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Makers   of  Canadian   Literature 

JOHN  RICHARDSON 


LIBRARY  EDITION 


■ 


'>/»-,  4 


TTlakers  of 

Canadian  Literature 


Lome  Albcrb  Rerce 
Editor 

Victor  Morirt 

Associaie  Editor 
French  Section 


Dedicated  to  &<2  wrifers  of 
Canada  ~pasl  and  present  ~ 
{he  real  T2iaster -builders  and 
interpreters  of  our  arealr 
Dominion*  in  the  hope  that 
our  People,  equal  heirs  in 
ike  rich  inheritance,  may  learn 
h  Iznow  {Rem  mtimalelu ;  and 
hnounnq  fhemloue  {hem;  and 
looinq-/ollou? 

X 


-■.-;"■  \- 


John  Richardson 


by 
WILLIAM  RENWICK  RIDDELL 


TORONTO 
THE  RYERSON  PRESS 


j/Afc.vT: 


n 


i*s 


CorTUiailT  IN  ALL  COUNTRIES 
StJBSCHIBINQ  TO  THE  BeUNE  CONVENTION 


TO 

ANNA  HESTER  KIRSOP  RIDDELL 
Conjugi  almx  carissimxque 

This   labor  of  love   is   dedicated 

by   her  husband 

THE  AUTHOR 


CONTENTS 

Biographical 

Early  Works  23 

"  TecumseK     26 

"  Ecarte  " 34 

"  Wacousta     43 

"The    Canadian     Brothers"    (Matilda 

Montgomene) 53 

Life  in  Spain  *  1 

"Movements  of  the   British  Legion  "  .  73 

"  Personal  Memoirs  " 80 

Newspaper  Ventures  87 

"The  New  Era,  or  Canadian  Chronicle  89 

"War  of  1812" .  ;; 92 

"  The  Canadian  Loyalist  " 96 

Autobiographical  Works  97 

"Eight  Years  in  Canada" 99 

"The  Guards  in  Canada" 118 

Tales  of  the  Chicago  Tragedy  127 

"Hardscrabble"    131 

"  Wau-nan-gee     137 

"  The  Monk  Knight  of  St.  John  " 145 

Anthology 153 

An  Appreciation 195 

Bibliography ~Uy 

Index 2  J«5 


PREFACE 


HE  works  of  Major  John 
Richardson,  our  first  novel- 
ist, are  still  worth  perusal; 
and  I  acceded  very  gladly 
to  the  request  of  the  editor 
to  prepare  this  volume. 
I  have  laid  under  contribution  not  only  my 
own  library  and  that  of  the  Riddell  Canadian 
Library  at  Osgoode  Hall,  but  also  the  Parlia- 
mentary Library  at  Ottawa,  the  Legislative 
Library  at  Toronto,  the  Congressional  Library 
at  Washington,  the  Public  Libraries  of  New 
York,  Boston,  Toronto  and  a  few  others.  I 
thank  the  Librarians  for  their  courtesy. 

Since  the  completion  of  the  text,  I  have  seen 
Prof.  Ray  Palmer  Baker's  valuable  "History 
of  English-Canadian  Literature  to  the  Con- 
federation," Cambridge,  1920;  but  I  have  not 
seen  any  reason  to  change  my  views. 


WILLIAM  RENWICK  RIDDELL 


Osgoode  Hall,  Toronto, 
May  26,  1923. 


BIOGRAPHICAL 


MAJOR  JOHN  RICHARDSON 


OHN  RICHARDSON,  the 
first  Upper-Canadian  novelist, 
was  born  at  the  old  hamlet  of 
Queenston,  at  the  head  of 
navigation  on  the  Canadian 
side  of  the  Niagara  River, 
October  4,  1796. 

Both  father  and  mother  were  of  Jacobite 
stock,  and  the  ancestors  of  both  had  suffered 
for  their  devotion  to  Prince  Charlie  and  the 
Stewarts.  Dr.  Robert  Richardson  was  a 
cadet  of  the  Annandale  family,  attainted 
after  the  affair  of  1745.  He  joined  Simcoe's 
Queen's  Rangers,  a  corps  raised  during  the 
American  Revolutionary  War,  as  Assistant 
Surgeon;  and  was  for  a  time  quartered  at 
Fort  Erie. 

His  future  wife  he  met,  wooed  and  won  at 
Queenston,  where  she  was  visiting  her  elder 
sister  Catherine,  the  wife  of  Hon.  Robert 
Hamilton.  She  was  Madeleine,  second  daughter 
of  Col.  John  Askin,1  of  Detroit,  by  his  first  wife, 

—  1  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

a  French  lady.  Askin  was  a  kinsman  of  the 
Earl  of  Mar,  attainted  after  the  affair  of  171 5. 
His  father  also  was  implicated  in  the  Rising 
in  behalf  of  the  Old  Pretender,  and,  changing 
his  name  from  "Erskine"  to  "Askin,"  fled  to 
Ireland,  where  the  son  was  born.  The  son 
came  to  America  about  1759  and  settled  in 
Albany  as  a  merchant;  afterwards  he  went  to 
Detroit,  and  became  a  prominent  citizen  there. 

Dr.  Robert  Richardson  and  Madeleine 
Askin  were  married  at  Niagara,  January  24, 
*793>  Dy  Rev-  Robert  Addison,  afterwards 
the  first  Rector  of  St.  Mark's.  John  was  the 
eldest  son  and  second  child  from  this  marriage 
— there  being  eight  children  in  all. 

In  1801,  Dr.  Richardson  was  ordered  to  ac- 
company a  detachment  of  his  regiment  to 
Fort  St.  Joseph  on  St.  Joseph  Island  near 
Michillimackinac,  and  it  was  deemed  expedient 
that  the  young  wife  and  growing  family  should 
live  with  her  father  at  Detroit.  There  John 
received  the  rudiments  of  his  education,  but 
before  his  father  returned  from  St.  Joseph  the 
grandfather  crossed  over  the  river  into  Upper 
Canada2  "where,  on  the  more  elevated  and 
conspicuous  part  of  his  grounds  which  are  situ- 
ated nearly  opposite  the  foot  of  Hog  Island, 

—  2  — 


BIOGRAPHICAL 

(now  Belle  Isle)  .  .  he  caused  a  flag-staff 
to  be  erected,  from  which  each  Sabbath  day 
proudly  floated  the  colors  under  which  he  had 
served  and  never  could  bring  himself  to  disown. 
....  At  Strabane  .  .  the  old  lady 
(his  grandmother,  Mrs.  Askin)  used  to  en- 
chain my  young  interest  by  detailing  various 
facts  connected  with  (Pontiac's)  siege  (of 
Detroit,  in  1763),  she  so  well  remembered; 
and  infused  into  me  a  longing  to  grow  up  to 
manhood  that  I  might  write  a  book  about  it."3 

In  1802  the  Queen's  Rangers  were  dis- 
banded and  Dr.  Richardson  was  made  sur- 
geon to  the  Garrison  at  Amherstburg.  In 
1807  he  became  Judge  of  the  Western  Dis- 
trict of  Upper  Canada,  with  headquarters  at 
Sandwich.4  He  saw  to  it  that  his  children 
received  the  best  education  possible  at  the 
time;  and  John  certainly  profited  by  his  at- 
tendance at  school,  even  though  he  avers: 
"I  had  ever  hated  school  with  a  most  bitter 
hatred."5 

The  school  was  a  long,  low,  narrow,  stone 
building5  with  the  reputation,  well  deserved, 
of  having  more  than  ordinary  capacity.  Rich- 
ardson always  detested  school  and  his  days 
were  passed  in  suffering.    He  says  he  was 

—  3  — 

J.R.— 2 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

more  frequently  flogged  than  the  greatest 
dunce,  perhaps  as  much  from  the  caprice  of 
the  tutor  as  through  any  fault  of  his  own. 
Only  fear  of  his  father,  a  stern  and  unbending, 
if  a  just,  man,  prevented  his  running  away. 
The  thoroughness  of  his  education  was  pro- 
bably due  to  the  supervision  of  his  father,  who 
was  well  read,  and  his  mother,  a  woman  of 
culture,  who  had  been  educated  at  the  Con- 
vent de  Notre  Dame  in  Montreal.  However 
that  may  be,  he  acquired  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  French,  conversational  and  literary,  and 
more  than  a  smattering  of  Latin  and  mathe- 
matics; of  his  English,  there  are  abundant 
samples  in  his  voluminous  writings. 

The  War  of  1812  broke  out  when  he  was  a 
schoolboy  not  yet  sixteen.  General  Hull 
threatened  the  frontier  from  Detroit  and 
General  Isaac  Brock  came  west  to  meet  him. 
Brock  was  taken  with  the  ardent  youth,  eager 
to  serve  his  king  and  country,  and  offered  to 
obtain  a  commission  for  him  in  the  Imperial 
Army.  Meanwhile  he  "did  duty  as  a  cadet 
with  the  gallant  41st  Regiment'  and  was  one 
of  the  Guard  of  Honor  who  took  possession  of 
the  Fort"  at  Detroit,  on  its  capitulation  by 
Hull. 


BIOGRAPHICAL 

An  order  for  the  advance  of  the  Guard  was 
prematurely  given  by  a  staff  officer  and  this 
error  narrowly  escaped  proving  fatal;  but 
at  length  the  threatening  Ohio  militiamen 
moved  away  and  the  Guard  of  Honor  moved 
in  and  replaced  the  Stars  and  Stripes  with  the 
Union  Jack.  Richardson,  with  a  musket  taller 
than  himself,  mounted  his  first  guard  at  the 
flag-staff. 

Thereafter  he  fought  with  his  regiment  in 
every  engagement  during  the  war6  until  that  at 
Moraviantown,  where  he  was  taken  prisoner, 
October  5,  1813,  with  the  rest  of  the  Right 
Division.  Taken  to  Detroit,  he,  with  a  few 
others,  was  conveyed  to  Put-in-Bay,  where  he 
saw  Captain  Barclay,  the  gallant  but  unfor- 
tunate commander  of  the  British  fleet  in  the 
naval  battle  at  that  place,  September  10,  1813; 
"of  his  former  self  there  seemed  to  be  little 
left  besides  his  unstained  honor."7  To  San- 
dusky Bay  and  then  to  Chillicothe,  Ohio, 
Richardson  was  removed ;  then  to  Cincinnati, 
and  at  length  to  the  penitentiary  at  Frankfort, 
Kentucky.  After  a  short  confinement  there 
he  was  paroled  and  made  his  way  to  Canada, 
arriving  at  Long  Point  from  Cleveland,  October 
4,  1814,  after  a  year's  captivity. 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

He  lost  no  time  in  joining  the  King's 
Regiment,  the  8th  Foot,  to  which  he  had  been 
gazetted  some  months  before  his  capture,  and 
which  was  then  stationed  at  Montreal  and 
Laprairie.  He  sailed  from  Toronto  to  King- 
ston in  the  St.  Lawrence,  Sir  James  Yeo's 
magnificent  flag-ship  of  112  guns;  it  was  her 
"very  last  trip."  Then  he  went  to  Montreal. 
When  the  intelligence  of  Bonaparte's  escape 
from  Elba  came,  the  regiment  went  to  Quebec 
in  the  first  steamer  which  sailed  the  St.  Law- 
rence,8 and  then,  June,  1815,  embarked  to 
join  the  British  Army  in  Flanders.  They 
arrived  too  late;  Waterloo  had  been  fought 
before  they  were  half  way  across  the  Atlantic. 

The  war  with  France  being  over,  one 
battalion  of  the  King's  Regiment  was  dis- 
banded toward  the  end  of  the  year.  Richard- 
son was  soon  appointed  to  the  Queen's  Regi- 
ment, the  2nd  Foot,  and  sailed  with  them  for 
the  West  Indies,  arriving  at  Barbados  early  in 
June,  1816.  After  some  time,  he  was 
transferred  to  the  92nd  Highlanders,  was 
placed  on  half -pay,  October,  18 18,  and  for 
more  than  sixteen  years  he  saw  no  military 
service.    This  time  he  spent  for  the  most  part 

—  0  — 


BIOGRAPHICAL 

in  London,  with  an  occasional  visit  to  Paris, 
where  he  fought  a  duel  with  a  French  officer.9 
He  wrote  some  sketches,  now  quite  forgotten, 
of  Canadian  and  West-Indian  life,  for  maga- 
zines; but  his  first  work  of  any  pretension 
was  a  poem,  "Tecumseh,"  published  early  in 
1828.  This  is  his  only  excursion  into  poetry 
that  is  at  all  well  known;  and  while  he  re- 
peated the  experiment  a  few  years  later,  he 
for  the  most  part  confined  himself  within  the 
limits  of  prose. 

In  1829  he  published  "Ecarte,  or  the  Salons 
of  Paris."  This,  a  strong  indictment  against 
gambling,  while  well  received  in  some  quarters, 
was  prevented  from  receiving  due  recognition 
by  the  adverse  criticism  of  William  Jerdan, 
who  described  it  in  the  London  Literary  Gaz- 
ette,10 the  leading  weekly  review  of  the  day, 
as  "detestable,"  "unfit  to  be  seen  beyond 
the  precincts  of  the  stews." 

In  1830  appeared  "Kensington  Gardens  in 
1830:  A  Satirical  Trifle";  and  a  continuation 
was  promised,  which  apparently  never  mate- 
rialized.11 

He  had,  before  the  publication  of  "Wa- 
cousta,"    published    "Canadian    Campaign," 

—  7  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

which  seems  to  have  been  the  first  draft  of 
his  "War  of  1812."  It  has  apparently  quite 
disappeared.12 

The  work  by  which  Richardson  is  best 
known  appeared  in  1832,  in  London,  "Wa- 
cousta,  or  the  Prophecy:  a  Tale  of  the 
Canadas."13  This  was  well  received  by  critics, 
reviews  and  the  public,  and  Richardson  was 
favorably  compared  with  James  Fenimore 
Cooper  and  even  with  Sir  Walter  Scott. 

In  1834  he  joined  the  "British  Auxiliary 
Legion,"  under  the  command  of  General  De 
Lacy  Evans.  This  was  an  army  of  10,000  men 
in  ten  regiments  and  it  was  intended  to  assist 
Isabella  of  Spain  and  her  regent,  Christina, 
against  Don  Carlos.  Richardson  was  com- 
missioned as  captain  in  the  2nd  Regiment.  Ar- 
riving in  Spain  he  was  made  commandant  at 
Vittoria,  but  was  attacked  with  typhus  and 
confined  to  bed  for  more  than  six  weeks.  On 
recovery  he  was  appointed  to  the  6th  Regi- 
ment, his  own  being  disbanded,  and  May  5, 
1836,  he  led  his  regiment  in  the  attack  on  the 
Carlists  in  the  successful  attempt  to  raise  the 
siege  of  San  Sebastian.14  He  left  Spain  a  few 
days  thereafter  for  London,  where,  in  1836,  he 
published  "Movements  of  the  British  Legion," 

—  8  — 


BIOGRAPHICAL 

largely  taken  from  the  journal  he  had  kept. 
When  he  was  in  London  a  Gazette  appeared 
with  a  list  of  officers  decorated  for  their  con- 
duct at  the  attack  on  San  Sebastian.  His 
name  did  not  appear  in  the  list  and  he  attrib- 
uted the  omission  and  slight  to  the  general, 
who,  he  declared,  had  been  actuated  by 
some  particular  private  motive.  He  was  also 
passed  over  in  the  appointment  to  a  majority, 
to  which  he  was  fairly  entitled  by  seniority 
and  otherwise. 

He  went  to  Spain  and  found  that  he  was  in 
ill  odor  among  his  fellow  officers  by  reason  of 
some  ill-advised  language  used  by  him  when 
in  England.  He  demanded  a  Court  of  In- 
quiry which  at  length  was  ordered.  When  the 
court  sat,  little  attention  was  paid  to  the  lan- 
guage which  had  been  considered  a  slur  on 
some  of  his  comrades  and  most  of  the  inquiry 
was  directed  to  his  conduct  "in  the  glorious 
action  of  the  5th  of  May"  at  San  Sebastian.15 
A  favorable  verdict  followed,  Richardson 
received  his  majority  and  was  attached  to  the 
4th,  the  Queen's  Own  Fusiliers.  He  also 
received  from  Queen  Christina,  the  Cross 
(First  Class)  of  the  Military  Order  of  St. 
Ferdinand.    After  some  further  righting  on  the 

—  9  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

Heights  of  Passages,  July  30,  he  returned 
to  England,  not,  however,  without  first 
fighting  a  bloodless  duel  with  Captain  Fielding 
and  barely  escaping  a  duel  with  Colonel  La 
Saussaye  on  the  sands  of  San  Sebastian. 

In  1837  he  published  in  London  a  second 
edition  of  his  "Movements  of  the  British 
Legion,"  this  time  giving  an  account  of  the 
operations  after  May  5,  1836.  This  contains  a 
savage  attack  on  Evans,  whom  he  accuses  of 
gross  tyranny  and  personal  malice. 

The  transactions  in  Spain  were  brought  up 
in  the  House  of  Commons,  April  17,  1837,  by 
Sir  Henry  Hardinge,16  who  quoted  from  Rich- 
ardson's book,  describing  him  as  a  most  un- 
objectionable witness  who  was  very  precise  in 
his  statements.  Daniel  O'Connell  was  not 
so  complimentary :"  He  should  be  sorry  to  re- 
ceive praise  from  such  a  quarter  .... 
If  he  was  not  mistaken  all  the  officers  of  his 
regiment  refused  to  mess  with  him.  One 
Richardson  whose  book  was  really  two  books; 
the  one  v/ritten  when  he  was  in  favor  with 
General  Evans  and  therefore  all  in  his  praise, 
the  other  written  after  he  was  dismissed  the 
service  and,    of    course,    all    against    him." 

—  10  — 


EIOGRAPHICAL 

Evans  was  not  present  at  this  debate,  but  he 
brought  the  matter  up  himself  in  the  House,1' 
March  13,  1838.  He  did  not  mention  Rich- 
ardson by  name,  but  Sir  Henry  Hardinge,  in 
replying,  did  so.  He  said  that  he  was  justified 
in  taking  Major  Richardson's  book  as  a 
sufficient  authority  "on  which  he  could  safely 
depend,"  that  a  letter  from  Evans  to  Richard- 
son now  in  his  possession  thanked  him  for 
this  very  book,  and  another  attested  the  great 
accuracy  and  fidelity  of  his  book;  and  it  was 
in  vain  that  Evans  protested  that  the  books 
referred  to  by  Hardinge  and  by  himself  in  the 
letters,  were  distinct  and  separate  works. 

The  Spanish  Legion  was  disbanded — sadly 
reduced  in  numbers  by  disease  and  bullet — 
in  1837,  and  Richardson  looked  to  other 
quarters  for  employment.  The  Canadian 
Rebellion  of  1837  indicated  that  military 
service  might  be  hoped  for  in  his  native 
land,  and  early  in  1838  he  sailed  for  New 
York,  on  his  way  to  Canada.  He  arrived  at 
Queenston  in  April,  1838;  "the  astounding 
and  unexpected  events  of  1837  and  1838  again 
brought  me  to  my  native  land  to  aid  if  necessary 
in  vindication  of  her  wounded  honor."      He 

—  11  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

was  accompanied  by  his  wife,  one  of  an  Essex 
family,  whom  he  had  married  when  in 
England  about  1830.18 

Remaining  for  a  short  time  in  Niagara  with 
his  brother  Charles,  then  Member  for  that 
town,  he  went  to  Toronto  and  then  to  Lower 
Canada.  He  published  in  that  year,  1838,  his 
"Personal  Memoirs."19  He  met  Lord  Durham 
and  was  strongly  impressed  with  the  wisdom 
of  his  views  as  to  the  proper  means  to  make 
Canada  a  contented  and  prosperous  part  of 
the  British  Empire.  He  had  come  to  Canada 
with  a  commission  to  write  on  Canadian 
affairs  for  the  London  Times  at  a  salary  of 
£300  a  year.  The  Times  did  not  approve  of 
Durham's  plans— or  indeed  of  anything  ema- 
nating from  the  Government  which  had  sent 
Durham  to  Canada— and  Richardson  had  to 
abandon  what  was  at  that  time  a  handsome 
income. 

This  sacrifice,  he  himself  says,  was  such  as 
no  man  had  ever  before  made  in  Canada  and 
"to  an  extent  that  has  proved  ruinous  to  our 
interest  in  the  extreme."  Durham  was  fully 
apprised  of  this  and  intended  to  make  pro- 
vision for  Richardson;  this  intention  was 
frustrated    by    his    sudden    departure    from 

—  12  — 


BIOGRAPHICAL 

Canada  and  subsequent  death.  Lord  Syden- 
ham personally  assured  Richardson  three 
weeks  before  his  untimely  death  that  he 
would  carry  out  the  plans  of  his  predecessor; 
his  death  prevented  this  being  done.  It  is  to 
the  credit  of  Richardson  that  he  did  not  com- 
plain of  injustice  when  the  position  of  Queen's 
Printer  was  subsequently  given  to  Mr.  Derbi- 
shire,  who  "had  rendered  important  services 
to  the  British  Government  while  employed  in 
a  confidential  manner  in  Europe";  although  * 
he  entertained  disappointment  at  not  being 
admitted  to  a  participation  in  the  "feast  of 
places."20 

He  lived  for  a  short  time  at  Amherstburg 
and  Sandwich  where  he  completed  the  sequel 
to  "Wacousta,"  entitled  "The  Canadian 
Brothers,  or  the  Prophecy  Fulfilled :  a  Tale  of 
the  late  American  War"  in  two  volumes.21 
This  is  substantially  the  same  as  "Matilda 
Montgomerie,  or  the  Prophecy  Fulfilled," 
published  in  New  York  in  one  volume,  1851. 

In  1840  he  went  to  live  at  Brockville,  and  the 
next  year  he  commenced  the  publication  of  a 
periodical,  The  New  Era,  or  Canadian  Chron- 
icle. He  wrote  all  the  contents  with  the  ex- 
ception of  an  occasional  copied  article.22     In 

—  13  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

this  journal  also  appeared  his  "Jack  Brag 
in  Spain"  and  "Recollections  of  the  West 
Indies" — the  former  being  concluded  early 
in  1842.  In  the  issue  of  March  2,  1842, 
appeared  the  first  part  of  "Operations  of  the 
Right  Division  of  the  Army  of  Upper  Canada 
During  the  American  War  of  1812."23  This 
was  continued  in  every  issue  until  that  of 
July  22,  1842.  In  the  last  named  issue  ap- 
peared also  a  part  of  the  first  canto  of  "Te- 
cumseh,"  the  remainder  appearing  in  the 
three  following  issues  of  the  journal.  His 
"War  of  18 1 2"  appeared  in  book  form  at 
Brockville,  1842. 

He  was  appointed  Superintendent  of  Police 
on  the  Welland  Canal  in  1845,  but  that  situa- 
tion was  abolished  the  following  year.  In 
1847  he  published  in  Montreal  his  "Eight 
Years  in  Canada"  and  the  following  year  a 
sequel,  "The  Guards  in  Canada."  He  then 
went  to  New  York,  where  he  published 
"Hardscrabble,  or  the  Fall  of  Chicago," 
"Wau-nan-gee,"  "Matilda  Montgomerie,"  and 
"The  Monk  Knight  of  St.  John" ;  and  repub- 
lished others.  Here  he  died  of  erysipelas,24 
May  12,  1852.  His  wife  had  died  at  St. 
Catharines,  August  15,  1845. 

—  14  — 


BIOGRAPHICAL 

i  The  name  of  Col.  John  Asian's  first  wife  is  not 
known:  but  it  is  known  that  she  was  French.  In  the 
Marriage  Register  for  the  Western  District  of  the 
Province  of  Upper  Canada,  still  extant,  there  is  pre- 
served evidence  of  his  second  marriage.  He  made 
affidavit  at  Sandwich,  February  27, 1 798,  before  William 
Harffy,  J.P.,  of  his  marriage,  June  21,  1772,  with 
Archange  Barthe  (from  other  sources  it  is  almost  cer- 
tain that  her  full  name  was  Marie  Archange  Barthe — 
she  signs  her  affidavit  "Archan  Askin,"  however). 
There  were  then  living  issue  of  this  second  marriage, 
Therese,  who  married  Col.  Thomas  McKee;  Archange, 
who  married  Col.  Meredith,  of  the  Royal  Artillery; 
Allice  (or  Adelaide)  who  married  Col.  Elijah  Brush,  of 
the  Michigan  Militia;  Charles,  afterwards  Captain  of 
Militia;  James,  Colonel  of  Militia;  Phillis  Eleanor,  who 
married  Capt.  Richard  Pattison,  of  Sandwich;  and 
Alexander  David. 

Therese  Barthe,  sister  of  Col.  John  Askin's  second 
wife,  married  Alexander  Grant,  at  Detroit,  September 
30,  1774.  This  was  Commodore  Grant,  an  Executive 
Councillor  and  for  a  time  Administrator  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  Upper  Canada. 

By  his  first  wife  Col.  Askin  had  three  children: 
John,  who  married  Madelaine  Peltier  at  Detroit, 
October  21,  1701;  Catharine,  who  first  married  one 
Robertson  who  was,  with  Col.  Askin  himself,  accused  of 
disloyalty  in  1780  by  Capt.  Sinclair  to  Haldimand— 
Canadian  Archives,  B.  97,  2,  p.  393  (after  Robertson's 
death  she  married  Hon.  Robert  Hamilton  of  Queens- 
ton)  ;  and  Madeleine,  mother  of  Major  John  Richard- 
son. 

2  By  "Jay's  Treaty"  of  1794,  the  United  States  agreed 
to  pay  the  debts  owing  to  British  creditors  and,  in 
breach  of  the  Treaty  of  Paris  of  1763,  detained  by 
American  laws;  and  Britain  agreed  to  withdraw  her 
troops  from  the  posts  within  the  boundary  lines  of  the 
United  States  which  she  occupied  as  a  means  of  en- 
forcing the  performance  by  the  United  States  of  the 
agreements  in  the  Treaty  of  Paris.     All  settlers  and 

—  15  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

traders,  however,  were  to  be  permitted  to  remain 
and  retain  their  property,  without  being  compelled  to 
become  American  citizens;  they  might  elect  their 
allegiance  within  a  year  after  evacuation  by  the  British 
troops. 

Detroit  was  evacuated  by  the  British  troops  in  1796. 
Askin  elected  to  retain  his  British  allegiance,  but 
business  exigency  kept  him  resident  in  Detroit  about 
five  years  thereafter. 

3Richardson's  own  words  in  the  introduction  to  the 
revised  edition  of  "Wacousta,"  New  York,  Dewitt  & 
Davenport,  1851,  pp.  V,  VI. 

4  He  died  in  office  at  Amherstburg,  May  1,  1829, 
aged  59.  The  District  Courts,  first  erected  in  1794, 
became  County  Courts  in  1849.  Before  this  date  it 
was  not  unusual  to  appoint  laymen  to  the  judgeship  of 
these  courts.  In  the  earliest  times  these  judges  were 
all  laymen;  since  1849  the  appointees  have  been 
barristers.  The  judges  of  the  Superior  Courts  have 
always  been  barristers. 

5  Richardson's  own  words.  The  schoolhouse  was 
afterwards  used  as  a  barracks.  A  District  General 
Order  contains  his  appointment  as  a  "Volunteer  in 
His  Majesty's  regular  forces,"  July  9,  1812,  and  his 
assignment  "to  do  duty  with  the  41st  Regiment  until 
further  orders."  At  the  beginning  of  the  War,  the 
garrison  at  Amherstburg  consisted  of  200  men  of  the 
First  Battalion  of  the  41st  Foot,  a  small  detachment  of 
the  Royal  Newfoundland  Regiment  and  a  subaltern's 
command  of  artillery. 

6  After  the  victory  at  Miami — the  41st  Foot  still  has 
"Miami"  on  its  flag — he  was,  with  the  other  three 
volunteers,  recommended  by  Brig.-Gen.  Procter  for 
promotion,  May  14,  1813;  but  he  was  still  officially  a 
"Gentleman  Volunteer,"  41st  Regt,  when  he  was 
made  prisoner.  Dr.  Richardson  was  called  to  the 
colors  and  served  as  a  surgeon  during  the  war  on 
board  the  Lake  Erie  Fleet.  He  was  also  taken  pris- 
oner. Captain  Barclay  calls  him  a  "most  deserving 
man." 

—  16  — 


BIOGRAPHICAL 

7  Richardson's  "War  of  1812,"  Casselman's  Ed. 
Toronto,  1902,  p.  244. 

8  Richardson's  "War  of  181 2,"  p.  293,  calls  this 
steamer  the  "John  Molson":  the  owner  was  Hon.  John 
Molson,  but  the  name  of  the  steamer  was  The 
Accommodation. 

9  His  adversary  was  an  officer  of  Cuirassiers,  who  had 
been  the  aggressor.  The  duel  was  with  horse-pistols, 
the  Frenchman  imagining  Richardson  to  be  skilled  in 
the  use  of  the  duelling  pistol.  Richardson  missed,  but 
was  himself  struck  over  the  tendo  Achillis  of  the  right 
ankle.  The  wound  was  contused  but  the  pain  was  so 
severe  that  Richardson  could  not  stand  to  fire  a  second 
shot.  The  Frenchman  apologized  and  they  became 
friends.  Richardson  makes  use  of  his  experience  in  a 
"contused  wound"  in  explaining  why  he  left  the  field  in 
the  Eattle  of  May  5,  1836. 

In  his  "Personal  Memoirs,"  Montreal,  1838,  p.  16, 
he  says  (speaking  of  this  duel) :  "As  is  generally  the 
case  in  an  affair  of  this  sort,  there  were  a  variety  of 
rumors  on  the  subject  and  some  of  these  officious 
nobodies — would-be  important  characters,  who  abound 
on  the  Continent  and  who  manage  to  make  every 
stranger's  business  their  own — thought  I  ought  to 
have  killed  the  Frenchman,  and  thus  have  vindicated  the 
character  for  pugnacity  of  John  Bull.  My  seconds,  two 
Irish  officers  who  were  the  responsible  persons  in  the 
matter,  felt  it  necessary  to  intimate  to  these  sagacious 
gentlemen  that  they  should  consider  any  further  ob- 
servations a  reflection  upon  their  own  conduct  on  the 
occasion,  and  make  it  a  personal  matter  accordingly. 
This  had  the  effect  of  silencing  them.  From  this  same 
duel,  I  may  add,  I  have  drawn  the  picture  of  the 
meeting  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  between  Delmaine  and 
the  Comte  de  Hillier  in  my  novel  of  'Ecarte.'  " 

^London  Literary  Gazette,  1829,  p.  208.  Richardson 
attributes  this  attack  upon  his  work  to  Jerdan's  ill- 
will  to  Henry  Colburn,  Richardson's  publisher,  who  had 
assisted  James  Silk  Buckingham  to  found  an  opposition 
review,  The  Athenaeum. 

—  17  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

11  This  work  escaped  the  research  of  Mr.  Cassel- 
man  and  my  own.  Professor  Ray  Palmer  Baker  in- 
forms me  that  he  has  seen  a  copy  of  the  work 
"Kensington  Gardens  in  1830:  A  Satirical  Trifle  by 
the  Author  of  Ecarte,"  Marsh  &  Miller,  London, 
1830,  and  that  there  is  a  copy  in  the  London  Museum. 
I  have  not  been  able  to  find  any  trace  of  a  copy 
on  this  continent,  and  have  never  seen  the  book. 

i-Ican  find  nothing  more  about  "Canadian  Cam- 
paign" than  what  appears  in  Richardson's  preface  to 
the  London  edition  of  "Tecumseh."  See  in  the  text 
at  p.  25,  post. 

i^The  first  London  edition  was  inscribed  to  Richard- 
son's old  Regiment,  the  41st  Foot.  In  the  New  York 
editions  of  1851  and  1888,  as  well  as  in  Lovell's  Mon- 
treal edition  of  1868,  the  title  is"Wacousta,  or  the  Pro- 
phecy: an  Indian  Tale."  Some  of  the  copies  of  the 
New  York  edition  of  1851  bear  the  imprint  of  Robert 
M.  Dewitt,  33  Rose  Street;  some  bear  the  imprint 
160  and  162  Nassau  St.  One  of  my  copies  has  "De- 
witt &  Davenport,  Publishers,  Tribune  Buildings;" 
the  copies  are  in  other  respects  identical. 

u  In  this  fierce,  bloody  and  brilliant  battle  in  which 
DeLacy  Evans  lost  97  officers  and  500  men  out  of  5,000 
engaged,  but  succeeded  in  raising  the  Siege  of  San 
Sebastian,  Richardson  received  three  bullet  wounds, 
contused  wounds,  in  a  second  attempt  to  bring  his 
men  to  the  advance.  He  was  advised  to  leave  the 
field  and  late  in  the  day  did  so.  This  was  made  a 
charge  against  him  in  the  Court  of  Inquiry  afterwards 
ordered. 

15  The  Court  of  Inquiry  was  ordered  to  "investigate 
and  report  upon  the  conduct  of  Captain  Richardson, 
6th  regiment,  for  having  while  in  England  thrown  out 
imputations  in  print,  and  in  letters  addressed  to  the 
Military  Secretary,  calculated  to  cast  discredit  on  the 
conduct  of  the  Legion  in  the  glorious  action  of  the 
5th  of  May."  Richardson  might  have  objected  to  the 
Court  dealing  with  any  other  matter;     he  very  wisely 

—  18  — 


BIOGRAPHICAL 

did  not  object,  but  got  upon  the  much  safer  ground  of 
his  conduct  on  that  day. 

His  only  defence  to  the  former  charge,  so  far  as  it 
relates  to  letters,  was  that  the  letters  to  Colonel  Consi- 
dine  were  "private."  The  General  ordered  them  to 
be  laid  before  the  court  as  their  contents  were  of  a 
public  nature,  although  they  were  marked  "private" 
and  addressed  to  the  Military  Secretary.  The  Court 
refused  to  look  at  these  letters  and  immediately  sent 
them,  enclosed  in  a  blank  envelope,  to  Headquarters. 
Otherwise  it  is  hard  to  see  how  there  could  have  been 
an  acquittal;  the  language  admittedly  used  was  very 
offensive. 

Richardson  seems  quite  unable  to  view  any  of  the 
transactions  in  Spain  impartially  or  dispassionately. 
His  apologia  is  wholly  unconvincing. 

16  Parliamentary  Debates,  3rd  Series,  XXXVII,  1, 
330,  sqq.  No  one  can  read  this  debate  without  seeing 
that  political  partizanship  had  much  to  do  with  the  view 
taken  of  Evans  and  Richardson. 

17  Parliamentary  Debates,  3rd  Series,  XLI,  823,  seq. 

18  Her  family  name  does  not  seem  to  be  known. 
Her  tombstone  in  the  Butler  Burying  Ground  near 
Niagara  calls  her  Maria  Caroline  and  states  that  she 
died  at  St.  Catharines,  August  16,  1845,  at  the  age  of 
37  years. 

The  death  notice  reads:  "On  Saturday,  the  16th 
instant  (August,  1845),  of  bilious  fever,  after  a  few 
days'  illness,  at  the  residence  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
McDonagh,  St.  Catharines,  Maria  Caroline,  the  be- 
loved, noble-hearted  and  highly-gifted  wife  of  Major 
Richardson,  Superintendent  of  Police  on  the  Welland 
Canal." 

i9"Personal  Memoirs  of  Major  Richardson,  author  of 
'Movements  of  the  British  Legion,'  etc.,  etc.,  etc.,  as 
connected  with  The  Singular  Oppression  of  that  Officer 
while  in  Spain  by  Lieutenant-General  Sir  DeLacy 
Evans  ..."  Montreal: — Armour  &  Ramsay:  W. 
Neilson,  Quebec;  R.  Stanton,  Toronto;  and  J.  Mac- 

—  19  — 

J.R.— 3 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

Farlane,  Kingston,  1838.  8vo.,  146,  iv.  The  work 
is  dedicated  to  The  Honourable  The  Members  of  the 
Commons'  House  of  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland. 

20  The  New  Era,  or  Canadian  Chronicle.  Brockville, 
March  2,  1842,  editorial. 

21  The  publishers  were  A.  H.  Armour  and  H.  Ram- 
say, Montreal;  the  printer,  John  Lovell  of  the  same 
place.  In  the  entry,  January  2,  1840,  by  Major 
Richardson,  he  is  described  as  "now  resident  in  the 
City  of  Montreal." 

22  Among  these  copied  may  be  noticed  an  account  of 
an  action  for  libel  brought  by  the  American  novelist, 
James  Fenimore  Cooper,  against  the  Commercial  Ad- 
vertiser of  New  York  in  consequence  of  a  review  in 
that  paper  of  Cooper's  account  of  the  Battle  of  Lake 
Erie  in  the  first  edition  of  his  "History  of  the  United 
States."  The  case  was  removed  from  the  Circuit  Court 
of  Otsego  County  and  tried  before  three  referees, 
Samuel  Stevens  of  Albany,  chosen  by  plaintiff;  Daniel 
Lord,  chosen  by  defendant;  and  Samuel  A.  Foot, 
chosen  by  mutual  consent.  The  celebrated  Marshall 
Spring  Bidwell  was  of  counsel  for  the  defendant,  W. 
W.  Campbell  with  him,  Cooper  appearing  in  person. 
The  Commercial  Advertiser's  report,  Richardson,  some- 
what maliciously  perhaps,gives  in  full,  but  he  also  gives 
the  verdict  for  the  plaintiff  holding  that  the  review  was 
untrue  in  five  specified  particulars.  The  report  takes 
up  much  of  the  issues,  June  9,  17,  24,  July  8,  1842. 

Dr.  Fisher's  beautiful  Latin  version  of  part  of  Gray's 
"Elegy"  is  also  given  in  July  8,  1842.  As  indicating 
Richardson's  taste  in  Latin,  the  sixth  stanza  is  here 
copied,  of  which  he  says  "We  particularly  like  the  sixth 
verse  (he  means  stanza)  not  only  for  its  pleasing  eu- 
phony but  by  reason  of  the  chaste  collection  of  words 
which  compose  it." 

Amplius  haud  illis  candescet  ab  igne  caminus 
Vespere  nee  conjux  sedula  tendet  opus; 

Non  reditus  horum  balbutiet  obvia  proles 
Aut  patriam  scandent  aemula  turba  genu. 

—  20  — 


BIOGRAPHICAL 

23  He  had  much  earlier  begun  the  advertisement 
which  he  repeated  in  every  issue  as  follows: 

"Several  of  our  contemporaries  having  intimated  a 
desire  that  an  accurate  account  of  the  events  of  the 
War  of  i8i2in  this  country,  should  be  given  by  those 
who  participated  in  it — and  the  Montreal  Herald  in 
particular  having  done  the  Editor  of  this  paper  the 
honor  to  name  him  among  others  who  could,  from 
personal  experience,  supply  the  desired  information, 
we  beg  to  state  for  the  information  of  our  subscribers 
that  on  the  completion  of  the  adventures  of  'Jack  Brag 
in  Spain'  we  shall  publish  a  'Narrative  of  the  Operations 
of  the  Right  Division  of  the  Army  of  Upper  Canada.'  " 

24  Several  concurring  circumstances  indicate  that  he 
was  undernourished  if  not  actually  starving;  Canada 
was  not  generous  to  her  first  novelist. 


—  21  — 


EARLY  WORKS 


EARLY  WORKS 


WO  well-known  works  of 
Richardson  are  "Tecumseh" 
and  "Ecarte."  It  seems  prob- 
able that  the  former  was  the 
first  production  of  his  genius. 
In  the  Preface  to  "Te- 
cumseh," London,  1828,  he  says: 

"Many  of  the  notes  to  'Tecumseh'  betray 
its  author  to  be  that  also  of  the  'Canadian 
Campaign,'  several  passages  in  both  being 
written  nearly  in  the  same  words.  The  fact 
is,  that  the  poem  was  composed  five  years  ago, 
and  before  he  had  thought  of  compiling  the 
latter  narrative.  In  the  hurry  of  composition, 
he  had  recourse  to  his  notes  for  matter  which 
he  felt  too  indolent  to  dress  in  a  new  garb. 
Hence  the  necessity  for  explanation." 

This  would  take  the  composition  of  the  poem 
back  to  1822  or  1823. 

"Ecarte,  or  the  Salons  of  Paris"  appeared  in 
London  in  1829:  its  reception  by  the  critic 
Jerdan  has  already  been  mentioned.    I  would 

—  25  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

conjecture   that  it  was  written  about   1825 
or  1826. 

TECUMSEH 

The  best  and  only  well-known  effort  of 
Richardson's  poetic  muse  is  his  "Tecumseh,"a 
poem  in  four  cantos  composed  of  50,  54,  48 
and  55*  stanzas  respectively;  in  the  Canadian 
and  revised  form,  of  45,50,  48  and  45  stanzas. 
Each  stanza  consists  of  eight  verses,  in  iam- 
bic pentameter  ;  in  one  instance,  in  the  Can- 
adian edition  only,  a  solitary  iambic  hexa- 
meter is  found.  The  first,  third  and  fifth 
verses  rhyme  as  do  also  the  second,  fourth 
and  sixth;  and  the  seventh  and  eighth — the 
system  is  a,  b,  a,  b,  a,  b,  c,  c,  Byron's  adapta- 
tion of  the  Italian  Ottava  rima. 

While  the  verse  runs  smoothly,  the  rhythm 
and  rhyme  are  both  unexceptionable,  the 
terminology  is  well  chosen  and  little,  if  any, 
fault  can  be  found  with  the  imagery.  There 
is  a  total  absence  of  anything  like  poetic  fire; 

*The  numbering  of  the  Stanzas  is  continuous  from 
I  to  LVT,  but  Stanza  LIII  occupying  the  lower  half  of 
page  106,  is  printed  in  dashes  only;  this  Stanza  being 
blank,  the  number  in  Canto  IV  is  55.  No  apparent 
reason  can  be  discovered  for  this  peculiarity.  The  Can- 
adian edition  will  be  used  and  quoted  in  this  chapter. 

—  2G  — 


EARLY  WORKS 

nothing  is  said  which  could  not  be  equally 
well  said  in  prose  form;  the  verse  reads  like 
so  much  prose  cut  into  lengths;  the  whole 
work  is  a  typical  example  of  "machine  made 
poetry."  Richardson's  muse  was  essentially 
Musa  pedestris  and  he  was  wise  to  restrict 
himself  to  prose  thereafter. 

It  may  be  well  to  give  an  outline  of  the 
theme  and  some  examples  of  the  verse. 

The  poem  begins  with  the  occurrences 
leading  up  to  the  defeat  of  the  British  Lake 
Fleet,  under  Barclay,  at  Put-in-Bay,  Lake  Erie. 

"It  is  in  truth  as  fair  and  sweet  a  day 
As  ever  dawn'd  on  Erie's  silvery  lake; 
And  wanton  sunbeams  on  its  surface  play 

Which  slightest  breeze  nor  rippling  currents  break; 
Yet  Devastation's  voice  her  fiends  obey 
And  stern  Bellona  loves,  e'en  here,  to  slake 
Her  quenchless  thirst,  in  streams  of  human  gore 
Which  soon  must  dye  that  lake  and  distant  shore. 

II 

"And  there  is  many  a  proud  and  stately  bark 
Emerging  from  the  waning  mists  of  night; 
And  many  a  bronzed  tar  and  gallant  spark 
Awaiting  there  the  coming  hour  of  fight; 
Their  streamers  gaily  float  in  air — and  hark! 

The  Boatswain  pipes  aloft  when  soon  with  fingers 
light 
The  active  crews  unfurl  the  snow-white  sail, 
Which  vainly  falls  to  woo  the  slumbering  gale." 

—  27  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

The  Americans  are  spoken  of  in  appreciative 

and  even  admiring  terms : 

"And  who  are  they  who,  fierce  defying,  dare 
To  range  their  prows  along  the  English  shore; 
To  seek  the  angry  Lion  in  his  lair, 

And  boldly  brave  the  sea  god's  savage  roar? 
A  haughty  and  a  gallant  band  they  are 

Nor  seen  nor  known,  nor  understood  before; 
Yet  not  unworthy  to  contend  in  arms 
With  foemen  long  inur'd  to  war's  alarms." 

The  Battle  is  described  in  conventional 
terms:  "thick  sulphureous  mists,"  "Murder 
opens  all  her  mouths  of  blood,"  "scenes 
of  fearful  death,"  "the  warrior's  grave," 
"Mars  in  his  sanguinary  car,"  "streams  of 
carnage." 

After  the  battle  was  fought  and  lost  the 
terrible  condition  of  ships  and  crew  is  graphic- 
ally described:  the  defeated  commander 
himself  is  spoken  of  in  language  which  recalls 
the  description  given  in  his  "War  of  1812"  by 
Richardson  who  saw  him  on  his  own  way  to 
prison  in  Chillicothe: — 

"And  thou,  too,  Barclay,  like  a  branchless  trunk 
Lay'st  wounded,  bleeding,'  mid  the  death-fraught 
scene; 
Writhing  and  faint,  ere  cruel  slaughter,  drunk 

With  the  rich  stream  of  life,  with  haggard  mien, 
Deep  and  more  deep  in  stern  destruction  sunk 
Each  short  liv'd  hope — who  then  alasl  had  seen 
Thy  flashing  eye,  had  trac'd  not  suffering  there, 
But  burning  indignation,  and  deep  care." 

—  28  — 


EARLY  WORKS 

Quite    without    historical    warrant,    when 

"The  red-cross  flag  has  ceas'd  to  wave  on 

high,"  the  Indians  appear,  "a  thousand  naked 

warriors,"  with  the  savage  war  cry  and  the 

deafening  yell,  led  by  "that  moveless  warrior" 

Tecumseh.    Tecumseh,    as     all    readers    of 

Richardson  know,  was  a  favorite  of  his— he 

is  thus  described: 

"Blood  of  the  Prophet,  and  of  vig'rous  mould! 
Undaunted  leader  of  a  dauntless  band, 
Vain  were  each  effort  of  thy  foes  most  bold 
To  stay  the  arm  of  slaughter,  or  withstand 
The  scathing  lightnings  of  that  eye,  where  roll'd 
Deep  vengeance  for  the  sufferings  of  a  land 
Long  doom'd,  the  partage  of  a  numerous  horde 
Whom  lawless  conquest  o'er  its  valleys  pour'd." 

Tecumseh's   real    kindness    of   heart   and 

earnest  desire  for  peace  the  author  notes  in 

the  words: 

"  'Twas  he  first  caus'd  these  scenes  of  blood  to  cease 
And  deign'd  the  vanquish'd  what  they  sue  for — peace." 

The  Indian  chief  is  given  an  only  son,  Uncas: 

"     .     .     youthful  Uncas,  foremost  in  the  fight, 
His  father's  sole  born  and  his  nation's  pride; 
He,  too,  hath  mark'd  and  sicken'd  at  the  sight; 
He,  too,  had  seen  the  foe  triumphant  ride 
And  spread  their  banners  o'er  the  liquid  plain 
In  all  the  insolence  of  proud  disdain." 

Tecumseh  sends  Uncas  to  gather  his  war- 
riors, and  the  canto  ends. 

—  29  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

At  the  beginning  of  the  second  canto,  for 
twenty-three  stanzas,  soliloquizes 

" in  simple  strains,  an  ancient  chief 

Whose  tottering  frame  lay  curv'd  within  his  tent; 
Worn  with  much  suffering  and  consuming  grief, 
Beneath  the  weight  of  many  winters  bent." 

He  sees  the  warriors  returning  from  the 
battle : 

".     .     .     the  crowded  barks  approached  that  shore 


The  gaudy  streamers  deck  their  prows  no  more, 

But  poles,  thick  strung  with  scalps,  in  many  a  rank 
Arrest  the  eye — all  loathsome  in  their  gore — 
While  ever  and  anon  resounds  the  clank 
Of  captive  chains;  and  men  of  fairer  hue 
And  other  garb  are  mingled  with  each  crew." 

Uncas'    corpse    is    seen    in    the    mournful 
bark;  he  had  been  slain  in  battle. 

•'And  darting  now  amid  the  sorrowing  crowd 
Appear'd  Tecumseh  recent  from  the  fight; 
He  gaz'd  upon  the  scene,  a  moment  bowed 

By  the  thick  mists  which  swam  before  his  sight; 
But,  firmly  struggling  with  his  secret  woes, 
Suppressed  the  groan  which  half  indignant  rose. 


"Awhile  Tecumseh  gaz'd  upon  the  wreck 
Of  his  lone  house  all  silent  there  and  low; 
.     .     .     that  son — his  Uncas — form'd  to  deck 
The  paths  of  those  who  wield  the  spear  and  bow, 
How  sad  to  see  him  there — a  blighted  flower 
Cropp'd  in  the  bloom  of  beauty  and  of  power!" 

—  30  — 


EARLY  WORKS 

The  death  of  Uncas  is  avenged  in  true 

Indian  manner : 

« an  aged  fiend, 

Low  bent  and  wither'd  by  the  blast  of  years, 
Whose  trembling  steps  upon  a  hatchet  leaned, 

At  the  dark  entrance  of  a  tent  appears, 
With  sunken  eyes,  that  furious  roll'd,  and  gleaned 
The  fairest  form  amid  those  sad  compeers, 
The  youth  most  worthy  to  appease  his  shade 
Whose  clay-cold  corse  within  that  tent  is  laid." 

She  kills  him : 

"Crash'd  the  fell  hatchet  on  his  front  of  snow 

Yet  sank  he  not  beneath  the  hellish  blow 
Till  wounds  repeated,  on  the  slippery  sod, 

In  death's  cold  grasp  soon  laid  the  sufferer  low; 
Whom  now  the  savage  monster  rudely  strips 
Of  the  warm  scalp,  borne  quivering  to  her  lips." 

This  whole  scene,  without  historical  warrant 
as  it  is,  is  practically  what  took  place  on  the 
death  of  Logan  in  the  War  of  1812— one  of 
the  most  appalling  scenes  in  all  history,  and 
described  by  Richardson  in  Chapter  III  of  his 
"War  of  1812." 

The  third  canto  begins  with  the  morning  of 

Procter's  Council  of  War  before  his  retreat  to 

the  Thames: 

"Long  has  Apollo  in  his  flaming  car 

Lash'd  his  hot  coursers  up  the  Eastern  sky." 

—  31  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

And  now  he 

"Awaits  the  moment  when  Aurora's  charms 
Shall  hail  him  blushing  to  her  trembling  arms." 

A  council  of  war  is  held  of  whites  and 

Indians :  the  prevailing  opinion  of  the  former  is 

to  retreat  to 

".     .     .     .    where  the  Thames'  sweet  waters  flow 
And    higher    banks,    with    thick'ning    woods    are 

crown'd, 
A  post  more  fitted  for  defence  is  found." 

Tecumseh    takes    strong    ground    against 

this  view : 

"Up  rose  Tecumseh  with  impatient  bound, 
Fire  in  his  mien  and  anger  in  his  eye — " 

He  scorns  to  retreat  from  the  frontier  and 
ends  by  crying: 

"But  since  the  blood  runs  coldly  thro'  thy  veins 
And  love  of  life  belies  the  warrior's  creed, 
Go — flee — and  leave  to  hostile  swords  these  plains; 

Then  tell  thy  Father  of  the  glorious  deed, 
Yet  say  that  well  one  native  chief  maintains 

The  faith  he  pledged  and  on  this  spot  will  bleed — 
For  by  the  Spirit  of  our  mighty  sphere 
Tecumseh  moves  not  while  a  foe  is  near." 

Nevertheless,  Procter, 

"The  Christian  father,  in  his  judgment  firm, 
Still  deems  retreat  the  most  expedient  mean 
To  thwart  the  foeman's  measure  in  the  germ." 

—  32  — 


EARLY  WORKS 

Tecumseh  submits : 

"Then  be  it  on  the  Thames'  broad  banks — I  yield 
To  riper  Chieftains  and  more  prudent  sires; 

But  by  the  mighty  Prophet,  on  that  field 
Tecumseh  combats — conquers  or  expires." 

The  fourth  canto  brings  the  climax  and 
denouement.  Awaiting  the  American  invader 
at  the  Thames  are,  "the  mild  Huron  who  for- 
sakes his  plough,  the  Winnebago  fierce,  the 
artful  Chippawa,  the  Sawkie  of  the  noble 
brow,  the  stern  Munsee,  the  Kickapoo,  the 
Foxes'  warlike  few,  the  watchful  Shawanee 
(Tecumseh's  pride),  the  wild  Minoumini  of 
flashing  eyes  who  feeds  on  human  flesh,  the 
Ottawas,  the  Pottawatamies,  and  Fallowsine" 
— Tecumseh  views  them  all  with  pride, 

"Still  his  soul  slept  not,  and  his  wrath  kept  pace 

With  the  hate  that  mock'd  at  suffering  and  toil, 
For  with  his  Uncas'  death-pang  snapp'd  the  tie 
Which  bound  him  latest  to  humanity." 

The  battle  begins  and, 

"Amid  that  scene  like  some  dark,  towering  fiend, 
With  death-black  eyes  and  hands  all  spotted  o'er, 
The  fierce  Tecumseh  on  his  tall  lance  lean'd." 

He  sees 

"The  chief  who  leads  the  foeman  to  his  shore, 
When  with  loud  yells  that  devils  might  appal, 
Deep  in  his  breast  he  lodg'd  the  whizzing  ball." 

—  33  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

Tecumseh    sprang    forward    to    finish    his 

work  with  the  hatchet 

"When  from  the  adverse  arm  a  bullet  flew 
With  force  resistless  and  with  aim  too  true." 

The  poem  ends  with  the  hope  that  his  deeds 
may  be  recalled  who  spared  blood  in  many  a 
battle  dire. 


ECARTE,  OR  THE  SALONS  OF  PARIS 

In  the  spring  of  1824  an  English  baronet, 
Sir  Edward  Delmaine,  and  his  nephew,  Clif- 
ford Delmaine,  the  hero,  went  from  London  to 
Paris,  most  of  the  way  with  Colonel  Stanley, 
"a  tall,  fine,  military-looking  man,"  and  his 
daughter,  Helen,  then  in  her  twenty-second 
year,  and  "a  model  of  female  beauty."  The 
trip  is  amusingly  described  with  little  justice 
done  to  French  politeness. 

In  Paris  Clifford  meets  an  old  friend,  Fred- 
erick Dormer,  who  had  ruined  health  and 
happiness  by  gambling.  He  tells  a  long  story 
of  his  fall  and  its  consequences ;  this,  in  length, 
(four  chapters,  22  8vo.  pages)  reminds  one  of 
the  story  told  by  Wacousta  to  Clara  de  Haldi- 
mar.  Taken  a  prisoner  in  Canada  at  an  early 
age,  into  the  heart  of  the  enemy's  country,  the 

—  34  — 


EARLY  WORKS 

United  States,  he  was  tempted  to  play  three- 
card-loo.  At  Frankfort,  Kentucky,  he  fell  in 
love  with  Agatha,  the  one  loved  and  beauteous 
daughter  of  Mr.  Worthington,  a  hospitable 
widower;  and  his  love  was  returned.  A  gay, 
unclouded  future  was  unfolded  to  their  view, 
as  Mr.  Worthington  was  wealthy  and  approved 
of  the  match.  But  at  Harodsburg,  staying 
three  weeks  instead  of  three  days,  he  won 
twenty  eagles  from  an  American  officer,  after 
three  days'  play  and  the  destruction  of  fifty 
packs  of  cards ;  then  seventy-five  eagles  from 
a  trans-atlantic  chevalier  d'industrie.  Agatha 
and  her  father  were  displeased  at  his  long 
absence :  the  chevalier  d'industrie  blackmailed 
him  and  stabbed  him.  Worthington  wrote 
him  breaking  off  the  proposed  marriage,  but 
Agatha  was  true. 

Being  released,  Dormer  returned  to  Canada 
and  endeavored  to  join  his  regiment,  then 
serving  under  Wellington  in  Flanders.    In  New 

York  he  met  "General  H ,  an  officer  who 

had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  our  division  at  the 
commencement  of  the  war"  (of  course,  General 
William  Hull)  and  his  daughters,  "elegant, 
well-informed,  accomplished  young  women." 
He  fought  at  Hougoumont  and  was  taken 

—  35  — 
J.R.— 4 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

prisoner  but  was  recaptured.  Going  to  Paris 
after  Waterloo,  he  made  his  way  to  England 
and  received  a  chilling  letter  from  Agatha;  then 
to  Madras  with  many  officers  and  "a  number 
of  married  and  single  ladies  .  .  .  lovely 
and  fascinating  women;"  but  Agatha's  image 
remained  rooted  in  his  breast. 

In  India  he  gambled  heavily,  horse  racing 
and  cards,  and  at  length  even  "withdrew  from 
the  intimacy  of  the  society  ...  of  the 
Colonel  and  his  daughter,  a  fine  and  accom- 
plished young  woman."  The  Colonel,  a 
friend  of  Worthington's,  was  about  to  inform 
him,  Dormer  found,  of  his  painful  conviction 
of  Dormer's  utter  devotedness  to  this  ruinous 
vice.  Dormer  insulted  him  and  fought  a  duel 
as  the  result;  the  parties  then  being  reconciled, 
Dormer  sold  out  and  went  to  England;  then  in 
1821  to  Paris  where,  in  the  Salons  d'Ecarte,  he 
gambled  in  large  sums.  "My  days  were  now 
consumed  at  Frascati's  and  the  Palais  Royal, 
while  my  nights  were  devoted  to  Astellis,  Le 
Pain  and  Magnolle  and  several  other  lady 
proprietors  equally  celebrated  for  the  splendor 
of  their  establishments  and  the  style  and 
beauty  of  the  females  by  whom  they  were 
frequented."    He  lost  all  his  money  and  was 

—  36  — 


EARLY  WORKS 

imprisoned  nearly  a  year  for  debt.  A  French 
officer  who  had  saved  his  life  at  Waterloo, 

Colonel    H ,    was    placed    in    the    same 

prison  on  a  charge  of  attempted  robbery; 
though  innocent  he  was  convicted;  "a  victim 
of  the  spirit  of  persecution  which  had  actuated 
the  Bourbons  since  the  restoration  in  regard 
to  all  the  faithful  adherents  of  the  Emperor," 
he  was  sent  to  the  hulks  for  five  years.  Dor- 
mer concludes  his  long  story  by  saying  that 
it  would  be  his  care  to  guard  Delmaine 
"against  the  dangers  by  which  the  young  and 
generous  are  almost  imperceptibly  assailed  in 
this  seductive  metropolis." 

(Colonel  Stanley  turns  out  to  have  been 
Dormer's  Colonel  in  India.) 

Comte  de  Hillier,"one  of  the  fiercest  des- 
peradoes and  most  successful  duellists  in  all 
Paris,"  who  had  already  killed  five  men,  in 
company  with  "the  self -expatriated  and  cox- 
combical Lord  Hervey,"  insulted  Helen,  and 
Clifford  fought  a  duel  with  him.  Both  were 
wounded,  the  Comte  in  the  right  breast, 
severely  but  not  fatally,  Clifford  with  a  severe 
but  not  dangerous  contused  wound. 

Mr.  W.  C.  H.  D.  F.  Darte,  the  gentleman 
whom  young  Englishmen  in  Paris  consult  for 

—  37  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

information  in  regard  to  the  amusements  of 
the  evening,  as  "the  farmer  consults  his  baro- 
meter in  order  to  ascertain  the  state  of  the 
weather,"  is  introduced  to  us  with  "the  enor- 
mous Mrs.  Rivers,  accompanied  by  two 
nearly  equally  voluminous  masses  of  matter 
.  .  her  daughters  .  .  with  .  .  Hot- 
tentot proportions  .  .  Misses  Fanny  and 
Lucy." 

Clifford  narrowly  escapes  another  duel,  goes 
with  a  French  friend,  Marquis  de  Forsac,  to 
Madame  Astelli's  Hotel  in  the  Rue  Grammont, 
where  he  recognizes  as  Adeline  Dorjeville  a 
beautiful  young  Frenchwoman  whose  life  he 
had  saved  by  seizing  the  bridle  of  a  horse  about 
to  trample  on  her.  He  wins  heavily  at  the 
gaming  table,  but,  suspecting  an  opponent  of 
cheating,  leaves  the  game.  He  makes  love  to 
Adeline,  whom  he  accompanies  home,  and 
makes  an  appointment  for  the  following  day.  He 
takes  her  to  dinner  at  Beauvillier's  in  the  Rue 
de  Richelieu,  where  they  meet  Colonel  and 
Helen  Stanley  and  Dormer.  Sir  Edward 
disowns  him  for  the  insult  to  Colonel  Stanley 
and  his  daughter  by  placing  himself  immedi- 
ately opposite  them  with  an  artful  French- 
woman. 

—  38  — 


EARLY  WORKS 

The  inevitable  complications  take  place. 
Helen,  "a  woman  of  strong  mind  .  .  with 
all  the  passion  of  love  without  any  of  its  ro- 
mance," was  more  than  usually  sensible; 
Clifford  had  an  intrigue  with  Adeline  and  led 
the  gay  life  of  the  Salons.  We  have  a  lively 
description  of  these,  of  the  money  lenders, 
Jews  and  others,  usurers,  harpies,  "the  dash- 
ing, splendid  females  who  frequent  the 
Salons  d'Ecarte  .  .  and  form  attachments 
with  the  young  men  they  usually  meet  in  these 
haunts,"  the  "faiseurs  d'affaires" — "a  more 
needy,  worthless  race  of  vipers  never  existed" 
— who  introduce  men  of  respectability  requiring 
money  "to  the  money  lender;  and  all  the 
tribe  of  scandalous  gamblers." 

De  Forsac  tries  to  take  Adeline  away  from 
Clifford :  she  orders  him  away  from  her  room — 
she  was  clothed  only  in  her  night  dress.  He 
seizes  her  and  a  painful  scene  ensues;  but 
Clifford,  returning,  finds  her  in  the  Marquis' 
wild  embrace  and  stops  the  outrage.  A  chal- 
lenge follows,  but  Clifford,  when  the  Marquis 
was  thrown  out,  charges  Adeline  with  being 
De  Forsac's  "servile  paramour."  She  denies 
the  charge  but  admits  that  she  formerly  lived 
with  him,  and  Clifford  leaves  her  for  ever. 

—  39  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

The  fact  appears  in  the  course  of  the  story 
that  Adeline  was  the  mistress  of  De  Forsac 
and  was  brought  in  contact  with  Clifford  by 
him,  that  she  might  capture  Clifford  and  leave 
the  field  clear  for  the  refined  voluptuary,  De 
Forsac,  to  obtain  the  hand  of  Helen,  with  whom 
he  had  fallen  in  love  and  of  whom  he  had  told 
his  friend  Dormer  that  she  was  neither  cold 
nor  insipid.  Englishwomen  "it  is  true  .  . 
have  less  of  the  vivacity  of  passion,  but  their 
feelings  are  deep,  intense  and  lasting.  More- 
over they  live  on  the  memory  of  love  when 
love  itself  and  the  intoxication  of  the  kisses 
have  passed  away."  Besides  "in  the  first 
place,  she  has  fortune  ...  in  the  second 
place,  she  is  a  woman  of  birth  and  accom- 
plishments .  .  lastly  and  chiefly,  she  has 
the  most  desirable  person  I  ever  beheld." 

Clifford  turns  up  at  three  o'clock  for  the 
duel,  but  he  is  arrested  for  debt  through  De 
Forsac's  machinations:  he  cannot  find  bail 
and  goes  to  St.  Pelagie.  The  same  night  a 
ball  is  given  by  the  English  Ambassador :  this 
is  attended  by  the  Stanleys,  Sir  Edward  and 
Dormer.  Helen  learns  there  of  Clifford's 
imprisonment,  but  meets  Agatha  Worthington, 
with  whom  she  at  once  becomes  a  warm  friend 
with  admiration  and  love  on  both  sides. 

—  40  — 


EARLY  WORKS 

Clifford's  prison  life  of  misery  is  fully  de- 
scribed, as  is  also  the  suicide  of  his  prede- 
cessor, an  English  gentleman  called  Torring- 
ton,  ruined  by  gaming ;  Adeline  visits  Clifford 
but  is  repulsed  and  the  money  she  offers  him 
is  refused.  Helen  pawns  her  jewels  for 
money  to  release  him:  Dormer,  taking  the 
fifty  thousand  francs  to  the  prison  for  that 
purpose,  sees  the  unhappy  Adeline,  "her 
countenance  pale  and  haggard — her  eyes 
swollen — her  lips  partly  unclosed  and  stained 
with  blood."  "No  Frenchman,"  murmured 
the  turnkey,  "would  have  treated  his  mistress 
in  the  same  manner ;  the  monster!"  Clifford 
sees  her  through  a  window,  hears  the  remark 
of  the  turnkey  and  exclaims  "the  man  is 
quite  right  and  I  have  acted  like  a  brute." 

The  money  paid,  Clifford  is  released; 
Dormer  at  his  instance  enquires  for  Adeline 
and  finds  her  seriously  ill.  Admitted  to 
visit  her,  he  sees  her  die ;  he  carries  the  sad 
tidings  to  Clifford  and  "that  night  Clifford 
Delmaine  was  pronounced  to  be  in  a  high 
state  of  fever,  on  the  second  it  increased  to 
delirium  and  on  the  third  his  life  was  des- 
paired of  " — a  truly  conventional,  if  medically 
impossible,  result. 

The  conclusion  of  the  story  is  admitted  by 

—  41  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

the  author  to  be  conventional:  "few  .  . 
can  be  ignorant  of  the  decidedly  hostile  man- 
ner in  which  the  critics  have  recently  opposed 
themselves  to  any  infringement  on  the  esta- 
blished customs  of  the  day  ...  we  bow 
to  their  fiat." 

Six  weeks  after  Clifford's  release  from  St. 
Pelagie,  Frederick  Dormer,  now  wholly  re- 
formed, and  Agatha  Worthington  were  married. 
Sir  Edward  Delmaine  died  within  three  weeks 
after  his  return  to  London  and  in  the  autumn 
of  that  year  "Sir  Clifford  Delmaine  received 
the  hand  of  the  noble-minded  Helen  from  her 
father  .  .  .  Like  Dormer  he  had  .  . 
completely  'sown  his  wild  oats.' "  Marquis  de 
Forsac  was  killed  in  a  duel  in  Italy  by  a  British 
officer  who  had  detected  him  in  an  intrigue 
with  his  wife.  It  is  not  known  whether  Mr. 
Darte  married  either  Miss  Lucy  or  Miss  Fanny 
Rivers.  "Comte  de  Hillier  is  still  living,  as 
ferocious,  as  quarrelsome,  and  as  brutal  as 
ever ;  his  friend  and  second,  Lord  Hervy,  has 
lately  come  to  an  Earldom"  and"  Reader,  vale." 

So  ends  a  somewhat  lurid  story.  Every  one 
must  judge  for  himself  whether  it  deserves 
the  characterization  of  Jerdan;  but  it  is  not 
an  unusually  immoral  or  provocative  novel 
for  those  times  or,  indeed,  for  these. 

—  42  — 


WACOUSTA 
OR  THE  PROPHECY 


WACOUSTA,  OR  THE  PROPHECY 


HIS  is  the  best-known  of 
Richardson's  works,  and  with 
I  all  its  faults  it  must  be  con- 
sidered his  best.  "It  is  foun- 
ded solely  on  the  artifice  of 
(Pontiac  to  possess  himself  of 


rut 

m 

IkSIjsJ 

Tier* 

rcsFSa? 

the  two  last  English  forts,"  Detroit  and  Mich- 
illimackinac ;  and  Richardson  made  full  use 
of  the  stories  told  him  in  his  childhood  by  his 
maternal  grandmother  at  Strabane. 

The  "Prophecy"  was  in  reality  a  curse  pro- 
nounced against  Colonel  de  Haldimar,  Com- 
mandant at  Detroit,  by  the  wife  of  a  soldier 
whom  he  had  caused  to  be  shot  for  permitting 
the  Colonel's  own  son  to  leave  the  fort  against 
orders— an  inhuman  act  wholly  unjustified  by 
the  circumstances  and  which  excited  horror 
in  every  breast.  It  is  explainable  only  by  the 
overwrought  state  of  the  Colonel,  induced  by 
the  nocturnal  visit  to  his  room  of  one  he  had 
wronged  four  and  twenty  years  before. 

The  agonized  widow  exclaimed : 

"Inhuman  murderer,  if  there  be  a  God  of 


—  45  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

justice  and  of  truth,  He  will  avenge  this 
devilish  deed.  Yes,  Colonel  de  Haldimar,  a 
prophetic  voice  whispers  to  my  soul  that  even 
as  I  have  seen  perish  before  my  eyes  all  that 
I  loved  on  earth,  without  mercy  and  without 
hope,  so  even  shall  you  witness  the  destruction 
of  your  accursed  race.  Here— here— here 
.  .  .  .  shall  their  blood  flow  till  every 
vestige  of  his  own  is  washed  away,  and  oh,  if 
there  be  spared  one  branch  of  thy  detested 
family,  may  it  be  only  that  they  may  be 
reserved  for  some  death  too  horrible  to  be 
conceived !" 

This  passage  will  give  some  conception  of 
the  work;  the    speakers  all  have  a  stilted, 
artificial  style  unlike  anything  that  is  ever 
heard  in  actual  life,  but  not  unlike  that  of 
Sir  Charles  Grandison  and  most  of  Sir  Walter 
Scott's   characters,    except   the   most   lowly.^ 
It  would  be  unjust  to  Richardson  to  say  that 
he  founded  his  style  on  that  of  his  illustrious 
namesake  and  fellow-novelist;  but  certainly 
there  is  a  great  resemblance.    His  narratives 
have  not  any  such  defects;  facts  are  stated 
with  clearness,  and,  in  general,  concisely;  a 
little  moralizing  here  and  there  is  pardonable. 

To  understand  the  plot  we  must  go  back 
—  46  — 


WACOUSTA,  OR  THE  PROPHECY 

nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  before  the  open- 
ing of  the  story.  De  Haldimar  and  Morton 
were  subalterns  in  the  same  regiment,  and 
intimate  friends.  The  latter,  hunting  in  the 
Highlands  of  Scotland,  discovered  Clara  Bev- 
erley, the  daughter  of  an  English  Colonel 
who  had  espoused  the  Stewart  cause  in  171 5 
and  had  buried  himself  and  his  only  child  in 
a  secluded  spot  in  the  mountains.  They  fell 
in  love  with  each  other  and  became  engaged, 
"  whispering  vows  of  eternal  love."  DeHaldi- 
mar  was  informed  and  promised  to  render 
Morton  any  service  in  his  power.  He  also 
found  the  fair  Clara  and  during  the  absence 
in  the  South  of  Morton,  married  her.  He 
also  preferred  charges  against  Morton,  who 
was  tried  by  court-martial,  found  guilty  and 
dismissed  the  service. 

Morton  joined  Prince  Charlie  in  1745. 
Learning  that  de  Haldimar  was  in  command 
of  one  of  the  regiments  sent  under  Wolfe 
against  Quebec,  he  made  his  way  to  Canada 
and  joined  the  French  army.  In  the  attack  on 
Quebec  he  shot  at  Charles  de  Haldimar,  a 
subaltern  in  his  father's  regiment,  and  would 
have  killed  him  but  that  the  bullet  was  inter- 
cepted by  a  private  soldier,  Frank  Hallo  way — 

—  17  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

the  same  man  who  was  afterwards  shot  on 
Colonel  de  Haldimar's  orders,  and  who  was  the 
nephew  of  Morton.  Morton  afterwards  joined 
the  Indians,  assuming  the  name  Wacousta. 
He  it  was  who  visited  the  room  of  Colonel 
de  Haldimar  at  Detroit  by  night  and  put  him 
in  such  trepidation  that  he  would  not  listen 
to  the  entreaties  of  Halloway,  Halloway's 
wife  Ellen,  or  his  officers. 

Much  of  the  book  is  taken  up  in  a  descrip- 
tion, graphic  and  not  far  from  historic  truth, 
of  the  foiling  of  the  attempt  of  Pontiac  on 
Detroit.  On  this  attempt,  Wacousta  came 
into  the  fort  garbed  and  painted  as  an  Indian. 
The  Colonel  recognized  him  and  ordered  him 
to  be  seized,  but  in  vain. 

Then  is  described  with  some  detail  the  cap- 
ture of  the  fort  at  Michillimackinac,  the  massa- 
cre of  the  garrison,  and  the  escape  on  a  schooner 
of  Clara  de  Haldimar,  the  Colonel's  daughter, 
who  was  at  the  fort  on  a  visit,  Madeline 
de  Haldimar,  her  cousin,  Madeline's  fiance, 
Captain  Frederick  de  Haldimar,  Sir  Everard 
Valletort  and  others.  In  this  narrative  Rich- 
ardson makes  the  River  St.  Clair  so  narrow 
that  it  was  wholly  overhung  by  the  branches 

—  48  — 


WACOUSTA,  OR  THE  PROPHECY 

of  the  trees  on  the  banks,  a  liberty  with  fact 
which,  in  his  introduction  to  the  revised  edi- 
tion, he  justifies  as  a  "license  usually  accorded 
to  a  writer  of  fiction  in  order  to  give  greater 
effect  to  the  scene  represented  as  having 
occurred  there,  and  of  course  in  no  way  in- 
tended as  a  geographical  description  of  the 
river."  Beyond  any  question  the  scene  is  made 
more  impressive  and  effective  by  the  expedient 
employed,  but  there  may  be  two  opinions  as 
to  the  validity  of  the  excuse. 

The  escaping  party  is  captured  by  Wacousta 
who  brings  them  to  Detroit.  In  escaping  from 
him,  Charles  de  Haldimar  and  other  British 
officers  are  met,  disguised  as  Indian  warriors. 
Wacousta,  pursuing,  kills  Charles  de  Haldimar 
in  the  presence  of  Ellen  Halloway,  on  the  very 
spot  at  which  her  husband  was  slain,  Sir 
Everard  is  saved,  as  is  Clara,  and  they  become 
affianced.  Wacousta  is  taken  prisoner  by 
the  English,  Clara  rushes  to  him  and  demands 
her  brother  Frederick,  he  seizes  her  in  his 
arms  and  climbs  the  flag-staff;  the  Colonel 
dared  not  permit  him  to  be  shot  at  lest  the 
woman  should  be  hurt.  "Wacousta  had  now 
reached  the  centre  of  the  flag-staff.     Pausing 

—  49  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

for  a  moment,  he  grappled  it  with  his  strong 
and  nervous  feet,  on  which  he  apparently 
rested  to  give  momentary  relief  to  the  muscles 
of  his  left  arm  (he  still  supported  the  ap- 
parently senseless  Clara  against  his  right 
breast  with  the  other).  He  then  abruptly 
abandoned  his  hold,  swinging  himself  out  a  few 
yards  from  the  staff,  and  returning  again, 
dashed  his  feet  against  it  with  a  force  that 
caused  the  weakened  mass  to  vibrate  to  its 
very  foundation.  Impelled  by  his  weight  and 
the  violence  of  his  action,  the  creaking  pine 
gave  way,  its  lofty  top  gradually  bending  over 
the  exterior  rampart  until  it  finally  snapped 
asunder  and  fell  with  a  loud  crash  across  the 
ditch." 

This  extraordinary  story  excited  the  ridicule 
of  some  critics,  and  it  may  fairly  be  said  that 
it  is  hard  to  find  a  parallel  outside  Baron 
Munchausen.  Richardson,  however,  justifies 
it  as  quite  possible :  "a  strong  and  active  man 
such  asWacousta  is  described  to  have  been, 
might  very  well  have  been  supposed  in  his 
strong  anxiety  for  revenge  and  escape  with  his 
victim,  to  have  doubled  his  strength  and 
activity  on  so  important  an  occasion, rendering 

—  50  — 


WACOUSTA,  OR  THE  PROPHECY 

that  easy  of  attainment  by  himself  which  an 
ordinary  and  unexcited  man  might  deem  im- 
possible. I  myself  have  knocked  down  a 
gate  almost  without  feeling  the  resistance  in 
order  to  escape  the  stilettoes  of  assassins." 
Perhaps  so,  but  one  would  like  to  know  how 
many  yards  even  a  strong  and  active  man 
could  swing  himself  out  from  a  flag-staff  with 
a  woman  clasped  to  his  breast. 

Wacousta  effected  his  escape,  though  wound- 
ed by  Sir  Everard,  and,  in  full  view  of  father 
and  betrothed,  he  killed  Clara  and  threw  her 
body  into  a  ravine.  Colonel  de  Haldimar 
believed  that  he  was  now  childless,  but 
Frederick  was  assisted  to  escape  by  an 
Indian  woman,  the  devoted  Oucanasta ;  with 
him  escaped  his  fiancee,  Madeline.  The 
Colonel  did  not  live  to  see  his  son's  return: 
"when  the  adjutant  entered  his  apartment, 
the  stony  coldness  of  his  cheek  attested 
he  had  been  dead  for  some  hours." 
Wacousta,  Sir  Reginald  Morton,  takes  away 
Ellen  Hallo  way  as  his  wife.  It  turns  out 
that  the  dead  husband's  real  name  was  also 
Reginald  Morton  and  that  he  was  the  nephew 
of  Wacousta.  "As  for  poor  Ellen  Halloway, 

—  51  — 


J.R, 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

search  has  been  made  for  her,  but  she  never 
was  heard  of  afterwards." 

So  ends  this  interesting  story,  full  of  striking 
episodes  and,  in  the  main,  true  to  nature. 
One  may  regret  that  the  action  is  hampered 
and  the  vraisembiance  almost  destroyed  by 
wearisome  dialogue  in  stilted  and  unnatural 
language. 


—  52 


THE  CANADIAN  BROTHERS 


THE  CANADIAN  BROTHERS 
OR  THE  PROPHECY  FULFILLED 


HIS  work,  the  sequel  to 
"Wacousta,"  was  written  in 
England  as  early  as  1833  when 
Richardson  was  still  a  Lieu- 
tenant of  the  92nd  Regiment. 
The  manuscript  was  seen  by 
Sir  Herbert  Taylor,  Aide-de-Camp  and  Private 
Secretary  to  King  William  IV  and  a  soldier  of 
considerable  experience.  Taylor  expressed 
deep  gratification  at  the  chapter  treating  of  the 
policy  of  employing  the  Indians  in  any  future 
war  with  the  United  States.  He  also  conveyed 
to  Richardson  the  King's  acquiescence  in 
the  request  to  dedicate  the  work  to  him, 
August  12,  1833. 

Why  it  was  not  published  in  England  does 
not  appear:  local  tradition,  however,  has  it 
that  it  received  its  finishing  touches  when  the 
author  was  living  in  Sandwich  in  1839.  Cer- 
tain chapters  were  published  in  the  Literary 
Garland,  of  Montreal,  and  Richardson   says 

—  55  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

that  "had  it  not  been  for  the  very  strong  in- 
terest taken  in  their  appearance  by  a  portion 
of  the  American  public  in  the  first  instance,  the 
volumes  never  would  have  been  submitted 
to  the  press  of  this  country." 

"The  Canadian  Brothers,  or  The  Prophecy 
Fulfilled:  a  Tale  of  the  late  American  War" 
was  published  at  Montreal,  1840.  It  was 
dedicated  to  Sir  John  Harvey,  then  Lieutenant- 
Governor  of  New  Brunswick  who,  as  Colonel 
Harvey,  had  distinguished  himself  in  the  War 
of  1812.  It  was  he  who  in  the  night  of  June  5, 
18 13,  at  the  head  of  five  hundred  men  of  the 
8th  and  49th  Regiments,  surprised  and  com- 
pletely routed  the  forces  of  Generals  Winder 
and  Chandler,  3,500  strong,  at  Stoney  Creek 
in  Upper  Canada.  The  edition  was  in  two 
volumes  of  250  copies;  but,  notwithstanding 
the  continued  advertisement  in  The  New  Era, 
Richardson  might  as  well  have  published  it 
"in  Kamtschatka"  as  in  Canada :  there  was 
little  demand  in  the  Canada  of  that  period  for 
the  productions  of  Canadian  talent — nous 
n'avons  pas  change  tout  cela. 

When  living  in  New  York,  Richardson  pre- 
pared and  published  in  New  York  in  1851,  an 
edition  for  the  American  market  of  "Matilda 

—  56  — 


THE  CANADIAN  BROTHERS 

Montgornerie,  or  The  Prophecy  Fulfilled:  a 
Tale  of  the  late  American  War,  Being  the 
Sequel  to  'Wacousta'."  The  plot,  so  far  as 
there  is  any  plot,  is  not  altered,  but  many 
changes  are  to  be  found  in  this  edition,  some 
of  importance.  In  the  preface  to  the  original 
edition  the  author  apologized  for  the  imper- 
fect Scotch  which  he  had  put  into  the  mouth 
of  one  of  his  characters,  his  apology  for  which 
being  that  he  was  unaware  of  the  error  until 
the  work  had  been  so  far  printed  as  not  to 
admit  of  his  remedying  it.  In  "Matilda  Mont- 
gornerie," while  Captain  Cranstoun  is  men- 
tioned, he  is  no  longer  "a  raw-boned  Scotch 
Captain  of  Grenadiers";  whole  passages  in 
which  he  figures  are  omitted  and  when  he 
does  talk  he  speaks  English  and  not  such 
atrocities  as  "joodge  of  pheesogs,"  "yeet 
as  ye're  to  be  attoched  to  my  deveesion  y'ell 
perhaps  roon  jeest  the  same  reesk,"  "What 
ha'  ye  doon  wi'  the  oogly  loot?"  "How  vary 
extraoordinary  to  soorender  the  ceetadel," 
"had  Geerald  doon  this  he  would  ha'  maired 
his  feenal  treomph  over  the  veellain,"  etc., 
etc. — alleged  Scotticisms  which  certainly  call 
for  apology,  but  are  not  much,  if  any,  worse 
than  some  we  see  in  works  of  greater  preten- 

—  57  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

sions.  The  fact  that  Cranstoun  was  intended 
for  a  portrait  of  an  actual  personage,  Lt.-Col. 
Short,  does  not  diminish  but  rather  increases 
the  offence. 

In  "Matilda  Montgomerie"  there  are  many 
omissions — I  have  noted  over  seventy — of 
more  or  less  length  and  importance,  ranging 
from  three  or  four  pages  down  to  a  single 
sentence;  one  of  the  longer  being  that  part 
treating  of  the  policy  of  employing  the  Indians 
in  any  future  war  with  the  United  States,  which 
had  attracted  the  attention  of  Sir  Herbert 
Taylor  in  1833.  Many  omissions  occur  in  the 
narrative  of  the  events  of  the  War:  these  are 
wholly  pardonable,  the  War  was  a  thing  of  the 
past  and  many  of  the  passages  omitted  had 
interrupted  the  current  of  the  story. 

In  his  preface  to  the  original  work  the  author 
had  felt  himself  called  upon  to  explain  "the 
favorable  light  in  which  the  American  char- 
acter has  been  portrayed"  and  rejoiced  that 
"in  eschewing  the  ungenerous  desire  of  most 
English  writers  in  America  to  convey  a  de- 
basing impression  of  the  people  and  seek- 
ing .  .  .  to  do  justice  to  their  character, 
.  .  .  no  interested  motive  can  be  ascribed 
to  him."    He  hoped  that  his  pages  might  dis- 

—  58  — 


THE  CANADIAN  BROTHERS 

sipate  a  portion  of  that  irritation  naturally 
"engendered  in  every  American  heart  by  the 
perverted  and  prejudiced  statement  of  dis- 
appointed tourists  whose  acerbity  of  stricture 
not  even  a  recollection  of  much  hospitality 
could  repress."  And  while  sturdily  British 
and  almost  passionately  Canadian,  Richardson 
says  nothing  at  which  any  fair-minded  Ameri- 
can could  cavil. 

But  in  the  New  York  work,  he  goes  farther 
in  the  way  of  catering  to  American  sentiment 
and  suppresses  anything  which  might  wound 
American  sensibilities  and  amour  propre. 
We  no  longer  read  that  war  was  declared  by 
the  United  States,  "the  great  aim  and  object 
of  which  was  the  conquest  ...  of  the 
provinces  on  which  she  had  long  cast  an  eye 
of  political  jealousy,  and  now  assailed  at  a 
moment  when  England,  fighting  the  battles 
of  the  .  .  .  recreant  and  unredeemed 
Peninsula,  could  ill  spare  a  solitary  regiment 
to  the  rescue  of  her  threatened  and  but  in- 
differently defended  .  .  possessions."  Nor 
do  we  read  that  "the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  bent  on  the  final  acquisition  of 
all  the  proximate  possessions  of  the  Indians, 
had  for  many  successive  years  waged  a  war  of 

—  59  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

extermination  against  these  unfortunate  peo- 
ple." In  an  early  chapter  are  omitted  "while 
above  the  American  flag  was  hoisted  in  all  the 
pride  of  a  first  conquest,  the  Union  Jack  of 
England";  and  "We  have  taken  thirty  soldiers 
of  the  American  regular  regiment,  now  in 
garrison  at  Detroit,  besides  the  boat's  crew." 
Of  an  American  settler,  Jeremiah Desborough, 
the  villain  of  the  play,  the  account  is  given  in 
both  editions,  "whether  Yankee  or  Kentuckian 
it  would  have  puzzled  one  of  that  race  of  beings 
so  proverbial  for  acuteness — a  Philadelphia 
lawyer — to  determine  " ;  but  the  later  omits 
"for  so  completely  did  he  unite  the  boasting 
language  of  the  latter  with  the  wary  caution 
and  sly  cunning  of  the  former  that  he  appeared 
a  compound  of  both.  The  general  opinion, 
however,  seemed  rather  to  incline  in  favor  of 
the  presumption  that  he  was  less  Kentuckian 
than  Yankee."  And  we  do  not  now  hear  of 
the  "ferocious  eye  of  the  Yankee." 

The  unstinted  praise  of  General  Brock  and 
Commodore  Barclay,  well  deserved  as  it  was, 
contained  in  the  first  edition,  disappears  in  the 
second :  and  the  implied  want  of  military  skill 
and,  indeed,  of  military  honor  on  the  part  of 
certain  American  officers,  "the  hated  thraldom 

—  60  — 


THE  CANADIAN  BROTHERS 

of  American  tyranny  and  American  usurpa- 
tion," are  also  missing.    "Let  it  suffice  that  the 
Americans  triumphed  at  Put-in-Bay"  becomes 
"Let  it  suffice  that  the  Americans  fought  with 
determined  bravery  and  eventually  triumphed." 
Even    the    word    "Yankee,"  so    often   em- 
ployed in  the  first  edition,  becomes  "enemy," 
"settler,"  "person,"  "accused,"  in  the  second. 
Richardson  omits  the  very  reverent,  loving 
and   appreciative  account  of  his  father   (as 
Major    Grantham)   and   his    mother— wisely 
perhaps,  as  this  formed  no  part  of  the  story; 
but  Canadians  are  not  likely  to  approve  of  his 
omission  of  the  really  excellent  and  spirited 
account  of  the  Battle  of  Queenston  Heights, 
which  he  by  an  admitted  anachronism  places 
in  1813  instead  of  in  1812.    He  retains  much 
of  his  Canadianism,  even  if  in  the  New  York 
edition   our    "stern    invigorating    winter    of 
Canada"    becomes    the    "stern    invigorating 
winter  of  beautiful  America";  the  "Canadian 
sky,"   "the   American   sky";  the   "Canadian 
Lakes,"  the  "American  Lakes."     And  Colonel 
D'Egville,  who  boasted  "I  am  a  Canadian,  but  so 
far  from  endeavoring  to  repudiate  my  country, 
I  feel  pride  in  having  received  my  being  in  a 
land  where  everything  attests  the  sublimity 

—  61  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

and  magnificence  of  nature,"  in  the  second 
edition  merely  does  not  endeavor  to  repudiate 
his  "American  birth." 

There  are  in  the  second  edition  a  few  con- 
cessions to  delicacy:  Matilda,  who  had  "a  bust 
and  hips  to  warm  the  bosom  of  an  anchorite," 
loses  the  latter  anatomical  characteristic  and 
ceases  sub  sileniio  to  be  an  Aphrodite  Calli- 
pyge.  The  "doxies"  of  the  vulgar  Cockneys 
become  "sweethearts,"  and  a  somewhat  sug- 
gestive paragraph  is  omitted  in  a  love-making 
scene.  Then,  too,  Richardson  omits  Latin 
quotations  and  translates  French. 

Leaving  now  the  form,  there  is  no  difference 
in  the  substance  of  the  two  editions.  The 
prophecy  in  "Wacousta"  was  that  Colonel 
de  Haldimar  should  see  the  destruction 
of  his  accursed  race,  that  on  the  spot  where 
lay  the  corpse  of  Frank  Halloway  should 
their  blood  flow  till  every  vestige  of  his  own 
should  be  washed  away.  The  Colonel  had 
perished,  as  had  his  son  Charles  and  his 
daughter  Clara;  but  there  still  survived  the 
younger  son,  Frederick,  then  affianced  to  his 
cousin,  Madeline;  and,  as  Richardson  says 
in  the  preface  to  the  New  York  edition  of 
"Wacousta,"  the  curse  pronounced  by  "the 

—  62  — 


THE  CANADIAN  BROTHERS 

wretched  wife  of  the  condemned  soldier  .  . 
could  not,  of  course,  well  be  fulfilled  in  the 
course  of  the  tale"  (one  rather  fails  to  see  why 
not). 

In  "The  Canadian  Brothers"  Frederick  and 
Madeline  had  married  and  been  blessed  with 
four  children.  The  two  eldest,  officers  in  his 
own  corps,  had  perished  in  war,  one  daughter 
had  died  young  of  a  decline,  and  the  other, 
Isabella,  had  married  Major  Grantham,  who 
had  been  a  field  officer  in  the  British  Army  but 
who  retired  and  was  filling  a  civil  situation  in 
Amherstburg,  that  of  Chief  Magistrate.  Major 
Grantham  is  recognized  as  Dr.  Robert  Rich- 
ardson, formerly  surgeon  in  the  army  and 
afterwards  Judge  of  the  District  Court  of  the 
Western  District. 

Col.  Frederick  de  Haldimar  and  his  wife 
"perished  in  a  hurricane  on  their  route  to  the 
West  Indies  whither  the  regiment  .  .  had 
been  ordered."  The  shock  was  too  much 
for  Mrs.  Grantham,  she  sank  under  fell  con- 
sumption, leaving  two  children,  Gerald,  in  the 
navy,  and  Henry,  who  afterwards  joined  the 
army.  They  are  the  "Canadian  Brothers"  and 
are  intended  for  Richardson  and  his  brother, 
Robert,  who  joined  the  Navy  as  midshipman, 

—  63  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

was  severely  wounded  at  the  Battle  of  French- 
town,  January  22,  1813,  and  died  at  Am- 
herstburg  in  18 19. 

The  villain  of  the  play  is  Jeremiah  Bes- 
borough,  a  wholly  unnatural,  if  not  impossible, 
character  who  is  sometimes  the  stage  Yankee 
of  broad  comedy  with  his  "tarnation"  "mighty 
cute,"  "no  sich  thing,"  "sure-Zi/,"  "drot  my 
skin,"  and  "I  guess,"  and  sometimes  a  fiend 
in  human  form,  greedily  devouring  human 
flesh.  He  turns  out  to  be  the  son  of  Wa- 
cousta  and  Ellen  Halloway.  He  had  settled 
near  Amherstburg  between  Elliott's  and 
Hartley's  Point;  "an  individual  of  whom,  un- 
fortunately for  the  interests  of  Canada,  too 
many  of  the  species  had  been  suffered  to  take 
root  within  her  soil  .  .  adventurers  from 
the  United  States,  chiefly  men  of  desperate 
fortunes  and  even  more  desperate  characters 
.  .  renegades."  A  smuggler,  he  had  evaded 
the  oath  of  allegiance,  but  was  required  to 
take  the  oath  by  Major  Grantham,  whom  in 
revenge  he  murdered,  ultimately  escaping 
conviction  for  want  of  evidence. 

He  had  two  children,  Phil  and  Matilda,  the 
former  an  Ensign  in  the  Michigan  Militia 
under  the  name  of  Paul  Emilius  Theophilus 

—  64  — 


THE  CANADIAN  BROTHERS 

Arnoldi,1  the  latter  adopted  into  the  family  of 
Major  Montgomerie  of  the  Regular  Army  of  the 
United  States,  and  known  as  his  niece  under 
the  name  of  Matilda  Montgomerie.  Phil  is 
an  ill-bred,  dishonorable  cur,  but  Matilda  is 
beautiful,  though  cold  and  hard  as  the  nether 
millstone.  She  had  been  wronged  by  her 
fiance,  Colonel  Forrester,  who  had  seduced 
her  under  promise  of  marriage,  and  who 
had  left  her  after  finding  her  in  the  arms  of  a 
man,  whom  he  supposed  to  be  a  negro,  but 
who  was  in  fact  her  father  with  a  black  mask 
on.     And  she  lived  for  revenge. 

The  story  begins  at  Amherstburg  with 
Gerald,  in  command  of  a  war  vessel,  watching 
the  river.  Desborough  and  his  son  were  plot- 
ting to  run  a  boat  laden  with  gold  through  to 
the  Fort  at  Detroit.  Desborough  had  given 
Gerald  false  news  and  had  dropped  a  paper 
indicating  that  Gerald  was  a  traitor.  How- 
ever, Gerald  captured  an  American  vessel 
with  Major  Montgomerie,  Matilda  and  thirty 
soldiers  of  the  Detroit  garrison,  and  brought 
them  to  Amherstburg,  promptly  falling  in  love 
with  Matilda,  but  "discouraged  by  her  apparent 
reserve"  as  she  had  "a  cheek  as  cold  and  as 
pale  as  a  turnip."    Her  brother  Phil  was  cap- 

—  65  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

tured  at  the  same  time.  He  broke  his  parole, 
made  his  way  to  his  father  and  the  two 
escaped  across  the  river,  notwithstanding  the 
efforts  of  Henry  Grantham  and  a  brother 
officer,  assisted  as  they  were  by  Sampson 
Gattrie,  who  in  the  second  edition  is  given  his 
real  name,  Simon  Girty.  A  very  full  and 
accurate  description  is  given  of  this  cele- 
brated character  and  loyal  British  subject. 

The  capture  of  Detroit  is  described.  Major 
Montgomerie  having  been  severely  wounded 
by  a  cannon  shot  aimed  by  Gerald  Grantham, 
and  Phil  having  been  killed  by  the  Indians  on 
his  escape  from  Canada,  Desborough  en- 
deavors to  have  himself  carried  out  of  the  fort, 
covered  with  a  sheet  as  a  corpse.  He  is  ar- 
rested as  a  traitor  and  a  murderer ;  but  when 
Gerald  and  Matilda  were  love-making,  he 
makes  his  escape  from  Gerald's  schooner,  on 
which  he  was  being  conveyed  down  Lake  Erie. 

Before  this  Gerald's  life  was  saved  by 
Matilda,  who  sucked  the  virus  from  a  wound 
made  by  the  bite  of  a  rattlesnake  when  he  was 
wild-turkey  shooting. 

As  the  24-pounder  had  been  tampered  with, 
Gerald's  British  schooner  was  taken  by  an 
American  vessel,  aboard   which    was   Des- 

—  66  — 


THE  CANADIAN  BROTHERS 

borough.  Gerald  also  escaped  and  crossed 
the  river  to  Amherstburg  with  his  faithful 
negro,  Sambo  (whose  dialect  is  a  still  more 
fearful  thing  than  that  of  Cranstoun),  in  a 
terrible  storm.  Gerald  was  emaciated,  pale 
even  unto  wanness,  displaying  signs  of  much 
care  and  inward  suffering,  as  well  he  might, 
since  Matilda,  as  the  price  of  her  love,  had 
asked  him  to  murder  her  seducer.  As  Sambo 
said  to  Henry,  "berry  much  change,  he  poor 
broder  Geral,  he  not  a  same  at  all."  Gerald 
had  already,  near  Detroit,  without  knowing 
the  identity  of  either,  prevented  her  from 
killing  the  Colonel  with  a  dagger. 

The  brothers  took  part  in  the  Miami  expedi- 
tion where  Gerald  was  captured.  Sent  as  a 
prisoner  to  Frankfort,  Kentucky,  he  met  Des- 
borough  by  the  way  in  Tennessee,  and  nearly 
killed,  and  was  nearly  killed  by,  him.  Arriving 
at  Frankfort,  an  isolated  prisoner  of  war,  he 
strayed  one  day  into  the  mountains  and,  in  the 
centre  of  a  little  plain,  found  a  small  circular 
building  resembling  a  temple,  furnished  with 
a  single  window,  narrow,  elongated  and 
studded  with  iron  bars.  He  reached  up, 
seized  the  bars  and,  looking  in,"  saw  Matilda 
kneeling  with  clasped  and  uplifted  hands,  clad 

—  67  — 

J.R.— 6 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

in  a  loose  robe  of  black.  She  was  reading  the 
last  letter  he  had  written  her,  "prior  to  parting 
with  her  .  .  for  ever."  She  detected  his 
presence  and  he  entered.  She  offered  to  be  his 
on  her  terms;  he  recoiled  but  next  day  agreed. 
He  swore  to  murder  Forrester.  "I  swear  it, 
Matilda — he  shall  die."  "The  interview,  so 
fatal  in  its  results  to  Gerald's  long-formed 
resolutions  of  virtuous  purpose,  was  followed 
by  others  of  the  same  description";  but  she 
answered  his  anticipation  of  his  reward  with 
an  air  of  wounded  dignity  and  sometimes  of 
deep  sorrow  (once  bit,  twice  shy).  The 
seducer  arrived  and  the  day  was  fixed  for  the 
murder.  Gerald  primed  himself  with  brandy, 
Matilda  gave  him  a  dagger.  Gerald  recognized 
who  it  was  he  was  to  kill,  his  uplifted  arm  sank 
by  his  side  and  Matilda  snatched  the  dagger 
and  drove  it  deep  in  the  body  of  Forrester.  She 
soon  poisoned  herself.  Gerald  is  helped  off 
to  Canada  and,  having  entered  the  American 
forces  as  a  spy,  is  shot  at  the  Battle  of  Queens- 
ton  Heights  by  his  brother,  Henry.  Henry 
was  seized  by  Desborough  and  was  carried 
with  him  when  he  threw  himself  backward 
from  the  top  of  the  crag  into  the  hideous  abyss 
below;  and  their  "picked  and  whitened  bones 

—  68  — 


THE  CANADIAN  BROTHERS 

may  be  seen  shining  through  the  deep  gloom 
that  envelops  every  part  of  the  abyss  unto  this 
day."  The  New  York  edition  closes  with  the 
sententious  words  in  capitals:  AND  THUS 
WAS  THE  FEARFUL  PROPHECY  OF 
ELLEN  HALLOWAY,  MOTHER  OF 
DESBOROUGH  BY  WACOUSTA,  FUL- 
FILLED ! 

I  may  perhaps  be  permitted  to  add :  "And  no 
one  can  fairly  say  that  Fate  did  not  make  a 
complete  job  of  it." 

iNo  doubt  these  names  are  taken  by  Richardson 
from  those  of  Paulus  Emilius  Irving  and  Theophilus 
Cramahe,  Lieutenant-Governors  of  Quebec,  and  Arn- 
oldi,  a  well-known  surgeon  in  the  Imperial  service  at 
Montreal. 

2This  was  the  third  time  he  spied  on  her  through 
a  single  window,  and  something  must  necessarily 
come  of  it  this  time.  This  "temple"  had  been  built 
by  the  ubiquitous  Desborough  for  the  burying  place 
of  his  mother,  Ellen  Halloway,  and  his  wife,  the 
mother  of  Matilda. 


69  — 


LIFE  IN  SPAIN 


LIFE  IN  SPAIN 


MOVEMENTS  OF  THE  BRITISH  LEGION 


Rr Lk£'  iTbS^^ 

[Mm. 

2S  T*??5$ 

vW&**? 

N  1836  Richardson,  on  leave 
from  Spain,  published  in  Lon- 
don a  volume,  "Movements  of 
the  British  Legion."  "The 
principal  object  .  .  had  in 
view  was  the  upholding  of  a 
service  which  had  been  grossly  vilified  by  a 
certain  portion  of  the  press  and  by  the  partizans 
of  Don  Carlos."  For  this  work  he  received 
the  thanks  of  Lieutenant-General  DeLacy 
Evans,  the  Commander  of  the  Legion;  and 
well  he  might,  for  the  Lieutenant-General  was 
represented  as  possessed  of  great  prudence 
and  foresight,  an  orderly  leader,  punctiliously 
strict  in  his  enforcement  of  the  rules  of  dis- 
cipline, who  had  achieved  a  very  splendid 
victory  on  the  5th  of  May,  1836,  when  he 
raised  the  siege  of  San  Sebastian.  Richardson 
calls  the  engagement  the  Battle  of  Ayetta. 
As  we  have  seen,  during  this  absence  from 

—  73  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

the  army,  Richardson  was  passed  over  in  the 
granting  of  honors  and  in  advance  in  rank  to  a 
majority  to  which  he  was  undoubtedly  entitled. 
He  also  was  deprived  of  his  place  on  the 
staff  which  he  had  a  right  to  expect  to  retain, 
but  of  the  loss  of  which  he  could  not  complain 
as  a  positive  wrong. 

Having  received  his  majority  in  Spain  and 
having  been  acquitted  of  improper  conduct  by 
a  Court  Martial,  he,  on  his  return  to  England, 
published  a  second  edition,  "with  strictures  on 
the  course  of  conduct  pursued  by  Lieutenant- 
General  Evans" ;  and  added  "A  continuation 
of  the  operations  from  the  5th  of  May,  1836, 
to  the  close  of  March,  1837."  In  this  second 
edition  the  praise  of  DeLacy  Evans  is  still 
continued  up  to  the  Battle  of  Arietta.  He 
had  a  strong  "hostility  to  flogging"  in 
the  Army,  but  "he  was  determined  to  have 
recourse  to  it  .  .  as  the  service  in  which  we 
were  embarked  rendered  it  imperative  that 
the  strictest  order  and  discipline  should  be 
preserved  to  prevent  those  we  were  come  to  aid 
as  friends  from  looking  upon  us  as  enemies"; 
his  "dismissals  from  the  service  .  .  were 
.  .  of  frequent  occurrence — and  not  more 
frequent  than  necessary    .     .    The  army,  God 

—  74  — 


LIFE  IN  SPAIN 

knows,  was  well  rid  of  men  whose  continuance 
in  it  would  have  injured  the  cause." 

Evans  is  defended  from  "the  imbecile  venom 
of  a  faction  at  home,  the  sworn  enemies  of  all 
liberty  save  the  liberty  of  planting  their  own 
feet  upon  the  necks  of  others."  The  Tories,  who 
had  reviled  him  in  no  measured  terms  for  an 
unnecessary  exposure  and  sacrifice  at  the 
affair  of  Hernani,  the  attack  of  the  "Morning 
Herald,  whose  vainly  disguised  acharnement 
leads  it  into  a  thousand  ridiculous  reports  of 
our  Legion,"  are  combatted ;  and  the  scene  is 
described  of  the  reception  of  Evans  after  the 
glorious  victory  of  May  5, 1836.  "The  General 
came  up  to  the  battery;  .  .  .  officers 
and  men  promiscuously  blended  themselves 
together  and  saluted  him  with  the  most 
vehement  cheering,  intimating  that  to  their 
gallant  leader  was  their  success  mainly 
attributable.  Such  a  moment  could  not  fail 
to  be  one  of  pride  to  the  Lieutenant-General, 
who,  much  touched  by  this  enthusiastic  re- 
ception by  his  gallant  soldiers,  replied  that  the 
victory  had  been  gained  by  them,  not  him." 

In  the  continuation,  he  again  defends  Evans 
for  his  conduct  at  Hernani,  and  says  that  "it 
would   have   been   highly  imprudent   in   the 

—  75  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

Lieutenant-General  to  have  compromised  the 
important  advantages  he  had  gained  at  so 
great  a  sacrifice  of  life"  by  "advancing  his 
victorious  columns  on  Hernani,  .  .  ."  even 
though  "there  can  be  no  doubt  that  had  he  so 
advanced  the  Town  of  Hernani  would  have 
fallen  a  bloodless  conquest  into  his  hands." 
So,  too,  in  respect  of  the  unfortunate  move- 
ment on  Fuentarabia.  "In  common  justice  .  . 
it  should  be  recollected  that  General  Evans 
was  at  the  time  exceedingly  ill,  so  much  so 
that  he  was  seen  lying  on  the  grass  in  great 
bodily  pain  while  the  action  was  going  on" ;  and 
the  only  blame  to  be  attached  to  him  was  being 
too  much  and  too  easily  influenced  by  Brigadier- 
General  Reid,  whose  caution  was  proverbial 
"and  whose  counsel  in  a  great  degree  in- 
fluenced his  chief  on  all  occasions."  There, 
however,  the  defence  ceased.  "Certain  acts 
of  extreme  cruelty  and  injustice  on  the  part 
of  the  Lieutenant-General  .  .  had  caused 
me  to  retire  .  .  at  the  completion  of  my 
year  .  .  the  29th  of  June,"  1836.  "I  re- 
entered the  service  simply  with  a  view  to 
obtain  my  majority  which  had  been  most 
obstinately  withheld  from  me  through  pique 
on    the    part    of    the   Lieutenant-General." 

—  76  — 


LIFE  IN  SPAIN 

(These  statements  will  be  examined  when  we 
come  to  treat  of  Richardson's  "Personal 
Memoirs".) 

Evans  is  charged  with  having  regularly  re- 
ceived his  pay,  £400  or  £500  a  month,  from  the 
military  chest,  "when  the  soldiers  were  abso- 
lutely starving  from  want  of  the  common 
necessities  of  life,  and  when  the  junior  officer 
scarcely  shared  a  better  fate";  with  never 
being  "in  arrear  for  a  single  month  although 
his  men  were  daily  dying  of  inanition  and 
typhus  blended  together  in  Vittoria."  He 
violated  the  terms  of  engagement  and  brought 
on  a  mutiny  of  the  Sixth.  The  moral  decline  of 
the  Legion  began  with  the  victory  of  May  5; 
"elated  with  .  .  success  .  .  and  vainly 
assuming  that  a  veni,  vidi,  vici  future  awaited 
him,  the  Lieutenant-General  utterly  lost  sight 
of  moderation  and  conducted  himself  with  the 
utmost  hauteur  and  superciliousness  towards 
some  of  his  ablest  officers  .  .  sought  to 
blind  the  public." 

But  "the  weakness  of  a  mind  unable  to 
sustain  the  weight  of  its  new  and  self-created 
consequence  .  .  was  not  the  evil  which 
principally  tended  to  the  destruction  of  the 
morale  of  the  Legion,   it  was  the  profuse,  the 

—  71  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

indiscriminate,  bestowal  of  decorations  and 
promotion  after  the  affair  of  (May)  5th  .  . 
a  glaring  injustice."  Be  it  remembered  that 
Richardson  had  been  neither  decorated  nor 
promoted. 

"The  final  cause  of  the  disorganization  of 
the  Legion  may  be  traced  to  the  Lieutenant- 
General  himself  .  .  " ;  had  he  been  "less  pro- 
fuse in  his  distribution  of  rank  and  decora- 
tions .  .  fewer  officers  would  have  gone 
home,  some  from  gratified,  others  from  morti- 
fied vanity;  and  he  would  not  have  been 
obliged,  in  order  to  compel  the  continuance  of 
those  who  were  about  to  follow,  to  have  re- 
course to  such  glaring  injustice,  such  flagrant 
violation  of  all  good  faith"  as  was  exhibited  in 
his  refusal  to  permit  "the  officers  to  retire 
from  the  service  with  their  gratuity  at  the  end 
of  the  first  year."  He  is  guilty  of  "arbitrary  acts 
of  violence,"  "endeavors  to  sneer  at  his  quon- 
dam favorite  through  his  subservient  writers" ; 
he  "stoops  to  rack  his  invention  to  heap  ig- 
nominy of  the  foulest  kind  on  so  humble  a 
military  individual  of  his  Legion  as"  Richard- 
son, whom  he  looks  "upon  with  an  eye  of 
extreme  jealousy."  Worse  remains;  to  ob- 
tain forage  for  his  horses  he  sacrificed  nearly 

—  78  — 


LIFE  IN  SPAIN 

a  dozen  men ;  by  an  extraordinary  omission  he 
permitted  the  Carlists  to  construct  batteries 
and  breastworks  on  the  Ametzagana ;  his  con- 
duct at  the  ensuing  battle,  though  showing 
personal  bravery  and  coolness  under  fire,  was 
inefficient  and  the  odium  will  long  attach  to 
him  of  refusing  to  advance  to  the  assistance 
of  the  devoted  town  of  Bilbao.  "The  people  of 
Bilbao>  who  had  hailed  Lieutenant-General 
Evans  with  so  much  rapture  in  1835,  must 
have  been  sadly  disappointed  when  they 
found  he  had  refused  them  all  aid  in  their 
imminent  danger  in  1836." 

Richardson  closes  this  second  part  by  saying 
that  if  Evans  fails  in  his  present  plans — and 
"backed,  as  he  will  be,  by  some  eight  or  nine 
thousand  Spaniards,  it  will  be  very  extra- 
ordinary if  he  does  not  succeed" — "the  little 
military  reputation  he  has  already  acquired 
must  be  lost." 

He  adds  "Additional  Movements,"  in  which 
he  shows  that  Evans  failed  "by  a  want  of  due 
caution" ;  that  the  disastrous  termination  of  his 
plans  was  due  to  errors  of  omission  and  com- 
mission, delay  due  to  his  vacillation  of  pur- 
pose, "shameful  abandonment  of  the  position 
on  the  extreme  left    .    .    on  which  the  safety 

—  79  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

of  the  whole  army  seems  to  have  depended." 
Moreover  there  were  anomalies  in  his  de- 
spatches of  March  and  of  July  and  his  "de- 
spatches and  orders  of  the  day  .  .  .  are 
couched  in  terms  of  grandiloquence  that  ap- 
approach  very  near  to  the  bombastic."  He 
talks  about  the  soldiers  being  resolved  to 
conquer;  all  the  same  "if  the  Lieutenant- 
General  wishes  them  to  conquer  .  .  any 
resolution  of  theirs  to  that  effect  must  be  in 
vain,  unless,  when  next  his  line  is  drawn  up 
in  battle  array  before  Hernani,  he  has  the 
foresight  to  guard  the  passes  of  the  Uramea 
and  to  adopt  the  old-fashioned  military  habit 
of  strengthening  his  flanks  with  reserves." 

With  this  rather  unworthy  sneer,  the  book 
concludes. 

PERSONAL  MEMOIRS 

As  the  book  published  by  Richardson  at 
Montreal  in  1838  deals  with  his  troubles  in 
Spain,  it  will  be  convenient  to  speak  of  it  in 
this  connection. 

The  full  title  is  "Personal  Memoirs  of  Major 
Richardson  (author  of  'Movements  of  the 
British  Legion,'  etc.,  etc.,  etc.,)  as  connected 
with  the  Singular  Oppression  of  that  Officer 

—  80  — 


LIFE  IN  SPAIN 

while  in  Spain  by  Lieutenant-General  Sir 
DeLacy  Evans."  It  is  dedicated  to  "The 
Honourable  The  Members  of  the  House  of 
Commons  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland   .   .   ." 

He  tells  of  being  put  off  the  staff  to  make 
room  for  some  favorite  of  the  Brigadier, 
Evans'  brother,  when  he  himself  was  lying 
sick  at  Vittoria  of  typhus,  unconscious  of  what 
was  passing.  This  was  certainly  an  un- 
kindness  approaching  injustice,  and  it  was 
never  satisfactorily  explained.  It  must  be 
admitted,  however,  that  the  subsequent  at- 
titude of  Richardson  toward  Evans  rendered 
it  impossible  for  the  Lieutenant-General  to 
make  any  explanation  not  due  as  a  matter 
of  right. 

The  omission  to  advance  Richardson  to  a 
majority  is  on  a  different  footing:  he  claims 
that  he  was  promised  the  next  vacant  majority 
by  Evans  at  Santander.  Evans  says  that  he 
does  not  recollect  any  such  promise;  that  all 
recommendations  for  regimental  promotion 
must  be  forwarded  by  the  Commanding  Officer, 
and  that  his  CO.,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Ross,  did 
not  mention  his  name,  but  had  recommended 
Captain  Clarke,  who  received  the  vacant 
majority.     Evans,    before  making    the    pro- 

—  81  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

motion,  asked  Col.  Ross  why  it  was  proposed  to 
pass  over  the  Senior  Captain  and  was  told 
that  he  had  done  scarcely  any  duty  with  the 
regiment  and  that  he  had  retired  from  the 
action  of  May  5, 1836,  at  8  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, on  the  ground  of  a  wound  in  the  arm  so 
slight  as  not  to  justify  his  having  withdrawn 
himself.  Even  then  Evans  did  not  consent  to 
passing  Richardson  over  until  he  found  Col. 
Ross'  recommendation  concurred  in  by  the 
CO.  of  the  Brigade;  Colonel  Tupper,  who  had 
been  killed,  had  also  before  his  death  re- 
commended Captain  Clarke. 

One  would  think  that  on  these  facts  Evans 
was  justified  in  appointing  the  junior  and  in 
disregarding  the  suggestion  of  Col.  Herman, 
the  Assistant-Military  Secretary,  that  Richard- 
son should  receive  the  brevet ;  but  Richardson 
continued  to  the  last  to  accuse  Evans  of 
personal  spite  and  gross  injustice.  As  to  the 
decoration  it  would  appear  that  Richardson 
was  simply  overlooked :  he  received  the  Cross 
a  few  days  later  and  we  hear  no  more  com- 
plaint on  that  score. 

On  his  return  to  Spain  there  was  a  vacant 
majority;  but  a  difficulty  now  appeared  of  his 
own  making.    When  in  London,  he  saw  the 

—  82  — 


LIFE  IN  SPAIN 

proposed  list  of  decorations  to  be  awarded, 
and  noticing  that  his  own  name  did  not  ap- 
pear in  it,  he  wrote  a  letter  marked  "Private" 
to  Col.  Considine,  the  Military  Secretary, 
detailing  his  claims  to  consideration,  the  pre- 
cise terms  of  which  he  does  not  recollect. 
When  he  saw  the  order  of  the  Lieutenant- 
General,  he  wrote  another  letter  to  Col. 
Considine,  stating  that  he  had  all  along 
suspected  some  private,  influential,  enemy  at 
Headquarters,  and  "that  this  last  most  glaring 
act  of  injustice  on  the  part  of  the  Lieutenant- 
General  had  converted  that  suspicion  into 
certainty."  He  added  that  "I  had  some  reason 
to  know  the  individual  but  that  a  time  would 
arrive  when  I  should  not  fail  to  strip  him 
of  his  borrowed  plumes."  These  letters, 
marked  "Private,"  were  opened  by  Major 
Herman,  Assistant  Military  Secretary,  as  Col. 
Considine  was  laid  up  with  a  wound  received 
in  the  engagement  of  May  5;  Herman  told 
the  Adjutant-General  and  both  showed  the 
letters  to  Evans.  Evans  was  very  much  dis- 
pleased at  the  paragraph  which  spoke  of  strip- 
ping off  the  borrowed  plumes.  He  wished 
to  know  who  was  referred  to,  but  Richard- 
son did  not  choose  to  name  him — and  I  can- 

—  83  — 

J.K.— 7 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

not  find  that  he  ever  did  name  him.  He  says 
of  Evans:  "Surely  he  could  not  fancy  that  I 
meant  to  allude  to  him,  in  writing  of  bor- 
rowed plumes." 

Richardson  called  Col.  Ross  to  task  and 
demanded  the  vacant  majority.  Ross  said 
that  he  had  submitted  his  name  "with  that  of 
the  other  wounded  officers"  for  favorable  con- 
sideration: and  added  that  he  did  not  know 
of  any  vacant  majority.  Richardson,  failing 
to  obtain  an  interview  with  Evans,  wrote  him 
a  long  letter  complaining  of  having  been 
passed  over,  claiming  that  his  letters  to  Col. 
Considine  were  private  and  saying  that  the 
observations  "could  only  refer  to  certain  in- 
dividuals whom  I  did  not  think  it  expedient 
to  name." 

Col.  Ross  did  go  and  recommend  him  for  the 
brevet,  but  Evans  warned  him  to  be  cautious 
about  it,  as  Richardson  had  made  threats  of 
exposure  in  England. 

Then  the  officers  of  the  6th  had  heard  that, 
when  in  England,  he  had  reflected  on  Col. 
Tupper  and  the  officers  generally.  This  he 
denied:  the  officers  countered  with  proof 
(of  a  kind)  and  Richardson  was  convinced  of  a 
plot  against  him;  "it  was  obvious  the  Lieu- 
tenant-General  had   determined   on   making 

—  84  — 


LIFE  IN  SPAIN 

the  officers  of  the  6th  instrumental  to  his 
views."  The  petty  quarrel  continued;  Rich- 
ardson saw  Evans,  who  refused  a  private  inter- 
view, and  required  all  documents  to  come  to 
him  through  the  usual  channel.  That  was 
done,  and  in  the  long  run  Richardson  had  his 
court-martial;  the  Court  refused  to  look  at 
the  private  letters,  absolved  him  of  unsoldierly 
conduct  on  May  5,  and  other  wrong-doing; 
he  received  his  majority  and  his  honorable 
discharge  and  came  to  England,  treasuring  to 
the  last  a  firm  conviction  that  Sir  DeLacy 
Evans  was  actuated  throughout  by  private 
malice  not  unmixed  with  jealousy. 

This  work  is  not  good  reading :  it  gives  one  a 
low  opinion  of  the  author's  common  sense  and 
prudence.    It  ends  thus : 

"Every  engine  of  his  power  had  been  put  in 
motion  by  General  Evans  to  accomplish  the 
ruin  of  an  officer  who  had  in  no  other  way 
offended  than  by  refusing  tamely  to  submit, 
firstly  to  his  injustice,  secondly  to  his  op- 
pression .  .  .  Yet  this  is  the  man — the 
political  Tartuffe— the  newly  created  Sir  De 
Lacy  Evans  (so  created  through  his  very 
apostasy  to  the  cause  he  at  one  time  affected 
to  advocate)  ...  I  charge  him  in  his 
capacity  of  Commander  of  the  British  force  in 

—  85  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

Spain  with  having  been  guilty  of  the  most 
flagrant,  groundless  and  unprecedented  tyr- 
anny that  is  to  be  found  on  military  record 
.  .  I  charge  him  with  having  violated  one 
of  the  first  and  fundamental  articles  of  our 
military  code  in  preferring  an  accusation  of 
the  most  heinous  and  cruel  nature  against  an 
officer  bearing  Her  Majesty's  commission, 
without  affording  even  an  hour's  notice  for 
defence    .     . 

Finally  to  him  and  his  creatures,  I  address 
myself  in  the  strong  language  of  the  poet : 

'Falsus  honor  juvat  et  mendex  infamia  terret 
Quern  nisi  mendarem  et  mendacem?'  " 

Were  Horace's  words  ever  less  justly  ap- 
plied? Who  would  now  suggest  that  DeLacy 
Evans,  who  fought  bravely  in  the  Peninsula 
and  at  Waterloo,  who  repulsed  the  attack  at 
Sebastopol,  ever  received  undeserved  honor, 
or  that  he  could  with  any  decency  be  called 
a  liar?1 

i The  usual  reading  is: 
Falsus  honor  juvat  et  mendax  infamia  terret 
Quern  nisi  mendosum  et  medicandum? 
But  "mendacem"    has    fair    authority:    "mendarem" 
must  be  a  misprint.    Anthon,by  the  way,  does  not  like 
"medicandum,"  though  he  adopts  it  after  Bentley  and 
Zumpt.    The   quotation   is  from    Horace,   Ep.,  lib.  I, 
1 6,  39,  40. 

—  80  — 


NEWSPAPER  VENTURES 


NEWSPAPER  VENTURES 

THE  NEW  ERA,  OR  CANADIAN 
CHRONICLE 


HIS  paper  was  published  by 
Richardson  at  Br ockville,  Up- 
per Canada,  in  184 1  and  1842. 
It  ran  only  for  two  volumes 
and  Richardson  contributed 
all  the  original  matter. 
This  publication  contained  his  "Jack  Brag 
in  Spain,  by  Mr.  Hardquill," 1  which  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  printed  in  separate  form. 

The  author  takes  Jack  Brag  where  Hook 
left  him  and  puts  him  through  a  series  of  ad- 
ventures in  Spain,  where  he  is  a  favorite  with 
the  commander,  Don  Lasho,  and  Major 
Templegrove.  Jack  Brag  is  an  illiterate,  im- 
pudent and  somewhat  cowardly  officer;  an 
inferior  Thraso  and  a  Captain  Bobadil  without 
the  Captain's  cunning.  He  is  in  the  Legion  at 
Trevino  and  elsewhere;  but  his  adventures 
as  a  whole  are  vapid  and  uninteresting — as  a 

—  89  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

sample  of  his  scholarship  I  copy  part  of  a  letter 
to  the  Commander : 

".  .  .  rode  as  fast  as  I  could  but  couldn't 
meet  no  guns  on  the  road  .  .  .  made 
them  [the  men]  dig  the  darbies  [spurs]  into 
their  horses'  flanks  .  .  the  cause  of  the 
delay  of  the  ordinance  .  .  send  this  by 
one  of  the  Lansirs     ..." 

I  strongly  suspect  that  in  this  letter  Richard- 
son was  hitting  at  Captain  Archibald  Calder,  of 
the  6th  Scotch,  who  had  written  him  in  Spain 
in  1836  a  couple  of  letters  with  orthographical 
vagaries;  but  the  matter  is  not  worth  in- 
vestigating. 

The  New  Era  also  contained  Richardson's 
"Recollections  of  the  West  Indies."  It  con- 
tains an  account  of  his  voyage  to,  and  residence 
in  Barbados  in  1816  with  the  Second  or 
Queen's  Regiment.     He  speaks  most  appre- 

ciatingly  of  Lieutenant  C "who  undertook 

to  supply  the  absence  of  a  regular  medical 
officer"  and  who,  during  their  tossing  in  the 
Bay  of  Biscay,  when  most  of  the  officers  were 
compelled  to  keep  their  beds,  visited  them, 
"not  with  senna,  rhubarb  and  black  draughts, 
but  with  such  delicious  mulled  wine  as  would 
have  stayed  the  spirit  of  one  struggling  in 

—  90  — 


NEWSPAPER  VENTURES 

his  last  agony."  The  amateur  doctor  at- 
tended and  dressed  the  breast  of  a  young 
woman ;  and  cured  her  of  the  cancer  though 
she  died  soon  after  of  another  disease. 

Having  escaped  "the  usual  filthy  and  dis- 
gusting operation  of  shaving"  on  crossing  the 
Line,  by  threatening  the  masquerading  sailors 
with  pistols,  the  detachment  made  Carlisle 
Bay,  Barbados,  December  6  (it  would  appear 
that  this  should  be  June  5).  Richardson  landed 
and,  "followed  by  a  hundred  naked  black 
urchins  who  greeted  me  at  every  step  with 
the  appellation  of  'Johnny  Newcome',  at  length 
succeeded  in  gaining  the  highroad  to  the 
Barracks." 

The  "black  vomit,"  or  yellow  fever,  was  pre- 
valent, numbers  died  the  next  day  after  seizure, 
including  his  friend  M ;  Richardson  him- 
self was  attacked  and  narrowly  escaped  death. 
Sir  James  Leith,  the  commander  in  chief,  was 
one  of  the  victims.  Richardson  considers 
yellow  fever,  like  intermittent  fever,  to  be  pro- 
duced by  miasma. 

The  shameful  cruelty  to  the  negro  slaves  of 
the  tyrant  proprietors  comes  in  for  severe 
reprobation,  and  the  horrors  of  slavery  are 
strongly  represented.    A  vivid  account  of  the 

—  91  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

volcanic  eruption  on  St.  Vincent  is  also  given. 
A  court-martial  sentenced  three  deserters  to 
death  and  three  to  receive  eight  hundred 
lashes  and  be  branded. 

As  we  have  seen,  "Tecumseh"  was  re- 
published in  this  journal.  But  it  is  chiefly 
important  from  the  fact  that  here  for  the  first 
time  appeared  Richardson's  best  work,  "Oper- 
ations of  the  Right  Division  of  the  Army  of 
Upper  Canada  during  the  American  War  of 
1812";  this  appeared  in  fourteen  numbers  of 
The  New  Era,  March  2  to  July  22,  1842.  It 
was  intended  to  be  the  first  only  of  three 
series,  but  no  other  was  ever  written. 

The  matter  was  published  at  Brockville  in 
book  form,  1842,  under  the  title  "War  of  1812, 
First  Series,  Containing  a  full  and  detailed 
Narrative  of  the  Operations  of  the  Right 
Division  of  the  Canadian  Army."  This  was 
reprinted  by  the  Historical  Publishing  Co., 
Toronto,  1902,  with  notes  and  a  "Life  of  the 
Author"  by  Alexander  Clark  Casselman. 

This  edition  is  one  of  the  best,  if  not  the  best, 
of  Canadian  publications;  the  "Life"  is  full 
and  accurate,  the  bibliography  is  adequate  if 
not  quite  complete,   and  the  notes  are  apt, 

—  92  — 


NEWSPAPER  VENTURES 

sufficiently  numerous  and  illuminating.  That 
the  author  was  rather  more  of  a  hero  to  the 
editor  than  the  facts  fairly  warrant  is  to  the 
discredit  of  neither.  This  edition  must  continue 
to  be  the  standard,  alike  creditable  to  editor, 
printer  and  publisher. 

The  history  begins  with  a  justification  of  the 
employment  as  allies  of  the  Indians,  an  echo 
of  one  chapter  in  "The  Canadian  Brothers," 
the  declaration  of  war  by  the  United  States, 
June  18,  1812,  and  the  riots  of  the  "War 
Hawks."  Then  comes  Hull's  invasion  and 
proclamation,  Brock's  reply,  said  to  have 
been  written  by  Mr.  Justice  Powell,  and 
the  capture  of  Michillimackinac.  Tecumseh's 
defeat  of  Major  Van  Home  at  Brownstown 
follows,  with  the  horrible  account  of  revenge 
taken  by  the  Indians  for  the  death  of  Logan, 
a  young  chief,  the  one  Indian  killed  in  that 
battle  and  by  almost  the  last  shot  fired.  A 
young  warrior,  at  a  signal  from  one  of  the 
elders,  rose  from  his  seat  and  struck  the 
single  American  prisoner  with  his  tomahawk, 
killing  him  on  the  spot.  The  next  morning 
another  prisoner  was  brought  in  and  "the 
aged    aunt    of    the    deceased    issued    from 

—  93  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

her  tent  and  stole  cautiously  behind  him  .  , 
Without  any  previous  admonition,  the  heartless 
woman  drew  a  tomahawk  from  beneath  her 
mantle  and  buried  its  point  in  the  skull  of  the 
victim  .  .  The  Indians  around  instantly 
despatched  and  scalped  him,  stripping  the  body 
of  its  clothes  and  committing  violations  on  his 
person  in  which  the  cruel  aunt  of  Logan  bore  a 
principal  share."  This  tragedy  was  seen  by 
Richardson  himself  who  had  joined  the  army 
as  a  gentleman  volunteer. 

Richardson  describes  as  an  eye-witness  the 
Battle  of  Maguaga,  the  Capture  of  Detroit,  the 
expedition  to  Fort  Wayne,  Frenchtown  and  the 
Battle  of  the  Miami;  interrupting  the  story  of 
the  latter  with  a  page  of  complaint  that  Procter 
recommended  all  four  volunteers  of  the  41st 
Regiment  "as  deserving  of  promotion,"  where- 
as Richardson  was  "the  only  one  of  the  volun- 
teers who  chanced  to  have  been  engaged  in 
the  storming  of  the  batteries";  and  stating 
that  a  report  made  by  Major  Chambers,  in 
which  he  says  he  "had  the  honor  of  being  partic- 
ularly mentioned,  .  .  .  seems  to  have  been 
suppressed."  He  also  took  part  in  the  second 
expedition  to  the  Miami  and  the  attack  on 
Fort  Stephenson.    His  last  battle  in  the  War 

—  94  — 


NEWSPAPER  VENTURES 

of  1812  was  at  Moraviantown  where  he  was 
taken  prisoner.  The  account  of  the  Counsel 
of  War  at  the  Frontier  before  the  retreat  to  the 
Thames,  Tecumseh's  indignant  speech,  the 
Indian  applause,  the  retreat,  the  disastrous 
battle  and  Tecumseh's  tragic  death,  is  a  fine 
piece  of  narrative.  The  description  of  the 
slaying  and  scalping  of  a  Kentucky  rifleman, 
within  a  few  yards  of  where  Richardson  stood, 
cannot  well  be  excelled  in  vigor  and  horror. 
Some  of  the  particulars  of  this  scene  and  of  the 
council  of  war  at  the  Detroit  River  are  made 
use  of  in  the  poem  "Tecumseh"  with  great 
effect. 

A  description  of  the  Battles  of  Queenston 
Heights  and  Put-in-Bay,  at  which  he  was  not 
present,  is  accurate  and  dramatic.  The  book 
concludes  with  an  account  of  his  prison  expe- 
riences in  Detroit,  Put-in-Bay  Island,  San- 
dusky, Chillicothe  and  Frankfort  (Kentucky) ; 
his  return  to  Canada  by  way  of  Newport, 
Cincinnati,  and  Cleveland  to  Long  Point. 
Outside  of  the  chapters  on  Queenston  Heights 
and  Put-in-Bay,  the  work  is,  in  reality,  a  per- 
sonal narrative;  as  such  it  cannot  easily  be 
excelled  and  will  always  repay  perusal.  In 
any  case  it  is  a  worthy  piece  of  literature. 

—  95  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

THE   CANADIAN  LOYALIST  AND 
SPIRIT   OF  1 812 

This  paper  was  published  in  Kingston  for  eigh- 
teen months  in  1843-4;  it  differs  in  no  appreci- 
able degree  from  the  ordinary  Canadian  news- 
paper of  the  time.  Opposed  to  the  Govern- 
ment, its  virulence  was  almost  as  great  as 
that  of  the  most  virulent;  and  its  literary 
merits,  if  any,  are  microscopical.  It  here 
calls  for  no  further  comment. 

iln  his  "Eight  Years  in  Canada"  (post,  p.  99) 
Richardson  tells  us:  "I  had  been  engaged  during  the 
few  months  which  intervened  between  ir.y  return 
from  Spain  and  departure  for  Canada  in  the  continu- 
ation of  the  adventures  of  Jack  Brag."  "Hook  was 
delighted  with  this  continuation  of  his  satire,  and 
after  an  attentive  perusal  declared  it  ought  to  secure 
to  me  at  least  £500" — but  neither  Colburn  nor 
Bentley  would  publish  it. 


—  96  — 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  WORKS 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  WORKS 


ICHARDSON  injects  some 
of  his  personal  story  into  al- 
most all  his  books;  a  great 
deal  into  his  "War  of  1812"; 
but  there  are  two  which  are 
wholly,    or    almost    wholly, 

autobiographical:   "Eight  Years  in  Canada" 

and  "The  Guards  in  Canada." 


jSS 

) 

EIGHT  YEARS  IN  CANADA 

This  work  was  intended  to  be  inscribed 
exclusively  to  Lord  Durham,  but  he  died ;  and 
in  the  introduction,  dated  at  Montreal,  March 
1,  1847,  Richardson  inscribsd  it  "to  the  mem- 
ory of  Lord  Durham,  the  founder  of  a  great 
system;  and  to  that  of  Lord  Metcalfe,  the 
true  reader  of  the  application  of  that  system 
to  a  colony." 

The  book  is  frankly  personal  and  discursive ; 
it  pretends  to  no  sense  of  proportion — the 
ponies  of  the  author  and  how  he  drove  them 


J.R.— 8 


99  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

take  up  much  more  space  than  the  trial  and 
execution  of  Lount  and  Matthews ;  Lord  Dur- 
ham's insistence  on  having  an  egg  warm  from 
the  nest  for  his  breakfast  at  the  British-Ameri- 
can Hotel  at  Kingston  and  how  the  landlady 
satisfied  him  by  dipping  one  a  second  or  two 
in  hot  water,  and  John  Neilson's  devotion  to 
the  fascinating  "weed" — he  is  the  "father  of 
smokers" — are  as  important  as  Durham's 
policy  given  in  his  famous  Report  on  the 
Second  Lower  Canadian  Rebellion. 

Richardson  begins  with  his  leaving  the 
London  Docks  on  the  Ontario,  February  18, 
1838 ;  tells  of  his  forty-five  days  trip,with  Fanny 
Kemble  a  fellow  passenger  on  her  first  trip  to 
America;  of  his  "perusal  of  the  works  of  Hall, 
Hamilton  and  Miss  Martineau"  concerning 
America,  whenever  the  "horrid  nausea"  would 
permit;  and  his  stay  at  the  Carleton,  a  large, 
new  hotel  in  a  central  part  of  Broadway,  where 
he  met  Sir  Francis  Bond  Head,  then  on  his 
way  to  England,  and  also  Lord  Gosford.  His 
journey  from  New  York  begins  March  29 ;  on 
the  Rochester  to  Albany,  then  by  rail  to 
Utica,  stage-coach  to  Syracuse  for  twenty- 
five  hours — "fifty  miles  over  the  most  execra- 
ble of  roads" ;  the  insolence  of  the  Irish  hotel 

—  100  — 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  WORKS 

porter,  who  would  be  d — d  if  he  would  un- 
strap the  traveller's  trunk;  then  by  horse-cars 
from  Syracuse  twenty-five  miles  to  Auburn, 
where  he  saw  the  celebrated  Penitentiary; 
by  stage  coach  to  Rochester  (sixty-four  miles), 
passing  over  on  the  way,  "the  enormous 
length  of  a  disproportionately  narrow  bridge 
traversing  the  Lake  of  Cayuga,  one  mile  and 
eight  rods  in  extent  .  .  to  a  nervous  per- 
son exciting  in  a  high  degree";  then  by 
another  coach,  eighty  miles  to  Youngstown 
on  the  Niagara  Frontier,  being  taken  for  Lord 
Durham  during  this  drive,  then  by  ferry-boat 
to  Canada — five  days  from  New  York  to 
Niagara. 

A  first  visit  to  Niagara  Falls  followed,  where 
he  was  disappointed  (as,  indeed,  everyone 
is) — "I  felt  admiration  but  no  awe."  A  short 
stay  at  Niagara,  where  a  younger  brother 
(Robert)  was  Member  of  the  Legislature,  then 
to  Toronto  l  where  he  delivered  to  Sir  George 
Arthur,  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  a  letter  he 
brought  from  Lord  Glenelg  to  Sir  Francis  Bond 
Head;  dined  with  Chief  Justice  Robinson, 
whose  acquaintance  he  had  made  when  they 
formed  part  of  the  guard  of  honor  which  took 
possession    of     Detroit,    on    the    surrender, 

—  101  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

August  12,  1812 — the  youthful  soldier  now  be- 
come the  grave  and  courteous  judge.  Then 
to  Montreal  and  Quebec,  where  he  met  Lord 
Durham,  informing  him  that  he  was  in  Can- 
ada to  represent  the  London  Times. 

An  appreciative  account  is  given  of  Durham's 
policy,  which  recommended  itself  to  Richard- 
son. Durham  naturally  desired  to  stand  well 
with  the  Times  and  paid  Richardson  marked 
attention:  he  suggested  an  Indian  mission  but 
Richardson  declined  it.  Durham  said,  "You 
may  rely  upon  it  that  I  shall  never  lose  sight 
of  your  interests,  whether  in  Canada  or  in 
England." 

The  Times  did  not  approve  of  the  communi- 
cations sent  by  Richardson ;  most  of  them  were 
suppressed,  but  the  few  which  were  published 
met  the  approbation  of  the  Liberals  and  were 
in  part  reprinted  by  the  Examiner  and  other 
London  papers.  He  was  discharged,  and  lost 
his  salary  of  £300  per  annum  because  his 
opinion  clashed  with  that  of  his  employers. 

Sir  John  Colborne,  the  new  Lieutenant- 
Governor  of  Upper  Canada,  arrived  at  Quebec 
and  took  part  in  a  review  of  the  troops  on  the 
Plains  of  Abraham.  Richardson  was  struck, 
as  were  so  many,  with  his  resemblance  to  the 

— 102  — 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  WORKS 

Duke  of  Wellington;  Colbornewas,  however, 
much  taller. 

He  went  to  Montreal,  then  to  Quebec  to  bid 
good-bye  to  Durham,  and  to  Montreal  again. 
Some  private  business  requiring  his  presence  in 
Upper  Canada,  he  left  for  Toronto.    At  Kings- 
ton he  found  the  court-martial  sitting  to  try 
Von  Shoultz  and  several  of  his  chief  officers. 
He  met  Von  Shoultz  and  was  particularly  and 
favorably  impressed  with  his  manner.    He  was 
"a  gentleman  and  a  soldier."  Next  day  he  left 
for  Toronto  where  he  remained  three  or  four 
days ;  he  defended  the  conduct  of  Colonel  Prince 
in  shooting  the  prisoner  "Sympathizers"  taken 
at  Windsor,  who  had  been  "shot  accordingly." 
He  then  left  Toronto  for  Kingston  in  the  armed 
steamer  Traveller  with  despatches  for  Sir  John 
Colborne  at  Montreal  (twelve  pages  of  discus- 
sion of  the  amazing  fact  that  there  had  been, 
from  the  close  of  the  War,  in  1815,  not  less  than 
five  thousand  desertions  to  the  United  States 
from  the  British  troops  serving  in  Canada). 

Richardson  then  went  to  Amherstburg  by 
way  of  Buffalo— but  Amherstburg  was  changed, 
the  harbor  no  longer  resounded  with  the  busy 
hammer  of  the  ship-builder,  no  longer  did 
three  thousand  Indian  warriors  from  twenty 

—  103  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

different  tribes  gather  around  the  House  of 
Council,  the  very  town  had  altered  its  char- 
acter, the  streets  were  dull  and  dirty,  the 
houses  destitute  of  paint;  he  found  himself  a 
stranger.  But  he  saw  the  house  of  his  child- 
hood, the  "cage"  or  prison,  the  gate  leading 
to  the  wharf,  the  store  against  which  he  had 
pitched  marbles,  the  willow  under  which  lay 
his  hero  brother.  The  clergyman  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  was  "of  very  austere  man- 
ners and  unjustifiably  prone  to  indulge  in 
personalities  against  particular  portions  of 
his  flock." 

Finding  it  impossible  to  procure  a  house  in 
Amherstburg  he  got  a  "Den"  in  Sandwich, 
which  town  and  its  people  he  found  in  the  same 
condition  of  apathy  and  poverty  as  at  Amherst- 
burg; he  availed  himself  of  all  opportunities 
of  crossing  the  river,  where  he  experienced  a 
hospitality  and  kindness  which  he  could  never 
forget. 

He  draws  a  comparison  between  the  Ameri- 
cans, "essentially  a  reading  people,"  with 
scarcely  an  individual  unfamiliar  with  the 
scenes  in  "Wacousta,"  and  the  Canadians,  of 
whom  "not  more  than  one-twentieth  .  .  . 
were  aware  of  the  existence  of  the  book,  and  of 

—  104  — 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  WORKS 

that  twentieth  not  one  third  cared  a  straw 
whether  the  author  was  a  Canadian  or  a 
Turk."    They    "are  not  a  reading    people." 

However,  one  crown  of  bays  was  offered 
him:  a  committee  formed  to  make  all 
necessary  preparations  for  commemorating 
the  Battle  of  Point-au-Pelee  Island  with  a 
public  dinner,  requested  his  presence  as 
"another  way  of  evincing  their  respect  and 
admiration  of  the  man  of  talent,  and  the 
accomplished  gentleman  ...  a  gentle- 
man who  by  the  splendor  of  his  genius  has 
spread  an  additional  lustre  on  his  native 
country." 

"General"  Theller,  the  leader  of  the  "Sym- 
pathizers," who  had  been  captured  and  sen- 
tenced to  death  at  Toronto,  but  had  escaped 
from  the  citadel  of  Quebec,was  then  the  editor 
of  an  anti-British  paper  in  Detroit,  The  Spirit 
of  '76— He  warned  his  readers  against  "Major 
Richardson  alias  Stevens  the  Spy"  describing 
him  as  "a  man  of  middling  height,  rather  in- 
clined to  corpulency,  florid  complexion,  sandy 
hair  and  whiskers,  of  easy  manners  and  martial 
carriage" ;  he  warned  the  "Patriots"  and  ad- 
vised "Give  him  a  peep  into  futurity  and  he'll 
be    satisfied."    As   Richardson    had    neither 

—  105  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

sandy  hair  nor  whiskers,  but  had  worn  a 
moustache  for  five-and-twenty  years,  he  con- 
vinced the  fire-eating  Theller  that  he  was  not 
Stevens  the  Spy.  Theller  so  told  the  "Hun- 
ters" and  Richardson  ventured  as  usual  to 
Detroit. 

To  his  "Wacousta"  he  had  written,  but 
never  published,  a  continuation  of  the  tale 
under  the  title  of  "The  Canadian  Brothers." 
He  was  strongly  urged  by  his  American 
friends  to  publish  it  forthwith  J  he  stipulated 
for  a  list  of  subscribers  and  in  a  few  days 
had  about  a  hundred ;  he  set  off  to  Montreal 
to  publish  it,  by  boat  to  Buffalo,  horse-car  to 
Lewiston,  "a  rather  nervous  trip,  then  by  boat 
to  Montreal." 

Finishing  his  task  at  Montreal  towards  the 
close  of  February,  he  prepared  to  return  to 
Sandwich  to  his  "nut-shell";  he  resolved  to 
travel  the  six  hundred  miles  in  his  own  vehicle, 
bought  a  box-sleigh  and  two  black  Canadian 
ponies,  costing  £25  (or  $100)  for  the  pair.  Up 
the  Lachine  road  he  travelled  to  Lachine, 
Coteau  du  Lac,  and  Cornwall,  where  he  stayed 
with  an  old  brother  officer  of  the  King's  Regi- 
ment, now  become  the  sober  Judge  Jarvis. 
The   snow    now  disappeared;    a   storm,   in- 

—  10G  — 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  WORKS 

deed,  soon  covered  the  ground  again  with 
a  "wet  snow" ;  after  four  days'  rest,  to  the  west 
again  through  mud  and  slush,  and  after  two 
days'  exhausting  travel  Brockville  was  reached. 
Not  a  good  hotel  was  in  the  place,  the  very 
indifferent  best  kept  by  a  Yankee   "pretty 

considerably    independent."     Colonel    , 

Collector  of  Customs,  sold  him  a  wagon  he  had 
seized  a  few  days  before  with  smuggled  goods 
for  $26;  and  while  it  was  being  fitted  with  a 
proper  box,  showed  him  a  "villa,"  adjoining 
his  own  grounds,  which  was  to  be  "sold  for  a 
song."  Richardson  bought  it  with  fourteen 
acres  of  land  for  £500 — he  found  out  after- 
wards it  was  worth  about  £200. 

From  Brockville  he  travelled  to  Gananoque, 
"one  of  the  most  miserable  yet  one  of  the 
most  picturesquely  situated  villages  in  Can- 
ada"; a  great  part  of  the  village  was  owned 
by  a  clan  of  M'Donalds,  and  it  "has  the  repu- 
tation of  producing  the  best  flour  in  Can- 
ada, or  even  in  the  United  States.  It  is 
fortunate  that  it  can  boast  of  something  of 
which  one  may  write  favorably."  Thence 
to  Kingston,  Belleville,  Cobourg,  Port  Hope  and 
Toronto,  with  the  roads  execrable  throughout 
the  greater  part  of  the  way;  the  accommoda- 

—  107  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

tions  for  the  "beast"  being  generally  good, 
those  for  "man"  not  always  of  the  most 
tempting  character — a  delightful  meiosis. 

Through  Hamilton,  Brantford  (where  Rich- 
ardson falls  into  a  curious  error:  "this  scenery 
amid  which  were  cradled  the  infant  years  of 
Brandt,  immortalized  by  Campbell  in  his 
'Gertrude  of  Wyoming'  "),  Paris,  London,  on 
toward  home  he  sped,  narrowly  escaping  death: 
his  horses  ran  away,  the  wagon  upset,  he  found 
himself  lying  on  his  back  a  few  feet  from  the 
vehicle,  and  his  "tiger,"  with  his  face  down- 
ward, without  sense  or  motion.  This  gives 
him  an  opportunity  of  telling  the  story  of  a  fatal 
runaway  accident  in  England  in  183 1,  when 
"Colonel  Gordon  of  the  51st  Light  Infantry 
and  his  young  bride  had  been  spending  the 
day  with  my  wife's  family  in  Essex"  and  he 
"was  then  'vegetating'  in  the  neighbourhood 
while  writing  my  'Wacousta'.  " 

His  wagon  was  fixed  up  Canada-fashion 
with  a  fence-rail  lashed  "fore  and  aft"  in  a 
manner  familiar  to  all  Canadian  countrymen, 
but  which  would  have  puzzled  a  Long-Acre 
coachbuilder.  On  through  Chatham  to  Wind- 
sor and  Sandwich,  where  he  arrived  late  in 
April.    Before  leaving  for  his  "Rock  Cottage" 

—  108  — 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  WORKS 

at  Brockville  he  attended  the  monster  meeting 
in  favor  of  General  Harrison,  "Tippecanoe," 
then  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  Here  he 
gives  a  full  account  of  the  siege  of  Fort  Meigs 
and  the  "affair  of  the  Miami,"  May  5,  1813. 

Toward  the  end  of  June  he  sent  his  heavy 
baggage  by  one  of  Mr.  Dougall's  vessels  and 
himself  set  off  by  wagon,  taking  the  Lake  Erie 
shore  road,  a  delightful  journey.  Reaching 
London,  he  passed  "several  days  with  the 
amiable  and  hospitable  family  of  Colonel  Askin, 
a  short  distance  out  of  town."  He  visited 
Toronto,  Napanee,  etc.,  and  in  the  early  part 
of  July  "we  reached  Brockville."  There  he 
committed  "the  greatest  act  of  folly"  in  sel- 
ling his  commission,  and  then  he  began  the 
issue  of  The  New  Era,  or  Canadian  Chronicle, 
buying  the  press  in  New  York.  He  gives  a 
full  description  of  the  trip  to  New  York  by  way 
of  Morristown,  Utica  and  Albany;  and  his 
treatment  in  New  York  again  leads  him  to 
moralize  "on  the  vast  difference  of  the  recep- 
tion I  had  invariably  met  with  by  the  read- 
ing Americans  and  the  non-reading  Canadians." 

Returning  home,  he  started  The  New  Era,  a 
"name  that  had  been  selected  in  consequence 
of  the  important  political  changes  which  had 

—  109  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

taken  place  in  the  country  and  the  new  prin- 
ciple of  government  then  being  followed  upon 
the  recommendation  of  Lord  Durham  by  Mr. 
Poulett  Thomson."  It  occupied  him  only  an 
hour  or  two  each  day  to  prepare  his  leaders 
and  other  matter  necessary  for  The  New  Era, 
and  he  amused  himself  principally  with  fishing 
and  shooting,  both  of  which  he  describes  with 
animation  and  gusto — Eheuf  fugaces  labuntur 
anni. 

He  made  an  application  to  the  Governor, 
Poulett  Thompson,  Lord  Sydenham,  for  gov- 
ernment employment,  called  on  him  at  Kings- 
ton and  was  promised  consideration;  but  not 
a  week  afterwards,  Sydenham  had  the  accident 
which  caused  his  death.  Richardson  is  not  too 
considerate  in  speaking  of  Sydenham:  "what 
contributed  greatly  to  render  fatal  the  unfor- 
tunate accident  which  befell  Lord  Sydenham 
was  the  free  indulgence  he  had  been  in  the 
habit  of  giving  to  his  appetites.  His  Lordship 
.  .  .  was  a  sensualist  and  his  sacrifices  to 
Venus  were  scarcely  less  copious  than  those 
rendered  to  Bacchus,"  etc.,  etc.  Nothing  in 
Sydenham's  administration  was  new  or 
original,  the  way  had  been  completely  paved 
before  him  by  Lord   Durham,  and  he  owed 

—  110  — 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  WORKS 

his  success  to  his  condescending  to  flattery 
and  little  acts  to  which  Durham  would  not 
stoop. 

Baldwin  does  not  fare  much  better:  with 
"his  extreme  or  republican  views  .  .  he 
insisted  on  the  removal  of  the  obnoxious  col- 
leagues" (Draper  and  Ogden)  who  did  not 
share  them;  and  when  Sydenham  "had  the 
firmness  to  resist  this  insolent  and  Wat  Tyler- 
like demand  .  .  Mr.  Baldwin  retired  from 
the  Cabinet,  a  pretended  martyr  to  the  in- 
tegrity of  his  public  life !" 

Admirer  of  Durham  as  he  was,  Richardson 
rather  affected  "the  good  old  times  when 
Responsible  Government  had  not  started  up 
like  a  bugbear  to  frighten  the  collectors  of  cus- 
toms into  vigilance  and  attention  to  their 
duties,"  and  when  he  was  able  to  bring  furni- 
ture, bought  in  Detroit,  into  Canada  "without 
being  subjected  to  the  very  disagreeable 
process  of  being  interrogated  as  to  whence  it 
came,  and  consequently  .  .  .  spared  some 
additional  charges."  It  seems  to  me,  born, 
brought  up  and  living  under  Responsible 
Government,  that  no  better  testimonial  could 
be  given  to  it,  no  better  evidence  of  its  value, 
than  this  boast— before  Responsible  Govern- 

—  111  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

ment,  evasion  of  customs  duties  open  to  one 
who  was  of  standing  and  in  favor  with  the 
powers  that  be;  under  Responsible  Govern- 
ment, the  Customs  Officers  vigilant  and  at- 
tentive to  their  duties.  It  is  indeed  difficult, 
at  the  present  time,  to  understand  the  mentality 
of  one  who  puts  this  forth  to  the  discredit  of 
the  new  form  of  government,  and  the  mor- 
ality of  one  who  states,  not  by  way  of  confes- 
sion, but  of  boast,  that  he  had  swindled  the 
Customs;  "the  fruit  of  dexterity  and  address 
on  the  part  of  a  French-Canadian  whom  I 
employed." 

Richardson  reprobates  the  admission  of 
Baldwin  and  Hincks  to  the  Cabinet:  "Hincks, 
the  editor  of  the  Toronto  Examiner,  and  the 
bosom  friend  of  Mackenzie,  with  whom  he 
communicated  on  the  morning  of  the  affair 
at  Gallows  Hill,  when  that  traitor  was  in  arms 
against  the  Government  .  .  .  was  a 
libel  of  Colonial  politics  .  .  a  zealous 
orangeman  .  .  one  of  the  most  unprin- 
cipled adventurers  on  record  .  .  capable 
of  doing  any  dirty  work  .  .  with  ingrained 
vulgarity  .  .  recklessness  and  brutal  tem- 
per .  ."  About  the  only  thing  Sydenham  did 
that  met  Richardson's  approval  was  his  "dis- 

—  112  — 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  WORKS 

missal  of  Mr.  Berrie  from  the  office  of  Clerk  of 
the  Peace  at  Hamilton  for  having  publicly 
avowed  sentiments  hostile  to  his  Lordship's 
administration." 

Some  months  after  Sydenham's  death  Ed- 
ward Gibbon  Wakefield  called  on  Richardson 
with  a  letter  from  Charles  Buller.  Wakefield 
and  Buller  were,  of  course,  Lord  Durham's 
secretaries  and  assistants. 

Sir  Richard  Jackson  and  Sir  Charles  Bagot 
were  equally  inefficient  or  worse.  Richardson 
was  passed  over  and  went  straight  to  Bagot. 
Bagot  and  Richardson  agreed  that  the  Council, 
in  making  appointments,  had  exhibited  an 
"unjustifiable  and  indelicate  interference 
with  a  privilege  he  considered  ought  to  have 
been  reserved  wholly  for  himself" — (personal 
government  pure  and  undefiled).  Bagot  de- 
clared that  Richardson  should  have  the  first 
suitable  office  that  became  vacant,  but  later 
"disavowed  all  recollection  of  ever  having 
made  a  promise  of  the  kind."  This  bears  a 
strong  resemblance  to  the  case  of  Sir  DeLacy 
Evans  and  the  majority  which  Richardson 
claimed. 

However,  the  "enfeebled  Governor"  could 
not  get  an  appointment  for  him.    Richardson, 

—  113  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

having  removed  from  Brockville  to  Kingston, 
applied  for  a  grant  in  furtherance  of  the  object 
of  completion  of  his  "War  of  1812,"  "that  is  to 
say  of  the  operations  of  the  Centre  and  Left 
Divisions."  This  was  refused  by  the  Gover- 
nor :  but  Sir  Allan  McNab  took  the  matter  up 
in  the  House  and  the  only  dissentient  vote  was 
given  by  "Mr.  James  Durand,  the  father  or 
some  near  relation  of  whom  was  strongly  sus- 
pected of  loyalty  (sic)  during  the  rebellion," 
and  the  sum  of  £250  ($1,000)  was  voted  to  the 
author. 

But  now  he  changed  his  mind  and  "deter- 
mined to  abstain  for  the  present  from  entering 
upon  a  task  which  promised  to  be  one  of  some 
labor  without  yielding  the  slightest  remunera- 
tion in  return,"  and  determined  not  "to  con- 
sider the  sum  of  money  which  had  been  voted 
to  me  in  any  other  light  than  as  a  remuneration 
for  what  had  already  been  completed  of  the 
publication."  For  this  act  of  plain  dishonesty 
Richardson  gives  no  satisfactory  excuse  al- 
though he  has  pages  of  explanation. 

Abandoning  all  desire  for  further  inter- 
ference with  the  past,  he  threw  himself  into 
current  Canadian  politics:  he  started  a  paper 
in  Kingston,  the  Canadian  Loyalist  and  Spirit 

—  114  — 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  WORKS 

of  1812.  The  New  Era  had  been  characterized 
by  moderation,  but  now  he  "resolved  to  fall 
into  the  extreme  of  opposition  and  to  leave  no 
assailable  weakness  of  the  party  in  power  un- 
touched." He  pursued  his  "course  with  un- 
deviating  hostility  to  the  men  who  were 
scourging  the  country  .  .  Hincks  and  his 
colleagues" ;  and  when  they  fell  from  power  by 
the  efforts  of  the  Canadian  Loyalist  and  the 
Conservative  press  generally,  the  paper  ceased, 
after  being  published  for  eighteen  months  only. 

Sir  Charles  Bagot  comes  in  for  unsparing 
condemnation:  Richardson  says  that  even 
when  he  died, "such  was  the  exasperation  of  the 
public  mind  that  they  scarcely  accorded  to 
him  the  common  sentiments  of  regret  which 
the  departure  of  a  human  being  from  among 
his  fellow-men  occasions" — and  certainly  he 
accords  to  him  none. 

But  a  brighter  day  was  now  dawning  for 
Canada:  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  had  arrived, 
Bagot  died,  broken-hearted,  censured  by  the 
Colonial-Secretary,  cursed  by  the  Conservative 
press,  whose  gentlest  names  for  him  were  "im- 
becile" and  "slave,"  and  some  of  whom 
"boldly  pronounced  a  wish  that  his  death 
might  free   the   country   from   the    state   of 

—  115  — 

J.R.— 9 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

thraldom  to  which  it  had  been  reduced  "by 
his  trying  to  be  a  constitutional  governor  under 
Responsible  Government." 

Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  and  the  Ministry  dis- 
agreed; the  Ministry  resigned;  "His  Excel- 
lency's subsequent  appeals  to  the  people,  made, 
as  they  were,  in  the  purest  spirit  of  candor 
and  mild  reasoning,  .  .  had  the  effect  of 
giving  to  him  a  working  majority  in  the  ensuing 
Parliament  .  .  The  victory  .  .  .  will 
ever  endear  him  to  Canadian  posterity  as  the 
bloodless  avenger  of  wrongs  which  have  never 
yet  had  a  parallel  in  Colonial  misrule" — one 
more  example  of  the  wisdom  of  the  maxim 
"Never  prophesy  unless  you  know." 

Metcalfe  repeatedly  sought  to  obtain  the 
consent  of  the  Council  to  the  appointment  of 
Richardson  to  some  office,  but  as  often  failed, 
until,  at  length,  he  "did  manage  to  obtain  their 
reluctant  consent  to  his  nomination  to  the 
command  of  a  mounted  police  force"  at  the 
Welland  Canal,  and  then  "the  stipend  .  . 
was  so  small — not  a  Captain's  pay — that  His 
Excellency  was  almost  ashamed  to  offer  it." 
But  he  did,  and  it  was  accepted ;  one  month  after 
Metcalfe's  departure  the  force  was  reduced. 

The  work  closes  with  the  arrival  of  Lord 

—  116  — 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  WORKS 

Elgin.  A  warning  is  given  against  the  Radicals, 
whose  motto  is  Aut  Caesar  aut  nullus  (the 
book  has  it  "nullis").  "The  crisis  is  one  of 
interest  and  the  people  of  Canada  will  watch 
it  closely." 

A  very  considerable  part  of  this  book  is  taken 
up  with  complaints  of  his  treatment  by  Cana- 
dians and  the  Canadian  Government.  "Eng- 
land .  .  France  .  .  Scotland  .  .  Ire- 
land .  .  every  nation  in  the  Old  World 
has  done  honour  to  the  profession  of  letters, 
and  the  United  States  .  .  glories,  and  justly 
glories,  in  the  well-won  reputation  of  her  gifted 
Cooper  .  .  Canada  alone  in  the  wide  uni- 
verse forms  the  exception." 

"Had  the  inclination  to  appoint  me  [to  a 
government  post]  not  been  wanting,  a  means 
might  sooner  or  later  have  been  found.  I,  a 
loyal  subject  of  Her  Majesty,  who  had  brought 
out  letters  from  the  Colonial-Secretary  and 
conferred  services  on  the  country,  had  been 
wholly  passed  over  by  the  Council."  (What 
"services"  we  are  not  told.) 


—  117  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

THE  GUARDS  IN  CANADA,  OR  THE 
POINT  OF  HONOR 

This  is  a  purely  personal  narrative  of  Rich- 
ardson's quarrels  with  the  officers  of  the 
Guards  at  Montreal  in  1839,  with  "a  gentleman 
in  Detroit"  in  the  same  year,  with  Colonel 
Williams  at  Prescott  in  1840,  and  with  Colonel 
Chichester  and  two  others  in  1838. 

Taking  them  in  their  chronological  order, 
Colonel  Chichester,  when  in  Spain,  and  a 
Brigadier-General,  had  seconded  a  highly 
offensive  resolution  charging  Richardson  with 
outraging  the  feelings  of  the  members  of  the 
Field  Officers'  Club,  demanding  his  expulsion 
and  the  return  of  his  subscription.  This  was 
under  circumstances  which  rendered  it  im- 
possible for  Richardson  to  take  any  action 
on  it  at  the  time  and  Chichester  later  gave  a 
written  apology.  He  found  Chichester  an 
Inspecting  Field  Officer  in  Canada;  strolling 
one  day  on  the  Champ  de  Mars,  he  saw  Chi- 
chester striking  his  favorite  dog,  Hector, 
which  was  fighting  a  smaller  dog;  but  he 
apologized.  Then  a  young  Mr.  Mytton,  son 
of  the  celebrated — or  rather  notorious — horse- 
man of  that  name,  thought  it  proper  to  act 

—  118  — 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  WORKS 

toward  Richardson  "in  rather  a  cavalier — nay, 
rude  manner" ;  he  repeated  his  rudeness  and 
Richardson  told  him  that  he  would  be  "under 
the  necessity  of  sending  to  him  in  the  morning." 

Captain said  that  his  friend  Mr.  Mytton 

was  not  addressing  himself  to  Richardson, 
whereupon  he  said  that  he  would  be  under  the 
necessity  of  sending  to  the  Captain  also  in  the 

morning!    Captain  apologized  and  that 

passed  over.  Another  officer  begged  him  to 
pay  no  attention  to  Mytton,  "that  was  only 
his  manner" ;  and  he  should  treat  him  as  but 
a  rude  and  inconsiderate  boy.  Richardson 
was  placated  and  let  the  matter  rest. 

The  Guards  episode  is  a  good  instance  of 
"how  not  to  do  it."  Richardson  first  met 
Colonel  Barnard  at  the  table  of  Sir  John  Col- 
borne,  "with  whom  I  was  rather  a  favorite 
until  I  adopted  Lord  Durham's  views  in  favor 
of  Responsible  Government";  and  through 
Barnard  he  became  acquainted  with  the  officers 
of  the  battalion  generally.  They  dined  with 
him  and  he  with  them. 

One  morning,  having  had  a  difference  with 
a  party  whose  name  is  not  disclosed,  on  account 
of  Richardson  having  (as  was  supposed)  written 
an  offensive  article,  he  was  called  on  by  another 

—  119  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

individual  on  behalf  of  the  other;  he  refused 
to  receive  the  messenger  as  he  was  not  a  gen- 
tleman. The  next  day  Colonel  Barnard  and 
Colonel  Crawford  met  him  and  told  him  that 
the  party  intended  to  "post"  him.  They 
walked  together  to  the  bottom  of  the  hill  and 
met  the  party ;  on  Richardson  making  enquiry, 
he  said  that  he  did  intend  to  post  him  and 
Richardson  struck  him  a  blow  with  his  stick. 
A  scuffle  ensued,  Richardson's  stick  was 
wrested  from  him  and  he  fell,  being  pushed 
down  by  the  horse.  As  he  rose  he  said :  "Now 
you  scoundrel,  I  will  meet  you  in  half-an-hour." 
Richardson  asked  three  different  persons  to 
act  as  second,  and  failed.  He  went  home  for 
his  servant  and  pistols ;  he  offered  to  take  as 
second  one  of  the  persons  accompanying  his 
adversary — this  was  refused;  he  asked  for 
delay  till  8  o'clock  the  following  morning,  which 
was  also  refused,  and  he  returned  home  late 
in  the  evening  to  curse  the  false  friends. 
Then  he  sought  out  Mr.  Weir,  who  offered  to  go 
immediately  and  arrange  a  meeting;  he  could 
not  get  a  definite  promise  from  the  antagonist ; 
and  that  night  Richardson  "was  placarded  over 
all  the  walls  of  every  street  and  corner  in 
Montreal  as  a  coward."  Richardson  had  been 

—  120  — 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  WORKS 

invited  to  a  ball  by  the  Guards;  this  invitation 
was  withdrawn  and  Richardson  wrote :  "Major 
and  Mrs.  Richardson  know  too  well  what  is  due 
to  themselves  to  have  profited  by  the  invitation 
of  the  Grenadier  Guards,  under  existing 
circumstances." 

The  adversary  "swore  the  peace  on  him," 
and  he  gave  two  sureties  in  £100  each  for  his 
good  behavior.  Then  he  asked  Sir  John  Col- 
borne,  the  Commander  of  the  Forces,  for  a 
court  of  inquiry;  that,  of  course,  was  refused 
as  he  was  not  under  Sir  John's  command.  He 
was  "cut  dead  by  the  whole  of  those  very 
formidable  bear-skin-capped  gentlemen"  and 
asked  Sir  John  to  censure  them;  but  His  Ex- 
cellency could  not  interfere.  He  demanded 
from  Colonel  Ellison  of  the  Guards  an  ex- 
planation of  the  withdrawal  of  the  invitation 
to  the  ball  and  received  it:  "it  would  be  very 
disagreeable  if  anything  occurred  to  disturb 
the  harmony  of  the  ball."  Richardson  frankly 
said  "that  Colonel  Ellison  felt  and  acted 
throughout  with  all  the  delicacy  .  .  of  the 
high-minded  gentleman,"  but  all  relations 
with  the  Grenadier  Guards  terminated.  The 
example  of  the  Guards  was  followed  by  many 
of  the  civil  society,  "who  bowed  and  fawned 

—  121  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

upon  and  licked  the  dust  from  beneath  the 
feet  of  those  gentlemen." 

It  is  hard  to  get  at  the  rights  of  this  affair, 
but  it  may  be  said  that  it  is  absurd  to  think  that 
Richardson  was  wanting  in  courage.  It  is  fairly 
clear  that  he  had  not  made  himself  a  favorite 
with  the  Guards,  and  it  seems  likely  that  he 
received  hard  measure,  lacking,  as  he  was, 
in  anything  like  savoir  faire  or  a  conciliatory 
mind  or  manner. 

The  Detroit  affair,  he  thinks,  grew  out  of  the 
Montreal  episode.  A  Canadian  paper,  the 
Western  Herald,  of  Sandwich,  published  an 
article  reflecting  on  the  facilities  afforded 
American  visitors  to  Fort  Maiden ;  the  Misses 
Mason,  daughters  of  Governor  Mason,  chaffed 
Richardson  about  being  the  author  and  gave 
Lieutenant  Schreiber  as  their  informant.  The 
lieutenant  said  that  he  only  mentioned  it  as  "a 
common  rumor  of  the  day";  and  this,  says 
Richardson,  "was  the  first  fruit  of  the  notoriety 
given  to  my  affair  in  Montreal  by  the  conduct 
of  Her  Majesty's  Grenadier  Guards.  I  had 
been  accused  of  paragraph  writing  in  one 
place  and,  of  course,  the  same  charge  must 
hold  good  in  another."  Schreiber  apologized 
and  so  ended  that  difficulty.  But  Richardson  had 

—  122  — 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  WORKS 

accepted  the  hospitality  of  a  friend  in  Detroit 
and  stayed  some  weeks  in  his  house,  in  which 
resided  a  lady  separated  from  her  husband. 
The  husband  wrote  to  him  that  "he  thought 
it  exceedingly  improper  that  I  should  continue 
to  remain  where  observation  and  comment 
might  arise  prejudicial  to  his  wife."  He  did 
not  answer,  the  husband  challenged,  a  rendez- 
vous was  fixed  on  Fighting  Island ;  one  after- 
noon in  June  he  went  there  with  his  seconds ; 
the  husband  did  not  turn  up,  but  Mr.  Joseph 
Woods,  Member  for  Kent,  did,  and  was  about 
to  arrest  him  when  it  was  arranged  that  Rich- 
ardson should  cross  over  again  to  the  United 
States.  The  adversaries  were  afterwards 
reconciled. 

Shortly  after  taking  up  residence  in  Brock- 
ville,  he  was  mixed  up  in  another  affair.  He 
had  been  playing  cards  with  certain  offi- 
cers one  evening  (he  tells  of  paying  £100 
as  one  night's  losses  at  cards  to  one  gentle- 
man). Lieutenant-Colonel  Williams,  com- 
manding the  particular  service  at  Prescott,  had 
made  (as  he  heard)  the  remark  that  "if  Major 
Richardson  wishes  to  keep  a  gambling  house, 
he  had  better  select  his  own  residence,"  and 
he  wrote  him  a  letter  (insulting  enough,  be  it 

—  123  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

said)  demanding  an  explanation;  the  Colonel 
declined;  he  had  not  the  honor  of  being  ac- 
quainted with  him  and  didn't  want  to.  Rich- 
ardson replied  expressing  his  contempt,  which 
letter  the  Colonel  handed  to  a  Magistrate. 
Thereupon  Richardson  posted  him  in  Ogdens- 
burg  and  Prescott  as  "a  cowardly,  shuffling  and 
contemptible  slanderer,"  and  the  Colonel 
challenged  him  to  a  pistol  duel  at  four  paces. 
Richardson  refused,2  but  offered  to  fight  at  ten 
paces;  the  Colonel  would  not  hear  of  more 
than  five — and  there  was  no  fight. 

Sir  Richard  Jackson,  the  Commander  of 
the  Forces,  "soon  after  the  four  paces  farce 
had  been  acted,"  directed  "that  the  officers 
under  his  command  should  have  nothing  to 
do  with  Major  Richardson."  But  Richardson 
is  quite  convinced  that  "Colonel  Williams 
would  never  have  presumed  to  conduct  him- 
self," as  he  did,  had  the  Guards  "acted  in  the 
bold,  manly  and  independent  manner  which 
was  to  have  been  expected  from  men"  in 
their  position. 

Why  this  book  was  ever  written  must  be  a 
mystery  to  one  who  does  not  enter  into  Rich- 
ardson's mentality  and  his  sensitiveness  in 
respect  of  everything  which  even  seems  to 

—  124  — 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  WORKS 

besmirch  his  honor.  Were  it  not  for  his 
repeated  protestations,  we  might  be  tempted 
to  think  that  it  was  written  in  favor  of  "the 
good  old  fashion  instituted  in  the  days  of 
chivalry  and  manly  heroism,  and  which  the 
utilitarian  spirit  of  this  matter-of-fact  age  is 
fast  seeking  to  discountenance  but  can  never, 
it  is  to  be  hoped,  effectually  destroy." 

i "  I  was  present  at  this  execution  (of  Lount  and 
Matthews),  which  was  conducted  without  any  of  the 
excitement  which  might  naturally  have  been  looked 
for  at  such  a  crisis,  and  it  occurred  to  me  that  I  had 
never  seen  two  men  more  mean  or  less  qualified  in 
personal  appearance  at  least,  either  to  take  the  initia- 
tive in  party  or  to  be  made  the  objects  of  selection 
for  a  politically  criminal  procedure." 

2  His  second  gave  as  an  excuse  that  such  a  duel,  if 
anything  fatal  occurred,  would  subject  the  surviving 
parties  to  a  trial  for  murder.  He  did  not  add  that  the 
same  result  would  take  place  if  the  duel  was  at  twelve 
paces  or  fifty.  Chief  Justice  Robinson  on  the  trial  at 
Brockville  in  1833  of  John  Wilson  (afterwards  Mr. 
Justice  John  Wilson)  for  murder  in  killing  young 
Robert  Lyon  in  a  duel  near  Perth,  said  that  while 
killing  in  a  duel  was  in  law  murder,  "Juries  have  not 
been  known  to  convict  when  all  was  fair."  See  my 
article  "The  Duel  in  Early  Upper  Canada"  35  Canadian 
Law  Times  (September  1915),  pp.  726,  et  seq. 


—  125  — 


TALES  OF 
THE  CHICAGO  TRAGEDY 


TALES  OF 
THE  CHICAGO  TRAGEDY 

T  the  very  time  when  Rich- 
ardson, a  lad  of  fifteen,  a  gen- 
tleman volunteer  attached  to 
the  41st  Foot,  was  assisting 
at  the  siege  of  Detroit,  a  trag- 
edy was  enacted  near  Fort 
Dearborn  on  the  site  of  the  present  City  of 
Chicago. 

Captain  Heald,  with  Lieutenant  Helm  and  a 
small  detachment  of  American  troops,  garri- 
soned the  Fort ;  in  April,  18 12,  a  party  of  Winne- 
bago Indians  murdered  two  men  near  the  fort ; 
August  7  or  8,  Heald  received  an  order  from 
General  Hull  at  Detroit:  "forthwith  .  .  if  it 
be  yet  practicable,  evacuate  your  post  and  re- 
tire on  Fort  Wayne,  after  dividing  the  public 
property  among  the  friendly  Indians."  Heald 
obeyed  and  marched  out,  August  12,  notwith- 
standing the  protest  of  Helm,  Kinzie  and  Cap- 
tain William  Wells,  who  had  arrived  with 
twenty-seven  Miamis.    The  Indians  attacked 


—  129 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

and  all  but  ten  of  the  soldiers  were  soon 
killed  or  wounded,  the  doctor,  Van  Dorns, 
being  among  the  slain.  Attacking  the  baggage 
waggons  they  killed  every  male  but  Kinzie, 
also  two  women  and  twelve  children.  Some 
of  the  women,  including  Mrs.  Heald,  were 
wounded.  Mrs.  Heald  was  taken  to  Michilli- 
mackinac  and  thence  sent  by  the  British 
Commander  to  Detroit,  then  held  by  the  Brit- 
ish ;  there  Richardson  saw  and  admired  her. 

He  informs  us,  at  the  conclusion  of  "Wau- 
nan-gee,"  that  he  "had  always  intended  the 
facts  connected  with  the  historical  events  of 
that  period  to  be  divided  into  a  series  of  three, 
like  the  'Guardsmen,'  'Mousquetaires'  and 
'Twenty  Years  After'  of  Dumas.  Two  of 
these,  embracing  different  epochs  and  cir- 
cumstances, we  have  completed  in  'Hard- 
scrabble'  and  'Wau-nan-gee,'  and  whether  the 
third,  on  a  different  topic  than  that  of  war,  and 
which,  as  we  have  just  observed,  is  not  neces- 
sary to  the  others,  ever  finds  embodiment  in 
the  glowing  language  and  thought  of  Nature, 
nursed  and  strengthened  in  Nature's  solitude, 
will  much  depend  on  the  interest  with  which  its 
predecessors  shall  have  been  received."  He 
more  than  hints  that  the  projected  third  vol- 

—  130  — 


TALES  OF  THE  CHICAGO  TRAGEDY 

ume  of  the  trilogy  would  deal  with  the  life 
after  the  massacre  of  "the  sweet  and  gentle 
Maria  .  .  the  loadstone  of  attraction  to 
all  who  knew  her."  So  far  as  can  be  discov- 
ered, the  third  volume  was  not  written,  and 
we  must  be  content  with  "Hardscrabble"  and 
"Wau-nan-gee." 

HARDSCRABBLE 

The  full  title  is  "Hardscrabble,  or  the  Fall  of 
Chicago,"  but  the  second  part  of  the  title  is  a 
misnomer,  as  Chicago  does  not  fall  or  begin 
to  fall  in  it.  The  plot  is  not  complicated,  if 
indeed  the  story  can  be  credited  with  anything 
like  a  plot.  As  always  with  Richardson,  the 
language  is  a  little  stilted,  especially  in  the 
love  passages. 

Heywood,  the  son  of  an  American  Revolu- 
tionary officer,  left  to  his  own  resources  at  the 
age  of  eighteen,  emigrated  to  Kentucky,  there 
amassed  a  fortune,  and  repaired  to  Charleston, 
where  he  married  a  lady  of  considerable  landed 
property.  They  had  one  child,  Maria.  Hey- 
wood, leaving  wife  and  child,  went  again  to 
Kentucky,  where  he  killed  in  a  duel  a  young 
lawyer  of  good  family ;  he  then  fled  to  Charles- 

—  131  — 

J.R.— 10 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

ton  and  it  was  decided  that  the  family  should 
bury  themselves  in  the  remotest  civilized 
portion  of  the  continent.  They  went  to  Chi- 
cago, the  remotest  of  the  western  possessions 
of  the  United  States. 

Heywood  erected  a  cottage  near  the  Fort, 
"furnished  from  Detroit  in  what,  at  that  period 
and  so  completely  at  the  Ultima  Thule  of 
American  civilization,  was  considered  a  style 
of  great  luxury."  He  also  bought  several 
hundred  acres  two  miles  up  the  southern 
branch  of  the  Chicago  River,  and  thereon  built 
a  log  house  and  outhouses. 

At  the  time  of  the  story,  Mrs.  Heywood  and 
Maria,  now  a  tall  and  elegantly  formed  girl 
of  eighteen,  were  living  with  a  woman  servant 
in  the  cottage  across  the  river  from  the  Fort — 
which,  by  the  way,  is  accurately  described — 
that  the  mother,  who  was  seriously  ill,  might 
have  the  care  and  attention  of  the  medical 
officer  of  the  Fort. 

The  Commander  of  the  Fort  was  Captain 
Headley 1 ;  rather  a  martinet,  somewhat  on  the 
model  of  Colonel  de  Haldimar  of  "Wacousta," 
but  not  so  stubborn.  Lieutenant  Elmsley,2 
with  his  wife,  lived  in  the  Fort  as  did  Captain  and 

—  132  — 


TALES  OF  THE  CHICAGO  TRAGEDY 

Mrs.  Headley;  Harry  Ronayne,the  ensign,  in 
love  with  and  loved  by  Maria  Heywood,3  was 
the  other  subaltern. 

Heywood  lived  in  his  own  house  about  four 
miles  from  the  Fort,  with  his  hired  man, 
Ephraim  Giles,  a  former  American  soldier, 
Le  Noir,  a  French-Canadian,  with  a  dog,  Loup 
Garou,  and  a  boy,  Wilton,  of  fourteen. 

The  log  cabin  was  invaded  immediately  after 
the  mid-day  meal  by  a  dozen  Winnebagoes  in 
full  war  paint.  Heywood  sent  Wilton  to  call 
Corporal  Nixon  and  his  party  of  six  men  who 
were  fishing  in  a  bay  about  two  miles  above 
the  farm.  Giles,  by  a  ruse,  made  his  way 
across  the  river  and  to  the  Fort,  carrying  a 
warning  to  the  Commandant. 

The  action  now  becomes  swift;  the  fishing 
party  is  attacked  by  a  band  of  Winnebagoes, 
who  had  struck  down  and  scalped  Wilton  on 
his  way ;  they  repulse  the  attack  after  recover- 
ing from  the  river  their  muskets,  sunk  by  a 
clever  trick  of  an  Indian ;  they  make  their  way 
to  Heywood' s  cabin  and  find  Heywood  and 
Le  Noir  killed  and  scalped.4  They,  in  their 
turn,  stand  a  siege  by  the  Indians,  and  are 
celebrating  their  success  by  eating  an  enor- 

—  133  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

mous  turkey  obtained  in  a  ludicrous  way,  when 
suddenly  they  are  aware  that  the  room  is  full 
of  Indians.  How  this  could  possibly  happen 
does  not  appear ;  no  body  of  soldiers  besieged 
by  Indians  could  have  allowed  them  to  enter 
"by  the  back  door"  unobserved,  and  to  possess 
themselves  of  the  weapons  of  the  soldiers. 

But  it  turns  out  that  these  Indians  are 
friendly  Pottawattamies,  led  by  Ronayne, 
dressed  as  an  Indian.  He  had  asked  Elmsley 
to  pass  him  out  the  gate  just  as  young  de 
Haldimar  in  "Wacousta"  had  asked  the  soldier 
Halloway;  but  Elmsley  refused  and  Ronayne 
got  out  disguised  as  a  drunken  Pottawattamie. 
The  boy  Wilton  was  picked  up  by  a  soldier, 
who  refitted  the  scalp  which  was  found  in  the 
river ;  he  was  still  living  but  died  on  the  way 
to  the  Fort. 

The  Fort  was  not  attacked  nor  was  there  any 
further  casualty.  Wau-nan-gee,  a  young  Pot- 
tawattamie, falls  in  love  with  Maria  Heywood, 
indicating  future  complications  and  tragedy; 
but  he  withdraws  his  attentions  when  he  learns 
that  she  is  Ronayne's.  The  dead  body  of  Hey- 
wood is  found  and  scratched  up  by  the  dog, 
Loup  Garou,  where  it  had  been  buried  by 
Ronayne  and  his  party.  The  body  is  reburied. 

—  134  — 


TALES  OF  THE  CHICAGO  TRAGEDY 

Ronayne  makes  a  Fourth  of  July  speech,  "omit- 
ting all  expressions  of  that  rancor  towards 
Great  Britain  which  forms  so  leading  a  feature 
in  American  orations  on  this  occasion." 

Ronayne  and  Maria  are  married  on  this 
Fourth  of  July,  1812,  by  the  Commandant,  as 
"at  that  remote  period  and  in  the  absence  of 
duly  ordained  clergymen,  it  was  customary 
for  marriages  to  be  performed  by  the  Gover- 
nors of  districts  and  by  Commanding  Officers 
of  district  Forts." 

An  ominous  incident  took  place  during  the 
ceremony:  when  Ronayne  proceeded  to  place 
the  ring  on  her  ringer  it  fell  on  the  floor; 
"quick  as  thought,  Wau-nan-gee  .  . 
stooped,  picked  it  up,  and  attempted  to  place 
it  upon  the  finger,  still  extended,  for  which  it 
was  designed."  Ronayne  intervened :  "Gently, 
Wau-nan-gee,  my  good  fellow,  the  husband 
only  does  that."  Wau-nan-gee,  his  cheek 
becoming  brighter  and  his  eyes  kindling  into 
sudden  fierceness,  while  his  hand  intuitively 
clutched  the  handle  of  his  knife,  at  once  re- 
linquished the  ring.  Wau-nan-gee,  fascinated, 
"moved  not  away,  but  the  expression  of  his 
eyes  had  wholly  changed;  there  was  no 
longer  to  be  remarked  there  the  great  melan- 

—  135  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

choly  of  the  poet,  but  the  wild,  restless,flashing 
glance  that  told  of  strong  excitement  within." 
When  "Ronayne  saluted  his  bride  in  the  usual 
manner,  his  cheek  became  suddenly  pale  .  . 
and  with  folded  arms  and  proud  attitude  he 
withdrew  slowly  ...  to  mingle  more 
with  the  crowd  .  ."  "And  under  those 
singular  and  somewhat  ominous  circumstances, 
were  the  long  delayed  nuptials  of  Harry  Ro- 
nayne and  Maria  Heywood,  the  great  favorites 
of  the  garrison,  celebrated  to  the  joy  of  all 
within  the  Fort  of  Chicago." 

The  farm  of  Heywood  was,  by  Corporal  Nixon, 
leader  of  the  fishing  party,  given  the  name  of 
"Hardscrabble,"  on  account  "of  the  hard 
struggle  the  fellows  must  have  had  with  Mr. 
Heywood  before  they  mastered  him,  judging 
from  his  wounds  and  his  broken  rifle." 

Of  course  we  find  in  "Hardscrabble"  no 
indication  in  express  terms  of  the  author's 
intention  to  write  further  on  the  characters; 
but  the  fact  that  it  is  entitled  "The  Fall  of 
Chicago"  suggests  that  it  is  incomplete,  and 
the  "ominous  incident"  at  the  marriage  is  a 
further  indication  of  a  future  supplement. 
Such  a  sequel  Richardson  did  write  in  the 
work  now  to  be  examined. 

—  13G  — 


TALES  OF  THE  CHICAGO  TRAGEDY 

WAU-NAN-GEE 

The  full  title  of  this,  the  second  work,  is 
"Wau-nan-gee,  or  The  Massacre  of  Chicago : 
a  Romance." 

In  his  "Prefatory  Inscription"  Richardson 
says  that  the  whole  of  the  text  approaches  so 
nearly  to  historical  fact  that  any  other  preface 
than  that  which  admits  the  introduction  of  but 
one  strictly  fictitious  character — Maria  Hey- 
wood  .  .  must  be  .  .  .  supereroga- 
tory." He  gladly  avails  himself  of  the  oc- 
casion "to  circulate,  through  the  most  attractive 
and  popular  medium,  the  merits  of  those  whose 
deeds  and  sufferings  have  inspired  him  with 
the  generous  spirit  of  eulogistic  comment 
.  .  .  those  who  were  then  our  enemies  but 
whose  sufferings  are  well  known  to  all,  and 
claim  our  deep  sympathy,  our  respect  and  our 
admiration — none  more  than  the  noble  Mrs. 
Heald  and  Mrs.  Helm,  the  former  the  wife 
of  the  Commanding  Officer,  the  latter  the 
daughter  of  the  patriarch  of  Illinois,  Mr. 
Kinzie."  5 

Coming  now  to  the  story,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered that  "Hardscrabble"  concluded  with 
the  account  of  the  marriage,  July  4,  1812,  of 

—  137  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

Maria  Heywood  with  Harry  Ronayne,  her 
mother  being  in  ill  health.  Mrs.  Heywood 
died  within  a  week  of  the  marriage  and  was 
buried  in  the  garden  of  the  cottage  across  the 
river  from  Fort  Dearborn.  Mrs.  Ronayne, 
visiting  her  mother's  grave,  was  kidnapped  by 
Pee-to-tum,  a  Chief  of  the  Porta wattamies,  but 
escaped.  Ronayne,  his  wife,  and  the  surgeon 
of  the  Garrison,  riding  on  a  subsequent  day  to 
"Hardscrabble,"  Mrs.  Ronayne  was  captured 
by  a  party  of  Indians.  Ronayne  wished  to 
search  for  her  with  a  detachment  from  the 
Fort,  but  an  Order  6  had  come,  August  12,  from 
General  Hull  at  Detroit  to  evacuate  the  Fort. 
A  letter  from  Maria  to  Mrs.Headley  said:  "If 
I  have  yielded  to  the  persuasions  of  the  gentle, 
the  affectionate,  the  devoted  Wau-nan-gee, 
it  is  not  so  much  on  my  own  account  as  in  the 
hope  held  out  to  me  of  a  long  future  of  happi- 
ness with  the  object  of  my  heart's  worship. 
For  him  I  can,  and  do,  make  every  sacrifice, 
even  to  the  incurring  of  your  displeasure" :  the 
surgeon  told  the  story  to  Mrs.  Headley  of  the 
capture  of  Maria  by  the  Indians,  so  that  she 
was  convinced  the  whole  had  been  planned  and 
that  Maria  had  willingly  thrown  herself  into 
the  power  of  Wau-nan-gee. 

—  138  — 


TALES  OF  THE  CHICAGO  TRAGEDY 

Notwithstanding  the  opposite  opinion  of 
Lieutenant  Elmsley,  of  his  father-in-law,  Mc- 
Kenzie,5an  old  settler,  and  of  Ensign  Ronayne, 
and  the  open  discontent  of  the  soldiery,  Cap- 
tain Headley  determined  to  abandon  the  Fort 
and  depart  at  once  for  Fort  Wayne.  He  calls 
a  council  with  the  desire  and  intention  of 
conciliating  the  Pottawattamies,  which  Elmsley 
and  Ronayne  refuse  to  attend.  Headley 
promises  against  the  protests  of  McKenzie  and 
Winnebeg,  a  prominent  Indian,  to  divide  the 
ammunition  and  provisions  amongst  the  In- 
dians, asking  them,  in  return,  for  an  escort  to 
Fort  Wayne. 

Next  night  Headley,  now  being  awake  to 
the  extent  of  the  indiscretion  of  which  he  had 
been  guilty,  had  the  casks  of  liquor,  and  many 
of  the  powder  barrels,  emptied  into  the  well 
and  river;  Ronayne,  superintending  this  work, 
was  saved  by  Wau-nan-gee  from  death  at  the 
hands  of  another  Indian  chief,  Pee-to-tum; 
Wau-nan-gee  assured  Ronayne:  "Ah  love  him 
much,  Ronayne  wife— love  him  Ronayne, 
too— Wau-nan-gee  friend,  dear  friend— Wau- 
nan-gee  die  for  him — Ronayne  wife  in  Ingin 

camp — pale — pale — very   much 

Wau-nan-gee   not  make   him   wife.    S'pose 

—  139  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

him  not  Ronayne  wife,  then  Wau-nan-gee  die 
happy  s'pose  him  Wau-nan-gee  wife.  Feel 
him  dere,  my  friend — feel  him  heart — oh  much 
sick  for  Maria — but  Wau-nan-gee  Ronayne 
friend  .  .  no  hurt  him  wife."  He  asks  Ro- 
nayne to  comewithhim  to  "squaw  camp,  stay 
there  till  battle  over  .  .  .  Maria  say 
come — must  come;"  but  Ronayne  is  held  by 
his  duty.  A  letter  is  brought  to  him  from 
Maria,  with  the  tidings  that  the  unfriendly 
portion  of  the  Indians  had  intended  to  attack 
the  garrison  on  the  march  after  they  had  left 
the  Fort.  A  letter  to  Mrs.  Headley  is  still 
more  explicit:  Wau-nan-gee  had  learned  of 
the  treachery  of  Pee-to-tum,  "not  a  full 
blooded  Pottawattamie  but  a  sort  of  mongrel 
Chippawa,  adopted  in  the  tribe  for  his  untam- 
ably  fiendish  disposition";  had  hastened  to 
the  Fort  for  the  express  purpose  of  Maria's 
safety,  "to  take  her  out  of  the  Fort  until  all 
trouble  was  over,  to  conceal  her  in  a  spot,  to 
watch  her  and  to  protect  her  as  a  brother." 
She  had  gone  to  Wau-nan-gee:  "the  crisis  is 
desperate  and  anything  to  save  my  husband's 
life." 

Next  morning,  August  13,  Headley  gave  the 
Indians  the  cloths,  blankets,  trinkets  and  pro- 

—  140  — 


TALES  OF  THE  CHICAGO  TRAGEDY 

visions,  but  only  one  cask  of  liquor  and  one 
barrel  of  powder  were  forthcoming:  he  said 
that  that  was  all  that  had  been  left.  Pee-to- 
tum  called  him  a  liar ;  Headley  struck  him  in 
the  eye  with  his  heavy  military  glove  and 
trouble  seemed  imminent,  when  a  band  of  five 
and  twenty  horsemen  made  their  appearance 
under  Captain  William  Wells,7  uncle  of  Mrs. 
Headley  and  "the  Hero  of  the  Valley  of  the 
Miami."  Wells,  a  native  of  Kentucky,  who, 
adopted  by  the  Miamis,  fought  with  them 
against  St.  Clair,  then  abandoned  his  adopted 
father  and  his  Indian  wife  and  children  and 
rejoined  the  whites,  was  made  Captain,  and 
fought  under  Wayne  against  the  Indians. 

After  a  diversion  describing  the  surrender 
of  Detroit  by  Hull,  Richardson  proceeds  with 
the  story.  August  15,  the  column  marched 
out,  Captain  Wells  and  his  Miamis  in  the  van ; 
then  the  thirty  men  of  the  detachment,  the 
wagons  with  women  and  children,  the  sick,  the 
luggage  and  spare  ammunition.  Shot  at  by 
the  Indians,  the  detachment  formed  a  square 
and  were  again  attacked .  The  Pottawattamies 
approached  the  wagons  and  began  tomahawk- 
ing the  children ;  the  surgeon  was  killed  and 
scalped  as  was  Captain  Wells  (his  heart  was 

—  141  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

eaten);  the  Indians  were  seen  to  be  bringing 
up  a  field  piece  from  the  Fort;  Ronayne  cap- 
tured the  cannon  and  turned  it  on  the  Indians ; 
he  then  wounded  Pee-to-tum,  who  had  boasted 
of  violating  Maria;  Pee-to-tum  tried  to  kill 
him  but  was  killed  by  a  shot  from  the  square. 

The  Indians  offer  to  spare  their  lives  if  the 
Americans  surrender;  the  offer  is  voted  on, 
eleven  men  voted  for,  eleven  against  surrender 
and  Lieutenant  Elmsley  gives  the  casting  vote 
for  surrender.  The  remnant  of  the  detach- 
ment re-entered  the  Fort,  leaving  Ronayne 
grievously  wounded.  His  wife,  disguised  as 
one  of  Wau-nan-gee's  sisters,  found  him,  only 
to  watch  him  die ;  his  dying  words :  "You  will 
not  be  alone — Wau-nan-gee  will  love  and 
protect  you,  obey  your  will." 

Wau-nan-gee  brought  Maria's  trunks  from 
Hardscrabble ;  "she  made  up  two  large  pack- 
ages which  were  tied  to  the  back  of  her  saddle, 
while  the  youth  strapped  two  others  similarly 
prepared,  with  provisions,  behind  his  own 
pony.  Thus  provided,  and  Wau-nan-gee  with 
his  rifle  on  his  shoulder  and  otherwise  well 
armed,  they  set  out  at  daybreak"  for  Detroit. 

The  rest  of  the  story  is  soon  told :  on  the  third 
day  after  the  battle  the  prisoners  were  divided 

—  142  — 


TALES  OF  THE  CHICAGO  TRAGEDY 

into  small  parties  and  scattered  at  various 
intervals  of  distance  from  Mackinaw,  then  in 
British  hands.  Mrs.  Headley  was  taken 
some  three  hundred  miles  away  to  Mackinaw, 
and  by  the  British  Commander  sent  to  Detroit 
and  "little  did  we,  at  the  time,  as  we  shared  in 
the  general  and  sincere  homage  to  her  magni- 
ficence of  person  and  brilliancy  of  character, 
dream  that  a  day  would  arrive  when  we  should 
be  the  chroniclers  of  Mrs.  Headley's  glory,  or 
have  the  pleasing  task  imposed  on  us  of  re- 
embodying  after  death,  the  inimitable  grace 
and  fulness  of  contour  that  then  fired  the 
glowing  heart  of  the  unformed  boy  of  fifteen 
for  the  ripened  and  heroic,  although  by  no 
means  bold  or  masculine,  woman  of  forty." 8 

"Ev'n  in  our  ashes  live  our  wonted  fires." 

i  Of  course  Captain  Nathan  Heald,  who  was  in 
command  at  Fort  Dearborn  in  1812. 

2  Lieutenant  Linai  Taliafero  Helm,  a  Virginian. 

3  Both  fictitious  characters. 

4  It  is  a  historic  fact  that  the  first  act  of  hostility  by 
the  Winnebagoes  at  Chicago  was  the  killing  and 
scalping  of  two  men  not  in  the  Fort. 

5He  is  called  "McKenzie"  in  the  story  and  that  was 
his  original  name.  Born  in  Quebec  in  1763,  he  carried 
on  business  there  as  a  jeweller,  but  became  a  trader 
in  the  western  United  States.  He  took  the  name 
Kinzie  (his  first  name  was  John) .  In  1802  he  established 

—  143  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

a  post  on  the  present  site  of  Chicago  of  which  he  was 
the  earliest  white  settler.  He  also  had  posts  on  the 
Illinois,  Kankakee  and  Rock  Rivers.  He  died  at 
Chicago,  Jan.  6,  1828. 

6  Brought  by  Winnebeg,  a  friendly  Indian — the  real 
name  seems  to  have  been  Winne  Mag. 

7 Captain  William  Wells  is  a  historical  character: 
he  arrived  at  Fort  Dearborn  just  before  the  massacre 
with  about  twenty-seven  Miamis. 

8  A  very  full  and  accurate  account  of  the  Chicago 
Massacre  will  be  found  in  Milo  Milton  Quaife's  "  Chi- 
cago and  the  Old  North-west,  1 673-1 835,"  Chicago, 
1913.  Lieutenant  Helm's  account  is  given  in  8  Michigan 
Pioneer  Collections,  pp.  648-652:  for  most  purposes 
Prof.  Clarence  Walworth  Alvord's  "The  Illinois 
Country,  1673-1818,"  Springfield,  111.,  1920,  pp.  440, 441, 
may  be  found  sufficient — 53  Americans  were  killed, 
about  fifteen  Indians;  "a  veritable  shambles." 


1  !  1  — 


THE  MONK  KNIGHT 
OF  ST.  JOHN 


THE  MONK  KNIGHT 
OF  ST.  JOHN 


m&zyl 

iip 

«  7jKu 

&x&&  NavSl 

bS^I^ 

1   iff 

SE^Zv&P 

HE  only  edition  of  this  work 
was  published  in  New  York 
in  1850.  The  story  is  pre- 
tended to  be  translated  from 
an  old  French  manuscript 
which  was  placed  in  the 
author's  hands  in  1837  by  a  servant  in  a 
dilapidated  castle  in  Auvergne  owned  by  the 
Baron  de  Boiscourt,  under  a  promise  not  to 
speak  of  it  while  there  was  a  single  member 
of  the  family  of  de  Boiscourt  living. 

During  the  times  of  the  Kingdom  of  Jerusa- 
lem about  eighty  years  after  the  conquest  of  the 
City  by  Godfrey  de  Bouillon  (1099),  Baron  de 
Boiscourt  became  intimate  with  Abdallah,  the 
Monk  Knight  of  St.  John.  Of  Moorish  origin 
and  abducted  in  infancy  by  the  Maltese,  Ab- 
dallah had  been  compelled  to  abandon  his 
religion  and  adopt  the  cowl.  He  became  a  fer- 
vent Christian  and  joined  the  Knights  of  St. 
John,  the   strictest  of  the  religious  orders, 

—  147  — 

J.R.— 11 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

He  was  not  less  noted  for  his  military  prowess 
than  for  his  scrupulous  observance  of  his  vow 
of  chastity. 

The  occasion  of  the  two  friends  first  meeting 
is  described  luridly  and  minutely  in  language 
hardly  allowable  at  the  present  time  in  decent 
literature,  and  more  in  the  manner  of  Aphra 
Behn  than  of  Dickens  or  even  Fielding. 
Abdallah  had  rescued  Zuleima,  one  of  the  wives 
of  Saladin,  about  to  be  violated  by  Christian 
soldiers,  and  was  himself  falling  a  victim  to 
her  nude  charms  when  de  Boiscourt  came  on 
the  scene;  she  spent  the  night  in  de  Bois- 
court's  tent,  the  willing  victim  to  the  adulterous 
desire  of  de  Boiscourt,  and  was  taken  to  Saladin 
next  day. 

De  Boiscourt  exacts  a  promise  from  Abdallah 
that  he  will  marry  Ernestina,  de  Boiscourt's 
wife,  if  he  should  be  killed.  Abdallah  takes 
part  in  an  attack  upon  the  Saracen  camp  by 
three  hundred  chosen  Knights  of  St.  John 
and  of  the  Temple;  and  is  one  of  the  three 
survivors  of  the  fearful  carnage  which  ensues. 

At  the  Battle  of  Tiberias  (July  4,  1187),  de 
Boiscourt  was  left  on  the  field  for  dead,  after 
his  life  had  been  saved  three  times  by  Abdal- 
lah.    Abdallah,  going  to  the  camp  of  Saladin 

—  148  — 


THE  MONK  KNIGHT  OF  ST.  JOHN 

to  ask  honorable  burial  for  his  friend,  sees 
Saladin  strike  the  head  of  the  Grand  Master 
of  the  Templars  from  his  shoulders  with  one 
rapid  blow  of  his  scimitar. 

A  Christian  lad,  Rudolph,  being  taken 
prisoner,  becomes  at  the  instance  of  Zuleima 
a  Mahometan,  her  page  and  her  paramour. 
Whole  pages  are  given  to  the  description  of  her 
voluptuousness  and  passion.  Abdallah,  also  a 
prisoner,  thinks  of  Lady  Ernestina,  but  falls 
a  victim  to  Zuleima's  charms,  admits  his  sin 
to  his  Grand  Master  and  glories  in  it. 
Zuleima  saves  his  life  by  telling  her  husband 
how  Abdallah  had  saved  her  from  the  Chris- 
tian soldiery.  The  other  knights  are  slain. 
Abdallah  discovers  that  Zuleima  is  his  sister, 
and  Zuleima,  renouncing  the  creed  of  the 
Prophet,  embraces  Christianity. 

The  Monk  Knight  comes  to  the  Lady  Ernest- 
ina disguised  as  the  Monk  Gonzales,  hears 
her  admit  her  passion  for  Abdallah  and  later 
is  admitted  to  her  chamber,  pretending  to  be 
de  Boiscourt.  He  makes  himself  known  and 
is  received  as  a  husband  with  "joy,  supreme 
joy;"  he  tells  her  with  exultation  of  the 
episode  with  Zuleima.  They  are  privately 
married  the  following  day  and  pass  six  months 

—  149  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

together;  she  becomes  enceinte — when  de 
Boiscourt  returns.  Not  recognized  by  either, 
he  is  about  to  kill  Abdallah,  and  has  already 
stabbed  him  with  a  poignard,  when  Ernestina 
begs  his  life. 

Shortly  afterwards  de  Boiscourt  makes 
himself  known  to  Ernestina,  but  she  decidedly 
prefers  Abdallah,  as  her  love  for  de  Boiscourt 
is  dead.  He  offers  to  become  Abdallah's 
page  but  declines  to  marry  Henriette,  Ernest- 
ina's  maid.  Abdallah  and  Ernestina  drive 
him  away ;  with  the  assistance  of  his  man, 
Coeur-de-Fer,  he  captures  them  and  im- 
prisons them  in  secret  rooms,  separated  by 
iron  bars  but  visible  to  each  other. 

The  return  of  de  Boiscourt  is  publicly  an- 
nounced, and  the  marriage  of  Abdallah  and 
Ernestina  annulled.  De  Boiscourt  had  agreed, 
on  a  condition  unnecessary  to  state,  that  Ab- 
dallah and  Ernestina  should  be  for  ever  with 
each  other,  and  himself  makes  love  to  Henri- 
ette. The  Countess  of  Clermont  tries  to 
seduce  Abdallah,  again  disguised  as  the 
real  Monk  Gonzales;  Rudolph  returns  also 
and  is  to  marry  Zuleima ;  Ernestina  is  poisoned 
by  the  Countess  of  Clermont,  who  is  ap- 
parently killed  by  Abdallah  with  her  para- 

—  150  — 


THE  MONK  KNIGHT  OF  ST.  JOHN 

mour,  Coeur-de-Fer.  Ernestina  dies  and 
Abdallah  poisons  himself.  The  Baron  is  to 
marry  Henriette;  the  night  before  the  nup- 
tials the  Countess  of  Clermont  finds  them  to- 
gether and  tries  to  kill  Henriette,  mistaking 
her  for  Ernestina;  the  Countess  then  con- 
fesses that  she  is  the  mother  of  Henriette, 
seduced  at  sixteen  by  her  uncle,  the  Bishop 
of  Clermont,  and  a  mother  at  seventeen; 
then  she  stabs  herself  and  dies.  The  Baron 
and  Henriette  are  married  by  the  Bishop 
and  "live  happy  ever  after." 

And  so  ends  this  amazing  and  shocking  tale 
of  love  and  lust,  sin  and  blood,  unrelieved  by 
one  single  decent  feature  or  a  gleam  of  humor; 
no  woman  but  was  lascivious  in  the  extreme, 
no  man  but  was  the  slave  of  the  vilest  animal 
passion  gratified  on  all  occasions  and  at 
whatever  cost  of  honor  or  decency.  It  comes 
well  within  Jordan's  characterization  of 
"Ecarte" :  "disgusting"  and  "fit  only  for  the 
stews."  The  whole  work  reminds  one  of  Mat- 
thew Gregory  ("Monk")  Lewis'  "Ambrosio, 
or  the  Monk,"  after  which  it  is  in  part  model- 
led and  which  it  rivals  and  outdoes  in 
indecency. 

—  151  — 


ANTHOLOGY 


TECUMSEH  * 

In  Canto  I  the  British  Fleet  sets  out  to 
attack  the  American. 

V 
But   now   the   breeze   is   up — the   anchor 

weigh'd — 
The  swelling  canvas  bends  before  the  gale; 
Each  towering  ship,  in  battle-pomp  array'd, 
In  distance  answers  to  the  chieftain's  hail; 
Each   warrior-brow  is  clear'd — nor  gloom, 

nor  shade, 
Nor  disappointed  feelings  now  prevail : 
All  hearts  are  light — the  chase  is  full  in  view — 
They  pant  for  combat,  and  forthwith  pursue. 

VI 

Nor  long  they  follow — nor  a  coward  foe, 
Nor  one  unus'd,  unskill'd  in  naval  war; 
Their  sails  are  instant  clew'd— their  course 

is  slow — 
Each  bark  awaits  her  rival  from  afar; 
While  with  a  secret,  and  exulting  glow 
They  count  the  little  fleet  who  cross  the  bar, 

*These  extracts  are  taken  from  the  English  edition, 
1828. 

—  155  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

And  reckless  of  their  weakness  dare  engage, 
And  with  superior  force  the  contest  wage. 

VIII 
And  now  the  thick  sulphureous  mists  ascend, 
And  Murder  opens  all  her  mouths  of  blood ; 
While  streams  of  light  with  curling  volumes 

blend, 
And  dart  along  the  surface  of  the  flood, 
Which,  startled  at  the  cries  of  foe  and  friend, 
Shrinks  back,  and  seems  as  'twere  to  brood 
O'er  scenes  of  fearful  death,  which  darkly 

stain 
The  spotless  bosom  of  her  silvery  plain. 

XII 

And  who  are  they  who,  thus  exulting,  wake 
Each  spring  of  action  in  that  lengthened 

shout? 
Whose  the  wild  sounds  which  too  delusive 

break 
Upon  the  wond'ring  ear,  and  eking  out 
In  distance  ring  along  the  troubled  lake, 
Startling  the  storm-bird  in  its  wonted  route, 
And,  e'en  amid  the  cannons'  ceaseless  roar, 
Is  heard  in  echo  on  the  distant  shore? 

—  15G  — 


ANTHOLOGY 

XIII 

It  is  the  lion-band,  who  fondly  deem 
That  hour  arriv'd  so  pleasing  to  the  brave ; 
Already  Victory  hath  appeared  to  beam 
Upon  their  brows,— for  many  a  watery  grave 
Their  foes  have  found,  and  in  the  flattering 

dream 
Of  hope  they  reck  of  little  left  to  crave : 
The  eagle  standard  from  the  chieftain's  prow 
Is  dash'd  below,  and  triumph  hovers  now. 

Tecumseh's  defence  of  his  country  from 
American  aggression: 

XXXV 
Nor  wrong  the  chieftain  of  the  snow-white 

crest : 
For  scarce  ten  moons  had  dipp'd  in  silvery 

dew 
The  verdant  beauties  of  the  glowing  west, 
When  now  a  mighty  mass  of  foemen  threw 
Their  lengthen'd  columns  o'er  the  soil,  and 

press'd 
The  spot  where  first  the  generous  warrior 
drew 
The  rich  warm  breath  of  sacred  liberty, 
And  swore  to  fall,  or  set  his  country  free. 

—  157  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

XXXVI 
'Twas  then  that,  like  a  mighty  avalanche, 
His  arm  gigantic  with  his  wrath  kept  pace, 
And,  rear'd  on  high,  like  some  vast  towering 

branch 
Of  a  tall  pine,  dealt  vengeance  for  a  race 
Whose  bleeding  wounds  the  warrior  swore 

to  staunch 
With  the  deep  groans  of  those  he  pledg'd 
to  chase 
Like  the  fierce  monsters  of  his  native  wood, 
Till  gorg'd  with  victims  and  with  human  blood. 

XXXVII 
How  well  that  purpose  of  his  soul  he  kept, 
Whole  hecatombs  of  bleaching  bones  and 

clay, 
O'er  which  nor  sorrowing  spouse  nor  sire 

e'er  wept, 
Too  well  attest ;  no  burial  rite  had  they — 
No  tomb  in  which  their  ashes  hallowed  slept; 
But,  torn  by  vultures,  and  by  beasts  of  prey, 
E'en  fertilized  the  bosom  of  that  soil 
They  came  with  savage  fury  to  despoil. 


158 


ANTHOLOGY 

Tecumseh's  grief  for  his  son  slain: 

XLVII 

Or  where  was  he,  who  near  Miami's  wave, 
When  coward  hatchets  madly  rose  to  stain 
The  well-earn'd  laurels   of  the  generous 

brave, 
Dash'd  fiercely  thundering  'mid  the  recreant 

train, 
And  swore  to  sheathe  his  yet  ensanguin'd 

glaive 
In  their  vile  hearts,  and  strew  them  o'er  the 

plain — 
While  as  he  fell'd  to  earth  the  tainted  barb, 
He  shone  the  savage  but  in  hue  and  garb? 

XLVIII 
Alas !  he  saw  not — while  the  warrior  stood 
Near  the  pale  ashes  of  his  martyr'd  boy, 
With  folded  arms  and  melancholy  mood, 
And  rapt  in  contemplation's  drear  employ: 
As  with  a  father's  scrutiny  he  view'd 
The  blasted  promise  of  life's  only  joy, 
A  panting  envoy  from  the  Christian  chief 
Broke  on  the  fulness  of  his  tearless  grief. 


—  159  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 
The  morning  hours  at  Amherstburg : 

II 

The  hour  is  that,  when  checking  his  career, 
The  god  low  stoops  to  kiss  his  mistress 

Earth; 
And  with  his  breath  consuming  dry  the  tear 
With  which  fell  Night,  of  melancholy  birth, 
Damps  the  warm  bosom  of  the  glowing 

sphere. 
Whose  face,  now  radiant,  proves  her  secret 

mirth, 
And  burning  blushes  mark  the  mighty  power 
Of  him  her  lover  in  that  ardent  hour. 

Ill 

The  slumbering  lake  is  one  broad,  silvery 

plain, 
Within  whose  mirror  move,  reflected  there, 
Along  the  cloudless  sky,  a  mingled  train 
Of  various  birds,  which  cleave  the  highest 

air, 
As  if  unable  longer  to  sustain 
The  warmth  of  Earth,  which,  like  the  Siroc 

drear, 
Enchains  all  nature  in  its  magic  fold, 
And  fills  the  atmosphere  with  flakes  of  gold. 

—  160  — 


ANTHOLOGY 

IV 

The  mountain-deer  winds  fearless  to  the 

tide, 
And  laps  his  pendent  tongue  within  the 

stream; 
Then  panting  casts  him  at  the  gaunt  wolf's 

side 
(Struck  by  the  ardour  of  the  raging  beam), 
Whose  wearied  frame  in  strange  inaction  tied, 
Lies  tame  and  spell-bound  there,  as  if  a 

dream 
Or  incantation  hung  upon  the  scene, 
And  chang'd  his  nature  with  creation's  mien. 


The  scaly  serpent,  deck'd  in  hues  of  gold, 
Basks  near  the  drooping  warbler  of  the 

spray ; 
Nor  twines  him  now  in  close  and  tortuous 

fold, 
To  spring  envenom'd  on  his  wonted  prey ; 
That  eye,  which  late  all  fascinating  roll'd 
In  colors  brilliant  as  the  Iris'  ray, 
Has  lost  its  dreadful  harmonies  to  lure, 
E'en  though  the  victim  felt  it  not  secure. 

—  161  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

VI 

The  very  waters,  with  the  heat  imbued, 
The  languid  fishes  now  essay  to  shun, 
Save  where  the  weeping  willows,  thickly 

strewed, 
O'erhang  the  streams,  and  shield  them  from 

the  sun; 
There,  blended  in  one  group,  a  gasping 

brood 
Of  harmless  sporters  all-confiding  run, 
And  linger  near  the  fierce,  voracious  pike, 
Who,  with  the  power,  lacks  the  will  to  strike. 

Tecumseh  before  the  Battle  of  Moravian- 
town: 

XXVI 
For  him  again  that  moon  may  never  rise, 
That  sweet  air  freshen,  or  those  waters  flow : 
Another  sun  shall  gild  his  native  skies, 
But  ere  in  the  far  west  his  last  tints  glow, 
The  song  of  war,  which  o'er  the  valley  flies, 
Shall  bear  him  swift  on  his  accursed  foe, 
Whose  ranks  must  thicken  in  the  path  of  death, 
Or  purchase  vict'ry  with  his  dying  breath. 


162  — 


ANTHOLOGY 

XXVII 
Such  fate  with  him  can  boast  no  other  sting 
Than  that  which  fastens  on  the  truly  brave, — 
Those  deep  despairings  of  the  soul,  that 

bring 
The  thought  that,  in  his  dark  and  lonely 

grave 
Must  die  the  hopes  which  in  his  bosom  spring 
To  free  his  groaning  country,  and  to  save 
The  faithful  remnants  of  his  weakened  bands 
From  the  dire  fury  of  the  foeman's  hands. 

XXVIII 

And  as  he  linger'd  o'er  the  thought,  like 

burning  oil, 
The  prestige  deeper  fann'd  his  bosom's  fire ; 
The  hours  which  flew  in  darkness  o'er  the 

soil 
Were  weights  imposed  upon  his  deathless  ire : 
And  now  he  panted  for  the  fierce  turmoil 
With  rage  unpitying,  and  with  wild  desire ; 
And  gnash'd  his  teeth,  as  fancy  mark'd  each  foe 
Gasping,   and   writhing   'neath   his   vengeful 

blow. 


—  1G3  — 
J.R.— 12 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

ECARTE 

Comte  de  Hillier,  the  notorious  duellist,  is 
thus  described : 

"This  nobleman  was  now  in  his  twenty- 
sixth  year;  his  person  would  have  been  ac- 
counted good,  had  not  the  natural  elegance  of 
his  figure  been  destroyed  by  an  offensive  care- 
lessness of  carriage,  strikingly  expressive  of 
insolence  and  disdain.  His  features,  also, 
were  regular,  and  would  have  been  considered 
handsome,  had  it  not  been  for  the  contemptu- 
ous curl,  which  not  merely  played  around  the 
Up,  but  contracted  the  muscles  of  his  face, 
even  unto  distortion  of  the  countenance,  and 
the  fiend-like  expression  of  his  eyes,  which 
were  dull  and  glassy  and  filled  with  malignant 
cunning.  His  rank  and  fortune  had  given 
him  access  to  the  first  society  in  Paris;  but 
such  was  the  brutal  ferocity  of  his  nature, 
that  more  than  one  member  of  that  society 
had  found  reason  to  curse  the  hour  of  his  intro- 
duction, in  lamenting  the  untimely  fall  of 
some  dear  friend  or  relative  by  his  ruthless 
hand.  Urged  by  a  wanton  thirst  for  notori- 
ety, and  priding  himself  on  a  dexterity  in  the 
use  of  weapons,  which  none  of  the  young  men 

—  164  — 


ANTHOLOGY 

around  him  could  succeed  in  attaining,  he 
often  deliberately  and  without  provocation 
fastened  insults  on  the  inexperienced,  which 
led  to  results  almost  ever  fatal  in  their  char- 
acter to  the  latter. 

"At  the  period  now  alluded  to,  his  repu- 
tation had  become  notorious ;  and  although  the 
houses  of  many  of  the  more  respectable  famil- 
ies in  Paris  were  closed  against  him,  while  in 
others  he  was  received  with  cold  and  studied 
politeness,  he  still  continued  to  keep  up  a 
certain  connexion.  Many  of  the  young  fash- 
ionables of  the  day  adhered  to  him ;  some  from 
fear,  some  from  vanity,  some  from  the  notor- 
iety attached  to  his  name,  and  some  from  the 
similarity  of  their  tastes  and  pursuits  in  the 
haunts  of  dissipation  in  which  they  were  wont 
to  meet.  By  far  the  greater  number  of  these 
hated  him ;  but  wanting  courage  to  avow  their 
real  sentiments,  were  content  to  wish  his 
downfall  in  secret." 

The  drawing  room  at  Madame  Astelli's 
is  thus  described : 

"Nothing  could  surpass  the  magnificence  of 
the  scene.  A  flood  of  light  seemed  to  burst 
from  the  rich  crystal  lustres,  which  studded 

—  165  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

the  walls  of  the  gilded  apartments,  and  were 
reflected  from  the  splendid  mirrors  filling  up 
the  intervals  between  each,  multiplying  the 
objects  into  almost  infinitude.  Glittering  in 
jewels,  covered  with  plumes,  adorned  in  all 
the  elegance  of  Parisian  costume,  a  hundred 
fine  and  voluptuous  forms  arrested  the  eye  in 
quick  succession.  A  few  German  and  Italian 
women,  who  could  readily  be  distinguished — 
the  former  by  the  rich  fulness  of  their  pro- 
portions, the  latter  by  the  almost  overpowering 
lustre  of  their  eyes — were  among  the  number ; 
the  remainder  were  almost  exclusively  French, 
and  from  every  province,  from  the  blood- 
exciting  plains  of  the  south,  to  the  more  frigid 
regions  of  the  north.  The  men  were  of  almost 
every  country:  French,  English,  Russians, 
Spaniards,  Italians,  Germans  and  Portuguese, 
composed  the  throng;  and  many  of  these,  with 
the  exception  of  the  English,  wore  some 
decoration  pending  from  their  breasts." 

When  Dormer  went  to  see  Adeline  Dorje- 
ville  this  is  what  he  found : 

"It  was  impossible  for  Dormer  even  with  all 
the  anxiety  incident  to  his  position,  not  to  be 
struck  by  the  extreme  air  of  confusion  pervad- 

—  106  — 


ANTHOLOGY 

ing  the  apartment  into  which  he  had  been  thus 
hastily  and  unceremoniously  ushered.  On  the 
breakfast  table,  and  mingled  with  the  several 
fragments,  were  profusely  scattered  various 
pots  of  solid,  and  phials  of  liquid  rouge,  pom- 
ades, graise  d'ours,  cremes  pates  d'amandes, 
and  all  the  thousand  auxiliaries  necessary  to 
the  toilette  of  a  Parisienne  in  the  decline  of 
her  beauty.  A  small  miroir  rested  in  a  slant- 
ing position  against  a  coffee  cup,  while  a  piece 
of  burnt  cork  for  shadowing  the  eyebrows,  and 
a  light  bougie,  announced  that  the  operation 
of  the  toilet  had  been  disturbed  in  some 
sudden  and  disagreeable  manner.  A  pack  of 
dirty  cards  with  which  the  good  fortune  of  the 
owner  had  no  doubt  been  told  a  hundred  times 
over,  were  lying  scattered  on  the  same  table, 
and  with  these,  a  fair  haired,  bare  legged  little 
girl,  apparently  about  five  years  of  age,  and 
covered  simply  with  a  chemise  de  nuit,  was 
amusing  herself  with  all  the  eagerness  of  her 
years.  At  a  little  distance  from  the  table,  and 
on  one  side  of  the  dull  fire,  before  which  the 
contents  of  the  coffee  pot  were  stewing  and 
simmering,  stood  a  foot  bath,  and  on  the  other 
a  canape,  at  one  extremity  of  which,  a  large, 

—  1G7  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

white,  unwashed  poodle  dog  lay  snoring  and 
stretched  at  his  full  length,  intruding  at  in- 
tervals on  a  variety  of  rich  costumes  that  lay 
on  the  opposite  end,  and  had  evidently  been 
thrown  off  the  preceding  evening.  A  pair  of 
fine  embroidered  cotton  stockings,  and  a  pair 
of  satin  shoes,  one  of  which  was  burst  on  the 
instep,  lay  immediately  in  front  of  the  fire. 
These  were  the  principal  objects  in  the  fore- 
ground: nor  was  the  perspective  at  all  out  of 
keeping.  But  we  dare  not  venture  into  a 
closer  detail  of  these  mysteries." 

WACOUSTA* 

Wacousta,  a  prisoner  in  the  Fort,  having 
promised  that  if  his  hands  be  set  free  he  would 
send  a  message  to  Pontiac  to  send  Captain 
de  Haldimar  (who  was  a  prisoner)  to  Detroit, 
is  set  free  from  his  bonds. 

Colonel  de  Haldimar  turns  to  speak  to  Sir 
Everard. 

"The  command  was  executed,  and  the 
prisoner  stood  once  more  free  and  unfettered 
in  every  muscular  limb.  A  deep  and  unbroken 
silence  ensued,  and  the  return  of  the  adjutant 


*  These  extracts  are  from  the  Toronto  edition  of 
1906. 

—  1GS  — 


ANTHOLOGY 

was  momentarily  expected.  Suddenly  a  loud 
scream  was  heard,  and  the  slight  figure  of  a 
female  clad  in  white  came  rushing  from  the 
piazza  in  which  the  apartment  of  the  deceased 
de  Haldimar  was  situated.  It  was  Clara. 
The  guard  of  Wacousta  formed  the  fourth 
front  of  the  square,  but  they  were  drawn  up 
somewhat  in  the  distance,  so  as  to  leave  an 
open  space  of  several  feet  at  the  angles. 
Through  one  of  these  the  excited  girl  now 
passed  into  the  arena,  with  a  wildness  in 
her  air  and  appearance  that  riveted  every  eye 
in  painful  interest  upon  her.  She  paused  not 
until  she  had  gained  the  side  of  the  captive, 
at  whose  feet  she  now  sank  in  an  attitude  ex- 
pressive of  despair. 

"  'Tiger! — monster!'  she  raved,  'restore  my 
brother! — give  me  back  the  gentle  life  you 
have  taken,  or  destroy  my  own !  See,  I  am  a 
weak,  defenceless  girl;  can  you  not  strike? 
You  have  no  pity  for  the  innocent.  But  come,' 
she  pursued,  mournfully,  regaining  her  feet 
and  grasping  his  iron  hand,  'come  and  see  the 
sweet,  calm  face  of  him  you  have  slain ;  come 
with  me,  and  behold  the  image  of  Clara 
Beverley ;  and  if  you  ever  loved  her  as  you  say 

—  169  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

you  did,  let  your  soul  be  touched  with  remorse 
for  your  crime.' 

"The  excitement  and  confusion  produced 
by  this  unexpected  interruption  was  great. 
Murmurs  of  compassion  for  the  unhappy  Clara 
and  of  indignation  against  the  prisoner  were 
no  longer  sought  to  be  repressed  by  the  men, 
while  the  officers,  quitting  their  places  in  the 
ranks,  grouped  themselves  indiscriminately 
in  the  foreground.  One,  more  impatient  than 
his  companions,  sprang  forward  and  forcibly 
drew  away  the  delicate  hand  that  still  grasped 
that  of  the  captive. 

"While  he  was  yet  turned  to  that  officer, 
who  had  taken  his  post  as  commander  in  the 
inner  angle  of  the  square  and  with  a  counten- 
ance that  denoted  the  conflicting  emotions  of 
his  soul,  he  was  suddenly  startled  by  the  con- 
fused shout  and  rushing  f  orward  of  the  whole 
body,  both  of  officers  and  men.  Before  he  had 
time  to  turn,  a  loud  and  well-remembered  yell 
burst  upon  his  ear.  The  next  moment,  to  his 
infinite  surprise  and  horror,  he  beheld  the  bold 
warrior  rapidly  ascending  the  very  staff  that 
had  been  destined  for  his  scaffold,  and  with 
Clara  in  his  arms ! 

"Great  was  the  confusion  that  ensued.    To 

—  170  — 


ANTHOLOGY 

rush  forward  and  surround  the  flagstaff  was 
the  immediate  action  of  the  troops.  Many  of 
the  men  raised  their  muskets  and  in  the  ex- 
citement of  the  moment  would  have  fired  had 
they  not  been  restrained  by  their  officers,  who 
pointed  out  the  certain  destruction  it  would 
entail  on  the  unfortunate  Clara.  With  the 
rapidity  of  thought  Wacousta  had  snatched  up 
his  victim  while  the  attention  of  the  troops  was 
directed  to  the  singular  conversation  passing 
between  the  governor  and  Sir  Everard  Valle- 
tort,  and  darting  through  one  of  the  open 
angles  already  alluded  to,  had  gained  the  ram- 
part before  they  had  recovered  from  the  stupor 
produced  by  his  daring  action.  Stepping 
lightly  upon  the  pegs,  he  had  rapidly  ascended 
to  the  utmost  height  of  these  before  anyone 
thought  of  following  him,  and  then,  grasping 
in  his  teeth  the  cord  which  was  to  have  served 
for  his  execution,  and  holding  Clara  firmly 
against  his  chest  while  he  embraced  the  smooth 
staff  with  knees  and  feet  closely  compressed 
around  it,  accomplished  the  difficult  ascent 
with  an  ease  that  astonished  all  who  beheld 
him.  Gradually,  as  he  approached  the  top, 
the  tapering  pine  waved  to  and  fro,  and  at 
each  moment  it  was  expected  that,  yielding  to 

—  171  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

their  united  weight,  it  would  snap  asunder  and 
precipitate  both  Clara  and  himself  upon  the 
rampart  or  into  the  ditch  beyond. 

"More  than  one  officer  now  attempted  to 
follow  the  fugitive  in  his  adventurous  course; 
but  even  Lieutenant  Johnstone,  the  most 
active  and  experienced  in  climbing  of  the  party, 
was  unable  to  rise  more  than  a  few  yards  above 
the  pegs  that  afforded  a  footing,  and  the  enter- 
prise was  abandoned  as  an  impossibility.  At 
length  Wacousta  was  seen  to  gain  the  extreme 
summit. 

"Axes  were  instantly  procured,  and  two  of 
the  men  now  lent  themselves  vigorously  to  the 
task.  Wacousta  seemed  to  watch  these  pre- 
parations with  evident  anxiety,  and  to  all  it 
appeared  as  if  his  courage  had  been  paralysed 
by  this  unexpected  action.  No  sooner,  how- 
ever, had  the  axemen  reached  the  heart  of  the 
staff  than,  holding  Clara  forth  over  the  edge 
of  the  rampart,  he  shouted : 

"  'One  stroke  more  and  she  perishes !' 

"Instantaneously  the  work  was  discontinued. 
A  silence  of  a  few  moments  ensued.  Every 
eye  was  turned  upward — every  heart  beat 
with  terror  to  see  the  delicate  girl  held  by  a 
single  arm,  and  apparently  about  to  be  pre- 

—  172  — 


ANTHOLOGY 

cipitated  from  that  dizzy  height.  Again  Wa- 
cousta  shouted: 

"  'Life  for  life,  de  Haldimar !  If  I  yield  her 
shall  I  live?' 

"  'No  terms  shall  be  dictated  to  me  by  a 
rebel  in  the  heart  of  my  own  fort,'  returned  the 
governor.  'Restore  my  child,  and  we  will 
then  consider  what  mercy  may  be  extended 
to  you.' 

"  'Well  do  I  know  what  mercy  dwells  in  such 
a  heart  as  yours,'  gloomily  remarked  the 
prisoner ;  'but  I  come.' 

"  'Surround  the  staff,  men,'  ordered  the 
governor,  in  a  low  tone.  'The  instant  he  des- 
cends secure  him,  lash  him  in  every  limb,  nor 
suffer  even  his  insolent  tongue  to  be  longer  at 
liberty.' 

"  'Boyce,  for  God's  sake  open  the  gate  and 
place  men  in  readiness  to  lower  the  draw- 
bridge,' implored  Sir  Everard  of  the  officer  of 
the  guard,  and  in  a  tone  of  deep  emotion  that 
was  not  meant  to  be  overheard  by  the  gover- 
nor. 'I  fear  the  boldness  of  this  vengeful  man 
may  lead  him  to  some  desperate  means  of 
escape.' 

"While  the  officer  whom  he  addressed  issued 
a  command,  the   responsibility  of  which  he 

—  173  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

fancied  he  might  under  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances of  the  moment,  take  upon  himself, 
Wacousta  began  his  descent,  not  as  before  by 
adhering  to  the  staff,  but  by  the  rope,  which  he 
held  in  his  left  hand,  while  he  still  supported 
the  apparently  senseless  Clara  against  his 
right  breast  with  the  other. 

"  'Now,  Colonel  de  Haldimar,  I  hope  your 
heart  is  at  rest,'  he  shouted,  as  he  rapidly 
glided  by  the  cord ;  'enjoy  your  triumph  as  best 
may  suit  your  pleasure.' 

"Every  eye  followed  his  movement  with  in- 
terest, every  heart  beat  lighter  at  the  cer- 
tainty of  Clara  being  again  restored,  and  with- 
out other  injury  than  the  terror  she  must  have 
experienced  in  such  a  scene.  Each  congratu- 
lated himself  on  the  favorable  termination 
of  the  terrible  adventure,  yet  were  all  ready 
to  spring  upon  and  secure  the  desperate  author 
of  the  wrong.  Wacousta  had  now  reached  the 
centre  of  the  flagstaff.  Pausing  for  a  moment, 
he  grappled  it  with  his  strong  and  nervous  feet, 
on  which  he  apparently  rested  to  give  a  momen- 
tary relief  to  the  muscles  of  his  left  arm.  He 
then  abruptly  abandoned  his  hold,  swinging 
himself  out  a  few  yards  from  the  staff,  and 
returning  again,  dashed  his  feet  against  it 

—  174  — 


ANTHOLOGY 

with  a  force  that  caused  the  weakened  mass  to 
vibrate  to  its  very  foundation.  Impelled  by 
his  weight  and  the  violence  of  his  action  the 
creaking  pine  gave  way ;  its  lofty  top  gradually 
bending  over  the  exterior  rampart  until  it 
finally  snapped  asunder,  and  fell  with  a  loud 
crash  across  the  ditch. 

"Desperate  as  were  the  exertions  of  Wa- 
cousta,  who  evidently  continued  his  mode  of 
flight  from  a  conviction  that  the  instant  his 
person  was  left  exposed  the  fire-arms  of  his 
pursuers  would  be  brought  to  bear  upon  him, 
the  two  officers  in  front,  animated  by  the  most 
extraordinary  exertions,  were  rapidly  gaining 
upon  him.  Already  was  one  within  fifty  yards 
of  him  when  a  loud  yell  was  heard  from  the 
bridge.  This  was  fiercely  answered  by  the 
fleeing  man,  and  in  a  manner  that  implied  his 
glad  sense  of  coming  rescue.  In  the  wild 
exultation  of  the  moment  he  raised  Clara  high 
above  his  head,  to  show  her  in  triumph  to 
the  governor,  whose  person  his  keen  eye  could 
easily  distinguish  among  those  crowded  upon 
the  rampart.  In  the  gratified  vengeance  of 
that  hour  he  seemed  utterly  to  overlook  the 
actions  of  those  who  were  so  near  him.  Dur- 
ing this  brief  scene  Sir  Everard  had  dropped 

—  175  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

upon  one  knee,  and  supporting  his  elbow  on 
the  other,  aimed  his  rifle  at  the  heart  of  the 
ravisher  of  his  wife.  An  exulting  shout  burst 
from  the  pursuing  troops.  Wacousta  bounded 
a  few  feet  in  air,  and  placing  his  hand  to  his 
side,  uttered  another  yell  more  appalling  than 
any  that  had  hitherto  escaped  him.  His  flight 
was  now  uncertain  and  wavering.  He  stag- 
gered as  one  who  had  received  a  mortal  wound, 
and  discontinuing  his  unequal  mode  of  re- 
treat, turned  his  back  upon  his  pursuers,  and 
threw  all  his  remaining  energies  into  a  final 
effort  at  escape." 

THE  GUARDS  IN  CANADA 

Stating  the  effect  of  his  note  to  the  Gren- 
adier Guards  Richardson  says : 

"It  would  appear  that  my  note  to  the  Grena- 
dier Guards  must  have  embraced  an  affront 
to  the  whole  Garrison,  for  the  two  regiments 
of  the  line,  then  in  Montreal,  and  including 
men  who  had  been  in  the  habit  of  visiting — 
nay,  dining — at  my  house,  following  the  course 
of  the  bear-skin-caps,  no  longer  did  me  the 
honor  to  bless  me  with  the  light  of  their  rosy 
and  rubicund  faces.    But  this  was  not  all. 

—  176  — 


ANTHOLOGY 

There  is  no  country  in  the  world — certainly 
no  colony — wherein  the  military  have  such 
absolute  and  exclusive  rule  as  in  Canada,  or 
are  so  slavishly  copied.  Like  so  many  curs 
(I  confine  myself  to  their  imitators)  the  few 
young  men  who  aim  at  being  considered  ex- 
tremely fine  and  extremely  fashionable,  both 
in  speech  and  manner,  may  be  seen  following 
in  the  wake  of  the  men  in  scarlet,  sniffing  at 
their  heels,  and  proud  to  be  permitted  to  tread 
in  their  footsteps ;  while  the  men  they  adulate, 
treating  them  with  the  secret  contempt  then- 
conduct  so  justly  merits,  reward  their  servility 
by  monopolizing  the  attentions  and  affections 
of  their  women— few  of  whom  ever  condescend 
to  notice  a  civilian,  when  a  red  coat  is  the 
competitor  for  favor.  Some  of  these  women 
flirt  with  regiment  after  regiment,  as  they 
succeed  each  other  in  garrison,  until  they  have 
absolutely  grown  wrinkled  in  the  almost 
diurnal  occupation.  These  may  ever  be  dis- 
tinguished by  the  loud  laugh  and  speech,  the 
bold  look  of  effrontery,  and  the  dissipation- 
telling  cheek,  on  which  the  blush  of  virgin 
timidity  has  long  ceased  to  mantle,  as  they 
saunter  up  and  down  the  pave,  or  frequent  all 
places  of  public  resort,  the  scorn  of  some — the 

—  177  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

pity  of  others — and  the  astonishment  of  all. 
I  could  name  half  a  dozen  of  those  misguided, 
half-educated  women,  who  take  the  lead  in  this 
sacrifice  of  the  commonest  principles  of 
delicacy  and  propriety ;  but  will  not  so  far  gra- 
tify those  who  have  not  yet  made  the  same 
progress  in  a  semi-courtesanship  which  has 
repeatedly  been  denounced  from  the  pulpit — 
Catholic  as  well  as  Protestant — yet  denounced 
in  vain.  Indeed,  could  credence  be  given  to 
all  that  is  said  of  some — not  covertly,  but 
openly  said — not  the  painted,  but  far  more 
modest  looking  harlot  who  daily  frequents  the 
same  promenades,  can  have  reason  to  envy 
the  more  distinguees  of  her  sisterhood,  on 
the  score  of  morals.  And  yet,  these  latter 
affect  to  regard  as  beneath  them  on  the  social 
scale,  those  of  their  own  sex,  who,  with  ten 
times  their  talent,  natural  and  acquired,  do 
not  mix  in  their  tainted  coterie  of  vicious  ig- 
norance. Nor  can  it  be  wondered  at,  that 
they  should  be  thus — for  the  mothers  of  the 
unblushing,  dissipated  looking  women  to 
whom  I  allude,  having,  in  their  youth,  paid 
adoration  at  the  same  idol,  are  rather  glorified 
than  pained  byunfeminine  conduct  of  those 

—  178  — 


ANTHOLOGY 

whom  they  seem  to  have  trained  but  to  one  sole 
purpose — that  of  entrapping  a  military  lover. 

"But,  I  have,  insensibly,  digressed  from  the 
parasites  of  their  own  sex.  It  would  be  in 
the  highest  degree  amusing,  were  it  not  for 
the  humiliation,  and  the  shame  for  one's  kind, 
induced  by  the  sad  contemplation,  to  behold 
the  abjectness  of  self-gratulation — the  silly 
pompousness  of  manner  of  those,  the  first 
desire  of  whose  small  hearts  is  to  be  deemed 
on  familiar  terms  with  a  red  coat,  without  the 
slightest  reference  to  the  qualifications— the 
talent  or  ignorance  of  him  it  covers.  The 
acme  of  their  happiness  is  to  be  permitted  the 
enviable  position  of  being  dragged  at  an 
officer's  heels,  too  happy  if  they  are  not  kicked 
into  the  gutter,  in  some  moment  of  caprice 
of  their  masters;  but  allowed  to  be  seen  by 
their  fellows,  who  dare  not,  or  choose  not, 
to  aspire  to  a  similar  distinction.  Even  by 
such  creatures  as  these,  and  to  whom,  I 
scarcely  can  divine  how  I  became  known — was 
the  conduct  of  those,  to  whom  they  bent  the 
knee  with  all  the  adulation  of  the  slave,  in 
some  degree  imitated." 

—  179  — 

J.R.— 13 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

EIGHT  YEARS  IN  CANADA 

Speaking  of  the  departure  from  London 
for  Canada,  February  18,  1838,  he  says: 

"Notwithstanding  a  good  deal  of  delay  had 
occurred  in  the  outset,  my  final  departure  from 
London  proved  a  very  abrupt  one,  and  was, 
moreover,  marked  by  a  strong  instance  of  that 
singular  and  unaccountable  insight  into  the 
future  which  we  usually  term  presentiment. 
The  winter  had  been,  as  I  have  just  remarked, 
exceedingly  severe  for  an  English  season;  so 
much  so,  that  instead  of  being  enabled  to  leave 
on  the  1st  of  January,  which  was  the  regular 
day  of  sailing  of  the  packet,  the  latter  had  been 
detained  in  the  docks  for  upwards  of  six  weeks. 
The  intermediate  time  had  been  passed  by  a 
beloved  one,  now  no  more,  and  myself  under 
the  hospitable  roof  of  the  beautiful,  amiable, 

and  talented  Countess  M ,  in  Montagu 

Square;  our  heavy  baggage  being  deposited 
in  a  small  lodging  near  the  Docks,  to  be  in 
readiness  for  embarkation  at  a  moment's 
warning.  On  the  night  of  the  17th,  and  while 
confident  that  many  days  must  yet  elapse 
before  the  ship  could  be  got  down  the  river, 
we  attended  a  fancy  ball  at  the  Hanover- 

—  180  — 


ANTHOLOGY 

Square  Rooms.  It  was  a  very  brilliant  and 
crowded  affair,  and  the  day  had  dawned  before 
we  all  returned  home,  and  separated  for  the 
moment  to  meet  again  at  breakfast.  Alas! 
to  one  it  was  the  last  separation  on  this  side 
of  the  grave. 

"It  was  not  without  difficulty  that  I  could 
keep  my  eyes  open,  and  sleep  was  to  me  then 
the  sweetest  boon  upon  earth;  but  I  did  not 
enjoy  it  long.  I  had  not  been  half  an  hour 
in  bed,  when  I  felt  myself  gently  shaken,  and 
a  well-known  voice  urging  me  to  rise  and  leave 
for  the  East  End  of  the  town  immediately, 
for  nothing  could  induce  the  speaker  to  believe 
the  vessel  in  which  we  were  to  embark  would 
not  leave  the  dock  that  morning.  I  endeav- 
ored to  persuade  my  wife  that  the  thing  was 
impossible,  and  that  if  such  were  the  intention 
some  intimation  would  have  been  sent  to  us. 
Her  reply  was,  that  she  had  been  awakened 
by  the  powerful  impression  forcing  itself  upon 
her  mind,  that  she  had  risen  in  consequence, 
and  that  nothing  could  convince  her  she  was 
wrong  in  attaching  the  faith  she  did  to  the 
correctness  of  her  presentiment.  There  was 
no  resisting  her  urgent  manner.  I  was  soon 
dressed ;  a  coach  was  sent  for,  and  without  an 

—  181  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

opportunity  of  taking  leave  of  our  kind  friends, 
we  finally  gained  the  lodging  near  the  dock. 
I  enquired,  on  alighting,  if  any  message  had 
been  sent  to  announce  the  sailing  of  the  vessel 
that  day.  The  answer  was  in  the  negative, 
and  I  commenced  rallying  the  disturber  of 
her  own  and  my  rest  on  the  fallacy  of  her 
forebodings.  But,  even  v/hile  in  the  act  of 
doing  so,  a  loud  rap  at  the  street  door  an- 
nounced a  visitor,  and  one  of  the  cabin  boys 
entered  stating  that  a  sudden  thaw  having 
occurred  during  the  night,  the  Ontario  was 
getting  out  of  dock,  and  we  must,  if  we  wished 
to  avoid  a  journey  to  Portsmouth,  embark 
immediately,  as  the  "tugs"  had  their  steam 
up,  and  were  only  waiting  for  the  vessel  to 
clear  the  dock  to  be  lashed  to  her  sides.  Then 
came  the  triumph  of  the  prophetess,  for  my 
pleasantry  suddenly  ceased,  and  the  only 
object  that  now  engaged  my  serious  attention 
was  the  gathering  together  of  our  scattered 
luggage,  and  its  introduction  into  a  hackney 
coach  as  a  medium  of  transport  to  the  deck 
of  the  Ontario;  and  even  so  hurried  was  I  in 
this,  that  I  afterwards  found  I  had  left  several 
articles  behind.  By  eight  o'clock  we  had  cut 
our  way  through  the  rotting  ice  as  far  as  Green- 

—  182  — 


ANTHOLOGY 

wich,  and  by  the  time  our  friends  had  entered 
the  breakfast  room,  where  they  of  course  fully 
expected  to  see  those  from  whom  they  had  so 
informally  parted  so  shortly  before,  we  must 
have  been  half  way  down  the  river." 

In  accounting  for  the  fact  that  his  "Jack 
Brag  in  Spain"  had  not  been  published  by 
Colburn  or  Bentley,  notwithstanding  all  Theo- 
dore Hook's  influence,  Hook  being  delighted 
with  the  three  volumes  which  Richardson  had 
written  under  that  title  in  continuation  of 
Hook's  "Jack  Brag,"  and  promising  to  obtain 
for  Richardson  at  least  £500  from  one  or  the 
other  publisher,  the  following  is  said : 

"There  is  a  curious  anecdote  connected  with 
this  work  which,  showing  as  it  does,  that  the 
humor  or  caprice  of  a  critic  should  be  consulted 
quite  as  religiously  as  the  ancients  were  wont 
to  consult  the  stars  before  offering  their  ob- 
lations, may  be  here  advantageously  inserted 
for  the  benefit  of  young  authors.  A  few  days 
before  'Ecarte'  made  its  appearance  before 
the  London  public,  Jerdan,  the  leviathan  of 
the  Literary  Gazette,  had  some  disagreement 
with  Colburn,  and  wrote  to  him  to  say  that 
whatever  he  next  published  he  would  cut  up 
in  his  review.      'Ecarte'  was  the  fated  next 

—  183  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

book  and  no  sooner  had  it  issued  from  the 
counter  of  the  publisher,  when  Jerdan,  throw- 
ing all  his  acrimony  into  his  pen,  sought  to 
annihilate  it  in  a  few  brief  sentences,  which 
Colburn,  who  showed  me  the  impartial  critic's 
note,  subsequently  declared  to  me  had  had  a 
most  pernicious  effect  upon  the  sale  of  the 
book.  And  it  was  in  this  spirit  that  he,  who 
lauded  'Beazley's  Roue'  to  the  skies,  pro- 
nounced 'Ecarte'  (a  book  which  others  have 
said  ought  to  be  in  the  hands  of  every  young 
man  designing  to  visit  Paris)  a  publication  fit 
only  for  the  stews  of  London.  But  the  best 
part  of  the  story  is  to  be  told.  On  the  very 
next  day  after  the  ill-natured  and  threatened 
critique  had  gone  forth  to  the  public,  there 
was  an  evening  reunion  of  literary  people  at 
Mr.  Redding's — the  author  of  the  'Beckford 
Papers,'  etc. — at  which  were  present  Harrison 
Ainsworth,  Thomas  Campbell,  Silk  Bucking- 
ham the  author  of  'Tremaine,'  Charles  Oilier, 
and  a  number  of  other  distinguished  writers 
of  the  day  whose  names  I  do  not  recollect. 
Late  in  the  evening  and  after  coffee  had  been 
served,  Jerdan  made  his  appearance,  flushed, 
as  was  his  wont,  with  the  fumes  of  the  'Tuscan 
grape.'    After  conversing  a  short  time  with 

—  184  — 


ANTHOLOGY 

those  who  were  most  intimate  with  him,  he 
came  up  to  me,  a  personal  stranger,  and  said 
'he  should  be  very  happy  to  have  the  pleasure 
of  taking  wine  with  me.'  Most  of  those  in  the 
room  had  been  aware  of  the  severity — nay, 
bitter  personality — of  the  critic's  remarks  the 
preceding  day,  and  they  naturally  felt  some 
surprise  at  his  movement.    It  was  soon,  how- 
ever, evident  that  the  Solon  of  the  Literary 
Gazette  did  not  know  whom  he  was  thus 
honoring,   and   their  wonder   gave   place   to 
amusement.    I  rose  from  a  tabouret  on  which 
I  had  been  sitting  near  the  feet  of  the  mistress 
of  the  house,  and  exchanging  a  significant 
glance  with  her,  observed  that  Mr.  Jerdan 
did  the  author  of  'Ecarte'  too  much  honor  in 
inviting  him  to  drink  wine  with  him,  but  that 
nevertheless  I  should  be  most  happy  to  accept 
his   proposal.    Jerdan    stared,   drew   up   his 
eyebrows,  seemed  for  the  first  time  conscious 
of  a  mal  entendu,  bowed  stiffly,  sipped  his 
wine,    and    then    turned    to    converse    with 
somebody  else. 

"I  allude  to  this  anecdote  particularly, 
because  it  tends  to  show  how  completely  the 
fame  of  a  writer  is  at  the  mercy  and  in  the 
power  of  the  critic.    Here  is  a  man  professing 

—  185  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

to  guide  the  public  taste,  who  without  any 
personal  feeling  towards  myself,  not  even 
knowing  me  when  he  wrote  his  review,  de- 
nounces a  book  he  has  eagerly  devoured,  not 
for  the  purpose  of  seeking  food  for  commenda- 
tion, but  with  the  avowed  object  of  collecting 
materials  for  dispraise.  And  wherefore? 
Simply  to  gratify  a  low  and  unworthy  feeling 
of  pique,  to  which  a  man  of  letters  should  be 
immeasureably  superior.  Had  Mr.  Jerdan 
not  given  indulgence  to  this  paltry  and  un- 
generous spirit  I  should  have  written  many 
more  works  than  I  have.  These  might  not 
have  greatly  benefited  the  public  it  is  true,  but 
they  would  at  least  have  profited  me,  and  that 
is  no  mean  consideration.  Of  course  I  am 
prepared  to  expect,  that  should  the  impartial 
critic  of  the  Literary  Gazette  notice  these 
remarks,  he  will  do  so  in  the  same  spirit  in 
which  he  reviewed  'Ecarte.' 

Richardson  having  taken  part  in  the  Battle 
of  Moraviantown  where  Tecumseh  was  killed, 
was  desirous  of  visiting  Tecumseh's  grave. 
On  his  way  from  Brockville  to  Sandwich,  he 
passed  near  the  spot  where  the  Indian  was 
said  to  be  buried. 

"As  I  passed  from  the  plain  into  the  wood 

—  186  — 


ANTHOLOGY 

where  we  had  been  attacked,  I  anxiously 
sought  to  discover  any  traces  of  the  particular 
ground  on  which  we  had  rested.  For  this 
purpose  I  alighted  from  my  waggon,  leaving 
the  reins  in  the  hands  of  my  tiger ;  but  in  vain 
did  I  seek  any  indication  of  the  precise  spot. 
The  general  features  of  the  wood  bore  so 
monotonous  a  resemblance  that  I  was  com- 
pletely at  fault,  and  after  a  fruitless  attempt 
to  discover  the  grave  which  was  said  to  con- 
tain the  bones  of  the  well-known  but  un- 
fortunate Tecumseh,  I  moved  along  the  road 
which  I  had  last  traversed  as  a  prisoner  of  war 
in  the  hands  of  an  exasperated  and  insulting 
enemy,  with  feelings  deeply  imbued  with  painful 
recollections  of  the  occurrences  of  that  event- 
ful day.  There  was  no  one  who  could  point  out 
to  me  the  grave  of  the  indomitable  warrior 
who  had  sealed  his  faith  to  England,  and  his 
unbending  determination  to  avenge  the  great 
and  manifold  wrongs  of  his  oppressed  race, 
with  his  heart's  blood,  and  I  felt  deeply  dis- 
appointed. I  had  known  Tecumseh  well. 
During  my  boyhood  he  had  ever  treated  me 
as  a  young  favorite,  and  I  had  experienced  a 
good  deal  of  pride  in  what  I  considered  a  very 
great  condescension,  for  I  had  always  enter- 

—  187  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

tained  a  deep  and  enthusiastic  admiration  of 
his  generous,  fearless,  independent  and  war- 
like character.  Not  an  hour  before  he  fell, 
he  had  passed  along  our  line  in  the  elegant 
deer-skin  frock,  fringed,  and  ornamented  with 
the  stained  quills  of  the  porcupine,  which  he 
usually  wore,  and  which,  on  this  occasion,  sur- 
mounted a  shirt  of  snowy  whiteness.  In  addi- 
tion to  this,  he  wore  a  plume  of  white  ostrich 
feathers,  and  the  whole  style  of  his  costume 
was  such  as  to  impart  to  his  dark  features  an 
expression,  and  to  his  eagle  eye  a  brilliancy, 
which  the  excitement  of  the  occasion  rendered 
even  more  remarkable,  and  which  had  been  so 
forcibly  impressed  upon  my  memory,  that 
whenever  the  image  of  the  noble  Indian  has 
appeared  to  me,  it  has  been  as  he  then  looked, 
when,  for  the  last  time,  he  cordially  shook  me 
by  the  hand." 

WAU-NAN-GEE 

Maria  Ronayne  having  gone  off  with  the 
Indian,  Wau-nan-gee,  writes  her  husband : 

"  'Ah!  Ronayne,'  began  the  first  (letter), 
'what  language  can  express  my  feelings— my 
fears — my  agony?    For  the  last  week  I  have 

—  188  — 


ANTHOLOGY 

not  seemed  to  live  a  shuman  existence.  My 
mind  has  been  all  chaos  and  confusion.  I 
have  been  feverish,  excited,  scarcely  conscious 
of  my  own  acts,  and  filled  with  a  strong  dread 
of  an  evil  which  I  know  will  come,  must  come, 
although  only  protracted.  And  yet,  with  all  the 
horror  of  my  position,  how  much  more  bitter 
might  have  been  my  self-reproach,  my  remorse, 
in  having  neglected,  in  my  distraction,  to  in- 
close the  packet  for  Mrs.  Headley,  which  the 
noble-hearted,  the  devoted  Wau-nan-gee  now 
conveys.  I  thought  I  had  given  it  to  Sergeant 
Nixon,  but  Wau-nan-gee  found  it  in  the 
pocket  of  my  saddle  only  yesterday.  Oh,  but 
for  the  arrival  of  Winnebeg  with  the  intelli- 
gence he  brings,  it  would  now  be  too  late,  and 
what,  then,  would  have  been  my  sensations? 
His  appearance  has  altered  the  plans  of  the 
unfriendly  portion  of  the  Indians,  who,  pre- 
suming that  the  troops  will  soon  leave  the  fort, 
have  determined  to  wait  for  the  division  of  the 
stores,  and  attack  you  on  the  march.  But 
still  they  could  not  restrain  their  impatience, 
and  the  day  of  the  council  was  fixed.  All  this 
I  learned  from  Wau-nan-gee,  who  makes  me 
acquainted  with  everything  that  is  going  on, 
and  is  both  hated  and  suspected  by  Pee-to- 

—  189  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

turn,  who  would  willingly  find  him  guilty  of 
treachery,  and  destroy  him  if  he  could.  I 
begged  him,  in  my  deep  sorrow,  to  be  the 
bearer  to  you,  even  amid  all  danger  of  detec- 
tion, of  a  few  words  of  warning  which  I  knew 
you  would  sufficiently  understand.  He  did 
go,  while  dashing  up  seemingly  in  defiance  to 
the  gate ;  and  with  a  joy  you  may  well  under- 
stand, I  marked  the  result.  So  far,  then,  has 
the  step  which  my  great  love  for  you  in- 
duced me  to  take,  regardless  of  minor  con- 
siderations, been  of  vital  service  to  you  all; 
for  good  and  generous  as  Wau-nan-gee  is, 
nothing  short  of  his  deep  and  respectful  at- 
tachment would  have  led  him  to  reveal  the 
secrets  of  his  people,  and  thus  defeat  their 
cruel  purpose.  But,  oh !  when  I  think  that  the 
danger  is  only  deferred,  not  removed,  how 
poor  is  the  consolation!  Dear  Ronayne,  my 
heart  is  sad,  sad,  sad!  Last  night  I  dreamed 
you  were  near,  and  this  morning  I  awoke  to 
horror,  to  know  that,  perhaps,  your  hours  are 
numbered,  while  for  me  there  is  no  hope  of 
death,  which  then  would  be  a  blessing,  except 
from  my  own  hand!  Oh,  suffer  me  not  to 
pray  in  vain  if  you  would  have  me  live !  Once 
you  evaded  (oh,  how  cruelly!)  the  stratagem 

—  190  — 


ANTHOLOGY 

which  would  have  saved  your  life  and  honor — 
which  would  have  made  you  an  unwilling 
prisoner  with  those  who,  for  my  own  safety, 
hold  me  captive. 

11 '  Alas !  had  I  not  hoped  that  you  would  have 
been  compelled  to  share  my  weary  bondage 
until  the  dread  crisis  had  passed,  I  had  never 
been  here ;  and  now  that  the  great  object  of  my 
heart  has  failed,  I  would  return,  and  share  the 
danger  that  surrounds  you.  One  more  em- 
brace would  give  me  greater  strength  to  die. 
One  more  renewal  of  each  well-remembered 
face  would  make  me  firmer  in  resolve  to  meet 
the  coming  danger,  that  danger  shared  by  all. 
But  Wau-nan-gee,  in  all  things  else  docile  as  a 
slave,  in  this  denies  me.  In  his  mother's  tent 
I  dwell,  disguised  from  the  wretch  Pee-to-tum 
in  Indian  garb,  and,  although  she  does  not 
seem  to  do  so,  she  watches  my  motions 
closely.  Oh !  then,  since  I  may  not  go  to  you, 
come  for  a  brief  period  to  your  adoring  wife! 
Come  with  the  occasion  back  with  Wau-nan- 
gee.  He  will  conduct  you  to  the  tent  where 
now  I  am,  some  little  distance  from  the  general 
encampment,  and  never  visited  but  by  Winne- 
beg,  and  his  son.  You  will  say  I  am  but  an 
indifferent  soldier's  wife  to  give  such  counsel 

—  191  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

to  a  husband.  I  confess  it;  my  love  for  you  is 
greater  than  my  regard  for  your  glory.  But 
what  glory  do  you  seek?  March  with  the 
troops  and  ingloriously  you  perish;  for  what 
can  avail  defence  against  the  strong  force  I 
know  to  be  fully  bent  upon  your  destruction. 
Join  me  here  and  you  are  saved — saved  for  a 
long  and  future  course  of  glory  for  your  coun- 
try— and,  oh,  far  dearer  to  me,  for  a  long  and 
future  course  of  wedded  happiness.  Yet,  oh, 
God,  how  can  my  pencil  trace  this  icy  language, 
while  my  heart  is  desolate — longing,  pining 
for  your  presence.  Oh,  beloved  Ronayne !  by 
all  the  vows  of  love  you  ever  poured  into  my 
willing  ear — by  all  the  fires  of  passion  you  ever 
kindled  in  my  heart,  I  conjure  you  to  come, 
for  I  can  endure  this  suspense,  this  cruel  un- 
certainty no  longer.  To-night  I  shall  count 
the  long,  long  hours ;  and  oh !  if  Wau-nan-gee 
return  without  you,  without  one  ray  of  hope  to 
animate  this  breaking  heart,  I  will  not  leave 
him  until  I  have  won  his  promise  to  conduct 
me  at  midnight  to  the  secret  entrance  through 
which  he  has  so  often  gained  admission  into 
the  fort;  or  failing  in  my  plea  to  him,  I  will 
make  the  attempt  to  fly  myself.  But,  dear 
Ronayne,  if  you  come  not,  the  measure  of  my 

—  192  — 


ANTHOLOGY 

grief  will  be  full  indeed  to  overflowing.     I 
can  no  longer  endure  this.' 

"Such  was  the  last  note  of  the  unhappy  and 
distracted  Maria  Ronayne." 


—  193  — 


AN  APPRECIATION 


J.H— 14 


AN  APPRECIATION 


HE  status  of  Major  John 
Richardson  as  a  maker  of 
Canadian  literature  is  per- 
haps at  the  present  time, 
not  definitely  and  finally 
fixed.  Very  much  a  mythical 
figure,  he  does  not  belong  even  to  the  class  of 
writers,  honored  but  unread;  he  is  not  only 
unread  but  he  is  also  unknown.  It  is  prob- 
able that  his  great  wish,  besides  his  desire  for 
recognition  by  those  whom  he  so  unreservedly 
served  with  pen  and  sword  and  who  always 
disappointed  him,  was  to  be  remembered 
and  honored  by  succeeding  generations  of  his 
countrymen.  It  is  true  that  he  once  cynically 
wrote : — "  /  cannot  deny  to  myself  the  grati- 
fication of  the  expression  of  a  hope  that,  should 
a  more  refined  and  cultivated  taste  ever  be  in- 
troduced into  this  matter-of-fact  country  in 
which  I  have  derived  my  being,  its  people  will 
decline  to  do  me  the  honor  of  placing  my 
name  in  the  list  of  their  'Authors/      I  cer- 


197 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

tainly  have  no  particular  ambition  to  rank 
among  their  future  'men  of  genius,'  or  to  share 
any  posthumous  honor  they  may  be  disposed 
to  confer  upon  them."  But  this  was  when  he 
was  smarting  under  what  he  considered  unde- 
served neglect ;  and  it  is  not  to  be  taken  at  its 
face  value.  He  is  undoubtedly  worthy  of  a 
place  among  our  authors. 

The  secret  of  Richardson's  strength  was  in 
the  man  himself  and  not  in  the  schools  he 
attended.  Little  school  training  did  he  possess, 
but  the  defect  was  more  than  made  up  for 
in  his  mother,  a  capable  and  cultured  woman, 
and  the  accomplished  society  of  French  ladies 
among  whom  she  moved.  Richardson  was 
able  to  speak  fluently  in  both  French  and 
English,  and  this  assisted  in  giving  to  him 
broad  sympathies  and  grace  of  thought  which 
was  reflected  in  his  cultured  and  dignified 
manner.  Add  to  this  his  wide  and  varied 
experience,  his  frequent  travels  into  out-of-the- 
way  places,  interesting  society  in  the  cities 
of  two  continents,  and  an  insatiable  appetite 
for  ever  newer  quests  and  crusades  and  you 
have  the  basis  for  the  work  to  which  he  set 
himself  so  resolutely.  Equipped  with  a  good 
military  training,  he  adopted  the  career  of 

—  198  — 


AN  APPRECIATION 

soldier,  which  he  followed  in  both  Europe  and 
America  with  great  distinction,  passing  through 
the  roles  of  victor,  captive,  diplomat  and  trus- 
ted despatch  rider.  This  experience  prepared 
him  for  the  historical  work  he  was  to  excel  in. 
Many  would  have  taken  all  this  as  a  matter 
of  course,  but  Richardson  was  thrilled  to  the 
core  by  his  experiences.  His  eye  was  as 
quick  for  the  ghastly  and  the  brutal  as  for  the 
subtle  beauties  of  love  and  nature.  The 
vivacity  of  his  mother  warmed  his  own  blood 
and  flung  him  whole-heartedly  into  every 
event.  He  must  live  it  all.  Strong,  forceful, 
dramatic,  born  with  a  scent  for  news  and  pos- 
sessed of  a  prodigious  enthusiasm  for  facts, 
he  developed  himself  into  one  of  the  greatest 
chroniclers  of  Canada  or  of  any  country. 
His  extraordinary  skill  in  description  cannot 
be  too  much  admired.  We  have  nothing 
better  in  our  literature.  Many  sidelights, 
many  historical  facts  of  importance,  would 
for  ever  have  escaped  us  had  it  not  been  for 
this  soldier  poet  and  recorder.  "Eight  Years 
in  Canada"  (1838-1847)  is,  except  the  news- 
paper press,  the  only  contemporary  history 
of  this  period  we  possess,  but  this  is  rather 
autobiographical  than  historical.     His   "War 

—  199  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

of  1812,"  however,  is  unique  among  the 
contemporary  histories  of  that  stirring  period 
in  America,  and  continues  to  be  an  inexhaus- 
tible historical  treasury.  The  contribution 
of  Major  Richardson  to  the  historical  literature 
of  Canada  has  been  monumental  and  of  the 
highest  importance. 

As  a  writer  of  imaginative  literature,  Rich- 
ardson will  take  a  somewhat  lower  place. 
While  he  comes  first  in  point  of  time  in  Can- 
adian writers  of  fiction,  he  can  hardly  be  said 
to  be  first  in  importance ;  his  effect  upon  sub- 
sequent Canadian  fiction  in  particular  and 
English  literature  in  general  is  as  yet,  at  least, 
very  slight.  His  poem  "Tecumseh,"  dis- 
plays too  close  and  un-original  a  copying  of 
classic  models,  and  it  is  too  uniformly  mediocre 
and  conventional  to  merit  anything  more  than 
a  mildly  favorable  comment.  The  general 
effect  must  have  been  unsatisfactory  to 
Richardson  himself  as  he  soon  forsook 
poetry  for  prose.  However,  as  a  dramatic 
re-creation  of  historical  fact,  "Tecumseh"  is 
important.  "Ecarte"  in  the  same  way  is  a 
faithful  contemporary  portrait  of  Paris  salons, 
and  "Wacousta"  contains  a  valuable,  and, 
for  the  most  part,  accurate  contemporary  re- 

—  200  — 


AN  APPRECIATION 

cord,  but  neither  of  them,  taken  as  complete 
works  of  art,  comes  within  the  charmed  circle 
of  great  imaginative  literature. 

One  of  the  finest  appreciations  of  Major 
John  Richardson  is  to  be  found  in  the  Intro- 
duction to  Richardson's  "War  of  1812,"  by 
Alexander  Clark  Casselman,  a  competent 
authority  both  in  his  knowledge  of  Richardson's 
works   and   in  his  literary  taste   and   skill. 

"Like  the  earliest  English  novelist,  Rich- 
ardson has  suffered  neglect  in  his  own  land. 
All  that  Scotland  had  for  her  greatest  poet 
was  an  office  worth  £70  a  year,  but  her  suc- 
ceeding generations  remembered  his  exquisite 
productions.  Canada  could  find  not  even 
such  an  office  for  her  first  novelist.  His  own 
generation  refused  him  a  living  in  his  native 
land;  subsequent  generations  of  Canadians 
know  him  not.  And  his  works,  if  obtainable, 
can  be  bought  only  at  almost  prohibitive  prices. 
Yet  three  years  before  Scott  died,  when  Thack- 
eray was  a  stripling  of  eighteen,  when  Dickens 
had  not  yet  become  a  reporter,  Richardson 
was  winning,  by  his  first  work  of  the  imagi- 
nation, applause  from  the  English  press  and 
a  large  audience  of  English  readers.  In 
the  very  year  of  Scott's  death,  his  master- 

—  201  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

piece,  "Wacousta,"  appeared;  and  the  six 
editions  through  which  it  has  run  bear  testi- 
mony to  its  popularity. 

"Whatever  Richardson  did  he  tried  to  do 
well.  Unlike  Cooper,  he  never  trusted  to 
chance  to  develop  the  circumstances  of  his 
plot ;  unlike  Cooper  he  tells  his  story  well,  and 
tells  it  in  faultless  English.  The  interest  is 
sustained  to  the  end.  There  are  no  careless- 
nesses, no  crudities,  no  notable  mannerisms. 
Cooper  often  loses  himself  in  the  pathless 
mazes  of  his  long  sentences.  Richardson, 
incisive  and  logical,  builds  clause  on  clause, 
phrase  on  phrase,  here  adding  a  limiting  detail 
and  there  a  defining  circumstance,  until  you 
marvel  at  the  accumulated  result  and  you  would 
not  have  a  single  word  changed.  Yet  there 
is  no  straining  after  rhetorical  effect,  no 
attempt  at  fine  writing.  The  lucidity  of  style 
recalls  Macaulay,  who  at  this  period  was 
writing  his  early  essays. 

"A  born  literary  artist,  Richardson  has  drawn 
with  a  firm  and  skilled  hand  not  only  the 
children  of  his  imagination,  but  the  people  of 
his  own  day.  His  autobiographical  sketches, 
his  historical  works,  as  well  as  his  novels, 
show  us  their  foibles,  their  weaknesses,  and 

—  202  — 


AN  APPRECIATION 

their  merits.  His  great  interest  is  in  men 
and  their  achievements;  but  there  are  de- 
lightful bits  of  painting  from  nature.  Though 
a  lover  of  nature,  he  seldom  gives  himself 
up  to  that  revel  in  the  life  of  nature  which  is  so 
great  a  merit  of  Cooper's  work.  It  is  men  and 
women  in  action  that  interest  him.  Only  less, 
perhaps  did  the  brute  creation  claim  his 
attention.  His  ponies  are  still  a  memory 
among  the  older  people  of  Windsor  and  Sand- 
wich.    .     .     . 

"His  notions  of  life  were  by  no  means  purita- 
nical. He  believed  that  solace  and  comfort 
were  to  be  derived  from  an  after-dinner  cigar. 
In  complete  accord  with  the  customs  of  the 
times  among  the  circles  in  which  he  moved  in 
his  palmy  days,  he  took  his  glass  of  wine,  but 
none  abhorred  excesses  more  than  he. 

"If  we  judge  Richardson  by  the  literary 
success  that  cheered  him  even  amid  his  many 
days  of  adversity,  we  can  merely  wonder  that 
a  writer  so  wholesome  in  atmosphere,  so 
buoyant  in  spirit,  so  notable  in  our  literary 
development,  is  now  almost  completely  for- 
gotten. His  works,  whether  we  consider  their 
subject-matter,  their  literary  merits,  or  their 
position  in  the   growth  of  the  novel,   place 

—  203  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

their  gifted  author  high  on  that  roll  we 
choose  to  designate  as  our  list  of  Canadian 
authors. 

"These  productions  of  his  genius  are  his 
sole  monument.  The  bright  young  Canadian 
lad  who  left  school  to  fight  his  country's 
battles  had  to  seek  in  the  land  he  fought 
against  an  unknown  grave  in  the  teeming 
solitude  of  America's  greatest  city.  No  votive 
garland  can  be  laid  on  that  tomb ;  no  admiring 
young  Canadian  may  visit  that  shrine." 

With  most  of  this  I  cordially  agree. 

Everything  Richardson  wrote  was  in  vigo- 
rous, but  dignified  and  good  English.  He 
loves  rapid  action  and  chooses  his  materials 
with  the  dramatic  possibilities  always  in  view ; 
frequently  he  tends  toward  the  exciting  and 
melodramatic.  Usually  the  plots  of  his  novels 
are  simple,  and,  except  in  "Wacousta,"  they 
have  a  conventional  ending.  With  Richard- 
son the  style  was  the  man;  each  page  was 
packed  with  autobiography.  He  wrote  as  he 
experienced,  con  amore  and  joyously.  While 
he  had  an  eye  open  for  remuneration,  and 
confidently  expected  no  small  niche  in  the 
Canadian  Hall  of  Literary  Fame,  still,  except 
at  the  very  last  his  main  reward  in  writing  was 

—  204  — 


AN  APPRECIATION 

the  satisfaction  it  gave  himself.  In  speaking 
of  his  literary  ability  he  once  wrote :  "I  look 
upon  the  art  of  ingenious  writing,  not  as  a 
merit,  but  a  mere  incidental  gift,  for  which  one 
is  more  indebted  to  nature  than  to  judicious 
application."  He  loved  to  employ  this  gift 
which  neither  wars  nor  intrigues  could  destroy 
and  poverty  and  neglect  could  not  impair. 

The  characterization  in  his  novels  is  life- 
like, and  a  few  characters  are  drawn  with 
extraordinary  skill.  Exception  must  however 
be  taken  to  the  Negro  dialect  of  Sambo,  the 
Scotch  of  the  Scottish  captain  in  "The  Cana- 
dian Brothers,"  and  the  Irish  in  Ecarte — the 
like  of  which  was  never  heard  from  human 
lips ;  and  indeed  even  the  author  himself  was 
not  wholly  satisfied  with  it,  for  he  dropped 
much  of  it  in  later  works  and  revisions.  The 
"villain  of  the  play"  in  "The  Canadian  Brothers" 
is  wholly  artificial  and  manufactured  as  a  deus 
ex  machina  for  the  occasion,  while  his  son 
is  a  mere  lay  figure.  Except  where  straining 
after  effect  is  most  patent,  as  occasionally  in 
"Wacousta,"  we  meet  human  beings  who 
actually  live  and  move  and  have  their  being  in 
circumstances  quite  as  real. 

Richardson  fails  in  depicting  woman;  with 

—  205  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

the  exception  of  Helen  Stanley  in  "Ecarte," 
and  the  wife  of  Captain  Heald  in  "Hard- 
scrabble"  and  uWau-nan-gee,"  there  is  scarce- 
ly one  that  is  natural  or  normal.  Matilda 
Montgomerie  is  certainly  a  pure  fiction,  while 
Clara  de  Haldimar,  Maria  Ronayne  and  another 
score  or  more  are  "such.  .  .  as  never 
was  nor  no  man  ever  saw." 

The  Indian  Richardson  knew  well  and  he 
succeeded  admirably  in  depicting  him — only 
once  did  he  fail  to  apply  his  own  knowledge, 
and  that  is  when  he  fills  Wau-nan-gee  with  a 
pure  and  romantic  love  for  Maria.  The  same 
mistake  is  made  by  James  Fenimore  Cooper 
in  "The  Last  of  the  Mohicans,"  in  his  char- 
acter Uncas,  after  whom  apparently  Wau- 
nan-gee  was  modelled. 

The  charge  of  impurity  against  "Ecarte" 
would  receive  little  attention  in  these  days  of 
the  sex  novel,  Freud  and  psychopathy.  In 
none  of  his  other  novels,  excepting  always  the 
senile  and  silly  "Monk  Knight  of  St.  John," 
is  there  anything  to  shock  modesty,  if  we 
omit  the  conduct  to  each  other  of  the  impossible 
Matilda  and  the  equally  impossible  Gerald. 

The  poetry  and  fiction  of  Richardson  are 
still  worth  reading.    They  are   valuable   in 

—  206  — 


AN  APPRECIATION 

themselves  in  that  they  give  the  first  authentic 
note  of  a  new  literature  in  Canada,  a  literature 
instinct  with  the  life  and  thought  of  a  new 
nation  even  then  beginning  to  take  shape, 
a  literature  in  which  extremes  meet  without 
impropriety,  a  literature  of  expanding  life, 
cosmopolitan  sympathies,  robust  democracy, 
pioneering  idealism  and  freshness  and  profu- 
sion, prodigal  in  its  richness  and  lavish  in  its 
gifts.  They  are  equally  valuable  for  their 
lively  and  sympathetic  descriptions  of  the  early 
formative  and  transitional  times  of  the  Nine- 
teenth Century  in  Upper  Canada  and  the  West, 
as  well  as  the  significant  days  immediately 
after  the  fall  of  Napoleon  in  Paris.  Others 
will  almost  certainly  return  to  Richardson's 
material  and  weave  out  of  it  fresh  Canadian 
romances.  Historians,  novelists  and  poets 
will  turn  to  Richardson  again  and  again  in  the 
days  to  come,  and  he  will  enter  more  fully  into 
his  deserved  inheritance  of  acquaintance  and 
appreciation.  Then  will  it  be  possible  to  re- 
write this  chapter,  and  to  estimate  more  pre- 
cisely what  effect  his  pioneering  work  has  had 
upon  the  art  as  well  as  upon  the  materials  of 
succeeding  generations  of  Canadian  literary 
craftsmen.     Of  one  thing  we  are  sure ;  and  that 

—  207  — 


JOHN  RICHARDSON 

is,  that  time  will  prove  our  judgment  true 
and  sound  when  we  gave  him  a  first  place 
among  the  Makers  of  Canadian  Literature. 
His  real  value  will  be  not  in  his  discovery 
of  new  poetic  forms,  or  in  changing  the  esta- 
blished traditions  of  English  verse  or  fiction 
to  suit  the  new  colonial  conditions.  As 
Samuel  Richardson  discovered  the  novel  in 
England,  Major  John  Richardson  showed — 
and  not  obscurely  or  incompletely — where  the 
strength  of  Canadian  poetry,  drama  and 
fiction  must  lie,  namely,  not  in  mere  imitation 
and  variation  of  Old  World  themes,  but  in  fresh 
and  vigorous  interpretation  of  our  own  life 
and  thought.  Only  in  this  way  can  Canada 
develop  an  artistic  soul  and  consciousness, 
and  eventually  arrive  at  that  stage  of  national 
independence,  co-ordinated  and  entire,  which 
makes  possible  a  great  spiritual  contribution 
in  the  form  of  a  national  literature. 


—  208  — 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


TECUMSEH,  OR  THE  WARRIOR  OF  THE  WEST: 

A  poem  in  four  cantos,  with  notes.  By  an 
English  Officer.  London :  Printed  for  R.  Glynn, 
36,  Pall  Mall.     MDCCCXXVIII. 

In  Prof.  Ray  Palmer  Baker's  "  History  of  Eng- 
lish-Canadian Literature  to  the  Confederation" 
(Oxford  University  Press,  1920),  p.  127,  we  find  it 
stated: — 

"During  the  next  fifteen  years  in  London  and 
Paris,  where  he  (Richardson)  seems  to  have  en- 
joyed all  the  gaieties  of  the  French  capital,  he 
began  his  career  as  a  man  of  letters.  Some  time 
before  March,  1825,  he  published  'Tecumseh,'  a 
narrative  poem  in  four  cantos." 

Dr.  Baker,  however,  informs  me  that  the  date  is 
probably  a  typographical  error.  "In  the  first  draft 
of  my  manuscript,  I  find  that  I  wrote  1828  and 
not  1825.  However,  I  recall  that  I  stumbled  across 
some  contemporary  references  which  would  in- 
dicate that  'Tecumseh'  was  published  earlier 
than  is  generally  supposed."  "Tecumseh"  was  re- 
published in  The  New  Era,  or  Canadian  Chronicle, 
Vol.  II,  Nos.  15,  16,  17  and  18,  July  23  and  29  and 
August  12  and  19,  1842,  the  last  four  issues  of  that 
journal.  I  do  not  find  any  other  edition  of  the 
whole  poem,  but  extracts  have  been  published  in 
various  anthologies.  The  London  edition  is  ex- 
ceedingly rare.  Dr.  Baker  says,  "Though  I  have 
searched  in  about  fifty  of  the  leading  libraries  of 
America  and  Europe  and  in  countless  second-hand 
shops,  I  have  never  been  able  to  find  a  copy  of 
the  first  edition."  I  have  been  equally  unfortunate 
although  I  have  been  looking  for  the  book  for  more 
than  forty  years.  I  owe  to  Mr.  Casselman's  cour- 
tesy the  opportunity  of  examining  the  copy  in  his 
library. 

—  211  — 
J.R.— 15 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The  Canadian  edition  differs  from  the  original : 
in  Canto  I,  Stanzas  XXXVI,  XXXVIII,  XXXIX,  XL 
and  XLI  are  omitted,  reducing  the  number  of 
stanzas  from  50  to  45 ;  in  Canto  II,  stanzas  XLIV, 
XLV,  LIII  and  LIV  are  omitted,  54  to  50;  in  Canto 
IV,  stanzas  IX,  X,  XXXII  to  XXXIX  (inclusive),  55 
to  45 — nineteen  stanzas  in  all  are  omitted. 

The  verbal  changes  are  very  numerous,  scarcely 
a  line  escaping  a  change  more  or  less  important: 
e.g.,  in  the  first  ten  stanzas  I  have  counted  over 
fifty  verbal  changes,  none  indeed  much  affecting 
the  sense. 

I  subjoin  a  comparison: 

ENGLISH  EDITION  CANADIANtEDITION 


CANTO  I 

Stanza  I 

v.  1  In  truth  it  is 
v.  6  fiends 
v.  7  seas 

It  is  in  truth 

friends 

streams 

Stanza  II 

t.  2  sombre 

v.  3  sturdy 

v.  6  Boatswain'pipes 

waning 

bronzed 

Boatswain  pipes  aloft 

Stanza  HI 

v.  2  adjacent 
v.  s  upstart 

English 
gallant 

Stanza  IV 

v.  1  pond'rous 

v.  2  in  strength     .     . 

v.  3  Resolved  to  win 

watery  grave 
v.  5  gaily  turn 
v.  6  The  raging  fury 
v.  8  cursings 

shining 
deadly  foe     prepared     .     .     noble  foe 
.     .     .            To  win  renown     .     .     glori- 
ous grave 

taunting  turn 

The  vain. exertions 

curses 

Stanza  V 

v.  1  But  now 
v.  3  towering 

But  lo! 
gallant 

Stanza  VI 

v.  1  coward                                            shrinking 

v.  8  with     .     .     contest                      'gainst     .     .     .    battle 

—  212  — 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


ENGLISH  EDITION 


CANADIAN  EDITION 


Stanza  VII 


v.  i  clarion 

v.  2  murmurs 

v.  4  order  rise  in  echoes  long  and 
clear 

v.  5  and 

v.  7  assembled 

v.  8  loud  cries  of  war  their  pres- 
ence greet 


bugle 

cadence 

stern  command  is  heard  both 

deep  and  clear 
with 

advancing 
with  defiance  stern  their  onset 

meet 


Stanza  Vm 


v.  2  opens  all 

v.  6  back  and  seems  as  'twere  to 

brood 
v.  7  scenes  of  fearful  death 
v.  8  her  silvery  plain 


opens  wide 

quailing  back  and  frighten'd 

seems  to  brood 
fearful  scenes  of  death 
the  silvery  plain 


Stanza  IX 


2  two  rival 

3  vengeance 

4  gigantic  grasp 

5  And  hide  the  noonday  sun's 
refulgent 

6  Which  never  yet  with  greater 
splendour 

v.  7  dark 

v.  8  furrow'd  first  to  form  a  human 


valiant 

country 

thick  wreathing  smoke 

Hiding  the  noonday  sun's  re- 
splendent 

Which  beautiful  and  bright 
that  morning 

clear 

ruffled  first  to  form  the 
warrior's 


Stanza  X 


v.  i  thunder 

v.  2  fierce 

v.  3  sworn  that  Jove  all  dreadful 

v.  4  shap'd    .    .    his  high  imperial 

car 
v.  6  winging 
v.  8  hate  and  blood,  despair  and 

agony 


tumult 

mad 

deem'd  that  Mars  all  radiant 

Wing'd     .     .     his  sanguinary 

car 
urging 
hate — -despair — of    woe    and 

agony 


ECARTE,  OR  THE  SALONS  OF  PARIS 

London,  1829.    Allibone;  Diet.  Lit. 


Vol. 


2,  p. 


1795  says  3  vols,  part  8vo. — I  have  not  seen  this 
edition. 

Ecarte,  or  The  Salons  of  Paris,  by  Major  Rich- 
ardson, Knight  of  the  Order  of  St.  Ferdinand, 
author  of  "Wacousta,"  "Hardscrabble,"  etc., 
etc.;  Author's  revised  edition,  New  York,  DeWitt 


—  213  — 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

&  Davenport,  Publishers,  Tribune  Buildings. 
8vo.  Entered  in  the  year  1851  by  DeWitt  & 
Davenport.  Illustrated  paper  cover,  price  50 
cents.  The  cover  advertises  several  other  books 
and  three  by  Richardson,  "Wacousta,"  "Ecarte," 
and  "Matilda  Montgomerie"  (nearly  ready) 
each  priced  at  50  cents.  Of  this  edition  I  have 
seen  only  two  copies,  one  from  the  library  of  Mr. 
A.  C.  Casselman,  the  other  from  the  Boston 
Public  Library.  I  can  find  no  other  copy  any- 
where and  have  never  seen  it  advertised  for  sale. 
This  edition  was  reprinted  by  Pollard  &  Moss,  47 
John  Street,  New  York,  in  1888. 

It  may  be  mentioned  that  DeWitt  &  Daven- 
port, 160  and  162  Nassau  Street,  were,  a  little  later, 
by  special  arrangement  with  her,  the  sole  American 
publishers  of  Mrs.  Susanna  Moodie's  "Flora 
Lyndsay,"  "Roughing  it  in  the  Bush,"  "Life  in 
the  Clearings  vs.  the  Bush,"  "Mark  Hurdle- 
stone,"  and  "Geoffrey  Moncton,  or  the  Faith- 
less Guardian."  "Ecarte"  also  appeared  as  No.  31 
of  the  "Echo  Series"  of  Pollard  &  Moss,  Pub- 
lishers, 42  Park  Place  and  37  Barclay  St.,  New 
York,  in  paper  cover. 

WACOUSTA,  OR  THE  PROPHECY:    A  TALE  OF 
THE  CANADAS 

"Vengeance  is  still  alive;  from  her  dark  covert, 
With  all  her  snakes  erect  upon  her  crest, 
She   stalks  in  view  and  fires  me  with  her 

charms." — The  Revenge. 
By  the  author  of  "Ecarte."      In  three  volumes. 
Vol.  i.    London  T.  Cadell,  Strand,  and  W.  Black- 
wood, Edinburgh,  1832. 

Apparently  there  was  a  reprint  in  London,  in 
1833.  Professor  Ray  Palmer  Baker  informs  me 
that  he  has  seen  an  advertisement  of  such  an 
edition.     He  has  in  his  library  a  reprint  in  three 

—  214  — 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

volumes,  London,  1839,  corresponding  in  every 
detail  with  the  first  edition. 

A  second  edition  of  this  purports  to  be  published 
London,  1840,  three  volumes,  "Printed  by  A.  &  R. 
Spottiswoode,  Newstreet  Square,  London." 

There  were  two  editions  issued  in  Philadelphia 
— one  (1833)  by  Key  and  Biddle,  23  Minor  Street, 
the  other  with  the  title  "Wacousta;  or  The  Pro- 
phecy: a  Tale  of  Detroit  and  Michillimackinac," 
appeared  in  Waldie's  Select  Circulating  Library, 
April  16-May  7,  1833  (Vol.  I,  Nos.  14-17.  PP-  209- 
271).  The  first  page  contains  the  following 
Introduction : 

"Note  to  the  first  American  Edition.  Although 
the  following  work  has  been  received  with  great 
favour  by  the  reading  public  in  England,  it  is  in 
this  country  where  the  scene  is  laid,  and  where 
we  are  more  familiar  with  the  Indian  character, 
that  its  merits  can  be  best  tested.  Though  not 
without  defects,  yet  taken  as  a  whole,  we  think  it 
will  be  pronounced  a  very  superior  production. 
For  deep  interest  throughout  it  has  few  rivals  of 
the  modern  school,  and  the  style  and  language 
are  in  general  excellent.  We  feel  compelled,  on 
a  second  perusal,  to  consider  it  highly  creditable 
to  the  author  and  an  earnest  of  still  higher  flights 
in  a  field  so  successfully  trodden  by  our  own 
Cooper.  It  is  the  more  remarkable  as  coming 
from  the  pen  of  the  author  of  'Ecarte,  or  the 
Salons  of  Paris,'  a  work  in  which  the  gaming- 
houses of  the  French  capital  and  its  dissipations 
were  the  subjects — scenes  which  are  strongly 
contrasted  with  those  here  portrayed."  (Ex 
relatione,  Prof.  Ray  Palmer  Baker.) 

The  first  New  York  edition  has  the  sub-title 
"An  Indian  Tale."  It  was  published  by  Robert 
M.  DeWitt,  33  Rose  Street,  1851.  Some  copies 
have  the  imprint  160  and  162  Nassau  Street; 
my  own  has,  as  the  publishers,  DeWitt  &  Daven- 
port, Tribune  Building. 

—  215  — 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The  second  American  edition  was  after  Rich- 
ardson's death,  by  Pollard  and  Moss,  47  John 
Street,  1888 — this  was  in  boards.  An  edition  in 
paper  covers  was  issued  by  Pollard  &  Moss,  42 
Park  Place  and  37  Barclay  Street,  New  York,  in 
the  "Echo  Series,"  as  No.  27. 

The  first  Canadian  edition  was  published  by 
John  Lovell,  St.  Nicholas  St.,  Montreal,  1868, 
paper  covers.  It  was  reprinted  as  a  serial  in  a 
Montreal  paper,  The  Transcript.  There  is  a  copy 
in  The  Lome  Pierce  Collection  of  Canadian  Litera- 
ture at  Queen's  University. 

The  second  Canadian  edition  was  published  by 
the  Historical  Publishing  Company,  Toronto, 
1906,  an  admirably  printed,  illustrated  and 
bound  volume ;  it  contains  a  portrait  of  the  author. 

Wacousta,  A  Tale  of  the  Pontiac  Conspiracy, 
by  Major  Richardson,  author  of  "The  Canadian 
Brothers,"  "Hardscrabble,"  "Ecarte,"  etc.,  with 
Illustrations  by  Charles  W.  Jeffreys. 

"Vengeance  is  still  alive;  from  her  dark  covert, 
With  all  her  snakes  erect  upon  her  crest, 
She   stalks  in  view  and  fires  me  with  her 
charms." — The  Revenge. 

Toronto,  Historical  Publishing  Company,  1906. 

"Wacousta"  was  also  reprinted  in  the  Toronto 
News. 

An  edition  has  just  been  published  by  McClel- 
land &  Stewart,  Toronto,  and  another  is  promised 
in  the  "Master  Works  of  Canadian  Authors," 
under  the  editorship  of  Mr.  John  Garvin. 

THE  CANADIAN  BROTHERS,  OR  THE  PROPHECY 
FULFILLED 

A  Tale  of  the  late  American  War  by  Major 
Richardson,  Knight  of  the  Military  Order  of  Saint 
Ferdinand,  author  of  "Ecarte,"  "Wacousta." 
In  two  volumes.  Vol.  1  Montreal,  A.  H.  Armour 
and  H.  Ramsay,  1840. 

The  Printer  was  John  Lovell  and  the  work  was 

—  216  — 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

deposited  in  the  Prothonotary's  office  by-"Major 
Richardson  now  resident  in  the  City  of  Montreal." 

The  Canadian  Brothers  has  not  been  reprinted 
as  such — the  title  of  the  subsequent  (and  Ameri- 
can) editions  being  "Matilda  Montgomerie,  or  The 
Prophecy  Fulfilled,  A  Tale  of  the  late  American 
War,  Being  the  Sequel  to  'Wacousta'."  By  Major 
Richardson,  Knight  of  the  Order  of  St.  Ferdinand, 
author  of  "Wacousta,"  "Hardscrabble,"  "Ecarte," 
etc.,  etc. 

This  edition,  in  some  copies,  bears  no  pub- 
lisher's name  on  the  title  page,  but  it  was  pub- 
lished by  DeWitt  &  Davenport,  New  York,  in 
1851. 

Pollard  and  Moss,  47  John  St.,  New  York, 
published  another  identical  edition  in  1888. 

The  first  edition  of  the  "Movements,  etc.,"  has  the 

following  title: 

JOURNAL  OF  THE  MOVEMENTS  OF  THE 
BRITISH  LEGION 
By  an  officer  late  of  the  Quarter-Master-Gen- 
eral's  staff.  London.  Published  by  Effingham 
Wilson,  Royal  Exchange,  Corahill,  1836.  Lewis 
and  Co.,  Printers,  15  Frith  Street,  Soho.  Preface 
dated  London,  June  7th,  1836:  8vo.  Boards,  pp. 
262. 

The  second: 

MOVEMENTS  OF  THE  BRITISH  LEGION,  with 
strictures  on  the  Course  of  Conduct  pursued  by 
Lieutenant-General  Evans.  By  Major  Richard- 
son K.S.F.,  author  of  "Ecarte,"  "Wacousta,"  etc., 
etc.,  second  edition.  To  which  is  added  with 
new  views  a  continuation  of  the  operations  from 
the  5th  of  May,  1836,  to  the  close  of  March,  1837. 
London.  Published  by  Simpkin,  Marshall  & 
Co.,  Stationers'  Hall  Court.  J.  Macrow,  St. 
James  Square;  and  E.  Wilson,  Royal  Exchange, 
Cornhill,  1837.    It  has  not  been  republished. 

—  217  — 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

PERSONAL  MEMOIRS  OF  MAJOR  RICHARDSON 
(Author  of  Movements  of  the  British  Legion,  etc., 
etc.,  etc.,)  as  connected  with  the  singular  oppres- 
sion of  that  officer  while  in  Spain  by  Lieutenant- 
General  Sir  DeLacy  Evans.  A  man  who  is  too 
proud  to  acknowledge  a  fault  when  he  is  conscious 
of  having  committed  one  and  thereby  wounded 
the  feelings  of  another,  shows  himself  to  be, 
instead  of  elevated  rank,  very  low  indeed  in  the 
scale  of  intellectual  worth.  His  pride  is  of  the 
meanest  kind  and  to  him  even  more  disgraceful 
than  his  fault.  Anonymous,  Montreal.  Armour 
and  Ramsay;  W.  Neilson,  Quebec;  R.  Stanton, 
Toronto;  and  J.  Macfarlane,  Kingston,  1838. 

There  has  been  only  one  edition  of  his  "Personal 
Memoirs." 

The  first  edition  of  "The  War  of  1812"  was  from  the 
types  in  The  New  Era. 

WAR  OF  1812,  First  Series 

Containing  a  full  and  detailed  narrative  of  the 
operations  of  the  Right  Division  of  the  Canadian 
Army.     By  Major  Richardson,  K.S.F.,  1842. 

The  only  other  edition  is  that  published  by  the 
Historical  Publishing  Co.,  Toronto,  1902,  men- 
tioned above. 

"Jack  Brag  in  Spain"  and  "Recollections  of  the 
West  Indies"  have  not  been  republished. 

EIGHT  YEARS  IN  CANADA 

Embracing  a  Review  of  the  Administrations  of 
Lord  Durham  and  Sydenham,  Sir  Chas.  Bagot, 
and  Lord  Metcalfe,  and  including  numerous  in- 
teresting letters  from  Lord  Durham,  Mr.  Chas. 
Buljer  and  other  well-known  public  characters. 
By  Major  Richardson,  Knight^of  the  Military  Order 
of  St.  Ferdinand,  author  of  "Ecarte,"  "Wacousta," 
"The  Canadian  Brothers,"  etc.,  etc.,  etc.  De 
Omnibus  Rebus  et  Quibusdam  Aliis.     Montreal, 

—  218  — 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Canada.  Published  by  H.  H.  Cunningham,  50 
Notre  Dame  Street,  1847. 

Entered  according  to  Act  of  the  Provincial 
Legislature  in  the  year  1847  by  Major  John  Rich- 
ardson in  the  office  of  the  Registrar  of  the  Prov- 
ince of  Canada,  and  at  Stationers'  Hall,  London. 
Donohue  and  Muntz,  Printers,  Montreal. 

Only  one  edition  of  "Eight  Years  in  Canada" 
seems  to  have  been  published.  A  lithograph  of 
Richardson  is  found  in  some  copies. 

THE  GUARDS  IN  CANADA,  or  the  Point  of  Honor; 
being  a  Sequel  to  Major  Richardson's  "Eight  Years 
in  Canada."  Montreal,  Published  for  the  author 
by  H.  H.  Cunningham,  1848. 

J.  W.  Harrison,  printer.     8vo  pp.  55. 

Some  copies  bear  no  date  of  entry,  others  have 
the  date  1847;  some  have  a  lithograph  (F.  W. 
Lock,  del.)  of  Richardson,  prefixed. 

Only  one  edition  of  the  "Guards  in  Canada" 
is  known. 

CORRESPONDENCE     (submitted     to     Parliament) 
BETWEEN  MAJOR  RICHARDSON,  LATE 
SUPERINTENDENT  OF  POLICE  ON  THE 
WELLAND    CANAL    AND    .     .     .     DOM- 
INICK    DALY     .     .     .     ALSO    BETWEEN 
MAJOR    RICHARDSON    AND  LIEUTEN- 
ANT COLONEL  ELLIOTT    .     .     .   MAJOR 
MACPHERSON     .     .     .     HAMILTON,  W. 
KILLALY      .      .      .      MONTREAL,     1848. 
pp.  4  -  62. 
The  above  is  to  be  found  in  the  Catalogue  of 
Columbia  University.     I  have  not  examined  the 
volume.     (Ex  relatione,  Prof.  Ray  Palmer  Baker.) 

HARDSCRABBLE 

It  is  not  quite  certain  at  what  time  this  was 
written.  In  the  edition  of  "Wacousta,"  entered 
according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1851,  by 
DeWitt  &  Davenport,  of  New  York  (some  copies 

—  219  — 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

have  the  imprint  of  Robert  M.  DeWitt,  160  and 
162  Nassau  Street,  and  these  have  not  the  entry 
on  the  reverse  of  the  title  page ;  some  have  this 
entry  with  the  imprint  of  DeWitt  &  Davenport, 
Tribune  Building — but  the  issues  are  identical), 
Richardson  is  described  as  author  of  "Hard- 
scrabble,"  "Ecarte,"  etc.  In  "Matilda  Mont- 
gomerie,"  entered  the  same  year  by  the  same 
firm  (in  some  copies  the  entry  is  missing)  he 
is  "Author  of  'Wacousta,'  'Hardscrabble,' 
'Ecarte,'  etc.,  etc."  The  original  issue  of  "Hard- 
scrabble," now  before  me,  was  published  by 
Robert  M.  DeWitt,  160  and  162  Nassau  Street, 
New  York,  in  the  same  form  and  almost  certainly 
at  the  same  time,  as  the  "Wacousta"  and  "Matilda 
Montgomerie";  it  was  probably  written  about 
1850. 

Hardscrabble,  or  the  Fall  of  Chicago,  a  tale  of 
Indian  Warfare.  By  Major  Richardson,  author 
of  "Wacousta," "Ecarte,"  "Matilda  Montgomerie," 
etc.,  etc.  New  York,  Robert  M.  DeWitt,  pub- 
lisher, 160  and  162  Nassau  Street.  This  has  had 
the  date  supplied  in  ink  and  is  bound  up  with 
"Wacousta,"  "Matilda  Montgomerie,"  Dickens' 
"Oliver  Twist"  and  Emilie  Carlan's  "Woman's 
Life"  in  a  volume  in  the  Parliamentary  Library  at 
Ottawa.  The  plates  of  this  edition  were  evidently 
used  several  times — a  fact  that  has  led  to  some 
confusion. 

Another  edition  was  published  by  Pollard  and 
Moss,  42  Park  Place  and  37  Barclay  Street, 
New  York,  in  1888;  and  Allibone  says  that  an 
8vo.  edition  was  published  in  1856.  There  is 
another  edition  published  by  Peterson,  Phila- 
delphia, about  1866.  I  have  not  seen  either  of 
these. 

WAU-NAN-GEE 

Wau-nan-gee,  or  The  Massacre  of  Chicago, 
a  Romance  of  the  American  Revolution.  By 
Major  Richardson,  author  of  "Wacousta,"  "Hard- 

—  220  — 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

scrabble,"  "£carte,"  "Jack  Brag  in  Spain," 
"Tecumseh,"  etc.  New  York,  H.  Long  and 
Brother,  No.  43  Ann  Street.  (Entered,  1850,  by 
H.  Long  and  Brother.)  Some  copies  bear  the 
date  1852. 

Of  course,  the  subtitle  "A  Romance  of  the 
American  Revolution"  is  a  misnomer;  the  story 
is  of  a  date  thirty  years  after  the  American  Re- 
volution ;  the  only  justification  for  it  is  that  there 
was  at  the  time  (and  in  some  quarters  it  still  sub- 
sists), a  silly  practice  of  calling  the  War  of  1812, 
the  "Second  War  of  Independence." 

So  far  as  I  know  there  has  been  only  one  edi- 
tion of  this  work. 

THE  MONK  KNIGHT  OF  ST.  JOHN 

A  Tale  of  the  Crusades  by  Major  Richardson, 
Knight  of  St.  Ferdinand,  author  of  "Ecarte," 
"Wacousta,"  etc. — New  York,  DeWitt  &  Daven- 
port, Tribune  Building,  1850 — 8vo.  pp.  192.  Paper 
covers.  Price  50  cents.  The  outside  cover  has  a 
rude  woodcut  of  Abdullah  saving  Zuleima  from 
the  Christian  soldiery.  This  book  is  very  rare — 
I  have  seen  only  two  copies,  one  more  than  half  a 
century  ago,  clandestinely  circulated  from  hand  to 
hand  at  college  among  "certain  lewd  fellows  of  the 
baser  sort";  the  other  kindly  loaned  to  me  by 
Charles  J.  Musson,  Esquire,  of  the  Musson  Book 
Company  of  Toronto,  at  my  request  for  this  work. 
There  is  a  copy  in  the  British  Museum. 

WESTBROOK;  OR  THE  OUTLAW. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  find  any  copy  of  this 
work.  It  probably  deals  with  Andrew  West- 
brook,  who  was  very  active  on  the  side  of  the 
Americans  in  the  War  of  1812-14,  in  the  Western 
District.  He  was  "outlawed"  under  the  existing 
law,  Easter  Term,  1816.  See  my  article,  "The 
Sad  Tale  of  an  Indian  Wife,"  40,  Canada  Law 
Times  (December,  1920),  p.  983,  at  p.  989,  n.  n. 

—  221  — 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

A  TRIP  TO  WALPOLE  ISLAND  AND  PORT  SARNIA 
By  Major  John  Richardson,  who  served  under 
General  Brock  in  the  War  of  1812.  Author  of 
"Wacousta"  (The  Great  Canadian  Romance), 
"War  of  1812,"  "The  Canadian  Brothers," 
"Ecarte,"  "Hardscrabble,"  "Wau-nan-gee,"  "Te- 
cumseh"  (poem),  etc.  Edited  with  notes  by 
A.  H.  U.  Colquhoun,  LL.D.,  Deputy-Minister  of 
Education,  Ontario.  (The  Ontario  Book  Company, 
Toronto,  1923). 

This  is  a  reprint  of  an  anonymous  article  pub- 
lished in  1849.  The  editor  and  publisher,  both 
competent  authorities,  have  satisfied  themselves 
that  the  article  is  by  Richardson:  internal  evi- 
dence confirms  the  identification. 

The  article  is  a  description,  graphic  and  amusing, 
of  a  trip  in  October,  1 848,  to  the  places  named.  Its 
main  merit  is  a  letter  from  an  Indian  Chief,  Shah- 
wa-wan-noo,  who  had  been  aide-de-camp  to 
Tecumseh,  describing  the  death  of  that  great 
warrior  at  the  Battle  of  Moraviantown. 

MAGAZINE  REFERENCES 

THE  CANADIAN  MAGAZINE 

Richardson's  War  of  181 2,  by  John  Stewart 
Carstairs.    Vol.  XIX,  pp.  72-74.  May,  1902. 

THE  CANADIAN  MAGAZINE 

John  Richardson,  1796-1852,  Young  Volunteer 
of  1812,  by  I.  Burwash.  Vol.  XXXIX,  pp.  218- 
225,  July,  1912. 

HARPER'S  WEEKLY 

John  Richardson:  His  Sweethearts.  Vol.  LV, 
pp.  16,  17,  Oct.  7,  1911. 


—  222  — 


INDEX 


Askin,  Col.  John,  descent,  2 ;  removes  to  U.  C,  2 ; 
marriage,  15;  children,  15. 

Bagot,  Sir  Charles,  character  of,  113;  promise  to 
Richardson,  113;  death  of,  115 

Baker,  Prof.  Ray  Palmer,  "History  of  English  Can- 
adian Literature"  referred  to,  Pref.;  quoted,  18, 
2ii,  215. 

Barclay,  Capt.,  in  command  at  Put-in-Bay  5,  27; 
a  prisoner,  5,  28;  praised,  60. 

Brock  (Sir)  Isaac,  meets  Hull's  Invasion  (181 2),  4, 
93;  befriends  Richardson,  4;  praised,  60 

Canadian  Brothers,  written   in  England  (1833),  55; 

completed  at  Sandwich,  U.C.   (1839),   13,   55; 

appears   as    "Matilda    Montgomerie,"    13,    56; 

resume  of,  57-69;  bibliography,  216,  217;  re- 
ferred to,  93,  205. 
Canadian  Campaign,  published,  7;  8,  18,  25. 
Canadian  Chronicle,  newspaper,  13,  90,  92,  109,  no. 
Canadian  Loyalist  and  Spirit   of  1812,   newspaper, 

96,  114,  115. 
Casselman,  A.  C,  editor  of   War  of  1812,  92,  218; 

opinion   of   Richardson   quoted,    201;   referred 

to,  211. 
Chicago  Tragedy,  Tales  of,  131. 

Detroit,  capture  of  by  Brock,  4,  94;  Richardson  with 
(Sir)  John  Beverley  Robinson  in  Guard  of  Honor, 
5,  101;  evacuated  (1796),  16. 

Durham,  Lord,  his  policy  approved  by  Richardson, 
12,99,  in,  119.  m 

Ecarte,  written,  7;  account  of,  34;  criticized  by 
Jerdan,  7,  11,  17,  183,  184;  quoted,  164;  biblio- 
graphy, 213,  214;  referred  to,  200,  205,  206,  215. 

—  223  — 


INDEX 

Eight  Years  in  Canada,  written,  14;  account  of,  99; 
quoted,  180;  bibliography,  218,  219;  referred  to, 

199- 
Evans  (Sir)  De  Lacy,  commander  Spanish  Legion, 
8,  18;  accused  by  Richardson  of  arbitrary  con- 
duct and  injustice,  9;  80-86;  attacked  in  House 
of  Commons,  defends  himself,  II. 

Girty,  Simon,  mentioned,  66. 

Guards  in  Canada,  written,  14;  account  of,  118; 
quoted,  176;  bibliography,  219. 

Hardinge,  Sir  Henry,  quotes  Richardson  in  House  of 

Commons,  10,  11. 
Hardscrabble,  written,   14;  account  of,  131;  biblio- 
C3     graphy,  219,  220. 

Harrison,  General,  Tippecanoe,  meeting,  109. 
Hull,  General  William,  invades  U.  C.  (1812),  4,  93; 

surrenders   Detroit,    5;   his   daughters  in  New 

York,  35. 

Jack  Brag  in  Spain,    written,  96;  published,  14,  89; 

approved  by  Hook,  96;  described,  89,  90. 
Jay's  Treaty,  referred  to,  15. 
Jerdan,  William,   criticizes  Ecarte,   7,    17,   25,    183, 

184;  meeting  of  Richardson  with,  183,  184,  183. 

Kensington  Gardens  in  1830,  published,  7,  18. 

Matilda  Montgomerie.    (See    Canadian   Brothers.) 

Metcalfe,  Sir  Charles,  Lord,  disagrees  with  mini- 
stry, 116;  obtains  Richardson's  appointment,  116. 

Monk  Knight  of  St.  John,  published,  14;  account  of, 
147;  referred  to,  206;  bibliography,  221. 

Moraviantown,  Battle  of,  5,  33, 162;  death  of  Tecum- 
seh  at,  34,  95,  186;  Richardson  prisoner  at,  5, 
95;  site  visited  by  Richardson,  186,  187. 

Movements  of  the  British  Legion,  first  edition,  8; 
second  edition,  10;  account  of,  73;  bibliography, 
217. 

New  Era  or  Canadian  Chronicle,  (See  Canadian 
Chronicle.) 

—  224  — 


INDEX 

O'Connell,  Daniel,  attacks  Richardson  in  House  of 
Commons,  10. 

Personal  Memoirs  oj  Major  Richardson,  pub- 
lished, 12,  19;  quoted,  17;  account  of,  80;  bib- 
liography, 218. 

Prince,  Col.,  his  execution  of  "Sympathizers"  ap- 
proved by  Richardson,  103. 

Procter,  General,  recommends  Richardson  for  pro- 
motion, 16;  his  retreat,  31,  32;  defeat  at  Moravi- 
antown,  5,  33,  34,  162. 

Richardson,  Charles,  member  for  Niagara,  12. 

Richardson,  Major  John,  birth  and  descent,  1 ;  youth 
and  education,  2;  joins  Brock,  4;  at  surrender  of 
Detroit,  5;  taken  prisoner,  5;  release,  5;  sails  for 
Europe  with  8th  Foot,  6;  at  West  Indies,  6;  on 
half  pay  in  London  and  Paris,  7;  early  work,  7, 
8;  joins  British  Legion,  8;  invalided  home,  8; 
published  Movements  of  British  Legion, 
attacks  De  Lacy  Evans,  8;  returns  to  Spain,  9; 
court-martialled,  9,  18;  leaves  Legion,  10; 
book  quoted  in  H.C.,  10,  11;  leaves  for  Canada 
11;  visits  Toronto,  Montreal  and  Quebec,  12; 
Amherstburg  and  Sandwich,  13;  residence  at 
Sandwich,  13;  residence  at  Brockville,  13;  on 
Welland  Canal,  14,  116;  at  St.  Catharines,  19; 
at  New  York,  14;  death,  14;  appreciation  of,  197; 
his  duels.  17,  120,  123,  124 

Richardson,  Dr.  Robert,  descent,  1 ;  marriage,  2 ; 
children,  2;  surgeon  at  St.  Joseph,  2;  Amherst- 
burg, 3;  in  War  of  1812,  16;  Judge  of  District 
Court,  3;  character,  4;  death,  16;  Major  Grant- 
ham, 63. 

Richardson,  Robert,  Jr.,  one  of  the  Canadian 
Brothers,  63,  64;  Gerald  Grantham,  63. 

Robinson,  (Sir)  John  Beverley,  charge  in  duel-murder 
case,  125. 

—  225  — 


INDEX 

Sydenham,  Lord,   encourages  Richardson,  13,  no; 

cause   of   death,    no;   character,   in;   follows 

Durham's  policy,  no. 
Sympathizers,  Col.  Prince's  execution  of,  103. 

Tecumseh,  written,  7,  25,  92;  account  of,  26;  an- 
thology 155;  bibliography,  211  212,213. 

Theller,  "General,"  at  Detroit  charges  Richardson 
as  spy,  105,  106. 

The  Times,  employs  Richardson,  12,  102;  discharges 
him,  12. 

Uncas,  fictitious  son  of  Tecumseh,  29;  his  death, 
30;  vengeance  for,  31. 

Von  Schoultz,  trial  of  at  Kingston,  103. 

Wacousta,   written,   8,    18;   account  of.  43;  quoted, 

168;  bibliography,  214,  215,  216. 
War  of  1812,  written  8,  14,  92,  114;  account  of,  92; 

bibliography,  218. 


—  226  — 


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