THE LAST DAYS OF JOHN NAIRNE
Nairne's careful education of his children.--His son John enters
the army.--Nairne's counsels to his son.--John Nairne goes to
India.--His death.--Nairne's declining years.--His activities at
Murray Bay.--His income.--His daughter Christine and Quebec
society.--The isolation of Murray Bay in Winter.--Signals across
the river.--Nairne's reading.--His notes about current events.--The
fear of a French invasion of England.--Thoughts of flight from
Scotland to Murray Bay.--Nairne's last letter, April 20th,
1802.--His death and burial at Quebec.
Colonel Nairne's life was troubled with many sorrows. In 1773, when he
was on a visit to Scotland, Malcolm Fraser had had the painful duty of
writing to tell him of the death of three of his infant children at
Murray Bay from a prevailing epidemic. His daughter, Anne, born in 1784,
was sent to Scotland to be educated. She contracted consumption and
after a prolonged illness died there in 1796. "This event gave me great
affliction," wrote Nairne, "she was always a most amiable child." There
now remained two sons and three daughters,[13] and Nairne may well have
been certain that his name would go down to an abundant posterity. One
of the chief interests of his life was their training and education. All
in turn were sent to Scotland for their chief schooling. The eldest son,
John, born in 1777, and his sister Christine, some three years older,
lived in Edinburgh with aunts who showed exhaustless kindness and
interest. Nairne was grateful, and writing from Malbaie on August 27th,
1791, he says: "[I] am glad of an opportunity, my dear Christine and
Jack, to remind you both in the strongest manner I am able of the
gratitude and assiduous Duty you owe to your Aunts and other Relations
for admitting you into their family and also for the attention they are
pleased to bestow on your education." Upon his children he imposes
indeed counsels of perfection not easy to fulfil; "Remember it's my
injunctions and absolute orders to you both to have always an obedient
temper to your superiors ... to receive every reprimand with submission
and attention as it can only be intended for your benefit in order to
give you a valuable character which of all things is the greatest
blessing both for this world and the next; besides you must consider
that you are never to indulge yourselves in any sort of indolence or
laziness but to rise early in the morning to be the more able to fulfil
your Duty.... As to you, Jack, I expect to see you a Gallant and
honourable fellow that will always scorn to tell the least lie in your
life. It was well done to answer Captain Fraser [Malcolm Fraser, a
Lieutenant in 1762, is still only a Captain in 1791!] with which he was
well pleased.... Both of you have I think improved in your writing which
gives me pleasure." He adds regretfully to Christine: "I cannot send you
a muff this year but perhaps I may do so next year." The letter closes
with a modest list of purchases to be sent out from Edinburgh for
Malbaie: "one piece of Calico for two gowns; one piece of calico for
children; three pieces of linen (for shirts), two of which coarse and
the other a little finer; one yard of cambrick; five yards of muslin
(for caps and Handkerchiefs); six yards of lace (for caps); twelve yards
of different ribbons, three pairs of worsted stockings and three pairs
of cotton stockings for myself."
Jack was to follow a military career, and he entered the army when a
youth of sixteen or seventeen. His first active service was in the West
Indies, after war with revolutionary France broke out, and the dangers
of that climate gave his father some anxiety; all will be well, he
hopes, if Jack continues to take a certain "powder of the Jesuits'
Bark"; above all "the best rules are temperance and sobriety"; then "the
same gracious Power who protected me in many dangers through the course
of three Wars will also vouchsafe protection to you through this one."
In 1795, when Jack was only eighteen, his corps was back in England
and, through the influence of a distant relative, General Graeme, with
the Duke of York, Commander in Chief of the Army and all powerful in
days when promotion went avowedly by favour and purchase rather than by
merit, Jack secured a Lieutenancy in the 19th Regiment. His father was
delighted: "I wish you much joy with all my heart of your quick rise in
being at your age already a Lieutenant in an old Regiment whereas I was
past twenty-six years of age before I obtained a Lieutenancy in the
British service and that only in a young corps." At the time, with
Britain warring on the French Directory, service in Europe for Jack was
not unlikely, and was desired by Nairne. But in the end Jack's regiment
was ordered to India. Nairne was sorely disappointed, but writing to
Jack he laid down a great guiding principle: "we must suppose that
Providence orders everything aright and that, provided we are always
active and diligent in doing our duty, there is reason to be satisfied."
In view of what was to happen, his anxiety for the success of his son is
pathetic. He exhorts him in regard to every detail of conduct. He is to
avoid drink and gambling; to pay his accounts promptly; to be punctual
and scrupulously exact whenever duty or business is concerned. The
father is particularly anxious about his son's capacity to express
himself in good English and lays down the sound maxim that "writing a
correct and easy style is undoubtedly of all education the most
necessary and requisite." To acquire this he "ought to write and read a
great deal with intense labour, attention and application"; to write
several hours a day is not too much and to get time he must go to bed
early and rise early. It is wise to keep a grammar and dictionary always
at hand to correct possible errors. He should also translate from French
into English. The father himself undertakes the duty of the complete
letter writer, drawing up for Jack a model on which his letters may be
based. "In writing ordinary letters (as in conversation) a large scope
may be taken, as of News, all sorts of information, adventures,
descriptions, remarks, enquirys, compliments, &c., &c., but in a letter
upon business one is commonly confined only to what is necessary to be
said on the subject and to civilitys and politeness." Certainly Jack did
not lack admonition and when he does well his father writes that it
makes him "very happy." When in one letter Jack mentions the practise of
smoking his father is severe: "All our family have ever been temperate
not [practising] even the Debauchery of smoking tobacco, a nasty Dutch,
Damn'd custom, a forerunner of idleness and drunkenness; therefore Jack,
my lad, let us hear no more of your handling your Pipe, but handle well
your fuzee, your sword, your pen and your Books."
Certainly the pictures sometimes drawn of the brutality, violent manners
and ignorance of the British officer at this period find no confirmation
in Nairne's monitions to his son, or in the account of his own military
experience which dates from the mid-eighteenth century. He says to Jack:
"Say your Prayers regularly to God Almighty and trust entirely to His
Will and Pleasure for your own preservation.... If you should happen to
be in an engagement attend to your men, encourage them to act with
spirit in such a manner as most effectually to destroy their
enemy's."[14] When Jack is a little too free in his demands for money
the Colonel, writing on Nov. 22nd, 1795, tells him of his own
experience:
I have done wrong in having given you so much money since you went
into the Army which might have served you almost without any pay
from the King and which by the bye I can little afford. You
obtained it easily; for which reason I suppose you have spent it
easily: you have no right to expect more than I had at your age yet
you seem to regard twenty pounds as I would have done twenty
shillings. But you must now understand that twenty pounds is a
considerable sum to my circumstances they being straitened for the
Rank and the family which I have to support; therefore I have to
inform you that you are to draw no more Bills upon Mr. Ker nor upon
me without first obtaining his or my consent in writing for so
doing. It is no disgrace nor does it hurt the service (but quite
the contrary) for every officer and soldier to live within the
limits of the pay which Government has thought proper to allow
them. They are thereby more led to temperance, to improve
themselves by study, to mind their duty and how best to promote the
service of their country. I served sixteen years as a subaltern
officer in the army, made long sea voyages with the Regiment,
furnished myself with sea stores, camp equipage and every other
necessary equipments [and] my Father nor any Relation during that
time was never [put to] one farthing's expense upon my account.
Altho' I sometimes lost money in the Recruiting service I repayed
it by stoppages from my pay, was always present with the men
whether in camp or in Garrison and punctually attending on my Duty.
I endeavoured to be in a good mess for my Dinner, drank small Beer
or Water when it was good; when the Water was bad qualified it with
a mixture of Wine or Ginger or Milk or Vinegar but no grog or
smoking tobacco. I was always an enemy to suppers, never engaged
myself in the Evenings, but on particular occasions or to be
Complaisant to Strangers. Nor [did I] ask Company to see me when on
Guard; nor show a Vanity to treat people. By which means I had a
great deal of quiet and sober time to myself, to read and to write,
&c., &c., especially as I always rose early in the Mornings. You
may believe also that I was always far from being concerned in any
sort of Gaming so as to risk losing any of my money or to have a
desire to gain any from others. By such a Conduct I received more
favour and regard sometimes from my Commanding officers even than I
thought I was entitled to.
These monitions to Jack were written while his father was in Scotland in
1795. There they separated, the father to return to Canada with
Christine whose schooldays were now ended, Jack to go with his regiment
to India. In parting from his son the father pronounced a solemn
benediction: "that God may preserve you and assist you in following
always that which is good and virtuous shall ever be my most earnest
prayer." They never met again. Jack continued to draw rather freely upon
his father for funds, and Nairne wrote to the Colonel of the regiment to
ask for information about the young man. Before an answer came Scottish
relatives learned in 1800 of Jack's fate and wrote of it to Murray Bay.
A friend of the family in India had noticed in the newspaper that some
one was promoted to John Nairne's place. This led to enquiry, when it
was found that he had died in August, 1799. Not until six months after
his death, and then only in reply to the enquiry as to Jack's demands
for money, did his commanding officer write the following letter to
Colonel Nairne:
_Colonel Dalrymple to Colonel Nairne_
_From Columbo [India], 1st Feb., 1800._
I received your letter dated October, 1798, but a short time ago
but too late, had there been any occasion to have spoken to your
son upon the subject it contained for, Poor fellow, it is with pain
I'm to inform you of his death. He died upon the 7th of August,
1799, in the Coimbalore country upon the return from the capture of
Seringapatam. Never did a young man die more regretted nor never
was an officer more beloved by his corps. He was an honour to his
profession. An involuntary tear starts in my eye on thus being
obliged to give you this painful information.
The cause of his having drawn for so much money from Bombay was
unfortunately his ship parted from us and they did not join at
Columbo for some months, where I understand he had been induced to
play by some designing people. But I assure you, from the moment he
joined here, his life was exemplary for all young men. He was
beloved by every description of people. From the very sudden way he
took the field and the very expensive mode of campaigning in this
country he was in debt to the paymaster. He was not singular; they
were all in the same predicament. The first division of the prize
money which was one thousand ster. Pagodas, about your hundred
pounds, will only clear him with the Regiment.
Long before this letter arrived the news was known at Murray Bay.
Malcolm Fraser, the tried family friend, writes on September 1st, 1800,
that he has just discharged the most painful task of telling the sad
news to Jack's sister and companion, Christine, who was visiting in
Quebec. In his grief Nairne gives an exceeding bitter cry, "Lord, help
me. I shall lose all my children before I go myself." His sister
Magdalen wrote from Edinburgh on March 17th, 1800, to offer comfort and
to hope that he bears the trial "with Christian fortitude, and that God
will reward him by sparing those that remain to be a blessing to him,"
Nairne's sisters now had with them in Edinburgh the two remaining
children, Tom and Mary, called "Polly." John is gone but Tom is left,
says the fond aunt, and to console Nairne she tells of Tom's virtues:
"Never was father blessed with a more promising son than our little
Tom, and though I used to dread he was too faultless and too good to
live, I would now persuade myself he is intended by Providence to
compensate you for the losses you have sustained." On Tom now centred
the hopes of the Nairne family.
[Illustration: VIEW FROM POINTE AU PIC UP MURRAY BAY]
The sands of Nairne's own life were running out. As he looked around him
he could see much to make his heart content. He was never unmindful of
the singular beauty of the place. "I wish I could send you a landscape
of this place," he wrote to a friend, John Clark, in 1798; "Was you here
your pencil might be employed in drawing a beautiful one which this Bay
affords, as the views and different objects are remarkably various and
entertaining." This is, no doubt, a mild account of the beauties of a
very striking scene, but the 18th century had not developed our
appreciation for nature. Nairne tells of his delight in tramping through
the woods, and over the mountains, with a gun on his shoulder. The
increase of settlement, and the burning of the woods, had driven the
wild animals farther back into the wilderness, but partridges and water
fowl were still abundant. There was salmon fishing almost at his door
and "Lake Nairne," the present Grand Lac, had famous trout fishing. The
thick woods, which at his coming extended all round the bay, were now
cleared away. Much land had been enclosed and brought under cultivation
and to do this had been a laborious and expensive task. Now he had
three farms of his own, each with a hundred acres of arable land and
with proper buildings. There was also a smaller farm for hay and
pasture. "I have been employed lately," he writes in 1798, "making paths
into our woods and marking the trees in straight lines thro' tracts of
pretty good land in order to encourage the young men to take lots of
land." He tells how the successive ridges, representing, no doubt,
different water levels in remote ages, were numbered. In the highest,
Number 7, the lakes are all situated; the elevated land was generally
the best but as yet settlement was chiefly in Flats 1, 2, and 3. His
great aim had always been to get people on the land and he denounced
obstacles put in their way. "For God's sake let them pitch away, and if
they have not good titles give them better." The Manor House had become
a warm and comfortable residence well finished and well furnished. In
1801 Nairne wrote to his sister, with some natural exultation, that
where he had at first found an untrodden wilderness were now order,
neatness, good buildings, a garden and plenty of flowers, fruits and
humming birds. In the winter one might often say "O, it's cold," but
means of warming oneself were always available. His wife had proved
always a useful helper and was indeed a motherly, practical woman,
beloved by the people. These came to pay their compliments on the first
day of the year, when there was much drinking of whiskey and eating of
cakes, all costing a pretty penny. There were 100 young men in the
parish composing a complete company of militia. The children grew up so
fast that he could not distinguish the half of them.
On the commercial side also Murray Bay was developing. In 1800 a man
came through the district buying up wheat at "9 livers a Bushel," but
since the population was increasing very rapidly, and the people were
accustomed to eat a great deal of bread, there was not much wheat for
export. The total exports of all commodities amounted in 1800 to
£1500:--oil, timber, grain, oxen and a few furs being the chief items.
Oil was the most important product; it came from the "porpoise" fishery.
What Nairne calls a porpoise, is really the beluga, a small white whale.
The fishery is an ancient industry on the St. Lawrence.[15] The creature
has become timid and is now not readily caught so that the industry
survives at only a few points. At Malbaie it has wholly ceased; but in
the summer of 1796 sixty-two porpoises were killed at "Pointe au Pique."
In the summer of 1800, which was hot and dry, no less than three hundred
were "catched." Malbaie must have had bustling activity on its shores
when such numbers of these huge creatures were taken in a single
season. We can picture the many fires necessary for boiling the blubber.
The oil of each beluga was worth £5 and the skin £1. Nairne's own share
in a single year from this source of revenue was £70, but even then the
industry was declining.
We have Nairne's statement of income in 1798 and it indicates simple
living at Malbaie. We must remember that in addition, he had received a
number of bequests which brought in a considerable income and that he
had sold out of the army for £3000. Perhaps, too, 1798 was a bad year.
"Porpoise" fishery £20
Income from four farms at £20 each 80
Profits from mills 20
-----
£120
The rent from the land granted to the habitants was scarcely worth
reckoning, as the people paid nothing until the land was productive, a
condition that could apparently be postponed indefinitely. Since under
the seigniorial tenure, the farmers must use the seigneur's grist mill,
Nairne had his mill in operation and Fraser was building one in 1798.
Nairne had also one or more mills for sawing timber. "I hope there are a
great many loggs brought and to be brought to your and my saw mills,"
Fraser wrote in 1797, but an income of only £20 a year from the mills
does not indicate any extortionate exercise of seigniorial rights.
Already some of the city people were beginning to find Murray Bay a
delightful place in which to spend the summer. In 1799 Nairne writes to
a friend, Richard Dobie, in Montreal, that it is the best place in the
world for the recovery of strength. "You shall drink the best of wheys
and breathe the purest sea air in the world and, although luxuries will
be wanting, our friendship and the best things the place can afford to
you, I know, will make ample amends:"--a simple standard of living that
subsequent generations would do well to remember. In 1801 the manor
house must have been the scene of some gaiety for there and at Malcolm
Fraser's were half a score of visitors. Christine, Nairne's second
daughter, who preferred Quebec to the paternal roof, had come home for a
visit and other visitors were the Hon. G. Taschereau and his son, Mr.
Usburn, Mr. Masson, Mrs. Langan and Mrs. Bleakley, Fraser's daughters,
described as "rich ladies from Montreal," the last with three children.
No doubt they drove and walked, rowed and fished, much as people from
New York and Baltimore and Boston and Toronto and Montreal do still on
the same scene, when they are not pursuing golf balls. The coming of
people with more luxurious habits made improvements necessary and also,
Nairne says, increased the expense of living--a complaint that
successive generations have continued with justice to make.
With Tom and Mary Nairne absent at school in Edinburgh, the family at
Murray Bay during Nairne's last days consisted of but four persons--of
himself and his wife and the two daughters Magdalen and Christine.
Christine, a fashionable young lady, disliked Murray Bay as a place of
residence, tolerated Quebec, but preferred Scotland where she had been
educated. "Christine does not like to stay at Murray Bay and Madie her
sister does not like to stay anywhere else," wrote Nairne in 1800. In
the manner of the eighteenth century he was extremely anxious that his
children should be "genteel". Christine's Quebec friends pleased him. "I
saw her dance at a ball at the Lieutenant-Governor's and she seemed at
no loss for Genteel partners but does not prepare to find one for life.
I am well pleased with her and do not in the least grudge her so long as
she is esteemed by the best company in the place." It was not easy to
find at Quebec proper accommodation for unmarried young women living
away from home. Nairne writes in August, 1797, that he and Christine
each paid $1.00 a day in Quebec where they lodged, although they mostly
dined and drank tea abroad. "The town gentry of Quebec are vastly
hospitable Civil and well-bred but no such a thing as an invitation to
stay in any of their houses." At length a Mr. Stewart opened his doors.
He must, Nairne wrote, be paid tactfully for the accommodation he
furnishes. Things went better when later Miss Mabane, the daughter of a
high official of the Government, kept Christine with her at Quebec all
the winter of 1799-1800; no doubt Christine was pleased when Miss Mabane
would not allow her to go to Murray Bay even for the summer. Her elder
sister, Madie, appears to have been hoydenish and somewhat uncongenial
to a young lady so determined to be "genteel."
In the winter time communication with the outside world was almost
entirely suspended. In case of emergency it was possible indeed to pass
on snow shoes by Cap Tourmente, over which there was still no road, and
so reach Quebec by the north shore. But this was a severe journey to be
undertaken only for grave cause. Partly frozen over, and often with
great floes of ice sweeping up and down with the tide, the river was
dangerous; the south shore, lying so well in sight, was really very
remote. Yet news passed across the river. On February 12th, 1797,
Malcolm Fraser, who was on the south shore, found some means of sending
a letter to Nairne. Anxious to get word in return he planned a signal.
He said that on March 6th he would go to Kamouraska, just opposite
Murray Bay, and build a fire. If Nairne answered by one fire Fraser
would be satisfied that nothing unusual had happened; if two fires were
made he would understand that there was serious news and would wish as
soon as possible to learn details. Signalling across the St. Lawrence
attained a much higher development than is found in Fraser's crude plan.
Philippe Aubert de Gaspé tells how the people on the south shore could
read what had happened on the north shore from Cap Tourmente to Malbaie.
On St. John's eve, December 26th, the season of Christmas festivities,
there was a general illumination. Looking then across the river to a
line of blazing fires the news was easily understood. "At Les
Eboulements eleven adults have died since the autumn, three of whom were
in one house, that of Dufour. All are well at the Tremblays; but at
Bonneau's some one is ill. At Belairs a child is dead,"--and so on. The
key is simple enough. The situation of the fire would indicate the
family to which it related. A fire lighted and kept burning for a long
time meant good news; when a fire burned with a half smothered flame it
meant sickness; the sudden extinguishing of the fire was a sign of
death; as many times as it was extinguished so many were the deaths; a
large blaze meant an adult, a small one a child. Before the days of post
and telegraph these signals were used winter and summer; so great an
obstacle to communication was the mighty tide of the St. Lawrence.[16]
At all seasons but especially in winter the news that reached Malbaie
was of a very fragmentary character. With his kin in Scotland Nairne
exchanged only an annual letter but since each side took time and pains
to prepare it, the letter told more, probably, than would a year's bulk
of our hurried epistles. Newspapers were few and dear and only at
intervals did any come. Books too were scarce. Occasionally Nairne notes
those that he thought of buying--St. Simon's "Memoirs;" an account of
the Court of Louis XIV; "A Comparative View of the State and Facultys of
Man with those of the Animal World;" "Elegant Extracts or Useful and
Entertaining passages in prose," a companion volume to a similar one in
poetry, and so on. He writes gratefully, in 1799, to a friend in Quebec,
who had sent newspapers and sermons, both of which remotely different
classes of literature had furnished "great entertainment." From Europe
he is receiving the volumes of the new edition of the Encyclopædia
Britannica, still on the shelves at Murray Bay, and is thankful that
they were not captured by the French. "The older I grow the fonder I am
of reading and that book is a great resource." Our degenerate age gets
little "entertainment" out of sermons and usually keeps an encyclopædia
strictly for "reference"; obviously Nairne read it.
The old soldier watched and commented upon developments which were the
fruit of seed he himself had helped to sow. He had fought to win Canada
for Britain; he had fought to crush the American Revolution. By 1800 he
sees how great Canada may become and is convinced that yielding
independence to the United States has not proved very injurious to Great
Britain. Though, in a short time, the United States was to secure the
great West by purchasing Louisiana from France, when Nairne died it had
not done so and in 1800 he could say that the United States "are small
in comparison of the whole of North America. They are bounded upon all
sides and will be filled up with people in no very great number of
years. Our share of North America is yet unknown in its extent.
Enterprising people in quest of furs travel for years towards the north
and towards the west through vast countries of good soil uninhabited as
yet ... [except] for hunting, and watered with innumerable lakes and
rivers, stored with fish, besides every other convenience for the use of
man, and certainly destined to be filled with people in some future
time. We have only [now] heard of one named Mackenzie[17] who is
reported to have been as far as the Southern Ocean (from Canada) across
this continent to the West." Long before Canada stretched from the
Atlantic to the Pacific Nairne was thus dreaming of what we now see.
Of war, then raging, Nairne took a philosophic view. "War may be
necessary," he writes in 1798, "for some very Populous countrys as any
crop when too thick is the better of being thinned." But it occurred to
him that the problem of over-population in Europe might have been solved
in a less crude manner. "It is strange," he says, "that there should be
so much of the best part of the globe still unoccupied, where the foot
of man never trod, and in Europe such destruction of people. It is
however for some purpose we do not, as yet, comprehend." Those were the
days when Napoleon Bonaparte's star was rising and when, in defiance of
England, led by Pitt, he smote state after state which stood in the path
of his ambition. Nairne's friend and business agent James Ker, an
Edinburgh banker, was obviously no admirer of Pitt, for he writes on
July 20th, 1797, of the struggle with revolutionary France which, though
it was to endure for more than twenty years, had already, he thought,
lasted too long:
After a four years' war undertaken for the attainment of objects
which were unattainable, in which we have been gradually deserted
by every one of our allies except Portugal, ... too weak to leave
us; and after a most shameless extravagance and Waste of the public
money which all feel severely by the imposition of new and
unthought of taxes, we have again sent an ambassador to France to
try to procure us Peace.... If our next crop be as bad as our two
last ones God knows what will become of us. If it were not for the
unexampled Bounty and Charity of the richer classes the Poor must
have literally starved, but we have been favoured with a very mild
winter.
In 1798 when Napoleon led his forces to Egypt and disappeared from the
ken of Europe, Nairne hopes devoutly that "he has gone to the Devil, or,
which is much the same thing, among the Turks and Tartars where he and
his army may be destroyed." After Nelson succeeded in his attack on the
French fleet at the Battle of the Nile Nairne rejoices that his country
is supreme on the sea, "By ruling the waves she will rule the wealth of
the world not by plunder and conquest but by wisdom and commerce and
increasing riches everywhere to the happiness of mankind." On March
20th, 1801, when Austria had just made with France the Peace of
Lunéville, Ker writes again to Nairne:
We live in the age of wonders, sudden changes and Revolutions. The
French have now completely turned the tables on us. They have
forced Austria to a disastrous peace and Russia, Prussia, Denmark
and Sweden from being our friends and Allies are now uniting with
our bitter foes for our destruction, so that from having almost all
Europe on our side against France we have now the contest to
support _alone_ against her _and almost all Europe_ and nothing
prevents the ambitious French Republic from being conquerors of the
world but our little Islands and our invincible fleets.
Notwithstanding all this we do not seem afraid of invasion and a
large fleet under Sir Hide Parker and Lord Nelson is preparing to
sail for the Baltic to bring the northern powers to a sense of
their duty, and to break in pieces the unnatural coalition with our
inveterate foes, the foes of Religion, Property, true Liberty,
which but for our strenuous efforts would soon nowhere exist on
this Globe.
In spite of what Ker says as to no fear of invasion, such a fear grew
really very strong in 1801, and, for a brief period, it seemed as if
Murray Bay might become a refuge for Nairne's kindred in the distressed
mother land. One of his sisters writes in an undated letter:
We are much obliged to you for the kind of reception you say we
should have met with at Mal Bay had we fled there from the French
and I do assure you ... it was for some time a very great comfort
and relief to think we had resources to trust to. I for one, I am
sure, was almost frightened out of my wits, for a visit from these
monsters, even the attempt, tho' they had been subdued after
landing, was fearsome. I suspect you might have had more of your
friends than your own family to have provided for. The Hepburns I
know turned their thoughts toward you and all of us determined to
work for our bread the best way we could. But you might have no
small addition to your settlers; some of us poor old creatures
would have settled heavy enough I fear upon yourself and family. It
is a fine place Mal Bay turned by your account. What a deal of
respectable company. I am glad of it on your account. A very great
piece of good fortune to get Col. Fraser so near; I wonder he does
not marry Maidy, but she will think him too old. I think Christine
may do a great deal worse than spend the summer if not more at Mal
Bay. You are most amazingly indulgent to her. I wish she would make
a grateful return by bestowing more of her company on her friends
at home in a situation it would appear so pleasant. But she is a
good kind-hearted Lassie after all and I suppose when she has got
her full swing of Quebec she will be very well pleased to return
home.
A legislature now sat at Quebec, the result of the new Constitutional
Act passed in 1791, and Nairne might have become a member. Murray Bay
then formed a part of what, with little fitness, had been called by the
English conquerors the County of Northumberland, no doubt because it lay
in the far north of Canada as Northumberland lies in the far north of
England. Two members sat in the legislature for this county. "I never
had any idea of trying to be one of them," writes Nairne in 1800, "but
succeeded in procuring that honour for a friend Dr. Fisher, who resides
in Quebec. He is rich and much flattered with it and is ready on all
occasions to speak."
To Nairne, contrary to a general impression, the climate of Canada did
not seem to grow milder as the land was cleared. In any case the blood
of old age runs less hotly. Formerly the winter had its delights of
hunting excursions but now, he writes, these are all over. "The passion
I had formerly for hunting and fishing and wandering through the woods
is abated.... What with the cold hand of old age my former Winter
excursions into the woods seem impossible and no more now of fishing
and hunting which formerly I esteemed so interesting a business." He
writes again: "My employment is more in the sedentary way than formerly
and what from calls in my own affairs and calls from people here in
theirs, accounts to settle, &c., [I have] ... plenty of occupation.
Besides being a Justice of the Peace and Colonel of Militia ... I employ
myself without doors in farming, gardening, clearing and manuring land."
If we may credit the words of Bishop Hubert of Quebec written just at
this time (in 1794) the new liberties gained by the habitants did not
make the seigneur's task easier. The good bishop makes sweeping charges
of general dishonesty; of attempts to defraud the church of her tithe
and the seigneurs of their dues; of bitter feuds between families and
innumerable law suits. In such conditions Nairne, as a justice of the
peace, would have his hands full.
His end was drawing very near. One of his sisters died in 1798. This
brought sad thoughts but he wrote: "I am very thankful to have found in
the world connexions who have produced such regards and sympathys. Time
seems not to be going slowly now-a-days but running fast. I hope we are
to have other times and to know one another hereafter." "I must make
haste now," he wrote later, in 1801, "to finish all improvements here
that may be possible as I will soon be finished myself. Crushed already
under a load of years of 7 times 10 really I find the last 2 years ...
heavier than 20 before that time." "The scenes of this life," he had
written to his old friend and neighbour Malcolm Fraser "are continually
varying like the elements, sometimes cloudy, sometimes sun shine; [it]
never lasts long one way or the other till night soon comes and we must
then lie down and die. Therefore all is vanity and vexation of spirit,
but God will help us and most certainly some time or other bless and
reward the friendly honest man."
His last letter to his Scottish relations was intended to be a farewell:
_Colonel Nairne to his Sister Miss M. Nairne From Murray Bay, 20th
April, 1802._
My Dear Madie,--
I shall see our friends in the world of spirits probably before any
of you; whatever darkness we are in here I have always convinced
myself that we shall meet again in a better place hereafter.
Although I have enjoyed good health till past 70 years of age, the
agues of Holland and sometimes excessive fatigue have probably
weakened parts of my inward machinery that they are now wore out
and must soon finish their functions. I can have no reason to
expect to live longer than our father; I am chiefly uneasy that the
event may occasion grief to my sisters, yet it ought to be less
felt my being at a distance; a poor affair to grieve when it must
be all your fates to follow. I am happy that Mr. Ker understands my
circumstances and my last will, and that he will be so good and so
able to assist in settling it properly; I wish to follow his ideas
therein in case of any difficulty, and I am likewise perfectly
satisfied with all Mr. Ker's accounts with me. I write this letter
to you to go by the first ship in case I should not be able to
write later; I do not expect to be able to write to Robie Hepburn
nor to Mr. Ker; nothing I can tell now from this country can
entertain them; my mind is taken up with nothing but the
Friendship, which they know.... So soon as the weather is warmer I
intend to go to Quebec in order to obtain the best advice: I shall
not personally be so conveniently situated there, as here. I am
able yet to go out as far as a bank before the Door and to walk
through the rooms; indeed the arrangements and conveniences of this
house with the attendance and attention I receive are all in the
best manner I can possibly desire; ... it's enough to say that were
you here I think you would approve of them. Industry and neatness
prevail and everything nesessary [is] foreseen and provided for. No
wonder my wife and I agree so well now these thirty-five years as
she happens to be equal in every moral attribute which I pretend
to.... We are in friendship with everybody, because we do justice
impartially and really without vanity have assisted many persons in
forming farms and providing for the support of familys; although
thereby not in the way of enriching ourselves it affords perhaps as
much Satisfaction.
This place certainly thrives exceedingly; although we may by such
exertions be recommending ourselves to the Father of all things,
how poor they appear in my eyes having read lately the Newspapers.
Most unreasonable are some men in Parliament to find fault with the
ministry of Pitt and Dundass who have steered the Vessel of the
State so successfully through such dangerous times and threatening
appearances. Every Briton I think has reason to be proud of his
Country which is raised higher than ever before not only in
national Character but in its prospects of Commerce and Wealth by
the Peace [the brief Peace of Amiens signed in March, 1802]. What
prodigious honour and glory has been acquired and bestowed upon our
Army of Egypt, exertions indeed on the most conspicuous theatre of
the World and at the most conspicuous period of the world. We
formerly thought ourselves sort of heroes by conquering Louisbourg
and Quebec but nothing must be compared to that of Egypt.... The
French troops have fought much better under their Diacal
Republican government than under their King's and our troops not
only fight equally well as formerly, but our Generals and Officers
are much better writers; never have I read better wrote letters
than those describing these renown'd events.
But pray allow me to sink into poetry to help to fill up this
paper; ... let me transcribe a letter in verse which is handed me
now by an old Soldier residing near us.[18] He received it from an
acquaintance of his who is only a private soldier in the 26th
Regiment. That Regt. is now gone home; ... should it be at
Edinburgh pray invite James Stevenson to a dram of Whiskey for my
sake; though I do not know the man we had served together in the
American War and he shows the idea the private men had of me and
how a man of a slender education (I believe from Glasgow) can make
verses. The Canadians here, I believe, have the same opinion though
they are very far from making verses upon any subject whatever; it
is much more useful here to cut down trees which they can do with
great dexterity.
Quebec, 25th April, 1800.
My worthy conty, gude Jock Warren,
Thou's still jocose and ay auld farren,
Gentle and kind, blythe, frank and free,
And always unco' gude to me.
And now thou's sold thy country ware
And towards hame mean to repair.[19]
Accept these lines although but weak
And read them for thy Comrade's sake.
May plenty still around thee smile
And God's great help thy foes beguile,
In Wisdom's path be sure to tread
And her fair daughter Virtue wed.
My compliments and love sincere
To all our friends both here and there,
But in particular to him
That's tall in body, long in limb,
Auld faithful Loyal, Johny Nairne,
Lang may he count you his ain bairne;
By his example still be sway'd;
Be his good precepts still obeyed;
Revere this good and worthy man
And always do the best you can.
This is my wish and expectation,
God granting you and me salvation.
We ance were young but now we're auld,
Oour blood from heat commences cauld,
A drop of whiskey warms the whole,
Renews the body, cheers the soul;
Observing still due moderation,
In order to prevent vexation,
Proceeding on with cautious care
Till Death with his grim face appear;
Then with a conscience, just and true
See Heaven's Glory, in your View.
My neighbour, Mr. Fraser, tells me that by my looks and speaking he
cannot think me so ill as imagined. You will think the same by my
writing the above. My distemper is owing to Gravelly Ulcers and it
is a great chance at my time of life to recover, so [we] should be
prepared for the worst.
It is a satisfaction to me to have been able to write this letter,
such as it is. My thoughts are every day and every night with my
sisters and [I] figure myself frequently at your fireside. Remember
I am not to write any more unless I get a great deal better. [I]
shall refer you to Christine to correspond and to tell you all you
would wish to know from this country. And now I have nothing but
Compts. and love to send to all my friends--to Robie Hepburn as my
oldest and nearest my heart--my blessings to his family, as to the
Kers and Congaltons. And once more to Anny you and Mary and Mrs.
Ker and my Polly and Tom. God bless you all. I am truly my dear
Madie with much affection,
Yours for aye,
JOHN NAIRNE.
Nairne was not mistaken in his view that the end was near. He writes
about this time to his physician at Quebec (there was no practitioner at
Murray Bay) describing his symptoms and ends: "Now, dear Doctor, I dare
say you think some apologies necessary for my troubling you so
particularly with the complaints of an old man of 71, as his inward
machinery is probably wore out and irreparable." In a last vain hope
they took him to Quebec for medical care. But the machinery was, indeed,
"wore out," and at Quebec, on July 14th, 1802, he closed his eyes on a
world which, though it brought him labour and sorrow, he thought to be
very good.
Among his own letters is preserved the printed invitation to his
funeral:
Quebec, _Wednesday, 14th July, 1802._
Sir,--
The favour of your company is requested to attend the Funeral of
the late Colonel Nairne, from No. 1 Grison Street, on Cape Diamond,
to the place of interment, on Friday next at one o'clock in the
afternoon.
All that was most worthy in Quebec attended to do honour to his memory.
He was buried in the Protestant cemetery; long after his body was
removed to Mount Hermon Cemetery, to lie beside his son and
grandson--the last of his race.
Nairne played his part with high purpose and integrity. Among his papers
at Murray Bay is a prayer, intended apparently for daily use, in which
he asks that he may be vigilant in conduct and immovable in all good
purposes; that he may show courage in danger, patience in adversity,
humility in prosperity. He asks, too, to be made sensible "how little is
this world, how great [are] thy Heavens, and how long will be thy
blessed eternity." It is the prayer of a strong soul facing humbly and
reverently the tasks of life.[20] He would have wished to found a
community English speaking and Protestant. But the forces of nature were
against him. The few English speaking people who came in (and they were
but a few scattered individuals) for the most part married French
wives. The children held the faith and spoke the tongue which they
learned at their mothers' knees. It was the course of nature, and always
we are foolish to quarrel with nature. A granite monument marks the
resting place where the good old man sleeps in the cemetery at Quebec,
but some memorial might well stand at Murray Bay, that those who look
out upon the majestic river, the blue mountains, the smiling valley
should have before them a reminder of the "friendly, honest man" who, a
century and a half ago, began to win their heritage from the
wilderness.[21]
[Footnote 13: It may be convenient to state at once the dates of the
births and deaths of each of these children:
Magdalen (Madie) (Mrs. McNicol) born 1767 died 1839.
Christine Nairne " 1774 " 1817.
John Nairne " 1777 " 1799.
Mary (Polly) Nairne " 1782 " 1821.
Thomas Nairne " 1787 " 1813.
]
[Footnote 14: See Appendix D., p. 277., for a formal memorandum drawn up
by Nairne for his son's guidance.]
[Footnote 15: See Appendix E., p. 279. "The 'Porpoise' (Beluga or White
Whale) Fishery on the St. Lawrence."]
[Footnote 16: "Les Anciens Canadiens," Chapter IV.]
[Footnote 17: Sir Alexander Mackenzie who accomplished in 1793 what was
then the astonishing feat of crossing the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific
Ocean and whose book, "Voyages from Montreal on the River St. Lawrence,
through the Continent of North America, to the Frozen and Pacific
Oceans," first published in 1801, attracted general attention, including
even that of Napoleon Bonaparte.]
[Footnote 18: John Warren, the ancestor of the numerous family at Murray
Bay of that name.]
[Footnote 19: Warren, Nairne's neighbour, had been visiting Quebec
apparently for business reasons.]
[Footnote 20: See Appendix F., p. 286, for this Prayer of Colonel
Nairne.]
[Footnote 21: The inscription to be placed on Nairne's tomb was long a
subject of debate in the family. Two drafts remain at Murray Bay, both
copious in length, and neither like the inscription now to be found at
Mount Hermon Cemetery. (See p. 221.) In the taste of the time
inscriptions were expected to give a full account of the career of the
dead man. One of these inscriptions speaks of Nairne's "enjoying as a
reward of his services a gift of Land on the River St. Lawrence. He had
alike the merit and the happiness of converting a wild and uninhabited
desert into a flourishing colony of above 1000 inhabitants, who regarded
him as their Tender Friend and Patriarch. He died honoured with the
esteem of all who knew him." The other inscription mentions what,
otherwise, we should not have known, that Nairne received a wound on the
Plains of Abraham. It goes on in verse:
"Though 'gainst the Foe a dauntless Front he reared,
Ne'er from his lips was aught assuming heard;
Modest, though brave; though firm, in manners mild,
Strong in resolve, though guileless as a child;
To honor true, in probity correct;
To falsehood [stern] and urgent to detect;
To party strange, to calumny a foe;
The good Samaritan to sons of woe;
At a late hour he heard the fatal call,
Obeyed and died, wept and deplored by all."
]