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The following account is
given by the Reverend AEneas Macdonell Dawson, of Ottawa, then an inmate
of the Mission House at Dumfries, Scotland of the Bishop's last illness
and death :-
"According to my
recollection, the Bishop came to Dumfries, convalescent, from Lord
Gosford's, in Ireland, where he had been most kindly treated, I may say,
nursed by the family of the good ex-Governor of Canada. What made the
journey difficult and hurtful was the circumstance that he was obliged
to come all the way from Port Patrick to Dumfries outside the stage, the
inner places having been previously engaged. It was a Saturday afternoon
when he reached Dumfries, a cold Scotch rain having fallen upon him all
the time of his slow journey of from seventy to eighty miles. This did
not improve his health. He complained of fatigue and would not leave the
hotel where he was set down till next morning, when he came to the
Mission House and was able to celebrate Mass, assisted by the Venerable
Mr. Reid. Unwilling to leave him alone at the hotel, we, that is Mr.
Reid and I, resolved ourselves into a committee of the whole and decided
that I should go to spend the evening with him at the hotel. He was
cheerful and conversed a great deal, not forgetting to hold out every
inducement for me to go with him to Canada. I could not then consent,
but if he had lived a few weeks longer, it is possible that my destinies
might have been changed. Next day, Colonel Sir William Gordon, a devoted
friend of the Bishop, invited me to walk with him. The conversation
turned chiefly on Canada, and he urged on me the propriety of complying
with the Bishop's request, that I should devote myself to that
interesting country. It was not, however, till after long service in my
native land that I decided on coming to this New World. The Bishop
continued apparently well, although we knew that he was not, as he could
not go out without using a respirator. On the Monday evening, Mr. Reid
remained in his room, conversing with him until about eleven o'clock.
About four o'clock next morning he called his man, but, he not hearing,
the housekeeper approached his room, and dreading all was not right,
entered. He asked for an additional blanket, and that the fire should be
stirred up. The blanket was speedily supplied, and the housekeeper
hastened to inform Mr. Reid of the state of matters. He lost no time in
coming to the Bishop, and fortunately he was in time to administer the
last Sacrament. I was next alarmed, and I found Mr. Reid sitting in his
canonicals by the Bishop's bedside. The latter was passing away so
quietly, in perfect peace, that we could not tell whether the vital
spark had flown; nor was it known until Dr. Blacklock arrived, and after
due examination, pronounced. I then hastened to the hotel where his
friend, Sir William Gordon, was staying. The latter came promptly, and
arriving in the Bishop's room, threw himself into a chair and wept.
There was no funeral at Dumfries the remains were conveyed at once to
Edinburgh. Bishop Gillies, with the full consent of the Senior Bishop,
had everything arranged in the grandest style. Since the days of
Scotland's Royalty. so magnificent a funeral had not been seen in
Edinburgh. All that was mortal of the renowned Bishop was deposited in
the crypt of St. Margaret's Convent Chapel. I may mention that on the
Tuesday forenoon, Captain Lyon, of Kirkmichael, the husband of Miss
Dickson, who was a ward of the Bishop, called at the Mission House in
order to see that all were ready to attend the dinner he was to give
next day at his beautiful seat in honour of the Bishop. We were all to
rejoice, along with the neighboring country gentlemen, on the occasion
of Bishop Macdonell's return to Scotland, but he was bidden to another
banquet."
On the arrival at
Kingston of the melancholy intelligence of the Bishop's death, a Solemn
Requiem Mass was sung by Bishop Gaulin, who took format possession of
the See on Passion Sunday, I40. The funeral oration on the deceased
Prelate was pronounced from the text, Beati Mortui, &c., by the Bishop's
old friend and Vicar- General, Mr. W. P. Macdonald. The Requiem was
attended by all the Clergy of the Diocese, which comprised the entire
Province of Canada West. Several Priests from abroad also assisted. The
successors of Bishop Macdonell in the See of Kingston always cherished
the intention of bringing his remains to Canada for interment with
suitable honour in the Cathedral Church of his Diocese, where, by right,
the remains of a Bishop should always be deposited. It was not, however,
until 1861, during the Episcopate of Bishop Horan, that the removal took
place. Bishop Horan went to Edinburgh and was cordially received by the
Vicar-Apostolic of the Eastern District of Scotland, the Right Reverend
James Gillies, who gave him every facility for the accomplishment of his
Mission. Of Scottish extraction, Bishop Gillies was a native of
Montreal, and was at one time spoken of as the coadjutor to Bishop
Macdonell. The funeral cortege arrived in Kingston on the 25th
September. On the following day a Solemn Requiem Mass having been
celebrated by Bishop Horan, and a panegyric pronounced by the Reverend
Mr. Bentley, of Montreal, the earthly remains of the much loved and
venerated prelate were consigned to their last resting-place, in the
land of his adoption, among the people whom he so loved and cared for,
and amongst whom he had spent the greater part of his active, laborious
and self-sacrificing life. |
