The Chignecto Isthmus And Its First Settlers [21]
said afterwards that the sword went between his body and arm, so near was he being made a prisoner.
Inverma, the home of Sheriff Allan, is now owned, in part, by Councillor Amos Trueman, and is still called by that name. It consisted at that time of three hundred and forty-eight acres of marsh and upland and was no doubt part of the Allan grant of 1763. Besides the Sheriff's own house there were six or seven small houses occupied by Acadian families as tenants, also two large barns and four smaller ones.
Allan's wife was Mary Patton, the daughter of Mark Patton, who was at one time a large property-owner on the Isthmus. Patton Point, in the Missiquash valley, still goes by his name. His home farm joined the glebe lands of the parish, and was afterwards bought by William Trueman and given to his son, Thomas. I find the following entry in William Trueman's journal, referred to elsewhere:
"Old Mrs. Patton was buried at the burying-ground by Thomas Trueman, July 31st, in the 92nd year of her age."
This lady was no doubt Mrs. Allan's mother. She had continued to live at the old place after Thomas Trueman had taken possession, and as this was in the year 1808, she had lived thirty-two years after her daughter left the country.
The question has been asked, would it not have been better for the northern half of this continent if the Eddy rebellion had succeeded and what is now Canada had become one country with the United States? The name Americans could then fairly have been claimed by the citizens of the great Republic and a people whose interests and aspirations are identical, and whose religion, language and customs are the same, would have been united in carrying out the destiny of the Anglo-Saxon in America. This may sound very well, but events have transpired in the last hundred and twenty-five years that point unmistakably to the conclusion that the God of history intended this northern land called Canada to work out its own destiny independent of the southern Republic. At the period of the Eddy rebellion Nova Scotia was still in the cradle and had no grievances to redress. New Brunswick as a Province had no existence. Never in all history had a conquered country been treated so justly by the victors as had Quebec. Ontario at this time was but a western wilderness. It will thus be seen that there would have been no justification for the new settlers in this northern land to have joined hands with the thirteen older colonies.
Another preliminary objection can be found in the situation of the Loyalists of 1783, from the fact that one of the grandest band of exiles that was ever driven from fireside and country would have found no place on the continent to make new homes for themselves. This would have placed them in infinitely worse circumstances than that body of noble men and women of another race that twenty-eight years earlier in the century had been driven out as exiles to wander in hardship and want on that same New England coast. These Loyalists brought to Canada the sterling principle, the experience in local Government, the sturdy, independent manhood and business experience and energy which this northern land needed to make it one of the most prosperous and best governed countries in the world. To think what Canada would have been without the Loyalists helps one to see more clearly how fortunate it was that the Eddy rebellion was crushed.
The British Empire may owe more to the loyal Yorkshire emigrants than has ever been fairly accorded to them. Canada as a coterie of colonies furnished Great Britain with a training school for her statesmen that she did not otherwise possess. In this way British North America has been the prime factor in placing Great Britain first among the nations of the world in the government of colonies. It is true English ministers and English governors made mistakes and had much to learn before the present system was fully adopted, but the descendants of the Loyalists and those who remained true to the Crown during the stormy years of the Revolution were not likely to
Inverma, the home of Sheriff Allan, is now owned, in part, by Councillor Amos Trueman, and is still called by that name. It consisted at that time of three hundred and forty-eight acres of marsh and upland and was no doubt part of the Allan grant of 1763. Besides the Sheriff's own house there were six or seven small houses occupied by Acadian families as tenants, also two large barns and four smaller ones.
Allan's wife was Mary Patton, the daughter of Mark Patton, who was at one time a large property-owner on the Isthmus. Patton Point, in the Missiquash valley, still goes by his name. His home farm joined the glebe lands of the parish, and was afterwards bought by William Trueman and given to his son, Thomas. I find the following entry in William Trueman's journal, referred to elsewhere:
"Old Mrs. Patton was buried at the burying-ground by Thomas Trueman, July 31st, in the 92nd year of her age."
This lady was no doubt Mrs. Allan's mother. She had continued to live at the old place after Thomas Trueman had taken possession, and as this was in the year 1808, she had lived thirty-two years after her daughter left the country.
The question has been asked, would it not have been better for the northern half of this continent if the Eddy rebellion had succeeded and what is now Canada had become one country with the United States? The name Americans could then fairly have been claimed by the citizens of the great Republic and a people whose interests and aspirations are identical, and whose religion, language and customs are the same, would have been united in carrying out the destiny of the Anglo-Saxon in America. This may sound very well, but events have transpired in the last hundred and twenty-five years that point unmistakably to the conclusion that the God of history intended this northern land called Canada to work out its own destiny independent of the southern Republic. At the period of the Eddy rebellion Nova Scotia was still in the cradle and had no grievances to redress. New Brunswick as a Province had no existence. Never in all history had a conquered country been treated so justly by the victors as had Quebec. Ontario at this time was but a western wilderness. It will thus be seen that there would have been no justification for the new settlers in this northern land to have joined hands with the thirteen older colonies.
Another preliminary objection can be found in the situation of the Loyalists of 1783, from the fact that one of the grandest band of exiles that was ever driven from fireside and country would have found no place on the continent to make new homes for themselves. This would have placed them in infinitely worse circumstances than that body of noble men and women of another race that twenty-eight years earlier in the century had been driven out as exiles to wander in hardship and want on that same New England coast. These Loyalists brought to Canada the sterling principle, the experience in local Government, the sturdy, independent manhood and business experience and energy which this northern land needed to make it one of the most prosperous and best governed countries in the world. To think what Canada would have been without the Loyalists helps one to see more clearly how fortunate it was that the Eddy rebellion was crushed.
The British Empire may owe more to the loyal Yorkshire emigrants than has ever been fairly accorded to them. Canada as a coterie of colonies furnished Great Britain with a training school for her statesmen that she did not otherwise possess. In this way British North America has been the prime factor in placing Great Britain first among the nations of the world in the government of colonies. It is true English ministers and English governors made mistakes and had much to learn before the present system was fully adopted, but the descendants of the Loyalists and those who remained true to the Crown during the stormy years of the Revolution were not likely to