The Last Laird of MacNab Part 7

To His Excellency, Sir George Arthur, K.C.H., Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Upper Canada, etc.

The Pet.i.tion of the McNab Sheweth:

That since it appears to your Pet.i.tioner there are some difficulties entertained by Your Excellency and the Executive Council as to granting him a Trust-Deed for enforcing the terms of his agreement with his settlers for the present, and duly appreciating the motives, he humbly hopes there can be no objection to ordering him his patent-deed, for the Five-thousand acres granted this Pet.i.tioner originally for settling the Township. And your Pet.i.tioner shall ever pray, etc.

(Signed) ARCH. McNAB.

Toronto, June 28th, 1838.

GOVERNMENT HOUSE, 29th June, '38.

Referred to the consideration of the Honorable, the Executive Council.

By Command, (Signed) JOHN MacAULAY.

IN COUNCIL, 29th June, 1838.

Recommended the Patent issue for 5,000 acres, free of expense.

(Signed) R. B. SULLIVAN, P.C.

(Signed) GEORGE ARTHUR.

GOV'T HOUSE, 7th July, 1838.

Referred to the Surveyor-General to report thereon for the information of the Honorable, the Executive Council.

By Command, JOHN MacAULAY.

[COPY.]

The lots selected by the Laird of McNab to cover his grant of 5,000 acres made to him in Council, 29th June last, are princ.i.p.ally those lots located in the names of his followers. I was therefore under the necessity of withholding the description until the pleasure of Your Excellency could be had thereon.

(Signed) J. RADENHURST.

Sur.-General's Office, 20th July, '38.

IN COUNCIL, 11th Oct., 1838.

The Council cannot recommend a location to the Laird of McNab of lands located to his settlers.

(Signed) R. B SULLIVAN.

(Signed) G. A.

This was a wholesome scheme of vengeance as flagitious and vindictive as it was heartless and unprincipled. The Laird had, when marking out the lots to be patented to him, inserted in the diagram of the Township that some of the original locatees were dead; others had fled to the United States; and others again had abandoned their lots and gone to reside in a neighboring county; and he was believed. The nefarious intrigue was frustrated by a mere accident. The hand of Providence had interfered to save the poor and oppressed settlers from utter ruin. Mr. T. M.

Radenhurst, of Perth, was in Toronto on the 12th July, 1838, attending to some law business, when in a casual conversation with his brother, Mr. J. Radenhurst, of the Surveyor-General's office, the affairs of the Township of McNab came upon the carpet, and Mr. T. Radenhurst informed his brother that the settlers represented as dead and absconded were living upon the lands located to them by the Chief, and for which lots he had applied to be covered by his patent. Immediately upon hearing this intelligence, Mr. J. Radenhurst forwarded to the Lieut.-Governor the remonstrance dated the 13th of July, 1838. All further action in the matter was stayed until inquiries should be made.

In August of the same year Lord Durham appointed a commission to investigate the affairs of the township. It sat in Toronto. Not a single settler was examined. The archives of the Crown Lands Department were alone searched into. Discrepancies were discovered between the original a.s.signment of the township for settlement and the manner in which McNab had carried on the business of his agency. The Chief was condemned. The Commission recommended the immediate deprivation from the Chief of all further power, and that the original grant should be carried out in all its integrity. That these settlers who came to the country at their own expense should receive their lands free, and that those brought out by the Laird should pay for their lands at a valuation, and the proceeds be handed over to the Chief. This report was made in October. Immediately upon its substance being communicated to the Government of Upper Canada, the order for the patent to the Chief on the located lands (that is the lots of the settlers), was rescinded, as appears by the Hon. R. B.

Sullivan's and Sir George Arthur's order of October, 1838, already published; but the equitable arrangement proposed by Lord Durham's investigating committee was indefinitely postponed. That n.o.bleman, proud, haughty, and unrestrained in his indignation when aroused, took mortal offence at the attack made upon him by Lord Brougham in the House of Lords. He at once threw up his commission, left Sir John Colborne in his place, and went to England. With the exception of Sir George Arthur, the Laird's friends were now in power. The Family Compact still held the reigns of government, and although they dare not patent the settlers' lands to the Chief, they allowed the question to remain in abeyance.

In the meantime McNab proceeded with his suits at the Fall a.s.sizes. In that one against Mr. Allan Stewart, although the timber had been cut on his own located lot, the Chief was eminently successful, and obtained a verdict of some 40. His suit against Duncan McNab (Isla), also came on, and notwithstanding the law and the Judge's charge, the jury brought in a verdict for the defendant. It was a Dalhousie and Lanark jury that decided the case. They themselves had suffered oppression at home.

They looked to the justice of the case--not to the law of real property--and in spite of the ruling of the judge, the Chief was defeated. It was only a temporary success; yet, such as it was, it diffused unbounded joy throughout the whole township,--McNab was not invincible. He could be conquered by his own weapons. What was accomplished now might be achieved again. Threats of new trials did not deter them from determined resistance. A subscription was got up and placed in a common fund to defray law expenses in opposing the Chief. A regular and systematic organization of the whole township was effected; and this was the state of affairs in December of this year, when the second rebellion broke out. A party of American sympathizers had invaded the country at Windsor. Those in West were soon put down. At Prescott it was different. They had a determined leader end a good general. Von Schoultz had taken possession of the windmill and the house adjoining.

The first attacks of the Glengarry Highlanders and the regular troops were repulsed with great loss of life. This was the news that reached the Ottawa. The Chief, as Colonel, called out his regiment. They a.s.sembled at Pakenham, 900 strong. A call was made for volunteers. It was almost unanimously responded to by Fitzroy and Pakenham; but the people of McNab held aloof. They would not volunteer under their Chief.

They remembered the fate of some of the "Breadalbane Fencibles" under his uncle in 1798. They had volunteered to defend the country against the French,--Lord Breadalbane, as Colonel, and Francis Chief of McNab as Major, tendered the services of the Fencibles to the Government to put down the rebellion in Ireland. An order was made for their departure. They refused to go. It was contrary to their agreement when they entered the service. They openly mutinied, and go they would not. A cavalry and an infantry regiment of the line were drawn up to compel them to march. The Highlanders, instead of submitting prepared themselves for battle and resolved to lie dead on the field of Dunbar sooner than budge a step.--Muskets were loaded on both sides, and the novel spectacle of three British regiments drawn up in hostile array against each other, for the first time presented itself. The officers were obliged to submit. The order was countermanded, and the men returned peaceably to their quarters. Seven of the ringleaders were seized during the night, and were next morning tried by court-martial, and shot. The people of McNab remembered this, and they determined not to give McNab the slightest chance over them. In the evening of the same day, instigated, as some imagined, by the Chief, a fight took place between some of the Orangemen and Highlanders. The poor settlers were looked upon by the ultra loyal as rebels, not only to their Chief, but to the Government; and to punish them severely was now the object of the Irishmen of Pakenham and Fitzroy. Although they numerically surpa.s.sed the McNab settlers, about five to one, the Highlanders fought bravely.

They were compelled to retreat to Mrs. McFarlane's old house, in which they defended themselves with the utmost resolution. Frying-pans, pokers, tongs, kettles, brooms, and every article of any solidity, were used as weapons of war. The fight lasted till night, when both parties became tired of the contest; some ugly wounds were given and received; and a man of the name of Porter was so badly injured that he died in ten days afterwards. News reached Pakenham that night that the rebels were totally discomfitted, and that Von Schoultz and most of his gang were taken prisoners. This was the final effort of the insurgents, or of their friends. Peace was finally restored, and the home Government earnestly set to work to redress the grievances of the colonies. Hope began to dawn upon the McNab settlers. Their pet.i.tion to Lord Durham had not only been listened to, but acted upon. McNab's fraudulent scheme of obtaining their lands was completely frustrated, and at the close of this year the people looked forward to a speedy and equitable adjustment of all the matters in dispute between themselves and the Chief; but they had struggles yet before them; McNab was not going to yield up his advantages without a desperate effort. The struggle was yet to be protracted for four years before ample redress could be obtained.

CHAPTER XIII. (1839).

A SLIGHT RETROSPECT--CUTTING THE GORDIAN KNOT--IMPRISONMENT OF MR.

STEWART.

Both parties had temporarily ceased from hostilities. There was a cessation of arms--a slight truce--awaiting the action of the Government. Lord Durham had gone to England. Sir John Colborne was installed as Governor-General. Foiled in his efforts to get his patent, either upon the lands of his settlers, or upon any other lands at present, the McNab was concocting fresh schemes to aggrandize himself and to punish his refractory followers. Arnprior had been abandoned by Simpson, Mittleberger & Gould. The latter, for his share of the broken-down company, took possession of the _George Buchanan_ steamboat, and ran her regularly from the head of the Chats to the Cheneaux. The grist-mill at Arnprior had gone out of repair, and as no one was at that place to look after the property, it was fast falling into decay. The mills were regularly plundered. They had been a.s.signed to the Middletons, in Liverpool. Everything bore the aspect of ruin and desolation. By degrees the gearing of both mills disappeared, and also the boarding and frame of the grist-mill was gradually being carried off, and only a skeleton remained. Mr. Minor Hillard took possession of Tom Landon's vacated tavern, without question or molestation; and he alone was the only person living at Arnprior, and who pretended to take some kind of surveillance of the place. Its ancient glory was gone. The buildings were in ruins, and by sheer neglect were fast hastening to decay. The people in the township were, however, notwithstanding all their discouragements, slightly advancing in the onward march of progress. A minister had been sent for to Scotland, and in response to their repeated applications, the Foreign Mission Board sent out the Rev.

Alex. Mann, who took the three congregations of Fitzroy, McNab and Pakenham, and preached tri-weekly in each station. The settlers now prepared to build a church. After much consultation, a site was fixed upon the lot of Mrs. James Stewart, on the 2nd concession, and subscription lists were sent through the townships of McNab and Horton to raise funds. In the interim, large barns of some of the settlers in Canaan during the summer, and the dwelling-houses in winter, were improvised for the purpose of temporary worship. The logs for the new church were got out during the ensuing winter, and it was completed in 1840. The building is still used as a place of worship for the Presbyterians of the Kirk in McNab. It is clap-boarded, painted, well-seated, and a comfortable house of worship.

Three schools were also established in the township; one in Canaan, another in Goshen, and a third at White Lake. The system of instruction was quite different to what it is now, and the qualifications of the teachers were of a remarkably low order; any person who could write tolerably, read middlingly, and do a simple sum in addition or subtraction was eligible to be chosen as a teacher, particularly if he was disabled, maimed, or unfit for any other occupation. The Board of Education sat at Perth; its examinations were a farce, and its proceedings a mere burlesque. The whole process of testing the powers of the candidates occupied about half-an-hour, and they all generally pa.s.sed the trying ordeal with flying colors.

In the summer of this year Mr. Allan Stewart was arrested for the judgment the Chief had obtained against him for the timber cut upon his own lot, or rather upon the land on which he had been located by the Chief. He was brought to Perth and lodged in the debtors' apartments, under the care of Mr. James Young. The Chief would hear of no compromise. He must exact the pound of flesh to its full extent. Mr.

Stewart became equally obdurate. The weekly allowance was regularly paid; but fortunately one Monday evening the Chief was entertaining some friends at a dinner party in Perth, among whom was his legal adviser, Mr. Daniel McMartin; and in their conversation and enjoyment poor Allan was forgotten; the weekly alimentary supply was not paid; and Mr.

Stewart was discharged. The Chief, to the day of his death, never received a penny of this judgment. When Mr. Stewart wished to settle the matter with the Chief by paying him some down and getting time for the remainder, McNab's reply was, "Go to Lord Durham; perhaps he will help you." Mr. Stewart began to remonstrate, but McNab haughtily ordered him out of the room. This proceeding nerved Mr. Stewart to the utmost, and inspired him with fresh energy in carrying on further proceedings against the Laird.

A new trial had been obtained in the Chief's case against Duncan McNab (Isla). The last verdict had been set aside, and it was brought down for trial to the Perth a.s.sizes in October of this year. This was the third trial of this memorable case. The jury had, in the last trial, given a verdict against law, and it was consequently set aside. The trial came on, and McNab finally gained the suit. Poor Duncan left the court a broken hearted and ruined man. (See report of Francis Allan, Esq.) Mr.

Allan had done everything that legal ingenuity and a consciousness of right could suggest, but it was of no avail. Duncan McNab was too poor to go into Chancery. He had no means to bring it there. The people of the township had already subscribed liberally to a.s.sist him. They were poor themselves, and they could not do more. He resolved to await the issue. The Chief having gained the victory, did not wish to push things to extremities.--He could not enter up judgment and issue a _Hab. Fae.

Pos._ at any time. To do so now, would seriously implicate him with the Government. His affairs were on a ticklish footing. He himself stood in a critical position, and to drive McNab (Isla) out of the place at the present juncture would so embarra.s.s his schemes as to defeat them altogether. The Commission had reported against him, and recommended his dismissal. To eject Duncan McNab would precipitate matters, and he would lose far greater advantages, both in money and character, than ten such lots were worth. His policy was therefore to keep matters in abeyance, and he did so.

In October of this year, the Hon. Poulett Thompson (Lord Sydenham) arrived in Canada, and took the whole control of the public affairs.

When his advent was announced, and a month before he set foot in Canada, a new arrangement had been made between McNab and Sir George Arthur's Government. The Chief dreaded the arrival of Lord Sydenham. Fearing he would be deprived of the township and receive nothing; apprehensive that the timber duties he had received and the rents he had taken from his followers would be set off against him for any claims to grants he might have; he made an application through his friends, Attorney-General Hagerman and the Hon. H. Sherwood, to give up all his claims against the settlers, and give the 5,000 for 9,000.--The Executive Council was called together. Sir George Arthur thought 2,000 was quite sufficient.

At length, after a long and animated discussion, it was resolved to offer the Chief 4,000, and take the township off his hands, with the exception of the lots already deeded to him. The Chief accepted the proposal, and on the 27th Sept., 1839, the final Order-in-Council was pa.s.sed to that effect. The Gordian Knot was cut. The attempted feudal tyranny was prevented. The details were yet to be arranged, and until these were satisfactorily settled, McNab was to have the same control over the township, as usual; but he was to exact no more rent. To close the matter, McNab that day was paid 1,000 by the Receiver-General, as the first instalment of the settlement of his claims.

CHAPTER XIV. (1840).

THE GREAT STRUGGLE--FINAL TRIUMPH OF THE SETTLERS--IMPRISONMENT OF DUNCAN CAMPBELL.

A vague rumor had reached the people at the commencement of this year that a new arrangement had been entered into between the Chief and the Government, but of its nature and tendency they were kept in entire ignorance. It is true that the Chief came down from Toronto, and informed some of his toadies, so that the intelligence might spread through McNab that he had sold the township, and that all the settlers were to be turned off their lands, and set adrift with their families.