  still  further  being  postponed  until  '  to- 
morrow.' (The  manner  in  which  he  emphasized  "  to-morrow " 
created  much  laughter  and  cheering).  This  really  was  the  mis- 
erable conclusion  to  which  the  gallant  leader  of  the  Opposition  and 
his  friends  had  come,  after  detaining  the  House  for  the  better 
part  of  a  week  from  the  discharge  of  its  constitutional  duty  of 
making  a  suitable  reply  to  the  Speech  with  which  his  Excellency 
had  opened  the  session." 

The  Government  had  an  easy  triumph. 

From  a  letter  written  on  the  11th  of  October  1843,  by  Edward 
Gibbon  Wakefield,  a  member  of  Parliament,  to  R.  D.  Mangles, 
Esq.,  a  member  of  the  British  Parliamen  ,  it  is  clear  that  those 
who  could  read  the  signs  knew  that  a  breach  between  the  Gov- 
ernor and  his  Council  was  imminent. 

On  the  13th  October,  the  seat  of  Government  question  was 
discussed  in  the  Legislative  Council,  and  Sullivan  made  an  able 
speech  in  favour  of  Montreal.  On  the  2nd  November,  Baldwin 
spoke  in  the  same  strain  in  the  House  of  Assembly. 

Towards  the  close  of  November,  Metcalfe  made  an  appointment 
which  was  distasteful  both  to  Baldwin  and  Lafontaino.  Both 
waited  on  the  Governor  and  urged  their  views.  During  two  long 
sittintjs  of  the  Council  on  the  24th  and  2oth  November,  Baldwin 
and  Lafontaine  pressed  their  demands,  but  they  could  not  move 
him.  At  last  tho  rupture  came  when  Metcalfe  told  them  that 
since  his  arrival  in  the  country  he  had  observed  an  antagonism 
between  them  and  him  on  the  subject  of  Responsible  Govern- 
n\ent.  On  the  following  day  all  the  members  of  the  Govern- 
ment, excepting  Mr.  Dominick  Daly,  resigned  their  seats.  On 
the  29th  the  resignation  was  announced  to  the  House,  and 
M.  Viger  and  Mr.  Wakefield,  full  of  hope,  gathered  round  Mr. 
Daly.     Both  Baldwin  and  Lafontaine  explained  their  reasons  for 


mw 


496 


THE  IRISHMAN  IN   CANADA. 


resigning,  which  have,  perhaps,  been  sufficiently  indicated  above. 
On  the  30th  of  November,  Mr.  Daly  read  the  Governor's  account 
of  the  ca^uses  which  led  the  Ministers  to  resign.  About  the  same 
time  the  Ministry  of  Nova  Scotia  resigned  on  the  question  of 
appointments  to  office. 

The  resignation  was  not  a  happy  thing  for  education,  as  on 
the  previous  day  Mr.  Baldwin  had  moved  the  second  reading  of 
his  Univtrtiity  Bill. 

On  the  2nd  of  December,  the  House  of  Assembly  passed  a  vote  of 
confidence  in  the  retired  Ministers,  for  having  stood  by  their  right 
to  be  consulted  on  appointments  to  office.  This  was  in  strict 
accordance  with  the  resolutions  adopted  in  1841,  to  which  the 
Governor-General  said,  in  what  sense  he  was  himself  best  judge, 
he  subscribed. 

During  the  week  following  the  resignation  of  Ministers,  His 
Excellency  sent  for  a  large  number  of  the  members  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, but  none  of  them  were  charged  with  the  formation  of  an  Ad- 
ministration. On  the  3rd  of  December,  Mr.  Barthewas  sent  for  and 
offered  a  seat  in  the  Cabinet,  which  he  refused.  On  the  following 
day  M.  Viger  announced  that  the  Governor  was  engaged  in  the 
formation  of  a  Ministry.  On  the  9th  of  December,  Parliament 
was  prorogued  without  a  Ministry  having  been  formed.  On  the 
10th,  Edward  Gibbon  Wakefield  published  a  letter  saying  that 
the  following  day  M.  Viger  would  form  an  Administration  the 
strongest  that  had  ever  existed.  On  the  13th  of  December,  the 
Hon.  W.  H.  Draper  and  the  Hon.  D.  B.  Viger  were  gazetted  as 
Executive  Councillors. 

The  whole  Colony  was  in  a  fever  of  excitement.  Metcalfe  was 
on  his  trial.  He  was,  of  course,  assailed  by  the  press  supporting 
Baldwin  and  his  friends.  Those  opposed  to  Baldwin  held  meet- 
ings and  sent  addresses  to  the  Governor  endorsing  his  conduct. 
The  opposite  party  always  accuse  their  opponents  of  '*  getting 
up  "  addresses.  No  doubt  such  addresses  can  be  got  up.  Meet- 
ings can  be  wt  up.  Demonstrations  can  be  got  up.  But  it  is 
easy  to  see  whether  there  is  any  real  base  of  popular  feeling  in 
addresses  and  in  meetings  or  demonstrations,  and  if  there  is  not 
they  have  no  effect.  An  impartial  student  of  those  times  will 
vQome  to  the  cc  nclusion  that  there  was  something  more  than  wire- 


mutcalfe's  self-ex  alt. '.TION. 


497 


pulling  in  the  addresses.  Many  of  the  people  did  not  yet  under- 
stand the  nature  of  Responsible  Government. 

The  way  Metcalfe  writes  to  his  private  friends  at  this  time,  while 
diplaying  the  pleasant  side  of  his  character,  shows  how  utterly  un- 
fit he  was  to  be  Governor-General  of  Canada,  especially  at  such 
a  period.  At  Eton  he  had  been  a  studious  boy  and  his  boyish 
journal  makes  us  acquainted  witn  a  fine  young  fellow,  but  some- 
what self-opinionated  and  stubborn.  The  child  was  father  to  the 
man.  His  stubborn  will  and  studious  habits  followed  him  through 
life.  When  he  pens  a  letter  to  an  old  school-fellow,  we  find  that 
he  has  not  forgotten  his  classics.  His  frequent  citations  indicate 
more  than  the  "  overflowing  memory  " — that  he  was  wanting  in 
originality.  In  the  present  crisis,  he  cites  in  a  private  letter  that 
splendid  ode  in  which  Horace  not  only  celebrates  integrity  and 
resolution,  but  the  glories  of  Imperial  Rome — an  ode  which  natur- 
ally occurred  to  a  scholar  who  was,  perhaps,  too  conscious  of  his 
rectitude,  and  the  greater  part  of  whose  life  had  passed  away  as 
one  of  the  servants  of  an  Empire,  in  a  portion  of  its  dominions 
governed  as  a  dependency.  "  You  will  see,"  he  writes,  '  that  I  am 
engaged  in  a  contest  with  the  'civiurn.  ardor  prava  juhentiurn'* 
To  the  question  at  issue,  which  is,  whether  the  Governor  is  to  be 
in  some  degree  what  h'^'  title  imports,  or  a  mere  tool  in  the  hands 
of  the  party  that  can  obtain  a  majority  in  the  representative  body, 
I  am,  I  conceive, ' vir  justius'f  and  I  certainly  mean  to  be  'tenax 
propositi,"^  and  hope,  '  si  fractus  illabitur  orbis,  imimvidum 
ferient  ruinoe.'  "§  The  whole  ode  throws  light  on  the  unconsti- 
tutional view  of  his  position. 

What  was  there  in  common  between  the  constitutional  remon- 
strances of  a  Baldwin,  a  Hincks,  and  a  Sullivan,  and  the  "  civium 
ardor  prava  juhentiurn.  ? "  A  man  arguing  against  a  college  Don, 
in  respect  to  a  disputed  passage,  might  as  well  say  he  had  entered 
the  shambles  and  was  making  headway  against  all  billingsgate. 

Again  writing  to  one  of  his  old  Indian  frieiids,  he  compares  his 
position  to  that  of  an  Indian  governor,  who  might  have  to  rule 

*  The  passion  of  citizens  commanding  wrongful  acts. 

t  An  upright  man. 

X  Fixed  in  purpose, 

§  If  the  shattered  spheri  fall  the  wreck  will  strike  him  undismayed. 

32 


ii;i" 


ilil!^^ 


Tim 


mil  VI!  If 


498 


THE  IIllSHMAN   IN    CANADA. 


i\f 


through  the  agency  of  a  Mahomedan  Ministry  and  a  Mahoniedan 
Parliament ! 

If  hia  friends  were  busy  getting  up  addresses,  his  opj)onents 
wei'e  not  idle.  They,  too,  sought  to  intlucnee  the  mind  of  the 
country,  and  on  the  28th  of  December,  the  ex-ministe;-H  were  en- 
tertained in  Toi'onto,  at  a  public  banquet.  All  the  addresses  he 
received  were  not  intended  to  encourage  him.  Not  a  few  dis- 
cusseil  the  question  at  issue,  and  decided  against  the  Governor. 
The  most  remarkable  of  these  came  from  sixteen  members  of  the 
Municipal  CouvicU  of  the  Gore  District.  They  assuied  the  Gov- 
eri\or  that  public  opinion  in  that  district  and  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  Canada  would  fully  sustain  the  late  exe- 
cutive in  the  stand  they  had  taken,  and  the  views  they  had  ex- 
pressed in  relation  to  colonial  administration  under  the  principle 
of  Responsible  Government. 

In  the  Governor's  res2)onse,  which  is  an  exceedingly  able  docu- 
ment in  its  way,  his  sincerity  is  palpable,  as  is  his  incapacity 
to  grasp  the  pos.sibility  of  a  L'olonial  Governor  acting  the  part  of 
a  constitutional  luler.  The  analogy  between  a  Governor  of  a 
dependency  and  a  constitutional  King,  does  not  run  on  all  fours. 
The  King  can  do  no  wrong,  but  the  Governor  can.  He  is  lespon- 
.vi'ule  to  the  Imperial  Parliament,  and  may  be  impeached.  Never-^ 
theless,  it  has  now  been  abundantly  proved,  that  what  seemed  to 
Metcalfe's  mind  impossible  is  perfectly  feasible. 

He  did  not  know,  he  said,  the  exact  views  of  the  Gore  Council- 
lors on  Responsible  Government.  If  they  meant  that  the  Governor 
was  to  be  a  mei'e  tool  in  the  hands  of  the  Council,  he  disagreed 
with  them  ;  if  that  his  every  word  and  deed  was  to  be  beforehand 
submitted  to  the  Council,  they  proposed  an  impossibility,  if  busi- 
ness was  to  be  duly  detipatched  ;  if  that  the  patronage  of  the 
Crown  was  to  be  surrendered  for  exclusively  party  purposes,  tliey 
were  at  issue,  for  such  a  surrender  of  the  prerogatives  of  the  Crown 
was,  in  his  opinion,  incom}mtible  with  the  existence  of  a  British 
colony.  K  that  the  Governor  was  an  irresponsible  officer,  who 
<50uld,  without  responsibility,  adopt  the  advice  of  the  Council,  then 
he  conceived  they  were  again  in  error.  The  Governor  was  respon- 
sible to  the  Crown,  and  the  Parliament,  and  the  people  of  the 
mother  country,  for  every  act  he  performed  or  suffered  to  be  done, 


iiBiimmw^jA- 


pp 


i.tpjjj^iuai^lMI 


Metcalfe's  fallacies. 


499 


whether  it  originated  with  himself  or  was  adopted  on  the  advice 
of  others;  nor  could  he  divest  hiiiiaelf  of  that  respon.siliility  by 
pleading  the  advice  of  the  Council.  He  was  also  responsible  to 
the  people  of  the  colony. 

Now  all  this,  with  the  exception  of  the  last  proposition,  is  ti-ue ; 
and  it  would  be  significant  and  pointed  if  Baldwin  and  his  fellow 
Councillors  had  asked  him  to  do  something  which  would  have 
injured  the  empire.  But  it  is  uttc  ly  wide  of  the  wicket,  when  we 
remember  what  it  was  his  late  Ministers  demanded.  That  a  Gov- 
ernor is  responsible  to  the  colony  over  which  he  rules,  is  not  true 
in  the  same  sense  that  he  is  responsible  to  the  Imperial  Parliament, 
or  that  Ministers  under  a  constitutional  government  are  resi)onsi- 
ble  to  the  people,  and  the  above  statement  is  therefore  fallacious. 
No  one  is  responsible  to  another  unless  that  other  has  some  power 
over  him,  and  the  inhabitants  of  this  country  have  no  direct  power 
over  a  Governor. 

He  went  on  to  say  thrt  he  agreed  with  the  Gore  Councillors,  if 
they  meant  that  it  should  be  competent  to  the  Council  to  offer 
advice  on  all  occasions,  whether  as  to  patronage  or  otherwise,  which 
should  be  received  with  due  attention  ;  that  there  should  be  cor- 
dial co-operation  between  Governor  and  Council ;  that  the  Coun- 
cil should  be  responsible  to  the  T  ovincial  Parliament  and  people  ; 
and  that  when  the  acts  of  the  Governor  were  such  as  they  did 
not  choose  to  be  responsible  for,  they  should  be  at  liberty  to  resign. 

How  could  the  Council  be  held  responsible  for  acts  over  wliich 
they  had  no  control  ?  Here  again,  we  have  the  idea  of  responsi- 
bility trifled  with.  Suppose  a  mistress  were  to  say  to  her  cook  : — 
"  Mary,  I  will  cook  the  dinner,  but  if  the  veal  is  roasted  to  a  cin- 
der, you  will  be  good  enoi^gh  to  take  tlie  responsibility.  If  tiie  fish 
is  sent  up  half  cooked,  if  the  soup  is  a  mass  of  fat,  if  the  turkey 
is  raw,  the  whole  brunt  of  the  master's  storming  must  fall  on  you." 

As  the  Tories  attacked  Sir  Charles  Bagot,  the  Reformers  now 
reviled  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe.  The  Tories  made  a  mistake  in  attack- 
ing Sir  Charles  Bagot  in  the  manner  they  did.  The  Reformers 
weakened  their  position  by  reviling  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe.  The 
constitutional  position  in  ..hich  they  were  entrenched  was  enfee- 
bled by  this  folly.  It  should  have  been  reniembered  that  he  was 
the  representative  of  the  Sovereign,  and  that  if  a  mistaken,  he  was 


! 


R 


I 


500 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


a  distinguished  man,  who  had  done  good  service  for  the  Empire. 
He  was  spoken  of  as  "  Charles  the  Simple,"  as  "  Old  Square  Toes  ;"* 
he  was  held  up  to  execration  as  a  designing  and  unscrupulous 
despot.  He  was  the  great  butt  of  after  dinner  speeches  and  ban- 
quet orations. 

On  February  the  2nd,  1844,  Mr.  S.  Wortley  asked,  in  the  Im- 
perial Parliament,  whether  the  proceedings  of  Sir  Charles  Met- 
calfe received  t'^ie  sanction  and  approbation  of  the  Government. 
Lord  Stanley,  who  had  sup|  orted  Sir  Charles  Bagot  against  the 
Tories,  now  supported  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  against  the  Reformers. 
He  answered  in  the  affirmative.     Yet  when  we  remember  the  ut- 
terances of  Sir  Robert  Peel,  we  must  place  his  approval  to  the 
account  of  official  loyalty  rather  than  conviction.     The  Baldwin- 
Lafontaine  Ministry  had  resigned  at  the  end  of  November.     At 
the  end  of  February  no  Ministry  had  been  formed,  and  the  sta- 
tutory period  at  which  Parliament  must  meet  approaching  !    The 
Governor  had  to  continue  to  issue  addresses.     In  some  of  these  he 
declared  that  there  was  an  insuperable  barrier  between  him  and 
his  late  Ministers.     What !  Even  supposing  they  were  supported 
by  the  people  at  a  general  election  ! 

The  utterly  false  position  assumed  by  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  is 
thrown  into  relief  in  a  letter  to  Lord  Stanley,  in  w^hich  he  states 
that,  on  the  resignation  of  his  "  dictatorial  cabinet,"  the  Conser-' 
vative  party  came  forward  manfully  and  generously  to  his  sup- 
port, and  if  he  could  have  thr-own  himself  into  their  arms,  that 
support  would  have  been  complete  and  enthusiastic.  But  under 
Responsible  Government  this  is  what  he  should  have  done. 
He  attempted  a  task  impossible  to  perform  with  success  or 
dignity.  In  a  country  in  which  constitutional  government  had 
been  established,  and  where  there  were  two  clearly -defined  parties, 
the  one  known  as  Reformers,  the  other  as  Tories  ox  Conservatives, 
he  wanted  to  administer  public  affairs  independent  of  i)arty.  The 
desire  may  have  been  beautiful  and  amiable  in  theory.  But  was 
it  a  practicable  desire  ?  Would  it  ring  clear  on  the  flags  of  every 
day  life  ?     Did  it  belong  to  the  currency  of  fact  ?     He  did  not 

'  This  phrase  has  descended  to  our  own  time,  and  has  been  frequently  applied  to  a 
gentleman  who  has  had  his  own  share  of  civic  honours. 


GREAT   REFORM   MEETING. 


501 


«ven  Rct  strongly.  He  found  the  Reformers  in  power.  We  have 
seen  he  had  no  sympathy  with  them.  He  was  too  weakly  Idand, 
too  hesitatingly  prudent  to  remove  them.  Nevertheless,  he  was 
covertly  hostile,  and  at  last  placed  Mmself  in  o])en  but  indirect 
antagonism  to  them  by  appointing  to  jilace  men  who  were  their 
foes.  The  consequence  was,  of  course,  that  he  was  wholly  de- 
serted by  the  Reformers,  and  against  his  will,  there  being  no  mid- 
dle party,  was  at  last  driven  to  lean  on  the  extremest  wing  of  the 
Conservative  party.  What  Lord  Bute  unsuccessfully  attempted 
in  England,  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  in  United  Canada,  and  Lord 
Falkland  in  Nova  Scotia  sought  to  accomplish,  and  with  equal 
glory.  These  men  really  aimed  at  establishing  two  ministries ; 
one  responsible  and  powerless  ;  the  other  secret,  powerful,  and 
irresponsible.     Agitation  rose  high. 

On  the  25th  of  March,  the  first  of  a  series  of  great  meetings  of 
the  Reform  Association  took  place.  The  Association  which 
was  formed  in  December,  1843,  had  leased  a  suite  of  rooms  at  the 
corner  of  Front  and  Scott  Streets.  The  meeting  was  called  at  the 
early  hour  of  six  o'clock.  By  half -past  six  the  room  was  densely 
crowded.  Hundreds  went  away  unable  to  gain  admis.sion.  The 
Hon.  Robert  Baldwin  who  occupied  the  chair  was  greeted  with 
enthusiastic  cheers  when  he  rose.  He  was  glad  to  be  called  on  to 
preside  at  such  a  meeting  because  it  showed  him  that,  in  the  opinion 
of  his  fellow  citizens,  he  had  proved  himself  the  firm  and  uncom- 
promising friend  of  the  great  and  vital  principles  of  constitutional 
liberty.  He  quoted  largely  from  Lord  Durha.ia's  report  in 
support  of  the'  proposition  that  it  was  not  by  weakening,  but 
strengthening  the  influence  of  the  people,  not  by  enlarging,  but 
by  cooping  within  narrow  limits  the  power  of  the  Im})erial 
authorities  in  colonial  affairs,  that  harmony  was  to  be  res 
tored,  where  dissension  had  long  prevailed,  and  a  vigour  hither , 
to  unknown  introduced  into  the  administration  of  these  pro- 
vinces. Al!  that  was  necessary  was  to  follow  out  the  principles 
of  the  British  Constitution.  But  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  held  thtit 
it  was  only  necessary  for  him  to  consult  his  Ministers  on  occasions 
of  "  adequate  importance,"  a  doctrine  v/hich  would  reduce  them 
to  the  merest  tools.  Upon  the  practical  application  of  the  princi- 
ple of  Responsible  Government  in  all  local  affairs  depended  not 


i 


I 


if 


il*: 


■t^ 


i 


I 


II' 


502 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


only  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  the  colony  hut  its  connexion 
with  che  parent  state.  This  was  no  new  opinion  of  his.  He  had 
communicated  it  to  Lord  Olenelg  in  1836  and  to  Lord  Durliam 
in  1838,  Born  under  tlie  British  Hag,  under  the  protection  of  that 
standard  he  wished  to  live  and  die  and  to  leave  that  protection 
as  an  inheritance  to  his  children,  not  as  a  mark  of  degradation  but 
as  the  precious  seal  of  honour  and  safetj .  He  opoke  at  length, 
with  great  power  and  not  without  some  gleanis  of  humour. 

He  was  followed  by  the  Honourable  Henry  John  Boulton,  who 
proposed  the  first  resolution.  Mr.  William  Hume  Blake  proposed 
the  second  resolution,  that  ministeiial  responsibility  to  the  people 
of  the  country  for  every  act  of  the  Executive  connected  with  local 
affairs  was  an  e.ssential  ingredient  of  our  constitution.  Mr.  Blake's 
speech  gives  one  the  impression  of  a  kind  of  untamed  force.  He 
paid  a  magnificent  tribute  to  Baldwin  and  argued  the  question 
like  a  scholar  and  an  orator.  So  vehement  was  he  that  his  voice 
broke  down  in  the  excitement  of  his  delivery.  After  a  brief 
pause  he  went  on  to  denounce  the  complaints  uttered  against  men 
asking  their  undoubted  rights,  not  as  the  language  of  genuine 
love  to  British  greatness  and  British  liberty,  but  as  the  foul  off- 
spring of  flattery  and  slander.  He  was  frequently  interrupted  by 
bursts  of  applause. 

Mr,  William  L.  Perrin  having  spoken,  Mr.  James  Henry  Price 
followed  with  a  resolution  which  was  seconded  by  Mr.  Jesse 
Ketchum,  Then  rose  the  Honourable  R.  B.  Sullivan  with  a  reso- 
lution and  a  speech  on  which  it  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  now.  Mr. 
William  A.  Baldwin,  Mr.  Cathcart,  Mr.  Skefiington  Connor 
followed.  On  this  occasion  Mr,  (the  Honourable)  George  Brown 
made  his  first  speech.  That  he  would  speak  with  force  would  at 
once  be  inferred  by  everybody,  but  the  present  generation 
would  not  perhaps  expect  him  to  speak  with  humour.  In  con- 
cluding his  speech  he  ridiculed  the  idea  of  carrying  on  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  country  by  a  Ministry  selected  from  various  parties, 
and  as  his  remarks  bear  on  a  question  we  have  all  discussed  within 
recent  years  and  display  the  quality  I  have  mentioned,  I  will  give 
them. 

"  Imagine,  sir,  for  a  moment,  yourself  seated  at  the  Council  table, 
and  Mr.  Draper  at  the  bottom — on  your  right  hand  we  will  place 


HON.   GEOROE  BROWN's   FIRST  SPEECH. 


SOJT 


the  Episcopal  Biwhop  of  Toronto,  and  on  your  left,  the  Rev.  E^er- 
ton  Ryonson — on  tho  rij^ht  of  Mr.  Drap<5r  sits  Sir  Allan  M acNab, 
and  on  his  left  Mr.  Hincks.  Wo  will  fill  up  the  other  chairs 
by  gentlemen  admirably  adapted  for  their  situations,  by  the  most 
extreme  imaginable  differences  of  o[)inion.  We  will  seat  his  Kx- 
cellency  at  the  middle  of  the  table,  on  a  chair  raised  above  >'/ar- 
ring  elements  below,  prepar(3d  to  receive  the  a<lvice  of  his  consti- 
tutional conscience-keepers.  We  will  suppose  yoti,  sir,  to  rise  and 
propose  the  opening  of  King's  (Jollege  to  all  Her  Majesty's  sub- 
jects— and  then,  sir,  we  will  have  the  happiness  of  seeing  the  dis- 
cordant-producing-harmony-principle  in  the  full  vigour  of  peace- 
ful operation.  Oh,  sir,  i^  is  an  admirable  Kvstem — there  would 
not  be  a  single  point  on  which  you  could  be  brought  to  agree,  and 
his  Excellency  might  kindly  interfere  at  any  time  to  prevent  the 
possibility  of  your  adopting  the  absurdity  of  a  united  principle 
of  action.  *  *  His  Excellency  might  let  the  Council  fire  off  at 
one  another — he  could  not  of  course  adopt  the  advice  of  all,  and 
80  to  keep  the  peace  among  the  belligerents,  he  would  kindly 
decide  t"  point  for  them,  and  cany  out  his  own  ideas.  Where  is 
the  man  who  would  accept  office  under  such  an  absurd  and  anti- 
British  principle  ? " 

Among  the  other  speakers  were  Dr.  Workman,  Mr.  M.  O'Don- 
oghue,  Mr.  Joseph  C.  Morrison  (the  judge),  Mr.  John  Macara  and 
Mr.  Boyd. 

Metcalfe  had  raised  a  storm  which  was  never  to  abate  until 
amid  obloquy  and  the  pangs  of  death,  he  had  turned  his  back  on 
our — to  him — unhappy  shores. 


CHAPTER  XL 


The  spectacle  presented  by  the  country  for  nearly  a  year  was 
distressing.  Nor  need  we  be  surprised  that  the  Baldwin  and  inde- 
pendent press  are  full  of  notes  of  exclamation;  nor  that  everything 


kam 


604 


THE   lUlBUMAM    IN   CANAIU. 


m 


takos  the  hue  of  the  party  passionH  which  are  flaming  to 
heaven. 

Lord  Metcalfe  in  his  extremity  sent  for  Dr.  Ryerson,  of  Victoria 
(Jolloi,'o,  and  the  Brit'mh  Whig  of  Kingston,  announced  that  he 
was  to  be  Chief  Superintendent  of  Education  with  a  seat  m  the 
Executive  Council,  an  announcement  which  the  Globe  of  March 
8th,  184  ,  characterised  as  an  "alarming  feeler."  The  rumour  was 
vehemently  denied  at  the  time,  but  the  Doctor  defended  Metcalfe 
in  pamphlets  which  dropped  with  oase  from  his  facile  pen  dipped 
in  no  pale  ink.  Party  violence  was  never  more  pronounced.  A. 
meeting  of  the  friends  of  the  late  Administration  at  Hamilton  was 
broken  up,  and  Metcalfe's  .secretary  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Sheriff 
of  the  Gore  District  in  regard  to  the  unjustifiable  rowdyism,  in  a 
congratulatory  tone,  glad — notwithstanding  the  difference  of  opin- 
ion as  to  the  construction  of  the  statute — that  everything  passed 
in  a  manner  so  creditable  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  and 
township.  One  day  you  read  that  the  "  loose  fish  are  veering 
round."  Another  an  article  is  headed  "  More  Perverts."  The 
Hon.  S.  B.  Harrison,  afterwards  County  Judge  for  York,  was 
coquetting  with  the  Government.  Elmes  Steele,  of  Simcoe,  and 
Boswell,  of  Cobourg,  were  feeling  the  "  draw  "  of  "  vice-regal 
blandishments."  ^  *he  9th  of  April  an  article  was  headed  "  Ryer- 
son traded  f^^  .ter  still  we  are  told  "  Tommy  Parke  does 
somethinf  .  *'ng-"  ^r-  Parke,  though  not  a  member  of  the 
late  Exec  .  Council  was  a  member  of  the  late  Government  and 
had  voted  for  Price's  motion  condemning  the  Governor.  The 
sneer  had  reference  to  a  letter  he  wrote  defending  Sir  Charles 
Metcalfe. 

On  the  27th  May  Mr.  Ryerson  published  a  letter  defending  Sir 
Charles  Metcalfe.  The  newspapers  put  it  that  he  had  turned 
"political  slash -buckler."  On  the  8th  of  June,  a  meeting  was 
called  in  West  GwJllimbury  to  organize  a  Reform  Association, 
Baldwin  and  Skefiington  Connor  went  out  to  attend  it.  But  Mr. 
George  Daggan,  M.P.P.,  (the  late  Judge)  and  Mr.  E.  G.  O'Brien, 
with  some  of  their  friends  paraded  in  a  hostile  manner,  and  the 
meeting  was  postponed. 

About  this  time  a  meeting  was  held  at  Kingston  to  establish  a 
United  Empire  Association  which  should  resist  all  attempts — 


UNCONSTITUTIONAL   INTEltUEON UM. 


505 


come  wliencesoover  thoy  miglit — to  sever  ('  uada  from  Great  Bri- 
tain. Among  the  leading  men  who  took  part  were  Mr.  John  A. 
Mucdonaid,  Ogle  R.  Oowan  and  Mr.  Henry  Suiith. 

Meanwhile  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  left  no  stone  unturned,  no 
expedient  untried  in  order  to  win  the  support  of  the  French 
Canadian  party.  Viger  believed  that  his  countrymen  would  come 
round  to  "reason  and  justic  "  But  the  astute  Draper  was  not  so 
sanguine,  though  he  advised  Mutcalfo  to  put  off  trying  to  form  the 
Upper  Canadian  portion  of  his  Council  until  the  upshot  of  the 
Lower  Canadian  negotiations  was  seen.  At  the  end  of  June, 
Drai)er — the  Governor's  "mainstay  in  Upper  Canada" — went  to 
Montreal  to  satisfy  himself  as  to  the  exact  state  of  Lower  Cana- 
dian sentiment.  After  three  weeks'  investigation  he  wrote  that 
the  aid  of  the  French  Canadian  party  was  not  to  be  obtained  save 
on  the  terms  of  the  restoration  of  Lafontaine  and  Baldwin.  Was 
this  a  hint  to  the  Governor  to  return  to  constitutional  methods  ? 
The  country  had  been  i^  ven  months  without  an  executive  govern- 
ment, and  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  experienced  men  in  the 
country  told  him  he  could  have  Lower  Canadian  support  only  on 
conditions  which  he  chose  to  consider  impossible,  liis  mind  being 
unable  to  giasp  the  truth  that  a  constitutional  ruler  should  not 
have  the  slightest  preference  for  one  party  above  another.  What 
was  to  be  done?  The  country  was  suffering  disastrously.  Mr- 
Draper,  with  I  think,  a  patriotic  and  constitutional  oboct,  assured 
the  Govemo'  that  the  tension  of  the  situation  was  becoming  un- 
bearable, that  every  hour  during  which  the  offices  of  government 
remained  vacant  was  fraught  with  momentous  consequences,  that 
the  long  iuterreguum  of  a  suspended  constitution  had  already  in- 
jured commercial  credit,  that  the  revenue  would  be  seriously 
affected,  that  the  want  of  a  responsible  officer  to  represent  the 
Crown  in  the  Courts  of  Justice  was  proving  a  great  public  incon- 
venience, that  men's  minds  were  unsettled,  that  vague  apprehen- 
sions of  evil  were  paralyzing  industrial  energies. 

But  how  to  form  a  Ministry  ?  The  Governor  had  placed  him- 
self in  a  false  position,  by  seeking  to  play  the  pa^t  of  governor 
and  prime  minister ;  by  sett'ng  himself  in  antagonism  to  one  of 
the  parties  of  the  country  ;  by  holding  language  more  lit  for  a 
demagogue  than  a  ruler  of  a  state.  The  Nemesis  of  that  false  posi- 


?\ 


WIFI 

;  III 

J! 

Ml; 

■hH  I 

11  i 

t 


¥ 


^  -i^ 


506 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


ii„  .1 


tion  now  confronted  him.  He  felt  that  the  right  step  would  be 
to  recall  Baldwin  and  Lafontaine.  Thev  had  the  confidence  of 
tlie  country.  But  to  recall  them  would  be  to  acknowledge  a 
defeat — Defeat !  a  word  of  which  as  Governor  he  should  have 
known  nothing.  To  f  n  a  Ministry  without  them  would  be  to 
form  a  ministry  without  the  confidence  of  Lower  Canada  and 
with  but  partial  support  in  Upper  Oanada,  a  Ministry  which,  as 
his  apologist  admits,  would  be  incapable  of  carrying  on  the  govern- 
ment according  to  the  principles  of  Responsible  Government. 

There  was  one  means  of  possible  osca[>e  from  his  difficulties — to 
dissolve.  This  was  not  favoured  by  Draper.  The  anf^^wer  to 
the  appeal  in  Upi)er  Canada  might  be  favourable.  In  Lower 
Canada  it  would  be  ceitainly  the  reverse.  What  then  was  ir 
prospect  ?  A  revolution  ?  "  It  might  be,"  writes  the  subservient 
Kaye,  "  an  abandonment  of  Responsible  Government,"  or  "  the 
seveiance  of  the  existing  union  between  the  two  Canadas,"  or 
"  the  establishment  of  a  federal  union  of  all  the  North  American 
colonies,"  or  wb  \t  else  might  be  "  determined  by  or  forced  upon  the 
Imperial  Government."  "  The  difficulty,"  adds  the  biographer  in 
words  which  are  the  severest  condemnation  of  Metcalfe's  policy> 
*'  might  be  dealt  w'.th  by  the  Crown  or  by  the  people.  It  was 
impossible  to  say  how  it  was  to  be  dealt  with  by  the  Governor- 
General."  Poor  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe !  lie  sometimes  now  sighed 
for  the  ease  he  had  left,  the  peaceful  sanctuary  of  home,  his  learned 
leisure,  the  society  of  his  beloved  sister,  on  which  he  had  turned 
his  back  to  launch  on  a  stormy  sea  for  the  navigation  of  which  all 
his  pre\  ious  training  unfitted  him.  But  he  was  a  man  with  a  strong 
.ensfc  of  duty,  a  vir  Justus  undoubtedly,  and  he  felt  however  mis- 
takingly  that  he  was  on  duty's  pa'ih.  He  addressed  himself  to 
one  politician  after  another.  The  Attorney-Generalship  of  Lower 
Canada  he  offered  in  succession  to  four  leading  men  of  the  French 
Canadian  party  only  to  receive  four  successive  refusals.  The 
Lower  Canadians  had  been  made  the  victims  of  exclusiveness,  and 
like  that  portion  of  the  Irish  people  who  once  suffered  from  the 
same  oppression,  a  popular  leader  opposed  to  the  Government  had 
a  hold  on  their  affections  which  nothing  could  shake.  O'Connell's 
power  would  have  crumbled  to  dust  had  he  taken  a  seat  in  the 
British  Cabinet,  and  Lafontaine  at  feud  with  the  Government 


SifiSii 


DISCUSSION   IN   THE  IMPERIAL  PARLIAMENT. 


507" 


was  ten  times  as  powerful,  was  a  hundred  fold  more  popular  than 
Lafontaine  at  the  head  of  an  Admistration  would  be,  with  all  the 
patronage  of  Lower  Canada  in  his  hands. 

Sir  Charles  Metcalfe's  conduct  was  brought  before  the  Imperial 
Parliament.  In  Committee  of  Supply  Mr.  Roebuck  recalled  the 
Governors  words  that  he  intended  to  govern  in  aecor' lance  with 
the  principles  of  Responsible  Government.  Unfortunately,  said 
Mr.  Roebuck,  what  he  meant  by  Responsible  Government  he  never 
attempted  to  explain.  Were  not  the  feelings  of  Canadians  pro- 
perly hurt  when  he  made  an  offer  of  the  speakership  of  the  Upper 
House  to  a  man  who  was  ore  of  the  most  bitter  opponents  of  his 
Ministers  ?  What  would  the  noble  lord  (Stanley,  secretary  for  the 
Colonies)  have  thought  if  he  had  been  told  that  the  speakership  of 
the  IIouso  of  lords  had  been  offerered  to  Lord  Cottenham  ?  Yet 
that  was  the  :;ind  of  policy  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  told  his  advisers 
he  intended  to  pursue.  They  resigned,  and  ever  since  Canada 
had  been  without  an  Administration. 

Lord  Stanley,  though  generously  supporting  Metcalfe,  and  dwell- 
ing on  his  high  character,  indirectlj'  condemned  him.  He  de- 
clared that  he  understood  by  Responsible  Government  an  adminis- 
tration carried  on  by  the  heads  of  depa^iiments  enjoying  the  con- 
fidence of  the  people  of  Canada,  the  confidence  of  the  Legislature, 
responsible  to  both ;  the  Governor  guided  by  their  advice ;  they 
taking  the  responsibility  of  conducting  their  measures  through 
Parliament.  The  principle  of  Responsible  Government  had  been  ■. 
fully  and  frankly  conceded,  and  it  was  upon  that  principle  that 
Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  had  avowed  his  determination  to  conduct 
tht  Government  of  Canada.  Lord  Stanley,  however,  proceeded 
to  point  out  that  in  a  small  community,  patronage  was  better  dis- 
tributed by  the  Crown  than  by  party.  His  speech  was  incon- 
sistent with  itself,  as  indeed  was  his  conduct  as  Colonial  Secre- 
tary, so  far  as  Canada  was  concerned.  He  lenied  the  analogy, 
between  a  responsible  Ministry  in  Canada  and  the  Minister  of  the 
Crown  in  England,  a  question  which  I  have  already  sufficiently 
discussed. 

Lord  John  Russell  was  not  more  consistent.  It  was  impossible 
for  the  Governor  to  consent  to  say  that,  in  aU  cases,  he  would  fol- 
low the  will  of  the  Executive  Council,  and  thus  make  himself  a 


.•508 


TFE   IRISHMAN   IN    CANADA. 


^cipher.  He  would  have  cond**mned  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  if  he 
had  said  he  would  in  no  case  take  the  opinion  of  his  Executive 
Council  respecting  appointments.  This  he  had  not  done.  With 
regard  to  the  charge  that  the  Governor  had  reserved  a  bill  with- 
out letting  his  advisers  know  that  he  intended  to  reserve  it,  the 
House  had  been  told  that  on  that  point  of  dispute  there 
were  differences  of  opinion  as  to  the  facts.  The  honourable 
member  for  Montrose  (Mr.  Hume),  said  it  was  merely  a  question 
whether  or  not  a  slight  had  been  put  on  the  Legislature  by  reserv- 
ing the  bill ;  but  if  that  were  so,  it  could  not  be  made  a  ground 
for  the  resignation  of  the  members  of  Council.  If  their  opinion 
was  that  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  should  listen  to  them,  and  not  obey 
his  instructions  from  England,  they  took  an  exaggerated  view  o^ 
their  power,  to  which  it  was  impossible  for  the  Governor  to  give 
way.  Taking,  then,  the  high  authorifiy  of  Sir  CTia/'es  Metcalfe 
for  the  fact — and  there  could  be  no  higher  authority — it  ap- 
peared to  Lord  John  Russell  that  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  was  right 
in  the  disputes  with  his  late  Executive  Council.  He  was  sure 
that  they  would  not  improve  the  situation  by  endeavouring  to 
deprive  the  Governor  of  that  authority  which  was  so  necessary 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  connexion  between  England  and  the 
'Colony. 

It  is  clear  that  Lord  John  Russell,  relying  on  Sir  Charles  Met- 
calfe's version,  wholly  misunderstood  the  facts.  There  was  no 
desire  to  reduce  the  Governor  to  a  cipher,  none  to  interfere  with 
the  legitimate  power  of  the  Government  in  London. 

Sir  Robert  Peel  also  defended  Metcalfe.  The  Governor  would 
act  unworthily  if  he  did  not  consult  his  Council  in  all  local  mat- 
ters, but  it  might  be  for  the  interest  of  the  governed  that  the 
Governor  should  resist  the  appointments  of  persons  recommended 
by  the  Council.  But  surely  the  appointment  of  officers  for  local 
purposes  must  be  a  local  matter. 

One  of  the  ex-Ministers  had  removed  to  Montreal,  and  started 
a  newspaper,  the  Pilot.  Montreal  had  been  fixed  on  as  the  luturo 
seat  of  Government,  and  Mr.  Hincks  thought  that  would  be  the 
best  place  to  advocate  the  cause  he  had  espoused.  He  was  vio- 
lently attacked  by  the  Government  press.  He  was  a  Marat,  a 
Hobespierre,  a  Garnot.     He  conducted  the  paper  with  rare  energy, 


a 


POPULAR  AGITATION, 


509» 


and  with  the  same  ability  he  had  displayed  on  his  newsjiapcr  in 
Toronto. 

An  address  to  the  people  from  the  ex-Ministers,  well-calculated 
to  stir  up  the  popular  mind  was,  in  anticipation  of  an  election, 
scattered  over  the  country.  On  the  16th  of  May,  a  general  meet- 
ing of  the  Reform  Association  was  held,  the  Hon.  Adam  Fer- 
gusson  in  the  chair.  When  the  Hon.  Robert  Baldwin  spoke,  he 
commenced  by  congratulating  the  Province  at  large  on  the  grati- 
fying fact  that  a  distinguished  member  of  the  Upper  House  of 
Parliament  presided  over  such  a  meeting.  He  recalled  the  time 
which  was  not  very  distant  in  the  history  of  Upper  Canada,  when 
persons  occupying  elevated  positions  in  the  Council  of  the  Pro- 
vince were  accustomed  to  hold  themselves  aloof  from  the  srreat 
body  of  the  people,  as  if  their  struggle  for  liberty  was  a  matter  in 
which  they  had  neither  part  nor  lot ;  en-sconcing  themselves  with- 
in an  exclusive  and  narrow  circle,  inside  whose  bounds  the  profane 
eyes  of  commoners  were  not  permitted  to  peep.  The  chairman 
had  thanked  Baldv/in  and  his  colleagues  for  the  truly  British  stand 
they  had  made  for  constitutional  principles. 

In  referring  to  this,  Baldwin  said  that  he  "  declaimed  any  other 
merit  than  that  of  having  simply  done  his  duty."  He  added  that 
whether  taking  office,  or  abandoning  it,  he  had  never  been 
influenced  but  by  one  motive — a  sincere  desire  to  sacrifice  every 
personal  consideration  to  what  he  believed  to  be  his  duty  to  his 
country  and  his  Sovereign. 

He  then  brought  up  the  draft  of  an  address  which  was  read  by 
Skeffington  Connor,  the  Corresponding  Secretary.  The  address 
pointed  out  why  the  late  Councillors  resigned,  showed  that  Sir 
Charles  Metcalfe  and  his  "  Rump  "  were  transgressing  the  condi- 
ditions  of  Representative  Government,  an^l  warned  the  people 
of  the  dangers  to  their  freedom.  Was  it  to  be  permitted  that  for 
month  after  month  the  Government  should  be  unconstitutionallv 
administered  ?  Those  who  were  always  oppo?  jd  to  Constitutional 
Government  supported  the  Governor  and  served  under  him.  They 
were  right,  and  from  them  all  might  be  hoped  if  only  the  consti- 
tution was  placed  beneath  their  feet.  But  the  people  should  be- 
ware of  those  who  talked  in  favour  of  Responsible  Governmoijt, 
and  betrayed  it  in  their  acts.     "  We  recommend  you,"  said  the 


If 


fSi 


j-i 


510 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


address  in  one  of  its  concluding  paragraphs,  "  to  weigh  and  under- 
stand well  the  question  to  be  submitted  to  you ;  to  meet  and  to 
discuss  in  every  convenient  manner  the  points  of  view  in  which 
it  has  been  placed ;  to  have  no  halting  between  two  opinions ;  to 
allow  of  no  indifference.  This  is  not  a  mere  party  struggle.  It  is 
Canada  against  her  oppressors.  The  people  of  Canada  claiming 
the  British  constitution  against  those  who  withhold  it ;  the  might 
of  public  opinion  against  fashion  and  corruption." 

The  adoption  of  the  address  was  moved  by  the  Hon.  Captain 
Irving,  and  seconded  by  Peter  Peny,  of  Whitby. 

If  able  men  on  one  hand  were  denouncing  tlie  Government  as 
a  "  rump,"  and  as  "  Gowan's  ministry,"  Dr.  Kyerson  wrote  strongly 
and  eloquently  on  behalf  of  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe.  "  Sir  Charles 
Metcalfe,"  he  said,  "  is  not  a  fortune  seeker,  but  a  fortune  spender 
in  the  country  from  which  it  is  ded  to  ostracise  him — a  for- 

tune spender  in  public  charity."*  Not  only  did  Dr.  Ryerson  de- 
fend the  Governor,     Presbyteries  proposed  votes  supporting  him. 

Mr.  Baldwin  during  the  summer  made  a  tour  in  the  Lower  Pro- 
vince, and  was  everywhere  received  with  enthusiasm  ;  the  Lower 
Canadian  newsf)apers  described  his  visit  as  one  triumphant  pro- 
cession. Addresses  poured  in  on  him,  and  his  conduct  and  that 
of  his  colleagues  was  everywhere  endorsed. 

On  the  13th  of  August,  the  leading  organ  of  the  Baldwin  party 
had  an  article  headed  "The  Vacant  Ministry,"  and,  from  the 
opening  of  Cicero's  oration  against  Catiline,  a  motto  which  was 
meant  to  carry  a  sting  with  it — Qiwusque  tandem  ahutere  patien- 
tia  nostra  1 — How  long,  O,  Catiline,  wilt  thou  abuse  our  patience  ? 
The  period  of  the  ministerial  interregnum  was  now  running  the 
ninth  month,  and  there  was  no  sign  of  relief  from  the  depressing 
situation. 

The  Attorney-Generalship  of  Lower  Canada,  already  declined 
by  four  Lower  Canadians,  was  now  decline(^  by  two  Upper  Cana- 
dians. A  seventh  offer  was  more  successful.  Mr.  Smith  accepted 
the  position.  Little  by  little  progress  was  made  towards  the 
formation  of  a  Council,  and   Sir  Charles  Metcalfe,  with  feelings 


*  The  Col<yn%»t  which  had  mainly  through  Dr.  Byeraon't  influence,  been  turned  into 
-aa  "  organ"  of  the  Governor's. 


BALDWIN   REVIEWS  STANLEYS  SPEECH. 


611 


intinitely  relieved,  was  able  on  the  27th  August,  to  write  to  the 
Colonial  Office  that  he  expected  in  a  few  days  to  be  able  to  an- 
nounce the  completion  of  the  Executive  Council  of  the  Province, 

In  this  Ministry  the  three  leading  figures  were  our  old  friends. 
Viger,  Draper,  and  Daly ;  the  first  was  president  of  the  Council ; 
the  second  Attorney-General  for  Upper  Canada ;  the  third  retained 
his  old  post,  Provincial  Secretary  for  Upper  Canada  ;  Mr.  Morris 
was  Receiver  General  ;  Mr,  Papineau  (brother  of  the  rebel 

leader),  Commissioner  of  Crowi.  ^  ands.  Thus,  with  Mr.  Smith, 
Attorney-General  for  Lower  Canada,  the  six  most  important  offices 
in  the  Executive  Counc  were  tilled.  Metcalfe  believed  he  was 
now  in  a  position  to  meet  his  parliament.  But  in  the  Represen- 
tative Assembly  a  vote  of  want  of  confidence  would  have  been 
carried  by  an  overwhelming  majority.  The  question  of  disso- 
lution was  therefore  discussed  in  the  Council.  After  much  doubt 
and  debate,  a  disie'dution  was  resolv^ed  on.  It  was  determined 
not  to  fill  the  minor  offices  until  aft  j.'  the  elections.  There  would 
then  probably  be  a  larger  field  of  choice. 

The  crisis  was  described  by  the  Governor  as  important — it  was 
momentous.  On  the  24th  of  September,  a  banquet  was  given  to 
the  Hon.  Mr.  Young,  who  had  in  Nova  Scotia,  fought  the  same 
battle  Baldwin  had  fought  and  was  fighting  here.  Baldwin  took 
the  opportunity  of  re'/iewing  certain  portions  of  the  speech  of 
Lord  Stanley.  Was  it  a  matter  of  imperial  concern  whether  Mr. 
A.  or  Mr,  B.  should  be  appointed  to  office  ?  Who,  during.';  the 
previous  session,  was  attacked  by  Sir  Allan  MacNab,  the  Oovernor 
or  himself  ?  If  he  was  to  bear  the  brunt  of  attack,  surely  he 
ought  to  have  the  power  which  was  implied  by  responsibility  ? 
Was  it  a  tiling  to  be  tolerated  that  a  Ministry  should  learn 
for  the  first  time  of  the  appointments  of  the  Government  on  thy 
street  ?  How  long  would  the  noble  lord  have  remained  one  of 
Her  Majesty's  Ministers,  if  placed  in  such  a  situation  ?  He  was 
aware  of  the  difference  between  the  Ministry  in  London  and  the 
Ministry  in  a  colony,  a  difference  which  necessarily  followed  from 
the  fact  that  one  was  the  paramount  executive  of  the  empire,  the 
other  only  the  executive  of  a  dependency  of  that  empire.  But 
when  this  difference  was  pressed  beyond  its  limits  of  Imperial 
concerns,  and  made  the  pretence  for  the  refusal  of  liberty — for 


■  'i  il 


!•'    "'t 


512 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


M 


113 


the  denial  of  the  right  of  the  people  to  govern  through  their  re- 
presentatives— when  it  wa,s  made  an  instrument  of  degradation, 
the  brand  of  an  inferior  race — a  view  was  taken  which  would 
never  be  acquiesced  in  by  any  colony  where  constitutional  gov- 
ernment obtained,  and  where  there  lingered  a  single  spark  of 
British  feeling  to  light  British  principles.  In  the  course  of  a  long 
speech,  Baldwin  was  frequently,  cheered,  and  the  speech  well  de- 
served the  applause. 

The  Hon.  R.  B.  Sullivan  spoke  with  great  eloquence,  and  the 
Hon.  Geo.  Brown  replied  for  the  Reform  press  of  British  North 
America.  As  on  the  occasion  of  his  first  speech  a  few  months 
before,  he  spoke  with  considerable  humour. 

Parliament  was  dissolved  on  the  23rd  of  September.  The 
writs  were  issued  on  the  24th,  and  made  returnable  on  the 
10th  of  November.  On  the  1st  of  October  the  Globe  contained 
an  appeal  to  the  electors.  Baldwin  resigned  his  patent  of  Queen's 
Counsel.  A  placard  was  circulated  throughout  the  country, 
stating  that  the  late  Ministry,  in  order  to  insult  the  Presbyterians 
and  Baptists,  while  passing  a  Bill  through  Parliament,  giving 
these  bodies  additional  power  with  respect  to  the  holding  of  land 
had  introduced  a  clause  contemptuously  associating  them  with 
Tunkers,  Barkers,  Shavers,  Shakers,  Sharpers,  and  Gypsies.  The 
Globe  subsequently  characterized  this  placard  as  an  "  infamous  " 
fabrication,  and  declared  that  it  had  influenced  several  electors. 
"  It  is  questionable,"  wrote  that  paper,  a  few  years  afterwards, 
"  whether  this  lying  trick  did  not  exercise  more  influence  than  all 
the  letters  of  Buchanan  and  Ryerson."  Now  we  have  already 
seen  that  before  this  placard  was  given  to  the  world.  Presbyte- 
rians sided  with  Metcalfe,  nor  can  there  be  a  doubt  that  the 
people  were  in  some  places  unenlightened  as  to  the  real  issue. 
The  placard,  too,  might  be  considered  in  the  court  of  electioneer- 
ing morality  fair.  However,  there  is  no  evidence  that  it  was  not 
put  forth  in  good  faith.  Of  course  the  late  Ministers  never  did 
anything  so  absurd  as  associate  Barkers  and  Presbyterians, 
Shakers  and  Baptists.  But  a  young  clerk  had  scribbled  the 
words  in  fun  in  the  printers'  "  copy,"  and  forgot  to  cross  them 
out.  How  were  those  who  saw  the  objectionable  words  in  the 
bill  to  divine  the  accident  ? 


m^ 


, 


EXCITING   CONTEST. 


5ia 


While  the  elections  were  proceeding,  Mr.  Henry  Sherwood  be- 
came Solicitor-General  for  Canada  West. 

The  Conservative  candidates  went  to  the  country  on  the  Gov- 
ernor's ticket.     Mr.  George  P.   Ridout,   in  his  address,  said  : — 
*'  I  have  the  honour  to  solicit  your  suffrages  at  the  approaching 
election,  and  take  for  my  motto,    '  The  Governor-General  and 
British  connection.'  "     The  excitement  was  extreme.     There  was 
on  all  sides  apprehension  of  riot  and  bloodshed.     All  kinds  of 
violent  handbills  were  circulated  ;  the  walls  glared  with  stimu- 
lating posters.     Large  bodies  of  Irishmen  turned  out  to  support 
Baldwin.     His  enemies  said  they  were  hired  to  keep  freedom  of 
election  in  control  by  club  law.    Serious  disturbances  were  expect- 
ed.    The  troops  were  ordered  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness. 
"  The  contest,"  says  Metcalfe's  biographer,  with  audacious  men- 
dacity, "  was  between  loyalty  on  one  side  and  disaffection  to  Her 
Majesty's  Government  on  the  other."     Of  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe, 
we  are  told,  perhaps  with  truth,  that  he  felt  that  he  was  doing 
battle  for  his  Sovereign  against  a  rebellious  people.  When,  on  the 
5th  of  November,  all  the  re^.arns  were  known,  it  was  found  that 
the  Government  had  a  small  majority.     Of  course,  there  were 
charges  of  foul  play.     The  returning  officers  were  said  to  be  bitter 
Tory  partizans,  and  to  have  abused  their  opportunities.     Their 
machinations,  aided  by  an  unscrupulous  exercise  of  Government 
authority,  it  was  said,  helped  to  secure  a  majority  for  the  Conserva- 
tives.    We  may  be  sure  both  parties  did  all  they  could  to  secure 
a  victory.     It  is  possible  that  the  country  felt  that  Baidw^in  and 
Laf  ontaine  might  have  been  less  uncompromising,  and  that  know- 
ing Sir  Charles  Metcalfe's  determination  not  to  work  with  them, 
fears  of  another  interregnum  influenced  some  votes.     After  the 
fight  is  over,  it  is  useless,  however,  to  squabble  over  battles  which 
have  been  decided.     Bazaine  and  Frederick  Charles  exchanging 
recriminations  over  Gravelotte  would  be  as  edifying  a  spectacle 
as  a  game  of  scolding  over  an  election  once  it  is  past.     For  my 
own  part,  I  should  think   it  more  profitable  to  discuss  the  issue 
between  Thierry  and  the  Abb6   LafFetay  respecting  the  date  of 
the  Bayeux  tapestry.     The  Keformers  contended  that  the  Govern- 
ment had  only  a  majority  of  two.     But  when  the  House  met,  it 

turned  out  to  be  a  little  larger. 
33 


'i  iV 


!! 


?i 


M 


m 

■■(             .    i 

1  ,;v. 

514 


THE  IRISHMAN  IN  CANADA. 


Viger  was  defeated  in  Richelieu  by  Dr.  Nelson,  an  Irishman,  who 
had  been  transportc^d  to  Bermuda  for  the  part  he  took  in  the  re- 
bellion. Hincks  lost  Oxford.  In  Lower  Canada  there  was  a  large 
majority  against  the  Government.  Morin  was  returned  for  two 
constituencies.* 

The  new  Parliament  met  at  Montreal.  The  first  fight  came  off 
on  the  Speakership.  The  Government  candidate  was  Sir  Allan 
MacNab,  who  had  been  knighted  for  his  services  in  the  rebellion  ; 
the  Opposition,  M.  Morin.  Though  with  two  exceptions,  all  the 
French  Canadians  supported  M.  Morin,  the  Ministerial  candidate 
was  voted  into  the  chair  by  a  majority  of  three.  On  the  day 
Parliament  met,  seventy-seven  members  answered  to  their  names. 
Six  members,  Merritt,  Haiiison,  Cameron,  Robinson,  Watts  and 
Le  Bouthillier,  were  absent.  M.  Morin's  double  return  completed 
the  eighty-four.  On  the  division,  seventy -five  voted,  thirty-nine 
for  MacNab,  and  thirty-six  for  M.  Morin.  The  Reformers  were 
furious  at  the  election  of  MacNab — an  "  Ultra  Tory,"  a  "  High 
Churchman,"  the  "  dictator  of  the  Family  Compact."  One  of  the 
Government  papers  had  called  the  Government  a  "  liberal  "  one. 
"  A  liberal  Government  indeed  ! "  exclaimed  the  correspondent 
of  the  Olobe,  "  its  leaders  being  Ogle  R.  Gowan,  Geo.  Duggan,  Sir 
Allan  MacNab,  Henry  Sherwood  and  Edward  Murney  ! ! " 

Mr.  Hincks  was  asked  to  come  forward  for  the  seat  for  which 
Morin  elected  not  to  sit,  but  he  refused. 

*  According  to  the  Globe,  the  result  was — the  Govemor-General-party  in  Upper 
Canada  had  declared  for  them  : — Counties,  20 ;  Towns,  9.  In  Lower  Canada  : — 
Counties,  10  ;  Towns,  4.  Total,  43.  In  Canada  West,  the  Reformers  bad  declared  in 
their  favour — Counties,  13.  In  Canada  East : — Counties,  26 ;  Quebec  City,  2.  To 
tal,  41.  The  following  are  the  names  of  the  Ministerialists — the  names  of  those  pro 
tested  against  having  an  asterisk  :— Le  Bouthillier ;  Watts  ;  Sherwood,  G.  ;  Stewart 
W.  ;  'McDonald,  R.  ;  McDonell,  G. ;  Williams  ;  Smith  ;  Henry ;  *Jes8up ;  Chalmers 
MacNab  ;  Murney  ;  Dunlop  ;  McDonald,  J.  A.  ;  Foster ;  *Gowan  ;  Seymour  ;  *Cum 
mings ;  Ijawrason ;  *Ermatinger  ;  Dickson  ;  Meyers  ;  Hall ;  *Riddell ;  Stewart,  N. 
Petrie ;  Robinson  ;  Sherwood,  H. ;  Boulton ;  Duggan ;  "Webster ;  Johnston  ;  Col 
ville  ;  *Daly  ;  Smith,  Jas.  ;  *Moflfatt ;  *De  Bleury ;  Papineau  :  Hale  ;  Grieve ;  Scott 
Brooks ;  McConnell.  And  the  following  were  the  Reformers : — Prince  ;  McDonald, 
J.  S. ;  Thompson ;  Harrison  ;  *Cameron  ;  •Merritt ;  'Powell ;  Roblin  ;  *McDonell 
D.  ^.  J  •Smith,  Dr.;  *Small;  "Baldwin;  Chabot;  Price;  Lacoste;  Guillet ;  Tas 
chereau  ;  Christie ;  Lemoine ;  Berthelot ;  De  Witt ;  Tache ;  Laurin ;  Jobin  ;  Drum 
mond ;  Aylwin  ;  Methot ;  Morin  ;  Chauveau  ;  Nelson ;  Bertrand  ;  Franchere ;  Morin 
Desaulnier ;  Lafontaine ;  Lesslie ;  "Rousseau ;  Lantier ;  Armstrong ;  Cauchon  ;  *Bou- 
tillier. 


, 


Sir 


BALDWIN  S  ATTACK   ON   THE   MINISTRY. 


616 


The  speech  expressed  a  hop  -  that  some  satisfactory  arrange- 
ment might  be  cor^e  to  respecting  the  University  of  King's  Col- 
lege, and  that  the  communications  throughout  the  Province  might 
be  improved.  All  that  wa»s  said  about  the  interregnum  was,  that 
extraordinary  ob.«t'.icles  had  prevented  the  filling  up  of  vacancies 
in  the  Ministiy. 

Baldwin,  in  moving  the  amendment  to  the  address,  expressed 
his  disappointment  at  the  extraordinary  circumstance  that  the 
House  was  left  in  doubt  as  to  the  intentions  of  the  Government, 
He  attacked  the  Ministers  for  the  way  things  had  been  conducted 
since  he  had  resigned,  and  ridiculed  the  piebald  character  of  the 
politics  on  the  Treasury  Bench.  His  scarcasm  was  withering 
without  being  harsh  or  at  war  with  good  taste.*  The  whole 
speech  told  on  the  House  in  a  striking  manner.  At  two  o'clock 
on  the  night  of  the  seventh  of  December,  he  rose  to  wind  up  the 
debate.  He  denounced  the  unparliamentary  course  pursued  by 
the  Government  during  the  debate.  They  had  not  announced  a 
single  principle.  He  ridiculed  their  professions  that  they  would 
make  no  appointments  to  strengthen  their  position.  The  sj  ih, 
wrote  a  correspondent,  was  admitted  to  be  the  most  powerful  speech 
ever  heard  within  the  walls  of  a  Canadian  Parliament.  It  was 
four  o'clock  when  Mr.  Baldwin  resumed  his  seat ;  but  there  had 
been  no  signs  of  impatience.  On  a  division,  the  amendment  was 
lost,  the  Government  having  a  majority  of  six. 

In  the  Legislative  Council,  Mr.  Draper  defended  Sir  Charles 
Metcalfe  with  great  plausibility.  The  principles  of  Responsible 
Government  were  founded  on  this,  that  there  must  be  for  ever  "■ 
act  of  a  government  some  person  responsible  to  Parliament.  The 
Crown  could  not  be  made  a  party.  A  Minister  could  not  plead 
in  justification  of  an  obnoxious  Act,  that  it  was  done  by  the  King's 
command.  It  was  on  the  principle  that  the  King  could  do  no 
wi'ong  that  the  whole  system  of  Responsible  Government  rested. 
Let  that  principle  be  applied  to  recent  acts,  and  the  result  would 
be  an  ample  vindication  of  the  course  pursued  by  the  Head  of  the 
"  Government.  The  King  being  incapable  of  doing  wrong,  when  in 
the  exercise  of  his  constitutional  right  he  dismissed  a  Ministry, 

*  Correspondence  of  Globe,  5th  December,  1844, 


|i 


II 


;:'■  J 


616 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN    CANADA. 


•  ^"-  ifi?*' ' 


those  who  accepted  the  vacant  places  took  upon  themselves  the 
responHibility  of  the  act  of  dismisHal,  and  for  that  act  became 
amenable  to  the  judgment  of  the  country.  If  the  country  sus- 
tained them  they  retained  office  ;  if  tlie  contrary,  they  resigned. 
But  when  a  Ministry  tendered  their  resignatitm  as  a  voluntary 
act,  with  them  alone  rested  the  responsibility.  It  would  not  be 
pretended  that  the  late  Ministers  did  not  resign  theiroffices.  There- 
fore, with  them  alone,  rested  the  responsibility  of  the  act.  Under 
what  circumstances  did  their  resignation  take  place  i  Did  they 
resign  in  accordance  with  British  parliamentary  practice  ?  No  ; 
and  he  had  a  right  to  call  on  the  leaders  of  the  Opposition,  to  show 
that  the  course  they  had  thought  fit  to  take  was  the  acknowledg- 
ed usage  of  the  British  Parliament.  He  was  bold  to  assert  that 
nothing  had  been  placed  before  the  country  which  gave  an  issue 
on  which  the  people  could  come  to  a  decision.  The  issue  on 
whie'i  the  people  had  to  decide  was  not  whether  the  principles 
of  Responsible  Government  had  or  had  not  been  violated,  but  a 
question  of  fact  stated  by  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  and  his  late  Minis- 
ters— the  issue  was,  which  of  the  parties  had  told  the  truth. 

Now  all  this  was  mere  special  pleading.  It  is  true  the  Ministers 
published  one  account  of  the  rupture,  Metcalfe  another.  But 
nobody  who  understood  the  question  then,  nobody  who  has  since 
considered  it,  has  had  any  doubt  of  the  fact  proved  by  the  whole 
tenor  of  Metcalfe's  conduct,  proved  by  his  despatches  to  Lord 
Stanley,  proved  by  his  private  letters,  proved  by  the  view  he  took 
of  the  nature  of  his  functions,  that  he  made  an  appointment  with- 
out consulting  his  Ministers,  and  to  which  they  were  opposed,. 
To  make  appointments  without  consulting  the  responsible  Minis- 
ters is  the  most  high-handed  v.'.ay  of  refusing  to  act  on  their  ad- 
vice. Wliat  was  the  value  of  Mr.  Draper's  bold  assertion,  that 
there  was  no  precedent  ?  Did  not  Pitt  resign  after  the  union,  be- 
cause George  III  would  not  take  his  advice  ?  Constitutional 
Government  as  we  understand  it,  and  as  explained  by  Mr.  Draper 
in  his  opening  rjmarks,  came  into  play  in  England  only  in  the 
reign  of  Queen  Anne.  She  chose  Ministers  who  enjoyed  the  con- 
fidence of  Parliament.  The  first  two  Georges  were  obliged  to  act 
in  the  same  way.  William  the  Third,  though  he  ultimately  gave 
his  confidence  to  Whigs  alone,  began  by  selecting  Ministers  from 


PROORESS  OF   CONSTITUTIONAL  GOVERNMENT. 


517 


ves  the 
became 
ry  Hus- 
•signed. 
untary 
not  be 
There- 
under 
id  they 
?     No; 
,0  show 
)wledg- 
3rt  that 
m  issue 
ssue  on 
inciples 
I,  but  a 
)  Minis- 
ih. 

[inisters 
sr.     But 
I  as  since 
le  whole 
to  Lord 
he  took 
nt  with- 
opposed,, 
le  Minife- 
their  ad- 
iion,  that 
nion,  be- 
iitutional 
r.  Draper 
ily  in  the 
.  the  con- 
red  to  act 
tely  gave 
ters  from 


all  parties.     But  William  tlio  Third  was  an  exceptional  ruler  in 
exceptional  times,  and  an  analogy   might  be  drawn  between  the 
fashion  in  which  he,  the  inaugurator  of  Modem  Constitutional 
Government  England  acted,  and  the  mode  of  procedure  adopted 
by  Lord  Sydenham  in   inaugurating  constitutional   government 
among    ourselves.      George    the    Third    determined    to    do    in 
England,  very  much     what    Sir    Charles    Metcalfe  determined 
to  do  here,  and  both  found  themselves  in  conse(pience,  at  times, 
in  antagonism  to  parliament.     When  George  the  Third  was  forced 
to  entrust  the  Government  to  Whigs,  he  thwarted  them  and  in- 
trigued against  them,  just  as  Sir  Charles   Metcalfe  thwarted  and 
intrigued  against  Lafontaine  and  Baldwin.     The  gi-eat  doctrine 
enunciated  bj'  the  greatest  men  in  the  Engli.^h  Parliament,  was 
that  the  King  in  choosing  his  advisers  should  defer  to  the  wishes 
of  Parliament.     If  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  did  this,  he  would  have 
sent  agpin  for  his  Ministers  who  had  resigned  as   Mr.  Draper 
seemed  once  and  again  to  hint  he  should  have  done.     The  Revolu- 
tion of  1688,  transferred  the  Sovereignty  of  England,  not  from 
James  the  Second  to  William  and   Mary,  but  from  Kings  ruling 
by  divine  right  to  the   House  of  Commons.     The  King  reigns, 
Parliament  governs.     The  King  is  the  head  of  the  Executive, 
and  remains,  unsullied  by  faction,  because  he  carries  out  the 
wishes  of  Parliament.    He  selects  servants,  who  for  the  time  being, 
have  the  confidence  of  Parliament,  and  who  are  responsible  to  it. 
That  they  are  so  responsible  is  the  real  ground  for  the  proposition, 
the  King  can  do  no  wrong,  a  proposition  which  is  the  impassable 
bulwark  to  revolution, so  long  as  correlative  propositions  are  under- 
stood, and  acted  on.     If  therefore,  a  King  or  Governor  seeks  to 
act  independently  of  Ministers,  he  assumes  responsibility,  and  that 
moment  the  proposition  that  he  can  do  no  wrong  ceases  to  apply. 
What  then  becomes  of  Mr.  Draper's  argument  ?     His  remarks 
regarding  the  responsibility  of  an  incoming  Ministry  intended  to 
shield  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe,  will  not  cover  the  Governor's  conduct 
during  nearly  a  year. 

Mr.  Draper  went  on  to  guard  against  its  being  understood  that 
when  he  laid  down  the  principle  that  the  King  can  do  no  wrong, 
he  meant  to  imply  that  the  same  was  true  of  a  Governor-General. 
But  the  same  it?  and  must  be  true  of  a  Governor-General,  so  far 


"   fVi 


m 


:* 


518 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


!1 


>.i 


II 


as  he  ifl  a  constitutional  ruler,  and  in  relation  to  the  people  over 
whom  he  plays  that  impoi-tant  part.  The  Governor,  Mr.  Draper 
pointed  out,  was  a  responsible  servant  of  the  Crown.  It  would 
be  absurd  to  hold  that  a  man  who  was  liable  to  impeachment 
could  do  no  wrong.  Thi  to  establish  a  charge  against  the  Head 
of  the  Government  his  opponent  had  been  thrown  into  a  false 
position. 

It  is  hard  to  believe  so  acute  a  mind  as  that  of  Mr.  Draper  did 
not  see  that  he  v/as  here  suggesting  a  false  issue.  Neither  Bald- 
win nor  anybody  eise  ever  asserted  that  the  Governor-General 
could  do  no  wrong  or  was  not  a  responsible  servant,  so  far  as  Im- 
perial matters  were  concerned,  but  they  did  assert  that  so  far  as 
he  was  a  constitutional  ruler  in  legard  to  our  local  affairs,  he  was 
bound  to  act  in  such  a  manner  as  would  be  consistent  with  a  pro- 
position which  means  no  more  than  that  he  should  not  act  like  a 
minister,  inasmuch  as  he  was  not  responsible  to  parliament  and 
could  not  by  parliament  be  called  to  account  for  his  acts.  It  is 
however,  barely  possible  Mr.  Draper  did  not  grasp  all  the  bear- 
ings of  the  controvers}''.  But  he  has  seemed  to  me  to  have  been 
much  more  than  a  mere  successful  lawyer.  It  has  too  often  been 
shewn  that  the  most  brillant  successes  at  the  bar  are  no  guarantees 
for  statesmanship,  and  the  warping  effects  of  nisi  prius  advocacy 
and  Court  of  Chancery  contentions  round  the  points  of  needles, 
and  over  the  splitting  of  hairs,  ought  to  be  allowed  due  weight 
in  deciding  respecting  his  sincerity. 

The  removal  of  Mr.  Draper  to  the  Legislative  Council  had  left 
a  gap  in  the  House  of  Assembly  not  unlike  that  which  Chatham's 
acceptance  of  an  earldom  left  in  the  House  of  Commons.  Neither 
Attorney-General  Smith  nor  Solicitor-General  Sherwood  were 
competent  to  lead  the  House.  Indeed  their  conduct  at  times  was 
scarcely  up  to  th<.  level  of  a  discussion  in  a  pot-house.  Before 
parliament  was  sitting  l.wo  weeks  they  gave  a  signal  instance  of 
their  shamelessness  of  political  character.  On  the  1 2th  of  Decem- 
ber, Mr.  Small  moved  for  leave  to  bring  in  a  petition  against  the 
return  of  Messrs,  Sherwood  and  Boulton.  The  Ministry  objected 
to  its  being  received,  Petitions  should  be  brought  within  fourteen 
days  after  the;  elections,  and  that  period  had  expired.  The  Oppo- 
sition appeakid  to  the  Speaker  who  decided  against  them.  Scarcely 


, 


INDFX'ENCY   OF   MINISTERS. 


519 


had  the  echo  of  the  Speaker's  words  died  away  when  Mr.  Dickson 
wished  to  present  a  petition  against  a  Reformer,  Mr.  L.  T.  Drum- 
mond.  Both  Smith  and  Sherwood  had  the  eftrontery  to  stand  up 
and  argue  that  the  petition  sliould  be  received.  The  Opposition 
appealed  to  the  Speaker,  whereupon  the  Ministerialists,  unable 
even  to  stand  the  mildewed  corn  of  their  miserable  majority, 
shouted  "  No!  No  ! " — Mr.  Sherwood  being  one  of  those  who  led 
the  cry.  The  Speaker  however,  was  a  man  who  could  measure 
such  politicians  as  the  Sherwoods  and  Smiths.  He  rose  and 
decided  that  the  petition  could  not  be  received.  And  what  did 
the  enlightened  Ministers  then  do  ?  They  acted  like  half-tipsy 
rowdies.  They  appealed  from  the  decision  of  the  Speaker  they 
had  themselves  helped  to  elect,  and  demanded  a  division.  They 
were  beaten  by  forty-seven  to  twenty -three.  We  need  not  be 
surprised  if,  in  the  face  of  such  conduct,  the  Governor  thought  of 
urging  Mr.  Dmper  to  leave  the  Legislative  Council  and  seek  a  seat 
in  the  Assembly.  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  wrote  piteously  that  none 
of  the  Executive  Council  could  exercise  much  influence  over  the 
party  supporting  the  Government.  If  Mr.  Draper  was  to  get  a 
seat  some  member  must  resign.  Mr.  Robinson  having  accepted 
the  Inspector-Generalship  had  to  go  to  his  constituents.  The 
absence  of  two  members  would  be  a  serious  matter  in  a  House  in 
which  both  partiesj  were  so  evenly  balanced.  A  long  adjournment 
was  therefore  deiermiiied  on  and  a  motion  was  made  for  the  ad- 
journment of  the  House  from  the  20th  of  December  until  the  1st 
of  February.  There  could  be  no  reasonable  excuse  for  so  long  an 
adjournment  which  would  cost  the  country  some  $60,000.  Mr. 
Gowan  thereupon  moved  an  amendment  that  the  adjournment 
should  only  extend  to  the  7th  of  January.  The  amendment  was 
lost.  Mr.  Cameron  fearing  the  original  motion  might  be  passed 
moved  that  the  House  stand  adjourned  from  the  24th  of  December 
to  the  3rd  of  January.  Now  the  question  arose  as  to  the  passing 
of  Mr.  Cameron's  motion.  During  the  debate  the  Ministers  had 
declared  there  was  no  collusion  between  them  and  the  movers  of 
long  adjournments.  When  Mr.  Christie  moved  as  an  amendment 
that  the  adjournment  should  extend  only  over  the  religious  holi- 
days, the  Ministers  said  that  was  just  what  they  wanted.  When 
however  the  vote  was  called  their  true  sentiments  were  seen. 


520 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


They  did  not  want  to  vote  for  Christie's  motion  because  Christie's 
motion  was  the  last  thing  they  desired,  and  their  declarations 
during  the  debate  would  have  made  voting  again. ^  it  too  indecent 
even  for  their  indecent  sense  of  fitness.  They  therefore  sneaked 
out  of  the  House.  But  the  question  was  one  too  near  their  hearts 
for  their  anxiety  not  to  betray  itself.  They  hovered  about  the 
entrance,  they  peeped  through  the  slit,  they  bobbed  in  their  heads 
through  the  half -opened  door.  A  member  saw  them  and  moved 
that  the  Sergeant-at-arms  should  tako  them  into  custody  and 
bring  them  up  to  vote.  They  were  brought  in  and  told  they  must 
vote.  Every  one  of  them  voted  for  the  long  adjournment.  Un- 
fortunate men!  The  vote  decided  by  a  majority  of  one  that  there 
should  be  no  holidays  but  the  three  religious  ones.  However  the 
question  was  raised  again,  influence  havinar  meanwhile  been 
brought  to  bear  on  members.  Gowan  carried  his  motion  by  a 
majority  of  ten. 

On  January  21st,  1845,  Mr.  Gowaii  moved  an  address  to  hia 
Excellency  to  grant  an  inquiry  into  the  management  of  the 
Board  cl  Works,  in  which  there  had  been  a  groat  deal  of  jobbing. 
Men  wlio  came  paupers  a  few  weeks  before,  with  tenders  in  their 
hands,  ■'A'-ere  now  worth  twenty  thousand  pounds,  The  Inspector- 
General  opposed  Mr,  Gowan's  motion,  who  withdrew  it  under 
protest  and  expressions  of  regret  that  a  member  of  the  Adminis- 
tration should  be  found  to  assist  in  stifling  inquiry.  A  few  days 
afterwards,  another  supporter  of  the  Government,  Dr.  Dunlop, 
said  the  Board  of  Works  had  become  a  curse. 

About  this  time  the  Government  brought  in  a  Bill  forbidding 
persons  to  "aiTy  arms  unless  licensed.  A  search  for  arms  was  to 
be  autliorized,  with  all  the  tyranny  of  forcible  entry.  Certain 
districts  were  to  be  placed  under  a  ban,  and  one  hundred  mounted 
police  raised  to  carry  out  the  Act.  This  measure  seems  to  have 
been  directed  at  those  of  the  Irish  people  who  were  building  the 
canals. 

Mr.  Hale,  the  Government  member  for  Sherbrooke,  said  the 
Bill  had  been  described  as  one  to  put  down  Irishmen.  No  ;  but 
the  Bill  would  have  the  effect  of  preventing  quarrels  among  a 
warnri-blooded  people,  and  that  w  as  sufficient  reason  for  passing 
it.     It  was  a  measure  inspired  by  the  contractors,  some  of  whom,. 


' 


PROGRESS  OF   METCALFE's   MALADY. 


52T 


in  our  own  day,  have  sought  to  influence  Governments  to  bring 
in  Bills  which  would  siiable  them  to  oppress  their  poor  workmen. 

The  followers  of  Bald  ,9  in  defended  the  labourers,  most  or  all 
of  whom  came  from  the  cradle  of  Baldwin's  family.  Mr.  Drum- 
raond  (now  Judge  Drummond)  reminded  the  House  of  the  report 
signed  by  himself  and  his  brother  commissioners  appointed  to 
inquire  into  the  canal  riots.  Men  who  had  been  branded  as 
"  sivvage,"  were  not  savage  by  nature — were  not  wanton  violators 
of  the  peace,  but  had  been  goaded  to  error  by  the  violence  of 
their  task-masters. 

At  this  time  the  condition  of  things,  so  far  as  Responsible  Go- 
vernment was  concerned,  was  no  better  than  when  Metcalfe  was 
without  an  Executive  Council.  Ministers  took  no  notice  what- 
ever of  a  defeat.  The  whole  party  or  mob  professing  to  support 
them,  presented  a  sickening  picture  of  corruption,  deceit,  and  seK- 
seeking  in  all  its  multifarious  forms.* 

Sir  Charles  Metcalfe's  malady  was  hastening  that  departure  for 
which  his  enemies  longed.  In  January,  he  wrote  home  a  pathetic 
account  of  his  position.  He  had  lost  the  use  of  one  eye,,  and  the 
eye  which  was  still  useful  sympathised  with  that  which  was  de- 
stroyed ;  nor  was  there  any  hope  of  the  eradication  of  the  cancer. 
He  had  now,  to  his  great  regret,  to  use  the  hand  of  another  to  write 
his  letters  and   despatches.     He  was  racked  by  pains  above  the 

*  Dr.  Barker,  the  editor  of  the  British  Whig,  a  Conservative  journal,  wrote,  on  the 
14th  Februar^'^,  1845  :— 

**  A  defeat  is  now  a  matter  of  ordiuar;  occurrence,  happening  whenever  half  a  dozen 
Conservative  members  want  anything  to  be  done  which  is  unpalatable  to  the  Ministry. 
The  last  defeat  wa»  on  the  Reduction  of  Salaries'  Bill  -the  one  before  was  on  the 
Canada  Company  Tax  Bill.  Ou  this  subject  the  Upper  Canada  members  were  divided, 
it  being  a  matter  of  doubt  whe<-1inr  the  wild  lands  of  the  Company,  in  the  Huron  tract, 
should  be  liable  to  the  ordink  .,  district  Tax  or  not.  The  Ministry  were  of  opinion 
that  an  exception  should  be  taken  in  the  Company's  favour,  leoing  which,  the  wholo 
Opposition  rose  in  one  body  and  vot«d  for  the  Bill.     The  numbers  wt- re  52  to  12, 

"  I  am  heartily  sick  and  disgusted  with  Montreal  and  thi  ilcuse  of  Assembly,  and 
wish  myself  at  home  a  thousand  times.  I  go  every  day  after  dinner  to  pass  the  even- 
ing in  the  reporter's  box,  and  when  I  get  there  can't  itay  an  hour.  Some  piece  of  chi- 
canery or  double-faced  intrigue  is  sure  to  provoke  me,  and  send  me  out  with  a  flea  in 
my  lug.  Let  the  mattei'  be  ever  so  bare-faced  or  scandalous,  you  are  sure  to  see  lots 
of  honourable  members  advocate  it  and  defend  it  imblushingly. 

"  The  Tjower  Canada  members  appear  to  much  greater  advantage  than  their  upper 
country  brethren.  All  the  quarrelling  and  fighting — all  the  fending  :.nd;.proving — all 
the  special  pleading  and  false  colouring — are  left  to  the  ConservativeB," 


'M 


2U 


522 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   C\NADA. 


eye  and  down  the  right  side  of  the  face  as  far  as  the  chin.  The 
cheek  towards  the  nose  and  mouth  was  permanently  swelled.  He 
could  not  open  his  mouth  to  its  usual  width,  and  it  was  with  dif- 
ficulty he  inserted  and  masticated  food.  He  no  longer  looked  for- 
ward to  a  cure.  On  this  point  he  was  hopeless.  He  world  have 
been  glad  to  return  home.  But  he  could  not,  he  wrote,  reconcile 
it  to  his  sense  of  duty  to  quit  his  post  in  the  existing  state  of  affairs. 
Among  the  dreams  of  his  youth  was  to  be  a  peer.  The  Imperial 
Government  knowing  this,  remembering  his  past  services,  and  his 
present  difficulties,  and  it  may  be,  that  they  would  have  added, 
his  mistakes,  remembering  also  the  state  of  his  health,  recom- 
mended Her-  Majesty  to  raise  him  to  the  peerage.  A  peerage  it 
was  thought  would  add  to  his  strength  in  his  struggles  with  the 
constitutional  party  which  was  represented  in  Metcalfe's  des- 
patches as  tainted  with  rebellion.  Both  Sir  Robert  Peel  and  Lord 
Stanley  wrote  him  private  letters  of  congratulation,  full  of  that 
generous  spirit  which  characterizes  English  politics.  Alas!  the 
honour  came  too  late  for  Metcalfe  to  enjoy  it.  There  was  a  time, 
he  wrote  to  his  sister,  when  he  would  have  rejoiced  in  a  peerage. 
He  would  have  highly  prized  the  privilege  of  devoting  his  life  to 
the  service  of  his  Queen  and  country  in  the  House  of  Lords.  But 
he  was  now  without  any  ground  of  confidence  that  he  should  ever 
be  able  to  undertake  that  duty  with  any  efficiency.  The  only 
gratification  it  could  bring  him  now  was  this:  it  proved  that  his 
services  were  not  unapprciated ;  he  knew  that  kind  hearts  would 
rejoice  at  his  elevation.  Now,  as  at  all  times,  he  was  kindly,  and 
gentle,  and  affectionate  in  his  private  relations. 
.  On  the  25th  February,  Mr.  Prince,  seconded  by  Mr.  Roblin, 
moved  an  address  to  His  Excellency  on  his  elevation  to  the  peer- 
age. The  resolution  expressed  the  gratitude  of  the  House  to  the 
Sovereign  for  rewarding  the  merit  of  the  Governor.  This  address 
was  passed  by  a  majority  of  twenty  in  a  house  of  seventy  mem- 
bers. Baldwin  made  a  speech  which  can  only  be  excused  by  re- 
membering the  heated  passions  of  the  time.  Aylwin  said  he  could 
congratulate  neither  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  nor  the  British  House 
of  Peers.  So  far  from  deserving  a  peerage,  he  said  Metcalfe  should 
have  been  taken  home  and  tried  for  high  crimes  and  misdemea- 


n 


DRAPER  S  UNIVERSITY   BILL. 


523 


nours.  Others  spoke  in  a  like  strain.  The  proper  thing  was  to 
have  given  a  silent  vote. 

On  the  16th  of  March,  Mr.  Draper  introduced  his  University 
Bill,  which  proposed  that  the  University  of  Upper  Canada  should 
embrace  three  colleges  :  King's  as  the  Episcopalian;  Queen's,  for 
the  established  Presbyterians ;  and  Victoria  for  the  Methodist* 
On  the  11th,  the  Bill  was  brought  up  for  second  reading,  when, 
after  an  able  speech  from  Draper,  urging  his  fellow  Churchmen, 
who  objected  even  to  attend  &  litei'aiy  class  with  dissenters,  to 
beware,  the  debate  was  adjourned  until  the  18th  instant.  On  that 
day,  Mr.  Hagarty,  now  Chief  Justice,  was  heard  at  the  bar  as 
counsel  for  the  university. 

Boulton  moved  the  rejection  of  the  Bill.  Mr.  Robinson,  who 
had  been  appointed  Solicitor-General  for  Lower  Canada;  resigned. 
Metcalfe  wrote  despondingly  to  Lord  Stanley.  In  the  previous 
year,  during  nine  months,  he  had  laboured  in  vain  to  complete  his 
Council.  Now  he  had  again  to  fish  in  troubled  waters  for  a 
Solicitor-General  for  Lower  Canada.  Draper  assured  the  Gover- 
nor that  the  Government  could  not  possibly  survive  without  an 
infusion  of  new  vigour.  The  Ministers  wanted  weight  and  influ- 
ence. Several  members  declared  that  they  only  voted  for  the 
second  reading  to  keep  the  Ministers  in,  but  that,  if  the  Bill  went 
farther  they  would  vote  against  it.  This  was  the  attitude  of  one  of 
the  Ministers  himself — Solicitor- General  Sherwood.  The  second 
reading  was  passed ;  but  the  Bill  had  to  be  dropped.  Mr.  Draper 
had  declared,  on  the  4th  of  March,  that  he  and  his  colleagues 
would  stand  or  fall  with  the  measure.  There  was  no  sign  of 
one  of  them  quitting  his  seat 

The  conduct  o*  Mr.  Robinson  appears  amid  the  wretched  politi- 
cal morality  of  his  colleagues  like  a  lily  iu  a  stagnant  fen.  Among 
such  reeds  as  Smith  and  such  rushes  as  Sherwood,  Robinson  stood 
like  an  elm.  He  might,  he  said,  with  a  manliness  which  must 
have  cut  like  a  sword  the  heart  of  Sherwood,  under  some  private 
understanding  have  voted  for  the  second  reading  rnd  yet  retained 
his  office.  "  But,  Mr,  Speaker,  though  I  am  poor  I  can  afford  to 
lose  ray  office,  but  I  cannot  afford  to  lose  my  character."  At  theso 
wo.rdft  Sherwood  held  a  paper  before  his  face. 

A  few  days  later  one  of  those  disagreeable  and  discreditable 


w\ 


n 

'; .»» ' 

ii 

1 

»1i\ 

1 

l> 

ll\  i  < 


524 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA, 


scenes  which  have  so  frequently  disfigured  Canadian  politics 
occurred.  M.  Papineau  had  introduced  an  Education  Bill. 
M.  Morin,  speaking  on  this  measure,  said  the  Government 
had  attempted  by  corruption  to  procure  assistance  tVom  the 
Liberal  side  of  the  House.  Smith,  the  Attorney-General, 
sprang  to  his  feet  ar.d  challenged  proof  of  the  fact.      Lafontaine 

replied  that  he  was  j.jre[ -d  at  any  moment  to  prove  attempts  to 

corrupt  the  House  on  th'^,  part  of  the  Ministry.  Many  of  the 
Ficnch  Canadian  members  on  applying  to  the  Government  regard- 
ing the  business  of  their  counties  were  met  by  the  answer  that  they 
did  not  support  the  Governni'^nt.  Mr.  Bertrand  had  had  replies 
of  this  kind  from  both  Mr.  Daly  and  M.  Papineau.  Daly  declared 
that  in  no  conversation  he  ever  had  with  any  member  of  the 
Opposition  was  there  a  word  which  was  capable  of  such  a  con- 
struction. Bertrand  then  rose  and  confirmed  what  Lafontaine 
had  stated.  He  said  he  was  willing  to  believe  that  Mr.  Daly  was 
joking.  With  M.  Papineau,  however,  the  case  was  quite  different. 
He  was  quite  serious.  He  had  said  expressly  that  he  regretted 
he  could  do  no  more  for  his  countrymen,  but  that  they  gave  him 
no  support  in  Parliament.  If  they  did  this  he  might  do  something 
for  them.  To  this  Bertrand  said  he  replied  : — "  What !  must  we 
sell  our  conscience  to  procure  justice  in  this  House  ?  " 

Parliament  was  prorogued  on  the  29th  of  March.  The  session 
had  lasted  four  months,  and  the  legislative  fruit  was  small.  Every- 
thing of  any  magnitude  that  was  promised  was  where  it  was 
when  Parliament  met.  The  University,  the  Administration  of 
Justice,  the  Militia,  the  Civil  List,  the  Prisons  and  Lunatic  Asy- 
lums, on  all  of  which  measures  had  been  promised,  the  close  of 
the  session  found  untouched;  and  naturally,  for  a  weak  Ministry 
can  never  do  more  than  buttress  up  an  ignoble  tenure  of  office  by 
disreputable  shifts. 

And  poor  Metcalfe,  whose  nature  shrank  from  intrigue,  who  was 
quite  unfit  for  the  position  of  a  party  leader,  which  he  had  prac- 
tically assumed,  when  he  looked  back  over  those  four  months,  felt 
heartily  ashamed  of  himself.  In  seeking  to  strengthen  himself, 
he  had  leaned  on  broken  reeds  which  had  pierced  his  hand.  In 
clutching  helplesslyat  power  he  had  had  to  touch  pitch,  and  the  sense 
of  defilement  stung  that  upright  soul.     He  abhorred  tactics,  and 


Ba 


METCALFE  S   INNER  TRAGEDY. 


525 


had  become  the  vilest  of  tacticians, — the  tactician  who  does  not 
make  but  is  made  the  victim.  He  loved  what  was  straightforward^ 
and  had  become  the  meanest  of  tricksters, — the  trickster  that  has 
to  carry  out  the  machinations  of  meaner  and  baser  hearts.  He  had 
fallen  from  the  Alpine  height  of  his  own  proud  self-esteem,  and 
it  was  in  vain  tliat  he  tried  to  persuade  himself  that  he  still  stood 
on  the  faultless  and  splendid  pinnacle  of  Horace's  magnificent 
ode.  He  was  working  side  by  side  with  allies  in  whose  company 
it  was  no  honour  to  fight.  He  had  to  sanction  their  acts.  He  had 
to  put  himself  on  the  plain  of  their  depraved  political  morality. 
And  he  had  to  do  all  this  because  he  had  determined  to  work 
against  a  man  whose  character  must,  in  his  betier  moments,  have 
commanded  his  admiration,  whose  character,  indeed,  had  much  in 
it  akin  to  his  own  ;  a  man  who,  like  Turenne,  always  spoke  the 
truth ;  who  loved  virtue  for  her  own  sake  ;  whom  no  one  could 
appreciate  without  being  the  b'^tter  for  it;  whose  society  inspired 
those  who  shared  his  confidence  with  a  horror  of  duplicity  ;  whose 
loyalty  to  his  friends  had  in  it  some  of  the  noble  devotion  with 
which  he  cherished  the  beautiful  memory  of  the  dead. 

In  his  speech  closing  Parliament,  Metcalfe  used  language  which 
displayed  a  want  of  that  imagination  which  can  realize  the  feel- 
ings of  persons  differently  situated  to  ourselves.  He  told  the  mem- 
bers of  both  houses  that  they  were  about  to  return  to  their  homes, 
to  resume  those  occupations  which,  in  most  cases,  were  indispen- 
sable for  the  support  of  their  families,  and  which  were  inevitably 
interrupted  with  some  degree  of  injury  to  themselves,  by  attend- 
ance on  their  parliamentary  duties.  This,  which  was  perfectly 
true,  was  not  in  good  taste.  The  Baldwin  press  commented  with 
perhaps  uncalled-for  bitterness  on  his  words.  But  the  provo- 
cation had  been  great. 

The  Governor's  malady  grew  worse.  In  body  and  spirit  he  was 
ill  at  ease.  In  June  he  gave  a  pitiLble  account  of  his  condition  in 
a  private  letter  to  his  friend  Mr.  Martin.  Yet  he  thought  he  could 
not  quit  his  post  without  mischie  v^ous  consequences  following.  In 
his  darkened  room  or  sheltered  carriage,  he  was,  in  the  midst  of 
bodily  and  mental  anguish,  determined  to  be  the  Governor,  as  he 
understood  ihe^duties  of  the  office.  It  is  touching  to  see  how  he 
tried  to  make  light  of  his  sufferings.    A  life  of  perpetual  chloride 


i 


526 


THE   IRISHMAN  IN   CANADA. 


of  zinc  was  far  from  easy.  There  were,  however,  greater  pains  and 
afflictions  in  the  world.  He  had  experienced  mercies  for  which 
gratitude  was  due.  He  could  not  shut  his  right  eye.  After  the 
next  application  he  feared  he  would  be  unable  to  open  his  mouth. 
This  was  "  very  satisfactory." 

He  had  impressed  Lord  Stanley  with  the  idea  that  it  was  im- 
portant that  he  should  remain  in  Canada.  His  presence  and  his 
administration  were  vital  to  preserving  Canada  to  the  Empire. 
Lord  Stanley — the  kindness  of  whose  chivalrous  character  comes 
out  strongly  in  his  private  despatches — urged  him  if  possible  to 
hold  on  to  the  helm.  The  Colonial  Secretary  believed  he  was 
guiding  the  ship  into  port  when  he  was  running  her  among  the 
breakers. 

In  the  gloom  of  his  da,rkened  room  he  was  cheered  by  rumours 
that  the  ti<le  was  rising  in  his  favour.  There  were  some  little 
waves  playing  with  the  dry  sand,  and  the  sanguine  expected  that 
the  waters  were  at  the  turn.  At  the  end  of  June  old  M.  Viger 
had  been  returned  for  the  Three  Hivers.  But  some  of  the  sup- 
porters of  the  Governor  were  his  worst  enemies.  One  paper 
alarmed  the  moderate  wing  of  the  Conservatives  by  declaring  that 
the  representative  form  of  government  was  "  the  unceasing  enemy 
of  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  Canada  East  and  West."  Every 
storm  which  had  desolated  the  country  owed  its  origin  to  the 
unwholesome  and  poisonous  atmosphere  of  the  Halls  of  the  Leg- 
islature. The  gr^i  of  representation  had  been  to  the  young  limbs 
of  the  country  like  the  poisoned  garment  of  Nessus,  the  touch  of 
which  was  fatal  to  the  destroyer  of  the  Nemean  lion.*  Raving 
of  this  kind  could  produce  but  one  effect. 

On  the  8th  of  August  Mr.  Cayley  was  made  Inspector-General 
of  the  Province,  and  this  was  the  signal  for  a  chorus  of  discontent 
from  quarters  where  the  Government  might  have  expected  sup- 
port. Colonel  Prince  described  the  new  Minister  as  the  clerk  of 
a  company  of  blacksmiths  in  the  Town  of  Niagara.  Boulton 
declared  war  against  his  old  friends,  and  a  dozen  Government 
papers  made  fun  of  Cay  ley's  name,  with  the  view  of  emphasizing 
his  obscurity.     Was  it  Cayley  or  Kaley  ?     Mr.  Gowan  declared 

♦See  the  Patriot  July  4th,  1845. 


THE   END   AT   HAND. 


527 


that  outside  of  Toronto  there  were  not  a  dozen  readers  who  knew 
who  Mr.  Cay  ley  was. 

Towards  the  end  of  September  Mr.  Crofton,  the  editor  of  a 
Cobourg  paper,*  began  over  the  signature  of  "Uncle  Ben,"  to 
shell  the  Government.  The  author  was  found  out  and  given  a 
place.  This  did  not  stop  the  tendency  to  ratting.  A  stronger, 
though  not  a  more  justifiable  move,  wa„s  to  take  the  Government 
deposits  and  business  from  the  Bank  of  Montreal,  where  Mr. 
Holmes  was  cashier.  Mr.  Holmes  was  deprived  of  his  position 
whereupon  the  deposits  and  business  were  restored. 

The  end  of  Lord  Metcalfe's  troubles  in  Canada  and  in  the  world 
was  at  hand.  Disease  was  fighting  his  will  with  more  suc(;ess 
than  hostile  i)oliticians.  He  reflected  with  bitter  mortification 
that,  however  strong  his  resolution  and  however  clear  his  intellect, 
it  would  soon  be  physically  impossible  for  him  to  administer  with 
credit  and  efliciency  the  aflfairs  of  the  Government.  In  October 
he  wrote  to  Lord  Stanley  that  disease  had  affected  his  articula- 
tion and  all  the  functions  of  the  mouth.  There  was  a  hole  through 
the  cheek  into  the  interior  of  the  mouth.  His  doctors  warned 
him  that  it  would  soon  be  out  of  hh  power  to  perform  his  duties. 
If  the  season  were  not  so  far  advanced  he  would  request  his 
recall.  Sixteen  days  later  he  again  described  his  sufferings.  The 
disease  had  made  further  progress.  He  was  unable  to  entertain 
company  or  to  receive  visitors.  His  official  business  had  to  be 
conducted  at  his  country  house.  The  doctors  thought  it  would 
not  be  safe  that  he  .should  leave  Canada  in  the  winter,  and  the 
question  was,  whether  under  the  circumstances,  he  could  not  best 
perform  his  duty  to  his  country  by  working  on  at  the  head  of  the 
Government  to  the  best  of  his  ability.  He  clung  to  the  struggle 
to  the  last. 

At  this  time  the  public  were  aware  that  he  would  soon  depart 
from  among  them.  The  press,  in  a  most  dastardly  manner,  attacked 
him.  It  was  like  hi^  Ji'g  a  man  down.  Whatever  his  faults,  there 
he  was,  a  suffering,  nay,  a  dying  man.  Lord  Stanley  wrote  to  him 
in  a  tone  of  unfailirg  sympathy.  AmiJ  disappointment,  amid 
sickness,  in  that  darkened  room,  around  which  surged  truculent 


11 

ij 


*  The  Star. 


<       V 


528 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


Ht; 


abuse  and  coarse  invective,  the  letters  of  Lord  Stanley  must  have 
been  read  with  no  little  emotion.  On  the  2nd  of  Novembpv 
Lord  Stanley  wrote  enclosing  an  official  letter  accepting  his  re- 
-signation,  but  authorizing  him  to  make  use  of  it  or  not  as  he  saw 
iit.     The  Queen  st-nt  hira  the  kindest  messages. 

The  navigation  was  now  about  to  close.  Metcalfe  must  at  once 
decide  whether  he  would  remain  at  Montreal  or  go  to  England. 
The  question  presented  itself  to  his  mind  in  another  form  also : 
whether  he  should  go  away  from  a  scene  where  the  safety  and 
the  interests  of  the  Empire  seemed  to  be  identified  with  his  pre- 
sence. His  mind  was  no  longer  what  it  was  «''hen  he  was  the 
ruler  of  Delhi,  and  perhaps  at  no  time  was  his  enormous  self-con- 
fidence wholly  destitute  of  a  tendency  to  lean  on  others.  He  had 
written  from  the  Delhi  Residency  to  his  aunt,  approving  of  hor 
giving  up  the  idea  of  her  son's  appointment  to  India — Why  should 
she  make  herself  and  her  son  miserable  by  parting  never  to  meet 
again?  '' Take  my  situation,"  he  had  written  on  September  the 
10th,  1811 — "  I  have  been  more  than  eleven  years  from  England; 
and  it  will  be  certainly  moi'e  than  eleven  years  before  I  can  re- 
turn. In  these  twenty-two  or  twenty-four  years  the  best  part  of 
my  life  will  have  passed  away — that  part  in  which  all  my  feelings 
will  have  been  most  alive  to  the  different  sensations  of  happiness 
and  misery  arising  out  of  different  circumstances.  I  left  my  father 
and  mother  just  as  I  became  acquainted  with  them  as  a  man.  I 
have  not  once  had  their  cheering  smile  to  encourage  my  labours 
in  my  profession."  He  was  always  tantalized  by  visions  of  family 
peace  and  encouragement  irom  beloved  relatives.  All  his  life  he 
was  denied  this,  and  now  he  had  come  to  the  end.  With  all  his 
stern  sense  of  duty  and  capacity  for  labour  there  was  a  slight 
touch  of  the  lotus-eater  in  him.  Nor  does  he  ever  seem  to  have 
realized  the  persistent  tragedy  of  life. 

In  the  present  crisis  he  would  not  trust  his  own  judgment. 
He  invited  the  leading  members  of  his  Council  to  attend  him 
at  Monklands.  He  told  them  how  matters  stood  and  left  the 
issue  in  their  hands.  The  scene  in  that  darkened  room  could 
never  be  forgotten  by  those  who  assisted  at  it.  It  was  not 
merely  the  aged  cheek  of  Viger  that  was  bedewed  with  tears. 
Tears  rolled  down  the  stern  face  of  Draper,  then  in  the  prime  of 


DEPARTURE  OF   METCALFE. 


529 


life  and  intellect.  There  was  something  heroic  at  that  moment 
about  Metcalfe.  Wealthy,  distinguished,  a  Job  in  suffering,  he  was 
still  willing  to  remain  in  an  uncongenial  clime,  and  (as  he  deemed 
it)  an  ungrateful  colony,  to  die  at  his  post,  provided  he  could  serve 
his  country,  and  was  necessary  to  the  men  whom  he  had  with  so 
much  difficulty  got  around  him.  If  they  desired  hi,:^  continuance 
at  the  head  of  the  Government  he  would  remain.  If  the  cause 
they  had  at  heart,  for  which  they  had  fought  side  by  side  required 
it,  he  would  still  hold  on.  But  he  shook  his  head,  and  told  them 
of  the  Queen's  willingness  to  relieve  him.  They  knew  what  was 
the  opinion  of  the  doctor.  They  saw  what  a  wreck  was  before 
them.  They  could  come  to  but  one  decision.  They  had  learned 
to  love  him.  They  were  to  see  him  no  more.  He  was  not  merely 
an  object  of  devotion  but  of  pity.  They  advised  him  with  sobs 
to  seek  rest  and  restoration  in  his  native  land,  away  from  the 
cares  and  anxieties  of  a  trying  position.  On  the  25  th  November, 
he  embarked  for  England  without  popular  demonstration  of  any 
sort.     He  stole  away  without  a  cheer. 

He  arrived  in  England  on  the  16th  December,  1845.  Death 
was  now  merely  a  question  of  time.  A  private  residence  was 
secured  for  him  in  Mansfield  Street,  where  Sir  Benjamin  Brodie 
visited  him  daily.  He  had  hoped  to  take  his  seat  in  the  House  of 
Lords.  But  this  it  seemed  was  not  to  be.  Garter- King-of- 
Arms  wrote  him  inclosing  a  formula  of  the  ceremony.  Court 
robe-makers  wanted  to  wait  on  him.  A  sorrowful  smile  passed 
over  his  distorted  mouth  when  he  thought  of  the  dreaih  of  his 
young  ambition.  Never  for  a  second  was  he  free  from  pain  un- 
less when  drugged.  He  bore  his  sufferings  with  a  touching  for- 
titude. His  gracious  tenderness  of  manner  did  not  desert  him. 
Old  friends  wrote  to  him  that,  if  they  should  ever  be  afflicted, 
they  had  learned  from  him  a  grand  heroic  lesson,  and  beautiful 
as  it  was  great.  He  would  not  take  to  a  sick-room.  He  fnoved 
about  the  house  ;  received  visits  from  intimate  friends  ;  dictated 
letters ;  showed  interest  in  what  was  read  to  him  ;  took  his  drive 
in  the  Park  ;  his  bandaged  face  hidden  from  vulgar  gaze  behind 
the  curtains  of  the  closed  carriage.  He  was  deluged  by  letters 
and  receipts  and  prescriptions  from  every  quack  and  amateur  doc- 
tor in  the  country.  He  was  pestered  with  begging  letters.  These 
34 


580 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


he  did  not  consign  to  the  waste-paper  haskct.  He  had  inquiries 
instituted  into  each  case.  His  bountiful  hand  was  as  active  as 
ever.  His  nature  sensitive  as  ever  to  approval  and  sympathy, 
a  kindly  address  from  the  Oriental  Club,  which  proved  to 
have  been  a  wreath  cast  on  his  bier,  was  specially  grateful 
to  him.  Still  more  welcome,  if  possible,  was  an  ad<^ress  from 
the  people  of  Calcutta.  Though  aware  that  his  end  was  at 
hand,  he  wished  everything  to  go  on  as  if  he  wfcs  in  the  prime  of 
life.  He  had  a  number  of  cases  of  books  unpacked,  and  book- 
shelves run  up  to  the  very  attic  windows.  He  continued  to  con- 
verse cheerfully.  His  sense  of  humour  laughed  like  a  faun  in  the 
face  of  death.  He  was  more  uncomplaining  than  in  his  vigorous 
youth.  The  most  querulous  word  he  uttered  was  a  rei)ly  to  the 
remark,  "  I  hope  your  Lordship  has  enjoyed  your  drive  ;"  he 
cast  a  look  upward,  and  said,  "  Enjoyment  is  now  no  word  for 
me."  He  sent  parting  tokens  to  his  friends.  The  carriage 
now  began  to  go  away  from  the  door  as  it  came.  In  the  month 
of  April  he  retired  to  a  quiet  country  seat  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Basingstoke.  The  disease  caused  a  vein  in  the  neck  to  burst. 
The  hscmorrhage  was  alarming.  Mr.  Martin  was  summoned  by 
telegraph  from  London.  He  found  Lord  Metcalfe  in  his  sitting- 
room  exhausted  from  loss  of  blood.  His  attendants  and  family 
had  failed  to  overcome  his  stubborn  determination.  He  would 
not  suffer  himself  to  be  carried  to  his  sleeping  apartment.  "  I 
am  glad  you  are  come,"  he  said  to  Martin,  "  for  I  feel  rather  faint 
from  loss  of  blood.  They  wanted  to  carry  me  up  stairs,  but  to 
that  I  have  strong  objections — what  do  you  say  ?  "  Martin  said 
he  might  be  able  to  walk  up  to  his  bedroom.  "  That  i&  right,"  he 
said,  "  I  would  not  allow  them  to  carry  me."  He  took  a  number 
of  walking  sticks,  the  spoils  of  travel,  and  across  his  mind  flash- 
ed the  scenes  of  the  Mahrattas  war ;  the  campaigns  under  Lake 
and  Wellesley ;  that  struggle  with  robbers  on  his  way  from  Cal- 
cutta to  the  camp,  in  which  he  lost  the  tops  of  two  fingers,  the 
after  faintness  on  the  brink  of  the  broad  river,  on  the  skirt  of  the 
perilous  jungJ"  •  the  storming  the  fortress  of  Deeg,  and  himself  a 
mere  youth  ai.  a  civilian,  ^he  first  to  enter  the  breach,  the  praise 
of  a  great  soldier,  the  noble  title  of  the  "  Little  Stormer ;  "  the 
mission  to  Lahore  ;  the  Hyderabad^^Presidency ;  his  power  in  Cal- 


DEATH   OF   METCALFE. 


681 


nqiiiries 
ctivo  as 
mpathy, 
oved  to 
grateful 
HH  from 
was  at 
>rime  of 
1(1  book- 
to  con- 
n  in  the 
vigorous 
y  to  the 
Lve  ;"  he 
word  for 
carriage 
e  month 
)ourhood 
to  burst, 
loned  by 
J  sitting- 
d  family 
[e  would 
lent.  "  I 
;her  faint 
if  but  to 
irtin  said 
'ight,"  he 
I  number 
nd  flash- 
der  Lake 
Tom  Cal- 
igers,  the 
rt  of  the 
liimself  a 
be  praise 
ler ; "  the 
jr  in  Cal- 


cutta ;  the  landing  at  Fort-Henderson  in  Jamaica — cane  piece  &uC 
blue  mountain  and  tropical  sea  ;  Canada  with  its  Hashing  snows^ 
the  wampum  dyes  of  its  Indian  summer,  its  mediterranean  seas, 
its  c(ueenly  rivers,  its  imperial  cataracts  ;  all  this  with  the  labour 
and  glory  and  power  and  disappc  intment  of  his  life  came  before 
the  inner  eye  of  the  <lying  man.  Pie  selected  from  the  bundle  of 
sticks  one  he  had  cut  on  that  steep  bank  on  which  Brock's  monu- 
ment stands  sentinel,  which  looks  down  on  the  whirling  foam  of 
the  stream  rising  out  of  the  hell  of  rushing,  hissing  waters.  "  You 
keep  that,"  he  said  to  Martin.  Then  selecting  a  bamboo — called 
in  India  a  Penang  Lawyer,  which  he  had  brought  from  the  shores 
of  the  Sacred  River,  he  said,  "  Now  with  Martin  on  the  one  side, 
and  the  Penang  Lawyer  on  the  other,  I  think  we  shall  make  it 
out."  Thus  leaning  on  Martin  and  the  Penang  Lawyer  he  went  to 
his  room. 

The  wasted  ruin  of  himself,  he  still  experienced  a  vivid  interest 
in  Indian  affairs.  He  regretted  he  could  not  take  his  seat  in  the 
House  of  Lords,  to  N-^ote  in  favour  of  Peel's  Corn  Bill.  He  dictated 
a  letter  on  its  bearings  in  regard  to  Canada.  He  thought  Canada 
would  ultimately  derive  benefit  from  freedom  of  trade. 

From  the  time  his  malady  became  acute,  it  had  always  affected 
him  most  in  the  autumn  of  the  year.  With  the  close  of  the  month 
of  August  a  fever  set  in.  The  presentiment  of  near  death  was  in 
his  breast.  All,  or  nearly  all  whom  he  loved  were  around  him. 
There  was  one  absent,  little  Mary  Higginson,  the  daughter  of  his 
friend  and  companion,  Captain  Higginson.  "  I  think,  Higginson," 
he  said,  "  the  end  is  near.  I  desire  to  see  Mary  before  it  coiues. 
Hitherto,  on  her  account,  I  have  denied  myself  the  gratification  of 
her  company.  You  go  and  fetch  her  to  me."  When  she  came, 
two  days  afterwards,  the  meeting  quite  overcame  him.  When  he 
recovered,he  derived  much  comfort  from  the  society, the  sympathy, 
the  innocence  and  beauty  of  the  child.  She  spent  most  of  her 
timo  in  his  room,  reading  to  him  the  story  of  that  life  of  infinite 
power  and  gentleness  and  love,  on  the  crown  of  whose  glory  and 
mysterious  pangs  is  written  : — "  Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto 
Me,  and  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such  is  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven." 
At  the  end  of  a  week  he  said  to  her  father  :  "  I  cannot  have  many 
more  days  to  live.     You  had  better  take  Mary  away  that  the  dear 


f!  m 


532 


THK   miHHMAN   IN   CANADA, 


child  may  not  witness  the  event."  His  quick  sympathy,  his 
consideration  for  othcirs,  his  exquisite  urhaiiity  accompanie.l  liim 
to  the  very  ^^ate  of  death.  When  Captain  Hi^/^inson  returned, 
Mbtcali'e  was  no  more. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

On  Lord  Metcalfe's  departure, Lord  Cathcart  became  administrator 
of  the  Government.  On  the  20th  of  March,  184G,  Parliament  was 
opened,  and  on  the  23rd  the  answer  to  the  address  was  carried  by 
fcrty-three  to  twenty -s_  i  votes.  On  the  motion  of  Mr.  Solici- 
tor-General Sherwood,  that  the  Clergy  Reserves  should  be  handed 
over  to  the  Church  of  England,  the  Mii  stry,  though  sustained  by 
the  eloquence  of  Mr.  Draper,  was  defeated.  In  ji  House  of  fifty 
one,  the  GoM^rnment  could  only  get  fourteen  votes.  It  is  unne- 
cessary to  say  they  did  not  resign.  Again,  on  May  the  2!)th,  they 
were  beaten.  They  proposed  that  certain  cattle  should  be  brought 
into  Canada  from  the  United  States  free  of  duty.  Baldwin  and 
his  friends  made  a  vigorous  opposition  to  the  measure,  for  which 
the  farmers  of  Canada  were  called  on  to  thank  these  gentlemen.* 
The  session  closed,  leaving  the  Ministry  in  a  more  damaged  posi- 
tion than  ever.  Of  the  conduct  of  Baldwin  in  the  debate,  papers 
which  had  denounced  him  in  unsparing  terms  were  constrained  to 
speak  in  terms  of  eulogy  ."f*  Ministers  had  been  frequently  defeated ; 
King's  College,  the  Clergy  Reserves,  the  (Jivil  List,  were  all  made 
open  question?,  la  ohe  previous  Session,  provision  had  been  made 
for  the   payment  in  Upper  Canada  of  losses  consequent  on  the 


[AuTHOKiTlEa :—"  Letters  of  Lord  Elgin;"  "The  Men  of  '48,"  by  Col.  James 
McGee;  O'Neil  Daunt's  '"Ireland  and  Her  Agitators;"  Lord  Grey's  "Colonial 
Policy;"  "The  Great  Gamo."  republished  in  Canada,  with  an  introduction  by  a 
Canadian  (Nicholas  Flood  Davin) ;  Alison's  "History  ;"  Morgan's  "  Celebrities ; "  The 
Newspapers.] 

•  The  Globe. 

t  The  O'hniat,  Nov.  17th,  1846. 


THE  TORY  OOVKRNMI-INT   ASSAILED   BY  TOUIKH. 


533 


hy,  his 
1  him 
turned, 


listrator 
lent  was 
rried  by 
.  Solici- 
handed 
lined  by 
of  fifty 
is  unne- 
)th,  they 
brought 
win  and 
)r  which 
tlernen* 
^ed  posi- 
3,  papers 
'aiiied  to 
lef eated ; 
ill  made 
sen  made 
it  on  the 


jol.    James 

"  Colonial 

iction  by  a 

Hies ; "  The 


reltellion.  During  Lord  'lotcaife's  time,  a  Coinmission  was  issued 
to  inquire  into  the  losses  uf  Her  Majesty's  loyal  subjects  in  Lower 
Canada,  and  the  Commission  was  renewed  by  Lord  Cathcart.  On 
an  unsatisfactory  report  of  the  Couunission,  the  Ministry,  with  the 
view  of  conciliating  Lower  Canadian  support,  introduced  a  Bill 
dealing  with  the  losse.^.  This,  and  especially  the  eti'oits  made  by 
Draper,  to  get  the  assistance  of  Papineau,  l)y  recoi»imendi»»g  that 
his  application  for  ariears  of  salary  as  Speakt^r  of  the  Low«!r  (Can- 
adian House  of  Assi!nd)ly  should  bo  considcsred,  combined  with 
his  unconcealed  dissatisfaction  with  some  of  his  colleagues,  made 
him  unpopular  with  a  portion  of  his  own  party.  No  Minister  can 
satisfy  the  hunger  of  all  his  greedy  supporters,  and  the  Tories  were 
now  showing  Draper  their  tusks,  because  he  had  thrown  a  moi'sel 
or  two  to  the  rrore  modiirate  members  of  the  party.  In  July  there 
was  a  reconstruction  of  the  Ministry,  which  resulted  in  Mr.  Henry 
Sherwood  going  out,  and  Mr.  John  Hillyard  Cameron  coming  in 
as  Solicitor-General,  and  bringing  with  him  Mr.  W.  B.  Robinson. 
The  opinion  entertained  of  Cameron  mu^t  have  been  very  high, 
for  he  was  made  a  Ministtir  before  he  had  a  seat  in  Parliament. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  must  have  been  very  little  political 
talent  in  Parliament.  At  this  time  it  was  not  merely  the  Reform 
papers  which  assailed  the  meiubers  of  the  Government,  especially 
"  Sweet  William,"  the  "Artful  Dodger,"  the  "Giftec'  Draper,"  as  he 
was  variously  called,  the  ministerial  press  and  le-  ..ing  ministeiial 
supporters  assailed  them.  Their  conduct  was  described  by  their  own 
journals  as  calculated  to  shake  the  confidence  of  their  friends.* 
Measures  had  been  so  dealt  with  that  the  Ministry  was  no  more 
responsible  for  them  than  the  Opposition.*!*  Other  men  had  been  in 
office,  but  Mr.  Baldwin  had  been  in  power.  The  Ministry  was  an 
anomaly,  a  thing  of  shreds  and  patches,^  to  which  it  was  barely 
possible  the  introduction  of  fresh  material  would  bring  more 
vigour  and  political  wisdom.§  A  momentary  aid  was  purchased 
at  the  cost  of  principle  by  a  Government,  which,  unfortu' ately. 


*  Montreal  Courier,  July  2Srd. 
t  Montreal  Gazette,  July  21. 
t  Woodstock  ffei-ald,  July  24th. 
§  Kingston  Kew»,  July  24th. 


534 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


W8.S  not  above  suspicion  nor  free  from  intrigue,*  and  Mr.  Draper 
and  hia  friends,  who  had  long  ceased  to  care  for  reputation,  held 
their  officos  for  the  sake  of  their  salaries.*!*  Mr.  Go  wan,  Mr.  Mof- 
f  xtt,  Mr.  Henry  Sherwood  (the  late  Solicitor- General)  and  others, 
were  unsparing  in  their  criticism.  When  the  boys  of  Upper  Can- 
ada College  gave  Mr.  John  Hillyard  Cameron  a  dinner,  a  bitter 
article  appeared  in  one  of  the  cleverest  papers  of  that  day,  saying 
that  the  new  Solicitor-General  was  evidently  to  contribute  the 
virtue  of  the  reconstituted  administration,  which  was  to  resemble 
a  parish  pudding,  having  a  little  of  everything.  At  one  time,  in- 
deed, it  was  intended  that  all  the  cardinal  and  other  virtues 
.  hould  be  repres«^nted,  beginning  with  candour,  in  tiie  person  of 
Mr.  Dra,per,  and  ending  with  liberality,  in  the  person  of  Mr.  Robin- 
son. Mr.  Cayley  was  to  personify  humility,  and  Mr.  Smith,  hav- 
ing neither  virtues  nor  vices,  was  to  be  justified  as  the  incarna- 
tion of  constitutional  law.T 

On  November  the  14th,  the  Reformers  of  West  Halton  enter- 
tained the  Hon.  Robert  Baldwin  at  a  public  dinner.  Two  days 
afterwards  the  Reformers  of  Norfolk  paid  him  a  similar  compli- 
ment. 

Sick  of  public  life,  Mr.  Draper,  it  was  well  known,  had  deter- 
mined to  go  on  the  bench.  There  was  some  uiscussion  as  to  who 
should  lead  the  Conservative  party  in  that  event.  There  could 
be  no  greater  evidence  of  the  ability  and  precocious  statesmanship 
of  Mr.  John  A.  Macdonald  than  that  he  should  have  been  one  of 
the  persons  who?e  claims  were  discussed. 

A  new  hope  came  to  the  Baldwinites  by  the  advent  of  a  man 
whose  conduct  in  Canada,  had  he  distinguished  himself  nowhere 
else,  would  have   entitled   him   to  the  praise  of  the  historian. 


*  H.i"  lilton  Spectator, 
t  Brit's-h  Whii/. 

t  The  Times  of  Montreal,  a  Conservative  i)aijer.     The  remarks  of  the  Times  were 
suggested  bj  J.  Hiiiyard  Cameron,  concluding  his  speech  with  the  lines — 

'*  If  I'm  traduced  by  tongues,  which  neither  know 
My  facilities  or  person,  yet  will  be 
The  chroniclers  of  my  doing— 
'TIj  but  the  fate  of  place,  and  the  rough  brake 
That  virt'ie  must^o  through." 


■■•p7^'lf7K»r- 


1 


LORD   ELGIN. 


535 


James,  the  eighth  Earl  of  Elgin  and  twelfth  Earl  of  Kincardine, 
was  born  in  London  on  the  20th  July,  1811.  His  father  was  the 
hero  of  the  Elgin  marbles.  Lord  Byron's  satire  puts  a  curse  into 
the  mouth  of  Pallas  which  happily  was  not  fulfilled,  and  the  future 
Governor-General  of  Canada  gave  promise  at  an  early  age  of  the 
Urge  gifts  which  illustrated  his  manhood.  At  Eton  ho  was  the 
contemporary  of  Lord  Canning,  Lord  Dalhousie,  the  Duke  of  New- 
castle, Sidney  Herbert,  and  Mr.  Gladstone.  At  Oxford  he  took  a 
first  class  in  classics.  He  and  Mr.  Gladstone  read  Plato  and  the 
prose  works  of  Milton  together.  Having  left  the  University,  he 
divided  his  time  between  disentangling  the  family  property  from 
its  embarrassments,  commanding  a  troop  of  yeomanry,  presiding 
at  farmers'  dinners,  speaking  on  the  same  platforms  as  Dr.  Chal- 
mers in  favour  of  church  extension.  During  this  period  he  used 
to  take  long  solitary  rides  over  field  and  fell,  beating  out  his 
thoughts  into  sonnets  and  dreaming  of  greatness. 

In  1840  he  became  heir  to  the  earldom,  and  the  following  year 
married.  A  general  election  took  place  in  July,  1841,  and  he 
stood  for  Southampton.  He  was  returned  at  the  head  of  the  poll. 
At  a  banquet  where  he  was  entertained  he  gave  an  admirable  ac- 
count of  his  political  views.  "  I  am  a  Conservative,"  he  said,  "  not 
upon  principles  of  exclusionism — not  from  narrowness  of  view,  or 
illiberality  of  st^ntiment — but  because  I  believe  that  our  admir- 
able constitution,  on  principles  more  exalted  and  under  sanctions 
more  holy  than  those  which  Owenism  or  Socialism  can  boast,  pro- 
claims between  men  of  all  classes  in  the  body  politic,  a  sacred 
bond  of  brotherhood  in  the  recognition  of  a  common  warfare  here 
and  a  common  hope  hereafter.  I  am  a  Conservative,  not  because 
I  am  adverse  to  improvement,  not  because  I  am  unwilling  to  re- 
pair what  is  w  .tea,  or  to  supply  what  is  defective  in  the  political 
fabric,  but  b  cse  I  am  satisfied  that  in  order  to  improve  effectu- 
ally you  must  be  resolved  most  religiously  to  preserve."  Just  as 
he  was  giving  pj  omise  of  distinction  in  the  House  of  Commons 
the  death  of  his  father  removed  him  to  the  House  of  Lords,  where 
the  foundation  of  a  great  political  career  can  niver  be  laid.  When, 
therefore,  .n  1842,  Lord  Stanley  ottered  him  the  p'^stof  Governor 
of  Jamaica  he  had  no  temptation  to  refuse  it.  He  played  a  diffi- 
cult part  well  and  returned  to  England  in  184C,  on  leave,  to  find 


630 


TIJE   IIUSHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


the  Colonial  Office  ruled  by  his  old  schoolfellow,  Mr,  Gladstone, 
into  'rt  hose  hands  the  seals  passed  on  the  break  up  of  the  Tory 
party  in  the  spring.  Mr.  Gladstone  was  soon  succeeded  l^y  Lord 
Gi'ey  who  having  failed  to  induce  I^oid  Elgin  to  retain  the  govern- 
ment of  Jamaica,  offered  him  that  of  Canada.  His  first  wife  died 
in  1.843.  He  now  married  Lady  Mary  Louisa  Lambton,  daughter 
of  the  first  Eail  of  Durham,  and  in  the  early  days  of  the  year  1847 
they  sailed  for  the  American  continent.  His  second  marriage  to 
a  child  of  the  man  who  had  embodied  Baldwin's  views  in  an 
elaborate  report,  would  not  diminish  his  desire  to  carry  out  con- 
stitutional principles. 

He  arrived  at  Montreal  on  the  20th  of  January,  1847.  He 
agreed  to  make  his  entrance  into  Montreal  on  the  following  day. 
Accordingly  he  got  into  a  ona-horse  sleigh  and  drove  to  the  en- 
trance of  the  town  where  a  procession  was  formed,  in  which  the 
various  societies  took  part.  It  was  in  his  favour  that — unlike  his 
predecessors — he  was  a  man  in  the  vigour  of  early  middle  age, 
that  he  was  the  husband  of  Lord  Durham's  daughter,  that  he  spoke 
with  fluency  and  grace.  There  was,  however,  iimeh  to  discpiiet  an 
observant  Governor.  The  Ministry  was  as  weak  as  a  lot  of  spilled 
peas,  and  when  a  change  of  Administration  occurred  to  His  Ex- 
cellency as  a  probability,  he  reflected  that  there  was  no  real  political 
life,  only  that  pale  and  distorted  reflection  of  it  which  is  apt  to 
exist  in  a  colony,  before  it  has  learned  to  look  within  itself  for  the 
centre  of  power.  Parties  formed  themselves,  not  on  the  base  of 
principle  but  with  reference  to  petty  local  and  personal  interests. 

Ho  would  have  been  willing  to  njeet  the  Asseud)ly  at  once.  But 
for  this  his  Ministers  were  too  weak.  These  Ministers  were  con- 
vinced that  the  regular  Opposition  would  resist  whatever  they  pro- 
posed, and  that  any  fragments  of  their  own  side  who  hap))ened 
not  to  be  able  to  get  what  they  wanted  would  join  the  Opposition. 
When  he  advised  them  to  go  down  to  Parliament  with  good  meas- 
ures and  the  [)restige  of  a  new  Governor,  when  he  bade  them  rely 
on  the  support  of  public  opinion,  they  smiled  and  shook  their 
heads.  They  were  not  credulous  of  the  existence  of  such  a  con- 
trolling power.  Their  faith  in  ai)peals  to  selfish  and  sordid  motives 
was  unqualifie<l.  Nevertluiless  the  Governor  knew  that  as  a  states- 
man he  must  take  the  world  as  he  found  it.     There  is  no  use  in 


RK-OONSTITUTION   OF   MINISTRY. 


537 


looking  for  five  legs  of  mutton  from  ft  Hhecp,  If  new  olemcnts 
of  strength  were  rc(iuire<l  to  enable  the  Government  to  go  on,  he 
thought  the  French  .should  have  an  opportunity  <<f  entering  the 
MiniHtry  in  the  first  in.stance.  He  showed  his  forei^ight  by  <leter- 
mining  to  aim  at  splitting  the  French  into  a  Liberal  and  a  Con- 
servative party.  If  this  split  took  place  tJie  national  element 
would  be  merged  in  the  political. 

In  the  months  of  A})ril  and  May  the  tottering  Ministry  n)a<le 
desperate  efi^brts  to  strengthen  itself,  but  all  persuasion  faile<l  with 
French  leaders  of  the  least  influence.  Mr.  Draper  and  Mi-.  Smith 
slipped  into  judgeships,  and  Messrs.  Daly  and  (Jayley  sought  to 
re-constitute  the  Ministry.  Mr.  John  Hillyard  Cameron  wa.s  ottered 
the  post  of  Attorney-General  forW<jstern(yanada.,and  the  leadership 
in  the  House  of  Assembly.  On  going  to  Montreal,  however,  where 
he  found  Henry  Sherwood  raging  at  what  he  considered  the  sliglit 
placed  on  him,  M..  Cameron  detertuined  to  renmin  Soiicitor- 
Oeneral  and  let  the  position  of  leader  be  an  open  (question.  Mr. 
William  Badgloy,  a  judge  i*i  one  of  the  Bankiiipt  Courts,  was  in- 
duced to  take  the  Attorn(!y-G(!ncralship,  whereupon  M.  Taschereau, 
the  Solicitor-General,  who  felt  that  a  slur  had  been  cast  upon  him, 
threw  up  his  ottice  and  expressed  his  determination  to  go  into  Op- 
position— a  danger-  which  was  avoided  by  giving  the  angry  lawyer 
a  Circuit-Judg<!ship.  IVIr.  Morris,  having  vacated  the  Receiver- 
Generalship  to  succeed  M.  Viger  as  President  of  tne  Council,  Mr. 
Johr  A.  Macdonald,  "  a  young  Kingston  lawyiir,"  became  Receiver- 
General.  Against  the  new  Minister  m  ere  brought  the  danming 
charges  of  youth  :  that  during  two  scissions  he  had  scarcely  opened 
his  mouth — blessed  example  for  the  present  day  if  men  would  only 
follow  it ! — and  that  he  was  a  third-class  lawyer,  who  knew  nothing 
about  fiscal  attkirs. 

Lord  Elgin's  diagnosis  of  the  diseased  condition  of  things  in 
his  tirne  is  worthy  of  .^(udy.  Several  cases  co-operated  to  give  to 
personal  and  party  interest  an  over-weening  importance.  I'hcre 
were  no  real  grievances  to  stir  the  depths  of  tlie  popular  mind. 
The  Canadian  people  were  a  Comfortable  peo[)le  with  plenty  to 
eat  and  drink.  Envy  was  not  excited  by  a  privileged  class. 
There  were  no  taxes  to  irritate.  It  wouhl  b(j  an  ungrateful  fhing 
to  view  with  the  least  regret  such  blesHin!!;H,  which  neverthelcsR 


ml 


538 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


accounted  for  the  selfishness  of  public  men  and  their  indiiference 
to  the  higher  aims  of  statesmanship.  The  po})ular  bodies  consist- 
ing of  a  small  n  umber  of  members  were  unfavourable  to  high 
principle  and  feeling  in  statesmen.  A  majority  of  ten  in  an  as- 
sembly of  seventy  might  be,  according  to  Cocker,  equivalent  to  a 
majority  of  one  hundred  in  an  assembly  of  seven  hundred.  In 
practice  it  was  far  other  ivise.  A  defection  of  two  or  three  put 
the  Administration  in  peril.  Hence  the  perpetual  patch-work  and 
trafficking  to  secure  this  vote  and  that,  which  so  engrossed  the 
time  and  thoughts  of  Mrnistei-s  that  they  had  no  leisure  for  mat- 
ters of  greater  moment.  His  course  was  under  the  circumstances 
clearly,  frankly,  and  without  reserve  to  give  his  Ministers  all  con- 
stitutional support.  In  return  he  expected  them  to  carry  out  his 
views  to  the  best  of  their  ability  for  the  maintenance  of  British  con- 
nexion. He  never  concealed  from  them  that  he  intended  to  do 
notjjng  which  would  prevent  him  from,  working  cordially  with 
their  opponents  if  they  were  forced  on  him.  That  Ministers  and 
opponents  should  occasionally  change  places  was  the  very  essence 
of  our  constitutional  svstem.  Nor  was  it  the  least  conservative 
clement  it  contained.  Subjecting  all  sections  of  politicians  in  their 
tui'n  to  official  responsibilities  obliged  heated  partisans  to  place 
feome  restraint  on  passion,  and  to  confine  the  patriotic  zeal  of  the 
cold  shade  within  the  bounds  of  decency.  To  secure  these  advan- 
tages it  was  indispensable  that  the  head  of  the  government  should 
show  that  he  had  confidence  in  the  loyalty  of  all  the  influential 
parties  with  which  he  had  to  deal.  What  trouble  and  failure 
Lord  Metcalfe  might  liave  saved  himself  had  he  only  taken  this 
wise,  logicoi,  and  constitutional  view.  All  Lora  Elgin's  letters 
are  instinct  with  the  conviction  that  the  remedy  for  most  of  the 
evils  he  regretted  was  to  be  found  in  the  principles  uf  govern- 
ment, first  enunciated  by  Baldwin  and  put  in  an  authoritative  shape 
bv  Lord  Durham. 

Parliament  was  opene<l  at  Montreal  on  the  2nd  of  June  by  Lord 
Elgin.  In  his  Speech  there  was  not  much  to  provoke  adverse 
criticism.  The  Imperial  Government  was  prepared  t-o  sui render 
to  colonial  authorities  the  control  of  the  Post-office  Department. 
The  House  was  empowered  by  Imperial  .statute  to  re})ual  the 
dilferent  duties  in  favour  of  British  manufactures.     To  provide 


HB 


.    ! 


DRAPER  S   FAREWELL. 


539 


increased  warehouse  facilities  for  inland  ports  had  become  a  mat- 
ter of  immediate  necessity.  Reference  was  made  to  the  survey 
of  the  proposed  rail-road  from  Quebec  to  Halifax,  to  the  copy- 
right question,  and  to  the  preparations  for  the  immense  immigra- 
tion which  was  imminent.  If  the  debate  had  been  at  once  raised 
and  the  division  had  been  immediately  taken  there  would  have 
been  a  tie  and  the  casting  vote  of  the  Speaker  would  have  caused 
the  fall  of  the  Ministry.  Sherwood,  John  A,  Macdonald,  and 
Badgley  were  absent  for  re-election.  There  were  two  seats  vacant, 
Dorchester  and  London.  The  answer  to  the  addre.ss  was  put  otf 
by  the  Government  as  long  as  possible.  When  at  last  it  came 
on  the  Opposition  led  by  Baldwin  made  a  vigorous  attack  on  the 
Ministry.  Mr.  Draper  had  been  offered  a  judicial  appointment, 
but  put  off  accepting  it  until  after  the  division.  The  discussion 
was  kept  up  until  Mr.  Badgley  was  elected.  When  he  entered 
the  iiouse  on  the  eleventh  night  of  the  session  the  division  was 
taken.  Mr.  Badgley  theoretically  knew  nothing  of  the  discussion. 
He  voted  however  as  a  matter  of  course  with  his  colleagues. 

Mr.  Draper  closed  the  debate  and  made  his  farewell  speech. 
On  the  tirst  day  of  the  session  he  spoke  from  the  independent 
seats,  but  now  he  spoke  from  his  old  place  on  the  ministerial 
benches.  In  his  speech  he  justified  Baldwin's  resignation,  for  he 
pronounced  Responsible  Government  to  be  the  only  system  on 
which  Canada  could  be  j/ovemed.  He  had  the  audacity  to  as- 
severate that  on  that  })rin(iple  he  held  office  under  Lord  Metcalfe. 
He  avowed  his  conviction  that  government  patronage  should  be 
used  for  strengthening  tlie  hands  of  the  Adjiiinistratation  of  the 
day,  and  that  for  all  appointments  including  the  militia  appoint- 
ments the  Government  wore  responsible.  Had  the  Governor 
General  appointed  any  gentleman  to  tl  ■  Deputy  Adjutant  Gener- 
alship without  consulting  him  while  he  was  his  confidential 
adviser  he  could  not  have  thrown  off  his  responsibility,  he  would 
have  instantly  resigned  his  office.  This  statement  was  received 
with  cheers  and  cries  of  "hear!  hear!"  from  the  Opposition. 
"  Hear !  hear !  or  not "  he  cried,  "  that  was  my  position  as  to 
militia  and  all  other  appointments.  It  is  the  first  time  1  stated 
it  publicly,  but  I  had  no  hesitation  in  doing  it  in  the  proper 
place."     The  cheei  '.ng  again  burst  forth  from  the  Opposition.     Mr. 


'i 
i 


,ij. 

'<«!< 


540 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


(»  P'. 


.j' 


Draper's  farewell  was  a  satire  on  Lord  Metcalfe  and  a  eulogy  by 
implication  on  Mr.  Baldwin. 

On  a  division  Baldwin's  amendment  was  negatived  by  a  major- 
ity of  two.  Each  clause  of  the  answer  of  the  Government  was 
voted  on,  and  with  the  same  result.  On  the  yeas  and  nays  being 
called  and  the  name  of  Draper  appearing  among  the  yeas,  Mr. 
Aylwin,  amid  great  confusion,  asked  him  whether  he  had  not 
accepted  a  judgeship.  Dominick  Daly  said  Mr.  Draper  had  not 
accepted  a  judgeship.  Mr.  Aylwin  insisted  on  knowing  whether 
Mr.  Draper  had  not  publicly  stated  that  he  had  accepted  a  Queen's 
Bench  Judgeship  and  would  preside  at  the  next  assize.  Mr.  Draper 
now  rose  and  said  he  would  not  answer  that  question.  He  had 
not  accepted  the  vacant  Queen's  Bench  Judgeship,  V>ut  he  would 
do  so  within  twelve  hours.  This  declaration  was  received  with 
uproar  on  the  opposition  benches. 

Notwithstanding  the  weakness  of  the  Ministry,  a  fair  share  of 
business  was  got  through,  and  when  the  session  terminated  on 
the  28th  of  July,  it  was  found  that  one  hundrer  and  ten  Acts  had 
been  passed.  But  the  Ministry  had  sustained  serious  defeats  and 
everything  pointed  to  a  dissolution  and  a  general  election.  Both 
parties  made  vigorous  preparations  for  the  coming  stru,  gle,  and 
throughout  the  country  for  four  or  five  months  nothing  was  done 
but  to  hold  convcmtions,  nominate  candidates,  start  newspapers, 
agitate  and  organize.  Mr.  Hincks  who  had  paid  a  visit  to  his 
native  countiy,  was,  in  his  absence,  nominated  for  Oxford. 

Parliament  was  dissolved  on  the  lOth  of  Deceiuber,  the  writs 
being  made  returnable  for  the  24"^!  of  January.  The  Baldwinites 
swept  everything  before  them.  Hincks  was  returned  for  Oxford, 
Baldwin  ^br  the  fourth  Riding  of  York  ;  Blake  was  returned  for 
the  third  Riding  ;  for  Montreal,  L.  H.  Lafontaino  and  Benjamin 
Holmes.  Among  the  Reformers  we  see  Joseph  Cauchon  retuiTiea 
for  Montmorenci.  The  Reformers  or  Baldwinites  Cf)unted  on  fifty- 
seven  votes,  the  Tories  having  only  twenty-seven  Of  coui'se,  our 
old  friend  Dominick  Daly  made  his  appearance,  for  the  faithful 
Megantic  had  again  returned  him. 

Meanwhile  an  immense  emigration  had  poured  into  the  coun- 
try. The  Irish  famine  drove  the  half  dying  peasant  across  the 
Atlantic  only  to  find  a  grave  on  Canadian  soil.     One  pallid  army 


A    FAMISHED   IMMIGRATION. 


541 


after  another  Htopped  at  Grosse  Isle,  and  there  leaving'  their  dead 
behind  them  jmshed  on  in  overcrowded  steaniei's  to  the  western 
towns  and  villages.  A  peasant,  Mr.  MeGraa,  who  is  now  a  rich 
farmer  in  Bentinck,  who  worked  in  Ireland  for  a  miserable  pit- 
tance breaking  stones,  who  worked  afterwards  on  Grosse  Isle, 
writes  to  me  in  bad  spelling,  but  vigorous  language,  that  you 
would  have  thought  the  poor  people  were  the  ghosts  of  Irish  emi- 
grants, not  the  emigrants  themselves. 

Lord  Elgin  wrote  home  to  Lord  Grey  that  the  immigration 
was  a  frightful  scourge,  that  thousands  upon  thousands  of  poor 
wretches  were  arriving,  incapable  of  work,  and  scattering  the  seeds 
of  disease  and  death.  Already  five  or  six  hundred  or})hans  had  ac- 
cumulated at  Montreal.  The  Canadian  people  behaved  well  in 
the  face  of  this  in-coming  tide  of  want  and  misery.  Irishmen 
should  always  remember  that,  when  the  doors  of  the  United  States 
were  closed  against  the  sick  and  miserable  of  their  countrymen, 
Canada's  gates  were  open.* 

Before  the  starving  emigrants  touched  these  shores,  the  heart 
of  the  people  of  Canada  went  out  in  sympathy  to  Ireland,  over 
which  the  pall  of  famine  was  spread,  where  the  coroners  were 
exhausted,  their  verdicts  being  in  all  cases,  "  Death  from  starva- 
tion," and  large  sums  were  collected  to  relieve  the  distress  in 
Ireland  and  in  the  islands  of  Scotland. 

In  February,  a  meeting  was  held  at  the  old  City  Hall  at  Toronto 
to  devise  measures  for  the  relief  of  Ireland.  The  Hall  was  tilled  to 
overflowing.  Ladies  were  numerous,  as  they  always  are  wlienever 
there  is  any  good  to  be  done.  The  Hon.  Robert  Baldwin  oceu- 
pied  the  chair,  and  among  the  speakers  who  moved  resolutions 
and  urged  the  claims  of  the  suffering  Irish  on  the  benevolence  of 
their  fellow-countrymen  were  the  Rev.  Dr.  McCanl,  Mr.  John 
Duggan,  Mr.  Skeffington  Connor,  Mr.  George  Duggan,  Mr.  (now 
Chief  Justice)  Hagarty,  wiio  spoke  Avith  great  feeling  and  elo- 


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*  By  the  laws  of  the  State  of  New  York,  the  shipowners  impi^riing  emifn'ants  were 
bound  to  enter  into  bonds  which  were  forfeited  when  any  of  thete  became  chargeable 
on  the  public.  It  is  not  wholly  true,  therefore,  what  one  oi  the  United  States  poet* 
says  :— 

"  For  her  free  latch-string  never  was  drawn  in 
Against  the  poorest  child  of  Adam's  kin." 


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542 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN    CANADA. 


quence,  the  Hon.  R.  B.  Sullivan,  Dr.  Hayes,  and  Colonel  Baldwin. 
A  large  committee  was  appointed,  in  which  the  names  of  Bald- 
win, Blake,  Bradley,  Beaty,  Bernard,  Bowes,  Brown,  Duggan, 
Dunh'vy,  Daly,  Davis,  Fr;.;nch,  Fitzgerald,  Fitzgiblwn,  J.  W. 
Gwynue,  Clarke  Gamble,  and  George  Homck,  are  found  among 
many  others.  A  large  subscription  made  up  of  donations  of  £26, 
£15,  and  the  like  was  taken  on  the  spot. 

It  was  from  such  distress  as  ( -onnor  described  that  the  crowded 
shiploads  of  miserable  emigrants  sailed  from  the  Loch  of  Belfast, 
from  Dublin  Bay,  from  (^^ork  Harbour,  from  the  Shannon.  The 
Roman  Catholic  Archbishop  Power  fell  a  victim  here  to  the  emi- 
grant fever. 

To  return  to  politics.  The  (question  now  was,  what  would  the 
Ministry  do  ?  Would  they  resign  before  meeting  Parliament  ?  Or 
would  they,  as  they  seemed  bound  to  do,  meet  Parliament,  and 
offer  such  explanations  as  the  circumstances  suggested. 

Parliament  Uict  on  the  25th  February,  1848.  The  Hon.  W. 
Cay  ley  proposed  Sir  Allan  MacNab  as  Chairman,  and  Colonel 
Prince,  the  father  of  Captain  Prince,  and  who  was  accustomed  t  • 
describe  himself  as  "  an  English  gentleman,  ij<-'conded  the  motion. 
It  was  lost  by  a  majority  of  thirty-live  in  a  house  of  seventy-three. 
The  Reformers  were  elated.  Morin  was  then  chosen  unanimously. 
The  "  editorial  "  con-esponden  ^  of  a  Toronto  paper — no  other,  I 
believe  ,Jthan  Mr.  George  Brown — proceeded  to  quiz  the  Ministers 
in  a  humorous  manner.* 

The  Ministry  which  had  struggled  so  hard  to  keep  in  power, 
fell  at  last.  Immediately  after  the  division  on  the  address  on 
Saturday,  the  4th  day  of  March,  they  tendered  their  resignations 
in  a  body,  and  Baldwin  and  Lafontainc  were  entrusted  with  the 
work  of  forming  a  government.  Mr.  Blake  was  out  of  the  coun- 
try at  this  time,  but  on  his  return  he  was  made  Solicitor-General 
(West) ;  Baldwin  being  Attorney-General ;  Lafontaine,  Attorney- 
General  (East) ;  Aylwin,  Solicitor-General  (East) ;  Mr.  Sullivan, 


•  Among  the  quizzed  was  .John  A.  Macdonald.  He  was  told  to  go  back  to  Kingston, 
for  his  '*  stories  have  lost  the  prestige  with  which  the  rollicking  boys  about  town  re- 
ceived them,  and  when  people  ask  you  ten  years  hence  how,  in  the  name  of  commuu 
sense,  ^ou  got  '  Hon.'  attached  to  your  name,  you  can  scratch  your  wig,  and  tell  them 
if  you  can." 


. 


NEW  MINISTRY. 


64» 


became  Secretary  of  the  Province  of  Canada;  Hincks,  Insp(!ctor- 
Oeneral  of"  Public  Accounts  ;  James  Lesslie,  President  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  the  Executive  Council ;  Caron,  Spcak&r  of  the  Legislative 
Council  ;  James  Harvey  Price,  Commissioner  of  Crown  Lands ; 
Viger,  Receiver-General ;  Tache,  Chief  Commissioner  of  Public 
Works;  Mr.  Cameron,  Assistant-Commissioncn-.  This  was  one  of  the 
ablest  Cabinets  which  has  ever  directed  our  affairs.  The  triumph 
of  the  principle  of  Responsible  GovernTucnt,  after  a  gallant  struggle 
of  more  than  ten  years,  conducted  ahnost  wholly  by  Irish  leaders, 
was  now  complete. 

A  few  days  after  the  change  of  Ministry,  news  reached  Cannda 
of  the  revolution  of  February,  in  Paris.  Lord  Elgin  rejoiced  that 
he  had  committed  the  flag  of  Britain  to  the  custody  of  those  who 
were  supported  by  the  large  majority  of  the  representatives  of  the 
people.  There  were  not  wanting  persons  who  might  have  sought 
to  turn  that  news  to  account,  and  make  it  an  opportunity  for 
seditious  harangues. 

The  repeal  movement  in  Ireland  threatened  at  one  time  to  give 
trouble  to  Canada.  In  June,  the  walls  of  Montreal  were  full  of 
placards  calling  an  Irish  Republican  meeting.  A  Mr.  O'Connor, 
who  represented  himself  to  be  editor  of  a  New  York  paper,  and  a 
member  of  the  Irish  Republican  Union,  was  to  speak.  He  was, 
meanwhile,  busy  getting  persons  to  give  him  their  names  to  pro- 
pose and  second  resolutions.  He  tried  the  tempers  of  Irish  mem- 
bers of  the  legislature,  and  asked  a  member  of  the  Opposition 
to  give  him  assistance.  Before  September  there  would  be  a  general 
rising  in  Ireland.  The  body  to  which  O'Connor  belonged  had 
been  instituted  to  abet  the  movement.  The  great  mass  of  the 
people  of  the  States,  according  to  O'Connor,  supported  it.  Funds 
were  forthcoming  in  plenty.  Arms  were  being  sent  across  the 
Atlantic.  Soldiera  were  hastening  to  Ireland  to  act  as  drill  sergeants 
in  the  clubs.  An  American  General  just  returned  from  Mexico, 
was  to  take  command  at  the  proper  time.  From  seven  hundred 
to  eight  hundred  thousand  men,  a  force  with  which  Great  Britain 
could  not  cope,  would  be  brought  in  the  field.  When  the  English 
had  been  expelled,  the  Irish  would  be  called  on  to  determine  whe- 
ther the  Queen  was  to  be  the  bead  of  the  polit'.cal  system,  or  not. 
O'Connor  had  3ome  to  Canada  to  arrange  for  a  diversion  here,  at 


544 


THE   1K18UMAN    IN   CANADA. 


tho  time  of  the  outbreak  in  Iroluiid.  Fifty  thou.sarid  Irish  wore 
ready  to  inarch  into  (/'anada  at  a  moinont','  notice.  There  was  no 
HacriHce  which  O'CJonnor  and  thouHands  who  felt  with  him,  were 
not  ready  to  make  if  they  could  only  huml)le  En;:jland  and  reduce 
her  to  a  tldrd-rate  |)ower.  Mark  this,  credulous  Jrislimen  and 
Irishwomen,  who  trust  sue!)  wind-ha|,js  and  subscribe  your  money 
to  enable  thism  to  play  the  travelling  conspirator.  Five  minutes 
after  the  discreet  (/(jonnor  had  told  all  this  to  an  M.P.P.  (whoso 
Hecret  went  down  to  the  grave  witli  Lord  Elgin),  that  M.l'.P.  had 
put  Lord  Elgin  in  possession  of  all  the  consj)irator's  great  schemes! 

The  place  originally  selected  for  this  monster  meeting  was  the 
Bonsecours  Markcit,  a  covered  building  under  the  control  of  the 
Corporati(jn.  Tlie  Government  sent  for  the  Mayor,  and  told  him 
tliey  considered  it  unbecoming  tliat  he  sljould  give  tlie  room  for 
such  n  pur"j)ose.  'I'he  Mayor  thereupon  withdrew  his  permission, 
Tlie  leaders  of  the  movement  then  fixed  on  an  open  space  near  tho 
centre  of  the  town  for  their  gathering. 

The  meeting  took  place  on  the  17th  of  July,  and  proved  a  com- 
plete failure.  The  Irish  of  Montreal  liad  more  sen.se  than  Mr. 
O'Cornior  gave  them  credit  for.  Not  a  single  man  of  importance 
among  the  Repeal  party  attended.  Some  Imndreds  of  persons 
went  to  hear  the  speeches,  but  were  dispersed  by  a  timely  thun- 
der shower,  O'Connor  was  of  c(mrse  violent.  Had  he  not  taken 
liimself  off,  lie  would  pr(jbaV)ly  have  boon  arrested. 

In  the  autumn,  the  (Jove^nment,  the  Legislative  Council,  the 
country  lost  the  great  services  of  Sullivan  as  a  politician.  When 
the  BaMwin  Government  resigned  office,  Mr,  Sullivan  resumed 
the  practice  of  his  profession  in  Toronto,  and  no  stronger  evidence 
could  be  given  of  the  public  appreciation  of  his  abilities  than  the 
success  which  he  attained  He  obtained  almost  inmiediately  an 
extensive  practice  in  tho  Up[)er  Canada  Courts,  and  wa.^  likewise 
much  occupied  in  the  j)olitical  contests  which  woio  carried  on  dur- 
ing that  whole  [)eriod  of  intense  excitement  with  unabated  zeal 
by  the  Reformers.  It  was  at  this  time  that  Mr.  Sullivan  wrote 
the  letter-  under  the  nom  de  plume  of  "  Legion,"  in  reply  to  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Ryerson,  who  undertook  the  defence  of  Sir  Charles  Met- 
.calfe.  Those  letters,  which  produced  a  considerable  effect  at  the 
time,  have  been  recalled  to    the  memory  of  those  living  during 


DKATrr   OF   SULLIVAN. 


545 


, 


the  Htorniy  porio<i  of  Lord  MotcalfoH  (jlov«jrnriH;nt,  by  an  articU) 
on  Canadian  noniH  tie  plujne,  in  tlm  "  Canadian  Journal  of  Science, 
Literature  and  Histcjry,"  by  tlio  Rev.  Dr.  Scaddin;^  of  Toronto, 
Of  the  New  Ministry  of  IH48,  Mr.  Sullivan  became,  aH  a  matter 
of  course,  a  member,  as  Secretary  of  State.  In  the  autumn  of 
that  year  a  vacancy  occurred  on  the  U[)per  <  Canada  Bencli  by  the 
death  of  Judge  JorieH,  and  the  vacant  appointment,  having  been 
offered  to  Mr.  Sullivan,  was  accepted  by  him.  Heliad  only  justmade 
arrangements  for  his  residence  in  Montreal,  when  lie  was  obliged 
to  return  to  Toronto,  where  he  continued  in  the  discharge  of  his 
judicial  duties  until  his  death,  in  the  year  1853,  in  the  fifty- 
second  year  of  his  age.  Mr,  Sullivan  was  never  a  strong  party 
politician,  but  no  statesman  of  his  time  entertained  larger  ^/iews 
on  the  great  rneastires  for  the  advancement  of  his  af'op^ed  country. 
When  President  of  the  Council,  he  used  to  sit  silent,  making  pen 
and  ink  drawings,  whih*  his  colleagues  discussed  measures  and 
projects.  Sometimes  iio  would  say : — "Fix  on  your  policy.  Take 
what  course  you  like,  and  I  will  find  you  good  reasons  for  doing 
so."  He  was  witliout  political  passion,  though  a  statesman.  His 
mind  had  too  much  of  the  a<lvocate  in  it.  He  inaugurated  the  free 
grant  system.  Of  all  the  great  public  improvements  he  was  a 
zealous  advocate.  He  was,  perhaps,  too  prone  to  undervalue  those 
questions  to  which  the  leaders  of  the  rival  parties  attached  great 
weight.  He  was  a  persuasive  orator,  and  wrote  with  great  clear- 
ness and  rapidity.  For  several  years  all  the  minutes  of  Council 
and  other  State  papers  were  written  by  him.  Mr.  Sullivan  was 
twice  married — first,  in  1829,  to  Cecilia  Eliza,  daughter  of  Cap- 
tain Jcjhn  Matthews,  R.A.,  and  M.P.P,,  of  Lobo,  County  of  Middle- 
sex, by  whom  he  had  one  daughter,  who  died  in  infancy;  secondly, 
in  December,  1833,  to  Emily  Louisa,  daughter  of  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Philip  Delatre,  by  whom  he  had  a  numerous  family.  This 
lady  is  now  Lady  Hincks, 

Sullivan's  place  in  the  Legislative  Council  was  filled  by  Mr. 
John  Ross,  who  was  bom  in  the  County  of  Antrim  in  1818,  and 
was  brought  to  Canafla  a  few  months  afterwards.  He  was  called 
to  the  bar  in  1830.  Ffe  worked  hanl  for  Baldwin  in  tlie  (Jounty 
of  Hastings,  He  established  a  paper  in  the  interest  of  the  Re- 
form pariy.  In  the  year  following  his  elevation  to  the  Legislative 
35 


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54(1 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


Council  he  was  offered  a  seat  in  the  Executive,  but  declined  it. 
When  Mr.  Hincks  reconstituted  the  Government  in  1851,  how- 
ever, he  accepted  the  post  of  Solicitor-General.  In  1852  he  went 
to  England  to  complete  the  contracts  for  the  construction  of  the 
Grand  Trunk  Railway,  of  which  he  became  president.  He  took 
a  prominent  part  in  the  construction  of  the  Victoria  Bridge.  On 
the  elevation  of  Mr.  Richards  to  the  bench  he  became  At  tome  v- 
General.  On  the  formation  of  MacNab's  Coalition  Government, 
he  became  Speaker  of  the  Legislative  Council.  In  the  Macdonald 
Ministry  of  1858,  he  became  Receiver-General.  Ee  was  Presi- 
dent of  the  Council  in  Cartier's  Administration. 

Why  Sullivan,  in  the  prime  of  his  powers,  should  hr^ve  gone  on 
the  bench  is  a  puzzle.  Perhaps  he  thought  there  was  no  further 
ground  for  strife  in  Canadian  politics.  If  so  he  was  mistaken.  As 
the  year  drew  to  ity  close  the  repeal  of  the  Navigation  Laws  turned 
msn's  minds  away  from  Irish  and  French  affairs.  The  abolition 
of  those  laws  was  accidentally  connected  with  a  question  which  was 
not  to  be  settled  before  violence  had  disgraced  and  injured  the 
country. 

The  opposition  leaders  were  mostly  drawn  from  the  debris  of 
the  Family  Compact ;  and  the  real  Conservatives — those  men  who 
only  sought  the  good  of  the  country,  and  believed  that  good 
could  best  be  produced  by  hastening  slowly,  were  either  thrust 
out  of  sight  by  the  busy  noisy  activity  of  the  baffled,  disappoiutf  d, 
angry  minions  of  a  dethroned  oligarchy,  which  combined  the 
vices  of  a  tyranny  and  a  faction,  the  exclusive  pride  of  an  aristo- 
cracy, with  the  meanness  of  bureaucratic  paupers — men  who 
wanted  to  be  Ministers,  and  did  not  understand  the  Constitution 
they  would  administer.  Fighting  side  by  side  with  such  men  were 
others  like  Mr.  John  A.  Macdonald,  who  had  had  no  connexion 
witl"  ♦^lie  unholy  Compact,  wlio  understood  constitutional  princi- 
ples and  knew  the  value  to  the  country  of  an  effective  Opposition. 
But  the  great  wave  of  Conservative  feeling  went  to  swell  the  tide 
which  upbore  Baldwin.  It  was  easy  to  see  which  was  the  more 
constitutional  statesman,  Baldwin  or  Sherwood. 

There  were  even  men  witljout  Sherwood's  political  dulness,  who 
would  iiave  loathed  to  imitate  or  endorse  his  brazen  conduct,  who 
yet,  from  tiic  fact  that  their  families  had  been  so  long  in  power 


EFFECT  OF  FREE  TRADE. 


547 


had  come  to  think  reigning  was  theirs  by  prescription.  All  the 
wrath  with  which  the  dying  Family  Compact  was  stirred  on  see- 
ing "  rebels,"  as  the  French  leaders  were  considered  by  some,  taken 
into  the  confidence  :^^  the  Governor-General,  was  not  unrighteous 
though  illogical,  while  the  discontent  and  the  sense  of  injury 
from  another  cause  were  not  unreasonable. 

The  Free  Trade  Act  of  1846,  which  dealt  the  Irish  farmer  so 
severe  a  blow,  hit  ver}  hard  the  wealthy  farmers  and  "  aristo- 
cracy "  of  Canada,  who  had  gone  largely  into  the  flour  trade. 
By  the  Canada  Corn  Act  of  1843  not  only  the  wheat  of  Canada 
but  also  its  flour  was  admitted  into  England  at  a  nominal  duty. 
To-day  we  see  the  Reformers  holding  by  free  trade  and  Con- 
servatives arguing  for  a  modified  protection.  Baldwin  de- 
feated an  efibrt  made  by  the  leading  men  of  the  Tories,  and 
supported  by  rn<»mbers  of  the  Draper  Government  to  reduce 
the  duty  on  coxi  imported  by  the  States  into  Canada.  The 
millers  w^ould,  of  course,  have  benefited  while  the  farmers  would 
have  f-iuffered.  A  great  amount  of  capital  had  in  fact  been  in- 
vestea  in  mills  to  grind  American  wheat  for  the  British  market. 
"  But "  says  Lord  Grey,  "  almost  before  these  arrangements  were 
fully  completed,  and  the  newly  built  mills  fairly  at  work,  the  Act 
of  1846  swept  away  the  advantage  conferred  upon  Canada  in 
respect  to  the  corn  trade  with  this  country,  and  thus  brought 
upon  the  Province  a  frightful  amount  of  loss  to  individuals  and  a 
great  derangement  of  the  colonial  finances."  Lord  Elgin  pressed 
the  haidships  of  Canada  on  the  Colonial  Office.  He  pointed  out 
how  Stanley's  Bill  bad  attracted  all  the  produce  of  the  west  to 
the  St.  Lawrence,  and  drew  all  the  disposable  capital  of  the  Pro- 
vince into  grin  ding-mills,  warehouses,  and  forwarding  establish- 
ments. P<  31*8  Bill,  on  the  othe.  hand,  drove  the  whole  product 
down  the  New  York  channels  of  communication,  destroying  the 
revenue  Canada  had  expected  from  cereal  dues.  Millowners,  for- 
warders, and  merchants  were  ruined.  Private  property  became 
unsaleable.  I'iot  a  shilling,  Lord  Elgin  wrote,  could  be  raised  on 
tbo  credit  of  the  Province.  The  country  was  reduced  to  the 
necessity  of  paying  every  public  officer,  from  the  Governor-Gene- 
ral to  a  landing  waiter  in  debentures  which  were  not  exchange- 
able at  par.     What  made  the  matter  more  serious  was  this.     The 


■-^^ 


548 


THE  IRISHMAN  IN   CANADA. 


prosperity  of  which  Canada  was  robbed  was  transferred  below  the 
line,  "  as  if,"  T»Tote  His  Excellency^ "  to  make  Canadians  feel 
more  bitterly  how  much  kinder  England  is  to  the  children  who 
desert  her  than  to  those  who  remain  faithful.  For,"  he  added, 
"  I  care  not  whether  you  be  protectionist  or  free  trader  ib  is  the 
inconsistency  of  Imperial  legislation,  and  not  the  adoption  of  one 
policy  rather  than  another,  which  is  the  bane  of  the  colonies.  I 
believe  the  conviction  that  they  would  be  better  if  they  were 
'  annexed '  is  almost  universal  among  the  commercial  classes  at 
present,  and  the  peaceful  condition  of  the  Province  under  all  the 
circumstances  of  the  times  is,  I  must  confess,  often  a  matter  of 
great  astonishment  to  myself."  Lord  Elgin  held  enlightened  views 
on  free  trade.  He  had  just  entered  the  Houp'^  of  Commons  in  1842, 
and  waschosen  to  second'the  Address.  In  the  course  of  a  remarkable 
first  speech,  he  said  he  would  always  be  prepared  to  vote  for  free 
trade  on  "  principles  of  reciprocity."  In  1848,  when  almost  the 
whole  of  the  Empire  was  being  converted,  not  merely  to  Adam 
Smith's  views,  but  to  a  politico-economic  fanaticism  which  was 
being  .superstructed  on  the  clear,  sound,  and  save  in  minor  details, 
irrefragable)  treatise  of  the  great  Scotchman,  it  would  have  been 
useless  to  advocate  a  return  to  a  protective  policy.  Nor  is  there 
any  evidence  to  lead  us  to  suppose  that  Lord  Elgin,  had  it  been 
feasible,  would  have  counselled  such  a  course.  He  and  Baldwin 
seem,  on  the  conti^ary,  to  have  felt  that  the  remedy  for  Canada's 
distress  was  to  be  found  in  a  further  development  of  tlie  free  trade 
prliiciple.  The  Navigation  Laws  cramped  the  commerce  of  Canada 
by  restricting  it  to  British  vessels.  Trade  with  the  V  nited  States 
was  hampe-ed,  as  it  is  to-day,  by  an  unwise  and,  in  the  domain 
of  political  economy,  untenable  system  of  duties.  Baldwin  and 
Lord  Elgin  felt  that  the  dawn  of  renewed  prosperity  would  follow 
the  repeal  of  the  Navigation  Laws  and  the  establishment  of  a 
treaty  arrangement  with  the  United  States,  giving  them  the  navi- 
gation of  the  St.  Lawrence  on  the  adnussion  to  their  markets  of 
Canadian  produce  free  of  duty.  Elgin's  cultivated, thoughtful  mind 
had  felt  the  captivation  of  the  idea  of  the  British  Empire  one  vast 
ZoUverein,  with  free  interchange  of  commodities  and  uniform 
duties  against  the  world  without.  He  saw,  however,  that  +his 
7"^uld  be  impossible  without  Federal  Legislation,  such  as  m^  J. 


TRADE  WITH  THE   UNITED  STATESS. 


54^ 


late  been  frequently  advocated  in  totally  impracticable  and  doubt- 
fully practical  forms.  Under  such  a  system,  the  component  parts 
of  the  Empire  would  be  united  by  the  closest  bo:ids,  which  could 
not  be  supplied  by  the  i)olicy  on  whicii  the  lixiperial  Legislature 
was  then  entering.  The  die  was  cast,  and  Canada  should  be 
allowed  to  turn  to  th  >  best  possible  account  her  contiguity  to  the 
States.  The  Canadian  farmer  got  less  for  his  wheat  than  the 
American  farmer — a  state  of  things  which,  in  its  probable  effect 
on  the  loyalty  of  the  farmers,  filled  the  Governor's  mind  with  the 
gravest  apprehensions.  He  saw  the  great  advantage  the  admis- 
sion of  Americans  to  the  St.  Lawrence  would  be  to  them,  and  a 
quid  pro  quo  ought  to  be  exacted.  He  was  sanguine  that  the 
necessary  measures  would  have  been  at  once  brought  to  play  on 
the  strained  situation.  When  he  found  himself  disappointed  his 
anxiety  deepened.  On  the  10th  of  -n-Ugust,  1848,  he  wrote  that 
the  news  from  Ireland,  the  determination  of  Government  not 
to  repeal  the  Navigation  Laws  then,  doubts  whether  the  Ameri- 
can Congress  would  pass  Reciprocity,  menaces  of  rebellious  sym- 
pathisers in  the  Republic,  all  flung  alarming  hues  over  the  position 
of  the  colony. 

First,  there  was  the  Irish  Repeal  body.  He  need  not  describe 
them.  The  Colonial  Minister  might  look  at  home.  They  were 
in  Canada  just  what  they  were  in  Ireland,  And  what  good  it 
may  be  asked  here,  in  pabsiug,  did  this  Irish  Repeal  party  in  Can- 
ada do  ?  Agitating  for  re]5eal  o/'  +he  Union  in  Canada  was  folly, 
because  the  lever  ox  agitation  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  could 
never  touch  the  object  to  be  moved ;  the  fulcrum  had  no  soli- 
dity, and  rested  on  a  yielding  base  ;  the  agitators  themselves,  so 
far  as  Ireland  was  concerned,  were  but  the  pale  reflections  of  agita- 
tors castfrom  onesphere  on  to  another.  They  were  men  in  themoon 
trying  to  plough  the  fields  on  our  planet.  They  could  disturb 
Canada.  They  could  not  serve  Ireland.  But  if  they  could  not  serve 
Ireland,  they  could  injure  themselves  and  their  fellow  Irishmen. 
They  could  impart  to  the  community  at  large  the  impression  that 
Irishmen  were  impracticable ;  they  could  tend  to  make  the  best 
Irishmen  in  the  land  apathetic  regarding  Irish  brotherly  feeling  ; 
they  could  waste  precious  hours  and  priceless  energies  which 
might  have  been  devoted  to  elevating  their  own  position,  and 


fOI 


650 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


'i  hn 


-\-m 


furthering  the  prosperity  of  their  adopted  country ;  they  could 
squander  time  in  rant  which  should  have  been  given  up  to  read- 
ing. It  has  been  the  bane  of  Irishmen  to  be  over-flattered  by 
their  orators,  and  by  those  who  have  written  about  them  with 
any  sympathy.  But  there  are  men  who  love  and  respect 
Irishmen  too  much  to  flatter  them,  who  believe  that  no  other  foun- 
dation can  be  laid  for  individual  or  national  gi'eatness,  than  truth, 
who  have  not  drunk  of  the  maddening  cup  of  distorting  passion, 
who  have  not  bowed  the  knee  to  the  foul  idol  of  literary  misre- 
presentation, on  whose  ear — spanning  the  chasm  where  boil,  and 
rage,  and  struggle,  and  howl  the  conflicts  of  the  hour — fall  the 
rythmic  harmonies  of  the  movements  of  God's  purposes,  sweeten- 
ing the  bitter  heart,  and  giving  to  the  distressed  mind,  notwith- 
standing all  disturbing  memories,  calm. 

Among  the  other  causes  enumerated  by  Lord  Elgin,  as  calcu- 
lated to  create  uneasiness,  was  the  French  population.  Their 
attitude  as  regarded  England  and  America,  was  that  of  an  armed 
neutrality.  They  did  not  exactly  like  the  Americans,  but  they 
were  "  the  conquered,  oppressed  subjects  of  England,"  notwith- 
standing such  trifles  as  governing  tlien> selves,  and  paying  no  taxes. 
They  were  the  victims  of  British  egotism.  Was  not  the  union  of 
the  Provinces  carried  without  their  consent,  and  with  the  object 
of  establishing  British  domination  ?  Did  not  Papineau,  their  press, 
and  other  authorities  tell  them  so  ? 

The  mercantile  classes  were  thoroughly  disgusted  and  "  luke- 
warm in  their  allegiance."  Like  all  colonists  they  charged  their 
misfortunes,  let  them  come  whence  they  might,  on  the  Mother 
Country.  Lord  Elgin  admitted  that,  as  matters  stood,  it  was  easy 
to  show  that  the  faithful  subject  of  Her  Majestj'^  was  placed  on  a 
worse  footing  as  regarded  trade  with  the  Mother  country  than 
the  rebels  over  the  lines.  The  same  man  who  met  the  candidate 
for  the  English  borough  with  : — '*  Why  sir,  I  voted  red  all  my 
life,  and  I  never  got  anything  by  it ;  this  time  I  intend  to  vote 
blue" — addressed  you  in  Canada  with  "  I  have  been  all  along  one 
of  the  steadiest  supporters  of  the  British  Government,  but  really, 
if  claims  such  as  mine  are  not  more  thought  of,  I  shall  begin  to 
consider  whether  other  institutions  are  not  preferable  to  ours." 

Such  were  the  difficulties  with  which  Lord  Elgin  and  BakI'vin 


I -'1:11 


iHii 


COMMERCIAL   DEPRESSION. 


561 


had  to  conte'i  1..  But  the  dangers  were  dispelled  mainly  by  the 
frank  adoption  and  consistent  maintenance  of  the  principle  of  Re- 
sponsible Government.  The  words  of  Lord  Melbourne  applied  by 
Mr.  Walrond  to  Lord  Elgin  are  quite  as  applicable  to  the  origina- 
tor of  the  idea  of  Responsible  Government,  Robert  Baldwin: — "My 
Lords,  yov  an  never  fully  appreciate  the  merits  of  that  great 
man.  You  chJl  appreciate  the  acts  which  he  pul)licly  performed, 
but  you  cannot  appreciate,  for  you  cannot  know,  the  great  mis- 
chiefs which  he  unostentatiously  prevented."  In  addition  to  his 
political  functions  Lord  Elgin  added  the  equally  noble  capacity 
of  being  a  social  force,  though  his  speeches  smell  slightly  of 
the  lamp,  and  all  he  does  smacks  somewhat  of  the  prig. 

Canada  has  seen  many  a  prosperous  day  since  1848.  It  is 
always  useful  to  recall  the  gloomy  feelings  of  a  time  of  depres- 
sion. r>r.  Johnson  usc-l  to  tell  his  friends  who  were  in  trouble 
or  who  suffered  from  loss,  to  consider  how  little  they  would  think 
of  the  matter  twelve  months  after.  This  sound  philosophy  holds 
for  nations  and  parties  as  well  as  for  indi  /iduals.  At  the  close 
of  the  Franco-Germanic  war,  France  seemed  to  many,  in  a  condi- 
tion of  despair.  Those  who  knew  her  wealth  and  the  happy 
elasticity  of  the  human  mind,  looked  forward  with  confidence  to 
what  we  see  to-day.  The  winter  of  1848  in  Canada  passed 
quietly  away  through  a  tunnel  of  commercial  gloom.  Lord  Elgin 
found  himself,  when  writing  to  the  Colonial  Office,  using  the 
words,  "  downward  progress  of  events."  Property  in  most  Cana- 
dian towns,  and  especially  in  Montreal,  bad  fallen  fifty  per  cent, 
in  value  within  three  years.  Three-foi<rth,  of  the  conunercial 
men  had,  owing  to  fiee  trade,  become  bankrupt.  A  large  pro- 
portion of  the  exportable  produce  was  obliged  to  neek  a  market 
in  the  States,  and  paid  twenty  per  cent,  on  the  frontier.  How 
long  could  such  a  state  of  things  last  ?  Commercial  embarrass- 
ment was  the  real  difficulty.  Political  discontent,  properly 
speaking,  there  was  none.  There  would  be  no  difficulty  in  carry- 
ing Ciiiiada  through  all  the  evil.s  of  transition  if  the  level  of  ma- 
terial prosperity  was  raised.  The  way  to  achieve  this — Baldwin 
and  Elgin  urged  with  equal  zeal — was  Vjy  free  navigation  and 
reciprocal  trade  with  the  Union.  Without  these  the  worst  might 
be  fear(}d.     Events  of  a  more  recent  date  show  that  Lord  Elgin 


<1 


I 


\ 


i 


.;  t 


m 


if 

i 

11 

652 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


Hit'    . 


took  too  strong  a  view  of  the  necessity  of  reciprocity.  It  would 
be  impossible  to  exaggerate  the  advant,age  to  the  country  of 
reciprocity,  but  it  is  not  indispensable  to  us.  The  troubles  which 
were  imminent  had  not  their  source  in  commercial  depression, 
but  in  the  heated  feelings  of  disappointed  partisans,  whose  pas- 
sions took  from  the  hardness  of  the  times  a  fiercer  character. 

Parliament  met  on  the  18th  of  January.  The  Governor- 
General,  taking  advantage  of  the  abolition  v.i'  the  law  restricting 
the  use  of  the  French  language,  delivered  his  spoach  in  French  as 
well  as  in  English,  a  graceful  and  conciliatory  act,  which  the 
leaders  and  press  of  the  Opposition  made  the  ground  of  reproach. 
The  speech  dwelt  on  the  tranquillity  of  the  country,  the  speedy 
completion  of  the  St.  Lawrence  Canals,  the  transfer  of  the  Post 
Office  Department  to  the  Provincial  authorities.  The  Opposition 
was  angry  with  all  the  fury  of  anger,  unreasonable  and  factious, 
at  seeing  what  thoy  called  "  rebels  "  in  the  seat  of  power.  But 
when  a  Bill  was  introduced  to  provide  for  the  indemnification  of 
parties  in  Lower  Canada  who  had  suflfered  loss  during  the  Rebel- 
lion of  1837  and  1838,  the  waves  of  .^^ir  fury  rose  above  all 
bounds.  Baldwin's  Administration  had  no  choice  but  to  bring  in 
such  a  measure — such  a  questionable  measure,  if  you  will.  Who 
were  responsible  {  The  very  mcr  guided  by  Dreper,  who  now 
deprived  of  his  counsel,  were  denouncing  the  Governor-General 
and  tli8  Baldwin  Government.  It  was  not  Mr.  Baldwin  nor  his 
friends  who,  in  Lord  Metcalfe  s  time,  had  recommended  the  pay- 
ment of  the  Rebellion  losses  in  Lower  Canada.  It  was  not  Mr. 
Baldwin  and  his  supporters,  but  Mr.  Draper  and  his  Ministry, 
Avho,  in  Lord  Cathcart's  time,  introduced  a  Bill  founded  on  the 
unsatisfactory  report  of  their  own  commissioners.  The  Bill  was 
clearly  inevitable,  and  its  preamble  declared  that  it  was  intro- 
duced in  order  to  redeem  the  pledges  already  given  to  persons 
in  Lower  Canada.  No  one  who  had  been  convicted,  or  had 
pleaded  guilty  to  treason  during  the  Rebellion  was  to  be  indem- 
nified. The  Bill  authorised  the  appointment  of  commissioners 
for  carrying  out  its  purposes,  and  the  appropriation  of  £90,000 
sterling  for  the  payment  of  such  claims  as  might  be  admitted. 
Such  was  the  measure,  sr^  inevitable,  so  modest,  which  led  to  riot, 
had  like  to  cause  a  rebellion  in  Canada,  and  exposed  the  Governor- 


REBELLION   LOSSES   BILL. 


563 


General  and  his  advisers  at  the  time  to  censure  in  England,  from 
quarters  whence  a  very  different  judgment  would  have  come,  had 
all  the  facts  been  known. 

The  second  reading  was  moved  on  the  13th  February.  A  stormy 
debate  extending  over  several  sittings  followed,  a  debate  in  which 
Mr.  Blake  spoke  with  great  power.  The  second  reading  was  car- 
ried by  a  large  majoritv.  The  Governor-General  was  meanwhile 
attacked  in  a  most  discourteous  manner,  not  to  use  stronger  and 
perhaps  more  appropriate  language.  He  was  peremptorily  re- 
quired to  dissolve  a  parliament  elected  a  year  before  under  the 
auspices  of  the  clamorous  Oppositicjn  who  now  screamed  for  its 
dissolution.  The  measure,  wrote  Lord  Elgin,  on  the  1st  of  March 
to  Earl  Grey,  might  not  be  free  from  objection.  But  his  advisers, 
he  believed,  had  no  other  course  open  to  them  but  that  which 
they  had  followed.  His  predecessors  had  already  gone  a  good 
deal  more  than  half-way  in  the  same  direction.  If  the  Ministry 
had  failed  to  complete  a  work  of  justice  to  Lower  Canada,  which 
had  been  commenced  by  their  predecessors,  M.  Papineau  would 
have  made  strong  government  impossible. 

When  the  letter  embodying  these  views  was  placed  on  Earl 
Grey's  table,  it  was  side  by  side  with  an  issue  of  the  TiTnes, 
which  newspaper  was  then  well  above  the  horizon  on  its  way  to 
its  present  supremacy  as  the  first  journal  in  the  world.  In  that 
issue  there  \v^,.5  a  remarkable  article.  Mr.  Mackenzie,  M.  P., 
had  given  notice  that  on  the  21st  of  Marc^.  he  would  ask  for 
some  explanations  regarding  the  doings  oiohe  Canadian  Legisla- 
ture. The  Times  sympathized  with  the  curiosity,  not  to  say  the 
amazement,  which  had  prompted  the  notice.  If  they  had  not 
asked  similar  questions  themselves,  it  was  because  the  allusions 
to  the  "  objectionable  measures  "  in  the  Canadian  press,  were  so 
mixed  up  with  factions  as  scarcely  to  atford  a  safe  basis  even  for 
inquiry.  The  Montreal  Gazette  was  positively  dangerous  on  this 
subject.  Leaders,  letters,  parliamentary  reports,  paragraphs,  calls 
for  public  meetings,  met  one  at  every  corner  of  the  paper.  The 
remonstrants  had  every  right  to  feel  the  greatest  indignation.  It 
was  not  possible  to  conceive  a  more  determined  and  unpardonable 
insult  to  the  loyal  population,  or  a  more  suicidal  act,  than  that  a 
tax  should  be  levied  on  the  whole  people  to  compensate  rebels 


pi 


'V 


654 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


for  their  losses  "  and  even,"  said  the  Times,  with  sublime 
ignorance  of  the  Bill  "  for  their  legal  punishments."  The  writer 
proceeds  to  say  it  was,  however,  impossible  to  form  a  sound 
judgment  without  the  Bill,  and  speaks  of  Mr.  Baldwin  and  his 
colleagues  as  the  "rebel  camp"  and  the  "Opposition,"  as  the 
"  loyal "  party.  After  a  style  of  wi'iting  which  students  of 
i'  e  Times  to-day  will  not  be  wholly  unfamiliar  with,  the  article, 
having  boxed  the  whole  compass  and  written  in  a  strain  which 
woul  1  have  delighted   Mr.    Henry  Sherwood,    concluded    with 


the   chilling   remark,   that  after    all    the  excitement 


might 


be 


put  dowii  to  the  fact  that  parties  had  changed  places,  and  that  the 
Colonial  clique  which  had  fcr  generations  monopolized  office  and 
power,  and  pay,  and  which  had  candalously  abused  its  trust,  was 
now  in  opposition.*  Other  critics  were  not  as  ready  to  sit  on  the 
fence,  and,  as  we  shall  see,  able  statesmen  denounced  the  salutary 
measui  os  of  the  Government.  The  Governor-General's  old  friend, 
Mr.  Gladstone  took  a  harsh  view  of  his  conduct,  and  the  conduct 
of  his  Government,  at  a  time  when  he  was  showing  that  in  the 
face  of  any  excitement  he  could  hold  his  head.  "  The  Tory  party" 
he  says,  "  are  doing  what  they  can  by  menace,  intimidation,  and 
appeals  to  passion  to  drive  me  to  a  Coup  d'Etat."  He  pointed 
out  again  with  a  bitter  sense  of  men's  unreasonableness  and  the 
trying  position  of  a  constitutional  ruler,  that,  the  measure  against 
which  there  was  so  loud  an  outcry  was  the  strict  logical  following 
out  of  their  own  acts.  He  again  refeiTed  to  the  action  of  the 
Draper  Administratiop.  He  was  able  to  put  forth  a  fact  still 
more  damaging  to  the  Opposition.  One  of  the  rebels  of  1837 
who  had  been  banished  to  Bermuda  by  Lord  Durham,  was  Mr. 
Masson.  He  had  been,  however,  appointed  to  an  office  by  the 
predecessors  of  Lafontaine  and  Baldwin.  He  was  of  course  ex- 
cluded from  compensation  under  the  Bill  of  the  Lafontaine- 
Baldwin  government.  This  gentleman  wrote  to  the  newspapers, 
saying  that  Lord  Metcalfe  and  some  of  his  Ministry  assured  him 
that  he  would  be  included  in  the  list  of  those  indemnified. 

Petitions  against  the  measure  were  got  up  all  over  the  Province. 
Instead  of  being  sent  to  the  Assembly,  or  to  the  Legislative  Coun- 

♦The  Times,  March  2lBt,  1849. 


FIRMNESS   OF   LORD    ELGIN. 


65^ 


cil,  or  to  the  Home  Oovernmonfc,  they  were  always  addreast^d  to 
Lord  Elgin,  the  obvious  purpose  being  to  produce  a  collision  be- 
tween him  and  Parliament.  The  prayer  of  these  petitions  was  dis- 
junctive :  that  Parliament  should  be  dissolved,  or  that  the  Bill 
should  be  reserved  for  the  royal  sanction.  Deputations  of  remon- 
strants and  malcontents  waited  on  him,  and  he  received  them  witli 
the  utmost  civility.  But  he  r  v^i  expressed  an  opinicm  on  a  con- 
troverted point.  We  have  had  other  Governors  in  Canada  who 
shared  the  same  power  of  maintaining  a  constitutional  position. 
He  was  carrying  out  in  the  spirit  and  to  the  letter  Respo'isible 
Government.  How  poor  Lord  Metcalfe's  head  would  have  gone 
in  such  a  ?torm. 

To  have  dissolved  the  House  would  have  been  an  act  of  unpar- 
donable weakness  and  folly.  The  A.ssembiy  had  been  elected  un- 
der a  Tory  administration  only  a  year  before.  There  was  no  evi- 
dence that  it  did  not  represent  the  sentiment  of  the  people  at  large, 
as  it  most  certainly  did  twelve  months  earlier.  The  measure  was 
no  new  one.  It  had  been  in  contemplation  by  the  preceding 
Tory  Administration.  If  Cayley  and  Sherwood  and  MacNab  had 
come  into  power  they  would  have  had  to  pass  such  a  Bill,  and 
would  have  been  glad  to  do  it  if  they  could  only  thereby  k'^ep 
their  places.  But  if  Parliament  were  dissolved  on  the  question  of 
the  rebellion  losses,  that  step  would  be  attended  with  the  utmost 
risk,  while  the  sacred  tribe  of  the  Family  Compact  would  not  have 
come  into  power.  "  If,"  wrote  Lord  Elgin,  "  I  had  dissolved  Par- 
liament, I  might  have  produced  a  rebellion,  but  most  assuredly  I 
should  not  have  produced  a  change  of  Ministry.  The  leaders  of 
the  party  know  that  as  well  as  I  do,  and  were  it  possible  to  play 
tricks  in  such  grave  concerns  it  would  have  been  eas}'^  to  throw 
them  into  utter  confusion  by  merely  calling  upon  them  to  form  a 
Government.  They  were  aware,  however,  that  I  could  not  for  the 
sake  of  discomfitting  them  hazard  so  desperate  a  policy :  so  they 
have  played  out  their  game  of  faction  and  violence  without  fear 
of  consequence."  To  reserve  the  Bill  for  the  consideration  of  the 
Home  Government  appears  at  a  glance  to  have  been  open  to  no 
"  such  objections."  It  was  the  opinion  of  his  friends  in  England 
that  this  was  his  wisest  course.  But,  on  the  mind  of  Lord  Elgin, 
Baldwin  pressed   objections   against  reserving  the   Bill,   which 


55G 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


seemed,  with  other  objections  that  occurred  to  himself,  insur- 
mountable— wliatever  "  oblo(|uy  "  he  might  bring  on  hiniaelf  for 
a  time,  by  refusing  to  lend  himself  to  the  machinations  of  a  de- 
moralized and  desperate  Opposition.  The  Bill  for  the  relief  of  a 
eorrespondii.g  class  of  persons  in  Upper  Canada  was  not  reserved. 
By  reserving  the  Bill  he  would  throw  m  Her  Majesty  a  res[)on8i- 
bility  which  should  rest  on  his  shoulders.  If  the  Bill  passed  and 
mischief  ensued  the  evil  could  be  repaired  by  sacrificing  him. 
If  the  case  were  referred  to  England,  Her  Majesty  Tuight  hav^e  be- 
fore her  the  alternative  of  provoking  a  rebellion  in  Lower  Canada, 
•or  of  wounding  the  suscejjtibilities  of  some  of  the  best  subjects 
she  had  in  the  Province.  Among  the  objectors  to  the  Bill  were 
some  of  the  best  men  in  the  country — men  who.se  honest  minds 
wore  worked  on  bj'^  selfish  and  designing  bureaucratic  office-seekers 
to  whom  the  principles  of  constitutional  government  were  un- 
fathomable mysteries,  and  who  regarded  the  representative  of  roy- 
alty as  the  butt  of  an  intense  and  relentless  indignation,  when  po- 
litical affairs  were  not  administered  in  accordance  with  their  views. 
Lord  Elgin  trusted  to  time  to  tone  down  the  violence  of  the  Op- 
position, to  the  reasonableness  of  the  proposal  under  discussion, 
to  the  growth  of  a  patriotic  spirit,  to  the  many  excellent  measures 
brought  in  by  the  Ministry — "  the  first  really  efficient  and  work- 
ing government  that  Canada  had  had  since  the  Union."  Nor  were 
his  holies  without  being  pa  rtially  justified.  One  of  the  Tory  papers 
wrote  that  bad  as  the  payment  of  the  rebellion  losses  was  it  would 
be  better  to  submit  to  pay  twenty  rebellion  losses  than  have  whri,t 
was  nominally  a  free  constitution,  fettered  and  restrained  each 
time  a  measure  distasteful  to  the  minority  was  passed.  On  the  12th 
April  Lord  Elgin  wrote  that  a  marked  change  had  taken  place 
within  a  few  weeks  in  the  tone  of  the  press  and  of  the  Opposition 
leaders,  some  of  whom  had  given  him  to  understand  that  they  re- 
gretted things  had  gone  so  far.  He  was  apprehensive,  however, 
that  the  gales  from  England  would  again  raise  the  tempest,  and  it 
must  be  confessed  the  "  gales,"  in  the  shape  of  speeches  and  leaders 
in  newspapers,  were  not  calcv  ^d  to  repress  the  storm  which  was 
now  rising.  There  was  abundance  of  denunciation  of  the  suicidal 
folly  of  rewarding  rebels  for  rebellion.  The  British  population 
were  able  to  take  care  of  themselves.     They  would  find  some 


LORI»   LLGIN  ASSAULTED   BY   THE   MOB. 


557 


mea*^«  of  reaisting  the  heavy  discouraging  blow  which  was  aimed 
at  them.  Such  hints  and  pas-sages  were  not  calculated  to  lepress 
violence.  Lord  Elgin's  biographer,  however,  doubts  whethei  extra- 
neous induences  ^  "d  much  to  do  with  the  volcanic  outbursts  of 
local  passions  v  hicii  followed  the  passing  of  the  Bill. 

The  resolutions  of  M.  Lafontaine,  on  whici  legislation  was 
founded,  were  passed  by  a  majority  of  fifty  to  tw  nty-two.  The 
Bill  was  passed  by  n  majority  cf  forty-seven  to  eighteen,  a  vote 
which  sliowed  that  no  pressure  could  have  been  put  on  members 
during  the  discussion.  On  investigating  the  vote,  it  appears  that 
out  of  thirty-one  niembei.!  from  Upper  Canada,  seventeen,  and  of 
ten  members  for  Lower  Canada  of  Bi'itish  descent,  six,  suppcH-*"! 
the  measure.  This  showed  conclusively  that  the  issue  was  not 
one  on  which  the  two  races  were  arrayed  against  each  other. 
Had  Lord  Elgin,  under  the  circumstances,  reserved  the  Bill,  he 
would  have  cast  doubts  on  the  sincerity  of  his  determination  to 
carry  out  consiituuonal  government.  Lord  Elgin  felt  this,  and 
expressed  his  conviction  in  his  letters  to  Earl  Grey. 

The  Governor's  assent,  therefore,  to  the  Rebellion  Losses  Bill 
was  no  impulsive  act.  The  assent  was  given  sooner  than  he 
intv-^.nded,  owing  to  the  following  circumstance.  On  the  25th  of 
April,  the  Cusloms  Bill  had  passed  the  Legislative  Council. 
Scarcely  had  it  passed  when  a  member  of  the  Assembly  rushed 
into  the  House,  and  told  the  Ministers  that  a  ship  had  just  arri  ved. 
They  at  once  waited  on  Lord  Elgin,  and  asked  hi'  ^  to  come  down 
to  Parliament  and  give  his  assent  to  the  Customs  Bill.  Lord 
Elgin  thought  as  he  was  giving  his  assent  to  one|Bill,  he  would 
give  his  assent  to  all  the  others  which  were  awaiting  his  decision. 
Among  these  was  the  Bill  which  was  viewed  with  such  conflicting 
feelings  here  and  in  England. 

The  news  spread  like  wildfire.  A  crowd  by  no  means  large,  and 
led  by  persons  of  a  respectable  class  in  society,  gathered  outside 
the  House,  who  received  Lord  Elgin  as  he  left  the  Parliament 
Buildings  with  hootingsand  groans,  ohe  "respectable"  individuals 
pelting  the  carriage  vdth  rotten  eggs.*     The  fact  that  nobody 


-t-m 


//    ;--,  ■ 


*  Lord  Elgin  shrank  from  giTing  tne  ofFensiye  weapons  their  proper  name.  'He  de- 
scribed tiivtia  euphviistically  m  "  misBileB  which  they  must  ha^e  brought  y,i.h  them  for' 
the  purpouc-." — Letters,  p.  82. 


Iis'-ir 


' 


558 


THE  IRISHMAN  IN  CANADA. 


mt 


could  have  known  that  the  Governor  was  about  to  give  his  assent 
to  the  obnoxious  Bill  relieves  the  real  leaders  of  any  party  exist- 
ing at  the  time,  of  responisibility  for  the  blackguard  behaviour  of 
the  mob.  While  the  violence  was  proceeding  outside,  the  Assembly 
continued  in  session.  Sir  Allan  MacNab  in  vain  warned  the  Gov- 
ernment that  a  riot  might  be  looked  for.  Unfortuuately  the  confi- 
dence of  the  Government  in  the  good  sense  of  all  sections  of  the 
community  was  misplaced.  Before  there  was  time  to  cleanse  the 
Governor's  carriage  of  the  foul  missiles  hurled  at  it,  a  notice  was 
issued  calling  a  meeting  in  the  open  air,  at  the  Champ  de  Mars, 
at  eight  o'cIock.  Towards  that  hour  the  fire  bells  were  rung  to 
call  the  populace  together.  A  large  number  of  persons  assembled. 
Inflammatory  speeches  were  made.  A  person  named  Perry,  a 
very  violent  man,  cried  out,  "To  the  Parliament  Houi*"'"  The 
mob  hurried  to  the  Parliament  Buildings.  Their  shouts  and  yells 
interrupted  the  Assembly  in  the  discussion  of  the  Judicature 
Bill  for  Lower  Canada.  In  a  few  moments  a  shower  of  stones 
crashed  in  through  the  ^(vindows.  The  strangers  fled  from  the 
gallery.  Some  members  made  their  escape  by  this  gallery.  Others 
crouched  behind  the  chairs,  while  stones  continued  to  hail  into  the 
chamber.  The  mob  then  ibrced  their  way  into  the  building.  Men 
appeared  in  the  chamber  armed  with  sticks.  The  few  lingering 
members  and  clerks  made  their  escape,  the  Qergeant-at-arim  alone 
remaining.  One  of  the  rioters  placed  himself  in  the  Speaker's 
chair  and  cried  out,  "  I  dis&olve  the  House."  The  benches  were 
pulled  to  pieces  and  piled  in  the  middle  of  the  lioor.  Chandeliers 
were  broken ;  the  Speaker's  mace,  notwithstanding  the  heroic 
exertions  of  the  courageous  Sergeanc-at-arms,  was  seized.  A  cry 
was  soon  heard — "  The  Parliament  House  is  on  fire."  The  broken 
chandeliers  were  flaming,  and  some  boys  sought,  foolishly,  to  put 
them  out  by  throwing  cushions  at  them.  This  only  made  matters 
worse.  The  evidence  is  conflicting,  and  some  have  held  that 
the  mob  did  not  intend  to  burn  down  Uie  buildings.  Attempts 
were  made  to  save  the  more  valuable  books  in  the  library  but  the 
flames  spread  too  rapidly.  Sir  Allan  MacNab  succeeded  in  bear- 
ing ofi*  the  picture  of  the  Queen.  Having  destroyed  valuable  pub- 
lic property,  and  two  libraries  ^^/hich  a  scholar  pronounced  to  be 
excellent,  the  crowd  dispersed.     The  men  who  thus  dispersed 


VIOLENCE  OF  THE   MOB. 


559 


themselves  could  not  have  been  French,  nor  were  they  Irish.  A 
large  body  of  Catholic  Irish  were  drawn  up  between  the  Parlia- 
ment Buildings  and  the  Nunnery,  with  the  view  of  protecting 
this  last  structure.  The  mob  in  dispersing  visited  the  office  of 
Francis  Hincks'  newspaper,*  the  windows  of  which  they  demolish- 
ed.    The  military  had  meanwhile  been  called  out. 

Great  excitement  prevailed  during  the  two  following  days,  and 
further  acts  of  incendiarism  were  perpetrated.  The  next  day  in- 
citers to  riot  were  arrested  and  the  mob  threatened  to  rescue  them. 
Some  of  the  supporters  of  Baldwin  were  insulted  and  beaten.  The 
mob  had  to  be  forced  back  by  the  bayonets  of  the  military  from 
the  old  Guard  House  where  the  Ministry  had  assembled  in  coun- 
cil. When  night  fell  the  mob  swelled  in  numbers  and  proceeded 
to  the  house  of  Laiiontaine  which  they  wrecked.  They  broke  the 
windows  of  the  houses  of  Dr.  Wolf  red  Nelson,-f-  F  neks.  Holmes, 
and  Charles  Wilson.  They  would  in  this  same  way  have  wreaked 
their  vengeance  on  the  boarding-house  of  Mr.  Baldwin  and  that 
of  Mr.  Cameron.  The  military  did  police  duty ;  but  objections 
being  made  to  this,  a  body  of  French  and  Irish  constables  were 
sworn  in.  The  military  force  was  also  further  increased.  The 
leading  men  of  the  Opposition  seeing  what  their  violent,  unpatri- 
otic and  false  agitation  had  culminated  in,  sought  to  restrain  their 
followers  from  violence,  and  urged  a,  petition  to  the  Queen  to 
recall  the  Governor  and  to  disallow  the  Bill.J  But  when  the  p^is- 
sions  of  men  are  roused  it  is  not  so  easy  to  calm  them.  On  this 
occasion  there  was  no  great  leader  or  none  willing  to  use  his 
power.  There  was  only  half  of  Virgil's  splendid  picture.  There 
was  sedition  ;  the  vile  rage  of  the  vile ;  flying  stones,  rotten  eggs, 
perhaps  the  torch  of  the  incendiary  ;  but  where  wss  the  venerable 
man  of  weight  and  merit,  and  eloquence  of  whom  it  could  be  said 
Ille  regit  dictis  animos,  et  pectora  mulcet  ? 


»  The  PUot. 

f  Alison  speaks  of  him  as  a  "  brave  "  man.  He  behaved  like  a  brave,  good  man, 
" rebel  though  he  was."  He  was  a  fine  looking  man.  As  Mayor  of  Montreal  he  called 
to  men's  minds  the  idea  of  a  Roman  Senator. 

J  "The  leaders  of  the  disaffected  party  hav^;  shown  a  disposition  to  restrain  their 
follov^ers,  and  to  direct  their  energies  towards  the  more  constitutional  object  of  pt ;  "-ion 
ing  the  Queen  for  my  recall  and  the  disallowance  of  the  obnoxious  BilL"— Lord  ^Igin 
to  Earl  Grey,  April  28th,  1849. 


■m 


560 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


Were  such  a  man  found,  he  would  have  earned  a  noble  place  in 
our  history. 

The  House  of  Assembly,  by  a  majority  of  thirty -six  to  sixteen, 
had  voted  an  address  to  the  Governor,  expressing  their  abhorrence 
at  the  outrages  which  had  been  heaped  on  the  Queen's  Representa- 
tive, and  approving  of  his  just  and  impartial  administration  of 
the  Govei-nment  with  his  late  as  well  as  his  present  advisers. 
This  address  he  was  to  receive  at  Government  House,  not  at 
Monklands.  He  drove  into  the  city,  escorted  by  a  troop  of  volun- 
teer dragoons  and  accompanied  by  several  of  his  suite.  Showers 
of  stones  greeted  his  progress,  and  one,  at  least,  fell  into  his 
carriage.  The  Riot  Act  was  read,  but  the  crowd  had  no  ill  fuel- 
ing towards  the  military,  and  showed  at  that  time  no  desire  to 
give  £».!  excuse  for  their  interference.  The  sole  object  of  their 
hatred  was  the  Governor-General.  They  waited  his  reappearance 
to  renew  the  assault.  But  he  went  back  by  a  different  route. 
Discovering  what  he  had  done,  every  vehicle  they  could  press  into 
their  service  was  launched  in  pursuit,  and  when  the}  came  up 
with  the  Vice-regal  carriage  they  assailed  it  murderously.  When 
the  carriage  cleared  the  mob,  the  head  of  the  Governor's  brother 
was  found  to  be  cut,  the  chief  of  the  police  and  the  captain  of  the 
escort  injured.  Every  panel  of  the  carriage  had  been  driven  in. 
It  was  now  no  longer  safe  for  members  to  appear  in  the  street. 
Monklands  was  threatened  with  a  hostile  visit.  For  some  weeks 
Lord  Elgin  did  not  enter  Montreal,  but  kept  within  the  bounds  of 
his  country  seat. 

It  would  be  easy  to  reproach  Lord  Elgin,  as  wanting  in  pluck, 
even  as  persons  were  found  ready  to  condemn  the  Ministry  for 
want  of  prevision  in  not  making  preparations  against  those  un- 
happy and  disgraceful  events.  Lord  Elgin  behaved  with  the  truest 
manliness.  No  one  could  doubt  the  courage  of  the  Duke  of  Wel- 
lington, yet  he  shrank  from  going  into  the  City  of  London  in  the 
excited  days  of  1830.  Did  the  victor  of  Assaye  and  Waterloo 
fear  ?  He  would  not  have  been  an  Irishman  had  he  known  what 
it  was  to  fear,  and  the  Scotch  blood  in  Elgin  is  a  guarantee  that 
uo  cowardly  consideration  could  have  weight  with  him.  The  Duke 
of  Wellington  said  he  would  have  gone  into  the  city  had  the  law 
been  equal  to  his  protection.     Fifty  dragoons  would  have  done  it. 


; 


LORD   ELGIN  BURNED  IN   EFFIGY. 


661 


But  suppose  firing  became  necessary,  who  could  say  where  it  would 
stop  ?  Ten  innocent  peiyons  would  fall  for  one  guilty.  '*  Would 
this,"  asked  the  Duke,  "  have  been  wise  or  humane,  for  a  little 
bravado,  or  that  thr.  uountry  might  not  be  alarmed  for  a  day  or 
two ?'  liord  Elgin  reasoned  in  the  same  spirit.  He  knew  that 
the  French  of  Lower  Canada  were  ready  to  rise  as  one  man  in 
support  of  the  Government.  What  would  have  been  his  self-re- 
proach had  he,  for  the  sake  of  a  "  little  bravado,"  been  the  cause 
of  a  collision  between  the  two  races  ?  Major  Campbell,  his  Secre- 
tary, who  was  with  him  during  the  whole  time,  bears  evidence  to 
his  coolness  and  manliness  of  bearing.  Though  no  taunt  and  no 
advice  could  make  him  risk  shedding  blood,  he  was,  when  the  fury 
of  the  populace  was  at  its  height,  determined  to  yield  nothing  to 
mob  clamour.*  At  the  same  time,  he  thought  it  his  duty  to  tender 
his  resignation,  to  which  offer  Lord  Grey  replied  as  we  might 
expect. 

The  insults  to  Lord  Elgin  and  the  Baldwin  Government  were 
not  confined  to  Montreal.  Effigy  burning,  that  sensible  practice, 
took  place  in  Toronto,  while  portions  of  the  Tory  press  talked 
di8lo3''alty.  One  journal  asked,  "  whether  our  loyalty  was  to  be 
contemned  or  not  ?"-|"  Another  was  in  favour  of  separation. J  The 
correspondent  of  another  wrote  from  Montreal  that  it  was  better 
to  become  a  State  of  the  Union,  where  British  laws  and  precedents 
were  respected,  than  be  governed  by  bigoted,  unenterprising,  dom- 
ineering Frenchmen.§  Of  course  most  of  this  sort  of  trash  was 
mere  peevishness,  and  what  the  Americans  in  their  way  would  call 
"  cussedness,''  in  men  raging  at  their  dethronement  from  power,  and 
their  banishment  from  the  sweets  of  oppression  and  monopoly. 

The  Legislature,  vhach  had  sat  since  the  riots  in  a  temporary 
building,  was  prorogued  on  the  80th  of  May,  Early  in  June  the 
Rebellion  Losses  Bill  was  brought  under  the  notice  of  the  Impe- 
rial Parliament.  Mr  Gladstone,  with  cliaracteristic  vehemence, 
denounced  it  as  ajotieasure  for  rewarding  rebels.  The  debate  was 
sustained  for  two  nights,  the  Act  being  defended  by  Lord  Russell 

*  See  Letter  to  Lord  Grey,  dated  30th  April,  1849. 
t  Patriot,    t  Tke  Provincialist,  of  Hamilton. 
t  Correspondeat  of  the  Hamilton  Spectator. 

36 


i 

I' 


m' 


562 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA, 


and  Sir  Robert  Peel.  A  majority  of  141  supported  common  jus- 
tice and  constitutionalism.  A  few  nights  later,  in  the  House  of 
Lords,  Lord  Brougham  moved  a  resolution  similar  to  that  of  Mr. 
Herries  in  the  Commons,  calling  on  Her  Majesty  to  disallow  the 
Act.  Unfortunately  the  motion  was  negatived  only  by  three  votes, 
and  this  was  not  done  without  the  aid  of  proxies.  But  the  atti- 
tude of  the  House  of  Commons  was  the  important  matter.  This, 
combined  with  the  firmness  of  the  Government  and  the  patriotic 
speech  of  Sir  Robert  Peel,  did  much  to  quiet  the  angry  feelings  of 
the  misguiding  and  misguided  among  the  Opposition.  The  con- 
duct of  the  Ministry  worked  in  the  same  direction.  The  Commis- 
sioners of  the  Conservative  Government  were  re-appointed.  They 
were  furnished  w'th  instructions  which  placed  upon  the  Act  the 
most  restricted  and  loyalist  construction.  A  marked  change  took 
place  in  the  Tory  papers.  On  one  point  all  were  agreed.  The  habit 
of  abusing  the  French  must  be  discontinued.  We  must,  they  said, 
live  with  them  on  terms  of  amity  and  affection.  Such  was  the  first 
fruit  of  Baldwin's  policy,  which  heated  partisans  had  declared 
would  bring  about  a  war  of  races. 

Two  months  later,  unfortunately,  the  fires  were  again  rekin- 
dled. Some  persons  implicated  in  the  destruction  of  the  parlia- 
mentary buildings  were  arrested.  All  except  one  who  was  committed 
for  arson  were  bailed  by  the  magistiates.  They  would  not  have 
been  taken  before  the  magistrates  if  a  suflicient  number  of  grand 
jurors  to  form  a  court  could  have  been  got  together.  This  was 
impossible  owing  to  the  cholera,  and  the  Government  thought 
they  could  not  with  p;'Opriety  put  off  action  agai:  ist  these  persons 
until  November.  The  man  committed  for  trial  was  bailed  the 
next  day  by  one  of  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court.  All  this 
surely  showed  no  vindictive  spirit  on  the  part  of  the  Government; 
but  it  seemed  otherwise  to  the  mob.  On  the  night  of  the  18th  of 
August,  a  crowd  attacked  M.  Lafontaine's  house.  Unfortunately, 
some  of  the  persons  within  fired,  and  one  of  the  assailants  fell. 
The  more  riotous  now  cried  out  that  Anglo-Saxon  blood  had  been 
spilled  by  a  Frenchman.  Violent  attacks  were  made  on  Lafon- 
taine  in  the  papers.  A  vast  number  of  men  wearing  red  scarves 
and  ribands,  attended  the  funeral  of  the  poor  misguided  young 


H 


SEAT  OF   GOVERNMENT   REMOVED. 


563 


fellow.     Incendiaries  were  busy  in  several  pai-ts  of  the  city.     A 
coroner's  jury,  however,  after  a  searching  investigation,  unani- 
mously agreed  to  a  verdict  acquitting  M.  Lafontaine  of  all  blame  i 
"  This  verviict,"  says  Lord  Elgin's  biographer,  "  was  important,  for 
two  of  the  jury  were  Orangemen  who  had  marched  in  the  proces- 
sion at  the  funeral  of  the  young  man  who  was  shot."  The  Orange- 
men might  march  at  a  young  fellow's  funeral,  and  yet  have  no 
hand  in  the  riots.     If  they  liad  any  hand  in  the  riots  they  must 
have  forgotten  the  principles  of  1G88,  and  the  teaching  of  William 
III.     However,  the  verdict  had  a  good  effect.     Two  of  the  most 
violent  papers  published  articles  apologising  to  Lafontaine   for 
having  unfavourably  judged  him  before  hand.     But  weeks  passed 
on,  and  there  was  nothing  to  warrant  confidence  that  in  future 
the  Parliament  could  with  safety  meet  at  Montreal.     On  the  3rd 
September,  Lord  Elgin  wrote  :  "  The  existence  of  a  perfect  under- 
standing between  the  more  outrageous  and  the  more  respectable 
factionsof  the  Tory  party  in  the  town,  is  rendered  even  more  manifest 
by  the  readiness  with  which  the  former,  through  their  organs,  have 
yielded  to  the  latter  when  they  preached  moderation  in  good  ear- 
nest."    Lord  Elgin  clung  to  the  idea  of  continuing  the  meeting  of 
parliament  in  Montreal.  Not  until  November  did  he  acknowledge 
that  there  was  no  other  course  to  be  taken  but  that  pressed  on 
him  by  his  Ministers,  that  the  Legislature  should  sit  alternately 
at  Toronto  and  Quebec.     He  determined  to  summon  parliament 
for  the  next  two  sessions  at  Toronto.     The  perambulating  system 
lasted  until  1858,  when  Ottawa  was  chosen  as  the  capital.    Mean- 
while, it  did  much  good  by  removing  the  feeling  of  alienation 
which  existed  between  the  Canadians  of  French  and  the  Canadians 
of  British  descent,  acting  just  as  mixed  schools  act  on  the  senti- 
ments of  Protestants  and  Roman  Catholics.     Closer  communi- 
cation begat  mutual  esteem  and  respect.* 

While  these  arrangements  were  being  discussed,  the  feeling  of 
Western  Canada  as  to  Baldwin  and  Baldwin's  policy  was  tested 
by  Lord  Elgin  making  a  tour  in  the  stronghold  of  Britisii  feeling, 
accompanied  only  by  an  aide-de-camp  and  a  servant.  Everywhere 
he  was  received  with  cordiality,  and  in  most  places  with  enthu- 


■'Lord  Grey's  Colonial  Policy,  i.  235.     See  also  "  Letters  of  Lord  Elgin,"  p,  94. 


m% 


564 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


siasm.  But  a  long  time  elapsed  before  the  "  Family  Compact"  sec- 
tion of  the  Tories  forgave  the  Governor.  Thoy  made  him  a  subject 
©f  ceaseless  detraction.  They  were  the  dominant  class  still  in 
society,and  their  disr*^  S^^S  ^^^^^  ^^s  echoed  by  travellers  in  Eng- 
land, with  the  result  oi  giving  the  impression  that  Lord  Elgin  was 
deficient  in  nerve  and  vigour,  i^nybody  who  has  observed  to 
what  perfection  the  use  of  mendacious  slander  is  carried  here  in 
Canada,  will  sympathise  with  the  calm,  generous-hearted,  great 
man,  who  afterwards  displayed  so  nmoh  energy  and  boldness  in 
China.  But  time,  the  friend  of  truth  and  genius,  the  baffler  of 
those  foul  things  of  twilight,  the  spy,  and  the  slanderer,  brought 
his  vindication. 

We  have  seen  something  of  an  annexation  feeliiig,  the  fruit  of 
the  ignoble  tendency  of  minorities,  to  look  abroad  for  aid  against 
the  power  of  the  majority.  We  have  .<een  also  that  the  word 
"  rebil "  had  actually  been  applied  Baldwin  and  his  friends. 
What  did  those  rebels  do,  when  a  manifesto,  in  favour  of  annexa- 
tion, was  j)ut  forward, bearing  the  signatures  of  magistrates, Queen's 
counsul,  militia  officers,  and  others  holding  conunissions  of  one 
kind  <tr  other  at  the  pleasure  of  the  Crown  {  'J'hey  advised  Lord 
Elgin  to  remove  from  such  offices  as  were  held  during  the  pleasure 
of  the  Crowu,  the  gentlemen  who  admitted  the  genuineness  of 
their  signatures,  and  those  who  refused  to  disavow  them. 

In  June,  1>S40,  an  Act,  dear  to  Baldwin's  heart,  was  passed  by 
the  Impi'i-ial  Parliament,  which,  by  lowering  freights,  inci-eased 
the  profits  of  the  Canadian  trade  in  wheat  and  timber,  and  greatly 
advanced  the  prosperity  of  Canada.  Reciprocity  did  not  come  so 
quickly.  As  the  year  closed,  disloyal  utterances  grew  fainter,  but 
did  not  wholly  subside. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 


The  Ministry  now  applied  themselves  wnth  energy  to  developing 
the  resources  of  the  country.     Reciprocity  was  pressed  on  the 

[Authorities. — The  same  a'^  the  previous  Chapter  ;  the  Clergy  Reserves,  by  Char  "3 
Liudsey  ;  Dublin  University  Magazine,  November,  1876.] 


Rffii 


OPrOIN    OF   THE   CLEAR  GRITS. 


565 


authorities  at  Washington.  Hincks  raised  Canadian  credit  on  the 
London  Stock  Exchange,  and  Canadian  securities  began  to  be 
quoted  in  the  English  market. 

The  first  week  of  1850,  Hincks  hekl  several  succosi-iful  meetings 
in  Oxford.  The  "  demonstration,"  at  Woodstock  was  very  large, 
and  a  vote  of  confidence  in  Mr.  Hincks  and  tlie  Administration 
was  passed  unanimously.  The  leading  organ  of  the  Administra- 
tion declared  that  the  reception  given  to  the  Inspector-Geiioral 
afic^rded  a  p<  ).sitive  proof  that  the  insidious  effbrts  of  the  Examiner 
(edited  by  Mr.  Charles  Lindsey)  and  other  newspapers,  to  divide 
the  Reform  party,  had  been  without  effect.*  Malcolm  Cameron 
had  left  the  Ministry,  and  had  now,  with  Rol[)h,  Caleb  Hopkins^ 
James  Leslie,  and  Peter  Perry,  formed  a  "  clear  grit "  party,  on 
which  the  Olohe  poured  down  scom  and  invective,  calling  them, 
among  other  things,  '■  a  little  miserable  clique  of  office-seeking 
buncombe-talking  cormorants,  who  met  in  a  certain  lawyer's  office 
in  King  Street,  and  announced  their  intention  to  form  a  new  partj/ 
on  '  Clear  Grit '  principles."  As  the  spring  wore  on,  the  Examiner 
went  openly  into  opposition.  On  the  23rd  of  March,  a  meeting  was 
held  in  the  Township  of  Markham,  where  Mr.  Peter  Perry  was 
made  the  mouth-piece  of  the  "  Clear  Grits,"  or  "  Calebites,"  as  they 
were  variousl}'^  called.  Their  platform  was  universal  suffrage, 
vote  by  ballot,  no  qualification  foi"  candidates  for  Parliament, 
fixed  elections — that  is  to  say,  the  day  and  time  of  the  general 
election  should  be  fixed,  the  time  of  the  meeting  of  Parliament 
to  be  fixed  by  law — retrenchment,  the  doing  away  with  pensions 
to  judges,  lowering  law  costs,  the  abolition  of  the  Court  of  Chancery 
and  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas — leaving  only  the  Queen's  Bench, 
County  Courts  and  Township  Courts — free  trade  and  direct  taxa- 
tion, the  application  of  the  clergy  reserves  to  general  public  pur- 
poses, the  abolition  of  primogeniture,  juries  to  be  taken  by  ballot, 
not  from  one  locality,  but  from  the  several  townships  of  a  county, 
the  abolition  of  the  usury  laws  which  were  no  protection  against 
high  interest,  and  which  prevented  money  coining  into  the  coun- 
try. The  Reform  party,  of  which  Baldwin  was  the  head,  agreed 
with  some  of  these  principles.     Baldwin  had  expressed  himself  in 

»  Globe,  January  8th,  1850. 


(!1 


i-wss 


506 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN  CANADA. 


,v 


favour  of  the  ballot  so  early  aa  1846.  The  Olobe  said  there  was 
no  use  blinking  the  fact  that  what  the  Clear  Grits  wanted  wsis  the 
republican  form  of  government.  The  Huron  Sujnal  asked  what 
had  the  Administration  done  or  not  done  to  render  it  unpopular  ? 
On  what  principle.s  of  human  policy  did  the  Opposition  found 
their  hopes  of  office  ?  The  one  error,  if  it  was  an  error,  was  the 
"  Chancery  affair."  That  journal  was  not  disposed  to  regard  the 
new  party  as  "Clear  Grits  "  or  "  Calebites,"  or  as  "Young  Canada," 
but  as  a  portion  of  the  Reform  party,  a  little  more  enthusiastic 
and  sanguine  in  the  cause.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Globe,  which 
deserves  great  credit  for  the  unqualified  and  able  manner  in  which 
it  fought  the  battle  of  loyalty  and  common  sense  at  this  period, 
said  it  was  best  to  recognise  all  avowed  republicans  as  a  distinct 
and  separate  party,  and  to  distinguish  them  by  some  understood 
title.  The  country  then  as  now  was  loyal,  and  on  the  17th  April 
the  annexationist  organ  in  Toronto — the  Independent — died. 

In  March,  in  the  Imperial  Parliament,  liord  John  Russell  made 
a  speech  on  the  colonies,  of  which  Lord  Elgin  and  Baldwin  and 
the  whole  Government  approved,  but  for  one  sentence,  the  3ting 
in  the  tail.  Lord  Elgin  communicated  to  Earl  Grey  his  fears 
that  when  the  liberal  and  enlightened  sentiments  of  the  body  of 
the  speech,  calculated,  as  they  were,  to  make  the  colonists  sensi- 
ble of  the  advantages  they  derived  from  their  connexion  with 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  had  passed  fi"om  men's  memories 
there  would  not  be  wanting  those  who  would  remind  them  that 
the  Prime  Minister  of  England,  amid  the  plaudits  of  a  full  senate, 
declared  that  he  looked  forward  to  the  day  when  the  ties  which 
he  was  endeavouring  to  render  so  easy  and  mutually  advan- 
tageous, would  be  severed.  Wherefore  this  foreboding  ?  asked 
Lord  Elgin.  Was  not  "  foreboding,"  however,  too  strong  a  word  ? 
Judging  by  the  comments  of  the  press  on  Lord  John's  declara- 
tion, one  would  imagine  that  the  prospect  of  these  sucking  demo- 
cracies leaving  their  old  mother  in  the  lurch  and  setting  up  as 
rivals,  after  they  had  drained  her  life-blood,  and  this  just  at  a 
time  when  their  increasing  strength  might  render  them  a  support 
instead  of  a  burden,  was  one  of  the  most  cheering  which  could  at 
that  time  have  presentod  itself  to  the  English  imagination.  But 
why  was  this  foreboding  or  anticipation  entertained  ?     Because 


INDEPENDENCE   AND  ANNEXATfON. 


567 


Lor<l  John  and  the  pooplo  of  England  persisted  in  assuming  that 
the  colonial  relation  was  incoinpatible  with  maturity  and  full 
development.  Was  this  so  incont.?stable  a  truth  that  it  was  a 
duty  not  only  to  hold,  but  to  maint;!in  it  ? 

While  Lord  Elgin  was  in  the  mitbt  of  a  letter  urging  the  op- 
posite view,  two  newspapers  wore  placed  in  his  hand,  the  Herald, 
of  Montreal,  which  he  characterized  as  "  annexationist,"  and  the 
Mirror,  of  Toronto,  which  was  "  quasi-annexationist,"  both  of 
whicli  made  use  of  Lord  John  Russell's  speech  to  further  their 
peculiar  views.  He  was  still  more  annoyed,  he  wrote,  by  what 
had  occurred  the  previous  day  in  council.  They  had  to  deter- 
mine whether  or  not  to  dismiss  from  his  offices  a  gentleman  who 
was  both  M.P.P.,  Q.C.,  and  J.P.,  and  who  had  issued  a  flaming 
manifesto  in  favoui",  not  of  annexation,  but  of  an  immediate 
declaration  of  independence  as  a  step  to  it.  The  Beard  generally 
contended  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  maintain  that  persons 
who  had  declared  their  intention  to  throve  off  their  allegiance  to 
the  Queen,  with  a  view  to  annexation,  were  unfit  to  retain  offices 
granted  during  pleasure,  if  pei'sons  who  made  a  similar  declara- 
tion with  a  view  to  independence,  were  to  be  diiferently  dealt 
with.  Baldwin  had  Lord  John's  speech  in  his  hand.  "  He  is," 
said  Lord  Elgin,  "  a  man  of  singularly  placid  demeanour."  But 
on  this  occasion  he  was  greatly  moved.  He  asked  the  Governor- 
General  whether  he  had  read  the  latter  part  of  Lord  John  Rus- 
sell's speech.  The  Governor  nodded.  "  For  myself,"  said  Baldwin, 
"  if  the  anticipations  therein  expressed  prove  to  be  well-founded, 
my  interest  in  public  affairs  is  gone  for  ever.  But  is  it  not  hard 
upon  us,  while  we  are  labouring  tlirough  good  and  evil  report  to 
thwart  the  designs  of  those  who  would  dismember  the  Empire, 
that  our  adversaries  should  be  informed  that  the  difference 
between  them  and  the  Prime  Minister  of  England  is  only  one  of 
time  ?  If  the  British  Government  has  really  come  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  we  are  a  burden  to  be  cast  off  whenever  a  favourable 
opportunity  offers,  surely  we  ought  to  be  warned." 

Lord  Elgin  assured  Baldwin  tjiat  he  thought  the  theory  that 
British  colonies  could  not  attain  maturity  without  separation  un- 
sound and  dangerous,  and  that  his  interest  in  labouring  with  them 
to  bring  into  full  play  the  principles  of  Constitutional  Govern- 


668 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


ment  in  Canada  would  coase  the  moment  he  adopted  such  a  theory. 
He  said  this  with  misgiving.  But  it  was  possible  he  exaggerated 
the  theri  probablo  effects  of  Lord  John  Russell's  declaration. 
"  Politicitns  of  the  Baldwin  stamp,"  he  wi'ote  with  a  just  appre- 
ciation of  that  "great  and  good  statesman,"*  the  "noble  Baldwin,"*!* 
"  with  distinct  views  and  aims,  who  having  struggled  to  obtain 
a  government  on  British  principles  desire  to  preserve  it,  are  not  I 
fear  very  numerous  in  Canada ;  the  great  mass  move  on  Avith 
very  indefinite  purposes,  and  not  much  inquiring  whither  they 
are  going."  Of  one  thing  he  was  certain  there  could  not  be  any 
peace,  contentment,  progress  or  credit  in  the  colony,  while  the  idea 
obtained  that  the  connexion  with  England  was  a  millstone  about 
its  neck  which  should  be  cast  off  as  soon  as  it  could  be  conven- 
iently managed. 

A  distinction  was  drawn  at  the  Colonial  Office  between  separa- 
tion with  a  view  to  annexation,  and  separation  with  a  view  to 
independence.  The  former  was  i  onsidered  an  act  of  treason,  the 
^  iter  a  natural  and  legitimate  step  m  progress.  This  was  plausi- 
ble ;  but  its  plausibility  vanished  the  moment  it  was  known  that 
no  one  advocated  independence  in  Canada  but  as  a  means  to  the 
end,  annexation.  Nor  was  it  apart  from  this,  tenable.  If  tlie 
colonial  existence  was  one  with  which  colonists  ought  not  to  rest 
satisfied,  how  could  those  who  desired  for  any  purpose  to  substi- 
tute the  Stars  and  Stripes  for  the  Union  Jack  be  denounced  with- 
out reserve  and  measure  ?  If  a  father  told  his  great  lubberly  boy 
that  he  was  too  big  for  the  nursery,  and  that  he  had  no  room  for 
him  in  his  own  house,  how  could  he  decline  to  let  him  lodge  with 
his  elder  brother  ? 

Late  in  the  year  he  again  addressed  Earl  Grey,  saying  that  Sir 
Henry  Bulwer:{:  and  Sir  Edmund  Head  had  spent  a  few  days  with 
him,  and  that  he  thought  he  had  sent  them  away  reassured  on  many 
points  of  Canadian  domestic  policy.  With  one  important  truth,  he 
had  always  labouied  to  impress  everybody  with  whom  he  came  in 
contact  that  the  faithful  carrying  out  of  the  principles  of  Consti- 


•  Sir  John  A.  Macdonald's  speech  at  Brampton,  June,  1877. 

t  Mr.  Mackenzie's  speech  at  Kingston,  June,  1877. 

t  Afterwards  Sir  Henry  Bulwer-Lytton,  and  subsequently  Lord  Lytton. 


BHI 


! 


ADVANTAGES  OF  THE  CANADIAN   CONSTITUTION. 


569 


tutional  Government  was  a  depaituro  from  not  an  approximation 
to  the  American  model,  and  was,  therefore,  a  departure  from  Re- 
publicanism in  its  only  workable  ^hape.  The  American  system 
was  the  old  colonial  system,  with  the  principle  of  popular  election 
substituted  for  that  of  nomination  by  the  Crown.  Mr.  Fillmore 
stood  to  his  Congress  as  Lord  Elgin  stood  to  his  Assembly  in 
Juiiiaica.  There  was  the  same  absence  of  effective  responsibility 
in  the  conduct  of  legislation,  the  same  want  of  concurrent  action 
between  the  parts  of  the  political  machine.  The  whole  business 
of  legislation  in  the  American  Congress,  as  well  as  in  the  State 
Legislatures,  Lord  Elgin  contended,  was  conducted  in  the  manner 
in  which  railway  business  was  conducted  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, at  a  time  when  it  was  to  be  feared  that  notwithstanding 
the  high  standard  of  honour  in  the  British  Parliament,  jobbing 
was  rife.  "  For  instance,"  he  said,  "  our  reciprocity  measure  was 
passed  by  us  at  Washington  last  session.  He  is  writing  in  No- 
vember, 1860 — "just  as  a  R{iilway  Bill  in  1845  or  1846  would 
have  beea  passed  in  Parliament.  There  wi.s  no  Government  to 
deal  with.  The  interests  of  the  Union,  as  a  whole,  and  distinct 
from  local  and  sectional  interests,  had  no  organ  in  the  representa- 
tive bodies ;  it  was  all  a  question  of  canvassing  this  member  of 
Congress  or  the  other.  It  is  easy  to  perceive  that,  under  such  a 
system,  jobbery  must  become,  not  the  exception,  but  the  rule." 
This  great  statesman  went  on  to  express  his  strong  conviction 
that  when  a  people  have  been  once  accustomed  to  the  working  of 
such  a  Parliamentary  system  as  ours  in  Canada,  they  would  never 
consent  to  revert  to  the  clumsy,  irresponsible  mechanism  of  the 
United  States. 

Later  still  he  again  wrote  to  Earl  Grey.  Earl  Grey  had  written 
that,  when  there  was  so  much  pressing  business  in  hand,  it  seemed 
idle  to  correspond  c  i  what  might  be  termed  speculative  ques- 
tions. Lord  Elgin  knew,  however,  that  he  had  something  to  teach 
Ministers  at  home,  and  not  a  few  of  my  readers  to-day  may  also 
learn  nmch  from  him.  He  had  a  practical  object  in  view  in  calling 
Earl  Grey's  attention  to  the  contrasts  which  present  themselves 
in  the  working  of  Canadian  Institutions,  and  those  of  our  neigh- 
bours in  the  States.  What  was  that  object  ?  When  Ministers  in 
London  conceded  to  the  colonists  Constitutional  Government  in 


•  10 


111*' 


570 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


its  int«'grity,  thoy  were  roproachi  1  with  leading  thcin  to  Rtspub- 
licani.sm  and  tlio  Aniorican  Union,  Lord  Stanley  ^tho  late  Lord 
Derby)  had  declared  in  1849,  amid  the  clieera  of  the  House  of 
CoininonH,  that,  if  the  Colonial  Secretary  was  in  the  habit  of  con- 
sulting Ministers  of  the  Crown  in  the  Colony  before  placing 
persons  on  the  colonial  pension  list,  he  had  no  luisitation  ir  saying 
they  had  already  established  a  r»?pal)lic  in  Canp  1;..  "  Now  I 
believe  on  the  contrary,"  wrote  Lord  Elgin,  an  English  Tory,  be  it 
remembered,  but  one  who  had  more  statesmanship  than  most 
of  the  first  men  in  England  of  either  party  at  that  time,  "that  it 
may  bo  demonstrated  that  the  concession  of  constitutional  govern- 
ment has  a  tendency  to  draw  the  colonists  the  other  way  ;  firstly, 
because  it  slakes  the  thirst  for  self-government  which  seizes  on 
all  Bri<^lsh  communities  when  thay  approach  maturity,  and  second- 
ly, because  it  habituates  the  colonists  to  the  working  of  a  political 
mechanism  which  is  both  intrinsically  superior  to  that  of  the 
Americans,  and  more  unlike  it  than  our  o)  \  colonial  system." 

Earl  Grey,  admitting  the  superiority  of  the  Canadian  political 
system  to  that  of  the  United  States,  argued  that  the  people  of  the 
Union  had  the  remedy  in  their  hands  ;  that,  without  abandoning 
their  republicanism,  they  and  their  brethren  in  Franco  had  no- 
thing to  do  but  to  dismiss  their  Presidents  and  to  substitute  the 
British  or  Canadian  constitution  without  a  King  or  a  Governor — 
the  body  without  the  head — in  order  to  get  rid  of  the  inconvenien- 
ces they  experienced  ;  and  the  Colonial  Secretary  quoted  with  ap- 
probation the  project  submitted  by  M.  Gr^vy  and  the  Red  Republi- 
cans to  the  French  Constituent  Assen-.bly.  The  usurpation  of 
Napoleon  III.  was  a  cynical  commentary  on  the  statesmanship 
and  foresight  of  Earl  Grey. 

Earl  Grey  did  not  see  that  the  monarch  or  a  constitutional 
governor  is  an  indispensable  element  in  our  constitutional  mecha- 
nism. The  advantages  of  that  sys<"em  are  not  to  be  had  without 
him.  Earl  Grey  had  said  that  the  system  the  Red  Republicans 
would  have  establis]ied  in  France  would  have  been  the  near\st 
possible  approach  to  that  of  England.  "  It  is  possible,"  wrote 
Lord  Elgin,  "  perhaps  [  robable,  that  as  the  House  of  Commons 
becomes  more  democratic  in  its  composition,  and  consequently 
more  arrogant  in  its  bearing,  it  may  cast  ojff  the  shackles  which 


E9 


^m 


" 


THE   BRITISH   CON  TITUTION. 


571 


tho  other  powc  j  of  the  Stato  i  pose  on  its  solf-will,  and  even 
utterly  aboli.sli  I'.i^ni,  but  I  venture  to  1  oHeve  that  those  wlio  last 
till  that  <lay  comes  will  find  they  are  living  under  a  vorydifterent 
constitution  from  that  wliich  we  no.v  enjoy;  that  they  have 
traversed  tho  interval  which  separates  a  temperate  and  cautioua 
administraMon  of  public  att'airs  resting  on  the  balance  <»f  powers 
and  interest^,  from  a  reckless  and  overbearing  tyranny,  based  on 
the  caprices  and  pas-sions  of  an  absolute  irresponsible  body.  You 
talk  somewhat  lightly  of  tho  check  of  the  (Jrown,  althoiigh  you 
acknowledge  its  utility.  But  is  it  indeed  so  light  a  matter  even  as 
our  constitution  now  works  ?  Is  it  a  light  matter  that  the  Crown 
should  have  the  power  of  tlissolving  Parliament,  in  other  words,  of 
deposing  tho  tyrant  at  will  ?  Is  it  a  light  matter  that  for  several 
months  in  each  year  tho  House  of  Commons  should  be  in  abey- 
ance, during  which  period  tho  nation  looks  to  Ministers  not  as 
slaves  of  Parliament,  but  as  servants  of  the  Crown  ?  Is  it  a  light 
matter  that  there  should  ))e  bo  such  respect  for  the  monarchical 
principle,  that  servants  of  that  visible  unity,  yclept  the  Crown, 
are  enabled  to  carry  on  much  of  the  details  of  internal  and 
foreign  administration  without  consulting  Parliament,  and  even 
without  its  cognisance  ?  Or  do  you  sa\)pose  that  the  Red  Repub- 
licans, when  they  advocated  the  nomination  of  a  revocable  man- 
dat,  intended  to  create  a  Frankenstein,*  endowed  with  powers  in 
some  cases  paramount  to,  and  in  others  running  parallel  with,  tho 
authority  of  this  omnipotent  body  to  which  it  owed  its  existence  ? 
My  own  impression  is,  that  they  meant  a  set  of  delegates  to  be 
appointed,  who  should  exercise  certain  functions  of  legislative 
initiation  and  executive  patronage  so  long  as  they  reflected  clearly 


•  Lord  Elgin  fell  into  not  an  uncommon  error  of  busy  people  who  make  allusions  to 
books  they  have  not  read,  and  put  the  creator  for  the  monster  he  created.  In  1810, 
Lord  Byron  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shelley  having  amused  themselves  with  reading  Ger- 
man ghost  stories,  agreed  to  write  something  in  imitation  of  them.  Byron  began  the 
"Vampire"  but  never  finished  it.  Mrs.  Shelley  conceived  and  wrote  her  powerful 
romance  of  "  Frankenstein. "  It  was  published  in  1817.  Frankenstein  discovers  that, 
by  his  study  of  natural  philosophy,  he  can  create  a  living  sentient  being,  and  he  con- 
structs and  animates  a  gigantic  figure  eight  feet  in  height.  The  monster  becomes  a 
terror  to  his  creator,  demands  that  a  help  mate  shall  be  made  for  him.  Frankenstein 
failing  to  comply  with  his  demands,  he  murders  the  friend  of  his  creator,  strangles  his 
bride  on  his  wedding  night,  and  ultimatelyjrightens  Frankenstein  into  a  condition  which 
leads  to  his  death. 


i  ''. 


672 


THE  IRISHMAN  IN   CANADA. 


i^m 


in  the  former,  the  passions,  and  in  the  latter,  the  interests  of  the 
majority  for  the  time  being  and  no  longer."  To  have  a  Republican 
form  of  government  in  a  great  country,  the  executive  and  legis- 
lative departments  must  be  separated,  as  in  the  United  States, 
and  the  people  must  submit  to  the  tyranny  of  the  majority,  not 
the  more  tolerable  because  capricious,  and  wielded  by  a  tyrant  with 
many  heads.  How  much  more  violent  would  be  the  proceedings 
of  the  majorities  in  the  American  Legislatures,  how  much  more 
reckless  would  be  their  appeals  to  popular  passion,  how  much 
oftener  would  the  interests  of  the  nation  and  individual  rights  be 
sacrificed  to  making  political  capital,  if  debates  or  discussions  af- 
fected the  tenure  of  office.  Only  under  a  monarchy  can  the  exe- 
cutive and  the  legislative  departments  of  the  State  be  made  to 
w^rk  together  with  that  degree  of  harmony  which  shall  give  the 
Kiaximum  of  strengh  and  of  mutual  independence  by  which  free- 
dom and  the  rights  of  minorities  are  secured.  Nor  can  the  moral 
power  of  a  monarch,  oi-  a  governor  be  measured  by  his  recog- 
nised power,  so  long  as  the  people  are  monarchical  in  sentiment. 
When  it  was  urged  that  Lord  Elgin,  in  maintaining  and  carrying 
out  these  views,  committed  official  suicide,  and  degi aded  him- 
iself  into  a  roi  faineant,  he  used  to  say  that  he  had  tried  both 
.systems.  "  In  Jamaica  there  was  no  Responsible  Government,  but 
I  had  not  half  the  power  I  have  here  with  my  Constitutional  and 
Changing  Cabinet."  Under  the  Vice-regal  Throne  of  India,  he 
missed  something  of  the  authority  and  influence  he  enjoyed  as 
constitutional  Governor  in  Canada.*  The  honour  of  bringing  about 
this  wise  system  of  Government,  belongs,  more  than  to  any  other 
man,  to  Robert  Baldv/in,  who  so  early  as  1825,  had  taken  in  the 
whole  situation  with  its  imperative  needs. 

Parliament  met  at  Toronto  on  the  14th  of  May,  and  a  vigorous 
debate  took  place  on  the  address,  the  attack  being  led  by  "  Clear 


*  Letters  of  Lord  Elgin,  pp.  115-124.  Compare  the  views  respectingr  the  Americftn 
and  English  constitutions  with  the  remarks  of  Mr.  Caleb  Cashing  on  the  same  sub- 
ject. "  The  Treaty  of  Washington,"  by  Caleb  Cushing,  p.  44-46.  Mr.  Cuiliing's  re- 
marks are  more  suggestive  than  instructive.  But  they  emphasize  ihe  opinions  pro- 
pounded by  Lord  Elgin,  and  they  show  how  paramount  the  necessity  of  lifting  tho 
people  here  and  in  England,  by  education,  out  of  the  ignorance  which  makes  them  the 
sport  of  unprincipled  demagogues. 


Baldwin's  scrupulousness. 


573 


IB  pro- 
iuK  the 
em  the 


Grits,"  and  sore  heads.  In  division  after  division,  the  Govern- 
ment w«^  sustained,  though  it  was  evident  they  were  not  pre- 
pared to  move  as  fast  as  the  requirements  of  the  country  needed. 
When  disloyalty  raised  its  head,  Baldwin  showed  entire  sympathy 
with  the  country  by  moving  that  the  petition  in  favour  of  inde- 
pendence, presented  by  Colonel  Prince,  the  self-styled  "English 
gentleman,"  should  not  be  received — a  motion  which  was  carried 
by  fifty-seven  to  seventeen. 

He  was  not,  however,  abreast  of  the  time  in  maintaining,  as  he 
did,  with  all  his  influence  and  force  of  argument,  that  the  setting 
apart  the  Clergy  Reserves  for  the  supportof  the  Protestant  clergy, 
was  a  just  and  a  proper  measure,  and  that  it  did  not  establish  a 
particular  body  as  a  dominant  church.  When  u,  Reform  leader 
hangs  behind  his  party,  his  time  is  up.  Mr.  Drammond,  an  Irish- 
man of  consideiable  power,  spoke  strongly  in  favour  of  the  secu- 
larization of  the  Clergy  Reserves. 

Baldwin's  scrupulousness  struck  many  as  weakness.  A  con- 
scientious man  often  appears  feeble  to  the  unscrupulous.  About 
this  time  an  instance  of  his  r»re  tenderness  of  political  conscience 
occurred.  When  n,  ^'^acancy  took  place  on  the  bench,  Mr,  Boulton, 
a  Conservative,  who  had  aided  in  the  sti-uggle  for  Responsible 
Government,  claimed  the  reward  of  a  party  man.  He  wished  to 
get  the  appointment.  There  can  be  no  doubt  he  shouM  have 
had  it.  He  was,  in  all  respects,  a  man  to  make  an  efficient  judge. 
Baldwin  desired  to  give  him  the  position.  But  letters  poured 
in  on  him  from  all  sides  deja-ecating  that  course.  The  conflict 
between  his  desire  to  do  right,  and  his  desire  not  to  injure  the 
party,  made  him  ill.  Leave  the  thing  to  us,  Mr.  •  Francis  Hincks 
said,  and  we  will  settie  it.  They  settled  it  by  appointing  Mr 
Robert  E.  Bums. 

In  the  first  days  of  January,  the  nmnicipal  elections  were  going 
forward.  Piatt  was  one  of  the  common  council  men,  elected  for 
St.  Lawrence  Ward.  Bowes,  who  has  been  mentioned  in  an 
earlier  chapter  was  elected  Alderman  for  St.  James'  Ward. 

On  Twelfth  Night,  Lord  Elgin  had  a  large  party  at  Elmsley 
House,  on  King  Street — originally  the  private  residence  of  Chief- 
Justice  Elmsley,  which  had  been  purchased  after  the  war  of  1812- 
14,  for  the  use  of  the  Lieutenant-Governor.  Among  the  company, 


i 


574 


THR  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


i 


were,  Chancellor  and  Mrs.  Blake,  J  udge  and  Mrs.  Sullivan,  Messrs, 
Baldwin,  Hincks  and  others.  The  attendance  at  his  receptions 
showed,  it  was  contended,  that  he  had  the  confidence  of  the  coun- 
try. The  argument  supported  a  true  proposition,  though  the 
rei.',soning  was  far  from  cogent.  It  was  not,  however,  so  much 
the  case  then,  as  it  is  now,  that  the  doors  of  society  open  to  the 
golden  key,  no  matter  by  whose  hand  applied. 

*Notwithstanding  the  split  in  the  Reform  Party,  Ministers  went 

*  McMuUen  conveys  the  impression  that  the  Olobe  had  ceased  to  support  IJaldwin's 
Administration  in  1850.  The  Olobe,  on  the  contrary,  supported  Baldwin  to  the  last, 
and  denounced  the  Examiner  and  the  "Clear  Grits"  for  dividing  the  party.  The 
Globe  begtn  to  take  a  moi o  critical  stand  in  1850.  In  an  article  in  the  autumn  of 
that  year,  it  reviewed  the  struggle  since  lU'i&,  »nd  concluded  as  follows  ; 

"We  have  thus  on  the  political  carpet  of  Cpper  Canada  :— Ultra  Tories — represented 
by  Mr.  W.  B.  Robinsor.  and  others  in  the  House,  and  a  numerous  party  out  of  it, 
whose  promii\ent  characteristic  is  High  Churchism.  Moderate  Tories— represented  by 
John  A.  Mat'donald,  and  Henry  Sherwood  and  others  in  the  House,  and  a  large  sec- 
tion out  of  it — who  have  no  principles  in  particular  but  their  opposition  to  the  Minis- 
try. MinisteiLvlists— comprising  two-thirds  of  the  people  of  Upper  Canada.  Leaguers 
— comprising  se  'eral  active  leadei-s,  but  few  followers.  Their  strength,  at  an  election 
would  lie  in  diviiing  the  enemy  and  receiving  tribute  from  aU.  Their  principles  are 
very  diversified  according  to  the  locality  and  the  man  to  be  run.  Clear  Grits — com« 
prising  disappointed  Ministerialists,  ultra  English  Radicals,  Republicans,  Annexa- 
tionists. Their  ultra  principles  find  little  sympathy,  and  their  formal  proposal  for  a 
Convention  has  been  a  ridiculous  botch.  They  have  made  the  most  of  the  slips  of 
the  Ministry,  and  discontent  among  their  supporters — but  as  a  party  on  their  own 
footing  they  are  powerless,  except  to  do  mischief.  All  these  parties  are  now  contend- 
ing for  the  dominancy  in  Upper  Canada,  but  ^vith  a  feebleness  quite  new  in  our  politi- 
cal history.  Were  tie  Ministerialists  united,  and  the  constituencies  fairly  adjusted, 
there  could  be  no  doubt  that,  at  a  trial  of  strength,  they  would  sweep  all  before  them. 
But  they  are  far  from  Seing  united,  and  we  propose  to  take  another  oppoitunity  of 
showing  the  causes  of  the  existing  division.  Party  landmarks  have  in  a  great  measure 
been  swept  away  by  th»i  legislation  of  the  last  few  years ;  and  the  straggling  parties 
are  fonning  anew.  .Thi'  eKtablishment  of  Responsible  Government  removed  the 
main  wall  of  separation ;  and  the  successful  establishment  of  the  Municipal  Coun- 
cil and  National  Commoi.  School  systems  did  almost  as  much.  Then  the  settlement 
of  the  King's  College  question,  and  the  probable  settlement  of  Clergy  Reserves  will 
take  away  fertile  elements  of  bitter  contention  in  past  years.  We  are  glad  that  so 
many  grounds  of  strife  are  .-emoved ;  but  as  believers  in  party  government  we  wish 
the  lines  separating  parties  were  more  clearly  drawn  on  great  questions  of  public 
policy.  We  se->  constant  allufcions  to  a  coming  Coalition  Ministry,  which,  in  the  opi- 
nion of  many,  the  position  of  pirties  naturally  points  to.  We  sincerely  trust  that  as 
far  as  the  Ministerial  Party  is  concerned,  no  such  movement  is  in  any  way  contem- 
plated. The  constitutional  Reftrm  Party  of  Upper  Canada  needs  no  assistance,  and 
we  are  sure  that  any  attetnpt  at  coalition  with  Toryism  wonld  be  fatal  to  all  who 
touchc  it.  That  a  re-organizatiou  of  the  Liberal  Party  is  necessary  few  will  deny; 
but  that  a  more  progressive  policy,  a  firmer  step,  and  more  sjrmpathy  within  the 


FllUITFUL  LEGISLATION.      CONFEDERATION. 


675 


triumphantly  through  tlie  session,  and  were  enabled  to  pass  a  large 
number  of  useful  moa.ures,  amongst  them  an  admirable  Jury  Bill, 
a  just  Assessment  Bill,  a  Division  Court  Bill,  an  Election  Law. 
They  dealt  with  the  extension  of  Municipal  Institutions,  Univer- 
sity Reform,  Post  Office  Reform,  the  Court  of  Chancery.  They 
passed  resolutions  respecting  the  Clergy  Reserves,  a  Public  Road 
Act,  a  Railways'  Assistance  Act,  a  School  Fund  Act.  Banking 
and  Medical  incorporation,  the  promotion  of  the  exchange  of 
products  between  the  Provinces  of  British  North  America,  and 
fifty  other  important  matters  had  received  fruitful  attention. 

Something  like  Confederation  had  early  hovered  before  men's 
minds,  r-nd  an  Irishman,  Mr.  Stephens  had  advocated  it  in  a  letter 
to  Lord  Durham  in  1839.  A  league  was  formed  called  the  British 
AmQrican  Lea^oriie,  jy  the  Hon.  George  MofFatt,  Thomas  Wilson^ 
the  Hon.  Georgp  Crawford  (Irish),  the  Hon.  Asa  A.  Burnham, 
John  W.  Gamble  (Irish),  Mr.  Aikman,  Ogh  R.  Gowan  (Irish),  John 
Duggan  (Irish),  the  Hon.  Col.  Frazer,  George  Benjamin,  the  Hon.. 
P.  M.  Vankoughnet,  and  to  use  the  words  of  the  Hon.  George 
Brown,*  "  last,  though  not  least,"  the  Hon.  John  A.  Macdonald,. 
for  the  purpose  of  framing  a  constitution  which  should  embrace 
a  union  of  the  British  North  American  Provinces  on  mutually 
advantageous  and  fairly  arranged  terms,  with  the  concession  from 
the  Mother  Country  of  enlarged  powers  of  self-government.  The 
question  was  kept  before  the  public  in  1850,  and  its  promoters 
were  stigmatized  by  the  Baldv/in  press  as  constitution  mongers. 

Bowes  was  elected  mayor  i'or  1^51.  Parliament  met  in  May,  and 
the  debate  on  the  address  was  concluded  in  one  evening.  The 
most  notable  thing,  during  the  session,  was  the  retiriement  of  Bald- 
win from  the  Ministry.  W.  Lyon  Mackenzie  had  been  re- 
turned for  Haldimand,  and  he  proposed  a  resolution  to  do  away 
with  the  Court  of  Chancery.  On  this  resolution  being  carried, 
by  a  majority  of  the  Upper  Canada  members,  Baldwin,  true  to 
the  principle  of  a  double  majority,  resigned.     Nor  could  anything 


partj'  than  heretofore,  would  reunite  the  constitutional  portion  of  the  party  more 
heartily  than  ever  and    carry  it  triumphantly  through  the   election  of  1851,  we 
feel  perfectly  confident." 
*  Debates  on  Confederation,  p.  111. 


'.f^' 


)l 


|i 


!!? 


' 


576 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


move  him  from  his  resolve,  not  though  members  who  had  voted 
with  Mackenzie  assured  him  that  they  would  have  voted  with 
him  if  they  had  known  beforehand  the  result  of  their  action 
would  be  so  serious,  not  though  they  protested  if  the  question 
was  brought  up  again  they  would  be  guided  by  him.  He  was 
Attorney -General  when  Mr.  Blake's  Chancery  Bill  was  passed. 
Scarcely  two  years  had  since  elapsed,  and  nearly  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  profession  were  prepared  to  do  away  with  the  Court. 
Baldwin  said  he  had  no  othei  course  but  to  resign.  He  bade 
farewell  to  his  colleagues.  He  was  deeply  affected,  and  at  one 
time  was  overcome  with  emotion.  Hincks  wished  to  resign  with 
him,  but  he  urged  him  not  to  do  so. 

In  July,  1851,  the  defection  of  the  Olohe  from  the  Reform  party, 
as  it  now  existed,  was  complete.  Hincks  was  accused  of  having 
thrown  Baldwin  over,  whereupon  Baldwin  wrote  him  a  letter 
saying  such  was  not  a  fact,  and  that  he  had  remained  in  office  at 
his  suggestion.* 

With  the  retirement  of  Baldwin  from  the  Ministry,  what  may, 
in  a  work  of  this  kind  be  called  the  Irish  period  began  to  decline. 
He  found  the  country  agitated,  ill  at  ease,  uncertain  as  to  its 
future  ;  he  left  it  prosperous,  contented,  and  ready  to  apply  its 
energies  to  the  development  of  material  prosperity.  He  was 
beaten  in  North  York  at  the  ensuing  election.  There  was  no 
ground  for  supposing  that  a  man  who  voted  for  Pri.  j  resolution 
would  have  objected  to  &  settlement  of  the  Clergy  Reserves,  and 
though  he  might  have  preferred  to  have  the  Reserves  devoted  to 
their  original  purpose,  it  is  evident  from  his  speeches  and  votes  in 
1S50  and  1851,  that  he  would  have  been  prepared  to  apply  them 
to  educational  purposes.^  There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  he 
was  too  Conservative  for  the  Reform  party  at  this  time.  New 
(questions  were  coming  up  in  which  he  took  no  interest.  But  a 
reform  constituency  should  have  hesitated  long  before  they  turned 
away  the  faithful  servant  who  had  done  so  much  for  them  and  the 
country.  His  defeat  combined  with  subsequent  ingratitude,  prob- 


*  See  the  Letter  of  Baldwin,  20tQ  Dec,  1851. 

t  Both  in  18.50  and  1851,  Baldwin  voted  for  Price's  resolutions.    MacMullen  therefore 
-oonveys  a  false  impression  in  his  "  History,"  page  614. 


RAILWAY  MANIA. 


677 


ably  hastened  Ms  death,  which  took  place  in  1858.  He  stands 
boldly  out  in  our  history,  the  purest  of  our  statesmen,  the  father 
of  our  Constitution. 

The  session  closed  on  the  30th  August.  Lord  Elgin  was  able 
to  congratulate  the  House  and  the  country  on  tiie  work  which 
had  been  done,  the  grants  which  had  been  made  for  the  erection 
of  lighthouses,  and  for  improving  the  navigation  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence. The  reduction  of  the  immigrant  tax,  the  favourable  state  of 
the  revenue,  the  encouragement  of  railway  enterprise,  the  credit- 
able appearance  made  by  Canada  at  the  Crystal  Palace  Exhibi- 
tion, the  quieter  condition  of  the  public  mind,  were  proper  sub- 
jects for  thankfulness,  as  was  Canada's  increased  prosperity  which 
began  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  outside  world.  Several 
countries  expressed  their  desire  to  add  to  the  volurae  of  their 
commerce  on  the  St.  Lawrence.  A  large  traffic  had  sprung  up 
with  the  United  States. 

The  "  Clear  Grit"  element  began  t<  make  itself  felt.  Lafontaine 
retired,  whereupon,  Lord  Elgin  sent  for  Hincks,  who  was  entirely 
successful  in  forming  a  new  Government.  Dr.  Rolph  and  Malcolm 
Cameron  were  both  taken  into  the  Cabinet.  Malcolm  Cameron 
became  President  of  the  Council.  He  had  proposed  to  abolish  this 
office.  His  inconsistency  was  dwelt  on  in  every  key  from  ridicule 
to  invective. 

The  general  election,  which  followed  the  reconstruction  of  the 
Cabinet,  introduced  some  new  blood  into  Parliament,  and  gave  a 
majority  to  the  Government.  Mr.  Joseph  Hartman  replaced 
Robert  Baldwin,  and  William  Lyon  Mackenzie,  who  had,  in  1859, 
returned  to  Canada,  and  had  early  found  a  seat,  beat  Mr.  George 
Brown  in  Haldimand. 

A  passion  for  developing  the  country  now  seized  on  the  public 
mind,  and  this  was  aided  by  the  influx  of  emigrants  from  Ireland 
and  elsewhere.  Emigration  and  famine  had  reduced  the  popu- 
lation of  Ireland  from  8,176,124  in  1841.  to  6,675,793  in  1851. 
Nevertheless,  in  t^  is  year  275,000  Irishmen  turned  their  backs  on 
Ireland,  and  a  large  proportion  of  these  found  their  way  to  Canada. 

Early  in  the  summer,  an  Irishman,  Mr.  J.  W.  Gwynne,  pressed 
his  railway  scheme,  the  Toronto  and  Goderich  Railway,  on  the 
attention  of  the  public.  In  1847,  a  dozen  gentlemen,  at  the  instance 
37 


Ml 


m 


V 


i!i;!f 


' 


578 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


of  Mr.  G  Wynne,  had  formed  themselves  into  a  company  to  make  a 
railroad  from  Toronto  to  Goderich.  Mr.  Gwynne  had  also  taken 
an  interest  in  other  railway  schemes,  and  he  deserves  to  be  placed 
in  the  foremost  ranks  of  our  railway  pioneers,  though  his  sugges- 
tions ultimately  helped  the  builders  of  the  Grand  Trunk  more  than 
himself.  Among  those  who  supported  him  was  George  Herrick. 
A»  any  one  turning  over  the  files  of  those  days  will  see,  he  spent 
much  time  and  money  in  seeking  to  supply  the  needed  railways 
for  the  Province ;  but  he  was  not  in  Parliament,  and  he  was  too 
upright  to  resort  to  the  arts  of  lobbying.  While  such  mateiial 
issues  were  under  discussion,  the  public  mind  was  arrested,  as  it 
has  been  lately,  by  a  great  conflagration.  A  large  part  of  Mon- 
treal was  laid  waste  by  fire. 

The  seat  of  Government  had  been  removed  to  Quebec,  where 
Parliament  met  on  the  l(3th  August.  The  late  Sandfield  Mac- 
donald  was  chosen  Speaker  of  the  Legislative  Assembly.  The 
Governor -General  in  his  opening  speecli  struck  the  knell  of  the 
system  of  Seignorial  tenure,  though  that  question  was  not  imme- 
diately settled.  The  speech  dwelt  on  the  expediency  of  having  a 
line  of  steamer,!  from  Canada  to  England,  the  alteration  of  the 
currency  on  a  decimal  basis,  and  the  propriety  of  increasing  the 
Parliamentary  representation. 

Mr.  Hincks  introduced  and  passed  a  series  of  resolutions  res- 
pecting the  Clergy  Reserves,  pledging  the  Assembly  to  a  settle- 
ment of  the  question  in  a  liberal  direction.  He  informed  the 
House  that  he  had  reason  to  believe  that  the  Imperial  Parliament 
would  soon  pass  a  measure  giving  the  Canadian  Legislature  power 
to  deal  finally  with  the  Reserves.  An  address  was  passed,  pray- 
ing the  Home  Government  to  make  no  concessions  to  the  Ameri- 
cans in  the  fishery  dispute  unless  they  conceded  reciprocity.  Mr. 
Hincks  was  inclined  to  retaliate  on  the  narrow  policy  of  the 
United  States,  by  adopting  differential  duties  in  favour  of  British 
commerce,  and  by  closing  the  canals  to  the  American  marine. 
Free  Trade  was  at  this  time  near  its  complete  sway  over  English 
opinion,  and  the  proposal  of  the  Ministry  was  so  unpopular  in 
Canada,  that  it  had  to  be  abandoned.  Nevertheless,  it  is  hard  to 
see  why  Canada  should  not  have  retaliated,  especially  at  a  time 
when  all  that  was  to  be  considered  was  the  interest  of  the  two 


LEGISLATIVE   ENERGY   OF   HINOKS'   GOVERNMENT. 


579 


Provinces.  The  remarkable  feattrre  of  the  Sespion  was  its  rail- 
way legislation.  Fifteen  bills  were  placed  on  the  Statute  Book, 
which  included  the  Act  relating  to  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway.  Mr. 
Hincks  also  passed  an  Act  enabling  municipalities  to  borrow 
money  on  the  credit  of  the  Province  lor  local  improvements,  rail- 
ways, bridges,  and  macadamized  roads,  and  the  like :  an  Act  which 
had  an  incalculable  influence  in  developing  the  country,  but  which 
undoubtedly  led  to  much  extravagance.  The  legislation  of  1852, 
greatly  increased  the  liabilities  of  the  two  Provinces,  and  led  to 
the  annual  deficit  of  succeeding  years.  The  whole  debt  of  Canada 
at  the  close  of  1852,  was  $22,355,  413  ;  the  revenne,  $3,976,706  ; 
the  expenditure,  $3,059,081.  This  prosperous  state  of  things 
raised  the  credit  of  the  country, and  Canadian  six  per  cents  began 
to  be  quoted  at  sixteen  per  cent  premium  on  the  London  Stock 
Exchange.  On  the  10th  of  November,  the  Legislature  adjourned 
until  the  14th  of  February,  1853.  The  sleepless  energy  of  Mr. 
Francis  Hincks'  Government  is  attested  by  the  fact  that  ere  the 
Parliament  adjourned,  the  Governor  assented  to  one  hundred  and 
ninety-three  Bills,  of  which  twenty-eight  reflected  the  railway 
mania  of  the  hour.  The  Parliamentary  Representation  Act  raised 
the  number  of  members  in  the  Assembly  to  a  figure  more  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  progress  the  country  had  made  since  Lord  Sy- 
denham's time.  The  constituencies  were  redistributed,  and  the 
representation  increased  from  eighty-four  to  one  hundred  and 
thirty — sixty-five  for  Upper  and  sixty-five  for  Lower  Canada. 
After  the  termination  of  the  sitting  Parliament,  Toronto  would 
return  two  members  instead  of  one  ;  Montreal  and  Quebec  three 
members  each  ;  some  of  the  smaller  towns  had  townships  attached 
to  them  for  the  purpose  of  representation;  nor  was  Parliament 
less  busy  in  the  spring.  When  the  House  rose  in  June,  Lord  Elgin 
was  able  to  dwell  on  a  Municipal  Act  ;  a  School  Act ;  an  Act  to 
regulate  the  practice  of  the  Superior  Courts ;  with  many  other 
useful  measiires.  Meanwhile,  the  Imperial  Parliament  had  em- 
powered the  Canadian  Legislature  to  deal  with  the  Clergy  Re- 
serves as  they  might  think  fit,  saving  only  existing  interests  and 
annual  stipends  of  clergy  during  the  lives  of  the  incumbents. 

The  last  days  of  the  session  passed  away  amid  the  excitement 
caused  by  Father  Gavazzi's  lectures  in  Quebec.     There  was  a  riot. 


fl 


It* 


580 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


The  mob  went  in  search  of  Mr.  Brown,  on  whom  thsy  wished  to 
wreak  their  vengeance.  The  riot  led  to  an  informal  discussion  in 
the  House  of  Assembly.  Gavazzi  now  proceeded  to  Montreal, 
where  his  lectures  gave  rise  to  still  greater  rioting  than  disgraced 
Quebec.  On  the  9th  of  June  he  was  lecturing  in  Zion  Congrega- 
tional Church,  when  a  vast  crowd  attacked  the  building,  notwith- 
standing the  presence  of  a  strong  force  of  military  and  police. 
Stones  flew,  pistols  were  fired  ;  the  audience  broke  up.  But  while 
they  went  homewards,  the  military,  acting,  it  was  alleged  under 
the  orders  of  Mr.  Charles  Wilson,  the  Mayor  of  the  City,  fired  into 
them,  killing  five  persons  and  wounding  many  more. 

The  Mayor  v/as  a  Roman  Catholic.  The  Protestant  public  re- 
ceived the  impression  that  the  Government  did  not  make  a  sufii- 
ciently  thorough  inquest  into  his  conduct,  and  their  indignation 
kne  w  no  bounds.  The  Protestant  sense  of  injustice  tended  to  swell 
the  stream  of  Mr.  George  Brown's  rising  popularity  in  Upper 
Canada.  He  and  Lyon  Mackenzie  were  now  shelling  the  Ministe- 
rial breast-works  with  much  skill  and  energy.  Hincks  had  made 
the  mistake  of  not  surrounding  himself  with  ability.  Sullivan, 
Blake,  Baldwin,  Lafontaine,  had  dropped  away,  and  the  only  first- 
class  man  in  the  Government  was  Hincks  himself.  When,  in 
July,  on  the  death  of  Sullivan,  Richards,  the  Attorney-General, 
appointed  himself  to  the  vacant  judgeship,  the  Ministry  became 
still  further  attenuated.  The  people  never  like  to  see  weak  men 
ruling  them.  Rumours  got  abroad  that  there  was  no  intention  of 
dealing  immediately  with  the  Clergy  Reserves.  These  rumours 
received  colour  from  letters  of  Hincks  and  Rolph,  and  from  a 
speech  of  Malcolm  Cameron.  Worse  rumours  still  gathered  round 
the  declining  Administration.  Charges  of  corruption  were  insinu- 
ated and  sometimes  openly  made.  People  talked  about  stories  of 
investments  made  by  men  who  a  few  months  before  were  not 
worth  a  cent  or  a  sou.  One  Cabinet  Minister  had  invested 
$100,000  in  real  estate.  He  had  purchased,  it  was  said,  Castleford 
on  the  Ottawa,  above  By  town,  for  $27,500;  a  private  residence 
near  Quebec  for  $30,000.  He  had  a  large  interest  in  a  purchase  of 
$40,000  made  near  Montreal.  One  thing  was  certain.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  AdTuinistration  were  known  to  have  been  individually 
poor  men  ;  some  of  them  embarrassed :  yet  though  living  in  a  style 


M« 


DISCONTENT  AMONG  THE  REFORMERS. 


681 


commensurate  with  their  position,  they  could  afford  to  make 
investments  !  All  this  was  very  extraordinary.  A  similar  pheno- 
menon was  ])resented  by  their  subordinates,  who,  from  being 
pinched  and  starved,  as  the  Apothecary  in  Romeo  and  Juliet,  now 
appeared  in  all  the  sublime  magnificence  of  small  capitalists.  Such 
was  the  tone  held  by  correspondents  of  hostile  journals. 

In  Canada,  opposition  papers  do  not  spare  ministerial  character, 
and  the  moment  a  man  takes  a  portfolio,  he  is  assailed  as  if  he  had 
picked  a  pocket. 

The  people  might,  therefore,  have  paid  little  attention  to  these 
charges  of  corruption  had  not  damaging  facta  betn  brought  out  in 
the  chancery  suit  in  which  Mr.  Bowes,  the  Mayor  of  Toronto,  was 
the  defendant.  It  was  proved  that  Mr.  Hincks  and  Mr.  Bowes 
had  purchiised  $250,000  worth  of  the  debentures  of  the  Ontario 
capital  at  a  discount  of  20  per  cent,  and  that  the  Premier  had  a 
Bill  afterwards  passed  which  raised  the  debentures  to  par.  Other 
charges  followed.  Public  lands  at  Point  Levi  and  elsewhere  had 
been  bought  by  Ministers  with  the  view  of  being  re-sold  to  rail- 
way corporations.  The  public  had  taken  alarm  and  nothing  was 
too  bad  to  be  believed.  Nor  unhappily  did  the  Parliamentary 
inquiry  which  took  place  in  1853  rehabilitate  the  Hincks  i.dmin- 
istration  in  the  mind  of  the  people.  It  must  be  said,  however, 
that  Hincks,  when  his  Government  fell,  was  still  a  poor  man. 
Some  o^  his  colleagues,  perhaps — certainly  Malcolm  Cameron — 
had  amassed  money. 

Dissatisfaction  was  created  among  the  Reformers  by  the  ap- 
pointment of  Tory  magistrates.  Mr.  James  Harvy  Price  m'&s  so 
indignant  on  the  subject  that  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the  papers 
complaining  that  he  had  been  included  in  the  list  of  new  magis- 
trates, while  so  many  of  those  whose  names  were  in  a  dnift  he 
had  prepared  when  in  the  Government,  were  left  out.  The  excite- 
ment about  the  Gavazzi  riots  was  kept  up.  The  relations  of  some 
of  those  killed  in  c<  >ndequence  of  the  supposed  order  of  the  Mayor, 
served  him  with  notices  of  action  laying  damages  at  five  and  ten 
thousand  dollars.  Mr.  Drumraond,  the  Attorney-General  East  and 
the  Premier  Mr.  Hincks  were  seen  publicly  in  company  with  him. 
The  popular  sentiment  of  a  large  portion  of  the  community  may 
be  gathered  from  the  fact,  that  he  was  hissed  at  the  St.  Hyacinthe 


W  I'! 


582 


TliE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


races.  The  enemies  of  the  Qovernmert  accounted  for  the  conduct 
of  Ministers  by  saying  thai  there  was  a  good  deal  of  Ministerial 
paper  at  one  of  the  banks  with  Wilson's  endorsement.  Mr.  Drum- 
mond,  a  Catholic  Irishman,  made  an  excellent  speech  immediately 
followinf^  the  Gavazzi  riots ;  but  he  displayed  little  energy  as 
Attorney-General  in  bringing  the  offenders  to  justice.  The  Solici- 
tor-General for  Lower  Canada,  M.  Chauveau,  was  as  apathetic  as 
his  chief,  and  was  described  by  the  Opposition  press  as  a  young 
gentleman  who  wrote  novels  himself  and  trusted  to  others  for  his 
law. 

The  Irish  period,  that  period  during  which  the  foundation  of 
our  present  constitution  was  laid,  during  which  nearly  all  the 
great  reforms  were  passed,  was  about  to  pass  away,  to  give  place 
to  what  may  be  not  inappropriately  termed  the  Scotch  period, 
during  which  the  leading  forces  have  been  the  Hon.  George  Brown 
and  Sir  John  A.  Macdonald.  The  former  was  now  swelling  the 
ranks  of  opposition  and  with  sleepless  activity  leading  a  charge 
a.gainst  the  Government,  in  which  Hincks  alone  represented  the 
genius  and  "energy  which  had  within  a  few  y.ars  achieved  so 
much. 

Mr.  Brown  has  from  the  first  been  a  remarkable  man.  He  has 
not  in  recent  years  done  justice  to  himself  as  a  politician,  but  per- 
haps he  has  not  been  therefore  less  useful  to  the  country.  Indeed 
he  insists  that  he  has  retired  from  politics.  The  rising  generation 
can  hardly  realize  the  restless  fiery  ambition  of  Mr.  Brown  twenty 
years  ago.  Then  he  was  full  of  hope,  and  his  sanguine  mind  laid  the 
future  under  all  sorts  of  tribute.  At  that  time  he  was  still  a  rising 
man.  There  were  heights  yet  to  climb.  By  reason  of  his  energy 
and  ability,  and  as  yet  undivided  heart,  the  George  Brown  of 
twenty  years  ago  was,  apart  from  any  paper,  a  formidable  man, 
and  calculated  to  do  great  harm  to  whatever  Ministry  he  opposed, 
but  more  especi'»,lly  to  a  Reform  Ministry.  A  Reform  Ministry  he 
could  attack  L^  flank  with  giiiis  on  which  they  were  in  the  earlier 
hours  of  battle  accustomed  to  rely.  When  indignant — and  he  was 
often  indignant — ^he  wrote  and  spoke  like  a  man  who  had  been 
from  youth  up  in  one  long  towering  passion.  This  gave  him  great 
force.  His  style  was  that  of  rapids  rather  than  rivers,  and  seemed 
to  break  and  bear  all  before  it  with  resistless  fury.    Of  late  years. 


MH.    imoWNS   HOSTIIilTV   TO  THE   QOVERNMKNT. 


583 


Mr.  Brown  has  been  and  might  well  be  content  with  the  influeneo 
given  him  by  his  paper,  and  the  real  though  not  nominal  headship 
of  a  great  party.  When  in  the  Rape  of  the  Lock,  the  guardian 
Sylph  of  the  heroine  explains  to  her  the  transition  of  fine  ladies 
on  their  deatli  into  Sylphs,  she  says  : — 

"  Think  not  when  woman's  transient  bi-eath  is  fled 
That  all  her  vanities  at  once  are  dead : 
Succeeding  vanities  she  still  regards, 
And  tho'  she  plays  no  more,  o'eriooks  the  cards." 

This  might  be  parodied  in  the  case  of  party  leaders,  and  where 
a  party  leader  owns  the  leading  organ  of  his  party,  I  don't  see  how 
his  abdication  is  possible. 

It  was  of  course  necessary,  if  possible,  to  account  for  Mr. 
Brown's  hostility  to  the  Gcverament,  on  grounds  which  would 
blunt  the  point  of  his  attack.  The  Ministers  and  their  leading 
supporters  were  feasted  in  Upper  Canada  during  the  months  suc- 
ceeding the  rising  of  Parliament.  At  a  dinner  at  Berlin,  Mr. 
David  Christie,  the  present  Speaker  of  thie  Senate,  said  that  Mr. 
Brown's  hostility  to  the  Hincks'  administration  arose  from  the  fact 
that  the  Government  would  not  take  him  in,  or  even  recognise 
his  newspaper  as  the  Ministerial  organ.* 

Mr.  George  Brown,  in  his  newspaper,  characterised  this  as  an 
infamous  falsehood,  whereupon  Mr.  Christie  appealed  to  Mr.  Wm^ 
MacDougall,  then  editor  of  theNorth  Ainerican.  Mr.  MacDougall 
wrote  that  what  Mr.  Christie  said  was  strictly  true.  Mr.  Brown 
denounced  both  as  in  the  same  boat,  and  stigmatized  the  Govern* 
ment  organ  as  the  "  Pope's  brass  band."  In  modern  time,^,  when 
we  no  longer  have  the  duel,  over  the  decline  of  which  Mr.  Goldwia 
Smith  sometimes  utters  a  pensive  sigh,  though  of  course  he  would 

•  "  I  wish  to  say  a  word  or  two  about  the  union  of  Reformers,  which  led  to  the  forma- 
tion of  the  present  Government,  in  reply  to  what  has  been  said  by  Mr.  Brown.  He  has. 
stated  that  he  dropped  the  matter  because  he  had  no  confidence  in  the  arrangements^ 
The  reverse  is  the  case — he  was  dropped  because  confidence  could  not  be  placed  in  him. 
(Loud  laughter  and  applause.)  Even  then  he  would  have  gone  with  us  had  he  been 
continued  as  the  organ.  On  being  informed  that  a  union  of  parties  had  been  effected,, 
the  first  question  he  put  was,  '  What  about  newspapers  ? '  From  the  reply  made  to 
this  query,  he  argued  that  the  Globe  would  not  be  th-^  organ ;  he  then  said,  '  I'll  knock 
the  bottom  out  of  it — I'll  smash  it  up.'  As  yet  he  has  not  been  able  to  do  this,  but  het 
has  tried  htu-d  toeff  ct  his  object. "—SpeecA  of  Mr.  David  Ohristie.  M.P.  at  Berlin. 


584 


THE  IRISHMAN   I\   CANADA. 


not  defend  the  moiality  of  duelUng,  it*  a  man  gives  another  the 
lie,  the  only  thing  is  to  retort  with  "  you're  another."  It  is  very 
wrong  to  take  another's  life,  even  when  you  give  him  a  chance  of 
taking  yours.  But,  in  striking  a  balance  of  advantages  and  dis- 
advantages between  the  old  and  present  practices,  a  Devil's  advo- 
cate might  be  able  to  say  something  for  the  duel. 

At  a  dinner  at  Port  Sarnia,  Mr.  Drummond  styled  Mr.  Brown 
a  disappointed  office-seeker.  Without  answering  the  charge,  and 
without  defending  Mr.  Brown,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  Mr. 
Hincks  ought  to  have  had  Mr.  Brown  in  his  Ministry.  He  had, 
by  word  and  pen,  in  a  paper  conducted  even  then,  with  extra- 
ordinary spirit,  supported  the  Governmert.  He  was,  next  to  Mr. 
Hincks  him.self,  at  this  time  the  able.l,  mail  ii'  the  Reform  party. 
Why,  then,  was  he  left  out  in  the  c^'ld  ?  It  would  have  been  much 
better  fcv  the  country  had  Mr.  Br  <v  n  been  taken  into  the  Minis- 
try, while  it  would  have  strengthened  Mr.  Hincks'  hands.  Mr. 
Brown's  after  career  would  havj  been,  perhaps,  one  of  enhanced 
usefulness  had  Mr.  Hincks  adopted  the  constitutional  course.  It 
is  always  a  narrow  personal  motive  which  prevents  a  Premier 
taking  the  strong  man  of  his  pady  into  his  Cabinet. 

In  185 i,  Lord  Elgin  went  to  England  to  take  part  in  negotia- 
tions respecting  a  question  dear  to  his  own  heart  and  that  of  the 
blameless  Baldwin,  who  now  lived  in  retirement  at  Spadina,  read- 
ing his  favourite  authors,  cultivating  his  garden,  and  cherishing 
the  memory  of  his  dead  wife  with  the  beautiful  devotion  of  a 
Petrarch  or  a  Mill.  All  preliminaries  to  a  Reciprocity  Treaty  be- 
tween Canada  and  the  United  States  having  been  agreed  to.  Lord 
Elgin  was  appointed  on  a  special  embassy  to  Washington.  He 
invited  Mr.  Hincks,  who  was  in  England  at  the  time,  to  accom- 
pany him.  A  convention  having  been  agreed  to.  Lord  Elgin  and 
Mr.  Hincks  returned  to  Canada.  Parliament  was  opened  on  the 
13th  of  June.  The  speech,  among  other  things,  alluded  to  the 
Reciprocity  Treaty  which  had  been  concluded;  to  the  propriety  of 
carrying  into  early  operation  the  Act  of  the  previous  session,  for 
the  extension  of  the  elective  franchise  ;  to  the  prosperous  condition 
of  the  revenue  ;  the  credit  of  Canada  abroad,  end  the  interest  taken 
in  England  in  its  affairs.  But,  notwithsti«iidi7>g  the  Governor's 
speech  of  1852,  there  was  nothing  now  said  about  the  settlement 


of 

Tim 

Re 


A  COALITION  OPPOSITION. 


685 


of  the  Heignorial  tenure.  Notwithstanding  the  action  of  the 
Imperial  Parliament,  not  a  word  was  uttered  respeetinr;  the  Clergy 
Reserves. 

The  Hincks  Administration  was  at  that  time,  and  has  been  fre- 
quently since,  condemned  for  these  omissions.  Pv'ting  off  meet- 
ing Parliament  until  June  has  also  been  commented  on  adversely. 
This,  ho  wever,  must  be  said,  that  with  Lord  Elgin  and  Mr.  Hincks 
out  of  the  country.  Parliament  could  not  very  well  have  met. 
Am  to  the  omissions,  it  might  be  pleaded  that  measures  of  a  politi- 
cal character  should  not  be  dealt  with  by  an  expiring  Parliament, 
and  at  a  time  when  an  addition  to  the  list  of  the  enfranchised,  and 
an  extended  representation  were  imminent.* 

A  Parliamentary  Opposition  have  one  thing  in  common  with 
the  wicked — their  tender  mercies  are  cruel ;  and  neither  Sir  Allan 
MacNab  r  or  John  A.  Macdonald,  nor  George  Brown,  took  this 
view  of  tlte  case.  The  two  former  drew  their  Conservative  allies 
up  in  order  of  battle,  while  Mr.  Brown  with  his  band  of  Brownites, 
brought  their  aid  to  the  Conservatives,  and  the  Government  fell 
just  as  Lord  Russell's  Government  had  fallen  in  England  two  years 
earlier,  before  the  assaults  of  the  Conservatives,  aided  by  discon- 
tented Liberals.  The  division  of  the  Reform  ranks  in  England  put 
Lord  Derby  and  Mr.  Disraeli  in  office  for  some  three  hundred 
days  ;  the  split  in  the  Reform  ranks  in  Canada  put  Sir.  John  A. 
Macdonald  in  power  for  twenty  years. 

Mr.  Cauchon  moved  an  amendment  to  the  address,  condemning 
the  Government  for  not  being  prepared  to  legislate  on  the  seignor- 
ial  tenure.  A  short  debate  followed,  after  which  an  amendment 
of  Sicotte's  regarding  the  Clergy  Reserves  was  added  to  Cauchon's. 
Ministers  were  beaten  on  the  iLllst  June  by  a  majority  of  thirteen, 
in  a  house  of  seventy  one.  Mr.  Hincks  did  not  resign.  He  got 
Lord  Elgin  to  come  down  next  day  and  prorogue  Parliament, 
though  at  the  eleventh  hour  Sir  Allan  MacNab  on  I  ehalf  of  the 
Opposition  had  offered  to  'return  a  respectful  ansv/er  to  the  ad- 


*  "  Mr.  HinclcB  and  his  colleagues  were  of  opinion  that  a  material  change  in  the  Par- 
liamentary Representation  as  well  as  an  alteration  in  the  franchise,  having  been  already 
K  sanctioned  by  Parliament,  it  was  inexpedient  that  any  measures  of  a  political  character 
should  be  dealt  with  by  an  expiring  Parliament."     "Our  Portrait 'r.- ;'ery" — Dublin 
University  Magazine,  Nov.,  1876,  p.,  .539. 


m 


Wk'i 

i'H  ^ 

1 

*"iis 


586 


THE   IRISHMAN  IN   CANADA. 


dress.  "  But,"  says  MacMullen, "  it  was  evidently  pai-t  of  Mr.  Hincks' 
policy  to  force  an  adverse  vote  with  a  view  to  a  dissolution,"  and 
his  vantage  ground  once  secured  he  refused  to  recede  from  it. 

In  July  the  country  waf  deep  in  the  excitement  of  r.  general 
election.  Mr.  Hincks  was  returned  for  two  ridings.  His  colleague, 
Malcolm  Cameron,  was  beaten  by  Mr.  Brown  in  Lambton.  Among 
the  new  members  was  Robert  Spence,  an  Irishman  of  an  enthu- 
siastic turn  of  mind,  who  had  some  years  before  made  a  speech  in 
a  somewhat  exalted  strain  on  the  function  of  newspapers.  He 
was  bom  in  Dublin.  He  came  to  Canada  early  in  life  and  fought 
his  way  in  several  vocations  :  now  an  auctioneer  ;  now  a  school- 
master ;  row  a  newspaper  editor  and  proprietor;  without  extrane- 
ous advantages  he  won  for  himself  honourable  distinction.  For 
many  years  he  rail  a  paper  in  Dundas  in  which  he  advocated 
effectively  the  political  principles  of  Mr.  Baldwin  and  Mr.  Hincks. 

Another  new  meraber  was  Irish,  and  was  destined  to  win  dis- 
tinction and  display  brilliant  talent,  Michael  Hamilton  Foley. 
He  was  the  son  of  Mr.  Joley  of  Port  Colbome,  and  brother  of 
Bernard  Foley,  Judge  of  ire  County  of  Haldimand..  He  was  a 
native  of  Sligo,  whei'e  he  was  bom  in  1820.  He  was  brought  by 
his  father  to  Canada  in  1822.  Having  become  a  barrister,  he  turned 
his  attention  to  newspaper  work,  and  from  1845  to  1853  divided 
his  time  between  thei  Simcoe  Advocate,  the  Norfolk  Messenger,  and 
the  Brantford  Herald.  He  was  now  returned  for  the  North  Riding; 
of  Waterloo.  As  we  shall  see  he  was  returned  for  two  constitu- 
encies at  the  general  election  of  1861,  namely,  Waterloo  and  Pertl:i, 
but  he  elected  to  sit  for  his  old  seat. 

Mr.  Spence  moved  George  E.  Cartier,  the  Ministerial  candidate 
for  the  Speakership,  to  the  Chair.  The  motion  was  seconded  by 
Frangois  Lemieux.  The  influence  of  the  Opposition  newspapers — 
all  the  Conservative,  and  some  of  the  most  rigorous  of  the  Reform 
— had  been  felt  at  the  polls.*  Antoine  A.  Dorion  proposec/  Louis 
Victor  Sicotte  as  Speaker,  his  seconder  being  Joseph  Hartman. 
Cartier  was  defeated  by  a  majority  of  three.     The  Ministerial 


•  The  Toronto  I,fader,  a  new  but  able  jounial,  supported  the  Ministry.  But  the 
Olobe,  the  North  American,  the  JExaminer,  Maokemie'a  Messenger,  and  other  Reform 
journals,  wer«;  against,  them. 


RESIGNATION    OF   HINCKS. 


587 


candidate  had,  from  Lower  Canada,  a  majority  of  nine,  but  he  was 
in  a  minority  of  twelve  as  regarded  the  Ontario  vote.  The  hos- 
tile character  of  the  House  could  hardly  be  more  clearly  shown. 
But  the  Government  thought  that  the  liberal  measures  they  were 
able  to  promise  would  carry  them  triumphantly  through  the  ses- 
sion. On  the  6th  of  September,  the  Governor-General  opened  the 
Legislature  with  a  Speech,  in  which  he  informed  Parliament  that 
the  Home  Government  had  empowered  them  to  make  the  Upper 
House  elective.  It  was  desirable  that  the  Reserves  and  Seignorial 
tenure  should  be  dealt  with,  and  that  the  tariff  should  be  re- 
modelled in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  Reciprocity 
Treaty.* 

But  it  soon  became  evident  that  Mr.  Hincks  misjudged  the 
unbending  temper  of  Mr.  Brown,  and  the  discipline  of  his  fol- 
lowers. This  time  the  whale  was  not  to  be  diverted  from  upsetting 
the  boat  hj  a  paltry  tub.  Dr.  Rolph  began  to  "  squirm,"  aiid  to 
think  of  resi^^ning.  On  a  question  of  privilege  he  voted  with  the 
Opposition,  and  the  Government  was  again  beaten.  The  Hincks 
Administration  had  now  no  course  left  but  to  step  down  and  out. 
The  Premier  at  once  tendered  his  resignation  to  Lord  Elgin. 

Sir  Allan  MacNab  was  sent  for.  But  though  Mr.  Hincks  was 
beaten,  he  was  a  power  in  the  Assembly.  His  followers  were  still 
larger  than  either  those  of  MacNab  or  Brown.  Against  George 
Brown  they  felt  the  resentment,  we  feel  against  friends  who 
have  deserted  us.  The  first  step,  therefore,  which  Sir  Allan 
MacNab  took  was  to  open  negotiations  with  Morin,  the  leader  of 
the  Lower  Canadian  Conservative  Party,  which  had  supported 
Hincks.  '*  Morin  and  his  friends  "  says  MacMuUen,  "  disliked  the 
section  of  the  Reform  Party  led  by  Mr.  Brown  infinitely  more 
than  they  did  the  Conservative  Party  of  Upper  Canada,  and 
readily  entered  into  the  proposed  alliance."  Hincks'  support  was 
secured  on  the  ground  that  two,  gentlemen  having  his  confi- 
dence and  that  of  his  friend-^  should  be  taken  into  the  new  ad- 
ministration. One  of  those  so  taken  in  was  Robert  Spence,  who 
became  Postn^aster  General.  The  Premier,  Sir  Allan  MacNab,  vrasl 
President  of  the  Council  and  Minister  of  Agriculture;  John  A. 


r 


M 


.;588 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN    CANADA. 


Macdonald,  Attorney-General  West ;  William  Cayley,  Finance 
Minister.  The  Coalition  was  displeasing  to  several  Hinckites, 
who  joined  Mr.  Brown.  But  notwithstanding,  the  new  Reform 
Opposition  stood  in  a  helpless  minority.  Here  we  witness  the 
decease  of  one  Reform  party  and  the  birth  of  another.  The  new 
Reform  party  was  not  a  lineal  descendant,  of  the  old  Reform  party.* 
Baldwin  was  the  founder  of  the  first  Jttef orm  party ;  George  Brown 
of  the  second ;  and  as  the  founders  were  unlike,  so  were  the 
parties  they  founded.  MacMullen,  writing  in  1867,  says  the  new 
party  had  never  won  for  itself  the  prestige  of  the  old  one.  It 
made  great  strides  after  1867,  and,  taking  advantage  of  the  faults 
and  follies  of  the  Conservatives,  who  had  been  longer  in  power 
than  was  good  for  them,  attained  a  position  of  overwhelming 
strength. 

When  the  ot  .v  Ministers  came  back  to  Parliament,  after  re- 
election, they  found  themselves  in  the  presence  of  a  well-organized 
Opposition.  It  was  composed  of  the  Rouges  led  by  M.  Dorion ; 
of  the  Extreme  Reformers,  or,  as  they  were  termed  "Clear  Grit8,"-|* 
-under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Brown ;  of  several  Moderate  Reform- 
•ers,  who  regarded  John  Sandtield  Macdonald  as  their  Chief,  who 
aiming  to  be  consistent  with  party  traditions,  now  refused  to  aid 
a  Coalition  Government  in  passing  most  important  Reform  mea- 
sures. This  was  clearly  a  mistake,  even  from  the  point  of  view 
of  tactics.  It  gave  a  factious  character  to  their  opposition,  and 
prevented  them  from  reaping  the  benefit  in  popularity  of  these 
Reform  measures.  How  difierently  the  Liberals  in  England  led 
by  Mr.  Gladstone  and  Mr.  Bright  acted  in  1867. 

The  Government  passed  a  Bill  handing  over  the  Clergy  Re- 
serves to  certain  corporations  for  secular  purposes.  The  life  inter- 
tests  of  the  clergy  were  commuted  with  the  consent  of  the  clergy, 


of 


•"Mr.  Brown  had  been  completely  outwitted  by  the  coup  d'etat  of  Sir  Allan 
MacNab,  and  found  himself  utterly  unable  to  reap  any  benefit  from  the  important 
Wctory  he  had,  after  so  much  exertion  achieved,  and  at  the  same  time  the  destruction 
■of  the  Hincks'  Cabinet  [which  hav-i  the  support  of  the  Lower  Canadian  Cc^nveution], 
and  the  consequent  union  of  the  Conservative  parties  of  Upper  and  Lower  Canada, 
may  be  regarded  as  the  death-knell  of  the  old  Reform  party  of  this  country,  so  long 
cohesive  hitherto,  and  so  formidable  under  the  leadership  of  Robert  Baldwin," — Mac- 
Mullen,  p.  526. 

f  It  Will  have  been  seen  this  name  did  not  originally  belong  to  the  Brownites. 


^■B 


CLOSE  OF  THE  IRISH   TEAIOD. 


589 


and  the  foundation  of  a  small  permanent  endowment  made  in  a 
manner  to  which  nobody  could  reasonably  object,  but  which,  nev- 
ertheless, found  objectors  among  the  Opposition.  The  Seignorial 
Tenure  was  abolished ;  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway  Act  amended ; 
the  Canada  Ocean  Steamship  Company  incorporated ;  and  a  new 
Customs  Tariff  adopted  in  accordance  with  the  Reciprocity  Treaty .. 
On  the  11th  of  December,  Parliament  was  adjourned  to  the  23rd 
of   February,  1855, 

Lord  Elgin  had  experienced  the  difficulty  a  Governor  finds  in 
times  of  crisis  in  carrying  out  the  idea  of  a  constitutional  ruler,  and 
contrary  to  his  own  principles  had  identified  himself  too  entirely 
with  one  party.  Notwithstanding  the  calm  he  displayed  during 
the  unhappy  events  which  destroyed  the  hopes  of  Montreal  of 
being  the  seat  of  Government,  the  indignities  he  had  met  with,  at 
as  he  believed  the  hands  of  the  Conservative  Party,  had  created 
prejudice  and  inspired  resentment.  He  was  glad  to  resign,  though 
fickle  popular  favour  was  becoming  warmer  towards  him.  His 
career  in  Japan  and  China  is  well  known,  and  how  he  fell  a  victim 
to  the  climate  of  India  amid  the  greatness  and  splendour  of  a  ruler 
of  its  dusky  millions. 

The  curtain  has  fallen  on  the  Irish  period.  Mr.  Hincks  soon 
followed  Lord  Elgin  to  the  eld  country,  and  sought  to  forget  his 
disappointments  and  loss  of  popularity  amid  the  enchanting  beau- 
ties of  his  native  land.  While  thus  employed.  Sir  William  Moles- 
worth  who  knew  his  great  abilities,  offered  him  the  appointn.ent 
of  Governor-in-Chief  in  Barbadoes  and  the  Windward  Islands.. 
Having  accepted  the  offer,  he  came  back  to  Canada,  whence  he 
proceeded  with  his  family  to  the  scene  of  his  new  duties.  He 
remained  at  Barbadoes  for  the  full  term  of  six  years,  with  the 
exception  of  a  brief  visit  to  Canada  and  England  in  1859.  In  1861, 
the  Duke  of  Newcastle  promoted  him  to  the  Government  of  Brit- 
ish Guinea,  where  he  remained  until  1869,  when  he  was  created 
a  K.  C.  M.  G.  He  had  previously  been  created  a  C.  B.  Early 
in  1869,  he  returned  to  England.  He  waa  then  sixty-one  years  of 
age,  and  in  his  two  cfovernorships  had  well  earned  the  Colonial 
Governor's  pension,  which  he  received  on  retiring  from  the  Impe- 
rial service.     But  his  career  as  a  statesman  was  not  yet  over. 


Ri 

'jH  V  iii 

)K'i 

mA 

ifin^ '  ''' 

11'  H  J   1 

I:' 


r 


690 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

After  the  rebellion,  the  stream  of  Irish  emigration  continued  to 
flow,  and  the  tide  rose  to  its  highest  during  those  years  of  famine, 
which  though  attended  with  so  much  misery,  form  an  epoch  in 
Irish  history,  when  the  country  began  to  separate  itself  from  its 
past,  from  the  days  of  Donnybrook  Fair  and  Harry  Lorrequer. 

The  immigration,  since  1837,  has  brought  us  from  Ireland  men 
of  as  much  enterprise  and  success  as  the  earlier  immigration,  but 
for  obvious  reasons  I  cannot  dwell  on  their  careers  at  the  same 
length. 

The  late  James  Shanly,  of  "  The  Abbey,"  Queen's  County,  a 
member  of  the  Irish  bar,  emigrated  to  Canada  about  the  time 
of  the  rebellion  and  settled  in  the  County  of  Middlesex,  Ontario. 
The  sons  of  this  gentleman  are  men  of  whom  the  Irish  people 
may  be  very  proud ;  their  integrity  and  fine  sense  of  honour 
would  marV  them  out  in  a  community  where  sharpness  had  not 
begun  to  take  hold.  I  have  never  met  these  gentlemen,  but  I 
have  heard  much  of  their  singularly  high  standpoint  in  regard  to 
whatever  they  busy  themselves  with  ;  a  great  deal,  which  implies 
not  merely  that  sense  of  honour  which  would  feel  a  stain  like  a 
wound,  but  a  goodness  of  heart  which  at  the  present  day  is  only 
too  rare.  The  Shanly  family  is  an  old  Celtic  one  which  has  been 
known  for  centuries  in  the  County  Leitrim,  and  the  family  cha- 
racterirtics  are  traceable  to  the  proud,  kindly  Celtic  blood. 

Walter  Shanly,  who  for  some  time  represented  South  Grenville, 
the  third  living  son  of  the  late  James  Shanly,  was  born  at  the 
family  seat,  "  The  Abbey,"  in  Stradbally,  County  Leitrim.  Having 
been  educated  by  a  private  tutor,  he  became  a  civil  engineer.  He 


[AuTHOBiTiES— Original  Souroes ;  "Ireland  in  1872,"  By  James  Macaulay.  M.A., 
M.D.,  Edinburgh ;  "  The  Queen  vs.  Thomas  Kirkpatrick  and  others,"  reported  for  the 
JBrititk  Whig  by  Alexander  Duncan,  1847 ;  the  newspapers ;  "  Wanderings  of  an  artist 
among  the  Indians  of  North  America,"  by  Paul  Kane.  "  Paul  Kane  the  Canadiar 
.sjixist,"  by  D.  W.  (Professor  Daniel  Wilson)  in  the  Canadian  Journal.  Canada  Law 
.Jnurval.^ 


■ 


IMMIGRATION   SINCE    1837. 


591 


has  executed  many  public  works  of  great  magnitude.  He  was 
resident  engineer  under  the  Board  of  Works,  on  Beauhamois  and 
Welland  Canals,  from  1843  to  1848  ;  engineer  of  the  Ottawa  and 
Prescott  Railway,  from  1851  to  1853;  engineer  of  the  Western 
Division  of  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway — from  Toronto  to  Sarnia 
— from  1851  to  1857  ;  engineer  of  the  Ottawa  and  French  River 
Navigation  Surveys,  from  1856  to  1858  ;  General  Manager  of  the 
Grand  Trunk  Railway  from  1858  to  18G2.  He  is  connected  with 
many  large  institutions,  in  presidential  and  directorial  capacities. 
The  greatest  undertaking  in  which  he  has  engaged  was  the  con- 
tract for  making  the  Hoosac  Tunnel,  a  stupendous  work,  which 
was  accomplished  successfully  from  an  engineering  point  of  view. 
Mr,  Frank  Shanly  has  been  engaged  with  his  brother  in  engineer- 
ing. Mr.  James  Shanly  has  been  a  successful  barrister,  and  re- 
sides in  London,  where  he  is  Master  in  Chancery. 

In  Ottawa,  we  have  John  Henry — "  Honest  John"  as  he  is 
called — who  came  here  in  1842,  from  Cavan,  and  who  has  long 
been  a  consistent  tempera,  ie  advocate ;  Mr.  William  Davis,  who 
left  Tipperary  in  1842,  who  has  completed  some  important  works 
in  Ottawa,  and  made  wealth  out  of  his  brains  and  hands ;  Mr. 
Martin  O'Gara,  from  Galway,  the  first  and  only  Stipendiary  Magis- 
trate Ottawa  has  had ;  the  Friels,  who  have  been  prominent  in 
politics  and  journalism ;  Mr.  Richard  Nagle  who  came  from 
Mitchell's  Town  to  Canada  in  1840,  and  now  us  a  great  lumberer 
gives  employment  to  hundreds  ;  another  great  lumberer,  Mr.  Chris- 
topher 0'Keefe,who  came  here  from  Dublin;  Mr.  W.  H.Waller,  who 
came  hither  from  Tipperary  in  1853,  and  settled  in  ToroiitO;  whence 
after  serving  h\a  years  in  the  Globe  office,  he  removed  to  Ottawa  to 
take  a  position  on  the  Union  newspaper,  and  ultimately  climb  to 
be  President  of  the  St.  Patrick's  Society,  and  Mayor  of  the  Capital 
of  the  Dominion  ;  the  Baskerville  family,  who  came  in  1848,  and 
are  now  wealthy ;  Mr.  Thomas  Langrell,  a  successful  contractor, 
who  came  here  from  Wicklow  in  1837,  and  who  has  been  followed 
by  a  large  number  of  his  family  ;  Mr  Edward  Allen  Meredith,  of 
Trinity  College,  Dublin,  Deputy  Minister  of  the  Interior,  who  came 
from  the  County  Tyrone,  and  has  done  good  service  as  a  literary 
man  and  a  centre  of  culture ;  Mr.  Daniel  John  O'Donoghue, 
M.P.P.,  a  descendant  ol  the  O'Donoghues  of  "  the  Glen,"  who  came 


592 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


here  with  his  father  in  1852  ;  Mr.  James  Goodwiui,  who  arrived 
here  in  1844,  and  has  succeeded  as  a  contractor ;  Captain  Stewart, 
whose  advent  took  place  in  the  year  1857,  and  who  in  twenty 
years  has  made  himself  one  of  the  most  prominent  citizens  of 
Ottawa ;  Mr.  James  Keays  a  native  o'f  Castlecomer,  Oounty  Kil- 
kenny, who  steered  his  course  here  in  1842,  and  settling  in  the 
wilderness  twenty  miles  from  Bytown,  drew  a  settlement  around 
him  of  which  he  became  the  leading  spirit. 

In  Renfrew,  the  career  of  James  Bonlield,  M.P.P.,  is  as  striking 
as  that  of  Mr.  Egan. 

In  Montreal,  we  find  similar  results  from  the  post-rebellion  im- 
migration. Both  before  and  since  that  period  the  O'Murphys,  of 
Wexford,  the  ancient  land  of  the  O'Murphys,  sent  good  specimens 
of  a  great  stock  here.  The  Murrows,  of  the  County  Wexford,  and 
the  Morrows,  of  the  County  Cork,  the  McMurrays  of  Ireland,  and 
the  McMurrichs  of  Scotland,  the  Murroghs  of  old  Irish  history, 
and  the  Murphys  of  modem  times,  are  all  the  same.  Mr.  Edward 
Murphy,  merchant,  son  of  the  late  Daniel  Murphy,  Mr.  P.  S.  Mur- 
phy, brother  of  Edward,  the  first  man  who  introduced  india-rubber 
manufacture  into  Montreal,  belongs  originally  to  the  Murrows  of 
Wexford.  Mr.  Alderman  William  Clendinning,  who  came  here 
in  1847,  would  deserve  a  little  pamphlet  to  himself.  He  has  been 
singularly  successful  and  public  spirited.  Leslie  Gault,  Matthew 
Hamilton  Gault,  Mr.  Frederick  Gault,  and  Mr.  Robert  Gault,  all 
shed  lustre  alike  on  the  land  of  their  birth  and  the  land  of  their 
adoption.  Energetic  and  intelligent,  liberal  in  his  opinions  and 
charitable  in  his  gifts,  Michael  MuUarky  deserves  the  high  posi- 
tion he  has  at,tained,  as  does  William  Kingston,  M.D.,  allied  to  the 
Cotters  of  Cork,  the  Latouches  and  Hales,  as  well  as  to  the  ancient 
family  of  the  Careys,  a  man  honoured  as  a  citizen  and  as  a  doc- 
tor, and  who  has  written  much  that  is  valuable,  I  regret  to  have 
to  dismiss  with  too  scant  a  notice  representative  men  like  Mr. 
Francis  Cassidy,  Mr.  Michael  Patrick  Ryan,  Mr.  Thomas  Macfar- 
lane  Bryson,  manufacturer,  and  others  of  note  and  influence.  Quito 
a  remarkable  man  is  Mr.  John  Lovell,  the  founder  of  the  publish- 
ing business  in  the  Province  of  Quebec.  He  prosecuted  his  design 
of  issuing  a  Dominion  Directory,  under  circumstances  that  would 
have  deten'ed  a  man  of  less  courage  and  energy.     He  established 


BEDFORD,   KINGSTON,   BRANTFORD. 


593 


a  business  at  Rouse's  Point  some  years  ago,  and  is  also  a  leading 
partner  in  the  firm  of  Lovell,  Adam  Wesson  &  Co.  Mr.  Lovell 
published  for  years  the  leading  magazine  of  Canada — the  Literary 
Garland — to  which  Mrs.  Moodie  and  Mrs.  Traill,  the  sister  of  Mrs. 
Moodie,  were  regular  contributors.  Mr.  James  Lovell,  whose  sons 
carry  on  business  in  Toronto,  conducted  the  Upper  Canada  branch 
of  the  business. 

In  Bedford,  Quebec,  there  are  a  good  many  Irish  settlers,  who 
all  deserve  a  place  in  this  work  if  there  was  room.  Mr.  Oough 
ought  to  be  mentioned.  In  1823,  Henry  Gough,  of  Cavan,  emi- 
grated to  America,  and  died  soon  afterwards  in  the  Southern 
States.  In  1836,  his  wife  and  her  son  emigrated,  first  going  to 
New  York,  and  a  few  years  afterwards  settling  in  Canada,  near 
tlieir  relatives  in  Bedford,  of  whom  John  Smyth  died  in  1858, 
holding  the  commission  of  Captain  in  the  Militia,  and  Michael 
O'Flaherty,  who  left  behind  him  a  good  property.  Mr.  J.  J. 
Murphy  is  in  the  City  of  Quebec,  a  well  known  man  among  his 
countrymen.  Then  there  is  ]\Tr.  Owen  Murphy,  Mayor  of  Quebec. 
There  is  a  good  Irish  settlement  in  Missisquoi. 

I  have,  in  earlier  pages,  spoken  of  Kingston.  It  would  be  hard 
to  do  full  justice  to  the  Irish  in  that  city.  It  is  not  possible  to 
deal  at  sufficient  length  with  the  late  Judge  Macarow  and  the  pre- 
sent Judge  Burrows;  Mr.  Jamea  Agnew,  City  Solicitor ;  Dr.  Sulli- 
van, the  first  Roman  Catholic  Mayor  of  Kingston  ;  Mr.  Flanagan, 
City  Clerk  ;  Mr.  James  Sharman,  proprietor  of  the  Daily  Neim  ; 
Mr.  John  Creighton,  Warden  of  the  Penitentiary,  and  many  others. 
Mr.  George  A.  Kirkpatrick,  M.P.,  belongs  to  a  family  which  has 
long  been  connected  with  Kingston.  His  father  fought  a  noble 
battle  for  the  poor  Irish  emigrants  in  1847. 

In  Brantford  there  are  W.  J.  Scarfe,  who  was  seven  years  in  the 

Council  and  Reeve  for  th  ee  years  ;  J.  W.  Digby,  M.D.,  Mayor  for 

three  years ;  J.  J.  Hawkins,  Reeve  for  two  years;  W.  Mathews,  who 

died  last  January,  and  who  was  forty  years  in  the  country  and 

had  been  mayor  for  five  years ;  W.  Thompson,  of  Oakland,  in  the 

Council  for  twenty  years,  late  Warden  of  the  County ;  Dr.  Kelly, 

Inspector  of  Schools,  who  has  written  much  in  the  Hamilton 

Times ;  and  many  other  Irishmen  of  ability  and  enterprise.     Mr. 

Scarfe  is  a  representative  man,  whose  energy,  talents  for  public 
38 


\ 


i 


594, 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN  CANADA. 


business  and  generosity  make  him  a  force  in  his  city.  Kis  repu- 
tation is  that  he  can  "  put  through"  anything  he  takes  in  hand. 
He  has  a  fine  presence,  sound  judgment,  and  command  of  an 
audience  and,  should  he  go  into  Parliament,  cannot  fail  to  play 
an  important  part.     Mr.  Scarfe  is  a  Reformer. 

The  member  in  the  local  House  for  Dundas,  Mr.  Andrew  Broder, 
is  an  Irishman.  In  this  connection  we  might  mention  the  Griers, 
the  Hyndmans,  the  Robertsons,  the  Molloys,  the  Clarks,  the  Red- 
dicks,  the  Stuarts,  the  McConnells,  the  Wallaces,  and  many  others. 

The  Rev.  Samuel  B.  Ardagh  was  a  remarkable  man.  His  eldest 
son,  John  Anderson  Ardagh,  who  was  born  at  Waterford,  in  1835, 
was  only  seven  years  old  when  he  came  to  this  country  with  his 
father.  He  attended  the  first  district  school  of  Barrie,  and  after- 
wards was  a  private  pupil  of  the  Rev.  Arthur  Hill.  Having  been 
educated  at  Trinity  College,  where  he  took  a  scholarship,  he  was 
called  to  the  Bar  in  1861.  In  1869  he  was  appointed  Deputy- 
Judge  of  the  County  of  Simcoe,  and  in  1872  Junior  Judge  both 
of  Law  and  Equity. 

Among  the  many  Irishmen  in  and  near  Barrie,  Mr.  Richard 
Power,  of  Woodlands,  stands  out  as  a  representative  man  of  a  type 
largely  supplied  to  this  country  by  Ireland — the  gentleman  who 
brings  his  culture  and  his  money  to  increase  our  wealth  and  make 
Canada  morally  and  socially  more  attractive.  Mr.  Power  was 
born  in  1827,  at  Glen  Mills,  Couni.y  Cork.  His  father  was  John 
Power,  of  the  County  Tipperary.  In  1853  Mr.  Richard  Power 
married  Ellen,  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  late  Michael  Ardagh, 
High  Sheriff  of  the  County  of  Waterford.  From  1853  until  1869 
he  canied  on  extensive  milling  operations  in  the  County  Water- 
ford. He  came  to  Canada  on  a  visit  in  1868,  and  being  much 
pleased  with  the  country,  left  Ireland  in  July,  1869,  and  settled 
on  a  picturesque  spot  beautifully  situated  on  Kempenfeldt  Bay, 
where  he  built  his  present  fine  residence,  whence  he  and  his  ac- 
complished family  diffuse  a  happy  and  graceful  influence. 

In  Toronto,  the  Census  speaks  for  itself,  and  the  instances  of 
success  are  very  numerous.  A  man  like  John  Woods,  of  West 
Toronto,  who  came  here  from  Ireland  thirty  years  ago,  and  who 
has  become  a  successful  merchant,  is  typical  of  the  energy  and 
power  of  his  countrymcEi. 


AN   IRISH   FAIR. 


595 


Amongst  the  builders  Ireland  has  sent  here,  Mr.  Kivas  Tally, 
Architect  and  Civil  Engineer,  Department  of  Public  Works,  and 
Mr.  John  Tully,  his  brother,  and  of  the  same  profession,  deserve  to 
be  mentioned.  Mr.  John  Harrington  was  a  successful  business 
man  in  Toronto,  who  came  here  in  1841,  made  money,  took  an 
interest  in  public  affairs,  and  was  killed  by  a  fall  from  his  horse. 
His  ample  fortune  descended  in  the  main  to  his  sister,  the  wife  of 
Mr.  David  Blain,  M.P.,  for  West  York.  A  characteri.'^tic  Irish  emi- 
grant was.  or  rather  is,  Richard  Reynolds,  of  Yonge  street,  Toronto. 
In  his  eighteenth  year  he  came  fi.,m  Ballybrood  where  it  was  "the 
regulation  thing  "  to  have  a  fight-  on  the  12th  of  JuTio,  This  was 
the  day  Mr.  Reynolds  left  home,  and  he  regretted  that  he  would 
not  be  "  in  with  rhe  fight" — a  fight  which  had  this  bjautiful  at- 
traction, it  was  never  known  to  pass  off  without  a  man  or  tvi^o 
being  killed.  The  military  used  to  be  brought  from  Limcnck. 
Sticks  were  going  and  so  were  drinks — punch  and  porter,  and  the 
women  arms  akimbo  dancing  in  the  tents.  I  have  always  been 
reminded  of  those  Irish  jigs  when  reading  the  scene  in  Faust — 
^a«ettt  mitt  Att  ^in&t :— the  dance  and  song  would  suit  admirably 
an  Irish  fair  where  there  is  or  used  to  be  nothing  but  flirting  and 
dancing  before  the  fighting  began.  A  school-boy  version  of  this 
song — a  callow  and  crude  attempt  to  hibernise  it  may  perhaps 
here  be  given. 


Now  Paddy  to  the  dancing  flew, 

His  shirt  was  clean,  his  necktie  new, 

And  Peggy's  gown  and  face  were  beaming ; 

Beneath  the  canvas  ,every  spark 

Was  gay  as  dewy  morning's  lark. 

Juchhe  !  Juchhe ! 

Juchheisa  !  Heisa  !  He  I 

The  fiddlesticks  were  screaming. 


And  Phelim  sidled  up  to  Proo, 
And  round  her  waist  his  arm  he  drew 
The  spalpeen  sure  was  raving ; 
The  pretty  colleen  jumped  aside, 
Half  crimson  with  offended  pride ; 
Juchhe !  Juchhe  ! 
Juchheisa  1  Heisa  !  He  1 
Now  don't  be  misbehaving. 


I 


il 


^ 


596 


THE  lEISHMAN  IN  CANADA. 


But  at  his  Binile  offence  takes  flight ; 

They  dance  to  left,  they  dance  to  right : 

Their  hands  their  hips  are  clutching  ; 

They  gfrow  quite  red,  they  -row  quite  warm, 

Then  proudly  walk  off  arm  in  arm  ; 

Juchhe  1  Juchhe ! 

Juchheisa  !  Heisa !  He  1 

'Neath  .the  trees  their  lips  are  touching. 

Come,  come  Sir,  be  not  quite  so  bold, 

Or  you  shall  find  that  I  can  scold, 

This  is  the  way  of  men's  betraying  ; 

He  comes  the  blarney,  utters  vows, 

And  on  they  roam  'neath  blossom'd  boughs  ; 

Juchhe  !  Juchhe ! 

Juchheisa  !  Heisa  !  He  ! 

And  far  from  crowds  the  two  are  straying. 

In  Thornhill,  Mr  Reynolds  met  many  of  his  countrymen — the 
Howards,  the  Holmes,  and  others.  He  came  here  without  a  trade. 
He  always  had  a  desire  for  the  Church — for  a  controversial  eccle- 
siastic his  experience  at  Ballybrood  would  have,  perhaps,  been 
useful.  He  went  to  Trinity  College,  and  for  two  years,  being  a 
man  of  fine  abilities,  got  along  well.  But,  when  the  controversy 
broke  out  between  the  Bishop  of  Huron — Bishop  Cronyn,  a  bro- 
ther Irishman — and  the  Bishop  of  Toronto,  he  took  sides  with  the 
former,  who  declared  that  Trinity  College  was  teaching  semi- 
Roman  Catholic  doctrines.  Owing  to  the  stand  taken  by  Mr.  Rey- 
nolds, the  college  became  too  hot  for  him,  and  he  had  to  leave. 

Mr.  Reynolds  went  to  the  University,  where  he  passed  in  every 
subject  except  chemistry.  Ho  took  honours  in  the  Oriental  lan- 
guages. It  was  urged  by  Professor  Wilson  aud  others,  that  his 
honours  should  stand  against  his  backwardness  in  chemistry.  This 
was  not  allowed,  and  he  gave  up  the  idea  of  entering  the  Church. 
He  then  went  into  the  boot  and  shoe  business  in  which  he  has 
succeeded.  In  connexion  with  his  trade  he  published  a  paper  for 
five  years,  and  he  .still  keeps  up  a  correspondence  with  the  mem- 
bers of  the  craft  throughout  the  country.  Altogether,  Mr.  Rey- 
nolds is  quite  a  remarkable  man.  He  would  have  made  a  very 
efiective,  perhR,ps  a  great  minister.  But  he  has  been  in  his  calling  a 
useful  man,  and  by  reason  of  his  intelligence  and  capacity,  a  tonic 
force  amongst  his  fellow  citizens. 

One  of  the  most  successful  men  who  have  come  here  for  many 


tmmm 


IRISHMEN   OF   PROMISE. 


597 


a  day,  is  Mr.  P.  O.  Close,  the  head  of  the  firm  of  P.  G.  Close  k  Co., 
Toronto,  who  is  Alderman,  and  connected  with  several  larj^e  rail- 
way and  financial  undertakings.     He  is  a  man  of  great  executive 
power,  of  sound  judgment  and  large,  liberal  views,  and  should  he 
determine  to  enter  Parliament  would  be  calculated  to  do  good 
work  for  his  party  and  the  country.     Similar  instances  of  rapid 
success  and  great  business  capacity,  are  Mr.  Christopher  Bunting, 
Mr.  Warring  Kennedy,  Mr.  Dan.  Hayes,  Captain  Larkin,  of  St. 
Catharines ;  the  Hennesseys,  of  Hamilton  ;  the  Johnsons,  of  Belle- 
ville. Mr.  Bunting  is  a  man  of  reading  and  reflection.  He  has  a  fine 
presence,  and  is  a  good  speaker.     I  hope  ere  long  to  see  him  in  the 
House  of  Commons.     Mr.  Warring  Kennedy  is  a  man  who  also 
has  public  talents,  which  will,  no  doubt,  be  one  day  pressed  into 
the  serv.      of  his  adopted  country.    In  official  life  Mr.  Thomas 
Devine,  F.  R.  G.  S.  is  a  man  whose  services  to  Canada,  it  would  be 
hard  to  overestimate.     An  engineer  who  has  graduated  in  the  best 
schools,  his  maps  and  plans,  made  and  published  since  he  became 
Assistant  Commissioner  of  Crown  Lands,  display   the   highest 
topographic  skill.    His  field  book  is  one  of  the  best  known  to  sur- 
veyors.    He  is  a  fellow  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  a  cor- 
responding member  of  the  Berlin  Geographical  Society,  and  of  the 
American  Geographical  and  Statistical  Society. 

In  the  Township  of  Pickering,  there  is  a  settlement  of  the 
Society  of  Friends,  which  includes  members  of  the  family  of  Rich- 
ardson from  Queen's  County ;  of  the  Taylors,  from  Tipperary  ;  of 
the  CoUiny's,  and  the  Wrights ;  and  of  others  who  came  there 
when  that  country  was  primeval  forest.  At  Whitby,  Mr.  W.  H. 
Higgins,  editor  of  the  Whitby  Chronicle,  is  in  the  midst  of  the 
two  sections  of  his  countrymen,  and  popular  with  both.  In  1856, 
when  he  established  the  Chronicle,  there  was  no  Roman  Catholic 
Church  in  Whitby.  Mr.  Higgins  and  the  priest  of  the  mission, 
Father  Shea,  went  out  and  got  in  one  evenitig,  mainly  from  Pro- 
testants, $600,  and  so  the  church  was  commenced. 

Little  has  been  said,  and  perhaps  little  need  be  said  of  the 
Irishman  as  a  social  force,  or  of  his  activity  in  the  learned  profes- 
sions. Such  men  as  Mr.  A.  Thornton  Todd  fulfil  an  important 
function  in  society.  Mr.  Todd  is  the  youngest  son  of  William 
Thornton  Todd,   of  Buncrana   Castle,   County   Donegal,  grand 


698 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


nephew  and  representative  in  Canada  of  Isaac  Todd,  whoso  letters 
I  have  «iuo(  \  when  endeavouring  to  paint  the  local  feeling  during 
the  war  of  1812-14.  Mr.  Todd  founded  the  old  Toronto  Cluh,  of 
which  he  was  long  honorary  Secretary  and  Treasurer.  He  fdso 
built  the  Racket  Court,  racket  being  a  game  of  which  he  used  to 
be  passionately  fond,  and  in  which  he  excelled. 

A  very  famous  person  was  the  late  Dr.  George  Herrick,  M.D., 
who  was  born  in  Cork,  in  1789,  and  having  graduated  at  Trinity 
College,  Dublin,  studied  medicine  there  and  at  Edinburgh.  For 
a  short  time  prior  to  his  coming  to  this  country  in  1844,  he  was 
resident  physician  of  the  Rotunda  Lying-in  Hospital.  He  never 
married,  but  kept  bachelor's  quarters  until  a  short  time  before  his 
death.  Most  hospitable,  he  seldom  sat  down  to  dinner  without  half 
a  dozen  friends.  There  waa  no  ostentation.  Every  one  was  glad 
to  dine  with  him,  for  you  were  sure  to  meet  a  i)leasant  party  and 
have  a  pleasant  evening.  The  private  friends  who  had  paitaken  of 
his  hospitality,  and  '  "  n^cers  of  several  regiments  quartered  in 
Toronto,  presente'  dth  many  pieces  of  plate. 

Besides  the  ..mers.  Dr.  Herrick  had  two  special  dinners, 

one  was  onol  .stmasDay,thel2thof  January,  the  other  on  his 

father's  biithday.  He  selected  the  young  for  his  companions 
and  his  invitation  was  very  peculiar.  It  was  ne^'^er  expresised  in 
writing  or  words.  He  would  catch  a  glimpse  of  a  desirable 
guest,  perhaps  on  the  other  side  of  the  way  and  put  his  hand  over 
his  shoulder  with  the  thumb  reaching  out — hence  ho  was  called 
"  Old  Thumby  "—and  would  say,  "  Roast  Beef"  or  '  Leg  of  Mut- 
ton.*' On  the  special  occasions,  however,  he  wrote  a  formal  invi- 
tation. '^ 

The  fare  he  gave  his  guests  consisted  of  three  courses  with 
sherry  and  ale,  and  plenty  of  punch  afterwards.  At  the  table 
you  would  hear  discussions  and  anecdotes  relating  to  all  the  horse 
races  and  all  the  leading  families  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 
He  believed  in  blood  both  in  men  and  horses.  He  must  have  had  a 
little  private  means.  He  was  systematic  in  his  habits.  He  always 
got  up  at  a  certain  hour.  In  the  afternoon  he  would  come  home 
about  4  o'clock  and  take  a  sleep  nntil  six.  Then  he  got  up  for 
dinner,  his  dress  for  that  meal  being  a  loose  coat.  He  retired  at 
nine  o'clock,  generally  telling  hifi  guests  to  move  off.    If  strangei-s 


MM 


DR.   HERRICK.      DH.    KING.      DR.   MACK. 


699 


not  knowing  his  habits  tarried,  ho  would  say  :  "  Did  you  see  those 
puppies  go  out  there?"  "Yes.     'Then  you  had  better  follow  them." 

He  was  lecturer  on  diseases  of  womon  at  Kinrj'a  College  and  af- 
terwards at  the  [Jniversity  of  Toronto.  His  lectures  were  concise 
and  brief  and  thoroughly  practical.  "  You  must  not "  ho  would 
say,  pointing  with  his  thumb  over  his  shoulder,  "  take  the  advice 
of  those  people  over  there,"  meaning  the  medical  men  of  the 
United  States,  "  because  if  you  do,  you  may  as  well  leave  the 
place  at  once."  At  the  hospital  it  was  necessary  to  know  his  dif- 
ferent sign.s,  as  he  would  only  say, — "Give  them  that  powder," 
as  he  put  the  right  hand  over  the  left  shoulder.  He  never  said, 
"  Put  out  your  tongue  "  to  a  patient.  He  simply  put  out  his  own. 
He  was  a  good  accoucheur.  From  Dr.  Thorburn,  who  studied 
with  him,  and  who  learned  from  him  much  of  his  skill  in  lucinice 
luhores,  I  have  gleaned  many  particulars  respecting  this  eccentric 
man. 

He  belonged  to  the  old  school  of  Irish  gentlemen.  In  personal 
appearance  he  was  tall  and  stout.  He  wore  a  big  colh  ,r  and  side- 
whiskers.  He  preferred  walking  to  riding.  He  had  neither  car- 
pets nor  gas  iii  his  house. 

Dr.  John  King,  his  contemporary  and  colleague  was  a  great 
friend  of  his.  Henick  always  called  him  "  Rex."  Dr.  King  was 
like  himself,  a  representative  Irishman  of  a  now  vanished  type. 

Another  contemporary  and  brother  medical  man  was  James 
John  Hayes,  sometime  member  of  the  Senate,  and  of  the  Endow- 
ment Board  of  the  University  in  which  capacity  he  did  good  ser- 
vice, and  saved  the  University  much  money.  All  his  sons  fill 
honourable  positions. 

Dr.  Mack's  name  has  been  already  mentioned  in  connexion 
with  his  father's.  During  the  troubles  of  '37  hf  "  Tied  a  small 
band  of  youthful  British  residents,  to  repel  an  expected  invasion 
of  the  so-called  batteries  of  Amherstburg.  They  were  surrounded 
by  a  hostile  population.  For  fourteen  nights  those  boys,  not  one 
of  them  more  than  seventeen  years  old,  stood  sentry,  without  any 
place  to  sleep,  an  he  enemy  firing  boiler  cuttings  on  the  own. 
The  young  lads,  all  of  whom,  with  ope  exception,  are  rlead,  per- 
formed the  duties  of  soldiers  with  rare  pluck. 

After  this,  Mack  was  appointed  a  lieutenant  to   an  armed 


^m 


600 


THE 


.SHMAN  IN  CANADA. 


schooner.  He  was  practically  captain,  for  the  man  who  should 
have  discharged  the  duties  was  nearly  always  drunk.  In  the 
spring  and  summer  following  he  served  under  Captain  the  Hon. 
John  Elmsley. 

After  eighteen  months'  service  in  connexion  with  the  temporary 
navy,  he  commenced  the  study  of  medicine  in  the  office  of  Dr. 
George  Grasett,  and  at  the  Military  Hospital,  which  he  was 
permitted  to  attend  as  a  special  favour  to  the  son  of  the  Garri- 
son chaplain.  He  graduated  in  the  United  States,  in  184<3, 
soon  after  which  he  obtained  his  Provincial  h"  3ense.  In  1844, 
he  commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  St.  Catharines, 
as  there  •i/s.a  a  large  field  for  surgery  among  the  vast  body  of 
Irishmen  then  engaged  in  the  enlargement  of  the  Welland  Canal. 

Dr.  Maok  was  ihe  first  man  in  this  country  who  commenced  the 
treatment  of  female  ailments  surgically.  As  has  so  often  happened, 
two  minds  were  pursuing  the  same  studies  with  the  same  results. 
/.t  the  time  Dr.  Mack  was  working  out  important  medico-surgical 
problems,  Dr.  Simpson,  of  Edinburgh,  was  similarly  employed, 
and  both  arrived  at  the  same  conclusions.  Like  every  man  of 
original  views,  Dr,  Mack  had  to  face  the  storm  which  the  ignorant, 
the  envious,  and  the  interested  raise  up  against  those  who  seek  to 
iorve  mankind  in  a  better  way  than  by  going  in  the  old  rut. 

Very  soon  after  going  to  St.  Catharines,  he  saw  the  benefit 
thial-  might  be  derived  from  t-'.e  saline  waters  of  the  place, 
which  were  then  in  the  hands  of  a  mere  quack,  one  Dr.  Chase,  a 
distiller  and  store-keeper.  The  well  was  first  excavated,  for  the 
purpose  of  supplying  the  soldiers  and  the  inhabitants  with  salt, 
when  an  embargo  was  placed  on  that  article  by  the  Americans  in 
1812.  Witness  the  needs  of  the  times  in  the  "  salt-licks  "  along 
the  Twelve-mile  Creek.  Two  wells  were  dug,  that  at  the  Ste- 
phenson Hotel,  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Hon.  W.  P.  Howland, 
and  the  well  connected  with  Springbank.  When  the  property, 
on  which  the  Stephenson  House  now  stands,  came  into  the  hands 
of  A.  W.  Stephenson,  he  went  to  Dr.  Mack,  begging  him  to  intro- 
duce his  water,  and  promising  him  that  there  should  be  no  quack- 
ery if  he  would  take  the  matter  up.  It  is  the  only  mineral  water 
with  which  quackery  has  not  been  associated.  Dr.  Mack  commu- 
nicated with  his  fiiends  in  the  United  States,  and  wrote  upon  the 


SALINE  SPRINGS  AT  ST.   CATHARINES. 


601 


subject  in  the  leading  medical  journals,  placing  the  muiits  of  the- 
waters  fairly  and  scientifically  before  the  public.  The  result  was 
unexampled  success.  The  Town  of  St.  Catharines  was  so  crowded 
that  private  houses  had  to  be  thrown  open,  and  some  of  the  pil- 
grims of  health  slept  in  cartis.  The  profession  endorsed  the  work,, 
and  everything  went  as  the  sanguine  and  honest  could  desire,  until 
the  cupidity  of  the  hotel-keepers  almost  ruined  the  beneficent 
interprise. 

Seeing  the  way  things  were  going,  Dr.  Mack  determined  ta 
build  an  hotel  and  sanitarium,  where  he  could  carry  out  his  own 
plans,  and  bring  the  administration  of  the  waters  to  perfection. 
But  the  business  has  been  so  damaged  that  it  will  take  half  a  cen- 
tury to  bring  it  up  to  what  it  was.  Dr.  Mack  has,  from  the  first,, 
been  faithful  to  those  waters  on  which,  directly,  but  indirectly  on 
humanity,  his  generous  heart  and  noble  professional  enthusiasm 
have  led  him  to  sacrifice  wealth  and  alluring  prospects,  fourteen 
years  ago,  he  was  offered  a  large  and  lucrative  practice  in  Boston, 
where  he  would  have  been  backed  ^lp  by  the  leading  members  of 
the  profession,  particularly  in  his  surgical  specialty.  But  instead 
of  accepting  that  offer,  he  built  Springbank,  in  which  he  has 
sunk  over  $140,000. 

Al  that  time  a  great  honour  was  conferred  on  him.  He  wa» 
asked  to  fill  the  chair  of  Materia  Medica,  at  the  University  of 
Buffalo,  which  he  did  for  three  years.  Buffalo  University  has 
turned  out  such  men  as  Dalton,  the  two  Flints,  and  others.  Dr. 
Mack  was  offered  the  permanent  charge,  but,  feeling  unable  to  go 
over  there  twice  a  week,  declined  the  appointment. 

Prior  to  this  offer  being  made  to  him,  he  spent  eight  months  in 
Europe,  where  he  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  all  the  leading 
men  of  the  profession  in  England,  in  I'rance,  and  in  Italy,  to  whom 
Sir  James  Simpson  gave  him  letters  of  introduction.  All  showed, 
him  the  gi-eatest  kindness. 

In  18t>0,  he  commenced  a  work  which  he  has  recently  brought 
into  a  more  complete  state,  a  work  for  which  he  desei-ves  to  be  ever 
held  in  honour.  He  raised  a  six  penny  contribution  among  the 
lake  mariners  for  the  establishment  of  a  marine  hospital  in  some 
central  place  on  the  lakes.  Five  years  he  struggled  in  this  truly 
humane  cause.     Here,  too,  he  received  opposition.     The  opposi- 


602 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


tion,  however,  in  this  case,  came  ftiainly  from  Lower  Canada.  The 
Lower  Canada  medical  men  thought  his  project  would  interfere 
with  the  Marine  Hospital  of  Lower  Canada.  St.  Catharines, 
a  point  by  which  all  the  vessels  passed,  was  specially  suited  for 
an  hospital ;  here  they  could  be  treated  and  senl  on  their  way 
healed,  up  or  ('own  ^he  lakes.  Dr.  Mack  pressed  the  case  on  the 
Government.  But  :^.nding  that  he  could  get  no  aid  from  them, 
he  fell  brtck  on  his  own  efforts,  and  on  those  of  the  ladies.  He 
determined  to  unite  with  the  marine  hospital  a  general  department 
for  the  benefit  of  St.  Catharines.  By  his  activi;>y,  and  the 
assistance  of  the  ladies,  many  of  them  belonging  to  the  United 
States,  he  kept  the  hospital  going  for  two  years,  after  which 
time  the  Government  came  to  his  aid,  in  1862.  We  need  not 
wonder  that  the  party  to  which  he  belonged  desired  to  bring 
him  into  public  life,  or  that  he  was  nominated  as  a  candidate- 
But  he,  doubtless,  remembered  Paul's  great  words, "  This  one  thing 
I  do,"  and  chose  the  better  part  of  exclusive  dsvotion  to  his  pro- 
fession. The  Dominion  Government  made  him  a  grant  of  $500 
for  the  marine  department,  while  Mr.  Charles  Rykert  obtained  a 
larger  grant  from  the  Ontario  Government.  The  hospital  has  now 
become  an  institution  of  which,  according  m  Mr.  La)  gmuir,  the 
place  has  just  reason  to  be  proud.  I  went  over  the  hospital,  and 
can  endorse  what  Mr.  Langrauir  says.  The  maternity  wing,  which 
is  now  being  added,  will  make  it  still  more  complete. 

In  1874,  Dr.  Mack  established  the  first  training  school  for 
nurses  ever  established  in  British  America.  It  has  been  a  decided 
success,  and  a  blessing  to  the  neighbourhood.  Mack  has  always 
identified  himself  with  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  place.  During 
the  last  twenty  years  there  must  have  been  from  $80,000  to  $100,- 
000,  a  year,  spent  in  St.  Catharines  through  his  instrumentality. 
His  own  professional  income  w£is  for  a  long  time  from  ten  to 
twelve  thousand  dollars  a  year.  For  many  years  all  his  energy 
has  been  devoted  to  making  Springbank  an  institution  for  the 
successful  treatment  of  chronic  disease,  and  all  the  ailments  pre- 
valent in  the  country ;  rheumatism,  gout,  and  diseases  of  mala- 
rious origin. 

Dr.  Mack  was  the  first  man  in  Canada  to  use  Dr.  Chapman's 
icG  bags  applied  to  the  spine  for  nervous  and  other  diseases,  and 


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IRTSH  JOURNALISTS. 


603 


he  has  found  them  as  efficacious  here  as  they  have,  to  my  know- 
ledge, been  found  in  London.  A  great  cure  has  been  effected 
within  the  last  few  months  by  means  of  spinal  ice  bags.  A  lady 
in  a  very  bad  condition  has  been  brought  from  the  confines  of  that 
pitiful  world,  where  reason  is  not.  "  I  have  found  them  highly 
useful"  says  Dr.  Mack,  in  reply  to  a  question  concerning  those  ice 
bags,  "  in  the  treatment  of  diseases  of  a  nervous  origin." 

Some  of  the  most  brilliant,  able,  and  best  educated  journalists 
in  every  city  of  Canada  are  Irishmen,  or  of  Irish  extraction.  Mr.  M. 
J.  Griffin,  of  Halifax,  is  not  only  a  journalist  of  first-class  power, 
but  a  literary  man,  who  bids  fair  to  carve  out  for  himself  a  great 
reputation.  In  Kingston,  we  have  Mr.  J .  Johnston,  an  able  writer- 
Mr.  Fahey,  formerly  of  the  Hamilton  Spectator,  and  known  as 
"  Rupert"  to  the  readers  of  the  Mail,  edits  the  Stratford  Herald 
with  great  ability.  Mr.  Tyner,  of  the  Hamilton  Times,  is  known 
for  his  brilliancy  as  a  journalist  throughout  the  whole  Dominion. 
In  Toronto,  Mr.  Edward  Farrer's  humour,  invective,  eloquence,  all 
bear  the  stamp  of  native  ability.  In  Montreal,  there  are  at  least 
four  men  of  great  literary  power,  Mr.  Meany,  Captain  Kirwin,  Mr. 
^Vhite,  the  proprietor  and  editor  of  the  Gazette,  and  Mr.  Reade, 
one  of  the  editors  of  that  paper.  It  is  only  the  other  day  that 
the  Rev.  Father  Murphy's  beautiful  English,  redolent  of  Tenny- 
sonian  studies,  was  delighting  and  elevating  the  readers  of  the  lead- 
ing Roman  Catholic  newspaper  of  Montreal. 

Mr.  John  Reade,  who  was  born  at  Ballyshannon,  County  Done- 
gal, and  educated  partly  there  and  partly  at  Enniskillen,  and  Bel- 
fast, is  a  poet  of  which  the  country  of  Moore  and  Goldsmith  may 
be  proud.  A  critic  speaking  with  the  responsibility  of  a  first  class 
magazine,  says  of  "The  Prophecy  of  Merlin  and  Other  Poems,"  that 
it  is  a  volume  in  every  way  worthy  of  the  land  of  the  Lakes,  well 
written,  well  printed  and  well  bound.  "  The  author  in  his  verses 
unites  power  with  sweetness.  He  is  a  disciple  of  Tennyson,  whose 
writings  he  has  studied  with  earnestness  and  -arc.  The  longest 
poem, '  The  Prophecy  of  Merliii,'  is  thoroughly  readable,  and  though 
modelled  on  the  '  IdyllR.'  is  in  no  degree  an  imitation.  That  Mr. 
Reade  is  capable  of  selecting  a  subject  and  treating  it  eflfecti\  ely, 
his  poem  on  'Vashti'  is  ample  evidence.  The  local  colouring  of 
some  of  the  poems  gives  the  book  an  especial  interest  for  colonial 


In 


ii    , 
h 


mm 


604 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


readers.  Every  page  in  it  is  worth  perusal."*  "  The  translations 
in  the  volume  are  good.  In  'Andre  Chenier's  Death -Song,'  Mr- 
Reade  has  attained  a  success  which  reminds  the  reader  of  the 
spirited  translations  of  Beranger,  by  Father  Prout."f 

Mr.  C.  H.  Mackintosh,  the  publisher  and  editor  of  the  Ottawa 
Citizen,  is  Canadian-Irish,  He  was  born  in  London,  Ontario. 
Having  studied  law  for  some  time  he  entered  on  a  journalistic 
career  in  1862.  His  father  William  Mackintosh,  was  the  son  of 
Captain  Duncan  Mackintosh,  of  the  British  army,  whose  wife  was 
a  niece  of  the  Earl  of  Dysart.  Captain  Duncan  Mackintosh  settled 
in  the  County  of  Wicklow,  where  he  bought  landed  property,  and 
where  his  son  William  was  born.  This  gentleman  having  been 
educated  at  Dublin,  and  having  married,  came  to  Canada,  where 
he  was  connected  with  the  Ordnance  Department,  at  London  and 
Kingston.  Subsequently  he  was  engaged  in  the  survey  of  the 
Great  Western  Railway,  from  Hamilton  to  Chatham.  He  was 
afterwards  for  many  years  county  engineer  for  Middlesex.  His 
widow  is  still  living,  together  with  several  sons  and  daughters. 

The  able  editor  of  the  Irish  Canadian,  Mr  .Patrick  Boyle,  is  so 
well  known  that  it  would  be  superfluous  to  seek  to  give  my 
readers  any  idea  of  his  personality  or  abilities.  Mr.  Bailey,  the 
editor  of  the  Orange  Sentinel,  is  an  enterprising  North  of  Ireland 
man,  of  whom  I  can  say  that  he  entertains  liberal  desires  respect- 
ing the  friendly  relations  which  should  exist  between  all  classes 
of  his  countrymen. 

A  passing  reference  has  been  made  to  the  Honourable  Mr. 
Justice  Gwynne.  He  is  the  son  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Gwynne,  of 
Castle  Knock,  Dublin.  Mr.  Gwynne  was  educated  at  Trinity 
College,  which  he  left  without  taking  a  degree.  He  came  to 
Canada  in  1832,  and  commenced  to  study  law  with  Thcmas  Kirk- 
patrick.  In  the  same  year,  his  brother,  Dr.  Gwynre,  came  to 
Canada,  and  established  himself  in  Toronto  as  a  medical  man.  In 
the  following  year,  his  eldest  brother,  the  Rev.  Georgj  Gwynne, 
and  his  second  eldest  brother,  Mr.  Hugh  Nelson  Gwynne,  both  scho- 
lars of  Trinity  College,  came  out.  But  the  Rev.  George  Gwynne 
soon  returned  to  Ireland.  Hugh  Nelson  Gwynne  remained  here 
and  became  a  master  in  Upper  Canada  College.      His  connexion 


wit 

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he 
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he 
weJ 


*  Dublin  University  Magazine. 


t  New  York  ITorW. 


CULTURE  AND  LITERATURE, 


605 


with  the  college  was  severed  owing  to  the  influence  of  Dr.  Strachan. 
He  went  and  lived  in  the  coun^ ''  c  life  of  a  hermit  until  1840, 
when  he  became  Secretary  ana  .  /easurer  of  the  Law  Society, 
which  office  he  filled  until  he  retirea  in  December,  1872,  in  which 
month  he  died  suddenly. 

In  1837,  Mr.  John  W.  Gwynne  was  called  to  the  Bar.  In  1844, 
he  went  to  EngittuJ,  and  studied  for  fifteen  months  in  Mr.  Rolfs 
chambers.  While  there  he  conceived  his  railway  plans.  In  1849, 
he  was  made  a  Q.C.,  and  his  career  at  the  Bar  and  as  a  Judge  is 
well  known. 

A  brother  judge  emigrated  somewhat  earlier.  The  Honourable 
Christopher  Salmon  Patterson,  the  youngest  surviving  son  of  Mr. 
John  Patterson,  well  known  in  London  and  Belfast  as  a  mer- 
chant, came  to  Canada  when  quite  a  youth,  in  1845.  He  was 
called  to  the  B&r  in  1851,  and  after  a  successful  professional  career 
was  appointed  Judge  of  the  new  Court  of  Appeal  in  1874. 

Two  years  later  than  Mr.  Justice  Gwynne,  Chief  Justice  Hagarty 
emigrated — a  man  whose  usefulness  to  Canada  is  .ot  to  be  mea- 
sured by  his  ability  as  a  lawyer  and  as  a  judge ;  his  literary 
acquirements  and  taste,  his  social  qualities,  his  wit,  his  high  cha- 
racter— all  have  been,  from  1834  until  the  present  hour,  a  valuable 
part  of  the  best  wealth  of  the  community.  He  was  bom,  on  the 
I7th  of  December  1816,  in  Dublin,  and  his  father,  Matthew 
Hagarty,  Examiner  of  His  Majesty's  Court  of  Prerogative  for 
Ireland,  sent  him  early  to  the  school  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Haddai*t. 
He  entered  Trinity  College  in  his  sixteenth  year,  and  emigrated 
in  1824,  having  left  his  University  without  a  degree.  He  settled 
in  Toronto  in  1835,  and  was  called  to  the  Bar  in  1840.  He  was  ap- 
pointed a  Q.C.  by  the  Baldwin  Administration  in  1850,  and  raised 
to  the  Bench  in  1856.  He  became  Chief  Justice  in  1868.  His 
firm,  Crawford  and  Hagarty,  enjoyed  a  great  reputation  for  sound 
law  and  fearless  integrity. 

Mr.  Hagarty  was  no  mean  element  in  that  literary  and  social 
influence  which  has  done  so  much  for  the  cultivation  of  Canada. 
Scotland  supplied  a  Gait;  but  the  main  stream  of  literary  in- 
fluence has  been  swelled  by  Irishmen  from  Moore  down.  Mrs, 
Jameson  was  the  daughter  of  Murphy,  the  painter  to  H.R.H.  the 
Princess  Charlotte.     She  was,  in  Toronto,  a  gi-eat  cultivating 


606 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


power,  and  her  "  Winter  Studies  and  Summer  Rambles  in  Can- 
ada," seemed  to  bring  the  charm  of  the  country  home  to  the 
imagination  alike  of  the  Old  World  and  tht.  New,  and  to-day  is 
a  living  book. 

She  opens  with  a  description  of  Toronto  as  it  appeared  to  her 
nearly  half  a  century  ago.  She  mingles  her  German  studies  with 
descriptions  of  Canadian  scenes  and  Canadian  society,  and  Schil- 
ler, sculpture,  and  Upper  Canada  newspapers,  are  all  dealt  with 
in  a  charming  manner.  Her  sketches  of  Indians  and  Indian 
scenes  are  models  in  their  kind. 

In  1847,  Dr.  McCaul  started  a  Canadian  annual  called  the 
"  Maple  Leaf,"  beautifully  bound,  and  illustrated  with  steel 
engravings.  To  this  Annual,  Mr.  Hagarty  contributed  poems 
which  Shelley  would  not  have  blushed  to  acknowledge.  The 
poem  on  the  cry  of  the  Ten  Thousand — "  The  Sea,,  The  Sea  " — is 
instinct  with  the  genuine  fiie  of  poetry.  Not  inferior  in  quality  is 
"  The  funeral  of  Napoleon  I. "  No  one  could  read  either  poem  with- 
out being  stirred.  The  music  and  power  of  the  "  Funeral  of  Na- 
poleon I."  fasten  it  on  ear  and  imagination.  The  nervous  lines  are 
so  numerous  in  this  fine  poem  that  selection  would  be  difficult.* 


*  The  reader  ^ill  thank  me  for  [jdving  this  poem  here. 

THE  FUNERAL  OF  NAPOLEON  L 

{loth  December  1840.) 

Cold  and  brilliant  streams  tlie  sunlight  on  the  wintry  banks  of  Seine, 
Gloriously  the  imperial  city  rears  her  pride  of  tower  and  fane — 
Solemnly  with  deep  voice  pealeth,  Notre  Dame,  thine  ancient  chime, 
Minute  guns  the  death-bell  answer  in  the  same  deep  measured  time. 

On  the  unwonted  stillness  gather  sounds  of  an  advancing  host, 
As  the  rising  tempest  chafeth  on  St.  Helen's  far-off  coast ; 
Nearer  rolls  a  mighty  pageant — clearer  swells  the  funeral  strain. 
From  the  barrier  arch  of  Neuilly  i)ours  the  giant  burial  train. 

Dark  with  eagles  is  the  sunlight — darkly  on  the  golden  air 
Flap  the  folds  of  faded  standards,  eloquently  mourning  there — 
O'er  the  pomp  of  glittering  thousands,  like  a  battle-phantom  flits 
Tiittor'd  flag  of  Jena,  Friedland,  Areola,  and  Austerlitz. 

Eagle-crown'd  and  garland-circled,  slowly  moves  the  stately  car, 
'Mid  a  sea  of  plumes  and  hor.?emen — all  the  burial  pomp  of  war — 
Riderless,  a  war-worn  charger  follows  his  dead  master's  bier — 
Long  since  battle-trumpet  roused  him— he  but  lived  to  follow  here. 


CHIEF  JUSTICE  HAGABTY  A   POET. 


6or 


The  dramatic  fire  and  enthusiasm  of  battle  will  surprise  those 
whose  knowledge  of  the  Chief  Justice  does  not  go  deeper  than 
his  demeanour  in  court  or  in  a  drawing  room.  A  good  poet  was 
sacrificed  to  the  lawyer  and  the  judge. 

The  senior  judge  of  the  County  of  Simcoe  emigrated  the  same 
year  as  Mr.  Justice  Gwynne.  Mr.  Gowan  is  now  one  of  the  most 
venerable  and  learned  figures  on  the  bench.  When,  in  1842,  Mr. 
Baldwin  made  him  judge  of  the  District  of  Simcoe,  he  was  the 
youngest  judge  of  the  Province.  Many  a  time  in  those  days  he 
had  to  ride  seventy  miles  a  day  to  meet  his  court  engagements,. 


From  his  grave  'mid  ocean's  dirges,  moaning  surge  and  sparkling  foam, 
Lo,  the  Imperial  Dead  retumeth  !  lo,  the  Hero-dust  comes  home  ! 
He  hath  left  the  Atlantic  island,  lonely  vale  and  willow  tree, 
'Neath  the  Invalides  to  slumber,  'mid  the  Gallic  chivalry. 

Glorious  tomb  o'er  glorious  sleepers  !  gallant  fellowship  to  share — 
Paladin  and  Peer  and  Marshal — France,  thy  noblest  dust  is  there  ! 
Names  that  light  thy  battle  annals— names  that  shook  the  heart  of  earth  ! 
Stars  in  crimson  War's  horizon— synonymes  for  martial  worth  ! 

Room  within  that  shrine  of  heroes  !  place,  pale  spectres  of  the  past ! 
Homage  yield,  ye  battle  phantoms  !  Lo,  your  mightiest  comes  at  last ! 
Was  hin  course  the  Woe  out-thunder'd  from  prophetic  trumpet's  lips  ? 
Was  his  type  the  ghostly  horseman  shadow'd  in  the  Apocalypse  ? 

Gray-haired  soldiers  gather  round  him,  relics  of  an  age  of  war. 

Followers  of  the  Victor-Eagle,  when  his  flight  was  wild  and  far  : 

Men  who  panted  in  the  death-stife  on  Rodrigo's  bloody  ridge. 

Hearts  that  sicken'd  at  the  death-shriek  from  the  Russian's  shatter'd  bridge  ; 

Men  who  heard  the  immortal  war-cry  of  the  wild  Egyptian  fight — 
"  Forty  centuries  o'erlook  us  from  yon  Pyramid's  gray  height ! " 
They  who  heard  the  moans  of  Jaffa,  and  the  breach  of  Acre  knew — 
They  who  rushed  their  foaming  war-steeds  on  the  squares  of  WaterJoo — 

They  who  loved  him — they  who  fear'd  him — they  who  in  his  dark  hour  fled — 
Round  the  mighty  burial  gather,  spell-bound  by  the  awful  Dead  ! 
Churchmen— Princes— Statesmen — Warriors — all  a  kingdom's  chief  array, 
And  the  Fox  stands — crownSd  Mourner — by  the  Eagle's  hero-clay ! 

But  the  last  high  rite  is  paid  him,  and  the  last  deep  knell  is  rung — 
And  the  cannons'  iron  voices  have  their  thunder-requiem  sung — 
And,  'mid  banners  idly  drooping,  silent  gloom  and  mouldering  state, 
Shall  the  Trampler  of  the  world  upon  the  Judgment-trumpet  wait. 

Yet  his  ancient  foes  had  given  him  nobler  monumental  pile, 
Whei-e  the  everlasting  dirges  moan'd  around  the  burial  Isle — 
Pyramid  upheaved  by  Ocean  in  his  loneliest  wilds  afar, 
For  the  War-King  thunder-stricken  from  his  fiery  battle-cry  ! 


608 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


and  his  adventures  by  flood  and  field  would  make  a  little  volume. 
Yet  he  was  scarcely  ever  absent  from  his  duties.  A  pioneer  judge, 
he  is  yet  an  erudite  lawyer,  and  he  has  been  a  leading  mind  in  all 
the  great  legal  reforms.  He  has  more  than  once  been  tempted  in 
vain  with  offers  of  a  seat  on  the  bench  of  the  Superior  Courts. 

Another  example  of  early  elevation  to  judicial  office,  is  the 
second  son  of  the  late  Chancellor  Blake,  the  Hon.  Samuel  Hume 
Blake,  who  was  born  in  1835.  Educated  at  Upper  Canada  Col- 
lege he  left  it  to  embark  in  commercial  life,  with  which  growing 
dissatisfied  after  a  few  years,  he  entered  as  a  student  the  law  office 
of  his  uncle,  the  late  Dr.  Connor,  who  was  subsequently  raised 
to  the  bench.  He  began  to  read  at  the  same  time  for  a  degree, 
which  he  took  in  1858,  and  was  called  to  the  bar  two  years  after. 

He  had  already,  as  an  attorney,  entered  into  partnership  with 
his  brother,  the  Hon.  Edward  Blake,  a  partnership  which  was 
severed  only  when  Sir  John  Macdonald  offered  him  the  Vice- 
Chancellorship — an  offer  from  a  political  opponent  equally  credi- 
table to  the  Prime  Minister  and  Mr.  Blake.  The  attention  of  both 
brothers  was  confined  almost  entirely  to  equity,  and  the  Hon. 
Edward  Blake  was  without  an  equal  in  that  arena.  Mr.  Blake 
made  considerable  pecuniary  sacrifice  in  abandoning  practice  ;  but 
the  position  of  Vice-Chancellor  is  honourable,  and  he  is  now  the 
senior  Vice-Chancellor.  He  is  an  accomplished  elocutionist,  an 
earnest  member  of  the  Church  of  England,  of  the  evangelical 
party,and  the  President  of  the  Irish  Protestant  Benevolent  Society. 
He  haB  acted  as  one  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Crooks  License 
Law,  and  in  many  ways  proves  that  his  public  spirit  is  not  asleep. 
He  has  achieved  a  reputation  for  acuteness,  fairness,  and  despatch 
as  a  judge. 

Another  very  young  and  brilliant  judge  is  Mr.  Justice  Moss, 
the  eldest  son  of  the  late  John  Moss,  of  Toronto.  Born  at  Cobourg, 
in  1836,  his  early  education  was  at  Knox's  College,  then  called 
Gale's  Institute.  In  1850,  he  entered  Upper  Canada  College,  and 
there  carried  all  before  him  as  he  did  subsequently  at  the  University.  . 
In  1858,  he  graduated  with  triple  first-class  honours.  In  1859, 
he  took  his  Master's  degree  and  the  prize  thesis  for  the  year. 

It  might  be  thought  that  all  this  brilliancy  and  solid  attainment, 
the  capacity  and  industry  implied  by  a  career  of  such  unvarying 


■« 


MR.  JUSTICE  MOSS. 


609 


8ucr?ss,  implied  an  ambition  more  eagle-like  in  its  instincts  than 
one  which  could  content  itself  with  a  prosperous  professional 
career  and  an  early  elevation  to  the  bench — a  most  honourable 
position,  but  one  nevertheless  in  which  men  of  strong  political 
instincts  and  large  capacities  put  on  and  are  properly  bound  to 
put  on  ermine  manacles,  and  bury  one  of  the  choicest  privileges  of 
free  citizenship  in  the  marble  tomb  of  dignity ;  or  perhaps  the 
case  might  be  more  justly  stated  by  saying  that  the  judges  have 
to  make  great  sacrifices  on  the  altar  of  public  usefulness.  How- 
ever, what  was  the  loss  of  politics  was  the  gain  of  the  Law  Courts. 
Called  to  the  bar  in  1861,  he  commenced  practice  in  partnership 
with  Mr.  Hector  Cameron.  He  afterwards  associated  himself  with 
the  Hon.  James  Patton  and  Mr.  Osier.  When  commencing  prac- 
tice in  the  Court  of  Chancery  he  had  to  contend  against  men  wY) 
would  have  distinguished  themselves  at  any  bar  in  the  world. 
Nor  could  aught  but  industry  and  shining  parts,  have  enabled  him 
so  rapidly  as  he  did,  to  come  into  public  notice  and  win  public 
confidence. 

Early  appointed  Equity  Lecturer,  and  one  of  the  examiners  to 
the  Law  Society  ;  examiner  to  the  University  of  Toronto  ;  a  Q.C., 
in  1872  ;  a  bencher  of  his  inn  about  the  same  time  ;  one  of  the 
Commissioners  to  report  on  the  fusion  of  law  and  equity;  Vice - 
Chancellor  of  his  University ;  ultimately  judge  of  the  highest 
court  in  the  Province;  he  was  a  strong  swimmer  who  had  never 
to  battle  with  heavy  seas,  whose  teeth  never  proved  the  toughness 
of  the  vache  enrag^e,  whose  iron  fibre  has  nourished  so  much  hu- 
man greatness  of  that  Alpine  sort — thunder-scarred,  solitary,  sub- 
lime— ^which  flings  its  vast  shadow  over  the  future,  and  to  which 
generations  as  they  spread  their  <='ails  and  skim  lightly  along,  turn 
ere  they  pass  away,  once  and  again  from  love  and  laughter,  from 
hoaxing  and  huxtering,  to  contemplate  with  admiration  and  awe, 
the  slowly  piled  up  monument  of  Titanic  energy,  and  mournful 
immortal  longings  begotten  of  some  divine  despair. 

At  the  same  time,  with  Mr.  Justice  Moss,  was  raised  to  the 

bench  as  Chief  Justice  of  Ontario,  a  man  whose  name  has  already 

been  mentioned,  as  the  first  fruit  to  Canada  of  an  Irish  family  just 

come  to  our  shores.    Bom  at  Montreal  on  the  3rd  of  August,  1833, 

and  educated  at  Upper  Canada  College,  Chief  Justice   Harrison 
39 


^Hi 


610 


THE  IRISHMAN  IN   CANADA. 


early  gave  promise  of  his  future  success.  He  was  in  1855  called 
to  the  bar  witli  honours.  He  then  commenced  one  of  the  most  pros- 
perous professional  careers  M'hich  has  been  known  in  Canada,  dur- 
ing which  he  was  counsel  for  the  Crown  in  several  important 
cases.  He  was  one  of  those  chosen  to  defend  Ministers  when  they 
were  accused  of  violating  the  Independence  of  Parliament  Act. 
"  In  fact,"  writes  an  authority,  "  since  1859,  when  he  entered  into 
partnership  with  the  late  James  Paterson  and  Mr.  Thomas  Hod- 
gins  and  commenced  his  practice  at  the  bar,  there  has  been  scarce- 
ly a  case  of  public  impoi  tance  in  which  he  has  not  been  retained, 
and  tlie  number  of  briefs  he  yearly  held  must  have  entailed  an 
immense  amount  of  labour,  anxiety  and  thought.  We  believe  no 
member  of  the  profession  in  this  country  has  held  so  many  briefs 
a,s  Mr.  Harrison  during  tlie  time  he  has  been  at  the  Bar.  At 
many  of  the  Assizes  for  York  and  the  City  of  Toronto,  Mr.  Har- 
rison has  been  retained  in  three-fourths  of  the  criminal,  and  as 
large  a  proportion  of  the  defended  cases  on  the  docket."  During 
some  terms  he  has  moved  no  less  than  eighty  rules.  That  with 
such  an  amount  of  work  he  should  also  have  accomplished  uiuch 
in  legal  literature  implies  extraordinary  system  and  capacity  for 
labour. 

He  was  made  a  Q.  C.  in  1867,  and  elected  a  bencher  of  the  Law 
Society,  in  1871.  His  last  act  as  bencher  will,  I  hope,  bear  fruit. 
He  moved  a  resolution  appointing  a  committee  to  consult  with 
the  Attorney-General  and  the  Municipal  Councils  of  York  and 
Toronto,  on  the  subject  of  building  a  new  Court  Hou!~  j  for  Assize 
and  County  business,  on  Osgoode  Hall  grounds.  In  1865,  he  was 
elected  Alderman,  and  as  a  Conservative  represented  West  Tor- 
onto from  1867  to  1872. 

Mr.  Harrison  atcributes  his  success  to  perseverance,  industry, 
and  down  right  toil.  These  will  take  any  man  far;  but  there  is 
a  limit,  beyond  which  certain  minds  aided  by  all  the  industry  in 
the  world  cannot  go.  The  power  of  hard  work  is  a  great  gift — one 
indeed  of  the  greatest,  as  it  is  one  of  the  rarest — one  without 
which,  the  highest  genius  can  accomplish  lucle,  and  which  is  seldom 
found  unless  in  conjunction  with  higi»  intellectual  power^  The 
legal  history  of  two  years  proves  that  the  Chief  Justiceship  was 
placed  in  no  idle  hands.  When  Mr.  Harrison  became  Chief  Justice, 


DAWN  OF  CANADIAN   ART. 


611 


there  were  large  arrears  in  his  Court.     To-day,  there  is  no  such 
evidence  of  supineness. 

The  Honourable  Mr.  Justice  Doherty  was  born  in  the  County 
Derry,  in  1830.  He  came  to  this  country  with  his  father.  He 
was  educated  at  St.  Hyacinthe  and  in  Vermont,  wLsre  having 
graduated,  he  went  to  the  Lower  Canadian  Bar,  and  commenced 
a  lucrative  practice  in  Montreal. 

Judge  Drummond's  name  has  already  been  mentioned  in  con- 
nexion with  politics.  Judge  McCord,  of  Montreal  ;  Judge  McCord, 
of  the  Three  Rivers ;  Judge  Maguire,  of  Quebec  ;  George  Dunbar, 
Q.C.,  of  Quebec,  an  eloquent  pleader — all  illustrate  the  forensic 
talents  of  Irishmen. 

Art  began  early  to  attract  some  attention.  Ireland  which  had 
done  so  much  in  other  walks  for  the  infant  nation  was  destined  to 
give  it  the  first  impulse  towards  art.  Michael  Kane,  and  his 
Dublin  wife,  accompanied  Lieutenant-Governor  Simcoe  to  Western 
Canada.  Having  left  the  army,  Michael  settled  in  York,  where 
his  son  was  bom  in  1810.  The  little  arrival  was  christened 
Paul.  The  child's  growing  mind  could  not  fail  to  be  influenced 
by  the  picturesque  Indian  figures  still  to  be  seen  haunting  the 
Don.  Indian  trails  ran  wliere  King  and  Yonge  streets  are  to-day. 
In  the  preface  to  his  travels,  Kane,  in  1844,  accounts  for  his  resolve 
to  devote  himself  jo  painting  a  series  of  studies  of  North 
American  scenery  and  Indian  life,  by  sayini^  "  the  subject  was 
one  in  which  I  felt  a  deep  interest  in  my  boyhood.  I  had  been 
accustomed  to  see  hundreds  of  Indians  about  my  native  village, 
then  Little  York,  muddy  and  dirty,  just  struggling  into  existence  y 
now  the  City  of  Toronto,  bursting  forth  in  all  its  energy  and 
commercial  strength." 

Yet  Little  York  was  not  a  fa\'ourable  place  for  a  youth  of 
genius  to  grow  up.  The  District  Grammar  School  was  the  only 
introduction  into  the  world  of  knowledge,  and  thought,  and  art. 
Here  there  was  Mr.  Drury,  an  eccentric  draw  In  j  master,  who 
taught  the  future  artist  the  elements  of  what  was  to  be  his 
ill-paid  craft.  His  artistic  bias  was  regarded  in  the  light  of 
want  of  application  and  distaste  for  steady  industry.  "  The 
circumstances  of  the  community"  says  Professor  Wilson, 
"  were  indeed  too  frequently  inimical  to  the  fostering  of  settled 


matr.. 


1 

if 


612 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


habits  among  its  youth.  Dr.  Scadding  has  remarked,  when 
describing  the  first  years  of  the  District  Grammar  School  that 
'  during  the  time  of  the  early  settlements  in  this  country,  the  sons 
of  even  the  most  respectable  families  were  brought  in  contact 
with  semi-barbarors  characters.  A  sporting  ramble  through  the 
woods,  a  fishing  excursion  on  the  waters,  could  not  be  undertaken 
without  communication  with  Indians  and  half-breeds,  and  bad 
specimens  of  the  French  voyagours.  It  was  from  such  sources 
that  a  certain  idea  was  derived  which,  as  we  remember  was  in  great 
vogue  among  the  more  fractious  of  the  lads  at  the  school  at  York. 
The  proposition  circulated  about,  when  anything  ever  went  counter 
to  their  notions,  always  was  to  runaway  to  the  Nor'- West!  What 
that  process  really  involved,  or  what  the  Nor'- West  precisely  was, 
were  things  vaguely  realized.  A.  sort  of  savage  land  of  Cocagne, 
a  region  of  perfect  freedom,  among  the  Indians,  was  imagined,  and 
to  reach  it,  Lakes  Huron  and  Superior  were  to  be  traversed.'  In 
this  way  young  Kane's  mind  was  early  familiarized  with  the  idea 
of  that  expedition  across  the  continent  to  green  shores  beyond 
the  Rocky  Mountains  of  which  he  has  left  so  many  memorials  by 
means  of  his  facile  pencil  and  pen." 

The  "  totems  "  which  formed  the  sign  manual  of  the  Indian 
chiefs  and  their  graphic  picture  writing  on  birch  bark  might  by 
some  be  considered  the  dawn  of  Canadian  art.  A  good  deal  of 
this  art  is  still  to  be  found  emblazoned  on  the  skin  lodges  of  the 
prairies ;  while  remains  of  pottery,  copper,  arms,  and  the  like,  show 
traces  of  a  still  higher  culture,  and  no  inconsiderable  development 
of  technical  t  lill  in  a  previous  age.  All  this  was,  however,  perhaps, 
rather  the  end  of  a  phase  of  art  in  a  decaying  race,  than  the  be- 
ginning of  it  in  Canada. 

We  see  from  portraits  and  paintings  which  remain,  executed  in 
early  days  of  European  settlements,  that  art  and  artists,  to  some 
small  extent,  overflowed  from  other  countries  into  Canada. 
The  firat  notable  cases  where  it  took  local  colour,  and  men  were 
inspirited  to  portray  scenes  and  characters  distinctively  Canadian, 
are  Krioghoff,  in  Lower  and  Paul  Kane,  in  Upper  Canada.  Krieg- 
hoff  devoted  himself,  especially,  to  winter  scenes  and  the  habitans, 
ant'i  it  is  due,  in  no  small  degree,  to  the  profusion  of  the  spirited 
sketches  ajid  paintings  of  this  character  which  he    threw  off^ 


■il 


PAUL  KANE. 


613 


that  Canada  is  looked  upon,  in  England,  as  a  land  of  perpetual 
snow  ;  the  inhabitants  uiufHod  up  the  year  round  in  blanket-coats, 
hunting  moose  on  Rnow-shoes,  or  tearing  about  in  carioles. 

Paul  Kane  had  a  truer  feeling  for  art,  and  ])ainted  less  for  popu- 
larity and  for  the  market.  Conseq'iently,  while  Krieghoff  caught  the 
fancy  of  his  customers  and  made .  a  fortune,  Kane  sold  few 
pictures. 

At  an  early  ago,  Kane  entered  the  employment  of  Mr  Conger, 
who  afterwards  became  Sheriff  of  Peterborough,  but  who  was  at 
this  time  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  household  furniture.  In 
ornamenting  the  furniture,  scope  was  given  to  the  boy's  artistic 
genius,  and  some  small  recognition  followed.  But,  we  may  be  sure, 
no  patron  was  found  at  that  day.  Our  times  are  more  advanced, 
yet  no  rich  man  has  sought  for  himself  the  honour  of  securing  an 
artistic  training  for  Mr.  Bengough,  whose  versatile  genius  is  capa- 
ble of  the  very  highest  things  if  he  had  only  the  requisite  culture.* 
Still  Kane  obtained  remuneration  fur  his  early  efforts  as  an  artist. 

A  prophet  has  no  honour  in  the  place  where  he  is  born  or  set- 
tles. When  pearls  are  scattered  at  peoples'  doors,  they  don't  be- 
lieve them  to  be  pearls,  unless  the  pearls  are  puffed  by  an  organ 
of  somebody  interested  in  them.  Kane,  therefore,  left  Toronto  for 
Cobourg,  where  he  made  enough  of  money  to  pay  his  way,  and  to 
start  for  the  States,  where  he  hoped  to  make  sufficient  to  enable 
him  to  visit  Europe,  with  the  view  of  studying  the  works  of  the 
great  masters. 

Ah  !  who  can  tell  how  hard  it  is  to  climb 

The  steep  where  Fame's  proud  temple  shines  afar  ? 

His  father  promised  to  assist  him.  ^he  young  fellow  was  full 
of  hope.  Wandering  along  the  margin  of  the  broad  Detroit  river 
he  felt  the  passion  for  beauty  strong  upon  him.  He  would  be 
no  artist  did  he  not  dream  along  the  lines  of  the  great  infirmity 
of  noble  minds,  if  his  spirit  did  not  glow  at  once  at  the  thought 
of  giving  form  to  the  ideal  shapes  which  rounded  all  his  life  with 
ecstacy,  and  at  the  vision  of  renown,  the  child  of  splendid  de- 
sire.    He  was  in  his  twenty-sixth  year,  and  all  the  future  was 


III 


*  Mr.  Bengough  is  well  known  as  the  cartoonist  of  Grip,  and  a  leoturtir  of  power 
and  humour. 


614 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


I    I 


bpthed  in  hues  of  promise.  He  would  roam  through  the  halls  of 
immortal  work  in  the  Louvre ;  he  would  stand  in  Imperial  Rome 
amid  all  the  glories  of  art.  While  he  thus  muses,  a  letter  arrives 
from  his  father,  telling  him  that  difficulties  would  prevent  his 
Italian  excursion. 

But  he  did  not  give  up  his  purpose.  He  wandered  from  city  to 
city,  like  the  great  Italian  painters,  when  a  Leo  was  on  the  throne 
of  the  Vatican,  and  another  Medici  ruled  at  Florence,  and  in  the  June 
of  1841,  he  sailed  from  Orleans  for  Marseilles.  He  spent  four  years 
in  Europe,  studying  and  copying  the  works  of  the  great  men  of 
old,  in  Paris,  at  Geneva,  at  Mil-^n,  Verona,  Venice,  Bologna, 
Florence,  Naples,  Rome  ;  the  galk  'ies  of  all  he  studied,  in  order 
that  he  might  come  back  to  be  a  true  father  to  Canadian  art. 
While  in  Naples,  he  was  offered  a  passage  in  a  Levantine  cruiser, 
f'  id  thu8  he  was  enabled  to  visit  the  shores  of  Asia  and  Africa. 
He  v»'as  on  his  way  to  J  erusalem  with  a  party  of  Syrian  explorers, 
when  he  and  his  friends  were  obliged  to  make  for  the  coast  in 
conseqiience  of  being  deserted  by  their  Arah  guides.  On  his  re- 
turn he  endured  great  hardships,  but  he  landed  on  the  African 
coast,  and  this  consoled  him,  as  he  was  able  to  boast  he  had  been 
in  every  quarter  of  the  globe. 

He  brought  back  Avith  him  a  mind  enlarged  by  observation,  by 
communion  with  great  artists,  and  well  stored  with  pictures  of 
famous  scenes.  He  also  brought  copies  of  the  most  renowned  pic- 
tures in  the  galleries  of  Venice,  Florence,  and  Rome.  An  Irish  artist 
whose  friendship  he  had  acquired  while  in  the  Imperial  city,  gave 
him  an  introduction  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Purcell,  Bishop  of  Cincinnati. 
In  this  introduction,  the  artist  urged  the  Bishop  on  nc  account  to 
miss  seeing  Kane's  admirable  copy  of  Rafaelle's  portrait  of  Pope 
Paul  II.  An:ong  the  paintings  he  copied,  and  of  which  he  bore 
across  the  Atlant-ic  copies,  were  Rafaelle's  Madonna  in  the  Pitti 
Palace,  and  his  portrait  of  Pope  Julius  II ,  the  portraits  of 
Leonardo  da  Yinci,  and  of  Rembrandt,  painted  by  themselves, 
and  whicli  are  among  the  glories  of  the  Florentine  gallery;  of 
Murillo's  Madonna,  and  Busato's  portrait  of  Pope  Gregory  XVI. 

One  of  his  special  friends,  while  he  was  in  Italy,  was  Stewart 
Watson,  a  Scottisn  artist.  They  fraternized  '.irith  that  readiness  with 
which  Irishrjon  and  Scotchmen  proverbially  fraternize  when  thoy 


mc 

shil 

He 

hel 

Ec 

rei 

&n 


AN  ARTIST  EXPLORER. 


615 


meet  abroad.  They  travelled  together  from  Italy  to  London.  They 
shared  the  same  lodgings  at  "  Mr.  Martin's,  Russell  Street."  Mr. 
Hope  James  Stewart  was  another  Scotch  artist,  whose  friendship 
he  enjoyed  while  in  Italy.  This  gentleman  wrote  to  him  from 
Edinburgh  : — "After  London  this  place  looks  like  a  dead  city,  and 
reminds  me  much  of  the  way  you  and  I  felt  the  quietness  of  Rome, 
after  our  trip  to  that  noisy  and  favourite  place,  Naples." 

*'  In  1844,"  says  Professor  Wilson,  "  Mr  Kane  returned  to  Can- 
ada with  all  the  prestige  of  a  skilled  artist,  who,  by  his  own 
unaided  energy  had  overcome  every  obstacle,  and  achieved  for 
himself  opportunities  of  studying  the  works  of  the  great  masters 
in  the  most  famous  galleries  of  Europe.  He  was  now  to  dis- 
play the  same  indomitable  energy  and  self-reliance  in  widely 
different  scenes.  In  the  preface  to  his  '  Wanderings  of  an  Artist 
among  the  Indians  of  North  America,'  he  remarks — '  On  my 
return  to  Canada  from  the  continent  of  Europe,  I  determined  to 
devote  whatever  talents  and  proficiency  I  possessed,  to  the  paint- 
ing of  a  series  of  pictures  illustrative  of  the  North  American 
Indians  and  scenery.' "  Sir  George  Simpson,  the  Governor  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  entered  cordially  into  his  plans.  His 
romantic  experiences  and  ad  v^er '  ures  are  related  with  graphic 
power  and  the  fidelity  of  an  artist,  in  his  "  Wanderings,"  published 
by  Longman  in  1859.  He  crossed  the  continent,  travelling  weary 
miles  a-foot,  or  paddlinp-  over  lake  or  river  in  a  canoe.  He 
visited  the  Saskatchewan,  traversed  the  vast  prairie,  crossed  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  navigated  the  Columbia  River  to  Oregon, 
explored  Puget's  Sound,  visited  Vancouver  Island  and  other  wild 
scenes,  amongst  which  he  describes  himself  as  strajdng  almost 
alone,  scarcely  meeting  a  white  man,  or  hearing  the  sound  of  his 
own  language.  His  pencil  was  ever  busy.  Chiefs,  women, 
medicine  men,  hunting  scenes,  Indian  games  and  dances,  rites  and 
costumes,  all  were  transferred  to  his  canvas 

He  returned  to  Toronto  in  1848,  with  a  well-stocked  portfolio. 
Sir  George  Simpson  had  given  hini  a  commit;jioa  for  a  dozen 
paintings  of  savage  life : — buflfalo  hunts,  Indian  tumps,  councils, 
feasts,  conjuring  matches,  dances,  warlike  exhibitions,  or  what- 
ever he  might  consider  most  attractive  and  interesting.  In  1852, 
the  Legislature  of  the  Province  of  Canada  passed  a  vote  authoriz- 


ifia 


-^ 


/ 


616 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


W 


]■• 


1 


ing  him  to  execute  a  series  of  Indian  pictures,  before  which  the 
visitor  to  the  Parliamentary  Library  at  Ottawa,  never  fails  to 
linger  long.  His  most  liberal  patron  was  the  Hon.  G.  W.  Allan* 
to  Tfrhom  he  dedicated  the  narrative  of  his  wanderings. 

He  married,  in  1853,  Miss  Harriet  Clench,  of  Cobourg,  herself 
an  artist  of  no  mean  skill.  He  now  devoted  himself  to  his  art 
with  great  zeal,  and  painted  a  hundred  pictures  ;  Indian  scenes, 
landscapes,  portraits,  Indian  groups  coiriing  into  vivid  portraiture 
beneath  his  forming  hand.  These  paintings  are  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  Hon.  G.  W.  Allan,  of  whose  collection,  at  Moss  Park> 
they  form  the  principal  attraction. 

He  visited  Europe  in  1857,  to  superintend  th§  execution  of  the 
chromo-lithographic  illustrations  of  his  "  Wanderings."  On  his  re- 
turn  he  resumed  his  pencil.  He  was  about  to  follow  up  that  volume 
with  another,  when  his  eye-sight  failed.  Unfortunately  his  art  was 
not  one  he  could  prosecute  without  the  eye.  He  died  on  the  20th 
of  February,  1871,  from  an  abscess  of  the  liver.  His  portrait  of 
Queen  Victoria,  after  the  picture  by  Chalons,  is  amongst  his  best 
works. 

Living  so  much  with  the  Indians,  he  acquired  something  of  their 
quiet  unimpressible  manner.  His  memory  was  strong.  When  he 
gave  them  scope,  his  descriptive  powers  were  of  a  high  order.  His 
gifts,  however,  in  this  respect  would  remain  wholly  hid  from  those 
who  did  not  sympathize  with  his  pursuits.  "  But,"  says  Professor 
Wilson,  who  knew  him,  "  he  was  a  man  of  acute  observation,  and 
when  questioned  by  an  intelligent  inquirer,  abounded  with  curious 
information  in  reference  to  the  native  tribes  among  whom  he  had 
sojourned."  His  career  is  one  of  the  most  creditable  in  our  annals. 
Irishmen  and  Canadians  may  well  be  proud  of  a  man  who  taught 
himself  a  divine  art,  though  he  had  to  face  poverty's  all  but  "  un- 
conquerable bai'."  Though  he  studied  our  sconeiy  and  Indian 
customs  at  first  hand,  he  did  not  wholly  give  himself  up  to  nature. 
The  Indian  horses  are  Greek  horses ;  the  hills  have  much  of  the 
colour  and  form  of  those  of  Ruysdael,  and  the  early  European 
landscape  painters ;  the  foregrounds  have  more  of  the  character- 
istics of  old  pictures  than  of  our  out-of-doors.  All  this  is  more 
particularly  true  of  his  later  work,  when,  instead  of  going  to 


nl 

e^ 

a{ 
re 

P\ 

(i 

n<^ 


CANADIAN   LANDSCAPE  AND   ART. 


617 


nature,  he  remained  in  his  studio,  and  painted  and  repainted  his 
early  sketches. 

The  glory  and  beauty  of  Canadian  landscape  is  not  yet  fully 
appreciated.  The  mission  of  Canadian  Art  is  stili  before  it, — to 
record  and  impress  upon  the  people  the  peculiar  ;:.eauties  in  atmos- 
phere, colour,  water,  trees,  rocks,  all  that  makes  our  out-of-doors 
(if  Canadians  would  only  believe  it !)  second,  in  its  own  way,  to 
nothing  else  in  the  world.  It  is  important  that  this  should  be 
realized,  since  our  art,  for  the  present,  must  be  landscape  art.  We 
have,  and  for  some  time  can  have,  no  other.  We  are  in  a  transition 
state.  The  ingredients  of  a  great  people  are  being  brought  toge- 
ther. There  can  be  no  local  coloifr  where  all  is  changing.  The 
human  element  here  must  crystallize  before  it  is  picturesque  or 
artistically  attractive.  At  present  it  is  bustling,  noisy,  pretentious? 
vulgar  and  ugly.  The  Indian  has  passed  away,  and  his  ghost  is 
dirty,  and  wears  the  cast-off  clothes  of  his  white  brother.  The 
Acadian  is  gone.  All  that  remains  of  him  is  Longfellow's  "  Evan- 
geline." Railroads  are  reforming  and  mixing  up  the  most  conser- 
vative habitans.  The  artist  must  find  subjects  and  inspiration  in 
atill  solitudes,  as  yet  undefiled  by  the  foot  of  man.  The  human 
pot  is  boiling ;  the  scum  sometimes  comes  to  the  top ;  but  let  us 
wait  in  hope  for  the  result  of  the  enormous  brew. 

It  would  be  invidious  if  it  was  sought  here  to  designate  any 
of  our  artists  on  wnom  Kane's  mantle  has  fallen.  Mr.  Fraser,  Mr. 
Martin,  Mr.  Verner,  and  others,  all  have  studied  our  Canadian 
scenes ;  but  none  of  them  with  the  same  love  for  Canada  as  Mr. 
Lucius  O'Brien.  This  is  not  said  because  the  blood  in  his  veins  is 
Irish.  He  has  the  true  artistic  spirit,  and  his  oil  paintings  and 
water  colours  have  an  exquisite  finish,  a  delicacy  of  feeling  and  a 
truthfulness  of  instinct  combined  with  technical  strength,  which 
would  give  him  a  foremost  place  as  an  artist  in  any  part  of  the 
world. 

Photography  is  a  useful  if  humblo  handmaiden  to  art,  and  the 
honour  of  introducing  it  to  Western  Canada  belongs  to  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Armstrong,  who  came  tO  Canada  the  year  Baldwin  retired 
from  the  Ministry,  Mr.  Armstrong,  who  belongs  to  a  good  family, 
was  bom  in  Dublin  in  1822.  His  father,  a  general  in  the  Royal 
Irish  Artillery — which  was  merged  in  the  regular  service  during 


618 


THE  IRISHMAN  IN  CANADA. 


I   . 


I 


I 


the  rebellion  of  1798 — sent  young  Armstrong  to  the  celebrated 
engineer  Thoma-s  Jackson  Woodhouse  to  learn  engineering.  Hav- 
ing served  as  engineer  in  various  important  undertakings  in  Eng- 
land, he  bethought  him  of  emigrating  to  Canada  where  he  was 
immediately  employed  under  Mi-.  H.  C.  Seymour  on  the  Northe;!! 
Ra'lwayi  He  also  served  under  Messrs.  Shanly  and  Gzowski  on 
the  Gip.nd  Trunk  Railway.  li  seems  Colonel  Gzowski  gave  him 
facilities  for  the  introduction  of  photography.  Mr.  Armstrong's 
sketches  of  Lake  Superior  scenery — which  he  was  the  first  to 
delineate — have  been  highly  appreciated  at  exhibitions  in  the  old 
country. 

A  far  greater  honour  the  Irishman  in  Canada  may  claim  than 
the  initiatory  step  to  the  introduction  of  photography.  A  Scotch- 
man, himself  a  poet  of  considerable  merit,  the  Rev.  William  Wye 
Smith,  pointed  out  in  a  lecture  upon  the  poets  of  Canada,  that 
"  Hamilton,"  a  poem  by  W.  A.  Stephens,  the  Collector  of  Customs, 
Owen  Sound,  was  the  first  volume  of  poems  published  in  Upper 
Canada.  Mr.  Stephens,  who  was  born  in  Belfast  in  1809,  came 
early  to  this  country  with  his  father.  Prior  to  his  acceptance  of 
his  offlce,  now  nearly  thirty  years  ago,  he  did  much  both  by  word 
and  pen  to  influence  opinion  in  a  Reform  direction. 

Mr.  Stephens'  poem  deserved  better  treatment  than  it  received 
at  the  time  of  publication.  It  is  very  unequal.  But  it  has  con- 
siderable merit  in  places.  The  conception  is  exceedingly  good,  and 
had  the  execution  throughout  been  what  it  occasionally  rises  to, 
"  Hamilton  "  might  have  won  an  enduring  place  in  literature. 

I  have  already  referred  to  Mr.  Reade's  poetry.  We  have  in  our 
midst  a  genuine  child  of  song,  and  a  literary  man  who  is  engaged 
in  the  useful  task  of  writing  the  Constitutional  History  of  Canada 
— Samuel  James  Watson,  the  Librarian  of  the  Ontario  Legislative 
Library.  Mr.  Watson — an  Irishman  pur  sang — ^liad,  before  accept- 
ing his  present  position,  done  good  service  as  a  writer  on  the  Olobe, 
and  other  leading  papers.  Amid  the  wearying  and  wasting  labours 
of  journalism,  he  found  time  to  cultivate  the  divine  art  of  song, 
and  he  has  lately  produced  a  volume  which  will  cause  his  name  to 
be  syllabled  after  he  himself  has  passed  away.  That  which  the 
literary  man  especially  hungers  for,  he  will  find  in  Mr.  Watson's 
poetry.     Tired  of  the  blaze  of  Homer  or  Byron,  the  mind  of  the 


M« 


A  TRUE  POET. 


619 


student  will  turn  away  to  a  more  tolerable  light,  and  will  not  miss 
in  Mr.  Watson,  the  serene  and  silvery  radiance  she  longs  for,  the 
sweet  and  simple  solace  she  craves.  The  cry  of  the  heart  in  its 
more  tender  and  pensive  moments  will  be  satisfied. 

"  Bead  from  some  humbler  poet, 

Whose  songs  gush  from  the  heart  j 
As  ram  from  the  clouds  of  summer, 

Or  tears  from  the  eyelids  start ; 
Who,  through  long  days  of  labour, 

And  nights  devoid  of  ease, 
Still  hewd  in  his  soul  the  music 

Of  wonderful  melodies." 

"  The  Legend  of  the  Roses,  a  Poem,  and  Ravlan,  a  Drama," 
both  show  that  Mr.  Watson  has  not  merely  the  inspiration,  but 
what  Wordsworth  calls  "  the  accomplishment  of  verse,"  though 
there  may  be  here  and  there  signs  that  he  has  not  been  permitted 
to  court  the  Muse  with  undivided  attention. 

In  the  Legend  of  the  Roses,  how  the  most  beautiful  of  flowers 
sprang  up  on  a  scene  meant  to  be  one  of  destruction  and  ghastly 
death  is  described.  In  music  and  beauty  the  whole  poem  running 
over  sixty  pages  is  worthy  of  the  close. 

Then  lo  !  as  if  the  more  to  swell 
The  wonder  of  the  miracle. 
And  splendour  out  of  Death  to  bring, 
And  cause  from  ashes  life  to  spring. 
The  burning  embers,  hissing  warm, 

Obejing  his  almighty  power. 
Change  in  a  moment,  to  a  form 

Of  beauty  only  seen  that  hour ; 
And  as  the  shape  of  flowers  they  take, 
'Tis  as  Red  Roses,  they  awake  ; 
And  next,  the  unkindled  brands  arise 

And  a  fresh  miracle  disclose. 
Opening,  the  first  time  to  the  skies. 

The  bosoms  of  the  iair  White  Rose. 

I 

Mr.  Watson  is  at  times  most  happily  sententious,  thus : 


Again: 


Danger  that  warns  is  never  dangerous  ; 
But  danger,  when  it  comet  unheralded. 
Is  but  another  naTnefor  destiny. 


'Tis  often  found 
That  a  lie  and  hot  haste  are  fervent  friends. 


620 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


I    I' 


! 


li 


A  witch  scene  in  weirdne-ss  and  lyrical  power  will  bear  compari- 
son with  the  most  famous  scenes  of  the  kind,  aud  we  know  that 
this  brings  Faust  and  Macbeth  into  the  field. 

Here  is  a  fine  piece  of  painting.     A  babe  is  cast  upon  the 

Chill  and  oozy  sand 
From  which  the  white  tutks  of  the  howling  sea, 
Were  tearing  ravenotu  mouthfula  every  second. 

A  founder  in  his  own  line  was  Colonel  Henry  Goodwin,  who  was 
a  few  months  ago  borne  to  his  last  resting  place  with  military 
honours,  followed  by  gallant  men  who  felt  that  the  remains  of 
their  military  father  were  about  to  be  committed  to  the  hospit- 
able, blessedly-transforming  bosom  of  the  '■  bountiful  mother." 
When  he  died,  the  clubs  rang  with  his  praises  from  the  lips  of 
volunteer  officers.  No  man  ever  came  &wa,y  from  him  without 
being  inspired  with  military  ardour.  He  was  endeared  to  a  wide^ 
circle,  young  and  old,  whom  he  had  educated.  He  had  great 
force  of  character,  and  raised  himself  to  the  position  he  held  by 
his  perseverance,  his  military  genius,  and  his  integrity. 

Bom  in  the  County  Tyrone,  on  the  2nd  June,  1795,  of  Catholic" 
parents,  he  lived  with  his  family  as  a  farmer's  boy  until  1812.  He 
was  then  seventeen  years  of  age,  and  must  have  been  a  splendid 
looking  young  fellow,  for  a°  South  says — he  who  in  his  old  age 
is  comely,  must  in  his  youth  have  been  very  fair.  On  the  4th  of 
July,  a  recruiting  party  of  the  Royal  Horse  Artillery  peissed 
through  the  town  land  where  his  father's  farm  stood.  Gunpow- 
der was  in  the  air  in  those  days,  and  it  must  have  been  hard  for  a 
gallant  young  fellow  to  keep  out  of  the  fray.  He  took  the  shil- 
ling ;  joined  the  expedition  to  Flanders  ;  was  present  at  Waterloo 
where  he  was  twice  wounded;  joined,  on  recovery,  the  Grand 
Army  at  the  Paris  Camp ;  remained  with  the  army  of  occupation 
until  1818 ;  returned  to  Woolwich  ;  received  his  discharge  on  the 
reduction  of  the  army ;  remained  at  his  home  in  the  County 
Tyrone  a  little  over  a  year ;  married  and  enlisted  in  the  King's 
Light  Infantry.  He  was  soon  made  head  drill  instructor.  In 
1837  he  was  discharged  with  a  pension  which  he  drew  to  the 
hour  of  his  death. 

During  the  three  years  he  was  in  France  he  acquired  great  pro- 


THE  FATHER  OF  VOLUNTEERING. 


621 


ficiency  in  fencing,  gymnastics,  and  sword  exercise.  He  was 
awarded  the  highest  prize  for  aword  aLd  gymnastic  exercise  in 
every  country  he  had  visited :  France,  Spain,  Italy,  England 
and  Ireland.  In  the  two  last  countries  he  kept  schools  for 
instruction  in  gymnastics  and  the  use  of  the  sword. 

In  1850  he  determined  to  emigrate  to  Canada.  He  arrived  at 
Quebec  on  the  1st  of  April.  Here  he  opened  a  school,  and  at  once 
attracted  the  attention  of  Lady  Elgin,  who  employed  him  to  give 
instruction  to  her  children  in  calisthenics,  general  deportment, 
and  riding.  So  much  satisfaction  did  he  give,  that  Lord  Elgin 
urged  Dr.  Ryerson  to  engage  him  as  a  teacher  of  gynmastics,  fenc- 
ing, and  general  deportment.  From  1853  until  1877,  he  taught 
in  the  Normal  and  Model  Schools.  He  wrote  on  the  27th 
of  last  January  :  "  I  will  continue  to  teach  as  long  as  I  can  give 
satisfaction  to  the  establishments  with  which  I  am  engaged, 
namely,  Normal  and  Model  Schools,  Upper  Canada  College, 
Bishop  Strachan's  Ladies  School,  Mrs.  Neville's  Ladies  School, 
Mrs.  Nixon's  Ladies  School,  and  private  families." 

He  proved  a  valuable  man  to  the  military  department.  He 
drilled  all  the  independent  corps  organized  before  the  embody- 
ment  of  the  permanent  militia,  officers  and  men,  artillery,  cavalry 
and  infantry.  He  assisted  Colonel  G.  Denison  to  organize  the 
Toronto  Field  Battery  and  remained  with  it  as  adjutant  and  drill- 
instructor  five  years,  when  the  2nd  or  Queen's  Own  and  10th 
Royals  had  to  be  formed.  Colonel  Denison,  then  commandan<< 
would  not  form  them  unless  Goodwin  became  adjutant  and  drill 
instructor.  The  duties  of  this  position  he  discharged  with  so 
much  okill  and  courtesy,  that  the  officers  would  not  allow  him  to 
leave  the  battalion,  but  passed  a  uuanincus  vot^  that  he  was 
still  to  remain  a  member.  "  I  still  belong  to  the  10th  Battalion," 
said  the  brave  old  fellow  two  months  before  he  died,  "  and  will  do 
so  as  long  as  God  gives  me  health  to  serve  them." 

Colonel  Goodwin  was  also  store-keeper  for  the  Militia  Store 
Department,  and  from  1856  until  1877  not  a  cent's  worth  of  the 
stores  under  his  charge  had  been  lost  or  mislaid. 

The  Colonel  was  twice  married  and  had  two  families.  By 
his  first  wife  who  died  in  1835  he  had  five  children.  He  married 
his  second  wife  in  1837.     By  he?:  he  had  eleven  children.     From 


622 


THE  IIIISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


accidents  and  other  causes  only  two  of  his  children  were  alive  in 
January  last. 

He  was  a  thorough  soldier,  one  of  the  noble  military  characters 
which  make  the  army  so  popular.  He  retained  his  military 
bearing  to  the  last  and  died  in  harness. 

Another  veteran  was  Colonel  Kingsmill,  who  passed  away  some 
twelve  months  ago  in  his  eighty-third  year,  at  the  residence  of  his 
son,  Mr.  Nicol  Kingsmill.  The  son  of  Major  Kingsmill,  of  Ist 
(Royal)  Regiment,  who  served  in  the  American  War,  he  was  bom 
in  Kilkenny  in  1794.  He  was  educated  at  Kilkenny  College.  He 
joined  the  66th  Regiment  when  quite  a  lad.  This  regiment 
served  in  Spain  during  the  Peninsular  War.  Young  Kingsmill 
was  present  at  Busaco,  Torres  Vedras,  Badajoz,  the  Pyrenees. 

When  Napoleon  was  sent  to  St.  Helena,  the  66th  Regiment  was 
ordered  thither  to  guard  him.  Kingsmill  was  then  a  lieutenant. 
Early  in  the  second  quarter  of  the  present  century,  he  came  to 
Canada  with  his  regiment  and  soon  retired  from  the  service  as 
senior  Captain.  When  the  rebellion  of  1837  broke  out  he  raised 
two  regiments  of  volunteers.  He  afterwards  commanded  the 
3rd  Incorporated  Militia,  until  his  appointment  to  the  office  of 
Sheriff  of  the  District  of  Niagara.  After  twenty  years'  service  he 
resigned  the  shrievalty  in  consequence  of  failing  health.  He  was 
afterwards  appointed  postmaster  of  Guelpb,  which  office  he  held 
until  his  death. 

He  was  in  compliance  with  his  wishes  buried  at  Niagara.  To 
his  burial  was  accorded  full  military  honours.  He  had  four  sons 
of  whom  two  survive,  Judge  Kingsmill,  of  the  County  of  Bruce, 
and  Mr.  Nicol  Kingsmill,  of  the  firm  of  Crooks,  Kingsmill  &  Cat- 
tanach. 

Colonel  Charles  Todd  Gillmor  was  an  apt  pupil  of  Colonel 
Goodwin.  He  was  bom  at  Sligo,  and  came  to  Canada  in  1858.  He 
joined  the  Volunteers  in  1862,  and  commanded  the  Queen's  Own 
Rifles  from  1866  to  1874.  He  was  in  command  of  this  Regiment 
at  Ridgeway,  June  2nd,  1866.  He  was  appointed  Clerk  of  the 
Legislative  Assembly  of  Ontario  by  the  Sandfield  Macdonaild 
Government  on  December  27th,  1867.  Colonel  Gillmor  was  a 
great  acquisition  to  Toronto  Society. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  the  Honourable  James  Shaw  has  long  been 


a 

c 
1 
i 
i 
i 


RELIGION  AND   EDUCATION. 


623 


connected  with  the  Volunteer  Militia  Service,  and  was  on  active 
service  during  the  rebellion  of  1887-8.  He  was  bom  in  the  County 
of  Wexford,  and  emigrated  to  Canada  in  1820.  From  1851  to 
1854,  he  sat  for  Lanark  and  Renfrew  in  the  Canadian  Assembly, 
and  was  in  1867,  called  to  the  Senate  by  Royal  Proclamation. 

As  I  close  this  chapter,  my  attention  is  t.i,Lrarted  by  a  letter  in 
the  Olohe,  bearing  date  the  12th  June,  1877,  which  recounts  the 
capacity  and  promptness  displayed  by  Major  Walsh  in  the  North- 
West. 


CHAPTER    XV. 


n 

it 
le 
d 
a 

n 


Not  less  important,  certainly,  than  military,  legal,  literary,  or 
artistic  forces,  are  those  which  train  the  youthful  intellect,  and 
direct  the  soul.     The  character  of  the  soldier,  the  lawyer,  and  the 
literary  man  ;  a  nation's  courage,  foresight,  jurisprudence,  litera- 
ture, all  depend  on  the  schoolmaster  and  the  divine.     Ignorance 
and  superstition  are  the  parents  of  degrading  literature,  of  cruel 
and  unrighteous  laws,  of  cowardice,  or  at  best  of  a  mere  fitful 
bravery.  To  have  a  false  idea  of  the  Deity  may,  according  to  the 
extent  of  the  misconception,  be  worse  than  atheism.     Before  we 
can  form  just  views  on  the  subject  of  the  supernatural,  the  intel- 
lect must  be  cultivated.   We  talk  of  the  battle  of  life,  but  parents 
and  guardians  too  often  forget  where  it  is  lost  or  won.   It  was  not 
on  the  field,  Gravelotte  and  Sedan,  and  the  other  great  German 
victories  were  assured,  but  in  the  school-room  and  the  drill  ground. 
The  fate  of  most  men  is  determined  in  the  years  between  eight 
and  sixteen. 

[Authorities  : — Newspapers,  religioue  and  secular.  Original  sources.  Official  Re- 
ports. Journal  of  Education.  "  Memoir  of  the  Rev.  S.  B.  Ardagh,"  Edited  by  the 
Rev,  S.  J.  Boddy,  M.  A,"  "  The  Clerical  Guide  and  Churchman's  Directory,"  Edited 
by  0,  V,  Fordice  Bliss.  "  Dred,"  by  Mrs.  Beecher  Stowe.  "  Sketch  of  the  Buxton 
Mission  and  Elgin  Settlement."  *'  Religious  Endowmenta  in  Canada,"  by  Sir  Francis 
Hincks,] 


624 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


11 


I 


it 


r*r 


I  have  already  glanced  at  Ireland's  contrioutiona  to  the  various 
forms  of  religious  force  in  Canada.  It  will  no\\  be  ray  duty 
to  write  of  the  representative  men  not  already  mentioned,  who, 
according  to  their  light,  have  laboured  amongst  us  in  the  moat 
important  of  all  causes.  The  same  impartiality  which  has  ob- 
tained, I  hope,  throughout,  must  prevail  here.  My  task  is  to  chro- 
nicle, not  criticise  ;  to  give  facts,  not  to  discuss  tenets ;  still  less  to 
hai-monize  discordant  voices  to  which  there  may  yet  be  a  master 
note  whereof  we  know  nothing. 

"Were  the  wax 
Moulded  with  nice  exactness,  and  the  heav'n 
In  its  disposing  influence  supreme, 
The  lustre  of  the  seal  should  be  complet«  : 
But  nature  renders  It  imperfect  ever. 
Resembling  thus  the  artist  in  her  work. 
Whose  f aultering  hand  is  faithless  to  his  skill.  '"* 

One  of  the  latest  elevations  to  the  Episcopal  Bench  in  the  Church 
of  England  will  not  be  thought  to  be  improperly  brought  within 
the  scope  of  this  book.  Brevet  Major  Fuller,  of  the  41st  Foot, 
was  a  scion  of  a  well-known  and  highly  respectable  family  in  the 
County  Cork.  He  came  to  Canada  with  his  regiment,  some  years 
previous  to  the  war  of  1812.  He  died  at  Adolphustown,  in  1814. 
His  son,  Thomas  Brock  Fuller,  the  future  bishop  of  Niagara,  was 
born  in  the  garrison  of  Kingston,  on  the  16th  of  July,  1810. 

He  lost  both  parents  while  yet  a  mere  child,  and  was  left  depend- 
ent on  a  widowed  aunt,  a  sister  of  his  mother,  who  was  a  daugh- 
ter of  Captain  Poole  England,  and  cousin  of  Sir  Richard  England, 
who  commanded  the  third  division  in  the  Crimean  war.  He  re- 
ceived his  early  education  at  Kingston  and  at  York,  at  Lundy's 
Lane,  at  Niagara,  and  again  at  York.  He  studied  divinity  at 
Chambly,  Lower  Canada,  and  was  ordained  on  the  8th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1833.  He  wi  mmediately  sent  to  Adolphustown,  as  the 
locum  tenens  for  the  missionary  of  that  mission,  who  had  gone 
for  eight  months  to  Ireland,  his  native  country.  The  following 
year  he  was  sent  as  Second  Assistant  Minister  of  Christ  Church, 
Montreal,  and  missionary  at  Lachine.  While  in  Montreal,  he,  in 
1836,  married  Cynthia,  eldest  daughter  of  the  late  Samuel  Street, 


'  Gary's  Dant'.  :  Paradise,  Canto  liii.  67-73. 


iil 


THE  BISHOP  OF   NIAGARA. 


C25 


of  Niagara  Falls.  In  1836  he  was  sent  as  missionary  to  Chatham, 
Upper  Canada,  where  he  remained  for  five  years,  the  only  cltirgy- 
man  within  a  radius  of  forty  miles.  Whilst  here  he  published  a 
tract  entitled,  "  Thoughts  on  the  Present  State  and  Future  Pros- 
pects of  the  Church  of  England  in  Canada,  with  Hints  for  some 
Improvements  in  her  Ecclesicistical  Arrangements."  At  the  time 
there  was  no  Synod  of  the  Church  of  England  anywhere.  In  this 
tract  he  suggested  the  formation  of  a  Synod.  He  said  :  "  We  re- 
quire some  change ;  a  change  which,  under  God,  will  meet  our 
wants  and  narrow  our  difficulties.  No  change  will  eti'ect  this,  less 
than  one,  by  which  we  may  be  enabled,  together  with  lay  delegates 
from  our  parishes,  frequently  to  meet  in  General  Council."  There 
being  no  printing  press  west  of  Toronto,  he  had  this  little  treatise 
printed  at  Detroit,  and  a  copy  sent  to  the  Bishop  and  each  clergy- 
man of  the  Diocese.  The  result  was,  that  in  1853  the  first  Synod 
was  constituted  in  Toronto,  and  now  there  is  not  a  colony  of  the 
British  Empire  which  has  not  followed  the  example  of  the  Diocese 
of  Toronto. 

In  1840  he  was  appointed  Rector  of  Thorold,  and  in  1849  Rural 
Dean.  Here  he  was  mainly  instrumental  in  building  a  very  fine 
stone  church.  Most  if  not  all  the  money  was  supplied  by  him. 
When  he  was  nominated  Rector  of  St.  George's  Church,  Toronto, 
he  presented  the  fine  edifice  at  Thorold  to  his  congregation,  by 
whom  he  was  much  beloved.  In  1867  he  was  appointed  Arch- 
deacon of  Niagara,  and  on  St.  Patrick's  Day,  1875,  he  was  almost 
unanimously  elected  Bishop  of  the  new  Diocese  of  Niagara.  The 
Right  Reverend  Prelate  has  published  trac  bs  on  "  Religious  Excite- 
ment," "  Systematic  Beneficence,"  *'  Forms  of  Prayer,"  and  on 
other  subjects  connected  with  his  profession. 

The  Right  Reverend  John  Travers  Lewis,  LL.D.,  the  Bishop  of 

Ontario,  is  from  the  County  Cork,  where  he  was  born  in  1826. 

His  father,  the  late  Rev.  John  Lewis,  M.A.,  was  formerly  Rector  of 

St.  Anne's,  Shandon,  in  the  City  of  Cork.  Bishop  Lewis  graduated 

at  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  as  senior  moderator  in  ethics  and  logic. 

He  was  gold  medallist  and  obtained  the   degrees  of  LL.D.,  B.D. 

and  D.D.     He  was  ordained  in  1847,  and  soon  after  came  to 

Canada.  For  four  years  he  laboured  in  the  I*arish  of  Hawkesbury. 

At  the  end  of  that  time  he  was  appointed  Rector  of  Brockville, 
40 


626 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


r 


14  i 


11 


where  he  worked  for  seven  years.  In  1862  he  was  elected  Bishop 
of  the  new  Diocese  of  Ontario,  and  took  up  his  episcopal  resi- 
dence at  Kingston.  After  some  time  he  removed  to  Ottawa. 
When  elected  Bi.sliop  he  was,  perhaps,  the  youngest  Prelate  on  this 
continent.  He  has  written  "  The  Church  of  the  New  Testament," 
"  Does  the  Bible  require  Retranslation  ?  "  "  The  Primitive  Mode 
of  Ordaining  Bishops,"  and  several  other  works.  He  in  considered 
"  high,"  but  his  sermons  are  said  to  bo  evangelical. 

The  Rev.  William  McMurray  was  born  in  the  parish  of  Seagoe, 
near  Portadown,  on  the  lOtli  September,  1810,  and  was  brought 
to  Tanadn.  >iy  his  parent..  the  following  year.  The  family  .'set- 
tled in  York.  When  eight  years  of  age  he  entered  the  school  of 
Dr.  Strachon,  with  whom  he  afterward,-,  read  as  student  of  Di- 
vinity and  under  whose  care  he  remained  until  he  was  ordained. 
In  1832,  when  he  was  yet  a  year  under  the  canonical  age,  he 
was  appointed  missionary  by  the  Society  for  Converting  and 
Civilizing  the  Indians,  as  well  as  by  Sir  John  Colborne,  Lieuten- 
ant-Governor of  Upper  Canada,  to  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  then  almost 
an  unknown  land,  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  missions  among 
the  Chippev/a  Indians,  on  the  north  shores  of  Lakes  Superior  and 
Huron.  If  it  is  asked  why  Sir  John  Colborne  should  have  inter- 
fered with  the  choice  of  a  young  missionary,  the  answer  is  that 
the  Government  at  thai,  time  had  the  appointment  of  clergymen 
to  the  Indian  missions.  In  the  August  of  1833,  Mr.  McMurray 
was  ordained,  and  in  the  following  month  he  married  Charlotte 
Agenebugoqua,  the  third  daughter  of  the  late  John  Johnston,  Esq., 
of  whose  family  an  interesting  account  is  given  by  Mrs.  Jameson. 
This  marriage  must  have  greatly  aided  the  influence  of  Mr.  M.c- 
Murray  with  the  Indians,  and  he  succeeded  in  establishing  a 
flourishing  mission.  In  1838  in  consequence  of  the  illness  of  his 
wife  he  had  to  leave.  In  the  five  years  he  baptized  one  himdred 
and  sixty  Indians,  and  admitted  forty  devout  members  of  the 
church  to  the  Holy  Communion.  In  1840  he  succeeded  the  Rev. 
John  Millar,  as  Rector  of  Ancaster.  In  February,  1867,  he  was 
appointed  Rural  Dean  of  Lincoln  and  Welland  by  the  late  Bishop 
of  Toronto,  and  on  the  setting  apart  of  the  Diocese  of  Niagara, 
Archdeacon  of  the  new  Diocese  by  the  Bishop  of  Niagara. 

During  his  ministerial  life.  Dr.  McMurray  has  filled  three  most 


IMltf 


ARCHDEACON   MoMUllllAY. 


627 


was 
hop 
ara, 

lost 


important  missions.  In  1853,  he  was  delegated  to  the  Episcopal 
Church  of  the  United  States,  to  ask  assistance  for  Trinity  College. 
While  on  this  mission,  Trinity  College,  Hartford,  conferred  on  him 
the  degree  of  M.A.,  and  Columbia  College,  that  of  D.D.  In  1854, 
he  wa.s  recjuested  by  Dr.  Strachan  to  go  to  Quob(5c  to  look  after 
the  interests  of  the  Church,  by  watching  the  Clergy  Reserves  Bill. 
He  did  good  service,  as  may  be  gathered  from  Sir  ITrancis  Hincks' 
pamphlet.  When  he  returned  to  Toronto,  Trinity  College  con- 
ferred on  him  the  honorary  degree  of  D.C.L.,  and  appointed  him 
a  member  of  its  Council.  In  1864,  he  went  to  England,  to  ask 
assistance  for  the  "  infant  University"  from  the  Church  in  the 
mother  country.  He  was  received  with  open  arms  by  the  lato 
Ai'chbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  by  the  bishops,  clergy  and  laity, 
as  well  as  by  the  Universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge.  Soon 
after  his  arrival  in  London,  a  very  high  honour  was  conferred  on 
him.  The  present  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  then  Bishop  of 
London,  appointed  him  special  preacher  at  the  service  i  under  the 
Dome  of  St.  Paul's,  on  which  occasions  over  seven  t*"  ^usand  per- 
sons were  present.  He  was  also  admitted  as  an  honorary  member 
of  the  Athenaeum  Club.  His  mission  to  England  was  most  suc- 
cessful. Mr.  Gladstone,  notwithstanding  the  pressure  on  his  time, 
as  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  behaved,  as  from  his  interest  in  the 
Church  and  his  noble  self-abnegation  we  might  eapect  him  to  have 
done.  He  gave  Mr.  McMurray  introductions  to  persons  of  the 
highest  position  in  the  kingdom.  Mrs.  Gladston(j  was  equally  in- 
terested in  the  mission,  and  of  her  kindness  and  attention,  Dr. 
McMurray  speaks  to-day  with  a  gralvitude  which  he  can  never 
forget.  Were  Dr.  McMurray  not  amongst  us,  at}  he  happily  is,  I 
might  dwell  on  the  qualities,  moral,  intellectual  and  social,  which 
recommended  him  to  so  shrewd  a  man  as  Dr.  Stnichan,  and  whicii 
rendered  his  missions  so  successful. 

The  venerable  John  Strutt  'jauder.  Archdeacon  of  Otf^wa, 
was  bom  in  Westmeath,  in  1829.  He  came  to  Canada  m  1849. 
Having  graduated  at  Trinity  College,  he  was  ordained  in  1853. 
He  has  been  mainly  instrumental  in  all  the  improvements  in  the 
way  of  buildings  and  extensions  of  the  Church  of  England  in 
Ottawa,  where  he  has  worked  for  twenty  years. 

Among  the  Church  of  England  clergymen  who  have  passed  away, 


m 


.  .•!' 


m 


628 


THE    IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


It 


I 
ill 

'  t  ■ 
Li* 


no  nobler  specinion  of  the  devoted  divine  could  be  foun<l,  than  tlie 
Rev.  Samuel  B.  Ardagh,  the  late  Rector  of  Barrie,  the  graceful 
memoir  of  whom,  published  for  private  circulation,  miglit  with 
advantage,  alike  to  literature  and  tlie  church,  be  addressed  to  a 
larger  audience. 

In  1871,  Bishop  Oronyn,  the  first  Bishop  of  Huron,  died.     He 

;as  born  in  Kilkenny,  and  educated  at  Trinity  College.     He  was 

for  sometime   Rector  of  St.  Paul's,  London,  Ontario,  and  on  the 

division  of  the  Diocese  and  the  erection  of  that  of  Huron,  he  was 

nominated  as  first  Bishop  and  consecrated  in  1857. 

The  number  of  Church  of  England  ministers  all  over  the  Domi- 
nion, who  have  come  from  Ireland  is  surprisingly  large,  and  any 
attempt  to  lay  all  the  facts  before  the  reader  would  be  impossible 
here.  How  dwell  at  ])roper  length  on  the  career  and  work  of  the 
Rev.  F.  H.  Clayton,  the  Incumljent  of  Bolton;  the  Rev.  J.  C. 
Davidson,  the  Incumbent  of  St.  Luke's,  Hemmingford  ;  the  Rev. 
William  Henderson,  of  Pembroke;  the  Rev.  Jonn  Ker,  missionary 
at  Uleu  Sutt<m;  the  Archdeacon  of  Hochelaga,  the  vc  icrable  Rich- 
ard Lonsdeli,  M.A. ;  the  Rev.  Joseph  Merrick,  Incumbent  of  St 
John's  Church,  Kildare;  the  Rev.  Thomas  Motherwell,  B.A.,  In- 
cumbent of  St,  George's,  Portage  du  Fort;  the  Rev.  John  Seaman, 
Incumbent  of  North  Waketipld  ;  the  Dean  of  Ontario,  James  Lys- 
ter,  LL.  D.,T.  0.  D.,  Rector  of  Kingston;  the  Rev.  W.  Daunt,  M.A., 
Incumbent  of  Thamesford;  the  Rev.  Thomas  Davis,  B.A.,  Aylmer; 
the  Rev.  Wm.  B.  Davis,  of  Wingham ;  the  Rev.  John  Downie,  of 
Morpeth;  the  venerable  Edward  Lindsay  El  wood,  M.A.  ? 

In  the  list  of  the  clergy  of  Njova  Scotia,  we  have  such  names  as 
lA)wning,  Brine,  Cochran,  Bell,  Gray,  Manning,  Uniacke,  White. 
The  Rev.  John  Paine  Sargent,  B.A.,  and  the  Rev  Mr.  Starnes, 
should  also  be  mentioned. 

In  Prince  Edward  Island  and  in  the  Diocese  of  Quebec,  we  have 
a  large  number  of  Irishmen  in  orders. 

In  the  DiocessofToronto,  the   Rev.  S.  Lett,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  the 

Rev.  T.  W.  Alleii   and but  the  task  of  enumeration  is  out  of 

the  question. 

One  name  which  should  be  mentionef'  m  connexion  with  the 
Diocese  of  Huron,  must,  however,  not  be  suffered  to  lie  unno- 
ticed.    Scne    thirty-seven   years   ago,    a   family    arrived    here, 


m^m 


THE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


620 


well  known  at  St.  Catharines,  and  one  of  whoia  is  in  Toronto,  a 
barrister — the  family  of  Boomer.  In  the  same  year  the  Very 
Rev.  Michael  Boomer,  M.A.  LL.D ,  came  out  as  a  missonary  sent 
by  the  Gospel  Propagation  Society.  He  was  among  the  first 
batch  "  John  Toronto  "  ordained.  Born  at  Hill  Hall,  near  Lis  • 
burn,  County  Antrim,  he  was  educated  at  the  Belfast  f -oyal  Acade- 
mical Institution  of  which  he  was  for  five  years  Foun(iation  Scho- 
lar. He  graduated  at  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  in  1838,  was  ordain- 
ed deacon  in  1840,  and  priest  in  1841,  and  immediately  appointed 
to  the  Missiion  of  Gait  which  he  retained  for  thirty-two  years.  In 
1872  he  was  removed  by  the  present  Biphoj)  of  Huron  to  London, 
and  appointed  Lean  of  Huron  and  Principal  of  Huron  College. 

The  Rev.  Arthur  Henry  Baldwin,  though  born  in  Toronto,  claims, 
in  virtue  of  his  name  and  blood,  a  place  here.  Educated  at  Upper 
Canada  College,  he  is  a  graduate  of  Queen's  College,  Oxford.  He 
was,  in  1806,  ordained  a  deacon  in  Yorkminster  by  the  Archbishop 
of  York,  and  a  priest  in  1867  by  the  Bishop  of  Ely.  Having 
been  curate  at  Luton  in  Bedfordshire  and  at  Belleville  in  Ontario, 
he  became  Hector  of  All  Saints'  Church,  Toronto,  and  as  such  has 
for  some  few  years  worked  with  energy.  How  he  has  drawn  around 
him  a  congregation  ;  built  a  church  ;  given  a  powerful  impulse  to 
])iety  among  the  young ;  and  with  what  beautiful  simplicity  and 
convincing  earnestness  he  preaches,  is  known  to  hundreds  outside 
his  own  communion. 

Mr.  Rainsiord,  )*  oed  not  be  said,  is  an  Irishman,  and  he  may 
probably  yet  sett.  .ere.  As  it  is,  he.  in  a  certain  sense  belongs 
to  Canada. 

In  the  Methodist  Church,  Irisli  ministers  are  so  numerous  that 
one  is  tempted  to  doubt  whether  that  body  has  any  other.  The 
most  prominent  are  the  Rev.  Wellington  Jeffers,  E.D. ;  the  Rev. 
William  Briggp. ,  the  Rev.  John  Bred  in  ;  the  Rev.  J  oim  Carroll, 
D.D. ;  the  Rev.  Ephraim  B.  H  irper,  M.A. ;  the  Rev.  W.  H.  Poole  ; 
the  Rev.  S.  J.  Hunter ;  the  Rev.  W.  J.  Hunter  ;  the  Rev.  Mathew 
Richey,  D.D. ;  the  Rev.  James  Elliott,  D.D.  The  Rev.  E.  H. 
Dewart  is  a  man  of  extraordinary  energy  ;  a  journalist,  a  preacher, 
an  orator,  a  leader  in  the  teniperance  movement,  a  real  man  in 
all  respect}'  who  has  shown  he  can  act  on  principle  in  defiance  of 
prejudice.     He  is  a  Reformer  in  politics  and  voted  in  accordance 


ir 


III 


630 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN  CANADA. 


with  his  principles,  when  sectarian  passions  were  calculated  to 
bear  him  in  another  direction. 

The  Rev.  John  Potts  is  widely  known.  Bom  in  1838,  at  Magui- 
re's  Bridge,  County  Fermanagh,  he  early  determined  to  push  his 
fortunes  in  the  New  World.  A  boy  of  seventeen,  he  started  for  the 
Southern  States.  Happily  for  Canada,  happily  for  the  Methodist 
Church,  happily  for  social  progress,  on  his  way  to  "  down  South,"  he 
stopped  with  some  relatives  living  at  Kingston.  He  could  have 
sojourned  nowhere  in  Canada  where  he  would  gain  happier  im- 
pressions. He  went  south.  But  so  pleasant  were  the  impres- 
sions made  on  him  in  Kingston  that  he  resolved  to  make  Canada 
his  home,  a  purpose  which  he  fulfilled,  and  to  which,  unlike  so 
many  others  who  seem  to  think  the  white  tie  emancipates  them 
from  all  the  feelings  and  claims  of  citizenship  and  country,  he  has, 
notwithsl-anding  tempting  offers  (may  they  not  merit  the  name 
of  bribes  ?)  from  the  States,  per  istently  clung.  On  coming  here 
from  the  South  he  spent  some  time  in  mercantile  pursuits.  Ori- 
ginally an  Episcopalian,  the  accident  that  his  Kingston  friends 
were  Wesleyans,  led  him,  under  the  spiritual  guidance  of  the 
Rev.  George  Douglas  to  take  the  step  which  was  to  secure 
for  the  Methodist  Church  its  brightest  ornament.  His  talents, 
his  power  of  expression,  his  seriousness,  all  seemed  to  point  to  a 
sphere  where  such  gifts  would  have  more  play  than  in  mercantile 
pursuits.  His  own  desiree  leaned  in  the  direction  in  which  his 
talents  pointed,  and  he  proceeded  to  the  University  of  Victoria 
College,  Cobourg.  Yielding  to  pressure  from  outside,  before  he 
had  completed  his  arts'  course,  he  entered  the  ministry. 

At  the  early  age  of  nineteen — surely  far  too  early — we  find  him 
making  the  Markham  circuit;  then  on  the  Aurora  and  New- 
market circuit ;  then  at  ThoroW,  where  he  remained  for  three 
years.  Meanwhile  during  those  years  of  probation  he  applied 
himself  assiduously  to  his  theological  studies.  Four  years  after  he 
had  been  all  too  early  taken  away  from  College,  we  find  him 
at  the  age  of  twenty -three  received  into  full  connexion  with  the 
Conference. 

Having  been  ordained  Mr.  Potts  was  entrusted  with  the  charge 
of  North  Street  Church,  London,  whence,  after  the  full  term  of 
three  years,  he  was  appointed  to  labour  in  connexion  with  the 


^mmmm 


mmmmmmm 


REV.  JOHN  POTTS. 


631 


Rev.  E.  H.  Dewart,  then  pastor  of  the  Elm  Street  Church,  Toronto. 
By  this  time  he  was  a  man  of  acknowledged  talent.  Eighteen 
hundred  and  sixty-six  was  the  centennial  year  of  American  Me- 
thodism. It  was  resolved  to  erect  in  Hamilton  a  commemoratory 
church.  In  anticipation  of  the  o|)ening  of  the  church,  Mr.  Potts 
was  invited  by  the  trustees  of  the  new  church  to  become  its  first 
pastor.  The  church  being  projected  on  a  large  scale  the  Stationing 
Committee  of  the  Conference  hesitated  to  agree  to  his  taking  so 
important  a  position ;  but  such  was  the  pressure  placed  upon  them 
they  ratified  his  acceptance  of  the  offer.  Many  thought  the  Cen- 
tennary  Church  would  be  too  large,  but  within  a  month  after  the 
opening — on  which  occasion  Dr.  Punsbo'>  preached — it  was  com- 
pletely filled.  The  prescribed  three  ;  ears  having  passed,  the 
congregation  Mr.  Potts  had  gathered  round  him  sought  to  keep 
him  for  another  three  years.  But  the  Conference  was  inexorable. 
The  Metropolitan  Church  project  was  now  on  foot.  Dr.  Punshon 
was  the  life  of  the  movement.  He  knew  the  advantage  of  elo- 
quence and  of  having  a  pulpit  filled  by  an  able  man.  He  and  the 
'congregation  about  to  change  their  shell  were  both  anxious  to  se- 
cure Mr.  Potts'  cooperation.  But  shrinking  from  work  which  was 
not  exactly  that  to  which  he  had  devoted  his  life,  he  decided  to 
go  to  Montreal,  where,  at  St.  James  Church,he  succeeded  Dr. 
Douglas.  In  Montreal  he  made  a  great  reputation  as  a  preacher. 
The  three  years  having  expired,  again,  but  equally  in  vain,  was  an 
attempt  made  by  his  church  and  congregation  to  keep  him  for 
three  years  more.  The  invitation  from  the  Metropolitan  Church 
was  renewed.  This  ti'iie  it  was  accepted,  and  in  the  course  of  his 
ministry  he  more  than  doubled  the  membership,  and  each  service 
crowded  the  church.  His  success  has  everywhere  been  unquali- 
fied, partly  because  of  his  pulpit  power,  but  also  because — like  so 
many  of  his  countrymen — he  knows  how  to  oil  jarring  wheels,  and 
has  pondered  the  philosophy  of  O'Connell,  that  you  will  catch 
more  flies  with  a  spoonful  of  honey  than  with  a  bucket  of  vinegar. 
His  old  Hamilton  charge  wanted  to  got  him  back.  He  himself 
would  not  have  been  unwilling  to  go,  But  there  was  an  impedi- 
ment in  the  way.  Owing  to  arrangements  as  to  dintricts,  which 
had  meanwhile  taken  place,  he  would  have,  were  he  to  go  to 
Hamilton,  to  sever  his  connexion  with  the  Toronto  and  join  the 


r 


632 


THE   IRISHMAN  IN   CANADA. 


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'1 ' 


m 


IH 


l!  i! 


London  Conference — a  step  to  which  he  had  an  objection.  He 
therefore  elected  to  "  build  up  "  for  this  year  his  old  congregation 
of  Elm  Street. 

Mr.  Potts  is  a  man  of  liberal  views,  more  a  pulpit  than  a  plat- 
form orator,  more  a  pastor  than  a  manager  or  a  shining  light  at 
Congress. 

Just  as  one  of  the  ablest  Presbyterian  ministers  of  to-day  is  a 
native  of  Belfast,  so  some  of  the  noblest  figures  among  pioneers 
of  the  Presbyterians  was  born  in  the  County  of  Antrim.  Here 
the  Pvev.  Dr.  Boyd  wtis  born  in  1791.  In  1820,  he  came  to 
Canada  and  commenced  his  work  at  Prescott,  where  he  had  to 
teach  school  to  eke  out  a  living.  The  Rev.  William  Smart,  who 
preached  his  funeral  sermon,  tells  how  laboriously  he  cultivated  , 
his  large  field  of  labour.  Dr.  Boyd  died  in  1872,  leaving  behind 
him  considerable  property ;  a  stone  dwelling-house  and  several 
valuable  town  lots  ;  all  of  which  he  willed,  after  the  death  of  Mrs. 
Boyd,  to  the  Church,  and  when  Mrs.  Boyd  died  in  1876,  the  pro- 
perty was  duly  conveyed. 

The  first  settled  Presbyterian  minister  in  Toronto  was  an 
Irishman,  the  Rev.  James  Harris,  who  came  to  Canada  in 
1820.  He  was  also  the  first  secretary  to  the  Bible  Society. 
Since  he  commenced  to  labour  here,  Presbyterian  ism  has,  like 
everything  else  made  great  progress.  He  lived  to  see  fields 
wilderness  when  he  first  saw  them,  green  with  rich  pastures,  and 
gold  with  yellowing  harvests.  When  a  young  man  of  tliirty,  in 
1823,  he  administered  the  Communion  on  the  second  Sabbath  of 
September,  Toronto  was  "  muddy  York,"  Knox's  Church  was  a 
humble  building.  The  congregation,  which  is  now  one  of  the 
largest  an<l  wealthiest  in  Ontario,  numbered  only  twenty-eight 
After  long  years  of  usefulness,  he  passed  away  amid  universal 
respect.  Not  without  sincere  sighs,  and  a  starting  tear,  wa ,  the 
"good  gray  head  "  missed  from  our  sti ts. 

Among  the  Irish  Presb}  terian  missionaries  the  Rev.  Thomas 
McPherson  and  the  Re\  David  Evans,  D.D.,  should  be  mentioned; 
while  in  the  field  of  i>enevolence,  the  Rev.  William  King,  who 
founded  in  1849  the  Buxton  Mission  and  Elgin  Settlement, 
Canada  West,  takes  an  enunent  position.  Wei-e  then'  space  I 
should    dwell   on    the   Rev.    William  Moore,   of   Ottawa.      Mr, 


»wpi 


DR.   JOHN   GARDNER   ROBB. 


G.33 


Moore's  influence  in  Ottawa,  his  manly  gentleness,  the  church  ho 
has  built,  the  Ladies'  College, — I  can  only  give  a  dim  glimpse  of 
it  all  and  pass  away. 

If  it  should  be  said  : — "  Yes  you  have  given  us  the  gentle  beauty 
of  Harris'  piety,  you  have  given  us  the  pioneer  zeal  of  Dr.  Boyd ; 
but  the  Presbyterian  Church  has  to  go  out  of  Ireland  for  solid 
attainments  and  strong  embracement  of  the  severe  symmetry  of 
the  Calvinistic  theology."  Not  at  all.  The  strongest  man,  the 
most  thoroughly  Presbyterian  man  at  the  present  moment  in 
Canada  is  an  Irishman.  "O  yes,"  says  some  one,  "narrow  in 
culture,  he  without  difficulty  looks  on  the  frowning  lineaments  of 
a  dark  theology."  By  no  means.  He  is  perhaps  the  most  highly 
cultivated  man  in  the  Canadian  Presbyterian  Church.  And  who 
is  the  man  for  whom  Canada  is  thus  indebted  to  Ireland  ? 

Dr.  John  Gardner  Robb  was  born  in  Binfast,  on  the  27th  of  June, 
1S33,  and  was  educated  at  the  Puoyal  Belfast  Academical  Institution 
and  at  th(!  Queen's  (college.  Ho  graduated  in  18/54,  with  honours 
in  English,  having  during  his  academical  career  swept  the  college 
of  some  of  its  most  coveted  prizes. 

He  took  the  science  scholarship  of  the  first  year  and  won  a 
general  prize,  and  in  mathematics  a  class  prize.  In  his  second 
year  he  also  took  the  science  scholarship,  the  general  prize,  and  in 
logic  the  class  prize  and  first  place;  in  his  third  year  the  science 
scholarship,  general  prize  and  first  place,  cIphs  prize  in  metaphysics 
and  first  place  and  a  class  prize  in  natural  philosojtliy.  At  this 
time  Dr.  McCosh  was  Professor  of  Logic  and  Mxstaphysics  at  the 
Queen's  College,  Belfast,  and  we  may  feel  certain  he  would 
be  thorough  in  all  his  teac^hing  and  standards.  The  following 
list  of  honours  in  the  year  succeeding  that  in  which  he  took 
his  degree  is  therefore  of  no  mere  formal  significance : — Sen- 
ior scholarship  In  metaphysical  and  economical  sciences;  class 
prize  and  first  place  in  higher  logic;  class  prize  and  first  place 
in  jurispi'udonce ;  class  prize  and  first  place  in  common  and 
criminal  law  ;  class  prize  and  first  place  in  Constitutional,  Colonial 
and  International  Law.  I  venture  to  say  Dr.  Robb  knows  more 
about  th^>  science  of  law  than  many  a  barrister  who  is  making 
twice  his  income. 

Dr.  Robb  pursued  his  theological  studies  in  the  General  Assem- 


- 


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If 


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THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


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bly's  College,  each  year  taking  the  highest  prizes  open  to  compe- 
tition, inchiding  tliat  for  sacred  rhetoric.  He  was  licensed  to 
preach  the  Gospel  by  the  Pn;  d)ytery  of  Belfast,  at  its  meeting  in 
May,  1857.  After  considering  the  invitations  of  several  congre- 
gations, he  accepted  a  call  to  Clogher,  County  Tyrone,  wher**  he 
was  ordained  on  the  24th  June,  1858. 

During  his  ministry  at  Clogher,  Dr.  Rohb  rapidly  rose  to 
popularity,  not  only  among  the  congregations  of  tlie  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Ireland,  but  in  the  courts  of  the  Church.  He  was  on  its 
most  important  committees,  and  more  perhaps  than  any  minister 
of  his  standing,  wielded  an  influence  in  the  General  Assembly. 
His  course  in  public  matters  was  always  character'zed  by  an 
honest  but  firiri  maintenance  of  what  he  en  phatically  calls  "Scrip- 
tural Christianity."  He  took  a  very  prominent  part  in  several 
discussions — notably  those  on  Education,  the  Irish  Church  Act, 
and  Instrumental  Music  in  the  worship  of  God.  His  speeches  on 
all  these  questions  were  able,  logical,  and  so  far  at.  the  policy  of  the 
Assembly  was  concerned — successful.  In  1863,  he  married  Martha, 
third  daughter  of  the  Rev.  John  Hanna,  his  predecessor  in  the 
pastorate  of  Clogher. 

Resisting  frecjuent  solicitations  to  charges  in  different  sections  of 
the  Church,  Dr.  Robb,  in  1874,  accepted  a  call  from  the  congrega- 
tion of  Cookv's  Church,  Toronto,  and  was  installed  as  minister  of 
that  chu7ch  in  the  month  of  May  in  that  year.  Since  his  settlement 
in  Canada,  he  has  become  widely  known  tis  an  able  champion  of 
Evangelical  Protestantism. 

His  speeches  and  addresses  from  time  to  time  will  be  familiar 
to  some  of  our  readers  He  received  his  doctor's  degree  in  187G. 
It  co'ild  add  nothing  to  the  weight  of  a  man  whose  career  as  p 
pastor  and  in  the  pulpit  has  borne  out  the  promise  of  the  charac- 
ter and  indiistry  displayed,  and  the  solid  scholarship  accpiired  in 
his  college  days. 

At  the  Pan-Piesbyterian  Synod,  the  honours  of  oratory  seem 
to  have  been  borne  away  lt)y  an  Irishman  and  a  Switzer.  The 
following  remarks  are  from  an  English  papej  : — "  It  is  not  the 
Englishman,  Scotchman,  nor  Irishman  who  has  walked  off  with 
the  honours  of  oratory  at  the  j^reat  Pan-Presbyterian  Council  at 
Edinburgh,  but  the  American  and  the  Frenchman,     Out  of  the 


IMtt 


THE   PALM   OF   ELOQUENCE. 


635 


three  hundred  men  who  composed  that  remarkable  body,  the  one 
who  quickest  commanded  attention  is  said  to  be  Dr.  Stuart  Rob- 
inson, of  Louisville,  Kentucky.  Whenever  he  rose  to  speak,  you 
could  hear  a  pin  fall ;  then  presently  there  was  such  an  ebullition 
of  applause  or  such  a  roar  of  lau^^fhter  that  you  could  hardly  lioar 
what  the  speaker  said.  Dr.  Hall,  Dr.  Adams,  and  Dr.  Paxton  of 
New  York  had  their  admirers,  who  pronounced  them  the  most 
eloquent  men  living.  But  the  professors  and  teachers,  whether 
Scotch  or  American  were  rather  ini^lined  to  admire  the  passionate 
eloquence  of  the  French,  and  the  finest  impression  was  made  by 
Dr.  Godet,  of  Ncuchatel,  long  known  for  his  commentaries  on  St. 
Luke  and  St.  Joiin."  Now  Dr.  Stuart  Robinson  is  not  an  Amer- 
ican, but  an  Irishman,  from  Strabanc,  County  Tyrone.  He  is 
well  known  in  Toronto,  for  he  was  among  the  refugees  in  (]!anada 
during  the  American  war.  He  preached  at  Knox  Church,  but 
some  of  his  remarks  were  interpreted  as  advocating  slavery,  and 
the  Olobe  attacked  him.  For  some  months  he  was  silent  in  con- 
sequence. Ultimately,  a  room  in  the  Mechanics'  Institute  was 
taken  for  him,  and  there  he  preached  until  he,  at  the  close  of  the 
war,  returned  to  his  old  charge  at  Louisville.  He  held  on  to  his 
property,  and  is  now  a  wealthy  man,  the  minister  of  the  largest 
an<l  most  influ(!ntial  church  in  the  South. 

We  Jiave  already  seen  what  Ireland  has  done  in  supplying 
priests  to  the  Catholic  Church.  In  fact,  all  the;  energy  of  that 
church  in  Upper  Canada  is  due  to  Irishmen  of  a  type  already 
given,  and  many  more  examples  of  which  might  be  supplied. 

In  Ontario  the  mo^3t  prominent  Roman  Catholic  Divine  is  Arch 
bishop  Lynch,  who  was  born  near  (Clones,  Coun^v  Monaghan,  in 
the  Diocese  of  Clogher.  Having  been  educated  lor  the  Church 
end  ordained,  he  manifested  a  predilection  for  missionary  labour, 
and  having  worked  in  Texas  among  Spaniards,  0«;i  inans.and  Irish- 
men living  in  a  semi- civilized  condition,  having  visited  Pans  and 
Rome  on  special  missions,  having,  moreover,  founded  a  House  of 
his  Order  in  Niagara,  he,  in  1859,  was  appointed  Bishop  in  parti- 
bus  and  coadjutor  to  Monseigneur  de  (Jharbonol,  Bishop  of  Toronto, 
whom  h»,  succeeded  in  the  following  year,  In  1862  he  again  visited 
Rome  to  be  present  at  the  ( Janonization  of  the  Martyrs.  He  now 
became  "  Prelate  Assistant  of  the  Pontifical  Throne."     He  assisted 


! 


1- 


686 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


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III 

It! 


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at  the  Vatican  Council,  was  appointed  one  of  the  Consultcirs  of 
Foreign  Missions,  and  made  a  speech  in  support  of  Papal  Infalli- 
bility. In  1870,  when  the  ecclesiastical  Province  of  Quebec  was 
divided,  and  Toronto  erected  into  the  Metropolitan  See  of  ITpper 
Canada,  he  was  made  Archbishop,  in  which  capacity  he  took  his 
seat  in  the  (Ecumenical  Council.  Great  progress  has  been  made 
in  churches,  schools,  and  convents  under  his  rule.  He  pays  sjjecial 
attention  to  the  young,  and  seeks,  by  pledging  them  to  total  ab- 
stinence until  their  majority,  to  guard  them  from  the  warping 
temptations  which  assail  green  humanity. 

The  Archbisho})  deserves  the  greatest  credit  for  his  letters, 
which  necessarily  appeal  to  public  reason  and  stimulate  reflection. 
"  In  politics,"  he  wrote,  in  June,  1873.  "  we  must  read  the  jour- 
nals in  favour  of  both  parties  to  judge  fairly  of  the  true  state  of 
questions.  In  courts  of  law  the  same  course  is  followed  ;  shall 
not  a  similar  fairness  be  manifested  in  religious  matters  ?  " 

When  we  think  of  the  Roman  Catholic  prelates  outside  of  On- 
tario, the  first  man  whose  name  rises  to  the  lips  is  Archlnshop 
Connn]]y,  who  placed  Fenianism  in  its  true  light  of  sinister  folly 
and  mad  criminahty,  and  who  had  no  small  share  in  the 
political  work  which  led  to  Confederation.  He  belonged  to  that 
great  class  of  prelates  who  have  been  not  merely  churchmen* 
but  also  sagacious,  far-seeing  politicians  and  large-hearted  men, 
with  admiration  for  all  that  is  good,  and  a  divine  superiority  to 
the  littleness  which  thinks  everybody  else  wrong,  not  reflecting 
that  the  best  and  brightest  of  us  can  see  only  in  part,  and  must, 
therefore,  be  imperfect  in  all  we  do,  and  think,  and  aim  at.  There 
have  been  amongst  us  other  prelates  who  might  claim  the  preced- 
en'^e  which  death  gives — such  as  Bishop  Hogan,  of  Kingstoii,  but 
none  so  great  as  Connolly. 

Born,  in  1814,  in  that  cradle  of  great  men,  Coik,  he  was  edu- 
cated at  Rome,  where  he  became  a  member  of  the  Capuchin  Order  • 
EA'^en  in  his  novitiate  his  powers  attracted  attention.  He  was 
very  meditative .  In  the  midst  of  old  olive  and  laurel  trees  be 
used  for  hours  to  pace  a  terrace  at  Frescati.  Frescati  is  situated 
on  the  declivity  of  a  hill  about  twelve  miles  from  Rome,  which, 
with  the  looming  dome  of  St.  Peter's,  is  seen  below  in  the  far  dis- 
tance in  all  its  magniticence  of  mystery,  and  might  and  mt)um- 


ARCHBISHOP  CONNOLLY. 


637 


ing ;  the  Eternal  City  ;  the  Niobe  of  Nations ;  a  wilderness  of 
churches,  vaults,  catacombs  ;  the  theatre  of  the  gayest  carnival ; 
the  grave  of  so  tragic  and  splendid  a  past.  Can  you  not  imagine 
how  the  young  novice  dreamed  and  mused  as  he  paced  the 
terrace  amid  the  olive  trees,  and  in  the  bright  morning  and  deep- 
glowing  evening  cast  his  eye  towards  the  City,  over  which  the 
breath  of  time  has  swept  like  her  own  tramontana  ? 

His  studies  finished,  he  went  to  Lyons,  where  he  w^as  or- 
dained priest.  His  first  ministry  was  in  Dublin,  where  he  remained 
four  years.  In  1842,  he,  in  the  capacity  of  secretary,  accompanied 
the  late  Archbishop  Walsh,  to  Halifax.  In  1845,  he  was  appointed 
Administrator  of  Catholic  affairs  in  Halifax,  and  Vicar-General  of 
the  Diocese.  So  ably  did  he  acquit  himself;  with  such  untiring  la- 
bours ;  with  so  much  of  spiritual  andtemp»oral  service  to  the  poor  ; 
with  so  much  loving  care  for  immigrants — even  when  suffering  from 
malignant  disease — that  inl852the  Pope  constituted  him  Bishop  of 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  in  succession  to  Bishop  Dollard.  When 
leaving  Halifax  for  New  Brunswick,  he  was  presented  with  a 
service  of  plate,  and  an  address  in  which  a  well-earned  tribute  was 
paid  to  his  fearless  zeal.  In  replying  to  this  address,  the  young 
prelate,  for  he  was  only  thirty-eight,  spoke  in  the  true  spirit  of 
self-sacrifice  :  "The  right  of  self-preservation,  under  such  circum- 
stances, was,"  he  said,  "foresworn  in  the  very  act  of  a£suming  the 
ministry  of  that  first  High  Priest  who  laid  down  His  liir  for  His 
flock,  and  who,  by  example  as  by  word,  had  proclaimed  the  uni- 
versal law  that  every  good  shepherd  must  do  the  same." 

He  spent  seven  years  as  Bishop  of  St.  John,  where  he  was  univer- 
sally popular,  beloved  alike  by  priest  and  people.  In  1859,  on  the 
death  of  Archbishop  Walsh,  Connolly  was  appointed  his  successor. 
In  Halifax,  he  rendered  service  which  will  never  be  forgotten. 
He  entered  with  zeal  and  energy  into  every  work  designed  to 
promote  the  spiritual  or  temporal  welfare  of  the  people  under  his 
care.  But  such  qualities  as  his  excite  admiration,  and  inspire 
esteem  in  all  breasts.  Firmly  attached  to  his  faith,  he  was  liberal- 
minded  and  tolerant  towards  those  who  difl^ered  from  him.  The 
ill-feeling  and  bitterness,  so  often  produced  by  unwise  zeal,  had  no 
counterpart  in  Halifax.  Protestants  as  well  as  Catholics  were 
welcome  to  his  liome  and    hospitality.     "  His^  aim,"  apparently, 


M 
W 


flam 


638 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN    CANADA. 


wrote  one  of  the  papers*  iiniiiodiatoly  after  his  death,  "  was  to 
promote  the  most  friendly  feeling  between  the  Catholics  and  Pro- 
testants of  the  city,  and  to  his  example  and  efforts,  no  doubt,  i» 
largcily  due  the  Iiarmony  tliat  exists  between  tht;  two  bodies  in 
Halifax."  How  true  this  was,  was  made  more  abundantly  plain 
by  a  letter  addressed  on  July  28th,  187G,  to  one  of  the  papers,  by 
a  Presbyterian  minister .•!" 

Among  his  (earliest  cares,  as  Archbishop  of  Halifax,  was  the  edu- 
cation of  his  people.  Schools,  convents  and  academies  rose  around. 
He  had  the  eye  of  an  architect,  and  the  Academy  at  Mount  St. 
Vincent ;  the  Orphanage,  at  St.  Joseph's,  in  Nova  Scotia  ;  the  Ca- 
thedral, Academies,  and  Orphanage,  at  St.  John,  are  enduring 
monuments  of  his  energy  and  aims.  But  the  greatest  monument 
of  all  is  his  Cathedral  at  Halifax,  one  of  the  most  stupendous 
works  of  the  present  day.  The  grand  front  is  magnificent  beyond 
description  ;  the  amount  of  money  raised,  large  beyond  precedent. 
Archbishop  Connolly  worked  at  this  with  an  energy  which  filled 
on-lookers  with  amazement.  If  any  regrets  troubled  his  last 
moments,  they  must  have  had  reference  to  the  fact  that  ho  was 
leaving  this  structure  unfinished. 

A  born  leader  of  men  he  did  not  conceal  his  predilections,  and 
was  the  great  means  of  getting  the  (Jatholics  to  work  with  Dr. 
Tupper.  The  champion  of  Confederation,  he  wrote  and  spoke  in 
its  favour.  What  just  views  he  took  on  Fenianism  in  its  relation 
to  the  Catholics  of  this  country  is  embodied  in  a  letter  written  to 
one  of  the  ablest  Lieutenant-Governors  who  have  distinguished 
themselves  in  British  North  America.  In  his  friendship  for 
D'Arcy  McUee,  there  was  as  much  of  political  sympathy  as  of 
the  kindred  impulse  of  genius.  Fond  of  humour,  he  was  himself 
humorous,  and  part  of  his  character  was  written  in  his  full  habit, 
his  florid  complexion,  his  round  thoroughly  Irish  face.  He  had 
the  ready  sympathy  which  can  rise  to  new  exigencies.  "  I  feel," 
said  the  most  distinguished  Presbyterian  clergyman  in  the  Lower 
Provinces,  on  the  morrow  of  his  death,  "  as  if  I  had  not  only  lost 
a  friend,  but,  as  if  Canada  had  lost  a  patriot :  for  in  all  his  big- 


h 

a 


*  Morning  Chronicle,  July  29th,  187o. 

t  The  Rev.  Geo.  M,  Grant,  well  known  in  literature  as  the  author  of  "  Ocean  to 
Ocean." 


4\ 


DEATH   OF   AHOHBISHOP   CONNOLLY. 


C3» 


hoartcd  Irish  fa.shion  ho  was  ever  at  hop.rt  and  in  mind  and  deed 
a  true  (yanadian." 

At  the  Vatican  Council  he  won  a  worhl-wide  fame,  and  put  on 
record  his  independence  of  thought,  and  it  may  or  may  not  prove 
hiH  soundnesH  of  judj^ment.  Ho  was  opposed  to  the  declaration 
of  the  Dogma.  But  after  the  Council  had  defined  it  lie  accepted 
it  with  a  logical  consistency  which  was  true  to  his  intellect,  and  a 
frankness  which  was  in  keeping  with  his  geniality. 

Intellectually  robust,  his  talents  for  theology  and  for  public 
affairs,  for  the  politics  of  religion  and  the  politics  of  the  world 
were  very  great.   He  had  been  a  wide  reader.    Literature,  Patristic 
learning,  Biblical  criticisms,  nothing  came  amiss  to  him.     He  was 
an  orator  of  the  most  effective  of  all  types,  the  conversational 
and  familiar,  and  his  homely  illustrations  went  right  to  men's 
business  and  bosoms.     Fluent,  clear  and  earnest,  sometimes  even 
vehement,  he  en  rried  with  him  conviction  with  the  ease  and  force  of 
stream  or  wind.  He  was  what  is  known  in  the  Catholic  Church  as 
a  "  favourite  confessor."    He  was  kind  to  his  priests.   He  wa'.  kind 
to  all,  though  sometimes  he  lapsed  into  impulsive  severities.  A  phy- 
sician, a  consoler,  an  attendant  even,  to  those  who  were  sick  and 
under  his  charge,  it  was  to  him  a  keen  pleasure  to  delight  and  sur- 
prise an  invalid  with  delicacies,  to  smooth  the  pillow  of  a  dying 
religious,  to  devote  an  evening  to  amusing  those  whose  duties 
were  relieved  by  few  amusements.  He  died  in  the  midst  of  his  priests 
and  the  sisters  he  had  educated,  while  round  the  glebe  the  people 
gathered  in  thousands  in  awful  suspense  and  under  the  fascination 
of  death  for  the  Celtic  imagination,   Just  as  the  city  clock  told  the 
hour  of  midnight  the  spirit  of  the  great  prelate  passed  away  in 
that  spacious  apartment  whither  he  had  been  removed  for  air^ 
where  for  nigh  on  twenty  years  his  palatial  hospitality  had  been 
extended  to  all  that  was  brightest  and  best  in  colonial  society,, 
where  he  welcomed  the  eldest  son  of  his  sovereign,  where  the 
young  wifimbers  of  his  congregation  were  wont  to  feast  in  the  light 
of  his  bfaevolent    smiles,  which — now  pallid  with  gloom  and 
overshadowed  by  death — a  scene  of  prostrate  auns  and  praying 
priests — was  associated  with  gladdening  wine,  the  easy,  well-bred 
conversation  of  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  the  stories  of  Sir  John 
Macdonald,  and  the  wit  of  McGee. 


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THE   IRISHMAN  IN   CANADA. 


ii 


He  bad  for  his  health,  during  the  previous  winter,  visited  Ber- 
muda and  the  West  Indies.  He  returned  to  Halifax  in  March. 
His  friends  noticed  he  was  not  as  vigorous  as  he  used  to  be.  On 
Sunday  the  23rd  he  complained  of  chills  and  called  in  medical  aid. 
On  the  following  Monday  he  remained  in  the  Glebe  House.  On 
Tuesday,  believing  he  was  again  himself,  he  drove  to  his  country 
residence.  That  night  he  was  restless  and  had  an  attack  of  vomit- 
ing. On  Wednesday  morning,  so  early  as  5  o'clock,  he  drove  to 
town  and  again  sent  for  the  doctor.  By  two  in  the  afternoon 
symptoms  of  delirium  appeared  and  his  case  was  pronounced  to 
be  congestion  of  the  brain.  At  4  o'clock  he  was  unconscious  and 
unconscious  he  remained  until  death. 

The  bell  of  St.  Mary's  tolled  over  the  midnight  city  and  apprised 
his  weeping  people  round  the  Glebe  and  his  friends  throughout 
Halifax,  that  the  end  had  come.  The  body  having  lain  in  state, 
suitable  obsequies  attended  his  burial  on  the  last  day  of  July, 
1876. 

Early  in  the  summer  of  this  year  his  successor  was  (sonsecrated 
amid  imposing  ceremonies.  In  1840,  when  a  vary  young  man, 
Archbishop  Hannan  arrived  in  Halifax  from  Ireland  and  was  ap- 
pointed teacher  in  St.  Mary's  College,  recently  established  by  Dean 
O'Brien.  In  1845  he  was  ordained  to  the  priesthood.  For  over 
thirty  years  his  course  in  the  diocese  of  Halifax  has  been  one 
of  untiring  labour.  His  work  was  hard  and  faithful,  but  not 
calculated  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  outside  world.  T  wenty- 
three  years  ago  he  founded  a  Society  of  St.  Vincent  do  Paul  in 
Halifax,  and  has  ever  since  superintended  it  with  vigilance  and 
judgment.  As  Vicar-General,  he  took  an  active  and  intelligent 
interest  in  the  cause  of  education.  Though  an  advocate  of  de- 
nomin-^.tional  education,  he  made  the  most  of  the  general  system. 
As  a  school  commissioner  he  was  universally  esteemed.  When  he 
retired  both  Protestants  and  Catholics  united  in  presenting  him 
with  an  address  expressing  their  regret  at  his  resignation  and  grati- 
tud.y  for  his  invariable  kindness  and  readiness  to  oblige  all,  irre- 
spective of  religion  and  nationality.  It  will  be  seen  he  has  those 
qualities  which  fit  him  for  great  place.  "  Dr.  Hannan's  mind," 
says  one  who  can  speak  authority  "  is  of  a  different  stamp  and 
character  from  that  of  his  illustrious  predecessor — not  different  in 


amsix-nm  '■■«•;.(.- 


BISHOP  WALSH. 

degree  but  in  mould.  Archbishop  Connolly  was  emotional  and 
impetuous,  fervid  and  eloquent  to  a  degree,  with  clear  head  and 
a  warm  Irish  heart,  which  sometimes  carried  him  away.  Dr. 
Hannan,  on  the  other  hancl,  is  calm  and  equable,  with  a  judgment 
that  is  naturally  sound  and  solid,  a  temper  not  easily  ruffled,  and 
a  sagacity  but  seldom  at  fault." 

All  the  bishops  ox  the  Ecclesiastical  Province  joined  in  signing 
the  recommendation  to  the  Pope  for  his  appointment.  He  is  still 
in  the  fresh  autumn  of  life. 

The  Bishop  of  Sandwich,  the  Right  Reverend  John  Walsh,  D.D., 
was  born  in  the  parish  of  Mountcoin,  Kilkenny,  on  the  24th  May 
1830.  From  his  earliest  years  he  felt  drawn  towards  the  ministry. 
After  a  preliminary  course  of  science  and  classics  he  entered  St. 
John's  College,  Waterford,  where  he  studied  philosophy  and  a 
portion  of  his  theology  with  great  success.  In  1852,  carrying  out 
his  intention  of  serving  God  on  a  foreign  mission,  he  came  to 
Canada  where  he  entered  the  Seminary  of  St.  Sulpice,  and  here, 
together  with  the  late  Father  Synnott,  Father  Hobin,  and  several 
other  ecclesiastics  of  Irish  birth,  finished  his  divinity  course  with 
great  credit.  On  the  Ist  of  November,  1854,  he  was  ordained 
priest  by  Bishop  de  Charbonnel.  Brock  was  his  first  mission. 
In  1857  he  was  appointed  to  the  pastoral  charge  of  St.  Mary's, 
Toronto.  After  the  consecration  of  Bishop  Lynch,  he  was  ap- 
pointed Rector  of  the  Cathedral.  Bishop  Walsh,  as  pastor  of  St. 
Mary's,  was  greatly  esteemed.  He  has  the  reputation  among  the 
clergy  of  being  a  sound  and  deeply  read  theologian,  well  veised 
in  the  Scripture  and  canon  law.  He  is,  it  is  said,  an  eloquent 
preacher,  and  well  read  in  general  literature.  Amiable,  charitable, 
polished  in  manners  he  possesses  much  fone  and  decision  of 
character.  When  he  became  bishop  the  diocese  was  encumbered 
with  an  v^normous  debt,  ""very  cent  has  been  paid.  Twenty- 
eight  churches  and  seventeen  presbyteries  have  been  built ;  three 
convents  ;  an  orphanage  ;  an  episcopal  palace;  and  no  debt  ineur- 
.od.  Something  less  than  a  year  ago  he  visited  Rome.  In  March 
he  returned  and  continues  his  energetic  labours  amongst  a  people 
by  whom  they  are  thoroughly  appreciated.  The  Right  Reverend 
prelate  resic'es  in  London,  Canada  West. 

Bishop  Crinnon,  of  Hamilton,  is  an  able  and  liberal-minded  man. 


W 

I: 


642 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN    CANADA. 


tiff 


One  of  the  most  remarkable  men  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
in  Canada  is  the  Reverend  Father  Stafford,  of  Lindsay,  who  in 
the  best  spot  in  the  country  has  erected  a  convent  which  is  a 
splendid  piece  of  architecture.  He  was  bom  on  the  Ist  of  March, 
1832,  in  Perth.  He  went  to  school  at  Drummond  until  the  age 
of  thirteen ;  at  Perth  for  the  next  three  years ;  then  to  Chambly 
whence  he  was  removed  to  Ste.  Th^rese  College  where  he  spent 
six  years  and  wher^^  he  finished  his  arts  course.  He  afterwards 
studied  theology  at  Regiopolis  for  four  years  under  the  late  Vicar- 
General  McDonell.  During  these  four  years  he  attended  the  Pe- 
nitentiary, where  his  attention  was  first  called  to  the  evils  result- 
ing from  the  use  of  intoxicants.  He  was  ordained  in  the  summer  of 
1858,  and  in  the  autumn  was  appointed  Director  of  Regiopolis  and 
Teacher  of  Logic  and  Philosophy. 

His  health  failing  he  was  sent  to  Cuba,  but  finding  Cuba  too 
hot,  he  spent  the  winter  in  South  Carolina  where  he  was  arrested 
for  speaking  against  the  indecencies  practised  at  an  auction  of 
slaves.  He  was,  however, — Civis  Momanvasum — immediately  re- 
leased, on  telling  the  authorities  he  was  a  British  subject.  He  visited 
Ireland  in  1859.  The  relations  between  the  different  classes  in  Ire- 
land he  found  it  hard  to  understand.  The  airs  of  the  "squireens" 
he  could  not  easily  tolerate.  Two  men  assured  him  that  they 
thought  he  was  a  gentleman  when  they  saw  him  speaking,  with 
his  hat  on,  to  Mr.  Derby.  He  came  back  to  this  country  well 
pleased  with  its  social  condition.  "  The  equality,"  he  says, '  in  this 
country  is  better  than  the  quality  in  Ireland.  We  are  more  as  God 
made  us."  But  the  Irish  squire  would  think  the  equality  in  this 
country  the  very  child  of  hell.  Such  is  the  power  of  education. 
The  English  squire's  ai  3  would  be  equally  offensive  to  a  man  ac- 
customed to  our  free  and  easy  manners.  There  may  be  a  little  more 
iniperiousness  in  the  Irish  gentleman's  manner,  arising  from  the 
fact  that  there  is  not  a  family  of  Irish  gentry  one  or  more  of 
whose  members  have  not  done  something  great.  At  their  doors 
there  are  numerous  sins.  But  they  have  not  been  drones.  They 
have  not  been  careful  of  their  lives.  The  most  dreadful  oppres- 
sions of  the  Irish  tenant  have  not  come  from  them.  Even  some 
of  their  worst  faults,  as  for  instance,  their  love  of  duelling,  were 
virtues  run  to  seed. 


FATHER  STAFFORD.      ROBERTSON.      HODGINS. 


G4a 


From  Ireland  Mr.  Stafford  went  to  England,  and  thence  to 
France.  On  his  return  to  Canada  he  resumed  his  position  in 
Regiopolis  College.  He  afterwards  spent  seven  years  on  Wolf 
Island  where  he  succeeded  Father  Folej  vv^ho  had  established  a 
Total  Abstinence  Society  there.  In  May,  18G8,  he  went  to  Lind- 
say. Amongst  the  people  of  Victoria  he  has  done  a  great  work  as 
a  temperance  or  rather  teetotal  propagandist,  and  as  a  social  force 
is  probably  without  an  equal  on  this  continent. 

There  are  at  least  six  or  seven  hundred  clergymen  of  all  denomi- 
nations who  are  entitled  by  their  talent  and  devotion  to  a  place 
here.  But  happily  they  belong  to  a  class  who  look  for  apprecia- 
tion and  reward  not  to  the  types  of  time  or  the  perishable  trum- 
pet of  fame,  but 

"  To  where  beyond  these  ToiceB  there  is  peace." 

How  much  the  late  Thomas  J.  Robertson,  M.A.,  T.C.D.,  did  for 
the  Model  and  Normal  Schools  and  education  generally,  should 
not  soon  be  forgotten.  Dr.  Hodgius  has  been  pronounced  by  a 
competent  authority  the  most  "  thoroughly  trained  man  in  all 
Canada  for  the  Education  Department,"  and  his  energetic  action 
his  publications  for  schools,  his  reports,  show  that  he  has  been  one 
of  the  greatest  educational  forces  in  the  country. 

It  would  be  invidious  to  select  any  of  the  teachers,  as  we  could 
not  mention  all  who  might  claim  to  be  mentioned.  But  Mr,  John 
A.  MacCabe,  who  in  Nova  S*"  jtia  and  elsewhere  had  already  given 
satisfaction,  has  a  right  to  a   ache  here  as  an  able  educator. 

No  work  commends  itself  so  much  to  the  heart  and  the  head 
alike,  as  that  which  seeks  to  mitigate  affliction  in  any  form.  The 
instruction  of  the  deaf  and  dumb  has  now  happily  been  brought 
to  the  highest  perfection,  and  armies  of  teachers  are  employed  to 
supply  the  defects  with  which,  owing,  no  doubt,  to  vice  and  ignor- 
ance, so  many  are  bom.  Among  these  Professor  McGann  stands 
pre-eminent.     He  is  connected  with  the  Ontario  Institute. 

If  I  could  have  found  space  for  elaborate,  full  inquiry  into  the 
labours  of  Irish  educators  it  would  be  seen  how  much  Canada 
owes  to  them  and  their  brethren,  the  English  and  Scotch.  The 
Scotch  show  a  strong  predilection  for  the  work  of  education — a 
pregnant  hint  for  those  who  think  mainly  of  making  money,  for 


m 


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MM 


644 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


i 


it  explains  Srotch  success.  The  Scotcliman,  more  than  any  man 
in  modern  times,  has  mastered  the  truth  that  knowledge  is  power. 
More  than  our  indebtedness  to  the  schoolmaster  would  have  been 
shown,  had  the  cramping  exigencies  of  one  volume  not  barred  my 
way.  It  would  have  b«.  t,?i  seen  then  that  old  world  ingratitude 
to  the  men  who  stand  at  the  fountain  head  of  the  mighty  stream 
we  others 

"lightly  nkim, 
And  gently  sip  the  dimply  river's  brim," 

exists  here.  Burke  said  he  would  have  the  mitred  front  of  the 
Church  raise  itself  in  the  Parliament  of  the  Empire.  I  would 
have  the  pillars  of  our  educational  system  to  illustrate  and  en- 
lighten our  Senate.  We  do  not  realize  how  trying  is  their  work, 
how  much  they  sacrifice.  "  A  great  school,"  says  Dr.  Arnold  "  is 
very  trying  ;  it  never  can  present  images  of  rest  and  peace  ;  and 
when  the  spring  and  activity  of  youth  are  altogether  unsanctified 
by  anything  pure  and  elevated  in  its  desiv38,  it  becomes  a  spec- 
tacle that  is  dizzying  and  almost  more  morally  distressing,  than 
the  shouts  and  gambols  of  a  set  of  lunatics."  Everything  should 
be  done  to  encourage  the  best  men,  therefore,  not  only  to  enter, 
but  to  remain  iu  this  field  where  the  future  nation  is  moulded 
"  There  is,"  says  Fuller,  '*  scarce  any  profession  in  the  common- 
wealth more  necessary."  He  might  have  made  the  proposition 
unqualified.  When  the  schoolmaster  knows  his  work  and  does 
his  duty,  there  is,  as  Guizot  eloquently  insists,  no  more  glorious 
figure  in  a  free  community  ;  and  when  we  remember  that  neither 
fortune  nor  fame  waits  on  his  laborious  toil ;  toil  not  only  laborious 
but  monotonous ;  often  requited  by  ingratitude ;  nearly  always 
badly  paid  ;  the  unnumbered  sacrifices  the  poor  pedagogue  makes 
for  those  who  profit  by  him  ;  his  patience ;  it  will  perhaps  be 
forced  on  the  dullest  mind  that  the  v.  )rld  which  neglects  so  many 
of  its  benefactors  has  no  where,  than  here,  displayed  thanklessness 
more  dire. 


'?w^^pi!PP|iiPli(PiWli 


CT*r./;'H^ 


EVKNTS   LEADING   TO   CONFEDERATION. 


G4: 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

From  the  departure  of  Mr.  Hincks,  until  the  present  time,  is 
contemporary  history.  In  1856,  the  Premiership  of  Sir  Allan 
MacNab  g  •  /e  place  to  that  of  M.  Tach^,  who  was  ostensibly  first 
in  an  Administration  of  which  Mr.  John  A.  Macdonald  waa  the 
real  head.  Mr.  Macdonald  rehabilitated  the  shattered  popularity 
of  the  Govornm^'ni,  and  in  the  face  of  Mr.  George  Brown's 
vigorous  opposition,  carried  it  safely  through  a  stormy  session. 
Towards  the  close  of  the  ensuing  year,  Mr.  Macdonald  became 
titular  Premier,  and  his  virtual  power  was  stamped  A^ith  the  seal 
of  official  recognii;]on,  i  wholesome  change,  since  tyranny  and 
corruption  are  naturally  incident  to  rais  faindants  and  secret 
poAvors.  The  existing  Parliament  had  been  chosen  under  the  aus- 
pices of  Mr.  Hincks,  and  it  might  well  have  been  thought  by  the 
new  Premier  and  his  friends  that  their  position  and  prospects 
would  be  improved  by  a  general  election.  Parliament  wa»  ac- 
cordingly dissolved,  and  in  a  general  election,  fought  with  more 
tlian  ommon  energy  and  bitterness,  the  Reformers,  from  whose 
ranks  the  Hincksites  disappeared,  won  a  majority  in  Upper 
Canada,  while  the  Conservatives  were  equally  fortunate  in  Lower 
Canada — a  state  of  things  which,  leading  to  the  abandonment  of 
the  double  majority,  raised  an  embarrassing  agitation  for  repre- 
sentation by  population,  produced  a  dead-lock,  and  thus  precipi- 
tated the  natural  and  national  event  of  Confederation. 

A  large  number  of  new  membero  wero  chosen.  Among  them 
were  two  Irishmen  of  genius,  John  Sheridan  Hogan,  and  Thomas 
D'Arcy  McGee. 

John  Sheridan  Hogan  was  born  in  Ireland,  in  1815,  of  a  good 
but  impoverished  family.     He  emigrated  to  Canada  when  he  was 

[AUTH0EITIE8 :— MacMuUen's  "  History  ; "  Hogan'a  "  Eesay  on  Canada  ; "  "  Poems 
of  T.  D.  McGee,  with  Copious  Notes,  »l80  an  Introduction  and  Biographical  Sketch," 
by  Mrs.  J.  Sadlier ;  "Thomas  D'Arcy  McGee:  Sketch  of  his  Life  and  Death  "  by 
Fennings  Taylor  ;  "  Speeches  and  Addreises  on  British  American  Union,"  by  T.  D. 
McGee. 


1 

1 

■1 


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THE  IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


m 


i 


mi 


only  eleven  years  of  age,  and  was  received  into  the  house  of  his 
uncle,  who  resided  in  Toronto.  The  poor  boy  did  not  find  this 
home  congenial  to  him,  and  one  morning  he  left  the  house  with 
a  little  bundle  of  clothos,  all  his  worldly  goods,  to  carve  out  for 
himself  his  ovv  u  independence.  The  young  adventurer  soon  ob- 
tained employment  in  the  office  of  a  newspaper  at  Hamilton.  He 
afterwards  became  foreman,  and  ultimately  gained  a  pla,ce  on  the 
,  editorial  staft*.  He  then  entered  the  office  of  Sir  Allan  MacNab  to 
study  law,  for  which,  however,  he  never  seems  to  have  had  any 
strong  taste.  He  had  a  fine  literary  faculty,  and  a  paper  he  con- 
tributed to  Blackwood's  Magazine,  on  the  political  afiairs  of  Ca- 
nada, at  once  established  his  reputation.  His  name  was  even 
more  prominently  brought  before  the  public,  by  his  arrest  in  the 
United  States  for  being  concerned  in  the  burning  of  the  "  Caro- 
line," while  his  Essay  on  Canada,  which  was  awarded  by  the 
Paris  Exhibition  Committee  the  first  prize,  gave  consistency  to 
his  public  character,  and  bound  him  more  closely  to  the  hearts  of 
the  generous  Canadian  people  who,  feeling  that  he  appreciated  the 
country  and  its  inhabitants,  readily  acknowledged  the  claims 
of  his  brilliant  talents.  He  became  the  editor  in  chief  of  the 
Oolonist  Now,  when  we  introdiire  him  to  the  reader,  he  has  just 
been  elected  for  the  County  of  Grey — a  county  into  which  he 
went  without  money  or  friends,  ilis  parliamentary  career  was  cut 
Hhort  in  December,  1859.  His  real  murderers  remained  undis- 
covered until  1861.  The  accused,  however,  were  successful  in 
proving  an  alibi. 

On  the  Don  Bridge  there  was  a  gang,  called  the  Brook's  Bush 
Gang,  and  Hogan,  who  was  in  the  habit  of  visiting  some  old 
friends  on  the  Kingston  Road,  was  also  accustomed,  as  he  passed 
this  bridge,  to  give  the  gang  something  for  whiskey.  On  this 
fatal  night  he  had  about  him  the  unusual  sum  of  £80.  He  put 
his  hand  into  his  pocket  and  drew  out  the  roll  of  notes.  This 
sealed  his  doom.  One  of  the  gang  put  a  stone  in  a  handkerchief 
and  brained  him.  Having  taken  the  roll  of  notes,  they  thrust  him 
through  a  hole  in  the  bridge. 

But  the  most  remarkable  man  introduced  into  Parliament  at 
this  period  was  one  whose  death  was  to  be  as  tragic  as  that  of  Ho- 
gan, though  the  m-  rderous  motive  equally  ignoble  subjectively, 


'"'"""iiiiMiiiii't 


mtgi 


It: 


THOMAS   d'aRCV   MCQEE. 


M 


was  of  a  character  to  drav  over  the  event  an  Imperial  light,  and 
mingle  with  his  precious  gore  the  tears  of  nations  ;  to  give  him  in 
addition  to  his  many  claims  on  universal  interest — enthusiast, 
poet,  orator,  litterateur,  journalist,  historian,  wit — that  which  in 
the  case  of  eminent  persons  seems  to  appeal  more  powerfully  than 
all  others  to  the  human  heart — the  charm  of  a  fatal  doom  in  an 
unselfish  generous  cause  ;  to  give  him  moreover,  in  the  eye  and 
heart  of  all  Canada,  the  character  of  a  proto-martyr  for  her  na- 
tional life. 

Thomas  D'Arcy  McGee  was  born  at  Carlingford,  County  Louth, 
on  the  13th  of  April,  1825.  His  father,  Mr.  James  McGee,  was  in 
the  Coast  Guard  service.  His  mother,  Dorcas  Catherine,  who  was 
the  daughter  of  Mr.  Morgan,  a  Dublin  bookseller,  was  an  educated 
woman.  His  father  excepted,  all  the  men  of  his  family  on  both 
sides  had  belonged  to  the  United  Irishmen,  and  McGee  in  hia 
childhood  not  only  drank  in  poetry  from  the  grand  and  lovely 
scenery  of  the  Rosstrevor  coast,  but  imbibed  national  aspirations 
which,  at  that  time,  were  only  too  natural  for  those  of  his  class 
and  creed.  When  he  was  eight  years  old  the  family  removed  to 
Wexford,  where  the  elder  McGee  had  received  a  more  lucrative 
appointment  from  that  Government,  his  son  was  to  seek  to  over- 
turn. His  mother,  a  good  musician  and  singer,  loved  the  sweet 
old  Gaelic  melodies  which,  in  the  writings  of  Moore  and  Burns, 
have  added  so  much  imperishable  wealth  to  English  literature  ; 
she  was  also  of  a  devout  spirit ;  and  her  lo-.  e  for  Gaelic  song,  her 
enthusiasm  for  Ireland,  her  religious  ser.ciment,  she  transmitted  to 
her  favourite  child  ;  even  as  Lord  J  ytton's  mother  gave  her  son 
his  passion  for  literature;  Moorf^'^  mother,  her  diminutive  prodigy, 
his  social  grace  and  wit ;  John  Ramsay's  mother,  her  fearless  Scotch 
lad,  his  racy  character  and  pregnant  tongue;  Napoleon's  mother — 
the  old  lioness — her  little  Buonaparte,  his  restless  nature  and  Im- 
perial will;  Macaulay's  mother,  her  at  first  unwilling  schclir,  his  all 
but  unrivalled  yearning  towards  books;  Goethe's  mother,her  mighty 
boy,  his  free  nature  and  lyric  heart.  The  mother  makes  us  most. 
She  holds  all  the  planet  in  her  palm.  Her  shaping  love,  her  tire- 
less cares  are  ever  around  her  offspring.  The  father  engaged  in 
business  or  study  is  comparatively  seldom  seen,  but  the  mother  is 
ever  and  "  all  there."     The  circle  of  her  influence  is  around  her 


ii 


I 


K-fl 


648 


THE   IHISHMAN  IN   CANADA. 


children,  an  abiding  protection,  a  ceaseless  spell.  She  either  dres- 
ses or  superintends  their  dressing.  It  is  with  her  they  take  their 
earliest  walk  It  is  her  voice  soothes  them  in  pain,  her  lips  which 
kiss  their  ready  tears  away.  She  teaches  them  their  manners, 
their  lessons,  their  prayers.  She  tucks  them  in  their  little  cot 
and  sings  them  to  sleep ;  she  is  their  guide,  their  refuge,  their 
play-fellow 

"  Low  bended  to  their  tiny  level," 


Ul' 


and  as  their  minds  px[»and,  she  becomes  their  ideal  of  whatever  is 
tender,  and  beautiful,  and  good.  Thackeray  may  well  say  there  is 
no  woman  like  a  mother.  Her  love  is  not  earth-born  ;  its  noon  is 
calm  as  heaven,  and  warm  and  bright,  but  with  no  sultry  splen- 
dour ;  its  impulses  are  no  winged  wavelets  of  fleeting  seas  ;  its 
flowers  are  not  heatt-stricken  in  their  bloom  ;  and  when  life's  red 
leaves  are  blown  in  later  Autumn's  blast,  they  shed  abroad  on  the 
else  wholly  wintry  scene,  unfading  beauty  and  immortal  fra- 
grance. To  McGee,  though  he  lost  his  mother  early,  her  memory 
was  throughout  a  chequered  life,  a  star  of  guidance  and  inspira- 
tion. 

When  only  seventeen,  he  determined  to  emigrate  to  America, 
and  made  his  way  to  his  aunt  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  whence  he 
went  to  Boston,  just  at  the  time  the  "  Repeal  Movement "  was  at 
its  height  amongst  the  Irish  population  of  that  city.  He  arrived 
in  the  Athens  of  America  in  June,  \1842.  When  the  4th  of  July 
came  round,  hio  imagination  was  fired  by  the  general  jubilation, 
and  he  addressed  thepeople,  enchaining  their  attention  and  stirring 
their  hearts  with  the  skill  of  a  born  orator.  A  day  or  two  after- 
ward, the  young  exile  was  offered  a  situation  on  the  Boston  Pilot, 
of  which,  some  two  yearn  later,  he  became  editor.  His  speeches, 
his  lectures,  his  writing,  attracted  the  attention  of  O'Connell,  and 
he  was  invited  to  take  a  leading  position  on  the  editorial  staff  of 
the  Dublin  Freeman's  Journal.  Three  years  after  he  had  left  his 
home,  an  unknown  adventurous  boy,  he  returned,  having  won  re- 
putation and  fame,  to  be  a  colleague  of  O'Connell.  He  was  acting 
as  Parliamentary  correspondent — an  office  in  which  so  many 
statesmen  have  learned  their  craft — when  the  split  occurred  in  the 
Repeal  party,  and  he  cancelled  his  engagement,  and  hurried  over 


■ 


',1 


MOQEE  ESCAPES  TO   AMERICA. 


649 


to  Dublin  to  assist  Charles  Gavan  Duffy  in  editing  the  Nation. 
The  "  rising  "  in  Ireland  having  signally  failed,  McGJee  crossed 
over  to  Derry  from  Scotland,  whore  he  had  been  enlisting  active 
sympathy  for  the  "  cause."  At  Derry  he  found  his  young  wife — 
"  my  Molly,"  as  he  used  in  after  years  to  call  her — and  after  an 
affecting  parting,  disguised  as  a  priest,  he  sailed  for  the  United 
States.  He  immediately  started  the  New  York  Nation,  a  journal 
which  was  a  great  success,  until  he  attacked  the  Irish  Roman 
Catholic  clergy  for  the  part  they  had  played  in  the  '48  business. 
This  led  to  a  controversy  with  Bishop  Hughes,  from  which  the 
Nation  never  recovered,  and  McOee,  therefore,  determined  to  stop 
the  paper,  and  removed  to  Boston  where  he  commenced  the  pub- 
lication of  the  American  Celt,  which,  during  the  first  two  yc  .-rs, 
breathed  "revolutionary  ardour."  But  about  the  year  1852,  a  re- 
volution took,  place  in  tl  e  mind  of  the  editor,  and  in  that  year  he 
addressed  a  letter  to  a  friend — Thomas  Francis  Meagher — in 
which  he  de-  ounced  "  the  recent  conspiracy  against  the  peace  and 
exi  itence  of  Christendom."  Rarely  has  such  a  summersault  been 
made.  He  declared  that  he  had  discovered  hip  ignorar  e  ;  that 
in  Ireland  they  had  not  studied  principles;  that  he  had  found  oi't 
his  superficialiuy  ;  that  he  could  really  do  no  more  than  sti  ing 
sentences  together ;  that  he  had  to  look  to  it — he  had  a  soul !  The 
production  is  a  irost  singular  one,  in  which  in  trarscendental 
lan^jage,  he  registers  the  fact  that  he  had  cast  the  slough  of  re- 
bellion; that  he  had  passed  from  a  Republican  to  a  Monarchist, 
from  an  ardent  Liberal  to  a  quietist  Conservative,  from  holding 
that  politic?  are  independent  of  the  Caurch,  to  subjecting  to  it 
the  whole  conduct  of  life,  public  and  privato.  Such  a  wholesale 
and  almost  instantaneous  revo]utio'>  was  as  op'in  to  cynical  com- 
ment as  the  conduct  of  a  mourning  bride,  who  suddenly  throws 
off  her  crape  a-nd  looks  of  woe,  to  become  the  gayest  of  3'^oung 
widov  8  ;  and  his  old  friends  of  revolutionary  days  assailed  him 
with  traditional  vehemence  find  congenial  bitterness.  This  ulti- 
mately led  to  his  gladly  accepting  an  invitation  from  leading  Ro- 
man Catholic  I  Isbmen  to  come  to  Canada. 

A  man  of  extraordinary  versatility  and  great  power  of  fitfid, 
hardly  of  sustained  labour — tht  one  gift  wnich  is  indispensable 
to  a  man  determined  not  to  be  the  i>ool  of  others — he  found  time 


'■  ; 


t 


i  I       I 


650 


THE  IRISHMAN   IN   C\NADA. 


while  editing  the  Gelt  to  lecture  and  compose  poems.  All  his  life 
ho  was  writinijf  poetry.  He  was  a  pleasing,  but  not  a  gi-eat  poet ; 
he  had  mastered  the  accomplishment  of  verse ;  the  energy  and 
faculty  divine  was  not  around  him  like  storm,  was  not  in  his 
heart  like  fire ;  and  his  song  is  interesting  mainly  because  in  other 
8i)heres  he  proved  himself  a  groat  nan.  They  display  an  intense 
love  of  country,  and  occasionally  g  eat  felicity,  as  when  he  says  : 

"  All  Europe  shakes  from  shore  to  shore  ; 
The  Jews  bid  for  her  crowns ; 
Democraci/  with  sulUn  roar, 
Affriyhti  her  feudal  town$.  " 

Mr.  Disraeli  had  probably  read  McQee's  poems  before  he  de- 
scribed Ireland  as  surrounded  by  a  melancholy  ocean.  In  the 
first  of  the  "  Three  sonnets  of  St.  Patrick's  Day,"  Ireland,  before 
the  introduction  of  Christianity,  is  beautifully  described  as 

"  Like  Sinful  Eve 
Hidden  amid  the  thickest  Eden  grove, 
Our  island -mother  knew  not  of  her  hope! 
Unfolded  by  the  melanclwly  main, 
A  sea  of  foliage  fiU'd  the  eagle's  eye — 
A  sea  within  e  sea — one  wave-wash'd  wood. 
Save  when  some  breezy  mountain,  bare  and  brown, 
Rose  'mid  the  verdant  desert  to  the  skies  ! " 

The  following  verse  in  "The  Heart's  Resting  Place"  is  not 
unworthy  of  Tennyson,  while  it  shows  his  love  of  country : — 

"  Where'er  I  tum'd,  some  emblem  ntill 

Roused  consciousness  upon  my  track ; 
Some  hill  was  like  an  Irish  hill, 

S<  one  wild  bird's  whistle  call'd  me  back ; 
A  sea-bound  ship  bore  off  my  peace 

Between  its  white,  cold  wings  of  woe ; 
Oh  !  if  I  had  but  wings  like  these. 

Where  my  peace  went  I  too  would  go." 

He  had  great  plans  and  great  ideas.  He  contemplated  an  epic, 
to  be  styled  "  The  Emigrants."  But  people  who  have  to  earn  their 
bread  from  day  to  day  cannot  write  epics,  and  in  one  poem  he 
seems  to  express  disappointment  at  the  reception  he  met  with  in 
the  United  States. 

In  Montreal  he  started  the  New  Era,  and  ranging  himself  in 
opposition,  he  was  returned,  as  we  have  seen,  to  Parliament  for 


FOLEY.      HOaAN.      MO(JEE. 


G51 


one  of  the  Divisions  of  Montreal  at  the  General  Election  in 
1858.  He  was,  from  the  moment  he  entered  the  Houa^, 
stamped  as  the  ablest  speaker  in  it,  though  he  did  not  at 
first  catch  \te  f»ar,  and  he  brought  to  discussion  a  wit  oi  rare  readi- 
ness and  brill  .  ncy,  and  language  rich  with  the  flavour  of  wide 
reading  and  literary  feeling, 

Foley  opposed  the  Government  with  an  'ective  which  was 
described  by  favourable  critics  as  withering.  Hogan,  who  had 
devoted  his  great  literary  talents  to  placing  Mr.  John  A.  Macdon- 
ald,  when  he  was  a  young  politician,  above  the  other  Conservative 
leaders,  a  position  to  which  his  talents  entitled  him,  also  swelled 
the  volume  of  attack  ;  but  undoubtedly  the  .sharpest  and  most 
imperial  wit  now  confronting  Ministers  was  D'Arcy  McGf^V  In 
those  days,  if  we  may  believe  Mr.  Taylor — writing,  however,  as  it 
seems  to  me,  not  from  a  purely  literary  standpoint,  but  from  one 
adopted  as  much  with  an  eye  to  passing  party  considerations  as  to 
that  of  abiding  historical  truth — D'Arcy  McGee  at  first  gave  the 
impression  that  he  would  sacrifice  everything  to  a  laugh,  and  that 
ho  could  speak  but  not  reason.  In  his  first  speech  his  witty  points 
were  calculated  to  do  as  much  harm  to  his  adveisaries  as  the 
fitexner  artillery  of  reason.  One  of  his  darts  has  been  attributed  to 
Hogan.  Mr.  Cayley,  the  Inspector-General,  had  bewa  defeated  in' 
the  Counties  of  Huron  and  Bruce.  One  of  the  electioneering 
cards  he  had  played  was  of  doubtful  taste.  He  presented  to  several 
Orange  Lodges  beautifully  bound  copies  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures. 
McGee,  alluding  to  this,  said  he  perceived  with  that  degree  of 
gratification  a  mere  worldling  might  be  expected  to  feel  in  such 
subjects,  that  the  Inspector-General  had  presented  to  several  as- 
sociations in  the  Counties  of  Huron  and  Bruce  copies  of  the 
Sacred  Scriptures.  The  electors  appeared  to  have  learned  thence 
the  lesson  of  retributive  justice,  for  although  they  accepted  the 
Gospel  they  lejected  the  missionary. 

Though  the  Opposition  was  so  strong  in  Upper  Canada,  Minis- 
ters held  their  seats.  The  question  of  representation  by  popula- 
tion, without  regard  to  the  dividing  line  between  Upper  and  Lower 
Canada,  was  argued,  but  only  to  be  negatived. 

Parliament  had  voted  f  900,000  for  the  erection  of  public  build- 
ings at  such  place  as  Her  Majesty  might  select  for  the  capital.    She 


652 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN  CAJIADA. 


had  fixed  on  Ol  iwa,  where  there  was,  owing  to  the  prudence  of 
Colonel  By,  a  bold  lieadland  reserved  by  the  Crown,  which  offered 
an  advantageous  site.  On  the  28th  July,  a  motion  regretting  that 
Ottawa  had  been  selected  as  the  capital,  was  carried  by  fourteen. 
This  was  a  cf  ^ch  vote  ;  Conservatives  from  Upper  and  Lower 
Canada  voted  for  it ;  but  it  gave  no  ground  for  hoping  for  a  ma- 
jority, as  the  moment  an  alternative  to  Ottawa  was  proposed,  it 
would  alienate  either  Upper  or  Lower  Canada.  Besides,  the  de- 
feated Ministers  were  strengthene;d  by  the  subtle  forces  of  chival- 
rous sympathy,  loyalty,  and  the  undoubted  wisdom  of  the  advice 
on  which  p  young  Queen  had  acted. 

Mr.  Brown  was  written  to  by  the  Governor,  asking  him  to  form 
a  new  Administration.  Mr.  Brown  seems  to  have  required  a 
pledge  respecting  the  dissolution  of  Parliament.  This  the  Gov- 
ernor refused.  He  would,  however,  consent  to  ct  prolongation, 
provided  a  few  bills  of  importance  were  passed  and  suppliea 
voted.  Mr.  Brown  accepted  these  conditions.  His  Cabinet  con- 
tained within  it  three  Irishmen.*  A  vote  of  want  of  confidence 
was  passed  by  both  houses.  Mr.  Brown  demanded  a  dissolution. 
This  demand  was  refused  by  Sir  Edmund  Head.  Mr.  Brown  re- 
signed. The  Cartier-Macdonald  Ministry  was  formed,  in  which 
Mr.  John  Ross,  President  of  the  Council,  represented  the  Irish 
element.  It  was  on  this  occasion  the  famous  "  double  shuffle  '* 
took  place,  of  which  the  Governor  and  the  coup  cry  afterwards 
heard  so  much. 

On  the  9th,  Mr.  Baldwin  died.  It  woulJ  be  hard  to  justify  tV-e 
constituency  that  rejected  him,  and  still  harder  to  excuse  the  re- 
fe'istance  to  his  re-entrance  into  public  life.  Mr.  John  A.Macdonald 
and  John  Sandfield  Macdonald  and  their  friends  met,  with  all  of 
worth  and  learning  in  the  Province,  at  Osgoode  Hall,  to  do  honour 
to  his  remains.  In  him  the  words  of  the  great  Hebrew  bard  and 
prophet  are  exemplified  :  "  The  memory  of  the  just  is  blessed." 

In  the  Governor's  speech,  opening  the  Session  of  1859,  it  was 
stated  tbat  the  union  of  all  British  ISorth  America  had  formed  a 


*  The  Irish  have  an  asterisk.  Upper  Canada  :— Georjr :  Brown ;  James  Morris  ; 
•M.  H.  Foley,  (Postmaster-General) ;  J.  Sandfield  Macdoi..  Id  ;  Oliver  Mowat  ;  *Dr. 
Connor,  Lower  Canada  : — *L.  T.  Drummond ;  A,  A.  Dotiou  ;  M.  Thibodeau  ;  M» 
Lemieux  ;  L  H.  Holton  ;  M.  Laberge. 


CONFEDEBATION.      LORD  MONCK. 


653 


8ubje;'.t  of  correspondence  with  the  Home  Government,  and  that 
it  was  necessary  to  carry  out  the  Statute  and  the  Queen's  deci- 
sion in  respect  of  a  permanent  seat  of  Government.  The  question 
of  Confederation  had  already  enlisted  Mr.  McGee's  enthusiastic 
advocacy. 

Early  in  the  Session  of  1860,  Foley  moved  a  direct  vote  of  want 
of  confidence  in  Ministers.  McGee  bitterly  assailed  them  on  the 
ground  that  they  had  trifled  with  the  Separate  Sciiool  question  in 
regard  to  which  a  vote  of  want  of  confidence  was  moved.  Mr. 
Brown  moved  on  the  8th  of  May,  resolutions  affirming  the  failure 
of  the  Union.  These  resolutions  were  voted  down,  but  the  ques- 
tion was  not  set  at  rest,  and  his  "joint  authority"  scheme  was  ul- 
timately vindicated.  Parliament  was  soon  prorogued,  to  assemble 
again  to  greet  the  Prince  of  Wales.  The  Session  of  1861  passed 
without  anything  calling  for  comment  here,  and  in  the  autumn 
Sir  Edmund  Head  was  succeeded  by  Lord  Mouck. 

The  man  who  had  now  been  appointed  Captain-General  and 
Gk)venior-in-Chief  of  Canada,  and  Governor-General  of  British 
America,  was  born  at  Templemore,  Tipperary,  in  1810,  being  a 
son  of  the  third  Viscount,  by  the  youngest  daughter  of  the  late 
John  Wellington,  Esq.,  of  Killoskehan,  in  the  same  county.  Edu- 
cated at  Trinity  College,  he  was  called  to  the  Irish  Bar  in  1841 . 
He  was  chosen  one  of  the  members  for  Portsmouth,  in  the  Liberal 
interest,  in  1852,  and  re-elected  in  1855,  but  was  defeated  in  1857, 
In  the  spring  of  1861,  he  unsuccessfully  contested  Dudley.  He 
was,  however,  bound  to  get  an  appointment,  as  he  had  been  a  lord 
of  the  Treasury  from  1855  till  1858.  Jn  1866,  he  was  made  a 
peer  of  the  United  Kingdom. 

He  was,  like  other  Irish  governors,  singularly 'successful  in  win- 
ning golden  opinions.  His  rule  extended  ov^er  the  critical  period 
of  the  American  Civil  War.  The  Government  having  been  de- 
feated on  the  Militia  Bill,  resigned,  and  John  Sandfield  Macdonald 
was  entnisted  with  t':e  formation  of  a  Cabinet.  In  his  Cabinet 
were  Mr.  Foley  from  Upper  and  Mr.  McGee  from  Lower  Canada. 
The  new  Ministry  announced  the  restoration  of  the  double  ma- 
jority in  all  matters  locally  affecting  either  sections  of  the  Pro- 
vince as  part  of  their  programme.  As  the  Upper  Canada  section 
of  the  Cabinet,  John  Sandfield  Macdonald,  Adam  Wilson,  James 


i„. 


u 


m  ■ 


m 


J54 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


Morris,  W,  P.  Howland,  Williajii  McJ)ougalJ,  anil  Foley  had  not 
iiisisteil  on  reprosontation  by  population  boin^j^  made  a  Governniont 
question,  they  weie  attacked  in  the  cohunns  of  the  leading-  Reform 
organ,  the  Globe. 

Lord  Palmerston  had  eomimentod  adversely  on  the  defeat  of  the 
Militia  Bill  of  the  Macdonald-Oartier  Governiaent.  England  had 
done  nv,  nuich  to  defend  the  Canadians  as  it  intended  to  do.  Lord 
Monck  echoed  the  warning.  Theine  warnings  stimulated  that 
military  enthusiaBUi,  in  the  direction  of  which  Irishmen  played 
an  important  part. 

In  the  autumn,  a  visit  of  the  Governor  to  Upper  Canada  to  open 
the  Provincial  Exhibition  at  Toronto  added  to  his  growing  popu- 
larity. 

In  1863  the  Ministry  were  defeated  on  a  vote  of  want  of  confi- 
de iCe,  proposed  by  Mr.  John  A.  Macdonald.  The  Prime  Minister 
determined  to  appeal  to  the  country,  and  preparatory  to  doing  so 
reconstructed  his  Cabinet.  From  the  new  Cabinet,  McGee,  Sicotte, 
and  Foley  wei'e  excluded.  These  voted  and  acted  with  the  Opi)o- 
sition,  and  the  onslaught  on  Ministers  for  the  changes  in  the 
Cabinet  and  for  abandoning  the  double  majority,  was  rendered 
more  formidable  by  Foley's  invective  and  McGee's  various  artil- 
lery. 

The  Government  lived  through  the  session  of  1863  only  to  be 
forced  to  resign  early  in  the  following  year,  when  Sir  E.  P.  Tache 
formed  a  Government  which  included  McGee  and  Foley.  A  lead- 
ing feature  in  the  policy  of  the  new  Government  was  to  place  the 
^lilitia  on  a  sound  footing.  Foley,  on  going  back  to  his  constitu- 
ency was  rejected,  and  the  Cabinet,  weakened  by  the  defection  of 
two  of  its  members,  was  beaten  on  an  important  division.  There 
was  a  dead  lock  ;  the  wisdom  of  Mr.  Brown's  policy  was  acknow- 
ledged ;  communications  were  opened  with  that  gentleman,  the 
result  being  the  formation  of  a  Government  in  which  Mr.  Brown 
was  to  have  three  seats  placed  at  his  disposal,  in  a  Coalition  Gov- 
ernment, pledged  to  carry  Confederation. 

Mr.  McGee  had  already  in  and  out  of  the  house  advocated  Con- 
federation, and  to  him  is  due  the  chief  credit  of  having  all  over 
British  North  America,  in  the  Maritime  Provinces  as  well  as  in 
Ontario,  popularized  the  idea.     Among  those  Irishmen,  who,  with 


FENIANISM.      PARLIAMENT  BUILDINGS. 


655 


McQoe,  pleaded  in  P:»,rliament,  for  that  for  which  every  eminent 
poHtician,  with  one  exception,  pleaded,  weio  the  Hon.  J.  C.  Aikens, 
the  Hon  Wm.  McMaster,  the  Hon.  John  lloas,  in  the  Upper  House, 
and  in  the  Lower  Houae,  Mr.  James  O'Halloran  and  many  others. 
Col.  McOivern,  well-known  as  a  succesi-f;ii  merchant,  as  a  railway 
man,  as  a  military  marl,  also  sw(^,lh',d  the  volume  of  eloquence 
advocating  Confederation. 

While  some  Irishmen  were  playing  useful,  and  others  useful 
and  distinguished  parts  in  the  foundation  of  the  Dominion,  mis- 
guided men  of  the  same  nationality,  acting  on  motives  it  i.s  im- 
possible to  understand,  adopting  a  course  which  no  wrongs  in  Ire- 
land could  justify,  aimed  what  was  meant  as  a  deadly  blow  at  a 
young  and  unoffending  nation. 

The  miserable  attempt  of  Fenians  to  disturb  this  country  led 
McQee,  as  it  led  Archbishop  Coimolly,  to  write  and  speak  elo- 
quently in  the  praise  of  our  free  institutions  and  in  denunciation 
of  a  conspiracy,  which,  by  no  single  feature  of  sanity  or  generosity 
could  appeal  either  to  the  judgment  or  the  heart. 

On  the  8th  of  June,  the  very  day  the  Hochelaga  Volunteers 
were  repelling  one  of  the  last  waves  of  a  rowdy  invasion  on  the 
eastern  frontier,  the  new  parliament  buildings  at  Ottawa  were 
opened  to  receive  the  Legislature  of  the  country.  Thtse  build- 
ings have  not  been  incorrectly  described  as  the  finest  buildings  of 
the  kind  on  this  continent,  and  a  correct  taste  would  prefer  them 
to  the  parliament  buildings,  which  rise  amid  the  smoke  of  London 
by  the  darkened  Thames.  This  imposing  structure  was  built  by 
an  Irishman,  the  Hon.  Thomas  McQreevy,  M.P.  for  Quebec  West, 
who  ig  connected  with  several  great  enterprises.  He  was  for 
several  years  a  member  of  the  City  Council,  Quebec,  and  sat  for 
Stadacona  in  the  Legislative  Council,  Quebec,  from  November, 
1867,  until  January,  1874.  He  describes  himself  as  a  Conserva- 
tive, but  perfectly  independent  of  any  Government,  his  policy 
being  what  it  has  ever  been,  to  do  what  he  believes  is  most  for 
the  good  of  the  Dominion. 

During  the  course  of  the  Session,  the  resolutions  necessary  to 
the  Scheme  of  Confederation  were  passed,  and  in  August,  the  last 
parliament  of  United  Canada  rose,  the  Ministry  having  lost  during 
the  year,  Mr.  Brown  in  January,  and  Mr.  Gait  early  in  August. 


iii 


I 


ill', 


1!^ 


.-,. 


»«■ 


«56 


THF  IRISHMAN  IN   CANADA. 


The  jealousy  of  the  Americans  at  seuin^  a  strong  and  united  nation 
established  on  their  frontier  need  not  be  dwelt  on.  Nor  need  we 
speak  of  the  Fenian  trials  at  Toronto,  further  than  to  say  that 
the  law  was  fearlessly  and  justly  administered,  and  that  justice 
was  tempered  with  clemency. 

Early  in  1867,  the  British  North  America  Act  passed  the 
Imperial  Parliament,  while  McQee  was  busy  as  one  of  the  Cana- 
dian Commissioners  to  the  Paris  Exhibition.  From  Paris  he  ad- 
dressed a  remarkable  letter  to  his  constituents,  and  through  them 
to  the  whole  Dominion,  counselling  all  how  a  place  might  be  W3n 
in  the  family  of  States,  which  few  European  nations  had 
attained. 

The  arrangements  for  the  New  Dominion  did  e  )t  include  a  port- 
folio for  D'Arcy  McGee,  who  waived  his  claim  in  order  ti-  make 
room  for  another  Catholic  Irishman,  whose  entrance  into  the 
Cabinet  would  be  welcome  to  Nova  Scotia — the  Hon.  Mr.  Kenny.  Mr. 
Kenny  was  the  only  Irishman  in  the  Cabinet.  It  is  a  noteworthy 
fact  that  the  first  Cabinet  of  the  New  Dominion  did  not  contain 
a  single  man  from  Ontario  or  Quebec,  of  the  blood  of  Baldwin. 

The  election  of  1 867  took  place  during  the  summer,  immediately 
after  the  Privy  Councillors  were  sworn  in.  McGee's  seat  was 
fiercely  contested.  He  represented  a  part  of  Montreal  which  was 
the  seat  of  the  "  local  head  centre  "  of  Fenianism.  Another  Irish 
Catholic,  Mr.  Devlin,  contested  the  seat,  and  eveiy  vile  epithet 
calculated  to  rouse  ignorant  Irish  Catholics  was  hurled  at  McGee, 
He  had,  as  his  manner  was,  gone  right  round  from  denying  the 
existence  o^  Fenianism  in  Montreal,  to  exag^i-erating  the  extent  of 
it,  and  denouncing  it  not  in  andeserved  terms,  but  in  terms  which 
seemed  violent  from  a  mnn  of  his  past  history.  He  won  his  elec- 
tion, but  by  a  majority  which  convin^.ed  him  Ms  power  had  great- 
ly waned.  He  had,  however,  the  consolation  that  if  he  had  lost 
popularity,  he  had  lost  it  sincerely  active  in  enlightening  his  coun- 
trymen. There  is  reason  to  believe  he  had  prior  to  the  election 
been  aware  of  how  much  influence  he  had  sacrificed  to  right  and 
truth,  for  he  had  determined  to  take  an  office  of  some  value  at 
Ottawa,  to  retire  from  politics,  and  in  the  Capital  of  the  Domin- 
ion where  his  voice  had  been  so  often  heard,  near  and  in  the 
magnificent  Library  of  Parliament  Buildings,  to  do  good  literary 


icc- 
3at- 
ost 
un- 
lion 
and 
}  at 
lin- 


LONGING   FOR   FAME. 


667 


work,  and  take  an  additional  bond  of  fame.     Some  yeais  before 
he  had  written  :— 

I  dreamed  a  dreair  when  the  woods  were  green, 

And  my  April  heart  made  an  April  scene, 

In  the  fdr,  far  distant  land  ; 

That  even  I  might  something  do 

That  should  keep  my  memory  for  the  true. 

And  my  name  in,  m  the  spoiler's  hand. 

His  mind  too,  always  religious  as  that  of  a  man  of  poc  tic  tnm  can- 
not fail  to  prove,  though  in  the  darkness  of  unbelief  and  the  fury 
and  storm  of  passion,  he  be  unable  to  see  the  mountains  which 
climb  to  heaven,  and  the  orphaned  heart  dares  not  assert  its  Divine 
filiation.  McGee  had,  of  late  too,  become  decidedly  "  serious  "  ;  the 
shadow  of  impending  doom  was  on  him  ;  and  the  future  froi 
which  his  heart-  took  a  steady  glow  was  bounded  by  no  earthly 
horizon.  Politics  and  public  life,  he  now  said  had  not  been  his 
choice.  He  drifted  into  those  troubled  waters  by  force  of  circum- 
stances. He  longed  for  the  calm  pursuits  of  literature.  Perhap>=. 
sometimes  he  longed  for  quieter  halls  than  even  those  in  which 
in  silence  unbroken  by  the  vulgar  voice  of  man,  we  commune  with 
the  mighty  dead.  There  was  a  day  when  he  yearned  for  the 
long  sleep  and  the  unenvied  home,  when  he  found  no  sympathy 
in  the  States,  and  the  iron  went  into  his  soul.  The  import  of 
the  little  poe?u,  "  Ad  Misericordiam  "  is  unmistakable."* 

He  had  conquered  a  habit  which  was  for  a  long  time  a  spot  (ju 
the  bright  sun  of  his  genius  and  character,  and  completely  ignored 
"  the  swaet  poison  of  misused  wine ;"  a  thing  very  hard  to  do, — 
almost  heroic  for  a  man  wno  possesses  great  social  gifts.  Perhaps 
he  felt  that  wedded  in  youth  to  the  chaste  beauty  of  literature,  lie 
had  squandered  hours  due  to  her  on  less  serene  attractions.  His 
health  wab  not  what  it  was  in  those  days  of  }  outh,  when  men  can 
outwatch  the  stars  and  shake  themselves  free  from  all  associations, 
like  the  sun  breaking  from  the  witholding  arms  of  night — those 
wasted  irrevocable  hours  in  which  men  draw  on  the  future,  and 
project  into  life,even  bef^  re  its  evening,  the  long  persistent  shadows 
of  remorse.     If  the  object  of  his  retiring  from  politics  was  to  give 


*  See  '*  Poems  "  p.  805. 
42 


II 


l^:i 


658 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


more  scope  to  religious  feeling,  who  shall  use  the  word  "premature" 
in  regard  to  the  tragic  close  at  hand  ?  But  if  it  was  that  he  might 
return  with  an  atoning  love  to  the  bosom  of  literature,  if  that 
with  passionate  repentant  devotion  he  migh*^,  undistracted  by  all 
cares,  heap  costlier  offerings  on  her  shrine,  then  his  resolve,  like 
most  human  i  ^olves,  came  "  too  late."  Yet  if  he  could  have 
chosen  a  fate  which  would  be  most  in  accordance  with  his  dearest 
aspirations  it  was  that  which  befell  him.  The  base  flash  of  i\i 
assassin's  fire  did  as  much  for  his  fame  as  the  blaze  of  his  glorious 
wit. 

On  the  St.  Patrick's  Day  of  1868,  he  was  entertained  at  a  ban- 
quet in  Ottawa  city,  and  in  his  speech,  he  dwelt  on  the  necessity 
of  satisfying  the  just  demands  of  the  Irish  people.  That  speech 
was  copied  and  commented  on  throughout  the  empire.  He 
remarked  in  the  course  of  it  that  even  a  "  silent "  Irish- 
man might  do  something  to  serv^e  his  country.  On  the  very  night 
of  his  murder  he  had  on  a  quo  *'on  of  tampering  with  the  Union 
between  Nova  Scoti'i  andCanai^ .,  eulogised  Confederation,  speak- 
ing, as  he  said,  not  as  a  representative  of  any  race,  in  any  Pro- 
vince, but  as  emphatically  a  Cu,nadiaii.  Before  these  words  had 
ceased  to  echo  along  the  corridors  of  the  Parliament  buildings, 
while  smoking  a  cigar  and  enjoying  the  moonlight,  just  as  he  had 
reached  the  door  of  his  temporary  home  he  fell  dead,  shot  by 
a  fellow-countryman  from  behind.  We  Irish  are  a  chivalrous 
people — by  what  fatality  is  it  that  we  have  occasionally  produced 
such  dastards  ?  D'Arcy  McGee  fell  a  martjrr  to  the  interests  of 
Canada,  and  the  magnificent  pomp  of  his  funeral  expressed  the 
sorrow  and  admiration  of  the  country,  a  sorrow  and  admiration 
which  was  felt  by  Scotchmen  and  Englishmen,  by  Frenchmen 
and  Germans — deeply  felt  by  those  of  all  races  bom  on  our  soil. 
The  morning  which  rose  on  the  murderous  act  was  one  of  those 
in  our  history  in  which  the  country  has  appeared  at  its  best.  The 
press  groanod  with  sorrow.  From  all  sides  came  testimonies 
to  the  merits  .  of  the  dead.  In  the  House  of  Commons 
there  was  a  full  attendance  of  members,  and  the  galleries  were 
crowded.  When  the  Speaker  had  taken  the  chair,  Sir  John  A» 
Macdonald  rose  amid  breathless  silence,  and,  manifesting  an  emo- 
tion which  stopped  his  utterance  for  some  time,  proceeded  to  pay 


MURDER  OF   MCQEF. 


659 


his  tribut  to  McOec,  preparatory  to  moving  the  adjournment  of 
the  House.  "  He  who  last  night,  nay  this  morning,  was  with  us, 
whose  voice  is  still  ringing  in  our  ears,  who  charmed  us  with  his 
marvellous  eloquence,  elevated  us  by  his  large  .statesmanship  and 
instructed  us  by  his  wisdom,  his  patriotism,  is  no  more — is  foully 
murdered.  If  ever  a  soldier  who  fell  on  the  field  of  battle  deserved 
well  of  his  country,  Thomas  D'Arcy  McGee  deserved  well  of 
Canada  and  its  people."  Sir  John  A.  Macdonald  proceeded  to  de- 
lineate the  beautiful  character  of  "  our  departed  friend,"  a  man  of 
the  kindest  and  most  generous  impulse,  who  "  might  have  lived  a 
long  and  respected  life  had  he  chosen  the  easy  path  of  popularity 
rather  than  the  stem  one  of  duty."  Mr.  Mackenzie,  in  seconding 
the  motion  dwelt  on  Mr.  McGee's  generous  disposition,  "  character- 
istic of  the  man  and  his  country,"  nor  could  there  in  his  opinion 
be  a  doubt  that  he  had  fallen  a  victim  to  the  noble  and  patriotic 
course  he  had  pursued,  Mr.  Cartier,  Mr.  Chamberlain.Mr.  Anglin, 
Mr.  Chauveau,  Mr.  E.  M.  Macdonald,  Mr.  Stuart  Campbell,  each 
laid  his  garland  on  the  corpse  of  the  murdered  statesman. 

The  history  of  Canada  since  1867  belongs  to  contemporary 
politics. 

In  1869,  Irish  Catholics,  under  the  impression  that  they  were 
not  fairly  dealt  with  in  regard  to  political  'position  and  pa- 
tronage, formed  what  is  known  as  the  "  Catholic  League,"  with 
Mr.  John  O'Donohoe  as  president.  Of  this  League  Mr.  John 
McKeown,  now  of  St.  Catharines,  Captain  Larkin,  of  St.  Catharines, 
Mr.  Jeremiah  Merrick,  of  Toronto,  Mr.  O'Hanly,  of  Ottawa,  the 
Hon.  Mr.  Fraser,  were  leading  spirits.  Mr.  O'Donohoe  who  sat 
for  some  time  for  East  Toronto,  is  a  barrister,  whose  career 
shows  energy  and  ambition.  Mr.  McCrosson  was  also  a  member  of 
the  League,  and  he  has  of  late  started  a  paper  which  is  ably 
written  and  ably  edited — I  allude  to  the  Tribune  of  Toronto — a 
Catholic  journal  pur  sang.  Mr.  McCrosson  comes  from  Strabane, 
County  Tyrone,  and  is  one  of  those  men  whose  business  avocations 
cannot  dull  their  love  of  reading  and  political  speculation.  In  the 
summer  of  1869,  Sir.  Francis  Hincka  returned  to  Canada  and  was 
soon  after  offered  by  Sir.  John  Macdonald  his  old  office  of  Finance 
Minister  which  he  accepted  on  the  9th  Oct.  and  which  he  resigned 
on  the  22nd  Feb.  1873,  eight  months  before  the  Cabinet  resigned. 


I  111 


i.i? 


iH 


r'vwu'i 


mmm^ — 


660 


TH?:   IRISHMAN    IN    CANADA. 


Having  joined  the  Governine.it  he  engaged  both  in  departmental 
and  political  work  during;  the  ensuing  three  years.  "But,"  says 
the  writer  in  the  Dublin  University  Magazine  "  when  the  Parlia- 
ment was  about  to  ex})ire  in  1872,  he  intimated  to  the  leader  of 
the  Government  his  fixed  determination  to  retire  from  public  life. 
He  was  induced  so  far  to  modify  this  determination  as  to  post- 
pone its  execution  until  after  the  election,  and  it  was  not  until 
Feb.  7th,  1873,  that  he  carried  it  into  effect.  Having  been  elected 
without  his  knowledge  for  Vancouver  in  British  Columbia,  he 
retained  his  seat  during  the  ensuing  session,  giving  an  indepen- 
dent support  to  his  old  colleagues  and  explaining  that  his  retire- 
ment from  the  Government  was  not  caused  by  any  difference  on 
public  questions.  A  change  of  Government  having  taken  place 
some  months  later  in  the  autumn  of  1873,  Sir  Francis  Hincks 
did  not  seek  re-election  and  has  now  entirely  withdrawn  from 
public  life."  On  leaving  the  Government  he  accepted  the  office  of 
President  of  the  Montreal  City  Bank,  which,  having  been  since 
amalgamated  with  the  Royal  (Canadian,  is  now  the  Consolidated 
Bank  of  Canada. 

How  the  Reform  party  was  reinforced  in  1867,  by  the  Hon. 
Edward  Blake's  entrance  into  public  life ;  the  fall  of  the  Sandlield 
Macdonald  Ministry  ;  the  formation  of  an  Ontario  Government, 
with  Mr.  Blake  at  its  head ;  how  Mr.  Blake  was  elected  to  the 
House  of  Commons  for  West  Durham  in  1867,  the  same  year  he 
WHS  elected  to  the  Local  House  for  South  Bruce  ;  how  in  1872,  he 
was  elected  to  the  Commons  both  for  West  Durham  and  South 
Bruce,  and  decided  to  sit  for  South  Bruce  ;  how  he  was  sworn  a 
member  of  the  Privy  Council  in  November,  1873;  how  he  resigned 
in  February,  1874;  how  he  was  meanwhile  returned  for  South 
Bruce  ;  Ik^w  he  was  re-elected  by  acclamation  on  his  acceptance 
of  the  portfolio  of  Minister  of  Justice  in  the  summer  of  1875  ;  his 
exchange  of  this  laborious  office  for  that  of  President  of  the 
Council,  for  reasons  that  every  respectable  man  of  every  party 
heard  with  sympathy  and  reipfvefi — all  this  is  familiar.  Not  less 
familiar  are  the  leading  events  in  his  more  private  life ;  his  birth 
in  the  Township  of  Adelaide  in  1833 ;  how  he  was  educated  at 
Upper  Canada  College,  and  at  the  University,  where  he  was  sil- 
ver medallist  in  classics,  and  took  the  degree  of  M.A.,  in  1858  ; 


!ai 


mm 


HON.    EDWARD   BLAKE. 


601 


his  almost  unparalleled  success  at  the  bar  ;  how  ho  refused  the 
Chief  Justiceship  of  the  Supreme  Court,  having  previously  de- 
clined a  position  on  the  Ontario  Bench.  His  great  ability  as  a 
lawyer  and  orator,  it  is  unnece.s.sary  to  dwell  on  for  it  is  univei'sally 
acknowledged.  His  career  and  character  would  furnish  an  inter- 
esting theme  for  dis(j[uisition,  were  this  a  suitable  place  for  such 
comment,  for  the  position  his  countrymen  gave  him,  on  his  en- 
trance into  public  life,  is  without  an  analogue  in  history.  Ail 
that  was  young  and  generous  in  the  country  went  out  to  him  with 
feelings  of  admiration,  and  pride,  and  confidence,  and  hope. 

A  large  number  of  Irishmen  and  men  oi  Irish  descent,  entered 
public  life  during  the  period  with  which  we  are  now  concerned ; 
Mr. Cyril  Archibald,  M.P.,  for  Stormont ;  the  Hon.  Arthur  Bunster, 
M.P.,  for  Vancouver,  who  was  born  in  Queen's  County  in  1833 ; 
George  Elliot  Casey,  B.A.,  M.P.,  for  West  Elgin,  a  son  of  the  late 
Mr.  William  Casey,  who,  with  his  wife  settled  in  the  Talbot 
Settlement  in  1817  ;  Mr.  James  Cunningham,  J.  P.,  M.  P.,  for 
Westminster,  born  at  Anyevny,  County  Monaghan  ;  Mr.  William 
Donahue,  M.P.,  for  Missisquoi ;  Mr.  William  Kerr,  M.A.,  M.P.,  for 
West  Northumberland ;  Mr.  Andrew  Monteith,  M.  P.,  for  North 
Perth,  born  in  the  North  of  Ireland  ;  Mr.  William  Murray,  M.P.,for 
North  Renfrew  ;  Mr.  Samuel  Piatt,  M.P.,  for  East  Toronto,  born  in 
Armagh,  in  1812 ;  Mr.  Joseph  Ryan,  M.P.,  for  Marquette  ;  Mr.  John 
White,  M.P.,  for  East  Hastings,  born  in  the  Town  of  Donegal,  he 
is  Grand' Master  of  the  Orange  Assembly  of  Ontario  East,  and 
Deputy  Grand  Master  of  the  Grand  Black  Chapter  of  Orangemen 
in  the  Dominion ;  Mr.  Robert  Wilkes,  late  M.P.,  for  Centre  Toronto, 
wholesale  merchant  of  great  energy,  who  from  the  position  of  a 
clerk  has  raised  himself  to  wealth  ;  Mr.  Andrew  Trew  Wood,  M.P., 
for  Hamilton ;  Mr.  James  Marshall  Ferris,  J.P.,  M.P.P.,  for  East 
Northumberland  ;  the  Hon.  Christopher  Finlay  Fraser,  M.P.P.,  for 
South  Grenville,  one  ofwho.se  parents  is  Irish.  He  was  one  of  the 
origii',atoi3  of  the  Catholic  League.  He  entered  the  Local  House 
in  1867,  and  in  1873,  became  Provincial  Secretary  and  Regis- 
trar, an  office  he  held  until  1874,  when  he  was  appointed  Com- 
missioner of  Public  Works.  He  is  an  able  man,  and  no  doubt  owes 
some  of  hio  ability  to  each  of  his  parents.  There  still  remain  to  be 
mentioned.    Mr.  William  Hargraft,  J.P.,  M.P.P.,  for  West  North- 


Pi 


m 


602 


THK    lUISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


mubeilana;  Mr.  Williaiii  Harkin,  M.D.C.M.,  M.PP,,  for  Pi»  .scott ; 
Mr.  John  Kean,  J.P.,  M.J'.P.,  for  East  Simcoe  ;  Mr.  John  Lane,  J. P., 
M.P.P.,  for  East  York,  born  in  Tipperary,  in  1818  ;  Mr.  Thomas 
Long,  M.P.P.,  for  Nortli  Simcoe  ;  Mr.  William  Rolph  Meredith, 
L.L.B.,  M.P.P,,  for  London,  who  has  already  been  mentioned ;  Mr 
William  Mostyn,  M.D.,  M.P.P,  for  North  Lanark;  Mr.  John 
O'Sullivan,  M.D.,  M.P.P.,  for  East  Peterborough ;  Mr.  John  Oole- 
brooke  Patterson,  M.P.P.,  North  Essex;  Mr.  Peter  Patterson, 
M.PP.,  for  West  York  ;  Mi-.  William  Robinson,  M.P.P.,  for  King- 
ston ;  Mr.  James  Cowan,  M.  L).,  M.P.P.,  for  High  Bluli',  Manitoba. 
Among  the  men  called  to  the  Senate  in  this  period,  was  a  man, 
who  is  the  foremost  cattle  importer  and  breeder  in  the  Province 
of  Quebec — the  Hon.  Mathew  Henry  Cochrane,  whose  family  came 
here  from  the  North  of  Ireland.  While  I  write,  a  large  number  of 
the  shorthorns  of  this  gentleman  have  realized  an  immense  sum 
in  England,  the  average  being  higher  than  was  ever  realized  any- 
where excepting  Australia.  Two  heifers  between  them,  fetched 
eight  thousand  four  hundred  guineas.  The  sale  it  is  hoped  will 
direct  attention  to  Canada's  capabilities,  not  only  to  supply 
butchers  meat,  but  for  raising  shorthorns.  It  also  proves  that 
Canadian  breeders  can  rely  on  a  market  in  England.  In  1876 
Mr.  Dalton  McCarthy  was  elected  for  Cardwell.  Mr.  McCarthy 
was  born  in  Dublin,  where  he  received  part  of  his  early  education. 
He  is  a  Bencher  of  the  Law  Society,  a  successful  lawyer,  and  gives 
the  greatest  promise  as  a  politician.  His  first  speech  in  parlia- 
ment marked  him  as  a  man  for  whom  all  things  may  be  hoped. 
He  is  a  strong  supporter  of  Sir  John  A.  Macdonald. 

In  November,  1868,  Lord  Monck,  having  presided  over  the  early 
days  of  our  life  as  a  Dominion,  was  succeeded  by  Sir  John  Young 
(Lord  Lisgar)  vho  was  in  1872,  succeeded  by  the  Earl  of  Dufferin, 
the  greatest  Governor  we  have  had  since  Carleton. 

Lord  Dufferin  was  born  in  1826.  In  1591,  John  Blackwood 
was  born  in  Scotland.  He  early  settled  in  County  Down.  His 
son  and  grandson  bore  the  same  name  as  the  original  settler.  The 
third  John  Blackwood's  son,  Sir  Robert  Blackwood,  married  the 
only  daughter  of  Isaac  Macartney.  Their  son,  Sir  John  Black- 
wood had  several  children.  The  second  son,  James,  inherited  in 
1808,  the  peerage,  which  had  meanwhile  come  into  the  family, 


WHAT  CONSTITl'TES   NATIONALITY. 


603 


and  was  siicccr-cled  \>y  his  Itother  HariH,  who  rnairiod  Mehotal»ul- 
liester,  second  daughter  of  Ro^Kirt  Toniple.  Hans  waH  succeeded 
by  Price,  wlio  had  been  a  Cai>tain  in  the  Royal  Navy.  He 
married  on  the  4tb  of  July,  1825,  Helen  S<dina,  daughter  of  the 
late  Thoma.s  Sheridan  Es(i.,  sou  of  the  Right  Honourable  Richard 
I^rinsley  Sheridan. 

A  fool'nh  ([UchJ  ion  a.s  to  Lord  Dufferin's  nationality  was  raised 
isonie  time  ago,  and  therefore  the  general  question  of  nationality 
may  be  dealt  with  here.  A  man  belongs  to  that  country  in  which 
he  was  born.  His  connexion  with  it,  is  of  course,  strong  in  pio- 
portion  to  the  length  of  time  his  family  has  been  there.  But  if 
any  other  test  of  natioriality  be  adopted,  all  kinds  of  confusion  are 
introduced  into  the  discu.ssion.  There  was  a  time  when  the 
forefather  of  the  Irish  Celt  was  not  Irish,  because  his  people  had 
never  been  so  far  westward.  The  two  most  powerful  inifluences 
in  determining  character,  are  climate  and  association,  which  last 
might  be  called  moral  climate.*  Race,  of  course,  counts  for  some- 
thing. But  most  of  the  typical  Irish  gentlemen  of  the  last  century 
had  but  little  Celtic  blood  in  their  veins.  Yet  their  vivacity, 
fun,  frolic,  and  wit,  have  passed  into  a  proverb.  The  mercurial 
character  of  the  Irishman  must  be  accounted  for  in  great  part  by 
atmospheric  conditions.  The  moral  conditions  must  also  be  allowed 
due  weight.  When  the  Englishman  or  the  Dane  settled  among 
the  lively  Celts,  hischildren  growing  up  among  Celtic  friends,  allies, 
servants,  became  in  manner  as  Celtic  as  their  associates,  though  there 
would  remain  certain  elements  of  heart  and  mind  tracable  to  the 
German  or  Scandinavian  tribe  whence  they  drew  their  blood. 
The  physical  atmosphere  however,  as  Monsieur  Davy  shows,  is  a 
powerful  shaper  of  our  characters  and  destinies ;  it  is  one  of  those 
circumstances  which  decide  beforehand  our  place  in  the  intellec- 
tual, moral,  and  spiritual  scale  ;  which  class  us  before  we  are  in 
the  cradle,  which  before  we  have  learned  to  lisp,  draw  the  draft  of 
the  epitaph  which  if  truth  prevailed  should  be  placed  upon  ourtomb- 

*"  Atmospheric  cc  editions  work  on  the  individual,  and  powerfully  on  the  offspring, 
Affecting  the  character,  mental  and  moral ;  deciding  the  physical  temperament ;"  see 
^'  Lea  mouvements  de  1' Atmosphere  et  des  Mers,  consid^rfis  au  Point  de  Vue  de  la 
Provision  du  Temps"  par  H.  Marie  Davy.  Paris,  Victor  Masson  et  Fill,  Place  de 
I'Ecole-de-Medioine,  1866. 


6G4 


THE   IRISHMAN    IN   CANADA. 


l! 


It  makes  a  great  differenco  whether  that  atnioHphero  has  or  has 
not  been  breathed  V)y  our  fo:  ^fathers  for  many  generations,  and 
whether  or  not  it  has  been  associated  with  a  moral  atmosphere 
belonging  to  an  established  national  type.  I  have  treated  Robert 
Baldwin  as  an  Irishman,  because  both  his  parents  were  Irish,  be- 
cause his  associations  throughout  life  from  boyhood  up  were  Irish, 
because  his  own  children  to-day  are  in  typo  Irish  gentlemen 
of  a  not  remote  period,  because,  moreover,  when  he  was  growing 
up,  no  Canadian  type  had  develope»l,  as  indeed  ri^  distinctive  type 
has  yet  developed.  Yet  of  coarse,  the'-e  is  a  true  sense  in  which 
Robert  Baldwin  was  more  a  Canadian  than  an  Irishman,  and  he 
was  always  proud  to  dwell  on  his  claim  to,  so  to  speak,  a  two-fold 
nationality.  In  Lord  DufFerin's  case,  we  have  his  ancestors  for 
six  generations,  and  for  over  two  hundred  years  in  Ireland.  Of 
fourteen  factors  of  his  life  within  that  period,  twelve  are  Ir'sh, 
one  English,  one  Scotch.  We  need  not  be  surprised  that  if  wo 
wei'e  to  look  the  world  over  for  a  typical  Irishman,  we  could  not 
find  a  more  characteristic  specimen  than  the  man  who  with  so 
much  judgment,  so  much  ease,  so  much  statesmanlike  capacity,  so 
much  good  humour,  so  much  wit,  with  such  marvellous  power  of 
expression,  and  such  unequalled  social  grace,  has  ruhd  this  country 
for  five  years.  So  great  is  the  eflfect  of  moral  and  physical  sur- 
roundings, that  an  Irishman,  an  Englishman,  a  Scotchman,  or  a 
German  of  a  high  type  of  intellect,  of  sympathetic  character  and 
vivid  imagination,  will,  after  living  six  years  in  Canada,  be  more 
a  Canadian  than  anything  else.  Wd  sometimes  meet  people  from 
all  countries  who  after  having  lived  here  twice  or  three  tiines  that 
period  are  still  what  they  were  when  they  came  here  ;  they  have 
contracted  no  love  for  the  country,  their  sympathies  have  put 
forth  110  new  roots,  and  borne  no  fresh  and  various  fruit.  But 
what  sort  of  people  are  these  ?  Misera>ble  egotists  who  have  found 
a  subtle  mendacious  self-grat'dation  in  constant  reference  to  a 
figment  of  better  things  across  the  Atlantic.  I  once  met  a  man  at 
the  house  of  a  gentleman  who  was  then,  and  is  now  a  Minister  of 
the  Crown,  and  he  said :  "  This  sort  of  thing  is  poor  enough. 
Nothing  like  the  society  we  have  in  the  old  country "  I  -  'as 
tempted  to  turn  round  on  him  and  say :  "  Sir,  in  the  old  country, 
you  could  never  have  laoved,  and  hardly  dared  to  hope  to  move 


LORD   DUFFERIN. 


605 


in  the  society  I  see  you  movi*  :r  in  hero."  A  great  deal  of  the 
impertinent  ^-eference  to  the  superiority  of  things  in  the  old 
country,  is  meant  not  to  do  iionour  to  the  old  country,  but  to  the 
speaker.  "  1  was  born  in  Castle  Bunkum,"  says  a  lady  as  she  uses 
her  fan  nnd  expands  with  vanity  at  the  thought  of  a  fictitious 
ai'stocratic  ancestry.  What  would  her  hearers  think  if  told  that 
Castle  Bunkum  is  a  paltry  village  ? 

Lord  Dufferin  was  educated  at  Eton  and  Christ  Church,  Oxford. 
He  succeeded  to  his  father's  title  in  1841,  when  he  was  only 
fifteen  years  of  age.  It  was,  from  more  than  one  point  of  \\ow, 
unfortunate  for  Lord  DufFcrin  that  he  succeeded  so  early  to  a  peer- 
age. He  was  thus  deprived  of  an  opportunity  of  entering  the 
House  of  Commons,  where  alone  a  gi-eat  parliamentary  reputation 
can  be  made  in  England.  What  an  extinguisher  the  House  of 
Lords  is  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  until  Lord  Dufferin 
came  to  Canada,  scarcely  anybody  in  the  Briti.sh  Isles  gave  him 
credit  for  the  great  capacity  he  is  now  universally  acknowledged 
to  pos.sess — ]5eople  had  scarcely  a  hint  of  his  extraordinary  and 
various  powers.  They  were  known  to  his  intimates,  and  the 
public  were  .sometimes  puzzled  to  know  why  it  was  that,  in  autho- 
oritative  quartern,  he  wa^  rated  so  high.  The  speech  which  Lord 
Duflferin  made  f.t  the  Toronto  Club  in  1874  set  some  of  the  En- 
glish journalists  almost  wild.  In  an  article  in  the  London  Spec- 
tator— one  of  the  ablest  papers  in  the  world,  which  is  edited  by 
an  Englishman — a  writer — evidently  the  editor — grew  c.ithy- 
rambic  over  the  speech  and  the  orator,  and,  with  that  curious 
ignorance  of  this  country  which  so  often  startles  us  in  English 
publicists,  it  was  asked  why  Mr,  Gladstone  had  not  sent  Lord 
Dufferin  to  Ireland  instead  of  Canada  ?  Lord  Dufferin,  it  was 
said,  while  still  at  home,  breathed  forth  nc  such  notes  of  tri- 
umphant confidence  in  the  future  of  the  Empire  ra  characterised 
this  famous  speech,  which  was  like  a  breath  from  the  mountains 
on  the  fevered  brow  of  the  editor  in  the  close  office  near  Waterloo 
Bridge,  under  the  refreshing  influence  of  which  he  seems  to  break 
away  from  the  dungeon  of  dulled  ambition,  contracted  hopes  and 
ignoble  fears,  from  the  suffocating  atmosphere  which  in  recent 
years,  and  up  to  a  very  late  period,  a  mean  statesmanship  cast 
over  the  country  of  Raleigh,  and  he  gasps  out  to  inhale  great 


< 


C66 


THE   IRISHMAN   IN   CANADA. 


draughts  of  Lord  Dufferin's  stimulating  thought,  like  Marie 
Stuart,  in  Schiller's  play,  when  she  is  allowed  to  ramble  from  her 
confinement  into  the  grounds  surrounding  her  castellated  prison. 
Lord  Dufterin  had  for  two  years  lived  among  us,  had  made  him- 
self master  of  every  notable  feature  of  Canada,  social,  political  and 
physieal;  had  s))oken  at  banquetss ;  had  replied  to  deputations;  had 
given  useful  lectures  in  a  pleasing  way  to  ladies'  schools,  and,  when 
he  spoke  at  the  dinner  of  the  Toronto  Club,  he  had  just  returned 
from  the  North-West.  He  had  seen  the  vigorous  settler,  with 
axe  in  hand,  hope  in  his  heart  and  a  happy  brood  around  him  ; 
proud  cities  rising  as  if  by  magic ;  he  had  stood  on  the  mar- 
gins of  lakes  glimmering  amid  the  primeval  forest,  and  saw  the 
vision  of  the  future.  Everywhere  he  found  Canada  like  a  youth 
that  means  to  be  of  note  at  work  betimes,  and  the  Sheridan  blood 
would  have  strangely  degenerated  if  his  imagination  had  not  taken 
fire.  The  same  writer  wrote  in  an  equally  enthusiastic  strain  of 
Ijord  Dufferin's  speeches  in  the  early  part  of  the  present  year. 
When  at  such  a  distance  Lord  Dufferin  can,  when  he  has  an  op- 
portunity make  his  popular  genius  felt,  what  might  he  not  have 
done  had  he  had  an  opportunity  of  bringing  his  large  and  various 
talents  to  bear  on  the  real  source  of  power  in  England. 

Lord  Dufferxi.  was  for  many  years  a  Lord  in  waiting  to  the 
Queen.  He  is  a  successful  author.  H3  published  an  account 
of  the  famine  of  1846-7.  Having  in  1859  made  a  yacht- voyage 
to  Iceland,  he  published  in  1860  a  narrative  of  the  voyage  under 
the  title  "Letters  from  High  Latitudes," 'which  are  brimful  of 
humour.  He  was  in  the  same  year  sent  as  a  British  Commissioner 
to  Syria  to  inquire  into  the  massacre  of  the  Christians  there.  He 
acted  with  great  capacity  and  firmness  and  on  his  return  to  Eng- 
land was  mj,de  a  K.C.B.  From  1864  to  1866  he  was  Under 
Secretary  of  State  for  India,  and  for  War  from  1866  to  the  follow- 
ing year.  He  was  from  1868  until  he  was  appointed  Governor- 
General  of  Canada,  Chancellor  of  the  Duchy  of  Lancaster  and 
Paymaster-General.  Lord  Dufferin  contributed  much  both  by 
voice  and  pen  to  the  discussion  of  the  Jr  sh  land  question  and  Irish 
questions^generally,  and  helped  materially  to  precipitate  Mr.  Glad- 
stone's reforms. 

How  he  has  discharged  the  duties  of  his  great  office  in  Canada 


'1 


CONCLUSION. 


667 


does  nc  xieed  to  be  told  here  to-day.  His  conduct  during  the 
excitement  of  1873  was  characterized  by  firmness,  by  grasp  of 
constitutional  principles,  and  by  consummate  tact,  and  when  he 
leaves  our  shores,  he  will  take  with  him  the  respect  and  admi- 
ration— nay,  almost  the  affection  of  every  man  and  woman  in 
Canada,  for  his  noble  bearing  and  sympathetic  genius  have  given 
him  a  warm  place  in  the  hearts  of  thousands  who  never  saw  him. 

I  now  conclude.  The  history  of  the  Irishman  in  Canada  closes 
as  it  opened  with  the  name  of  an  Irish  Governor-General  on  my 
pen.  I  have  shown  what  part  the  Irishman  has  played  in  clearing 
the  forest,  in  building  up  the  structure  of  our  civic  life,  in  defend- 
ing the  country,  in  battling  for  our  liberiict;,  in  developing  our 
resources,  in  spreading  enlightenment,  in  the  culture  of  literature 
and  art,  in  tending  the  sacred  fires  of  religion,  in  sweetening  the 
cares  of  life,  and  I  trust  I  have  done  this  without  giving  offence 
in  any  quarter,  or  forgetting  for  a  single  instant  that  my  para- 
mount duty,  as  the  paramount  duty  of  us  all,  belongs  to  Canada- 


FINIS 


INDEX. 


Aberdeen,  Earl  of,  476 
Abraham,  his  faith,  1 
Acadian.     His  poetical  account,  206, 
208,  222 
his  contempt  for  General  Smyth. 
211  ^     ' 

on  Winder  and  Chandler,  214 
on  Newark  avenged,  233 
his  sketch  of    American   manners 
fifty  years  ago,  235 
Adamson,  Dr.,  433 
Adelaide,  Irish  settlers  in,  303 

Typhus  fever  breaks  out  in,  304 
Age  and  piety,  179 
Agitation,  609 
Ague  and  fever,  358-9,  375 
Alfred  the  Great,  394 
Alison,  William  Henry,  157 
Allan,  Hon.  William,  400 
AUn,  Arnold,  with  300  men  crosses 

Lake  Champlain,  75 
Alien,  Colonel,  sent  by  Montgomery 

to  surprise  Montreal,  78 
Aikens,  Hon.  James,  birth  and  poli- 
tical career,  275. 
Airey,  Mr.  Julius,  124 

Colonel,  ib. 
America,    Discovery    oi,    by    Saynt 
Brandon,  51 
Irishmen  met  there  on  all  sides,  in 

the  eighteenth  century,  52 
civil  war  of,  part  played  in  by  Irish- 
men, 65,  60 
Americans  retreat  from  before  Que- 
bec, 86 
cruelty  of,  89 

plan  Uie  conquest  of  Canada,  207 
Anderson,  William,  95 
Anglic»nism,    Father  of,   in  Canada, 

99 
Anglin,  T.  W.  164 

Annexation  and  Independence,  252. 
667  r  ,        , 

Archibalds,  the,  158 


Archibald,  Donald,  158 

Mr.  Cyril,  M.P,  C61 
ArdRigh,  the,  17 
Art  in  Canada,  611 
father  of,  bom,    ib. 
progress  of,  612 
not  encouraged,  613 
glory  and  beauty  of  Canadian  land- 
scape not  yet  appreciated,  617 
Artists,  Canadian,  617 
Artistic  Genius  of  Irishmen,  35 
Ardagh,  Rev.  Samuel  B.,  594,  628 
Arcadia,  dreamed  of  by  Talbot  and 

Lord  Dacre,  108 
Armed  revolution  condemned  by  Col. 

James  E.  McGee,  44 
Arnold's  march  from  Boston  to  Que- 
bec, 81—83 
Arthur,  Sir  George,  succeeds  Sir  F. 
Head,  406 
requested  to  summon  the  Legisla- 
ture, 413 
Assembly,  promised  to  Quebec,  7 1 
delay  in  granting,  a  cause  of  disBatis 

faction,  72 
of  Upper  Canada  meets,  quarrel 
between,  and  Metcalfe,  493 
Aylwyn,  489 

Attachments,  romantic,  393 
Australia,  the  Irishman  in,  66 

Baoot,  Sir  Charles,  sent  out  as  Gov- 
ernor of  Canada,  476 

character  of,  477 

Hincks  induced  to  join  his  Govern- 
ment, ib. 

vilely  assailed,  486 

death  of,  483 
Bailey,  John,  363 
Bailey,  F.  G.,  604 
Baldwin,  Admiral,  173,  400 
Baldwin,  Rev.  A.  H.,  629 
Baldwin,  Capt.  Henry,  173 
Baldwin,  Robert,  the  Emigrant,  172 


670 


INDEX. 


Baldwin,  Robert — continued. 
Robert,  Hon.,  173,  431 
the  author  of  Confederation,  387 
birth  of,  394 
imbibed    his    principles    from  his 

father,  389 
character,  391 
oratory — private  life — love  for  his 

wife  and  children,  393 
completeness  of  his  character,  394 
called  to  the  bar,  395 
contests  York  and  returned,  ib. 
remains  out  of  Parliament,  ib. 
key  to  his  political  character,  396 
visits  England  in  1835,  ib. 
correspondence  with  Lord  Glenelg, 

ib. 
returns  to  Canada,  ib. 
his  resignation,  443,  446 
explains  resignation.  Col.  Prince's 

impertinence  regarding,  attacked 

by  Day,  463 
defended  by  Durand,  454 
further   explains  resignation,  455, 

459 
how  he  was    called   to   Executive 

Council  by  Lord  Sydenham,  455 
motives  for  joining  Executive,  456 
no  confidence  in  colleagues,  457 
accused  of  caballing,  458 
informs  the  Governor  that  union 

has  been   effected  between    the 

Reformers  of  Lower  and  Upper 

Canada,  459 
tells  him  that  the  Administration 

had  not  the  confidence   of  the 

people,  459 
supported  by  the  Assembly  and  the 

coimtry,  460 
his  power  in  the  country  seen,  465 
coalesces  with  MacNab  and  other 

Tories  to  defeat  Municipal  Bill, 

466 
on  Hincks'  support  of  Municipal 

Bill,  470 
moves  resolutions  affirming  prin- 
ciples of  responsible  government, 

471 
his  hour  of  triumph,  480 
and  Lafuntaine  enter  the  Govern- 
ment, 482 
liberal  ministrj'  under  Lord  Met- 
calfe, singularly  capable,  487,  489 
and  colleagues,  resignation,  495 
attack  oa  Government,  501 


Baldwin,  Robert — coiUiniced. 
his  friends  issue  an  address  to  the 

people,  509 
makes  a  tour  through  the  Lower 

Province,  510 
reviews  Stanley's  speech,  511 
attacks    the   Ministry,   his  speech 

described,  Globe,  515 
entertained  in  West  Halton,  534 
in  power,  542,  543 
deals    with   treason   with  a     firm 

hand,  564 
distressed  by  Lord  John  Russell's 

views,  567,  568 
his  scrupulousness,  573 
true  to  the  principle  of  double  ma- 
jority, 576 
with  his  retirement  the  Irish  period 

begins  to  decline,  576 
too  conservative  for  hia  party,  ib. 
defeated  in  North  York  by  Hart- 
man,  576,  577 
death  of,  652 
Baldwin,  Dr.  William  Warren  settles 
in  Toronto,  172 
practises  law,  173 
marries  ;  his  five  sons,  ib. 
moots  constit^itional  questions,  389 
last  appearance  of,  in  public,  ib. 
loses  his  way,  ambitious  of  found- 
ing a  family,  390 
gazetted  to  the  Legislative  Council, 
493 
Bards,  Irish,  10 
Barrd,  Colonel,  73 
Barry  and  the  navpl  wars,  58 
meets  Washingt,  .,  father  of  Amer- 
can  Navy,  58 
Barry,  Sir  Redmond,  66 
Bangs,  Dr.,  98 
Bangs,  Nathan,  178,  181 
Banking,  early,  278 
Baerstler  entrapped,  215,  216 
Bastonnais,  the,  81-85 
Beaconsfield.  Ixjrd,  had  probably  read 

McGee's  poetry,  650 
Beaty,  James,  278,  279 
BeattyB  settlements,  276 
Bears,  stories  of,  355,  377 
Bedford,  Quebec,  Irish  settlers  in,  693 
Belford  Bros. ,  Publishers,  279 
Belford,  Charles,  ib. 
Bell,  WUliam,  89,  347 
Bell,  first,  in  a  church  in  Canada,  100 
Bell,  family,  the,  353 


INDEX. 


671 


Belleville,  builders  of,  379 

Bellingham,  Sidney  Robert,  331 

Bengough,  {Grip)  613 

Bennot,  Rev.  James,  D.D.,  166 

Berkeley,  conceives  the  idea  of  found- 
ing college  in  Summer  Islands,  55 
arrives  at  Newport,  ib. 
writes  his  Minute  Philosopher,  ib. 
"      "     famous    verse,    "  West- 
ward the  Star  of  Empire,"  ib. 

Berlin  Decree  and  the  United  States, 
196 

Bexley,  Township  of,  363 

BidweU,  397,  402 

Bigotry,   the  loss  it  entails    on  the 
bigot,  27 

Bisshopp,  Colonel,  descent  on  Black 
Rock,  223 

Blake,  the  family  of,  302—306 
ChaKcellor,  476 
Hon.  Edward,  660,  661 
Vice-chancellor,  608 

Blenheim,  69 

Bliss,  Hon.  Daniel,  160 

Board  of  Works,  management  of,  in 
Metcalfe's  time,  520 

Bonfield,  James,  M.  P.P.,  592 

Boomer,  Dean,  629 

Bonnycastle,  Sir  Richard,  on  the  Irish 
emigrants,  401 
on  the  Irish  in  Newfoundland,  143 

Boulton,  Hon.  Henry  John,  censured 
by  the  House,  389 

Bowes,  John  George,  283 
elected  mayor,  575 

Boyle,  Patrick,  editor  Irish  Canadian, 
604 

Boys  of  Canada  in  early  days,  612 

Boyne,  Battle  of,  27 

Boyd,  General,  229 
John,  162 
Rev.  Dr.  632 
Mossom,  353 

Brant,  Captain,  100 

Brantford,  City  of,  379,  593 
sensible  address  of  Irish  inhabitants 
to  Metcalfe,  492 

Breach  of  Promise,  good  story  of,  and 
O'Reilly,  371 

Bredin,  Rev.  John,  629 

Breeders  of  cattle,  336 

Brehon  Laws,  10,  15 

Brennan,  I    aiel,  170 

Brewer,  a  pioneer,  316 

Briggs,  Rev.  William,  629 


Brisay,  Rev.  Theophilus  des,  169 
British  connexion,  value  of,  419 
British  North  America,  i<  nsatisfactory 

condition  of,  406 
British  evacuate  Boston,  87 

repulsed  at  Charleston,  ib. 

victorious  at  Long  Island,  ib. 

take  possession  of  New  York,  ib. 

beaten  at  Trenton,  ib. 
Brown  Hon.  George,  384 

his  first  sx^eech,  602 

replies  for  press,  61 1 

quizzes  ex-ministers,  542 

character,  582 

as  leader  of  party,  583 

hostility    to    Hinck's  Government, 
ib. 

controversy  with  Mr.  Christie  and 
the  Hon.  Wm.  McDougall,  583 

joins  the  Conservatives  in  Opposi- 
tion, 686 

leader  of  Opposition,  688 

called  on  to  form  a  Government,  652 

leaves  the  Ministry,  666 
Brock,  General,  201-207 

hands  tied  by  Prevost,  207 

death  and  resting  place,  208 
Bryson,  Alexander,  349 
Buchanan,  Isaac,  446 
Builders,  Irish,  in  Toronto,  274 
Bunker  Hill,  78 

Bunster,  Hon.  Arthur,  M.P.  061 
Bunting,  Christopher,  6J  7 
Burchell,  Benjamin,  363 
Burgoyne,  General,  supersedes  Carle- 
ton,  87 
Burke,  Edmund,  34,  73 

his  humour,  73 

denounces  Quebec  Act,  ib. 

Dr.   Edmund,  a  great   missionary 
and  statesman,  148,  149 

Father,  34 
Burk,  John,  settled  in  Clarke,  171 
Busate,  614 
Butler,  Lieut. -Colonel,  207 

Lieutenant  Thomas,  208 

Cabin  Huntiwg,  378 

Cabot,  167 

Califomia,  a  fourth  of  the  farms  in, 

in  the  hands  of  Ii  ishmen,  64 
C&meron,  J.  Hillyard,  634 

Sherwood's,  jealousy  of,  637 

Malcolm,  445 
Camp  Meeting  iirat,  180, 181 


J 


672 


INDEX. 


Campaign,  resulta  of,  in  favour  of  the 

revolted  ColonistB,  87 
Canada's  future,  faith  in,  1 
Canada,  our  duty  to,  2 

future  historian  of,  should  have  to 

his  hand  all  the  facts  relating  to 

its  settlement,  3 
free     from    the    grounds    of    Old 

Country  factions,  4 
her  resources,  6 
Irishmen  in,  should  rise  to  a  high 

level,  6    , 
invaded,  75 
gateways  of,  in  the  hande  of  the 

enemy,  75 
invaded  by  Montreal    by  a   force 

under  Schuyler,  78 
the  saviour  of,  126 
patriotism  to,  must  be  paramount, 

1?9,  667 
Lower,  Irish  settlements  in,  170 
her  true  laureate,  187 
projected  conquest  of,  199 
conquering  no  easy  task,  200 
fifty  years  ago,  246 
women  of  fifty  years  ago,  247 
what   she   has  done    for    settler-j, 

309 
parties  in,  before  Lord  Sydenham's 

time,  321 
Lower,  rebellion  in,  403 
important  part  played  by  a  humble 

Irishman,  ib. 
Lower,  alow  to  grasp  constitutional 

priuciples,  406 
Lower,  and  Union,  417 
value  of,  to  Great  Britain  and  Ire- 
land, 419 
Lower,  using  the  weapons  of  Hamp- 
den to  support  the  principles  of 

Richelieu,  422 
duty  in,  of  all  nationalities,  438 
state  of,  as  described  by  Montreal 

Times,  440 
developing  resources  of,  444,  664, 

577,  679 
education  in,  up  to  and  after  1816, 

473 
progress  of,  from  1816,  473-470 
united  first  parliament  of,  ends  well, 

473 
and  trade  with  United  States,  649 
credit  of,  raised  by  Hincks,  566 
constitution  of,  superior  to  that  of 

the  United  States,  669,  670 


English  ignorance  of  its  importance, 

666 
landscape  of,  glory^  of,  617 
life  and  manners  m,  ib. 
Canning  disavows  Erskine's  conduct, 

198 
Canniff,  Dr.,  91-93 
Cannifls,  the,  91-93 
Capitulation,  articles  of,  signed,  69 
Carden,  township  of,  354 
Carscallian,  Luke,  son  of,  89 
Carson,  34 

Carleton  {see  Dorchester),  and  the 
taking  of  Quebec,  birth  of,  enters 
guards,  aide-de-camp  to  Cumber- 
land, serves  in  America,  wound- 
ed, 69 
became  Lieutenant-Governor,  hifi 
humanity,  his  sagacity,  his  pol- 
icy, 71,  73. 
determines  to  recover  the  lost  forts, 

75 
seeks  to  raise  a  militia,  il 
liis  power  of  attraction,  76 
determines  to  enro^  militia,  77 
seeks  to  raise  volunteers,  78 
appeals  to  Indians,  ib 
not  8ui*nri8ed,  79 

disguised,  steals  on  to  Quebec,  81 
arrives  at  Quebec,  84 
kindness  of,  86 
superseded  by  Burgoyne,  87 
master  of  I^ake  Cham^lain,  ib. 
becomes  Lord  Dorchester  and  Gover- 
nor- General,  and  Commander-in- 
Chief,  101 
Colonel  Thomas,  Governor  cf  M  ew 

E  '\nswick,  158 
county  of,  310 
Carolina,  South,  Irish  settlers  in,  53 

North,  liish  settlers  in,  ib. 
Cati'dl,  Dennis,  96 

Dr.  John,  96,  629  ^|^ 

Cartier,  Jacques,  68  ^MK 

Georg:.    E.,    Ministerial  candidate 
for  Speakership,  586,  659 
Cartwright,  Judge,  95 

Mr.,  his  conditions  regarding  union, 
414 
Cattle  \^eeding,  053,  662 
Oathoart,  Lord,  administrator,  532 
Cathedral,  EngUah,  in  Quebec,  101 
Case,  William,  178-18D 
Catholic  Emt!''Cipatifm,  its  ett'ect  on 
the  progress  of  the  world,  28 


y- 


INDEX. 


673 


>e. 


!t, 


rg 
r- 

a- 

1- 


43 


Ca'holic — continued. 

Catholic  Iriahmen  on  the  Continent, 

Catholic  and  Protestant,  254 
Irish,  loyalty  of,  401 
Roman,  Church,  035-643 
League,  GSif 
Casey,  Willet,  89 

George  EUi.-t,  M.r.,  661 
Cayley,    Win.,    becomes    Inspector- 
General,  526 
storm  raised  thereby  amor; ./  govern- 
mental "  sore  heads,"  ib. 
Ooughlan,  Lawrence,  183 
Cauchon,  Joseph,  540 
moves  an  amendment  to  address, 
585 
Celt,  the,  has  played  a  great  part  iii 
the  history  of  the  v  orld,  8,  9 
blood  of,  mixed  with  Danish,  Nor- 
man and  Saxon,  18 
Centennarian,  a,  95 
Chambly  given  up  to  Montgomery,  79 
Champlain  foimds  French  Colony,  68 
Chancery  Bill,  Blake's,  576 
Character,  Irish,  38 
Charles   I.,   result  of  espousing  his 

cause,  24 
Chesapeake  br»ught  to,  by  the  Leo- 
pard, 197 
Christendom,    Pagan    English    Con- 
quest of  Britain  divides  into  two 
unequal  parts,  13 
Chrysler's  Farm,  229 
Cholera  in  1832,  at  Peterborough.  363 
Church,  the,  299 

Church  of  England  Clergymen,  Irish. 
622-629 

Circuit,  travelling  on,  in  early  days. 
390  J      J  > 

Clark,  Col,  descent  on  Black  Rock, 
223  ' 

Clarke,  an  Irish  settler,  364 

General  Alured,  arrives  in  Lower 
Canada,  104 
Clark,  Township  of,  170 
Claudius  describes  the  defeat  of  the 

Picts  and  Scots,  12 
Clontarf,  Battle  of,  16 
dissensions  after,  17 
Clear  Grits,  seak  to  divide  Reform 
Party,  565 
hold  a  meeting  at  Markham,  ib. 
their  platform,  ib. 
Clinton,  Charles,  53 


Close,  P.  G.,  Mr.,  322,  597 
Clergjr  Resorves,   104,  532,  573,  678, 
579,  585  >        ,        ,  uio, 

and  Baldwin,  .'91-2 

question  settled,  588 
Cochran,  late  Hon.  James,  166 
Cochrane,  Sir  Thomas,  145 

Hon.  Matthew,  great  cattle  breeder, 

Colborne,  Sir  John,  on  reunion  of  pro- 
••incos,  412 

Commercial  crisis,  1836,  401 
involves  an  extra  session  of  Legis- 
lature, ib. 

Commerce,    a    mistake    to    supc  >se 
Irishmen  not  successful  in,  64 

Commercial  depression  in  1848,  6P1 

Conclusion,  667 

Confederation,  league  to  bring  about, 
5,  5 

mentioned  in  speech  from  Throne 
1859,  652  ' 

Confiscation,   from   which    Normans 

suffered  a^  much  as  Celts,  23 
Connolly,  Archbishop,  636-640 
John, 348 
Owen,  170 
Connor^  Dr.,  95 

Consersrative,  meaning  of  the  word 
<>J1 
party  disorganized,  621,  note 
Cone_ervatisui,  true,  an  exposition  of. 
535  * 

Conspiracy  of  soldiers,  204 

Conspirators,  Irish,  on  this  continent, 

643 
Constitutional  Act  of  1791,  103 
Constitution  of  divided  provinces,  ib. 

present,  due  to  Irishmen,  128 
Constitutional  questions   mooted    in 
1825,  389 

principles  slowly  grasped  by  Lower 
Canada,  406 

principles  advocated    by  Ogle  B. 
Gowan,  411 

and  the  press,  412 

government,  progress  of.  617 
Constitution,  the  British,  571 
Continent,  Irishmen  on,  30,  31 
Contractors,  sinister  and  oppressive 

pohcy  of,  520 
Cooke,  Dr.,  of  Belfast,  34 
Cork,  City  of,  297 

harbour,  355-6 
Costigan,  Judge,  163 


674 


INDEX. 


Cottinghams,  the,  350-1 

Cotton  manufacture  in  New  Bruns- 
wick, ICl 

Country,  denying  one's,  64 
passion  for  developing  the,        577 
its    resources    developed    by    the 
Ministry,  564 

Cowan,  James,  M.P.P.,  662 

Cramah6,  83 

Craw^ords,  the,  276,  277,  352 

Creelmans,  the,  153 

Crinnon,  Bishop,  641 

Cromwell's  sword,  24 

Crown  lands,  104 
point  surrendered,  75 

Cunningham,  James,  M.P. ,  661 

Cuvillier,  Austin,  441 

Dacrb,  Lord,  and  Talbot,  108 

Divlhousie,  Lord,  386 

Daly,  Captain  Peter,  90 

Captain,  spirited  advance  of,  230 

Dominick,  431,  489,  540 

Go  vera  or  of  Prince  Edward  Island, 

168. 
christened  "the  Lily  of  the  Valley," 
393 

Danes,  towns  founded  by,  17 

Daniel,  John,  353 

Daniels,  Judge,  380 

Day,  Solicitor-General,  speech  of,  at- 
tacking Baldwin,  453 

Davidsons,  the,  353 

Deacon,  Col.,  346 

Dearborn,  207,  225 

Debate,  exciting,  480-2 

Debtor,  fasting  on,  in  Hindostan  and 
in  Ulster,  10 

Declaration  of  Independence  written 
out  by  Charles  Thomson  from 
Jefferson's  draft,  59 

Declaration  of  the  Representatives  of 
the  United  Colonies,  78 

Delegates,  public  meetings  of,  prohi- 
bited, 387 

Democrats,  Irish,  60 

Derby,  Lord,  476 

Derry  Siege  of,  one  of  the  most  glori- 
ous things  in  the  history  of  the 
world,  27 

De  Salaberry,  Colonel  230 

Detlor,  old  Mrs.  180 

Devine,  Mr.  Thomas,  597 

Dewart,  Rev.  E.  H.  629 

Dickie,  J.  B.  158 


Disraeli,  his  remarks  on  the  condition 
of  Ireland  in  1843,  45 

read  McGee's  poetry,  650 
Dobson,  John,  346 
Doherty.  Mr.  Justice  611 
Donahue,  William,  M.P.,  661 
Dorchester  (see  Carleton)  leaves  for 
England,  104 

leaves  Canada,  126 

his  death,  126 

his  policy,  102 
Double  Shuffle,  The,  652 
Downers,  The,  353 
Donnell,  Cavanagh,  treachery  of,  20 

Draper,  William,  411,  459,  532,  534 

sketch  of,  463 

joins  Sir  F.  Head's  council,  400 

nicknamed  "  sweet  William,"  431 

on  Responsible  Government,  449- 
452 

explains  conduct  of  his  ministry, 
479 

resigns,  482 

urges  on  Metcalfe  the  evils  of  the 
situation,  505 

defends  Metcalfe,  515 

on  Constitutional  Government,  his 
special  pleading,  516 

distinguishes  between  the  position 
of  a  King  and  Governor-General, 
517 

gap  left  in  Assembly  by  his  removal 
to  Legislative  Council,  518 

his  University  bill,  523 

sick  of  public  life,  534 

his  farewell,  a  satire  on  Metcalfe. 
and  a  eulogy  on  Baldwin,  539-540 

speaks  and  votes  though  he  has  ac- 
cepted a  judgeship,  540 
Drummond,  Mr.  (Judge,)  521,  611. 

General,  238-239 
Dublin,  17 

siege   of — Irish  army  around,  sur- 
prised, 20 
Dufferin,  Lord 

becomes  Governor-General  of  Can- 
ada, 662 

his  family,  ib. 

his  nationality,  663-4 

his  great  talents  not  appreciated  in 
England,  665 

his  career,  666 
Duffy,  SirC.  G,  (note)  30-31 
Duggan,  George,  432 
Dunbar,  George,  611 


rU 


INDEX. 


675 


Dundas,  379 

Stephen,  363 

Joseph,  R.,  347 
Dunlop,  Dr,  520 

Dunn,  Mr.,  sworn  an  executive  coun- 
cillor, 397 
Dunscombe,  J.  W,  431 
Durham  meeting,  The  ,389 

Earl  of,  his  mission,  406 

Early  Settlers,  difficulties  of,  307, 
o73,  374 
hardships  of,  338,  339 

Eccles,  Captain,  460-462 

Education,  Secular,  103 
a  class  distinction,  121 
in  Canada  up  to  1816,  473 
progress  of  from  1816,  &c.,  173- 

importance  of,  623,  643 
Educator,  the  position  to  which  h^ 
is  entitled,  644 
Egan,  John,  311 

1812,  war  of,  character  of  strueele 
193,  194  ^^    ' 

1S41,  session  of,  memorable,  465 
1848, j    commercial     depression     in 
551  ' 

Election,  violent,  175 
general,  1825,  387 
exciting  general,  under  Sir  P.  Head, 

1867,  401 
general,  of  1841,  431,  437 
of  1867,  656 

exciting  general,  under  Lord  Met- 
calfe, 513 
Electioneering  tactics,  512 
Electee    principle    and    Legislative 

Council,  417 
Eliot,  James,  353 

Elgin   Lord,  arrives  in  Canada,  535, 
536 

birth,  education,  character,  535 
Governor  of  Jamaica,  ib. 
marries,  536 

parties  in  Canada  at  time  of  his  ar- 
rival, lb. 

Ministry,  re-constituted  under.  537 
his  policy,  538 
opens  paxliament,  ib. 
his  opinions  on  Irish  immigration. 
541 

resignation  of  his  Ministry,  542 
glad  that  Baldwin  came  into  power 
543  ' 


Elgin,  Lord- continued. 
presses  the  hardships  of  Canada  on 

Colonial  Office,  547,  548. 
opens  Parliament,  552 
/^aceful  act  of,  ib. 
firmness  of,  555 
refuses  to  dissolve  Parliament  or 

reserve  Rebellion  Losses  Bill,  655 
assaulted  by  mob,  667 
his  carriage  smashed,  660 
keeps  within  bounds  of  his  country 

Boat,  ib. 

Assembly  vote  him  a  condolatory 

address,  ib. 
burned  in  effigy,  561 
makes  a  tour  through  Upper  Can- 
ada, 663 
received  with  enthusiasm,  664 
on  the  colonial  existence,  annexa- 
tion and  independence,  567—669 
on  responsible  government,  672 
his  social  parties,  673 
congratulates  Parliament  en  Legis- 
lative progress,  677 
sonds  for  Hincks,  ib. 
goes  to  England,  respecting  Reci- 
procity Treaty,  634 
returns  to  Canada,  ib 
departure  of,  689 
Elliott,  Rev.  James,  D.  D. ,  629 
EUis,  John  v.,  166 
Elrasley,  John,  400 
Eloquence,  palm  of  635 
Evans,  Rev.  David,  632 
Emancipation,    Catholic,     in     Nova 

Scotia,  149 
Embury,  97 

Emigrants,  class  of  sent  from  Ireland. 
62  ' 

diary  of  one,  256-261 
of  Robinson  defended  by  jb\izttih. 

b(m,  360.  * 

industry  of,  369 
assailed  by  Wm.  Lyon  Mackenzie, 

ouU 

visited  by  (rovern  >r-general  Sir  P 
Maitland,  362 

ship  from  Cork,  265 

suii..^  transmitted  by,  65 
Emigration,  (see  Immigration,)  640 

heart-rending  partings,  356 

farewell  of  an  emigrant,  367 

Irish,  after  the  Rebellion,  590-608 

Singular  episode  in,  288 
Emily,  Town&hip  of,  360 


676 


INDEX. 


England,  Church  of,  024-629 
jealoujy,  of  Irish  Manufactures,  27 

English  in  Ontario,  preface,  iii 

Pagan,    Conquest  of   Britain    by, 
thrust  a  wedge  of  heathendom 
into  the  heart  of  Christendom,  13 
patriotism,  45 

people  not  responsible  for  the  wrong 
done  by  their  rulers  in  the  past, 
130 

Envy,  123 

Evans,  Sir  De  Lacy,  33 

Eric  of  Auxerre  on  Ireland,  as  the 
school  of  Europe,  14 

Erskine,  Mr.,  his  unsuccessful  mis- 
sion, 198 

Examiner,  The,  407 

Executive  Council,  weakness  of  Met- 
calfe's, 519 

Executive,  Irresponsible,  173 

Factions,  Irish,  exist  in  Canada  but 

in  shadow,  4 
Fair,  Irish,  595 
I^'amily  Compnct  rise  of,  174 
startled  by  Gourlay,  387 
decUne  of,  4^9,  546,  564 
Famine,  Irish,  peoi>lc   starving  and 
plenty  of  food  in  the  conntry,  46 
chief  duty  of  troops  in  assize  towns 
to  guard  the  floui  in  its  trar  iit 
from  the  mills  to  the  port,  ib. 
against    this   nionstroii"    state    of 
things  the  men  of '48  protested,  54 
meetings  in  Canada  to  relieve,  541, 
542 
Farmers,  fifty  years  ago,  251 
Farrell,  E.,  Ivi.D.,  158 
Farrer,  Mr.  Edward,  603 
Fathers,  natural  to  wish  to  know  who 

and  what  they  were,  2 
Faust,  translation  from,  595 
Fecundity,  Ir^sh,  314 
Female  purity,  Irish,  65 
Fenian  Inva.sion,  656 
Connolly  on,  ib. 
McGee  on,  ib. 
Trials  656 
Ferris,  James  Marshall,  M.P.P.,  661 
Feudal  tenure,  103 
Fever  and  Ague,  358,  369,  375 
typhus  breaks  out  among  settlers 
in  Adelaide,  304 
Financial  genius,  409 
Fitzgerald,  James,  364 


Fitzgerald — conthmed. 
J()hn,  95 

Field  Marshal,  note  127 
Fitzgibbon,  Colonel,  194 
Brock's  right  hand,  205 
brilliant  feat  of,  216 
niade  captain,  217 
effect  on  him  of  a  lark's  song,  219 
and  Mrs.  Jameson,  220 
taken  prisoner,  221 
his  views  on  pillage,  ib. 
filial  piety  of,  222 
gallantry  of,  at  Black  Rock,  223 
defends  Peter  Robinson's  Irish  Emi- 
grants, 3G0-361 
his  conduct  during  rebellion  of  1837, 
402 
Flood  and  Grattan,  under  their  spell 
the  modern  nation  of  Ireland  was 
bom,  27 
Flood,  Rev.  Wm.  306 
Foley,  Michael   Hamilton,  586,  661 , 
653 
Mrs.  354 
'48,  two  of  the  leaders  of,  have  been 
servants  of  the  Crown,  44 
had  an  influence  in  precipitating  the 
legislation  of  1868  and  1869— it 
inspindthe  muse  of  Davis,  and 
the  life  of  McGee,  ib. 
events  of  judged  by  the  actors,  ib. 
Scoto  Presbyterian,  on,  45 
Fort  Erie,  fall  of,  leads  to  a  gallant 

struggle,  237 
Forensic  talent,  Irish,  609-611 
Foscer,  Captain,  ^6 
William,  353 

W.  A.,  his  testimony  to  McGee's 
influence  in  teaching  Canadians 
self-resp'c^,  4 
Fox,  Charges  James,  opposed  to  the 
Act  Ox  ^,'91, 104 
his  genius,  386 
France  relied  on  in  time  of  James  II. , 
24 
peace  with,  239 
Franklin  and  the  Stamp  Act,  56 
and  Charles  Thcnpson,  ib. 
visits  Dublin,  59 
Eraser,  Brigadier,  86 
Eraser,  Hon.  Christopher,  68,  659 
Fraaer's  Magazine  on  the  Ulster  men's 

success  in  the  States,  54  note 
Free  and  common  socage,  103 
Free  trade,  effect  of,  547 


INDEX. 


077 


French  Canadians   tempted  by    the 
Amoricans  to  disloyalty,  75 
apathy  of,  76 

the  hftlit  of  abusing,  to  be  discon- 
tinued, 5G2 
French   colony    founded    by   Cham- 
plain,  08 
interference  in  Ireland,  early  com- 
menced, 22 
language,  policy  of  abolishing    in 

public  proceedings,  417 
population,  attitude  of,  560 
r6gime    characteriso.^l     by     distin- 
guished men,  08 
falls  with  Montcahii,  ib. 
Frenchmen,   their  capacity  for  self- 
government,  380 
Froude's  testimony  to  the  Irish,  40 
Fuller,  Bishop,  024-6 

G.MT,    Mr.    (Sir   Alexander)    leaves 
ministry,  065 

Gamble,  Dr.  Jolin,  95 

Gaudet,  M.,  441 

Gavazzi,  Father,  579 
riots,  679,  680 

General  election,  1841,  431 

Genius,  artistic,  of  Irishmen,  35 

Gentlemen  settlers,  121 

George  IV.,  death  of,  395 

Ghent,  conference  at,  240 

Gillmor,  Col.,  022,023 

Ginty,  John,  284,  294 

Gladstone,  Right  Hon.  W.  E.,  Irish 
Land  Bill  of,  will  lead  to  a  like 
measure  in  England,  28 
in  favour  of  Union  Bill,  430 
on  Rebellion  Lo8.ses  Bill,  554 
a  schoolfellow  of  Lord  Elgin,  536 

Glenelg,  Lord,  despatch  of,  448,  449, 
450  '        '        » 

Glengarries,  Highland,  211 

Glenny,  John,  353 

Olobe,  on  parties  in  1850,  574 
defection    of,    from    the    Reform 
Party,  576 

Goodwin,  Colonel  Henry,  020-022 

Gore  Councillors,  address  of,  498 

Gormfiaith,  King  Brian's  wife,  10 

Gough,  Viscount,  33 

Goulbom,  William,  429 

Gourlay,  386,  387 

Governor-General,  distinction  be- 
tween his  position  fuid  that  of 
king,  517 


Governor,  high-handed  conduct  of,  in 

Upper  Canada,  380 
Govemmoat,  defeat  of,  532 
Government  of  Upper  Canada 

ai  bitrary  character  of,  in  1862, 388 
of  Lord  Aletcalfe  sustained,  515 
responsible,   {see  responsible    gov- 
ernment. ) 
attacked  by  Mr.  Crofton,  527 
Tory  assailed  by  Tories,  533 
seat  of,  question,  414 
Gowan,  Judge,  607 
OgleR.,  614,634 
birth  .jf,  411 

leading  member  of  Orange  institu- 
tion, ib. 
emigrates  in  1820,  ib. 
remarkable  pamphlet  of,  ib. 
advocates  constitutional  principle? , 

ib. 
objects  to  union   save  on  certain 

conditions,  415 
is  consulted  by  Sir  Charles  Met- 
calfe, 492 
letter  to  his  partner,  492,  note. 
moves    for    a    long  adjournment, 

519 
for    inquiry  into    management  of 
Board  of  Works,  520 
Grace,  William,  346 
Graham,  Sir  James,  476 
Grattan,  great   triumph  short  lived. 

27 
Greeks  and  Irishmen,  39 
Greatness,  secret  of,  183 
Grey,  Lord,  on  Imperial  policy,  547 

on  Republics,  570 
Griffin,  M.  J.,  603 

Gnts,  Clear  make  themselves  felt,  577. 
588  ' 

(,'uelph,  fifty  years  ago,  240 

town  of,  381,  383 
Gwynne,  Mr.  Justice,  preface  vi. .  n. 
004, 605  ^ 

railway  schemes  of,  577,  578 
Doctor,  476 

Habeas  Corpus,  101 
Habitans,  apathy  of,  77 
Hagarty,  Chief  Justice,  605 

a  poet,  606 
Haldimand,  Major-General,  bad  cha- 
racter of,  88 

recalled,  101 
Halifax,  146 


I 


i 


678 


INDEX 


Hamilton,  Henry,  Qovemor,  101 
Bishop  of,  021 
City  of,  379 
outrage,  389 
Col.  O.  405,  406 
Hampton,  '228,230 
Hannan,  Archbishop,  640,  641 
Hargraft,  William,  MP.  P.,  661 
Harkin,  William,  M. P.P., 662 
Harker,  Rev.  E.  B.,  629 
Harrison,  with  his  Kentucky  Forest- 
rangers,  209 
Chief  Justice,  his  family,  285,  287 
his  career,  609,  611 
Harris,  Rev.  J. ,  632 
Hatton,  Joseph,  misapprehension  re- 
garding Canada — Preface,  iii 
Havelock,  97 
Hawkins,  J.  J.,  593 
Haydens,  the,  288-294 
Head,  Sir  Francis,  Governor-General, 
396 
makes  overtures  to  Baldwin,  ib, 
dissents  from  Baldwin's  views,  ib. 
induces  Baldwin  to  accept  a  seat  in 

his  Council,  397 
makes  appointments   on    his   own 

responsibility,  ib. 
Council  remonstrates  with,  ib. 
Council  resign,  ib. 
breach  between,  and  the  House  of 

Assembly,  ib. 
seeks  the  assistance  of  Robert  B. 

Sullivan,  399 
shuns  identifying  himself  with  the 

old  official  party,  ib. 
quarrel  with  Assembly,  400 
his  demagogic  talents,  ib. 
disBolyes  the  House,  401 
the  issue  he  put  befoi  j  the  country, 

ib. 
exciting  general  election,  ib. 
alarm  of,  at  the  rebellion,  402 
succeeded  by  Sir  George  Arthur, 
406 
Heck,  Barbara,  1-7 
Henry  the  Seconr!,  Irish  noi^les  and 

kings  submit  -■<  him,  2.1 
Herbert,  Sidney,  47t) 
Heroine,  a,  354 
Heroism,  Irish,  89 
Herrick,  Dr.,  598,  599 
Higgins's,  The,  55 

Higgins,  W.  H., Editor  o'  the  Whitby 
Chronicle,  597 


Hill,  P.  C,  168 
Hills,  the,  of  Cork,  ib, 
Hincks,  Sir  Francis,  Preface  vi 
cashier  in  a  bank,  278 
the  debentures  scandal,  282 
the  Montague  of  finance,  407 
starts  the  Exanmier,  ib. 
birth  and  career,  408,  409 
financial  ({uestions,  452 
sketch  of,  464 
sits  on  extreme  left,  ib. 
supports  inquiry  into  riots  at  the 

elections  in  the  Lower  Province, 

465 
supports  Ministry,  466    • 
explains  his  support  of  Municipal 

Bill,  467,  468 
attacked  by  Prince,  469 
enlightens  House  on  Imperial  Loan, 

471 
attacks  Government,  442 
jc'n;>  Sir  Charles  Bagot's  Govem- 

ii>ent  as  Inspector-General,  477 
amiising  correspondence  relative  to 

the  appointment  of,  between  the 

Governor  and  Mr.    Cartwright, 

478 
his  admitted  ability,  489 
starts  Pilot,  508 
violently  attacked,  ib. 
defeated  in  Oxford,  514 
refuses  to  stand,  ib. 
house  threatened  by  mob,  559 
raises  Canadian  credit,  565 
holds  successful  meetings  in  Oxford, 

ib. 
introduces   resolutions   respecting 

clergy  reserves,  578 
legislative  energy  of    his  govern- 
ment, 579 
his  government  loses  popularity, 

580,  581 
goes  to  England,  584 
lukewani.  respecting  clergy  reserves 

question,  585 
appeals  to  the  country,  586 
r-^signs,  587 

becomes  a  Colonial  Governor,  589 
departure  of,  645 
returns  to  Canada,  659 
becomes  Finance  Minister,  ib. 
retires  from  public  life,  660 
History,  Irish,  divided  into  periods 

7 
Histc'  1,  future,  of  Canada,  shorild 


INDEX. 


07^ 


H  istorian — contimied. 

have  to  hia  hand  all  the  facta  re- 
lating to  its  aettloment,  3 
ignorant  and  uncritical,  the  victim 
of  idle  legend,  2 
Hodgins,  Dr.  J.  O.,  643 
Hogan,    John  Sheridan,  hia  career, 
645,  646 
attaoka  Government,  651 
Hohnea,     Benjamin,     returned    for 
Montreal,  4JJ7 
his  viewa  on  nationality  in  Canada, 

437,  438 
financial  queationa,  452 
meanly  oppreaaed  by  Government, 

627 
Callaghan,  288  290 
Honour,  Triah,  274 
Hospital,  Marine,  at  St.  Oatharine'a, 

602 
Hotela  fifty  yeara  ago,  252,  253 
Houae  of  Assembly,  1826,  Reporta  of, 

diapute  regarding,  387 
H(  *fard,  Allan  McLean,    Preface,  vi. 

/ames  Scott,  267 
Huguenot  Iriah  emigran';8,  ib. 
Hull,  General,  205,  206 
Hume,    Mr.,    diasatiafied    with    the 

Union  Bill,  426-428 
Hunter,  Rev.  S.  J.,  629 

Rev.  W.  J.,  ib. 
Huskiason,  Mr.,  421 

Immigration,  American.  Preface,  v. 
Irish,  after  '98,  172 

after  1815,  245 

after  Rebellion,  384 

immense,    40-542 
Imperial  Parliament  diacuaaes  Union 

Bill,  421 
Incumbered   Eatatea    Act,    valuable 

propoaitiona  affirmed  by,  28 
Independence,  declaration  of,  87 

and  annexation,  567 
Indians  appealed  to  by  Carle  ton,  78 

effect  of  aaaociafclun  with,  616 
Indian  frontier  war,    jtory  of  Irish 

heroiam  in,  56 
India,  Iriahmen  in,  33 
Ingratitude,  123 
Intellect,  character  of  Iriah,  38 
Invective,  political,  513 
Ireland,  the  land,  cause  of  quarrel  in, 

from  ago  to  age,  4 
early  inhabitants.  Celts,  8 


Ireland — continueil. 
civilization  in,  9 
Ohriatianity  introduced,  13 
the  Pharos  of  Europe,  ib 
conquest  of,  19 
conquest  of,  explained,  20 
arrival  of  Henry  II.  in,  ib 
adminiaterad  aa  a  Norman  provinoe 

21 
under  Henry  VIII.,  22 
number  of  great  men  produced  by, 

28 
the  great  liberalizing  force  of  the 

empire,  lb 
in  the  eighteenth  century,  47 
a  land  of  limitless  paature,  ib 
Proteatant  energy  in,  lulled    into 

lethargy    by    diaqualification    of 

Catholica,  47,  48 
had  not  food  enough  for  popula- 
tion, 48 
paaturea  broken  up,  ib. 
acreage  of,  under  wheat   in   1847 

and  1875,  48,  49 
effect  on,  of  absentees,  49 
contrast  between,  and  Canada,  50 
cattle  and  sheep,  49 
distress  in,  540 — 542 
meetings  in  Canada  to  relieve  dia- 

treaa  in,  542 
Iriah  agitation  in  Montreal,  543,  544 
attempt  to  exclude  them,    by  the 

colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  53 
attraction,  Froude,  41 
and  Scotch,  mixture  of,  309 
blood  the  main  tide  in  the  United 

States,  62 
Canadian,  moderate  articles  in,  on 

the  men  of  action,  41,  604 
character,  kindnesa  of,  65 
church,  fall  of,  heralds  the  doom  of 

the  English  Church,  28 
disunion  compared  with  Grecian,  17 
intellect,  character  of,  38- 
character,  ib. 

emigrant,  character  of,  401 
farmers,  245 
conduct  of,  in  the  rebellion  of  1837, 

401 
emigration    prior    to    rebellion  of 

1837,  383 
in  Oiitario,  pref.  iii. 
goodness  of  heart,  39,  41 
invasion  of  south-west  Britain,  1 2 
learning  and  hospitality  of  the,  14 


680 


INDEX. 


Irish — continued. 

occupation  of  South  Wales  and 
Cornwall  a:-*  d  tales  of  King  Arthur, 
13 
oppression  of,  compared  with  Nor- 
man oppression  of  the  English, 
21-22 
oppression,  Lord  Burleigh's  opinion 

of,  44 
Disraeli's  opinion  of,  45 
papers,  moderation  of  some,  44 
period  in  Canada  passing  away,  582 
priest  followed  his  people  into  the 

wildemesSj'lOl 
settlers  in  Newfoundland,  143 
settlers,  qualities  of,  131, 133,  134 
struggle    for  free    trade,  and    for 
emancipation  from  English  dic- 
tation, 27 
gave  thoi  world  a  period  of  great 

eloquence,  ib. 
success,  245 

the,  in  the  rebellion  of  1837,  403 
valour  at  Limerick,  at  the  Boyne, 

on  the  Continent,  27 
want  of  loyalty  to  each  other  among, 

17 

**  Irishman  in  Canada,"  character  of 
the  work,  385,  684,  need  of,  pre- 
face iii. 
Irishmen,  artistic  genius  of,  35 

as  journalists,  37 

as  lawyers,  35 

as  preachers,  34 

as  statesmen  and  orators,  ib 

and  repeal  in  Metcalfe's  time,  491 

danger  of  riot,  Metcalfe's  conduct 
respecting,  ib 

and  Greeks  compared,  39. 

and  the  New  Dominion  Cabinet,  656 

and  Scotchmen,  kiaship  of,  10,  11 

bill  to  put  down,  520 

have  had  too  much  of  the  inspira- 
tion of  hatred,  129 

in  humble  life,   important  part  in 
Lower  Canadian  rebellion,  403 

in  Canada  should  rise  to  a  high 
level,  6 

in  Canada,  number  of,  135-143 

in  literature,  36 

and  the  war  of  1812,  61 

loyalty  of,  in  Canada,  Preface  iv 

their    dislike    of    each    other  ex- 
plained, ib. 
duty  of,  iv,  V. 


Irishmen — continued. 

of  Brantford,  The  sensible  address, 

to  Metcalfe,  492 
met  everywhere   in  America  in  the 

18th  century,  52 
modern,  not  a  Celt,  8 
"  smart,"  opinion  of,  in  the  United 

States,  63 
number  of,  in  Dominion,  preface, 

iii.,  136-143 
their  achievements  in  the  world,  127 
what  they  have   done  as  pioneers 

and  citizens  in  Canada,  4 

Jackson,  the  victor  of  New  Orleans, 
the  son  of  poor  Irish  emigrants, 
61 
James  II.,  24,  29 

a  coward,  27 
Jameson,  Mrs.,  626 
Jeffers,  D.D.,  Rev.  Wellington,  629 
Jefferson,  President,  196,  197 
Johnson,  James,  91 
Johnston,  J.,  603 
Jordan  Family,  the,  353 
Journalists,  Irish,  603 

Irishmen  as,  37,  329,  331 
Judicial  talent,  Irish,  604-611 
Junkin  Family,  the,  353 
Justice,  corruption  of,  88 

love  of,  95 

administration  of,  102 

Kane,  Paul,  birth  of,  611 

education,  ib. 

compared  with  Krieghoff,  612-13 

leaves  Toronto,  613 

difficulties,  ib, 

visits  Italy,  614 

results  of  visit,  614,  615 

determines  to   paint    Indian  sub- 
jects, 615 

marries,  616 

his  art  not  wholly  inspired  by  na- 
ture, ib. 

death,  ib. 
Kaye,  John  William,  biograpner  of 

Lord  Metcalfe,  489 
Kean,  John,  M.P.P.,  662 
Keeler,  181 
Keenan,  Thomas,  346 
Kelly,  Doctor,  593 

Edward,  364 
Kennedy,  John,  347 

Warring,  697 


INDEX. 


681 


Kerr,  William,  M.P,,  661 
Kilkenny,  Statute  of,  22 
Killaly,  H.  H.,  433,  436,  489. 
King  Arthur,  Tales  of,  and  the  Irish 
occupation  of  South  Britain,  13 
King  Brian's  wife,  the   Irish  Helen, 

16 
Kingsmill,  Colonel,  622 
Kindness  and  politeness  of  Irish   39 

of  Irish  character,  65  ' 

King,  Dr., 476 

Eev.  William,  632 
Kingston,   a  force  of   2,000  thrown 
into,  228 
in  early  days,  365 
worthies  of,  366-372 
Lord  Sydenham's  (Thompson's)  en 

trance  into  in  1841 ,  439 
settlers  in,  593 
Kirkpatrick,  George  A.,  M.P.,  ib. 


Lacolie    Mills,   Wilkinson  fails  to 

take,  236 
Lafontaine,  480,  489 
his  house  attacked,  562 
those  inside  fire,  ib. 
Lake  Ontario,  command    of,  passes 

out  cf  British  hands,  76 
Land  property  is  like  no  other  pro- 
perty, 46 
Language,  uniformity  of,   in  parlia- 
ment and  public  documents,  414 
417  ' 

Landscape,  Canadian,  g'ory  of,  617 
Lane,  John,  M.P.P.,  662 
Lawrence,  John,  97 
Lauder,  Venerable  John  Strutt,  627 
Lawyers,  Irishmen  as,  35 
Law,  Courts  of,  established,  71 
Leader,  278 

Legends,  Irish  historians  have  delight- 
ed too  much  in  them,  51 
Legislative  Council,  First,  88 

and  the  elective  principle,  417 
Legislation,  fruitful,  575 
Lemoiue,  J.  M.,  his  opinion  of  the 

conduct  of  Carle  ton,  HT 
Leonardo  da  Vinci,  614 
Leopard,  the,  brings  Chesapeake  to, 

Lexington,  battle  of,  75 
Lewis,  Bishop.  625-6 
Lewiston  fired,  233 
Liberty,  early  struggle  for,  407 
Library  at  Ottawa,  656 


Limerick  founded  on  this  continent, 

55 
Limerick  founded  by  the  Danes,  17 
siege  of,  one  of  the  most  glorious 
things  in  the  history  of  the  world. 
27 
fruits  of  the  siege  denied  the  be- 
sieged, ib. 
Lindsay,  246 

leading  men  of,  346,  347 
Lindsey,  Mr.  Charles,  preface  vi.,  68, 

oo7 
Lisgar,  LorO,  062. 
Literary  Garland,  593 
Literature,  Irishmen  and,  Mr.  Wil- 
liam  McDonnell's  works,  346 
Irishmen  in,  36 
Livingston,  John,  165 
Local  self-government,  importance  of, 

444,  445 
Logging  Bees,  134,  348 
London  (Ontario)  early  Irish  settlers 

in,  380,  381 
Londonderry,  settlement  of,  54 
Long,  Thomas,  M.P. P.,  662 
Lovekin,  Richard,  settles  in  Clarke, 
170  ' 

Love  in  the  wilderness,  362 
Love  of  country,  a  virtue  in  Ireland 
as  elsewhere,  45 
nobis  in  the  Irishman,  63 
Lower  Canada  divided  into  counties, 
cities,  and  boroughs,  105 
discontent  in,  386 
Loyalty  in  Lord  Elgin's  time,  550 
Lynch,  Archbishop,  635 
Lumberers,  311,  353 
Lundy's  Lane,  238 
Lyndhurst,  Lord,  476 


Macdonald,  Rt.  Hon.  Sir  John  A., 

384 
part  of   pageant   welcoming   Lord 

Sydenham  in  1841,  439 
precocious  statesmanship  of,  634 
qitizzed  by  George  Brown,  542 
joins  Brown  in  opposition  toHincks. 

586 
Premier,  645 
at  Baldwin's  funeral,  652 
on  D'Arcy  McGee's  death,  668 
Sandfield,     government  beaten,  on 

a  vote  of  want  of  confidence  pro 

posed  by   Mr.  J.  A.  Macdonald, 

653-654 


682 


INDEX, 


Macdonald,  Sandfield— conimited. 
appeals  to  country,  ib. 
omits  McGee  and  Foley  from  the 
Cabinet,  654 
Macdonell,  Rev.  D.  J.,  or  nationality, 

129,  and  not 
Mack,  Rev.  Mr.,  475 
Mack,  Dr.  Theophilus,  475,  699-603 
Mackinaw,  taken  and  retaken,  206 
Machar,  Miss,  her  opinion  of  Fitzgib- 

bon's  feat,  216 
Mackenzie,  William   Lyon,  his  life, 
387 
working  with  Baldwin,  389 
first  Mayor  of  Toronto,  399 
rebellious  plans  deranged,  402 
returned  for  Haldimand,  575 
defeats  George  Brown,  577 
Hon.   Alex,    on   MoGee's  death, 
659 
MscVintosh,  C.  H.  604 
MacMullen.  the  historian,  402 
MacNab,  Six-  Allen,  442,  511 

coalesces  with  the  opposition  against 

Municipal  Bill,  466 
Government  candidate  for  Speaker, 

514 
joins    Brown     in     opposition     to 

Hincks,  585 
forms  Government,  587 
as  Premier,  645 
Madden,  181 
Madison,  President  96-97 
Mselmurra,  Bong  of  Leinster,  vassal 
of  the  Danes,   16 
taunted  by  his  sister,  Brian's  wife, 

ib. 
result  of  his  anger,  ib. 
general  strife  and  destruction,  ib. 
Magee,  Dr. ,  34 
Magrath,    Major,  and  his  dragoons, 

438 
Maguire,  Judge,  611 

Larry,  347 
Maitland,  Sir  P.,  high-handed  con- 
duct of,  388 
Manuhesber  fired,  233 
Mandat  imperatif,  injurious    to  the 

country,  392 
Maine,  Irish  settlement  in,  55 
Manning,  Alexander,  281,  283 
Mariposa,  353     - 
Marlborough,  69,  394 
Marriage  in  1823,  249 
Martin,  Mr.,  617 


Matchett,  Thomas,  347 

McBeth,  George,  124 

McCarthy,  Dalton,  662 

M'Carty,  James,  persecuted,  trtigic 

death,  98 
McConkey,  the  family  of,  300 
McCaul,  Dr.,  preface  vi.  ;  475,  476, 

60G 
McCord,  A.  T.,  269 

JudT:e,  611 
K^^iore,  Genl.,  230,  231 
McDonald,  Cclonel,  208 
McDonell,  Bishop,  181,  182 

William,  346 
McGees,  the,  353 
McGee,  D'Arcy,  645-646 

his  birth,  647 

his  mother,  ih. 

emigrates  to  America,  648 

returns  to  Ireland,  ib. 

joins  Gavan  Duffy  on  Nation,  649 

escapes  to  America,  ib. 

controversy  with  Archibishop 
Hughes,  ib. 

revolution  in  his  views,  ib. 

a  poet,  65 ) 

comes  xo  Canada,  ib. 

New  Era,  ib. 

power  as  a  speaker,  661 

wit  of,  ib. 

influence  in  creating  a  national 
spirit,  4 

taunted  in  the  Canadian  Parlia- 
ment with  having  been  a  rebel-  - 
his  reply,  45 

popularizes  confederation,  653,  654 

assails  Government,  653 

on  Fenianism,  655 

not  included  in  Dominion  Govern- 
ment, 656 

elected  after  a  great  struggle,  ib. 

his  power  gone,  ib, 

his  longing  for  fame,  657 

becomes  religious,  ib. 

determines  to  retire  from  politics, 

ib. 

patriotism  to  Canada,  656 

assassinated,  ib. 

sorrow  for,  669 
McGivem,  Col. ,  655 
McGreevjr,   Hon.    T.,   M.P.,   buUds 

Farhament  buildings,  ib. 
McGi-ady,  Major  Hugh,  valour  of,  53 
McHughs,  the,  349 
McLean,  CoL,  79,  83 


INDEX. 


68^ 


McLean,  Chief  Justice,  pupil  of  Dr 

Baldwin,  389 
McLeod  case,  the,  443 
McMaster,    Hon.   William,  270-272, 

McMurray,  Kev.  William,  626,  627 
McMurrough,  Dennot,  18 
McPherson,  Rev.  Thomas,  632 
McQuade,  Arthur,  M.P.,  350 
Meadowrale,  early  settlers  in,  275 
Medicine  unlicensed,  practice  of,  102 
Meeting  of  Lord  Metcalfe's  Council, 

aflfecting,  629 
Membership  of  the  Assembly,  qaali- 

fication  for,  414 
Merchants,  successful  Irish,  64, 271 
Meredith,  W.  R,  M.P.P.,  380,  662 
Merritt,  W.  H.,  on  the  resignation  of 

Baldwin,  464 
Metcalfe,  Sir  Charles  ;  see  Lord 
Metcalfe,  Lord,  396 
his  arbitrary  and  autocratic  temper. 
340  ' 

his  incapacity  to  carry  out  respon- 
sible government,  ib. 
appointed      Governor-General     of 

Canada,  483 
unfitted  for  the  position  by  his  past 

experience,  ib. 
arrives  at  Kingston,  484 
impossible  to  defend  save  at  the  ex- 
pense of  his  intelligence,  486 
his  despatches,  487 
on  his  ministry,  ib. 
his  scorn  of  responsible  government. 
487,  488,  489  ' 

his  council,  489 
his    capacity  in   certain   coniunc- 

tions,  491  ■• 

consults  Ogle  R.  Gowan,  492 
opens  parliament,  493 
reply  to  address,  ib. 
quarrels  with  his  ministry,  495 
on  his  trial  in  consequence  of  the 

resignation  of  his  ministry,  496 
seeks  in  vain   to  form  a  ministry, 

ib. 
self-exaltation,  497 
false  view  of  his  duties,  ib. 
governs  without  a  ministry,  603- 

507  ' 

sends  for  Dr.  Ryer^on,  604 
conduct  brought   before  Imperial 

Parliament,  507 
forms  a  ministry,  510,  511 


Metcalfe,  Lord— con^innerf. 
the  Conservatives  go  to  the  country 

on  the  governor's  ticket,  513 
weakness  of  his  executive  council. 

519  ' 

his  malady  becomes  worse,  521-526 
raised  to  the  Peerage,  522 
congratulatory  address,  ib. 
his  inner  tragedy,  525 
end  of  his  Government  and  life  at 

hand,  527 
his  character,  528 
affecting  meeting  of    his  council. 

629  ' 

arrives  in  England,  ib. 

generosity— stubbomess,  530 
death  of,  631,  532 
Methodism,  early,  97 
prospects  of,  ib. 
its  achievements,  178,  179 
i»i    Newfoundland,   Nova    Scotia, 
New  Brunswick,  Prince  Edward 
Island,  182,  183 
in  York,  early,  274 
Methodist  Church,  629-632 
Mexico,  irishmen  in,  62 
Millars,  the,  152 
Miles  de  Cogan,  20 
Military  spirit,  331 
Military  affairs,  Irishmen   and,  620- 

623 
Military  enthusiasm,  664 
Militia  Act  nassed,  88 
Milton,  394 

Ministerial  explanation,  479 
Ministry,  resignation  of,  495 

new,  543 
Misgovemment,  inquiry  into,  101 
Missionaries,  early,  376 
Missionary,  a  true,  99 

life,  624-626 
Mitchel,  John — his  diary,  44 
his  manner  of  viewing  the  '48  fiasco 
lb.  ' 

elected  because  of  the  Irish  love  of 
country,  45 
Moffat,  James,  353 
MoUoy,  John,  403-405 
Monahan,  A,,  433. 
Monck,  Lord,  663,  654 

departure  of,  662 
Monk,  Barbara,  94 
Monkland,  G.  H,,  397 
Montcalm,  fall  of,  68 
Monteith,  Andrew,  M.P.,  661 


^m 


684 


INDEX. 


Montgomery,  General,  57 

succeeds  Schuyler  in  command  of 

the  American  invaders,  78 
at  Pointe-Aux-Trembles,  84 
fall  of,  85 
Montreal,  impossible  to  defend,  79 
first  impression  of,  260,  261 
Irishmen  in,  o28 
riots  in,  557-560 
post  rebellion  settlement  in,  592 
Moodio,  Mrs, ,  593 

and  the  Irish  settler,  135 
Moore,  37 

the  true  laureate  of  Canada,  187 
his  boat  song,  188 
his  letter  to  Lady  Charlotte  Raw- 
don,  ib. 
his  night  picture  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence, 189 
James,  353 
John,  433 
Rev.  William,  632 
Morin,  M.,  44] 

Morning  in  the  old  country,  218 
Morphy  family,  the,  284 
Morrison,  Colonel,  229 
Moss,  Mr.  Justice,  608 

his  career,  609 
Mostyn,  William,  M.P.P.,  662 
Mothers,  influence  of,  on  their  off- 

sprmg,  647,  648 
Municipal  syptem,  foundation  o, ,  laid, 
465 
bill  resisted  by  extreme  Tories  and 
Reformers,  466 
Murillo,  614 
Murray,  General,  231 
appointed  Governor  of  Quebec,  71 
Colonel  John,  159 
William,  M.P.,  661 

N;*MBS,  Celtic  given  Saxon  form,  286 

Napoleon  and  Count  O'Reilly,  31 
and  the  Berlin  decree,  195 

Nationality,  what,  663, 

National  fancy,  deposit  of,  easily  mis- 
taken for  the  gold  of  truth,  7 
spirit  inspired  by  McGee,  4 

Naval  capture  by  an  American  vessel 
made  by  Irishmen,  52 

Navy,  American,  part  played  by  Irish- 
men in,  58 

Neal,  George,  soldier  and  preacher. 

Nelson,  394 


Newspapers,  early,  261,  262 

of  1841 ,  430 
Newark,  see  Niagara,  first  parliament 
opened  at,  104 
old  capital  of  Upper  Canada,  173 
New  Brunswick,  set  apart,  158 
Irish  in,  ib. 
first    Governor,    Colonel    Thomaa 

Carleton,  ib. 
exiled  loyalists  in,  159 
dead-lock  in,  176 
the  first  cotton  mill  in,  founded  by 

an  Irishman,  161 
press  in,  164 

leading  clergymen  in,  365, 167 
Newfoundland,  Irish  settlements  in, 
142-145 
Transatlantic  Ireland,  143 
politics  in,  144 
governors  of,  145 
Irish  newspapers  in,  ib. 
oldest  benevolent  society  in,  Irish, 
ib. 
Niagara,  Bishop  of,  624-625 
fort  taken,  232 

officers  playing  cards  at  the  time,  ih. 
Niblock,  Thavers,  346 
Nor'-west,  the  dream-land  of  boys  in 

the  early  days,  612 
Normanby,  Marquis  of,  his  despatch 
to  Sir  John  Colborne  relative  to 
reunion  of  Provinces,  412 
Normans,  deeds  of,  attributed  to  Eng- 
lishmen, 21 
Nova  Scotia,  Baron  de  Lery  lands  on 
Sable  Island  in  1578,  51 
settlement  of,  145 
its  capital,  146 

largely  settled  by  Irishmen,  ih. 
St.  Patrick's  day  in,  147 
Catholic  Emancipation,  question  of 

in,  149 
Irish  Presbyterian  colony  in,  150 
Colonization  of,  150,  151 
Millars  of,  152 
Creelmans  of,  153 
Archibalds  of,  ih. 
settlers  in,  149—156 
Bishop  of  (see  Newark),  625 

O'Bribn,  Col.  394-299 
Henry,  296 

Lucius,  the  first  of  Canadian  artists, 
617 


INDEX. 


685 


nt 


as 


>y 


O'Connor,  Hon.  John,  338 
O'Connell,  34 

O'Donnell,    Baldearg,     sells    himself 
and  his  clan  for  a  pension  of 
£500,  17 
conspiracy  against,  23 
Father,  143 
Officials,  325,  326,  337 
Ogden,  Mr,,  459 
OHJrady,  Father,  278 
O'Halloran,  Mr.  James,  M.  P.,  655 
O'Hara,  Edward,  returned  for  Gasp^, 
105 
"Jimmy,"  205 
heroism  of,  212 
Olaf,  the  son  of  Sitric,  taken  prisoner 

by  O'Regan,  ransom  of,  17 
O'Neill    revolts,     and     invites     the 
Spaniards  to  Ireland,  23 
conspiracy  against,  ib. 
Ontario  ;  see  Upper  Canada 

population  of ,  preface  iii,  135-142 
a  wilderness  in  1763,  70 
Lake,  Wordsworth's  description  of, 

212,  (note). 
Bishop  of,  625,  626 
Opposition  in  Lord  Elofin's  time,  546 
Oppression,  loss  to  oppressor,  27,  174 
Order  in  Council,  197 
Orangeism,  founder  of,  in   Canada, 

323,  324 
Oramge  Sentinel,  604 
Orator,  greatest  gift  of  the,  393 
O'Reilly,  Peter,  366 
Judge,  379 
James,  Q.C.,  367 
his  forensic  skill,  368 
prosecutes  McGee's  murderer,  369 
in    the    Kingston   Town  Council, 

ib. 
M.P.  for  South  Renfrew,  370 
an  admirer  of  Sir  John  A.  Macdon- 

ald,  ib. 
ambition  for  the  bench,  ib. 
liberality  of  mind,  ib. 
his  wi\t.  370,  371 
O'SuUivan,  John,  M.P. P.,  662 
Ottawa,  owner  of  its  most  popular  and 
wealthy  portio-»,  323 
post  rebellion  settlement  in,  691 
Archdeacon  of,  627 

Pakinoton,  Sii-  J.,  and  the  Union 

Bill,  430 
Palatines,  Irish,  97 


Palmeraton,  Lord,  31 
remarks  on  defeat  of  Militia  Bill,, 
654 
Paper  Manufacturers,  leading  in  On- 
tario, 341-344 
Papineau,  403 

his  opinion  of  British  rule,  70 
Park,  Toronto,  392 
Parks,  William,  founder  of  the  New 
Brunswick  Cotton  Manufacture, 
161 
Parliament,  need  of  talent  to  elevate, 
329 
of  1841  meets,  438,  441 
first  of  united,  ended  well,  473 
of  1842  meets,  478 
opening  of,  493 
new,  meets  at  Montreal,  514 
members  of,  note,  514 
gap  left  in  assembly  by  the  removal 
of  Draper  to  Legislative  Council, 
518 
meets,  542 
new,  646 

Buildings  burned,  668 
arrest  of  the  incendiaries,  562 
Buildings  built  by   Hon.   T.   Mc- 

Greevy,  655 
opened,  ib. 
Parties  in  Canada  before  Lord  Syden- 
ham's time,  321 
disorganisation  of,  410 
state  of,  in  1850,  514 
Party  feeling,  violence  of,  504 

Mr.  Justice,  605 
Patriotism,  193 

Irish,  as  worthy  of  homage  as  other 

patriotism,  45 
should  co-exist  with  sweet  human 
charities  for  other  people,  128 
Patriot,  the,  279 
Patterson,  John  Colbrooke,  M.P. P., 

662 
Patterson,  Captain  Walter,  one  of  the 
first  Governors  of  Prince  Edward 
Island,  167 
Peter,  M.P. P.,  662 
Peace,  241 

Peasant  oppressed,  French  Canadian, 
becomes  a  free  British  citizen,  70 
Peel,  Sir  R.,  on  Union  BiU,  429 
defends  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe,  508 
County  of.  Irishmen  in,  301. 
Pembroke,  founder  of,  313 
Pennsylvania,  Irish  settlement  in,  50 


686 


INDEX. 


liberality  of    the  government  of  ; 
James  Logan  of  Lurgan,  62-59 
Penal  laws,  effect  of,  to  swell  the 
French  armien  with  Irish  valour 
27 
Perdue,  Henry,  363 
Peterborough,  246 
sixty  years  ago,  356 
town  of,  begins  to  rise,  361 
Prince  of  Wales  visits,  364 
Photography  introduced  by  an  Irish- 
man into  Upper  Canada,  617 
Pickering,  Townsnip  of,  697 
Piety  and  age,  179 
Pike,  General,  death  of,  212 
Pitt,  394 

and  the  Oonstitutional  Act,  104 
Plantation,  Ulster,  character  of,  23, 

24 
Piatt,  Saml.,  M.P.,  661 
Playfair,  WilUam,  363 
Poetry  and  Irish  genius,  618,  619 
Poet,  an  Ottawa,  327 
Political  invective,  613 
Poole,  Thomas  W.,  347 

Revd.  W.  H.,  629 
Poor  the,  unsatisfactory  condition  of, 

242 
Popular  government,  qualified  by  per- 
sonal, leads  to  difficulties,  386 
Population  of  Canada  in  1763,  70 
at  present,  analysis  of,  136-143 
Postage,  improvement  in,  443 
Potato,  failure  of  the,  46 
Poverty  and  artistic  genius,  613 
Power,  Patrick,  M.P,  168 
Mr.  Richard,  694 
behind  the  throne,  danger  of,  645 
Potts,  Rev.  John,  630-2 
Preachers,  Irishmen  as,  34 
Press,  conducted  by  Irishmen,  412, 
603,  604 
liberty  of,  174,  175 
in  Upper  Canaida^  176 
Presbyterian  emigration,  54 

Church,  632-6 
Presbyterianism,  influence  on  charac- 
ter, 24 
Preston,  79 

Prevobt,  Sir  George,  226 
ties  Brock's  hands,  207 
gives    orders   to    abandon    Upper 
Province,  227 
Priesthood  of  Lower  Canada  secured 
their  tithes  and  dues,  69 


Prince  Edward  Island,  406 

receives  an  Ass'^Tbly  in  1772,  72 
first  Governor  of,  x67 
discovery  oi,  v  ' 
New  Ireland,  168 
Des  Brisay,  169 
Hon.  Edw.  Whelan,  ib. 
Danl.  Brennan,  170 
Connolly  Owen,  ifc. 
Prince,  Colonel,  463 
Prince  of  Wales'   visit  to    Canada, 

364 
Private  Life,  sacredness  of,  392,  393 
Proctor,  211 

retreats,  226 
Profanity  in  1823,  260 
Progress,  all,  slow,  46 
Protestantism,  defects  of  the  efforts 
made  to  introduce  it  into  Ireland, 
23 
Protestant  and  Catholic,  264 

effect    of   interconnmunioation    of, 
663 
Provinces  of  Canada  divided,  103 
PubUc  men,  priv^ate  life  of,  should  be 
sacred,  392,  393 
meetings  of  delegates,  prohibited  iv 

Upper  Canada,  387 
Purse,  struggle  for  control  of,  in 

Lower  Canada,  386 
Works,  444 

Imperial  assistance  for,  ib. 
Publishing  business,   Irishmen  and, 

330 
Puritans,  persecution  of,  332 
settlers  from  among,   in   Ireland, 
333 

Qualification  of  members,  416 
Quebec,  rock  of,  consecrated  by  three 
deaths,  67 

taken  by  Wolfe,  68 

boundaries  of,  69 

erected  into  a  government,  70 

promised  an  assembly,  ib. 

Act,  the,  73 

denounced  by  Burke,  Fox,  and 

Chatham,  74 

Bishop  of,  his  charge  no  effect  on 
habitans,  77 

determination  to  defend  to  the  last, 
83 

siege  of,  84 

first  imprcecion  of,  259 
Queenston,  202 


INDEX. 


C87 


da, 
93 


trts 

of, 

be 
in 
in 

d, 
d, 

ee 


Quinte,  Bay  of,  methodist  circuit,  180 

Races,  mixture  of,  commenced  early, 

22 
Rafaelle,  614 
Railway  mania,  577 
Rainsford,  Mr.,  629 
Raizins,  The,  352 
Ramilies,  69 
Reade,  John,  poet,  603 
Rebellion  of  1798  more  national  than 
all  the  ichellions  which  preceded 
it,  27 
ushered  in    by    and  followed    by 

horrors,  ib. 
American,  56 

part  played  by  Irishmen  in,  56,  59 
antidote  to,  416 
of  1837,  278 
but  an  incident  in  the  struggle  for 

responsible  government,  385 
and  Irishmen,  331 
Rebels  meet  at  Montgomery's  tav- 


ern, 402 


warns  the  government 
deranged    by 


Fitzgibbon 

of  danger,  ib. 
Mackenzie's    plans 

Rolph,  ib. 
alarra  of  Sir  Francis  Head,  ib. 
Baldwin  sent  with  flag  of  truce,  ib. 
Rolph's  treason,  ib. 
flight  of  the  insurgents,  ib. 
losses  biU,  552,  553 
Times  on,  553 
Gladstone  on,  554 
in  the  Imperial  Parliament,  661 
Gladstone  on,  ib. 
in  the  House  of  Lords,  562 
the  old  commissioners  appointed, 

ib. 
riots  respecting  a  man  killed,  ib 
Reed,  W.  B.  354 
Reform  demonstration,  389 
Reformers  unwise  in  the  manner  they 
assailed  Metcalfe,  499,  500 
secure  a  majority  in  Upper  Canada, 

440 
meeting  of,  460 
great  meetings  of,  501,  609 
discontent  among,  581 
Religion  greatest  factor   in  civiliza- 
tion, 96 
of  Ireland,  10 

early  settlers  without  teachers  of, 
363 


Religion — continued. 

and  early  settlers,  375 

importance  of,  623 

differences  of,  624 
Rembrandt,  614 
Repeal,  643,  544,  649 

contributions    for,    raised    in  the 
Ignited  States,  61 
Report  of  procoedings  House  of  Assem- 
bly, 1826,  difficulties  regarding, 

887 
1826,  committee  to  inquire  into  en- 
couragement ot,  388 
Representatives,  difficulty  in  flnding, 

420 
Representation   by  Popidation,  663, 

664 
Responsible  Government 
the  struggle  for,  an  eventful  period, 

384 
those  who  struggled  for,  ib . 
struggle  for,  the  rebellion  of  1837, 

but  an  incident  of,  385 
collisions  between  government  and 
assemblies  in  British  North  Amer- 
ican Provinces,  406 
early  struggles  for  liberty,  407 
and  Mr.  Draper,  447,  450 
what,  449,  450 

Lord  John  Russell  distinguishes  be- 
tween Imperial  and  Colonial  cab- 
inets, 451,  462 
promises  of  Government  regarding, 

doubted,  465 
principles  of,  emphatically  affirmed 

by  Baldwin,  471 
and  the  Gore  Councillors,  498 
foolish  Tories  consider  a  curse,  526 
real  power  of  Governor  under,  572 
Revolution  in  Paris,  543 
Reynolds,  Mr.,  596 
Richey,  Rev.  Mathew,  629. 
Robb,  Dr.  John  Gardner,  633,  634 
Robinson,  Dr.  Stuart,  635 
Peter,  his  emigration,  355,  361 
Mr. ,  dignified  conduct  of,"  523 
William,  M. P. P.,  662 
Robertson,  Thomas  J. ,  643 
Roderic  portions  out  Meath  between 
O'Rourke  and  himself,  18 
King  of  Ireland,  ib. 
founds  lectorships  at  Armagh,  ib. 
summonses  a  hosting  of  the  men 
of  Ireland,  ib. 
jR  )ebuck  and  Metcalfe,  507 


^^K. 


688 


INDEX. 


Rolph,  John,  Dr.,  1)88-397 

treason  of,  402 
Roman  Catholic  Religion,  free  exer- 
cise of,  in  French  Canada  guaran- 
teed, 69 
Church  in  Upper  Canada,  181 
Catholics  can  be  loyal  to  a  Protestant 
Government,  254 
Ross,  Honourable  John,  395,  655 
establishes  a  paper,  546 
becomes  Solicitor-Gfeneral,  546 
Grand  Trunk  Railway,  546 
Russell,  Hon.  Peter,  173 
Lord  John,  413 
gratified  at  the  news  from  Canada, 

420,  421 
on  the  Union  Bill,  421-428 
he  points  out  the  difference  be- 
tween Imperial  and   Colonial 
cabinets,  451 
defends  Metcalfe,  507 
on  the  Colonies  and  the  Independ- 
ence of  Canada,  566 
distresses  Baldwin,  507 
WUliam  L.,  347 
Ryan,  Henry,  178,  180 

Joseph,  M.P.,661 
Ryall,  Colonel,  237,  238 
Ryerson,  Dr.,  510 
sent  for  by  Metcalfe,  504 

Sackett's  Harbouk,  descent  on,  225 
St.    Gall,  his  work   in  Switi;erland. 

14 
Saint  Jean  Falls,  75 
Sandwich,  Bishop  of,  641 
St.  Lawrence,  niglil,  picture  of,  189 
St.  Patrick  a  statesman,  as  well  as  a 

Christian  missionary,  15 
St.  Patrick's  Day  in  Nova  Scotia  in 

1796  and  in  1811, 147 
1868,  658 
Salmon  Fishing  in  Canada,  433,  436 
Sarsfield,  death  of,  29 
Scarfe,  W.  J.,  Mr.,  593 
Scene,  discreditable,  524 
Schools,  free,  103 
Schuyler,    General,    a    considerable 

force  under,  ordered  to  invade 


Canada  ;   takes  ill,  78 
School  opened  by  Rev.  John  Stuart  in 

1788,  100 
Science  and  Irishmen,  328 
Scotch  in  Ontario,  preface  iii 
Scotch-Irish,  64 


Scotchmen  and  Irishmen,  kinship  of. 

10,  11 
Scullys,  the,  352 
Seat  of  Government,  414 
removed  from  Montreal,  6G3 
question,  651,  652 
Secord,  Mary,  J  94 

Seigneurs,  alarm  of,  at  the  prospect 
of  abolition  of  feudal  tenure,  103 
Sectionalism,  the  pe  oj)le  should  rise 

above,  392 
Seigniorial  Tenure,  585 
Service,  honoura'jle  in  all  kinds,  133 
Settlement,  a  remarkable,  317 
Settlers,  perform  a  noble   work    in 
subduing  the  wilderness,  63 
early,  some  bad  habits  of,  378 
early,  the  true  fathers  of  a  country, 

131 
Irish,  kindliness  of,  134 
Irish,  some  vices  of,  373 
Shanlys,  the,  590 
Sheaffe,  general,  207,  209 
Sheepbreeding,  321 
Sherwood,  Henry,  534 
(ihameless  conduct  of,  523 
incompetence  of,  518 
indecency  of,  519,  520 
becomes  Solicitor-General,  513 
Solicitor-General,  532 
Shij)  starved,  155 
Sicotte,  585 

proposed  as  speaker,  586 
Simcoe,  J.  G.,  Lieutenant-Governor, 
opens    the    first   Parliament    of 
Upper  Canada,  104 
County  of,  294-300 
Simpnon,  John,  353 
Stanloy,  Lord,  and  Metcalfe,  507 
Skillens,  the,  their  public  spirit,  160 
Slavei'y  in  Upper  Canada,  173 
Sland(3r,  564 
public,  485 
Small,  James  E.,395 
Smart,  Rev.  William,  632 
Smith,    Attorney-General,    incompe- 
tence of,  518 
indeoent  conduct  of,  519,  520 
Hon.  Frank,  283 
Goldwin,   his  testimony    to    Irish 
learning  and  character,  16, 41,  583 
Smyth,  Senator  of  Nova  Scotia,  157 
Brig&dier-General,     succeeds    Van 

Raasallaer  in  command,  209 
his  proclamation,   210 


r 


\ 


!■ 


INDEX 


689 


of, 


»ct 
13 

ise 


33 

in 


Society,  digor^anized  .state  of,  in  the 
10th,  nth,  and  I2th  centuries, 
16-18  ' 

in  1823,  247-9 
Canadian,  617 
Soldiers,  Scotch,  Irish,  English,  Gor- 
man,    intermarriage     of,     witli 
French  Canadians,  70 
untrained,    cannot    meet    trained 

hosts,  27 
and  preachers,  97 
Somerville,  Township  of,  353 
South  America,  Irishman  in,  67 
South-west  Britain  invaded  by  Irisli- 

men,  12 
Spaniards  invited  to  Ireland,  2'^ 
Speaker,  election  of,  441 
Special  Council  of  Lower  Canada  con- 
sents to  union,  410 
Spencer's  grandson,  though  aPrctest- 
ant,    and  pleading  his  father's 
name,  ordered  to  transplant,  24 
Spence,  Hon.  Robert,  686 
Springs,   Saline,    at   St.   Catharines 

600,  601 
Stanley,   Lord,  (Derby),   476-485 
thmks  Metcalfe's  Government  im- 
portant for  Canada  626 
Stark,  General,  his  courage,  56 
wins  on  the  Indians,  ib. 
becomes  their  young  chief,  ib. 
Stafford,  Rev.  Father,  642,  643 
Staples,  the,  353 
Stewart,  Guy  &  Co.,  162 
Stephenson,  Thos.,  352 
Stephens,  W.  A.,  a  poet,  618 
Stock  raisers,  319,  337 
Strathroy,  304 
Strongbow,  arrival  of,  19 
abandoned  by  the  Irish  follo^ving 
of  Dermot  MacMuiTough,  20 
besieged  in  Dublin,  ib. 
Stuart,    Rev.    John  opens    an    aca- 
demy, 100 
Sir  James,  403 
Success,  Irish,  365 
Sullivan,  General,  86 
Daniel  and  his  wife  come  to  Canada 
with  a  large    family,   including 
Robert  Baldwin  Sullivan,  173 
Hon.  Robert  Baldwin,  395,431, 459 
464  ' 

comes  to  Canada,  173 
his  character,  398 
native  of  Bandon,  ib. 


Siillivan — continued. 

dotonnines  to  follow  law,  ih. 

opposes     Mackenzie    and    "  Hume 
399  ' 

elected  mayor,  ib. 

applied  to  by  Sir  Friincis  Head  for 
assistance,  ib. 

enters  Sir  F.  Head's  Council,  400 

Legislative  Councillor  and  Commis- 
sioner of  Crown  Lands,  401 

Lord    Sydenham's     most    trusted 
Councillor,  410 

the  influence   of  Lord    Sydenham 
over,  412 

speech  of,  on  union,  415-420 

masterly  speech  of,  465 

explains  position  of  ministers,  479, 

goes  on  the  bench,  544 

death  of,  .545 

his  character,  ib. 

his  wives,  ib. 
Superior,  Lake  scenery  of,  618 
"^"PPorting  supjf.rterp,"  policy  of, 

"  Surprise,"  Frigate,  arrival  of,  85 
Sydenham,  Lord  (see  Thompson),  410 
object  of  his  mission,  ib. 
union  of  Canada,  ib. 
finds  parties  disorganized,  ib. 
firmness  of,  ib. 

Sullivan   his  most  trusted   Coun- 
cillor, ib. 
Draper  one  of  his  Councillors,  411 
his  ascendancy  over  the   mind  of 

Sullivan,  412 
his  Parliamentary  experience,  lb 
trusted  by  the  Home  Government. 
lb.  * 

a  guiding  mind,  ib. 
consulted  everbody,  ib. 
sends  a  remarkable  despatch  to  Lord 

Jolm  Russell,  413 
resolves  to  caU  Legislature  of  Upper 

Canada  to  decide  on  Union,  ib 
hia  message  to  Parliament  of  Upper 
Canada  relative    to    union  413 
414  ' 

despatch  to  Colonial  office,  relative 
to  the  consent  of  Legislative 
Council,  %b. 

Assembly  agrees  to,  ib. 

in  favour  of  immediate  union.  420 

attacks  on,  431  ' 

entrance  into  Kingston,  438 


1 


690 


I 


INDEX. 


diffuronco  of  opinion  rogardinL'  441 
speech  from   the  throne  in  1841 

443  ' 

keeps  his  own  counsel,  462 
accused  of  corruption,  465 
death  of,  471,472 
Synod,  Church  of  England,  founded 

by  an  Irishman,  625 


Talbot,  Colonel,  his  birth,  105 
his  family,  ib. 
his  education,  ih. 
Aide-de-Camp  to  Lord-Lieutenant 

of  Ireland,  ib. 
at  Apsley  House,  106 
influence  on  his  mind  of  Charle- 
voix's History,  ib. 

Secretary  to  Lieutenant-Governor 

Simcoe,  ib. 
Simcoo's  opinion  of,  107 
his  eagerness,  108 
and  Lord  Dacre,  ih. 
a  benefactor  and  palrii.rch,  1 10 
his  mode  of  transferring  land,  ib. 
nis  character,  111 
becomes  straitened  in  means  112 
liis  power,  ib.  ' 

his  anniversary,  113 
his  residence,  ib. 
Mrs,  Jameson's  description  of,  114- 

and  a  snob,  115 

and  heraldry,  ib. 

and  Charlevoix,  116 

dislike  of  female  society,  117,  118 

indifference  to  all    the   events  of 

thirty  years,  120,  121 
gratitude  towards  him,  122 
his  anniversary,  122,  123 
his  habits,  124 
death  of,  125 
Edward  Allen;  his  book  on  Canada 

in  1823,  247 
Port,  a  charming  place,  109 
settlement,  hardships  in,  110 
extent  of,  111 
Tecumseh,  death  of,  227 
Temperance,  152,  300,  630 
Theodosius  defeats  Saxon,  Pict,  and 
Scot,  with  a   large   number  of 
Scots  from  Ireland,  account  of, 
12 
Thompson,  Mr.  Poulett,  assumes  gov- 
ernment in  1839  (aee  Sydenham), 
410 


Thorpe,  Judgo,  177 
Thurston,  Jabez,  353 
Ticondoroga,  capture  of,  75 
Tvmes  of  Montroa],  on   Lord  Syden- 
ham and  his  colleagues,  440 
Montreal,  405 

London,  on  Rebellion  Losses  Bill 
553  ' 

Tipperary  become  a  model  county  of 
peace  and  quietness,  45 

I  o'i^^o?;  ^^^'  210,  214,  234,  236, 

^4U,  241 

Thoniton,  597 
Tories,  the,  and  the  Union  Bill,  418 
m  England,  come  into  power  with 

a  strong  Government,  476 
folly  of  Ihejj  press,  526 
A  marked  change  in  the  newspa- 
pers  of  Canadian,  562 
Toronto  (see  York),  capital  of  Upper 
Canada,  172 
fifty  years  ago,  246 
Town  Council  of,  204-206 
credit  of  the  city  of,  268 
Park  of,  322 
Trade,  Canadian,  advanced  by  an  Im- 

penal  Act  passed  in  1849,  564 
Treaty  of  Paris,  69 

cedes  Canada  to  England,  ib. 
Troops,  arrival  of,  from  England,  86 
Trotter,  Thomas,  356 
Tucker,  Colonel,  238 
Tully,  Kivas,  595 
Twelfth  Night  in  1850,  573 
Tyrconnel,  Irish  fall  a  victim  to  liis 
schemes,  24 
Earl  of  (O'Donnell), 
conspiracy  against,  23 
flies  to  Continent,  ib. 
Tyrone,  Earl  of  (O'Neill) 
conspiracy  against,  23 
flies  to  the  continent,  ib. 


U.  E.  Loyalists,  88, 89. 
Ulster,  plantation  of,  23 
Ulstermen,    success    of,    in   United 
otates,  54 

^»io»  Jill  alarms  Lower  Canadians, 
o86 

of  Canadas,  measures  to  bring 
about,  410,  430 

and  Lower  Canada,  417 

and  Legislative  Council,  ib. 

Bill  described  by  Lord  John  Rus- 
sell, 421 


i 


INDEX. 


691 


Union — conivtwed. 
in  Tinporial  Parliament,  ih. 
and  Lord  John  Iliisscll,  421,  4?8 
and  Sir  Robert  Pool,  429 
receives  Royal  Assent,  430 
and  Mr,  Gladstone,  ih. 
petitions  against,  ib, 
United  States,  fall  of  Montcalm  made 
the,  possible,  51 
Irishmen  in,  after  the  war,  60 
contributions  raised  in,  for  repeal 

and  Irish  famine,  61 
Irish  blood,  main  tide  in,  62 
"  smart  "  Irishman  in,  63 
independence  of,  acknowledged,  88 
and  the  Berlin  decree,  197 
and  England,  rejoicings  over  causes 
of  quarrels  between,    being  re- 
moved, 198 
determines  to  conquer  Canada,  199 
trade  --^th,  549 
Univer        first  mooted,  102 
The  Toronto,  473,  476 
Bill,  523 
Upper  Canada,   (see  Ontario,)  called 
into  being,  103 
divided,  105 

very  thinly  populated,  ib. 
settlers  in,  170 
discontent  in,  386 
Lord  Elgin  makes  a  tour  through. 
563  ^  ^  ' 

Gazette,  176 
College,  474 


Van-  Renssblaeu  at  Niagara  River. 
207 

resigns,  209 
Vaudreuil,  69 
Veitch,  Edward,  347 
Vemer,  Mr.,  the  painter,  617 
Verulam,  Township  of,  353 
Veterans  of  1812,  1!J1 

sum  voted  to,  by  Parliament,  ib. 

glad  to  be  recognised,  192 
Vicars,  Hedley,  97,  185 

his  father,  185 
Victoria,  county  of,  344 

capital  of,  345 

leading  men  of,  345,  353 
Vincent,  defends  Fort  George,  213 

retreats  in  good  order,  ib. 

at  Beaver  Dam,  ib. 

raJBee  blockade  of  Fort  George,  237 
Volunteering,  father  of,  620 


Waoes  fifty  years  ago,  251 
Walker,  John  and  family,  348.  349 
Walsh,  Bishop,  641 

Major,  623 
War,  great  European,  106 
War  of  1812,  191-241 
curtain  rises  on,  205 
two  prominent  heroes,  200 
Brock,  Fitzgibbon,  201 
Mackinaw  taken  and  retaken,  206 
General   Hull  crosses  the  Detroit 

river,  his  proclamation,  ib. 
Hull's  retreat,  206 
Acadian's  account  of  war,  ib. 
Sir  George    Provost  ties   Brock's 

hands,  207 
American  plan,  ib. 
Battle  of  Queenston  Heights,  ib 
Brock  falls,  ib. 
Brock's  monument,  208 
death  of  Colonol  Macdonald,  ib, 
armistice,  209 
SheaflFe's  generalship,  ib. 
winter  quarters,  ib. 
opening  hostilities  spring  of  1813,  ib 
feehng  in  Lower  Canada,  ib. 
Smyth's  proclamation,  210 
army  goes    into    winter   quarters, 

Canada's  spirit  up,  ib, 
recruiting  responded  to,  ib. 
assault  on  York,  212 

Jimmy  O'Hara  refuses  to  surren- 
der, ib. 

York  abandoned,  213 

Sheaffe  retreats  to  Kingston,  ib. 

York  evacuated  by  Americans,  t6. 

Niagara  frontier,  ib 

preparations  for  invading,  ib. 

Fort  St.  George  falls  after  a  gallant 
struggle,  213 

Vincent    entrenches     himself    at 
Stony  Creek,  214 

critical  condition  of  the  country,  ib. 

Vincent's  brilliant  victory,  ib. 

Vincent  takes  the  offensive,  Mav 
2nd,  215  ^ 

Fitzgibbon's  brilliant  feat,  216 
romantic  love,  217 
character,  ib. 

successful  attack  on  Black  Rock,  233 
the  "green  'uns,"  224 
descent  on  Sackett's  Harbour,  225 
Proctor's  retreat,  227 
Tecumseth's  death,  t6. 


G92 


INDEX. 


Wnr— -continued. 

Vincent   misos    blockade    of  Fort 
Ueorgo,    lb. 

Chrysler's  Farm,  229 

flight  c"  Ainerioans,  230 

Hampton  repulsed,  ib. 

failure  of  the  invasion,  ib. 

McClure  sets  fire  to  iVewark,  23J 

Fort  Niagara  taken,  232 

Newark  avenged,  233 

Black  Rock  taken,  ib. 

triumphant  feelingof  the  colony,230  i 

fall  of  Fort  Erie,  tfe.  I 

Ryall's  gallant  attack,  237-8 

Lundy's  Lane,  238 

enemy  retreats  to  Chippawa,  239 

Urummond  determines  to  take  Fort 

Erie  by  storm,  ib. 
Peace  with  France,  240 
the  British  fleet  blockades  Ameri- 
can ports,  ib. 
effocts  of,  241 

the  great  eflect  of,  in  Ireland,  241 
243,  244 

prices,  243 
Ward  George,  109 
Warden,  how  to  be  rnpointed,  4GG 
Warrens,  the,  290 

Washington,  his  ,«    aide-de- 

camp, 59 
Waterford,  ' 

Waterloo,  I  .,  at,  33 

Watters,  Hon.  shades,  163 

!?i^'  ^*^"^"®^  Jameo,  a  true  poet, 
ol8,  619 

Wellington,  Duke  of,  100,  476 

Wells,  Joseph,  397 

Wesley,  John,  180, 183,  184 

Wexford,  17 


Wholan,  Hon.  Edward,  1(59 
Whitby,  the  first  settlors  in,  289 
Whito,  Tom,  328-3;  10 
Wilcox,  Joseph,  177 
Wilderness,  weariness  of  life  in   289 
„,?,"^'l""»fe'  the,  a  noble  work,  63 
Wilkinson,  228 
Wilkes,  Robert,  661 
Willcocks,  William,  173 
brings  emigrants  to  Canada,  394 
imprisoned  because  he  makes  use 
of  strong  language  regarding  a 
brother  member  of  pariiament. 
178  ' 

Wilson,  Dr.  Daniel,  on  Moore's  boat 
song,  187 
on  Paul  Kane,  615 

Wit  an  Irish— Maurice  Scollard,  273 
Wolfe,  394  ' 

and  the  taking  of  Quebec,  68 
Wolves,  171,  376 

Women,    Canadian,  fifty  years  ago, 
unprepossessing,  247 
Irish,  285 

purity  of,  65 
noble,  118-120 
haters,  118 
Wood,  Andrew  Trew,  M.P.,  661 
Woods,  Mr.  John,  594 
Workman  family,    le,  331-336 

Yachting,  296 
Yeo,  Sir  James  Lucas,  226 
York  (see  Toronto)  becomes  capital  of 
Upper  Canada;  172 
taken;  and  the  fort  blown  up,  212 
213  ^'        ' 

first  impression  of,  261 
township  of,  early  settlers  in,  277 


MAOLEAR  &  GO'S  NATIONAL  SERIES. 
IN  ACTIVE  PREPARATION. 

THE  SCCT  IN  CANADA : 

BY  WILLIAM  J.  RATTRAY. 

It  Will  be  the  object  of  this  work  to  show  the  potent  influence  the 
Scottish  element  has  exerted  in  the  settlement  of  the  Domin- 
ion, and  Its  prosperity  and  progress  in  every  branch  of  human  activity 
In  order  to  estimate  at  its  just  value  the  strength  and  stabiUty  of 
this  national  influence  not  only  in  Canada,  but  in  every  community  with 
which  Scotsmen  have  to  do.  it  will  be  necessary,  by  way  of  introduction 
to  attempt  the  dissection,  as  it  were,  of  the  national  character.     First 
by  tracing  out  the  various  influences,  physical  and  historical,  which  have' 
moulded  It.  and  made  it  what  it  is;  and  secondly,  by  considering  the 
various  features  which  distinguish  it  from  that  of  other  peoples      The 
characteristics  of  any  nation  are  the  result  of  complex  antecedents,  each 
playing  a  more  or  less  important  part,  and  all  combining  to  form  the 
peculiar  bent  of  the  national  genius.    It  will  be  necessary,  therefore,  in  the 
first  place  to  notice  the  physical  features  Of  Scotland,  the  land  of 
mountain,  and  flood,  river,  loch  and  tarn,  brae  and  strath  and  heathered 
moor;  the  land  of  deep  cut  bays  and  inlets  innumerable.    Secondly,  a 
sketch  of  the  various  races,  with  some  account  of  their  successes 
and  defeats  in  mutual  conflict.   Thirdly,  a  concise  yet  comprehen- 
sive Sketch  of  the  romantic  history  of  Scotia,  her  constant 

struggle  for  existence  against  foes  on  every  side  from  the  invasion  of 
Agncola  to  the  battle  of  CuUoden.  Finally  an  account  of  Scottish 
religion,  perhaps  the  most  important  single  factor  of  them  all,  and  in 
connection  with  it,  the  tendencies  of  Scottish  thought  as  indicated  in 
science,  philosophy  and  literature. 

The  second  part  will  contain  an  analysis  of  k  .oi^Dish  charac- 
ter, as  It  has  been  indelibly  fixed  in  certain  broad  and  unmistakable 
features,  this  will  involve  a  survey  of  the  national  characteristics  as  dis- 
played m  active  working  upon  the  broad  stage  of  the  world  ;  on  land 
and  sea,  industrial,  exploratory,  colonizsing,  inventive  in 
fact  m  every  sphere  wliere  the  active  brain,  the  strong  arm,  and  the 
brave  heart  avail.  e        >  c 

Lover 


The  body  of  the  work  will  contain  in  the  first  part  a  general  sur- 
vey of  the  Scot's  ^,osition  among  the  various  nationaU- 
ties  of  the  Dominion,  including  an  account  of  settlements  peculiar- 
ly Scottish  from  Halifax  to  Victoria.  It  will  be  made  clear  that  the 
heroic  virtues,  the  dogged  perseverance,  and  above  all  the  sterling  and 
inflexible  morality  of  the  Scot,  which  have  been  burned  into  the  national 
character,  by  passing,  during  many  generations,  through  the  purifying 
fires  of  suffering  and  adversity  have  had  the  most  important  influence  in 
promoting  the  growth  and  prosperity  of  Canada. 

Succeeding  chapters  will  be  devoteJ  to  the  Scot  as  an  explorer, 
a  pioneer,  an  emigrant  and  a  settler,  whether  engaged  in 
agriculture,  stock-raising,  fur-bunting,  or  mining,  as  a 
toiler  of  the  sea,  steam  and  railway  navigation,  fishing, 
&c.,  as  a  dweller  in  cities;  the  artizan,  the  merchant,  the 
banker,  the  manufacturer,  the  engineer  and  promoter  of 
railway  enterprise.  The  Scot  in  domestic  life,  with  his 
social  characteristics  as  a  citizen  and  representative  of 
the  people,  his  work  in  the  interests  of  education,  Uterature 
and  the  press  ;  finally  the  learned  professions,  the  Law, 
Medicine,  civil  Engineering,  and  the  Ohurch  (including 
Missionary  effort). 

The  concluding  part  will  be  devoted  first,  to  the  deeds  of  valour 
performed  by  the  Scot,  in  1759,  1812,  1837,  and  1866.  This  will  be 
followed  by  reflections  on  the  probable  bearing  of  Scottish  influence 
upon  the  future  of  the  Dominion. 

It  is  the  intention  of  the  publishers  to  make  "the  Scot  in 
Oanada,"  a  work  of  real  merit  and  literary  value,  and  they  are  making 
every  exertion  to  collect  records,  facts,  statistics,  &0.,  to  enable 
the  author  to  present  before  the  public  a  work  interesting  as  well  as 
instructive. 


SOLD  EZCLUSZVEL7  BY  OUB  AUTHOBIZED  AaENTS. 


Demy  octavo,  about  600  pages  ;  price,  cloth  extra,  $3. 50  ; 
Half  calf,  $5.00. 

MACLEAR  &  CO.,  Publishers,  Toronto, 


12  Melinda  Street, 


TORONTO. 


in 

iking 
lable 
jUas 


ito. 


It  -will  he  seen  by  the  J-oregoing  OiToular  that  the 
soope  of  our  proposed  p.oblioation — '^The  Soot  in 
Canada  " — is  suoh  as  to  require  a  large  amount  of 
information  not  othertuise  obtainable  ;  and  as  no  effort 
will  be  sparred  to  mahethe  ujorh  complete  in  all  depart- 
ments and  in  every  respect,  the  publishers  respect- 
fully solicit  the  aid  of  those  who  possess  any  usefiil 
information  either  in  the  [shape  of  mem,ories,  records, 
and,  facts  or  statistics,  ji  list  of  desiderata  is  ap- 
pended, to  which  they  call  special  attention,  jy^  those 
xuho  feel  a/n  interest  ujill  only  lend  their  aid  the 
publishers  will  be  exceedingly  obliged ;  and  they 
trust  that  the  rp^agnitude  of  the  subject,  and  the  large 
amount  of  material  required  ujill  not  deter  those 
u)ho  think  well  of  the  enterprise  from  ftornishing  suoh 
facts,  Sfc,  as  are  most  convevjient  to  them,  no  matter 
how  apparently  unirroportant  they  may  appear,  if 
they  can  be  utilized  in  shoujing  what  the  Soot  or  his 
descendants  have  done,  tuhatever  their  calling  is  or 
may  have  been,  in  making  Canada  ujhat  it  is.  They 
would  also  request  that  such  data  be  furnished  at  as 
early  a  date  as  possible. 

For  their  own  part  they  can  only  promise  that 
their  publication  shall  be  popular,  graphic  and  inter- 
esting, as  vjell  as  instructive  ;  that  they  will  make  it, 
in  short,  a  record  of  national  achievement  of  tuhioh 
every  Scotchman  or  his  desoendants  may  have  reason 
to  be  proud. 

[over 


# 


INFORMATION    REQUIRED. 


(1).  Pacts  regarding  early  settlers  (Scottish)  in  any  part 
of  the  Dominion ;  if  known,  the  lodalities  from  which 
the  pioneers  emigrated,  and  where  settled;  early 
struggles  in  the  bush,  with  illustrative  anecdotes  of 
leading  settlers,  &c.,  &c. 

(2).  Pacts  regarding  the  early  growth  of  cities,  towns 
and  villages,  and  the  part  played  by  Scotchmen  in 
their  foundation  and  progress ;  also  inforiiation  re- 
garding the  early  or  existing  Scottisii  merchants, 
bankers,  manufacturers.  &c. 

(3).  Pacts  touching  the  history  of  Canadian  merchant 
shipping  and  steam  navigation,  so  far  as  they  are 
connected  with  Scotchmen. 

(4).  Pacts  regarding  public  men  (Scottish )  who  have  taken 
a  prominent  part  in  pa.rliamentary,  municipal  or 
social  life. 

(5).  Pacts  regarding  the  clergy  and  leading  men  of  ALL 
the  Afferent  Christian  denominations,  the  early 
Scottish  missionaries,  clergyaien.  Sue 

(6)  Literary  men,  professors,  teachers,  poets,  editors,^&c., 
from  the  earhest  period  of  settlement  to  the  present 
time. 

(7).  Specimens  of  Scottish  humour  in  Canada,  and  general 
anecdotes  illustrating  national  character  in  all  its 
phases. 

(8).  Any  information  not  generally  known,  whether  pub- 
lished or  xmpubhshed,  which  may  prove  interesting 
in  an  account  of  the  "  Scot  in  Canada." 

Please  address  all  information  ijou  haue  auailab/e  as  soon  as 
possible  to 

MAC  LEAR    &    CO. 

Publishers.  Toronto. 


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