Chapter XLIV: Foreword: Marked Progress General--The Embryonic (2)

At the time the hero of Kars, Lieut.-Gen. Sir William Fenwick Williams, Bart., K.C.B.; commander of the forces in British North America; Lord Paulet, in charge of the Guards; Sir William Muir, chief medical officer of the forces; Major Penn, of Crimean fame, in command of the gallant Grey Battery; Colonel Peacock, of the Sixteenth Bedfordshire; and others, were among the officers then in Montreal.

In its midst news came of the death of Queen Victoria’s husband, the Prince Consort. A loyal city sent its message of condolence to their beloved Queen. But on the release of Slidell and Mason the war alarms were over. This good news came on December 28th, and on Sunday the continuance of peace between the Empire and the United States was devoutly and thankfully blessed. The outburst of militarism served to keep the companies as already organized on a permanent basis. On January 1st, Slidell and Mason were released by the United States, but on January 4th Victoria Bridge had still to be guarded for fear of destruction by marauders from across the boundary.

“The alarm, which soon subsided, was really the birth of modern militia movement in Canada. I remember well,” says Lieut.-Col. Robert Gardner, in a reminiscence, “the excitement that ruled everywhere. I can recollect the time when the business men and merchants of Montreal were all imbued with the necessity of defending their country. So enthusiastic were they that drilling was going on practically all the time. Everyone expected war, and patriotic feelings ran high. Business men would slip out in the morning and put in an hour at drill, another drill would be held after lunch, and more in the evening. It was that war scare of 1861-2 which really showed the necessity of a defensive force, and proved the forerunner of our militia system of today.”

During the war there were, however, merry times at the hotels and at Dolly’s restaurant. A reminiscence relates:

“That was a merry time in Montreal. The Americans had plenty of
money, and were not afraid to spend it. The officers, too, were
well supplied, and they, too, were prodigal with it. St. James
Street was always busy, what with the soldiers and officers,
the Southerners, the local military, the excitement attending
the events of the war, and which were reflected in the city
in the matter of sentiment, as well as the matter of money. I
recollect very well that the feeling of our people was in favour
of the South in the struggle. As time went on, the conviction
gained ground that the South would be defeated; but the general
feeling was in its favour. This made life for the Southerners
very pleasant. They fraternized with the people; they spent their
money; they made life merry in and about the old St. Lawrence
Hall.”

Greenbacks, however, were looked askance at till the fortunes of war were with the North, so that silver was in demand. The Civil War meant good times for Canada for the farmers’ produce and stock were readily bought by the United States.

The military troops in town came in for a great recognition on the 6th, 7th and 8th of May, 1862, when they were feasted in sections on these days. It is recorded that among the items for the festivities there were ordered 3,200 pounds of sandwiches, 5,000 tarts, 3,700 pounds of cake, 50 barrels of fruit, besides an abundant supply of tea and coffee, the entertainments being on strictly temperance principles.

Montreal’s generosity was also that year shown to the destitute operatives in the manufacturing districts of England, when in consequence of a meeting in the Merchants’ Exchange $30,000 was subscribed for their relief.

The Civil War over, the arts of peace were resumed. The Montreal Street Railway, started in the year previous, was making its humble beginnings with its few horse-drawn cars. On April 2d there was a municipal by-law to establish the fire brigade. On May 20th, the Montreal waterworks were enlarged and improved as a result of the dearth of water at this time which had caused the ancient custom of providing water in puncheons again to be resorted to.

This year the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society was founded and the Corn Exchange organized, being incorporated the next year, when eight floating elevators were proudly said to be discharging hourly 24,000 bushels.

1863 saw the fire alarm established on January 19th, indicating the progress of our fire service.

On July 15th, the Corvette Oernen, the first Norwegian vessel to visit the St. Lawrence, sailed up to Montreal and civic hospitality was again displayed as previously to the French vessel.

The Provincial Exhibition, held on the 9th of September of this year, was superior to any other. A grand rifle tournament was opened by Sir William Fenwick Williams and lasted over ten days.

On April 21, 1864, there appeared a published letter of D’Arcy McGee, the Irish poet, litterateur and politician, in which he said: “Even the threat of assassination covertly conveyed and so eminently in keeping with the entire humbug has no terrors for me. I trust I shall outlive these threats,” indicates that there was a ring of organized Fenianism in the city in sympathy with the movement now looming large in the United States. About this time he exposed the dangers and sophisms of those seducing the young Irish of the city and moreover told some of his young, hotheaded auditors at several meetings, then and subsequently, that he held in his pocket evidence enough to hang some of them. “I ask you,” he said, “to frown upon this thing. I ask you to have nothing to do with it. I tell you that I know many of the men who are associated with Fenianism. And I say this, that if they do not separate themselves from the organization, I will denounce them to the Government. Come out from among them. The organization will bring you to ruin. There are some who think they are secure; that they can go on and that they cannot be found out. I tell you I know such, and will denounce them if they do not mend their ways.”

At this time McGee was told that his days were numbered. Thus coming events cast their shadows before. But Confederation was in the air and its discussion was uppermost.

The Shakespeare centenary of 1864 was brilliantly celebrated at Montreal in April at the Crystal Palace. But sad news fell upon the city when, on June 29th, a train of eleven cars, having aboard 354 German emigrants leaving St. Hilaire for Montreal, was precipitated through an open drawbridge into the river at Beloeil. Ninety were killed and a very large number were drowned. The hospitable city opened its hospitals and public institutions for the sufferers and the bodies of the dead were brought to the city and buried in the Protestant cemeteries.

In September, 1864, the city saw the departure of six companies of the Scotch Fusileers and other military.

In November there was excitement in the city over the St. Alban’s raiders who had been captured and brought to the city for examination. On the 19th of October some southern raiders from Canada had made a descent on the St. Alban’s bank, compelling Mr. Sowles, the cashier, to surrender the bank’s money, and after intimidating the citizens, saying that “we represent the Confederate States of America and we come here to retaliate outrages committed by General Sherman,” they had returned to Canada on captured horses.

On March 30th of the next year, the St. Alban raiders were discharged. On this occasion Mr. Bernard Devlin had an opportunity of airing his forensic eloquence, being employed to defend certain of the prisoners. It is said that the motive behind the raid was to make a diversion in favour of the South by means of the raid which was to bring Federal troops from southern points to defend the invaded territory of the North.

The year 1865, which opened with the usual spring floods in April, was otherwise an interesting and exciting time to the merchants of the town, for Mr. Adams, the American minister in London, gave the requisite notice to terminate reciprocity between the United States and Canada on March 17, 1866. In July there was a convention at Detroit, from the 11th to the 14th, which promoted the forming of a new reciprocity treaty. At this several Montrealers attended, but only to give desired information. In September there was a delegation to Montreal to form an International Board of Trade. This year the Board of Trade Building, erected in 1855, was burnt down.

The following resolution, passed unanimously on April 19th by the city council, on the motion of Alderman Grenier, seconded by Alderman Rodden, on the occasion of the assassination of the President of the United States, shows the gloom and commiseration of the city which went into mourning on the day of the funeral:

“Resolved, That in respect to the memory of the late President of the United States and sympathy with the people in the great calamity which has befallen them, and also as an expression of the regret and horror felt at the crime perpetrated upon the person of President Lincoln, this council do now adjourn.”

This allows us to cast a glance at our peaceful municipal life. One[2] who knew it well has recently recorded his reminiscences:

“Citizens criticized the council then as they do today and on
one particular occasion they manifested their disapprobation on
some burning question by gathering in front of the council room,
and, after due oratory from their leader, sent a volley of stones
through the windows, to show the depth of their feelings. This
stirred up the members most effectively, and if the celerity
with which they jumped from one place to another, to avoid the
‘arguments’ was any indication of the attention they would
give to the cause in question, it would not have remained long
unattended to.

“One member, however, more courageous than the others, kept his
seat with contemptuous indifference until he saw a missile coming
direct for his desk, when he cleverly caught it in his hands,
and called on the mayor to maintain order. His Worship looked
unutterable things, and told Darcy to do it. The latter, however,
disappeared, and was not seen more that night. It was suspected
he went over to the enemy, and when he told me next morning
that it was ‘the best bit of fun he had seen for many a day,’ I
thought there was ground for the suspicion.

“But criticisms of the council were not confined to
demonstrations of this kind. The press was not backward in saying
what it thought, although in a more refined and cultured way. One
editor, for instance, gave a free notice of a meeting of council
in the following words, in large type:

“‘The Municipal Banditti meet in their den at the City Hall at 8
o’clock this evening.’

“We were more deliberate in those days than at the present. We
were deliberate in all things. We did not hurry away the snow as
we do now. We thought it cheaper to let the sun do that. Now in
this advanced age we think nothing of spending $10,000 to beat
the sun by twenty-four hours; but speed is everything today. At
the time of speaking our whole revenue was not one-fourth of the
interest on our debt today.

“I have enumerated the personnel to show the speed of time, for
at the present time not one of those mentioned, except myself,
remain. They have all passed to the ‘majority.’

“Prominently among the aldermen of that period were Ferdinand
David, and William Rodden; the former as chairman of the roads
committee, may be regarded as having been the father of our
expropriation system, and the latter, as chairman of finance, was
regarded as the father of our 7 per cent consolidation. Were both
these men alive today they would be appalled at the outcome of
their pet schemes. In those days we spoke with bated breath of
$100,000, now we play with the millions as a very little thing.
Then our 6 per cent securities sold at a heavy discount, since
then our 3 per cent securities have sold over par.

“An orator about this time, haranguing the taxpayers from the
steps of the Nelson Monument, assured them that if they should
elect him as their representative, he would reduce their taxes
150 per cent. Poor fellow, he meant well, but he was allowed to
sink, with his invaluable arithmetical genius, into oblivion,
while the other one, who was able to rouse another mob, occupies
a seat on the king’s bench. This shows that it is better to break
people’s windows than to abolish their taxes and give them a 50
per cent bonus beside. O, tempora, O, mores.”

This year (1865) Sir John Michel was sworn in as administrator of the governor general, then absent in England. As he took up his residence in the city and during his administration the executive council met here twice in each month, this event may be chronicled in the series of social events.

The peaceful progress of the inhabitants was again thrown into confusion and the military spirit reincarnated when news came the latter part of this year, 1865, that the threatened invasion of Canada by the Irish Fenian Brotherhood, led by “General” O’Neil, were at last becoming actual. They made use of the ill-feeling aroused between the United States and Britain by an element discontented through hard times, to strike a long premeditated blow. The first Fenian invasion eventually came to nothing at all of importance, but it was a great scare. Montreal was on the _qui vive_ for a while, fearing the invasion, for the supineness of the American Government in allowing the invasion to be planned and provided for by filibusters, gave an unpleasant impression, suggesting that there might, possibly, be serious consequence if a strong front were not presented to the audacious attempt. The feeling, too, at the time, was not too friendly to Canada, which, with Great Britain, was supposed to sympathize with the South during the Civil War.

On Monday, March 13, 1866, a company of the Prince of Wales regiment and a battery of artillery were reviewed at 5 P.M. and by 9 P.M. were sent to the threatened frontier. A patriotic “relief” fund was started on March 26th. On June 2d, on account of news arriving on June 1st, the Fenians being already at Fort Erie, a further detachment of four more companies were sent to the west, viz., Nos. 3 and 8 batteries of the Brigade of the Montreal Garrison Artillery, under Captains Brown and Hobbes; a company of Prince of Wales Rifles, under Captain Bond; Victoria Rifles, under Captain Bacon; Royal Light Infantry, under Capt. K. Campbell; and the Chasseurs Canadiens, under Captain Labelle, who all left by special train for Point St. Charles for St. Johns and Isle aux Noix. The same evening a strong reinforcement of regulars left for the same stations, and on the 4th, several additional companies of volunteers were dispatched to Hemingford and other places along the frontier. Among those going to the front were the famous “Barney” Devlin, the great criminal lawyer and the political opponent of D’Arcy McGee, and the Rev. Father James Hogan of St. Patrick’s, who acted as chaplain.

The chief fight in Lower Canada was at Pigeon Hill, in the Township of St. Armand, adjoining the State of Vermont, which was attacked by the Fenians on June 17th, but from which, after a brief skirmish, they retired, not without several of their party being secured as prisoners by the “Montreal Guides,” and being brought, a sorry and ragged crowd, to the city gaol.

On June 18th, the volunteer companies returned, being welcomed enthusiastically by their fellow citizens, and June 23d was observed as a day of general rejoicing and inspection. The mayor, on behalf of the civic authorities, tendered an address to the troops, offering sincere expressions of gratitude and thanks for their devotion, loyalty and courage in the late emergency, and bidding them a hearty welcome back to the city and to their happy homes and beloved and expectant families. This was responded to by Major-General Lindsay.

The loyalty of all sections of the community had again been proved against a common enemy. Every section had answered the call to arms, for Fenianism, after all, had few weighty supporters in Montreal.

The military enthusiasm, however, evoked by the late events had an immediate effect in determining the city council and other authorities already considering the point, to open a drill hall capable of meeting the increased demands, and in May, 1867, the contract for the armory on Craig Street, opposite the Champ de Mars, was given to Foster & Roy.

The confederation of the provinces was now in the air. It was not universally understood at the time and it was feared, and somewhat actively combatted, especially by the group of young French-Canadians opposed to Cartier in their new journal the Union Nationale, as likely to absorb them so that they might lose their political identity.

Confederation was, however, to mark a great period of progress and to see Montreal emerge from provincial citydom to the great metropolis of today. Before passing to the story of its achievement, a glance back will show that Montreal was a very quiet place under the Union. Yet it produced strong-minded and able men, even if the racial, religious and political rancours of a “heart burning town” showed themselves in no equivocal colours. The foundations of our present artistic, literary, religious, charitable and financial associations were also already being well laid. The life was simple; there was not much society but great heartiness. There were no millionaires, but the people spent freely. Public amusements were fewer, but private hospitality greater. The city hall was decorous, there were no emoluments for service, and the best men of the time thought it an honour to represent their wards.

Into the simplicity of the life there entered the society centering around the military. At the close of the Union there were about a hundred officers generally stationed here, many of them distinguished men of high rank and fame. There were often four or five regiments in the town, and the soldiery fraternized with the citizens. Pranks there were, the ringing of bells, the wrenching off of knockers and signs, and more serious peccadillos, but the indulgent public was not censorious. The officers gave many parties, balls, receptions, dances and hunts, all of which the prominent citizens participated in and returned. There were not highly organized kennel or hunt clubs, but they ranged the country far and wide. The officers were good judges of horse flesh as were the humbler citizens and Tattersalls, on St. James Street, opposite the present Star offices, was a busy place for such. It was no infrequent sight to see the horses being trotted up and down past Dolly’s, St. Lawrence Hall and Banque du Peuple for inspection along the street which is today’s busy financial thoroughfare, lined with banks and insurance buildings.

The ordinary people participated indirectly in the gaiety of the military régime through the brisk, lively trade with the officers and soldiery, who spent freely.

The life, colour, and zest they gave were also a free entertainment. Not only were the streets bright with the uniforms of the soldiers and gay with the sound of fife, drum and brass, but the people would make their way to the Champ de Mars during the day to see the evolutions of the military, where the firing of the cannon frightened the timid boys and girls, or in the early evening the young folk would stroll sweethearting to Dalhousie Square (now the Viger Station tracks) to hear the regimental bands in Barrack Square, and the boys and girls, now no way shy, would peep in at the mysteries of the officers’ mess, which was in plain view. The music would last for hours and the square would resound with laughter till the sun-down gun from St. Helen’s Island proclaimed the time for early bed.

Art, literature and music were cultivated by associations at the time and to these the military officers contributed no little initiative. The scholastic system of the two boards of school commissioners was being solidified and Montreal at the end of the Union was progressing substantially, but not so dramatically or so visibly as after the next few decades when bustle began to rule. Life was then more leisurely, more reposeful and at least quite as happy and more contented.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Reminiscences of Private Fitzgerald, who came out with the Sixteenth Bedfordshire Regiment in 1861. Cf. “I Remember” series of the Star, 1913.

[2] Mr. William Robb, recently city treasurer. Cf. I Remember Series, The Star, 1913.