NEW ARRIVALS.
When McNab procured from the Government the "Order-in-Council" granting
to him the privilege of settling the township, it was restricted to
eighteen months, but in 1827 the Government, who granted his every
request, extended it to an indefinite period. His power was almost
unlimited, and none of the inhabitants for a moment doubted that it was
his own property. Even as late as 1827 the settlers looked up to the
Laird of McNab with that degree of dread and awe that Highlanders
regarded the Chief of a Highland Clan, and that deference was kept up
for a long period, and not till every tie that binds man to friendship
and respect was severed did it entirely cease. Miller's treatment
perpetuated a sentiment of respect in some, of fear in others, so that
nearly at the very outset of its settlement the Township of McNab was
divided into two parties, the Opposition and the staunch adherents of
the Chief. When they first arrived, there were several lumberers
carrying on their operations in the township, viz.: Alexander McDonnell,
Esq., Sand Point; Duncan Campbell, Matthew Barr, the Goodwins, Messrs.
Mitchell & Sutherland, and John Brill. It was the interest of these
parties to keep on terms with the chief. For about one-fourth of the
real value he gave passes to all cutting timber in the township. These
parties never questioned his title to the ownership of the land, and
even Brill, who had at first treated him roughly, was obliged to succumb
and propitiate his favor. The settlers had about this time (1827) cut
several roads through the settlements, and though rough and unfinished,
served as channels of communication. It was in January of this year that
the Chief wrote to Dr. Hamilton of Leney, to send out more settlers. The
Doctor, who had received some information of McNab's treatment to the
settlers, point blank refused to take any more interest in him or his
affairs. This was an unlooked-for repulse. He had to settle the
township in order to keep on terms with the Government of the day, which
gave him every latitude, and did for him whatever he asked. Accordingly
he proceeded to Montreal, met with some emigrants (1827), and by glowing
descriptions, plausible representations and enticing promises, induced
them to come to "his township," among whom were the Hamiltons, the
Wilsons, and Mr. David Airth, sr., now of Renfrew, and he located them
upon lands at the rate of half a bushel of wheat per acre to be paid him
and his heirs and successors forever. Here the reader will perceive that
by the wording of his location tickets, he already contemplated the
establishment of a principality on the Ottawa. Mr. Airth, soon after his
arrival, discovered that he was entitled to a grant of 200 acres, as a
sergeant in the Royal Artillery. He consequently left the Goshen
settlement of McNab and drew land in the neighboring Township of Horton,
where he at present resides. About this time (1829) Messrs. Alexander
and Daniel Ross, having made improvements on Lot No. 3, in the 14th
concession of McNab, with the intentions of erecting mills on that lot
which is now partly occupied by the flourishing village of Arnprior,
would not agree to the Chief's terms, as the lot was originally a Clergy
Reserve. The Chief exchanged it for another lot, drew the patent in his
own name, and ejected the Rosses who, as has been before stated, went to
Lower Canada and settled in Bristol. They wrote an anonymous
communication to Lieut.-Governor Sir John Colborne (Baron Seaton),
severely reprobating the Chief's behaviour, and animadverting in no
measured terms on the conduct of the Government itself. This document
was without a signature, and without either locality or date. The
high-minded and honorable soldier who ruled Upper Canada, scorning such
a mode of attack and complaint, at once sent the communication to the
Chief. They were intimate friends. Sir John had offered McNab a place in
the Government and a seat in the Legislative Council, which was politely
declined. The Chief's affable manner, his imposing and noble appearance,
the manly beauty of his person, and that chivalrous politeness which he
had acquired in France, together with his generous expenditure, both at
home and abroad, had so won on the Lieut.-Governor that he could not
believe the accomplished gentleman was a tyrant, nor the handsome
Highland Chieftain a cruel despot, as represented in the letter, and if
one statement appeared false, the whole must be without foundation--thus
reasoned the simple and honorable soldier. Besides, the complaint was
anonymous and consequently cowardly and untrue. It was attributed to
ingratitude and discontent.
When the Laird of McNab received the communication, he was surprised at
its audacity. To discover its author was his first object, to punish him
his next effort. Being without a name it did not come within the
category of privileged communication, and consequently the author in
those days was liable to punishment. He, on the impulse of the moment,
selected one of the settlers as the author--one Alexander McNab, who had
been a teacher in Scotland, and who had specially emigrated to Canada to
follow his profession. As such he received the location ticket for 200
acres instead of one, as had been awarded to other settlers. He was now
the only educated man among the settlers. He had shown symptoms of
insubordination some time previously. His handwriting was very like that
of the libellous communication. He resided within two miles of Kennell
Lodge, near the present Flat Rapid Road. His place is now occupied by
his son-in-law, Mr. John Yuill. He received a peremptory summons to
attend upon the Laird. At once obeying the mandate of his Chief, he
appeared before him anxious and apprehensive. The missive he received
was couched in these terms--not by any means calculated to remove his
apprehension:--
KENNELL LODGE, 13th March, 1829.
ALEXANDER McNAB:
Degraded Clansman,--You are accused to me by Sir John Colborne, of
libel, sedition, and high treason. You will forthwith compear
before me, at my house of Kennell, and there make submission; and
if you show a contrite and repentant spirit, and confess your
faults against me, your legitimate Chief, and your crime against
His Majesty King George, I will intercede for your pardon.
Your offended Chief,
(Signed) McNAB.
When he appeared at Kennell, McNab read the communication and asked poor
Sandy to confess. Mr. McNab stoutly denied it. He was completely
astonished and indignant at being thus charged and asked to acknowledge
a crime he had never contemplated, and which, if his name had been
affixed to it, would have been a privileged communication and beyond the
bounds of prosecution.
"Well, my man," exclaimed the Chief, "I must send you to jail, and I
assure you that your neck is in danger."
Alexander McNab was an innocent man, and had a bold and courageous
spirit. Instead of begging for mercy, he defied the Chief. This was
enough. The least opposition was sure to raise a whirlwind. He drew up a
warrant of commitment, swore in two special constables, and sent Alex.
McNab to Perth without bail or mainprize. He was six weeks imprisoned
when the Assizes came on. Defended by the Hon. Jonas Jones afterwards
the late Judge Jones, of the Queen's Bench, he was at once acquitted,
and the warrant of commitment was the subject of amusement from its
quaint and patriarchal style to the lawyers and others assembled in
Court. Alexander Ross, the writer of the alleged libellous
communication, was in Court, and if Alexander McNab had been convicted,
he would have acknowledged the authorship, and thus saved an innocent
man from severe punishment. For in those days the law of libel was very
stringent and severe. It was a favorite axiom with both Judges and law
officers of the Crown "the greater the truth the greater the libel"--a
doctrine now justly exploded and subject to merited ridicule. Alexander
McNab returned to his family in triumph. This was the first check the
Chief had received, and he resolved to punish the "black sheep" the
first opportunity that offered. His name was accordingly entered in the
prescribed list, with what results the sequel will show. The Laird of
McNab was a Magistrate, and this case shows the despotic sway of the
Family Compact. He had, without information laid, without examination,
without _ex parte_ evidence, acted as witness, prosecutor and Judge; and
the first process issued was a warrant of commitment, so utterly illegal
in point of force and substance that in the present day, no keeper of a
prison would have received the person committed under it; yet the Laird
of McNab, instead of being dismissed from the Commission of the Peace,
was warmly applauded for his energy and decision. Times have changed.
The occurrence of such a _betise_ in the present day would be denounced
in no measured terms by the public opinion and by the press, until the
perpetrator would have been brought to justice and adequately punished.
Our liberties are so sacredly guarded, our constitutional rights so well
defined and protected that such an outrage is impossible; and this we
owe not only to responsible government, which was attained in 1841,
after a severe and protracted struggle, but to the spirit of liberty it
infused, and to the wholesome and salutary safeguards introduced.