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The Highland Society of
Canada having been resuscitated, the then secretary, in his narrative,
states:-
"It now becomes my
pleasing task to speak of an act of the Society, the first public act
since its reorganization, which was hailed with the highest degree of
satisfaction, not alone by the Highlanders of Glengarry, but by all
true-hearted British subjects in the United Provinces—the erection of a
monument by it to the memory of the author of its existence—the late
Bishop Macdonell.
Were the Society to have
revived solely for that purpose, and were it never to do another act
from which good of any kind could be derived, I will be supported in
advancing that it has already done enough to entitle it to the gratitude
and best wishes of all Canadians, for it has spared them the possibility
of other people turning upon them with scorn, to say, 'You have allowed
him who was your warmest and best friend, whose long and valuable life
was uninterruptedly devoted to your service, without distinction of your
race or creed, to lay dead for upwards of three years, without your
having gratitude enough among you to pay any—the slightest mark—of
respect to his- memory. Yes! you accepted all that he could do for you,
received all that he could give you, and when he died, and could give no
more, you neglected his memory.'
'The day on which this
monument was erected must be looked upon in Canada as a day to which no
ordinary interest is attached; and will be forever remembered by being
associated with the undying remembrance of him who has very
appropriately been called 'the father of his people.' On it the Highland
Society must ever look with peculiar satisfaction, as upon a day
conferring lasting honour upon them; and when those who now compose it
and who were engaged in that day's good work, are gone where their
illustrious founder has proceeded them, may their successors. by a
continuance of the generous and patriotic feelings which governed that
day, bear out the Reverend Mr. Urquhart in saying 'that while this was
an act worthy of the new-being of the Society, it was an act auspicuous
of its future character.'
"At a meeting of the
Society at Cornwall on the 9th of May, 1843, over which the President
presided, the Reverend Mr. Urquhart, to whom an acquaintance with that
inestimable man, had endeared the memory of the Bishop, alter some
eloquent and most feeling remarks, introduced the following resolution,
which being seconded by the Reverend George Alexander Hay, was put and
carried unanimously
"Resolved, that the
Highland Society of Canada do erect on the 18th of June next, in the
Parish Church of St. Raphael's, a tablet to the memory of the late
Bishop Alexander Macdonell; that the said Society meet on that day,
which is the day of the festival anniversary meeting, at eleven o'clock
at Macdonell's in Williamstown, and proceed thence at twelve o'clock in
procession to the Parish Church, where the Reverend John Macdonald be
requested to read prayers, to erect the tablet; and that George S.
Jarvis, Esquire, Guy C. Wood, Esquire, and Alexander MacMartin, Esquire,
be a committee to procure such tablet."
"A tablet of very
beautiful workmanship, hearing the following inscription:-
"On the 18th of June,
1843,
"THE HIGHLAND SOCIETY OF CANADA
"Erected this Tablet to the memory of
"THE HONOURABLE AND RIGHT REVEREND
"ALEXANDER MACDONELL,
"Bishop OF KINGSTON.
"Born 1760. Died 1840.
Though dead, he still lives in the hearts of his countrymen."
having been procured by
the committee appointed for that purpose, was, under the direction of
Mr. Macdonell, the Secretary (the compiler of this account) placed in
the Church on Saturday, the 17th of June, to be ready against the coming
of the Society on the following Monday, to witness its consecration by
the Church.
"The members of the
Society began to arrive at Williamstown about eleven o'clock on Monday,
shortly after which a guard of honour from the 2nd Regiment of Glengarry
Militia, under the command of Captain J. A. Macdonell (a grand-nephew of
the late Bishop), arrived. At twelve, the Society and the immense
multitude of the country people, whose respect for the memory of the
late Bishop brought them together to witness the first mark of respect
paid to His Lordship's memory in a country which owed so much to his
exertions, and to honour the Society while so engaged, formed into a
procession and took their way to St. Raphael's. When about half a mile
out of the village they were met by the Very Reverend John Macdonald and
his worthy colleague in the cause of religion, the Reverend Mr.
Macdonald, of Alexandria, at the head of about three hundred men on
horseback, who formed in rear of the procession, which they followed to
St. Raphael's. Arriving at 'the corners,' the whole road between there
and the Church, upwards of a mile, was found to be lined with green
bushes, and arches every now and then; and the moment the procession
passed under the first arch, an artillery detachment from the 2nd
Regiment Glengarry Militia commenced firing minute guns, which they
continued until it had arrived at the Church, where it was received by
an immense concourse of people, composed of persons of all ranks,
politics and religion, and in which members of the fair sex were to be
seen intermingled with stout and stalwart Highlanders.
Nothing could be finer
than the effect the tout ensemble had yet though the whole country
turned out to pay one mark of respect to the memory of their friend,
even this was a slight acknowledgment of all the Bishop had done for his
countrymen.
"From the door of the
Church the President addressed the assemblage as nearly as I can
recollect in these words:-
"'As President of the
Highland Society of Canada, I feel myself called upon to make some
observations with respect to the interesting occasion which has brought
us this day together at this place, and I regret much my inability to do
so, as I could wish. We must all feel an inward satisfaction that the
first of the Society's acts since its reorganization has been the
erection of this tablet to the memory of a man whose loss to the country
we must all deplore.
"'The late Bishop
Macdonell was in all respects an uncommon man; one of those whom we see
rise up in an age to advance the good of mankind and elevate our
conception of human nature; he was, in a word, a great and good man. His
private virtues endeared him to all who had the pleasure of his
acquaintance, and his exalted Patriotism and devoted loyalty to his
Sovereign will long cause his name to be cherished at home and abroad. I
may truly say that no one ever had the honour and prosperity of his
country more truly at heart than his late Lordship; and although this
tribute to his memory is small and of little value, when compared with
his great worth, it is to be hoped that generations to come will
appreciate the motives from which it originated. This solemn
ceremony—this first act of our revived Society----must, I am convinced,
be highly approved of wherever this worthy man and true Christian was
known.
"'To Glengarry, in
particular, where the prime of his valuable life was spent, and for the
prosperity of which and to maintain the honour and elevate the character
of whose people all the energies of his mind were ever directed, this
day must indeed be gratifying; and I trust that I shall live to see the
day when a grateful people shall erect in this place a monument worthy
of his memory, to which the passer-by may point, and pointing say, "HERE
WERE SPENT THE BEST DAYS OF BISHOP MACDONELL. THE FATHER OF HIS PEOPLE."
"'We all know his great
anxiety to preserve in this country the language and genuine character
of the Highlanders. He early conceived the idea of forming here a
Highland Society, and with that object in view he procured from the
Highland Society of London the Commission under which we now act; of the
Society thus formed he continued to fill the presidential chair with
much ease and dignity while it remained in active Operation. All those
associated with him in that Commission, with the exception of the humble
individual who now addresses you, are now no more, but they all live in
our memories-and one of them in particular, as the dear and sincere
friend of the late Bishop—the Honourable William MacGillivray, whose
cordial co-operation and generous liberality contributed so much to the
formation of the Society—may, I trust, without any irreverence, have his
name associated with this day's work.
"'I will not detain you
any longer by enlarging on the character of this inestimable Prelate; it
will remain for future historians to give it to posterity, with those of
other eminent men of his day; and I will conclude by hoping that we may
all follow the example of our departed friend and lamented President in
promoting the objects of our Society with zeal, harmony and cordiality,
and, by so doing, confer a benefit on our country and reflect credit on
ourselves.'
The President having
ceased speaking, the bell rang for church where the Vicar-General
delivered a short but impressive discourse. The Honourable Mr.
MacGillivray addressed the people in the Gaelic language on their
coining out, but I regret being unable to give his speech (which, from
the impression it seemed to make upon his hearers, must have been worthy
of him) being, I am ashamed to say, unacquainted with the language in
which it was delivered. Everything being over, the Society returned to
Williamstown under a salute of ten guns, carrying with it the conviction
that in Glengarry there was a field worthy of its best exertions."
Had the Bishop had a
voice in the direction of the mark of respect thus shown to him, he
could scarcely have wished or planned it otherwise than as it was
performed. No man gloried more in his country than did he, there never
was a truer Briton; the ever memorable i8th of June was therefore a day
ever dear to him: again, though a Catholic Priest and a Catholic
Prelate, he always respected other men's convictions, and was in return
respected by those who differed from him in religion witness the fact
that it was Dr. Urquhart, for many years the leading Presbyterian
Minister of this part of Upper Canada, who moved the resolution
suggesting the erection of the tablet, and three gentlemen of the
Protestant faith who were appointed to select it it emanated from the
Highland Society of the Province, which he had originated and for years
presided over, and the tribute to his memory was placed in the Church of
the Parish where the greater portion of his life was spent, and whose
people, kinsmen, clansmen and fellow-countrymen he had served so
faithfully, the two chief speakers on the occasion, Mr. Macdonald of
Gart and Mr. MacGiuivrav, being both Presbyterians. |
