By John Francis Maguire, 1868
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CHAPTER IV.
Irish who settle on the Land--Their Success--Their Progress in St. John--Three Irishmen--A Small Beginning--Testimony of a Belfast Independent--Position of Irish Catholics--The Church in New Brunswick--A Sweet Bit--Missionary Zeal--Catholicity in St. John--Past and Present
THERE are large districts in New Brunswick almost exclusively occupied by Irish Catholics, who have been from twenty to forty years in the province. Many and anxious were the enquiries which I made in every quarter, from persons in various conditions of life, and holding opposite opinions on most public questions; and it is but simple justice to the representatives of the Irish race in that portion of the American continent to state, that the universal testimony was in favour of their thrift, industry, energy, and honesty. This was the testimony, not merely of members of their own Church, who might naturally be inclined to exaggerate the merits, or to deal leniently with the demerits, of those of their own faith and country; it was the testimony of Scotch Presbyterians, English Protestants, and the aristocratic descendants of the original colonists. I have been repeatedly assured that the Irish were amongst the best settlers in the province; and were I, from a feeling of false delicacy, to refrain from repeating this creditable judgment in their favour, I should be doing them a grievous wrong, and denying them a merit freely accorded to them by those who, however individually just and fair-minded, entertain no special love either for their country or their creed.
As a rule, then, admitting of rare exceptions, the Irish who settle on the land, and devote themselves to its cultivation, do well, realise property, accumulate money, surround themselves with solid comforts, and bring up their families respectably. Hundreds of cases could be mentioned of Irishmen, originally of the very humblest condition, who, when they came out first, worked as farm-labourers for others, and now occupy, as owners, the very property on which they toiled for their daily bread. On the one hand, there was waste and extravagance; on the other, thrift and industry; with the natural result, that the latter took the place which the former could not hold.
There are millions of acres yet unoccupied, which have never been visited save by the lumberman and his assistants; and of this land any quantity may be had from the State on easy terms. Thus, for instance, for a sum of 60l., a property consisting of 500 acres may be purchased in New Brunswick--may be held as long as grass grows and water runs. But, altogether independent of the land that may be had from the State, either by purchase or under the provisions of the Labour Act, there are cultivated farms which, like all other descriptions of property, are constantly in the market; and the thrifty man--the sober and prudent man--who watches the opportunity of purchasing to advantage, may do so at almost any time.
The Irish, Protestants and Catholics, hold a most important position in St. John, and may be said to own fully half the property and wealth of that bustling active city. Of this property and wealth, the Catholics, who, with scarce an exception, are Irish, possess a considerable share. And what they possess they realised for themselves. The majority of those who are now respected for the position they occupy, and which position is enhanced by their character for honour and integrity, came out poor--in many instances absolutely penniless; but they stripped to the work before them, and climbed, with steady energy, from the lowest rung of the social ladder to wealth and independence. Rare indeed is the instance of a young man having come out with a tolerably well-filled purse. 'I had not a pound in the world when I landed here,' is the boast of nine out of ten who owe their present proud position to their own unaided exertions. And when describing how several of the wealthiest of the modern emigrants succeeded in life, some one who knew the city well would say: `Such a man first worked as a labourer; I remember this man in a sawmill; that man commenced as a lumberman; one was a gardener, another a porter, another a pedlar: and now such a man is worth 2,000l; such a man, 5,000l; such a man, 10,000l; such a man, 20,000l.; such a man, 50,000l.: but, sir, all made by honesty, energy, and good conduct.' This is literally the history--the noble history--of many a man in St. John, who is a credit to the country of his adoption, and an honour to the land of his nativity. Even those who enjoyed the advantage of a good education had, when they started, little more of worldly goods than those whose only possessions were their strength, their honesty, their strength or their skill; and in the hard struggle upwards, that incalculable advantage necessarily told in their favour. But in all cases, education or no education, whether the young adventurer brought with him the well-won honours of Old Trinity, or the learning picked up in a village school, steadiness, sobriety, and good conduct were essential to success.
The possession of 'a little money' is very useful to any man who emigrates to a new country, especially when he has a family to provide for. But it has been confidently asserted, by experienced observers of the early struggles and successful career of their countrymen, that the most fortunate men came out 'without a pound in their pocket,' or, as they phrased it, without 'anything worth speaking of.' This may be accounted for by the necessity which compels a man without money, in a strange place, to set to work at once, and at anything that offers; whereas the man with a small capital is perhaps inclined to look about him too long, expecting, like Mr. Micauber, that `something will turn up,' and may thus lose the opportunity, or fritter away the energy essential to success. I was much struck with the histories of three Irishmen whom I met while in New Brunswick. One was a sturdy Independent, from the neighbourhood of Belfast; the others were Catholics--one from 'Sweet Glanmire,' near the city of Cork, the other from the county Fermanagh.
The Cork man's first enquiry was, `Why, then, how's Beamish and Crawford?*--are they alive at all?'
Having satisfied my cheery acquaintance on that head, by assuring him that Beamish and Crawford were as well as he could wish them to be, I suggested a leading question--
'I suppose, Mr. McCarthy, you had to fight your way, like the rest of our countrymen?'
'Faith, and that I had, sir, and no mistake. All I owned in the world, when I got as far as Frederickton, was twenty-five cents, and sure enough that same was not left long in my pocket, as I'll tell you--and it makes me laugh now when I'm telling it, though it was far from a laughing matter then. I took the twenty-five cents out of my pocket, and I put them in my hand, and I looked at them and looked at them, and I thought to myself they were mighty little for a man to begin the world with; but faith, sir, there was no help for it, and I had my health and strength, and all I wanted was work to do, for I was equal for it. Well, sir, small as the twenty-five cents looked in my hand, they looked smaller soon. I felt myself very dry entirely, and I wanted a drop of tea bad; so I went into a house, and said to a woman I met there, "Ma'am, I'll feel much obliged for a cup of tea, if you'd be pleased to give it to me." "Certainly, young man," says she, for she was civil-spoken enough, and I was quite a young fellow in them days; "certainly," says she, "you must have a cup of tea, young man; but you must pay me twelve cents for it." "Beggars can't be choosers," says I to myself, "so here goes for the tea." That cup of tea made a large hole in my twenty-five cents, and the bed and the breakfast next morning put the finish to my capital. But, sir, as the Lord would have it, I got a lucky job from a good gentleman that same day; and when he saw that I was steady, and didn't want to spare myself, he gave me more to do. From that day to this I've never been idle, and always steady, and keeping away from the drink, unless a little in reason, once in a way; and now, glory be to God for it! I have enough for myself and my family, and I'm doing a good business, and have something put by. But, sir, wasn't it a small beginning? Faith, I can't help laughing when I think of the twenty-five cents, and the big hole that cup of tea made in it.'
The Fermanagh man was then living upon his income, which was still considerable, though he had educated and provided for a large family. It was his boast that 'all he had in the world when he landed from Ireland was a dollar and a shilling.' Industry, perseverance, and good conduct did the rest.
I shall allow the Belfast Independent to speak in his own words, his testimony in favour of his countrymen being too valuable to be omitted. He is--or was in October 1866--a member of the Government, though without a portfolio, his important private affairs requiring his principal attention.
`I had to work my way up, with no one to help me but myself. I literally had nothing when I began--nothing in the shape of money or friends; but I got on from one thing to another, and I am now, thank God, all right and getting along. I think it does a man good to be obliged to work his own way in life; I know it did me good, and I am happier than if my father or grandfather had done everything for me, and I nothing for myself but to eat and drink what they left me. My dear sir, some of our best men hadn't a cent when they started; and what are they now? Faith, sir, they are better off than if they'd been left fortunes--for in that case they might be only anxious to spend them. Why, when I was first elected to our Parliament, there were seven of us who began as poor boys--yes, sir, poor boys; and three of them were Irish, like myself.'
'Irish!' I repeated.
'Yes, sir, Irish; and I tell you what, sir, it's not because I am an Irishman myself that I say it, but still I do say it--that our people get along in every way as well as any others. They are as smart, and as industrious--yes, and as saving; and they get property too as well as the rest--English, Scotch, or "Bluenoses." All they want is just to keep away from the liquor--not, sir, that others don't drink as much, and perhaps more, if the entire truth was told, than they do; but when the Englishman will be stupid, or the Scotchman will hide himself in a corner, the Irishman will go out in the street, and make a noise, and call attention to himself--that's just the difference. But, sir, when the Irishman is steady and sober, he has no superior; and I don't say this because I happen to be an Irishman, but because I see it every day of my life. Why, look at them when they get on the land; see how comfortable they are, and what stock they have! I wish you'd come to the Irish settlement near me, in St. Stephen's, Charlotte County; there is not a poor man among them all--yet they all came out poor--as poor as mice--without a cent in the world. Yes, sir, and though they are not of my Church, I say there isn't a more moral or virtuous people in the world,--that I say without fear of contradiction.'
`You must know your countrymen well,' I suggested.
'That I ought. I am in this country nearly forty years, and I saw the first of their coming here. They have gone on wonderfully, surely--all must admit that. And there isn't anything like the drink there was among them. I have experience of that in my own business. I am perhaps as largely in the lumber business as any man in the Province, and I employ a great many men. Some of it is very nice work, I assure you; and for skill and judgment, when once he gets to know his business, I say 1 prefer the Irishman. And, sir, there isn't that danger that ever was that will frighten him; I've seen him as steady as a rock in the midst of the rapids. As to the drink, when a party went into the woods formerly, they could do nothing without the whiskey, and the keg of spirits was as necessary to the lumberman as the barrel of flour or meat, or the store of groceries; but lately it is not thought of--and so much the better; people get along as well and better without it, and they save their money into the bargain. And let the sober Irishman alone for saving!--faith he scarcely has his equal for that in this Province.'
I remarked that it was pleasant to hear so good an account of one's countrymen, especially as there were too many in the world not inclined to think favourably of them.
`Well, that is true; there are too many who bother themselves about people's religion, and who won't give Catholics a good word; but, for my part, I live in the midst of them, and I find they are in every way equal to any others that you can mention. Then as for the priest, why, I always see him going among his flock, settling differences when they happen, and taking the greatest care of the children. I haven't a better or a faster friend than Father ------, though I am not of his Church. But for the Irish, I know them well, and what I say of them is before my eyes every day.'
* One of the most eminent and respected brewing firms in Ireland.
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