Part 4 (1/2)
The Chief wrote to Mr. McVicar to accept none for bail except freeholders. Now there were no freeholders in the towns.h.i.+p, and he thought if Mr. McVicar would follow his instructions, McNaughton would be sent to prison. Not so, however; Mr. Alex. McVicar, of Pakenham, was a decent, upright, and benevolent man; he accepted the sureties of Mr.
Duncan McLachlin and Mr. Donald McNaughton, Sr., and the prisoner was liberated. They were not freeholders, but Donald Mohr's next neighbor--settlers like himself, who had not received their deeds. The trial was fixed for the ensuing March (1838), and McNaughton and his friends returned home in safety and triumph. The result will be narrated in its proper place.
CHAPTER X.
THE REBELLION--MILITARY TACTICS OF M'NAB--GENERAL INSUBORDINATION OF THE SETTLERS.
While these things were transpiring in McNab, and the people were nerving themselves for a struggle which they saw was to terminate either in ruin or independence, other momentous affairs were being transacted in Upper and Lower Canada. Papineau had fanned the flame of discontent into an open rebellion, and Mackenzie and Bidwell, following his example, had roused the more enthusiastic and rash of the Reform party in the west to take up arms. The British troops had met with a reverse at St. Denis, which was amply retrieved and avenged by Col. Wetherall at St. Charles. Mackenzie was investing Toronto, and had marshalled his forces at Montgomery's farm, within a few miles of Toronto. All was panic and confusion in the immediate vicinity of the seat of the revolt, and the news was much exaggerated to those living at a distance. The political atmosphere was overcast. A portentous cloud of evil omen seemed to envelop both provinces. Volunteers, men of loyal hearts and warm love for the mother country, poured in. Thousands flocked to the standard of their Queen, and the Laird of McNab, among the rest, sent the following characteristic letter to Sir F. B. Head:--
WABA COTTAGE, 15th Dec., 1837.
MY DEAR SIR FRANCIS,--The spirit of my fathers has been infused into my soul by recent events, and has roused within me the recollection and memory of the _prestige_ of my race. The only Highland chieftain in America offers himself, his clan, and the McNab Highlanders, to march forward in the defence of the country--
”_Their swords are a thousand, their hearts are but one._”
We are ready to march at any moment.--Command my services at once, and we will not leave the field till we have routed the h.e.l.l-born rebels, or
”In death be laid low, With our backs to the field, and our face to the foe.”
I am yours sincerely,
(Signed,) McNAB.
Immediately upon the receipt of this doc.u.ment, Sir Francis Head appointed the Laird Colonel of the 20th Battalion of Carleton Light Infantry, comprising the towns.h.i.+ps of McNab, Fitzroy and Pakenham, with instructions to nominate his officers, forward the list to headquarters, and _call the regiment_ out to muster forthwith. On the 25th December, 1837, the whole regiment mustered at Pakenham, and were put under the militia law. McNab made a speech to them, read the names of their officers, and gave a general order that they were to muster by companies near the abodes of their captains, on the 15th and 17th of the ensuing month. The companies of the towns.h.i.+p of McNab, under the command of Captain Alex. McDonnell and Captain John McNab, of Horton, a.s.sembled at Sand Point on the 15th of January. After the roll was called, and all had answered to their names, the Chief, who was present, read the Articles of War, and then addressed them thus--
”Now, my men, you are under martial law. If you behave well, obey my orders and the officers under me, you will be treated as good soldiers; but if you come under the lash, by the G.o.d that made me, I will use it without mercy. So you know your doom. Now, I call upon as many of you as will do so willingly, to volunteer and go to the front, and I will lead you on to glory.”
There was a murmur in the ranks, they were drawn up in line, two deep, in Mr. McDonnell's large stone shed, as it was a stormy day. When the whispering was over, a dead silence prevailed. Two--and only two--stepped forward as volunteers, and these were Mr. Young and Mr.
Henniker, two of McDonnell's clerks.
”What! No more?” exclaimed McNab: ”then I must proceed to ballot and force you.”
The men remained doggedly silent; at length some one asked him where was his authority for the ballot. The Chief turned away; told them he would call them together again for that purpose; and dismissed them. The people were in the highest state of indignation and apprehension. They held a meeting and sent the following pet.i.tion to the Government:--
McNAB, 22nd January, 1838.
_To His Excellency, Sir Francis Bond Head, Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Upper Canada, &c., &c._
THE PEt.i.tION OF THE UNDERSIGNED HUMBLY SHEWETH:
That the Carleton Light Infantry was mustered on the 25th ultimo, at Pakenham Mills, commanded by McNab of McNab, and on the 15th and 17th current by Companies at their Captains' respective places of abode.
That we the undersigned, one and all of us, consider ourselves true and loyal subjects, and are willing to serve Her Majesty in any part of British North America, where Your Excellency may think proper to call us, under any other commander than McNab.
That a number of us have suffered severely from McNab through the course of the Civil Law, and are therefore afraid to come under him in the Martial Law, being harsh in his disposition, and also inexperienced.
That we hope it may please Your Excellency to look into our circ.u.mstances as misled people by McNab, who made us give bonds for Quit-Rents, which we, not knowing what the poor lands in this part of the country could produce, gave without hesitation; and notwithstanding all our industry and economy, with these bonds we are not able to comply.
That we trust Your Excellency will endeavor to set us on the same parallel with other loyal subjects in the Province, and free us of those Quit-Rents, as we find them a heavier burden than we can bear.