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 assigned 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 passed 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 Assizes 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 assist 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 embarrass 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 passed 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.