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Shortly after his ordination Norman
returned to St. Ann’s as a fully licensed minister. His people were
delighted to have him back amongst them, and immediately installed him in
his former position as preacher, teacher, and law-giver. His fame as a
preacher spread throughout the Island. Some hundreds of Gaelic-speaking
people had in the meantime settled in the neighbourhood of St. Ann’s. They
came from Lewes and Harris, and settled on the North Shore
down
to Smoky Mountain, and up the Glen towards Baddeck and Big Hill. With so
many new settlers arriving, the Presbyterian Church of Nova Scotia took
steps to have them supplied with Gaelic-speaking ministers. The people as
a whole, however, were poor and so unable to support a paid clergyman. In
this dilemma Norman McLeod stepped into the breach. He offered to preach
for them without fee or reward in the open air or any suitable cabin until
such time as they had erected a church of their own. This proof of
brotherly kindness appealed to the people immensely, and so Norman became
the local hero.
At this juncture the Government of
Nova Scotia appointed him as schoolmaster, postmaster, and justice at St.
Ann’s. These offices gave him an official status in the district that
greatly increased his influence. His instructions were obeyed without
question. It was the old Highland ecclesiastical power over again, when
the people in argument were wont to say "O thubairt a meinester a" (Oh,
the minister said it). This was an ex cathedra dictum that no one dared to
question.
Norman was 40 years of age when he
settled at St. Ann's, and he
remained there for 31 years. During his time the congregation prospered
temporally and spiritually. Under him all violations of the civil and
moral law were duly inquired into and punished. He denounced sin and
sinners from the pulpit, so that he became a terror to evildoers and the
friend of all those who do well. Under his patriarchal rule the people of
St. Ann’s were distinguished for their intelligence, rectitude. and
sobriety. He was a total abstainer, and discountenanced the use of every
form of alcohol amongst his people. He recognized the evil effects
of the drinking habits of his day, and with the help of God he determined
to stamp them out amongst all those whom
he could influence. Some time thereafter Judge
Marshall, of Sydney, Cape Breton, and he organized temperance societies
throughout the Island. His activities in the church, temperance, and
educational affairs were ceaseless. In 1840 he formed a branch of the
British and Foreign Bible Society in St. Ann’s, and through it was the
means of sending thousands of dollars to the parent society in London.
As the years rolled on the
population of St. Ann’s and neighbourhood made rapid strides. New churches
were erected and new ministers inducted. The parent church could not
accommodate all those who desired to worship there. So popular had Norman
become, and so attractive was his preaching, that he filled the church
twice over every Sunday. Then it was decided that a larger church should
he erected, and in the year 1846 a church was constructed at The Cove
capable of seating 1,500 people.
This temple Norman continued to fill for several years. He had ceased from
teaching and justice work and devoted himself entirely to the work of the
Church.
NORMAN FINDS AN ENEMY.
Few popular men pass through life
without finding enemies and detractors. Envy is a common weakness. Are you
rich? If so, you excite envy.
Are you successful? Then you excite envy. Are you popular? There are those
who envy you. To escape this you must be of the rank and file. No section
of the community is free of this weakness, and Norman soon proved this. It
is said that some of the neighbouring clergymen began to whisper that
Norman was not a saint. One of their number,
the Rev. Mr. James Fraser, is said to have been a
fellow student of Norman’s at Edinburgh. He, it is alleged, said that the
story of Norman’s rustication was untrue. As is usual in such things, the
tales regarding his rustication became more and more fanciful. His enemies
declared it was owing to some lapses on his own part; while his friends
denounced the wicked professors. Then a Rev. Mr. John McDonald took part
in the controversy. Eventually the various tales reached Norman’s ears,
and his partisans took up the cudgels in his defence. A bitter and wordy
warfare went on for a year or two, in which the leaders took little or no
part. What was true and what false was distorted out of all proportion. It
is said that the Rev. Mr. McDonald had to bear the brunt of the battle,
and in his defence the Rev. Mr. Fraser took action against some of
Norman’s partisans. This was the signal for Norman to act. He gallantly
accepted all responsibility for his party, and thus the clergymen were at
each other’s throats. There was a long legal fight from which Norman
emerged untainted; but his followers were cast into damages. All this led
to intense ill-feeling amongst the people. They advised Norman to defy the
court and refuse to pay any damages. Poor Norman was in a dilemma. If he
paid the fine he mortally offended all his partisans, and if he failed he
offended the majesty of the law. For a time he evaded payment, while his
partisans challenged the other side to a pitched battle. Eventually he was
threatened with durance vile; indeed, some assert that he endured
seclusion for a time rather than pay an unworthy foe. On seeing defeat,
his friends came to the rescue and made reparations. This act of
self-immolation doubly endeared him to his people, but it probably may
have influenced subsequent events.
Partisan feeling became intense in
his church. All the members of his original flock were his enthusiastic
supporters and admirers. Some of the newcomers, especially those from
Lewes and Harris, disapproved of Norman’s patriarchal rule and the conduct
of his people in the litigation episode. As a result of this ill-feeling,
numbers of them left the St. Ann's church and set up an organization of
their own under the leadership of Mr. John Ross, Catechist of Mira. The
Catechist in the Presbyterian Church in the Highlands was always a man of
much importance in the religious life of the parish. He was a sort of
locally licensed church officer with a small salary, and devoted much of
his time and energies to visiting the sick and afflicted and generally
aiding the minister in the teaching of religion and looking after the
spiritual and moral wellbeing of the people. As such John Ross was a man
of importance in St. Ann’s, and his defection from the church was a severe
blow to it.
A
VENTURE THAT FAILED.
The St. Ann’s settlement at this
period was very successful, but there
was no outlet for the energies of the rising
generation or the development of trade. As a consequence some of the young
men left to push their fortunes in other spheres of life. Some went into
other parts of Canada, some to the United States, and some to wander the
world as sailors. No matter how an experiment of this kind may succeed for
a time, human nature is such that the wanderlust which seems to be
inherent in the Celtic race will eventually bring about disintegration.
Experiments of a similar kind are common in history; but time and human
nature upset the ideals of its
prophets, patriarchs, and enthusiasts. So in St. Ann’s, under the
patriarchal rule of Norman, disintegration set in.
To stem the tide Norman and his
people conceived the idea of organizing a shipping trade of their own.
Some aver that he conceived the scheme while in durance vile. It is
unlikely, however, that it could have been the production of any single
brain, for the effort required combination. The scheme was to build a
ship, load her with their surplus produce, and send her in search of
markets. The project was sound enough, but their knowledge of trade
affairs was defective. When the scheme was announced the people were
enthusiastic about it as a fine interposition of Providence. They set
about the extending of their fields and the dreaming of wealth. Sawpits
were erected and much log-felling undertaken. In a little over twelve
months they constructed a fine barque of some 300 tons, loaded her with
their surplus produce, gave the command to Norman’s son, Captain Donald
McLeod, and sent him to Glasgow to bring back gold. Unfortunately for the
St. Ann’s traders, they were probably unaware of the fact that trade is
not carried on by gold, but by exchange of products. They had all they
required in food and clothing, so that silver and gold was their vision of
trade. Captain McLeod and his ship arrived safely at Greenock, the Glasgow
port of those days. No arrangements had been made as to buyers or
consignees, and Captain Donald soon found he could not sell a shipload of
produce in shillings or pounds’ worth. The sailors had to be paid, the
ship had to pay dues, and eventually ship and cargo had to be sold at an
immense sacrifice. What became of the proceeds seems very uncertain.
Captain Donald McLeod disappeared, the venture was a failure, and the
dream of the St. Ann’s people proved but a dream. |
