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The Highlanders now found
themselves in the same destitute situation as they were in when first
introduced into the manufactories of Glasgow. Stuck with their forlorn
condition, the Chaplain, at his own expense, proceeded to London to
represent their situation to the Government and to endeavour to induce
ministers to lend them assistance to emigrate to Upper Canada. He was
introduced to the Right Honourable Charles Yorke, Secretary at War, and
by him to Mr. Addington, the Premier. The latter, on account of the
testimonials which the Chaplain presented to him of the good conduct of
the regiment during the whole of their service, signed by the different
general officers under whose command they had been, directed that a sum
of money should be paid to the Chaplain, out of the Military Chaplain's
fund in lieu of half pay, which could not be granted to him without
forming a precedent to other Chaplains of Fencible Corps ; and this
favor was conferred upon him at the recommendation of His Royal Highness
the Duke of York, then Commander in Chief, on account of his having
constantly attended the regiment when every other regimental Chaplain
had retired upon five shillings a day, by virtue of an order issued from
the War Office in 1798. Mr. Addington requested the Chaplain to state to
him, in writing, the cause of the frequent emigrations from the
Highlands of Scotland. The Chaplain complied with his request in a
series of letters, on the perusal of which Mr. Addington expressed' his
deep regret that so brave and faithful a portion of His Majesty's
subjects, who were always found ready at the call of Government, and
from whom no murmurs or discontents were ever heard, even under the most
trying and distressing circumstances, should be compelled to quit their
native soil by the harsh treatment of their landlords, and to transfer
their allegiance to the United States, whither the emigration had been
flowing previous to this period.
"Mr. Addington added that
the loss of so many Highlanders was one of the circumstances which had
given him the greatest uneasiness during his administration, and that
nothing would give him greater satisfaction than to convince them of the
friendly feelings and kind intentions of Government towards them by
putting them in the way of acquiring, in a few years, prosperity, and
even wealth, with which they might return and live in ease and
independence in their native land. He then proposed to the Chaplain to
send a colony of those Highlanders with whom he was connected to the
island of Trinidad, which was then first ceded to the British Empire and
to give a farm of eighty acres of land to every head of a family, and
money Out of the the treasury to purchase four slaves for every farm; a
larger proportion of land and slaves to such gentlemen who would
accompany the colony, and to the Chaplain as large a salary as he could
reasonably demand. Mr. Addington also offered to send a surgeon and a
schoolmaster, with salaries from Government, to the new colony, and, to
remove the difficulties which the Chaplain had stated in regard to the
unhealthiness of a tropical climate and the propensity of Highlanders to
drink ardent spirits, undertook to furnish the colony with as much wine
as the Chaplain and surgeon should consider necessary for the
preservation of the general health for three years, also sufficient
vinegar wherewith to wash their habitations for the same period; after
which it might be supposed that the constitution of the settlers would
become inured to the climate.
"For these liberal and
advantageous offers the Chaplain could not but feel grateful to Mr.
Addington, but while he thanked him for kind i1tentions towards his
countrymen, he assured him that no consideration on earth would induce
him to prevail upon Highlanders to reside in the unhealthy climate of
the West Indies, or reconcile to his conscience the bitter reflection of
his being the cause of making a woman or a child a widow or an orphan.
Mr. Addington seemed
greatly surprised and disappointed at this expression of the Chaplain's
sentiments, and demanded in what other way he could serve the
Highlanders. He was answered that what they expected and wished was to
be assisted in emigrating to Upper Canada, where several of their
friends had already settled themselves.
"The Chaplain proceeded
to state that if this assistance were tendered upon a more extensive
scale, it would allay the irritated feelings entertained by the
Highlanders against their landlords, whose cruel conduct was identified
with the system and operations of Government. Moreover, the Scotch,
quitting their country in this exasperated state of mind, and settling
in the United States, readily imbibed republican principles and a
determined antipathy against the British Government; whereas by
diverting the tide of emigration into the British colonies, their
population would be increased by settlers retaining British principles,
British feelings and an attachment towards their native country, not
only undiminished, but even increased by the parental conduct of the
Government towards them.
"Mr. Addington then
offered to lend some assistance to the Chaplain to convey his adherents
to the sea coast of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick or Cape Breton, but
assured him that His Majesty's Government considered the hold they had
of Upper Canada so slender and so precarious that a person in his
situation would not be justified in putting his hand in the public purse
to assist British subjects to emigrate to that colony. The Chaplain,
however, adhered to his first resolution of conducting his countrymen to
Upper Canada, and Mr. Addington procured for him an order (with the Sign
Manual) to the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada to grant two hundred
acres of land to every one of the Highlanders who should arrive in the
Province.
"No sooner was it known
that this order had been given by the Secretary for the Colonies than
the Highland landlords and proprietors took the alarm, considering the
order as an allurement to entice from the country their vassals and
dependents.
"Sir John McPherson, Sir
Archibald Macdonald (the Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer in England),
the late Mr. Charles Grant, one of the directors of the East India
Company and M.P. for the County of Inverness, with other gentlemen
connected with the Highlands, and even the Earl of Moira, then
commanding the forces in North Britain, endeavored to dissuade the
Chaplain from his purpose, and promised to procure a pension for him
provided he would separate himself from the Highlanders whom he had
promised to take to Canada, and that the amount of the pension should be
in proportion to the number he should prevail upon to stay at home.
"So anxious were these
gentlemen to keep the Highlanders at home that they applied to the
Prince of Wales, and by His Royal Highness' sanction, Sir Thomas
Tyrnvhit, the Prince's agent, sent for the Chaplain to Canton House for
the purpose of prevailing upon him to induce the intending emigrants to
settle on the waste lands of the County of Cornwall, under the patronage
and protection of His Royal Highness. This the Chaplain also declined,
and in concert with Major Archibald Campbell, then on the staff of
General Pulteney, now Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick, proposed a
plan of organizing a Military emigration, to be composed of the soldiers
of the several Scotch F'encible regiments just then disbanded, and
sending them over to Upper Canada for the double purpose of fonning an
internal defence and settling the country. It was requested that a
certain Portion of land should be granted to every man after a service
of five years, or on his furnishing a substitute; so that the same force
might always be kept up and the settlement of the country go on. It was
considered that this plan would prevent the frequent desertion of His
Majesty's troops to the United States; would make these military
settlers interested in the defence of the Province, and be a prodigious
saving of transport of troops in the event of a war with the United
States.
Several distinguished
officers appeared anxious to join this military emigration, and the
scheme was nearly matured, when Mr. Addington found himself under the
necessity of resigning the Premiership, and Pitt and Dundas returned to
office.
"The war was soon after
renewed, and the Scotch landlords combined to keep their people at home.
"Most of these gentlemen
had received commissions from the Government to raise levies, and were,
of course, anxious to fulfil their engagements. Seeing that so many
thousands of their poor countrymen who had been let loose in the country
in a state of destitution, had no other alternative, if prevented from
emigrating, than to enter the army, they procured an act of Parliament
to impose certain restrictions and regulations on vessels carrying out
emigrants to the colonies. By those regulations, a vessel could not get
her clearance from the Custom House if she had more than one passenger,
even an infant, for every two tons of the registered burden of the
ship—although the transport regulations for carrying troops to the East
and West Indies allowed a ton and a half for every soldier, even without
reckoning women and children; another clause was that the provision
should be inspected and certified, that a pound of salt beef or pork and
a pound and a half of flour or of hard biscuit should be found on board
as the daily provision for every man, woman and child for the space of
three months. A third clause was that a vessel carrying emigrants from
any part in Great Britain and Ireland to the colonies should be provided
with a surgeon, who should have his diploma from Surgeons' Hall in
London, from Edinburgh University or Trinity College, Dublin. A diploma
from any other college or university in Great Britain would not qualify
him for this charge. Several other clauses similar to the above were
contained in this act, and all under the specious pretext of humanity
and tender benevolence towards the emigrants, and, forsooth, to prevent
the imposition of those who were employed in chartering vessels to carry
emigrants to the colonies, who were designated by the Scotch lairds,
dealers in white slaves; yet, by the operations of this merciful act of
Parliament, an emigrant could not pay the passage of himself, his wife
and four children under eight years of age for a less sum than £84!
"Alexander Hope, then
Lord Advocate of Scotland, was instructed to bring this bill into
Parliament, and in his luminous speech in the House of Commons the
learned gentleman, to show the necessity of such regulations, related a
most pathetic story of an emigrant vessel arriving in a harbour in one
of the British colonies of North America, the whole of the passengers
and almost the whole of the crew of which were found dead in their
berths, and the few survivors of the crew not able to cast anchor. He
also asserted that emigrants who had been some time in the colonies were
desirous to get back to their native country, and when they could not
accomplish their wishes, were desirous to prevent their friends at home
from emigrating, but dared not acquaint them of their now miserable
condition but by stratagem, desiring them to consult their Uncle Sandy,
and if he advised them to come, then they might proceed. Now, it was
well known that Uncle Sandy was dead many years previous. These and many
other such like pitiable and affecting passages of the Lord Advocate's
speech in the House of Commons blazed through the public prints in
Scotland, and were believed, or it was pretended that they were
believed, like Gospel, by the Highland lairds and their friends.
"The moment that this
bill passed into law, an embargo was laid on all emigrant vessels in
British harbours, and this though many of them had already nearly
received their complement of passengers, and the whole of the emigrants
of the season, after selling their effects, had arrived or were on their
way to the seaports to embark. Fortunately, however, for the soldiers of
the disbanded Glengarry Fencibles, the greater part of them had got away
before the bill came into operation. The Chaplain, having been detained
in London on business, after the sailing of his adherents, received a
call from the Earl of Selkirk, who proposed to him to join in his plan
of taking emigrants to North America. The Chaplain requested his
lordship to explain his views and intentions, upon which the Earl stated
that he intended to settle those regions between Lakes Huron and
Superior with Scotch Highlanders, where the climate was nearly similar
to that of the north of Scotland, and the soil of a superior quality;
besides, they would enjoy the benefit of the fish with which the lakes
teemed, particularly the white fish of the Sault Ste. Marie.
"The Chaplain at first
declined this offer on the plea that private business would detain him
in London. The Earl then offered him an order for £2,000 upon his agent,
as an indemnification for any loss or inconvenience he might experience
by so sudden a departure. The Chaplain was a second time compelled to
give a refusal and to decline this generous offer of the Earl, declaring
at the same time that he felt most grateful for such generosity, but
that he could never think of putting himself under so great an
obligation to any man; that the situation which his lordship had
selected for his settlement was beyond the jurisdiction of the
Government of Upper Canada, and so far from any other location that he
was apprehensive that emigrants settling themselves in so remote a
region would meet with insuperable difficulties; that he could by no
means induce those with whose interests he was connected to go beyond
the protection of the Provincial Government, arid, besides, such a
settlement would entirely destroy the Northwest Company, as it would cut
off the communication between the winterers and Canada ; and as several
of the principal members of that Company were his particular friends, no
consideration would induce him to enter upon an enterprise that would
injure their interest.
"The Chaplain then asked
the Earl what could induce a man of his high rank and great fortune,
possessing the esteem and confidence of His Majesty's Government and of
every public man in Britain, to embark in an enterprise so romantic as
that he had just explained. To this the Earl replied that the Situation
of Great Britain, and indeed of all Europe, was at that moment
(September 1803) so very critical and eventful that a man would like to
have a more solid footing to stand upon than Europe could offer." |
