Foster remonstrated; but the troops had to go, and he was left in
command of the sentries, sick soldiers, women and children at the Fort.
Under these circumstances the militia came to the front, did their
best, fired anywhere, and we were more afraid of them than of the
enemy. We were retiring for the night when a loud noise attracted my
attention, and I looked out of the window to see Colonel FitzGibbon on
horseback half-way up our steps.” FitzGibbon omitted no chance to warn
and thus save life and property. “He called out, ‘The rebels are upon
us, and this is one of the houses marked for burning,’ and clattered
off again. My husband and his son were soon on their way to the Fort.
Our household was left undisturbed, but I had orders to answer the
door myself should the rioters come; the servants were not to show
themselves, and as I was young and fearless then I rather enjoyed the
prospect of excitement. In fact, I was distinctly disappointed that
nobody did come. For the next week my husband took what rest he could
get on a gun-carriage at the Fort, and I was never in bed regularly
myself during that period. He came to see us once, and I recall my
amusement at watching him hungrily devour the leg of a goose, an
utterly absurd sight when one remembers the style of man he was, and
the many courses of his ordinary dinners. I was thankful we even had
that leg to give him, as every bit of meat we could get might be seized
for the hungry militia.
“I do not see why unpleasant remarks should have been made on the
score of a boat having been provided for the safety of the Governor’s
family. Lady Head seems to be mentioned very little in the history of
her husband’s administration, no doubt owing to the quietness of the
life she led. But she was extremely pleasant, and much liked by those
who knew her.
“Mrs. Draper and I and some others declined to go on board the boat in
the bay on which a good many families were hurried for safety. Another
boat had been provided for some citizens’ families, but in the middle
of the night despatches came down from Colonel Foster to be sent by
boat to Sir John Colborne, and immediately everything was haste and
dismay. The people and their boxes were unceremoniously bundled on the
wharf, and all was confusion, while the boat went off on its errand.
But those on the Government boat did not omit to make public the
unpleasant predicament of their guard on board. The distinguished duty
of protecting so many wives and families of officials was given to one
gentleman. Some one on board was not too frightened to have spirit left
to play a practical joke. The poor man’s clothes were removed after he
had gone to bed, and then the alarm was sounded--you may imagine his
discomfort of mind and body.”
Articles of apparel were frequently pressed into active and public
service then and later, and Mrs. Ogle Gowan, notable as a true Deborah,
conspicuously contributed her share in connection with the Rebellion
Losses’ Bill; her enthusiasm had not grown cold in years. Lord Elgin,
equally misunderstood with Durham and Sydenham, made a futile attempt
to land at Brockville; a black flag, bearing the inscription in white
letters, “Down with Elgin and his rebel-paying ministry,” was hoisted
on the dock, a banner known then and ever since as Mrs. Gowan’s
petticoat, but it is likely that it merely earned its name because
designed and made by her. The lady was unconsciously making a link in
the much-discussed history of the jacques, and illustrated one meaning
of her husband’s paper, _The Antidote_. It is said the paper had as
motto, “The _Antidote_ is set afloat to cure poisonous treason.”
Ogle R. Gowan, staunch Irish-Orange Tory as he was, was a herald of
Responsible Government--and suffered for it--a prophet as to ’37, chief
promoter in the first movement which resulted in Canadian volunteers,
father and founder of Orangeism here, and although a strong supporter
of Colborne was antagonistic to the methods of Francis Bond Head; in
his military career he was chiefly conspicuous at Prescott, and carried
the buckshot and bayonet record of that engagement to his grave. To
such a man Mrs. Gowan, a womanly woman of great culture and heroic
spirit, was a true helpmeet.
The heroic spirit was patent in many ways. A colonel prominent in
the Canadian service received the following: “Mrs. M. wishes to be
remembered to you, and prays that the day may come when your hands will
place the British standard on the top of the citadel of Washington, the
capital of the democratic mob.”
Early in the century a handsome stranger was an honoured guest at
Quebec mess dinners, so fraternally fond of the military and military
life that the inference is if fighting were on the cards he too would
be ready. But at one of the dinners the gentleman was convicted of
being a lady in disguise. The heroines of Upper Canada in ’37 satisfied
their warlike propensities by running their tea-chest lead into
bullets, making a Canadian question de joupons, or firing a feu de joie
at home. When one pretty girl did the last, on the return of father and
brothers, Brown Bess unhandsomely kicked her flat and she found herself
prone on that Sol Canadien, terre chérie, which she so dearly loved.
Mothers in Israel! Could they have foreseen a certain date in ’97, the
year next prominent to ’37 in the Canadian horoscope, they and Brown
Besses in conjunction might have furnished material for a legend of the
female Brutus. For a certain Tory child of those days who has since
developed into a renowned statesman has said, “My earliest memory in
life is of the women of my family casting bullets in the Upper Canadian
Rebellion of 1837, I am afraid on the wrong side.”
Mixed politics in one family often led to strained relations: “When I
went to my brother John’s to ask him to turn out he was not at home,
and his wife said she did not intend him to be at home, and that he
would not and should not go. I then asked her for his arms, for we
were in great need of them, but Mrs. John said she knew nothing about
arms. I went into another room for his rifle, which I could not find,
but I saw his sword hanging by the head of his bed. I took it down,
but as I did so my sister-in-law caught hold of the hilt and jerked it
partly away. To save myself from being stabbed I was obliged to pull
her close to me, moving towards the door; I wished myself clear of her
and the sword, but dared not let go until we got out the door, when
I gave her a push and seized the hilt. I walked off with the sword,
but instead of following me she ran into the house, calling for the
rifle, the children after her. It was a truly ridiculous sight, to see
one of Her Britannic Majesty’s officers, armed, running away from his
sister-in-law. But run I did, and she told me afterwards that the only
reason she did not fire was that I was in motion and she was so greatly
excited she was afraid she might not kill me!”
* * * * *
The _Canada Museum_ was a journal much quoted in its day by domestic
and American newspapers; its editorials were considered, by editors
of both sides of politics, to be temperate, patriotic and logical.
Published in Berlin, chiefly in German, partly in English, it naturally
was an important influence in Canada West, and its editor, Mr. H.
W. Peterson, had an acknowledged and deservedly high standing. He
was heartily in love with the Union Jack, as heartily opposed to the
Stars and Stripes in Canadian connection, was a Conservative in the
true sense of the word, and abominated Toronto rule as utterly as
any so-called rebel. But it appears that the guiding hand of this
influential paper belonged to a wife and mother, one who had made
herself mistress of colonial politics and was eminently qualified
to express herself. One to whom Mrs. Peterson was best known says:
“She possessed literary abilities of a fine order, with the soundest
judgment in every matter. Mr. Peterson, a discreet editor, temperately
supported the Government of the day, conceiving that wrongs should be
constitutionally redressed by the people through their representatives,
without force of arms. Mrs. Peterson concurred in all his views; but
while she deprecated bloodshed and the resort to force, she had a
woman’s heart added to the courage of her convictions. Her natural
benevolence induced her to state, when discussing the question of
Mackenzie’s flight and the reward offered for him, that if his journey
took him through Waterloo and he called on her for aid and comfort she
would undoubtedly give it, and not disclose the fact of his presence
until he had had time to move on farther. Woman first, politician
afterward, such action would have done no violence to her Conservative
principles; but it would have been entirely on her own responsibility,
as her husband was a magistrate and could countenance no charity of
that kind.”
A much used saying is not necessarily trite. The gentle hand which
rocked the cradle could guide the pen when danger threatened the state.
* * * * *
The Canadian Deborah of ’12 or ’37 was not learned in history, nor
was she conscious of her part as tenon in that _arc de triomphe_ in
the history of nations, that mortised arch of Frank and Saxon whereof
the pillars are Hastings and Quebec. She knew but little, perhaps
never heard, of those countless hordes who swarmed over Apennines and
Pyrenees, nor yet of Clovis, nor of Cedric. She was no seer and could
not foretell the many who were destined, after conquest of forest,
to crowd the valley of the Peace, make homes on the slopes of our
statesman’s “sea of mountains,” and be lost, an equally countless
host, who can tell, in the as yet hidden recesses of the untamed
remnant of a continent.
“Mine all the past, and all the future mine.”
Canadian women, like their famous sisters of Liége, held, and hold,
their distaff and their God; but, with few exceptions, unlike the
wise ones there, they made no grand bakings of bread in order to be
ready for the earliest comer, friend or foe, in the times when shadows
spoiled the beauty of the Canadian day. No women of Saragossa they; but
each has for record, “She hath done what she could.”
ERRATUM.
On page 171, 8th line from foot of page, for “Colonel Foster,
Adjutant-General,” _read_ “Colonel Foster, Assistant Adjutant-General.”
In the Days of the Canada Company
_The Story of the Settlement of the Huron Tract, and a View of the
Social Life of the Period._
By Robina and Kathleen Macfarlane Lizars
With an Introduction by REV. PRINCIPAL GRANT, D.D., LL.D. In one
volume, 494 pages, freely illustrated, price =$2.00=.
[Illustration]
CONTENTS:--Spirit of the Times--The Father of the Company--Canada
as the Company Found It--The Face of the Land--From Champlain
to Gooding--The Kings of the Canada Company--The Colborne
Clique--Gairbraid--Lunderston--Meadowlands--The Canada Company vs. The
People--The People vs. The Canada Company--A Social Pot-Pourri--The
Heart of Huron--The Bonnie Easthopes--The Cairn.
[Illustration]
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS
“Strong lights and shadows fill these pictures of the early settlers’
day, and the Misses Lizars, in handling large masses of material, have
maintained the balance of their picture so well that it is something
more than the most forcible and striking piece of word-painting in
Canadian literature. The scenes portrayed in this book might be
compared with some cinematographe views lately seen in the city, for
not only are these flowery-waistcoated, or red-shirted, ancestors,
as the case may be, vivid pieces of brush-work; they seem almost
possessed of the miracle of movement. We fancy we hear them speak to
us, and when Tiger Dunlop strides across the stage in his extraordinary
regimentals--roomy grey homespun, with a large check, the big Scotch
features surmounted by a shock of red hair, and guarded by the
broadest of bonnets, one can almost hear his friendly roar.”--_London
Advertiser._
“No more entertaining book has ever been written about early life in
British North America than ‘In the Days of the Canada Company,’ by
Robina and Kathleen M. Lizars. No attempt, the authors tell us, has
been made at historical writing; their work is certainly not a history
book, but it most assuredly is history of a far more rare and precious
kind than the chronological record of events which usually goes by
that name. There will be many histories, and good histories too, given
to the world before another series of such vivid pictures of the very
lives of men and women who made history in a formative period of a
country is presented.”--_Montreal Daily Witness._
[Illustration]
WILLIAM BRIGGS, - Publisher, - TORONTO, ONT.
Montreal: C. W. COATES. Halifax: S. F. HUESTIS.
Canadian Historical Literature.
(PUBLISHED IN 1896-97.)
That the impulse of recent years to gather together and publish the
historical records of the various localities has borne fruit, is amply
attested in the following list of publications, all from our own
presses. We commend to Public Libraries and to all intelligent readers
the placing on their shelves of as many as possible of these valuable
works:--
=Canadian Savage Folk.= The Native Tribes of Canada.
By John Maclean, Ph.D. Cloth, 641 pages, illustrated $2 50
=The Cabot Calendar of Canadian History, 1497-1897.=
Compiled by Sara Mickle and Mary Agnes FitzGibbon.
Illustrated 0 50
=In the Days of the Canada Company.= By Robina
and Kathleen M. Lizars. Cloth, 494 pages, illustrated 2 00
=Overland to Cariboo.= The narrative of an eventful
journey of Canadian pioneers to the gold-fields of British
Columbia in 1862. By Margaret McNaughton. Illustrated 1 00
=Legislation and History of Separate Schools in
Upper Canada.= From 1841 to the close of Dr. Ryerson’s
administration in 1876. By J. George Hodgins,
LL.D. Paper, $1.00; cloth 1 25
=Manitoba Memories.= Leaves from my Life in the
Prairie Province. By Rev. George Young, D.D. Illustrated 1 00
=Review of Historical Publications Relating to
Canada (1895-96).= Edited by Prof. George M.
Wrong, M.A. Paper, $1.00; cloth 1 25
=The Forge in the Forest.= An historical romance of
Acadia. By Chas. G. D. Roberts. Paper, 60c.; cloth,
illustrated 1 25
=The Lion and the Lilies.= A Tale of the Conquest, in
six cantos, and Other Poems. By Charles Edwin Jakeway.
Cloth 1 00
=John Saint John and Anna Grey.= A Romance of
Old New Brunswick, told in verse. By Margaret Gill
Currie 1 00
=The History of the Dominion of Canada.= For
Schools and Colleges. By W. H. P. Clement, B.A.,
LL.B. With numerous maps, portraits and illustrations 0 50
=History of the County of Annapolis.= Including
Old Port Royal and Acadia. With biographical and
genealogical sketches. By the late W. A. Calnek.
Completed and edited by Judge Savary. Cloth, 660
pages, with portraits and illustrations 3 25
=The Story of the Union Jack.= How it grew and
what it is, particularly in its connection with the History
of Canada. With nine colored lithograph plates and
numerous engravings 1 50
=The Selkirk Settlers in Real Life.= By Rev. R. G.
MacBeth, M.A. 0 75
=Humours of ’37=: Grave, Gay and Grim. Rebellion
Times in the Canadas. By Robina and Kathleen M.
Lizars. Cloth, with map 1 25
=History and Historiettes of the United Empire
Loyalists.= By Edward Harris. Paper 0 10
=Historic Days Of Canada.= A Calendar for 1898.
Compiled by Sara Mickle and Mary Agnes FitzGibbon.
Drawings by J. D. and Percy Kelly. Lithographed in
gold and colors. Twelve cards, enclosed in box 0 75
=Pioneer Sketches of Long Point Settlement.=
Norfolk’s Foundation-Builders and their Family Genealogies.
By E. A. Owen. With portraits. Cloth, 500
pages. (In press) 2 00
For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by
the publisher.
WILLIAM BRIGGS,
Richmond St. West, Toronto.
Montreal: C. W. COATES. Halifax: S. F. HUESTIS.
[Illustration]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] “Among French as well as among English military men, swearing on
every trivial occasion was formerly so common that it was considered
as quite the proper thing. A witty French author asserted that ‘God
Damn était le fonds de la langue anglaise’--the root of the English
language! whilst the Vicomte de Parny, an elegant writer, composed a
poem in four cantos bearing that profane title. Long before and after
the British soldiers ‘swore so dreadfully in Flanders;’ long before
and after Cambronne uttered his malodorous ‘juron’ on the field of
Waterloo--though it must be confessed in extenuation the incidents
of that day were ugly enough to make any of Napoleon’s _vieilles
moustaches_ swear most emphatically--swearing was indulged in all over
Europe.”--J. M. LEMOINE.
[2] _Curiæ Canadenses._
[3] This banner, a remnant of an old election, with date changed, was
taken possession of by Sir Francis and carried to England as a personal
trophy. His grandson, Sir Robert Head, ignorant of the flag’s true
history, exhibited it, as apropos, on the occasion of the lunch given
by the National Liberal Club to Sir Wilfrid Laurier, K.C.M.G., July 9,
1897. The Canadian statesman followed the spirit of Lord Sydenham’s
life and utterances in the comment that “in 1837 Canadians were
fighting for constitutional rights, not against the British Crown.”
Query: By what right was the banner left in the possession of Sir
Francis?
[4] In opposition to this account see Dent’s “History of the Canadian
Rebellion.”
[5] McArthur raided the neighbourhood twice. After such a lapse of
time, narrators doubtless are more interested in incident than in date.
[6] Presentation of medal and chain, January 2, 1832.
[7] This cloak was returned to Mackenzie anonymously when he was in
Monroe County prison.
[Transcriber’s Note:
The corrections listed in the Erratum have been incorporated into the original.
Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation are as in the original.]