CHAPTER VIII Emigrant Feber. "What various scenes, and oh! what scenes of woe, The fever'd patient, from his pallet low, Through crowded hospital beholds it stream; The love-lorn wretch starts from tormenting dream; The wakeful mother, by the glimmering pale, Trims her sick infant's couch, and soothes his feeble wail. SCOTT. THE year 1847 was one marked by heavy judgments and distress of nations. Foremost among them in woe stood unhappy Ireland. "Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts, the land was darkened, and the people became as the fuel of the fire." In the morning her cry went up, "Would God it were evening!" at even, "Would God it were morning!" Desolate, in her straitness and in her distress, she poured forth her children from her unhappy shores to seek for rest in another land. Upon her the awful judgment pronounced against Jerusalem seemed almost to have fallen-"Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be towards this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth. And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the Lord, Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the famine, to the famine. Thou hast forsaken me, saith the Lord, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee; I am weary with repenting." Yet not by flight was the chastisement to be escaped. The fatal poison circulated in the frames of these devoted people, and lurked in the rags that hung about their wan and wasted forms. With the arrival of the first emigrant ship at Grosse Isle, the scourge appeared anew; and some idea of the miserable condition of these unfortunate people may be gathered from the following description: "MONTREAL, June 28, 1847. "The poor emigrants have been passing up the country for the last three weeks. Death, disease, starvation, and misery, seem to be the unmerciful attendants of these people wherever they go. The deaths at Grosse Isle (the quarantine station) have been very numerous, averaging from sixty to eighty daily. Here, too (at Montreal), want and typhus are carrying them off like sheep. Whole families, in several instances, have been swept away, leaving perhaps one to tell the tale. They send them as quickly as possible up the country; but it is the opinion of the principal medical man who attends them, that not more than one-half will ever reach their journey's end. Is it not sad? These poor creatures are living in sheds that have been roughly put together for this purpose. None but the sick are allowed to remain above a day or two. These sheds are, in fact, so many hospitals crowded with sick; so crowded are they, as to be obliged to put three in a bed. દ I went once to see these places (we have since been forbidden to go near them), and never shall I forget the sight. The room I saw was crowded with these poor creatures, some of them lying two in a bed. They were in every stage of disease, from those who just came in, to those who were on the point of expiring. Outside the door was a pile of coffins of different sizes, all ready to receive the dead. Two were nailed up waiting for the dead-cart to carry them off; and all this in sight of the patients. The doctor begged me to walk through the other wards, where the worst cases were, but I declined. The grey nuns were wonderful in their energy and activity. The doctor said that one of them was worth six of our women. I have told you this, that you may know what is going on at Montreal with regard to the ill-fated Irish. Don't fear my catching the fever. I am not going near the sheds again-being forbidden-even if I wished it. "And now, my dearest mother, good-bye. I delight to think of you all, and particularly before the throne of grace. I need not ask you to do likewise.-Ever your affectionate son, M. M. H." To these scenes of suffering many noble-hearted men hastened. The minister of Christ was there, to speak of One who, at that hour of death, could bestow the gift of eternal life. The sister of mercy was there, to lift to the parched lips the cup of cold water, that should "by no means lose its reward." The faithful servant of Christ was there, who, for his Master's sake, cheerfully volunteered, H and yielded his life in a service not less perilous than the plain of Balaklava or the fatal Redan. Maxy Hammond was very early precluded from sharing in these labours, by a stringent order which prohibited any officer from visiting the sheds, lest the infection should be communicated to the troops. Nevertheless, though prohibited from attending himself, he aided the sufferers, as far as possible, both by providing them with necessaries, and by making arrangements for their comfort. A noble trait was shewn, on this occasion, by the The various companies kept back daily a proportion of their rations for the use of the sick; and this example was followed by the 52d Regiment, and two companies of artillery, then in the garrison; the officers providing a cart for the conveyance and distribution of the meat among the sick. men. The French people," writes a private rifleman, "when they met Captain Hammond in the streets, hearing of his kindness to the poor, would uncover their heads, and invoke blessings upon him." Four years afterwards, when a rifleman was in the market-place at Kingston, some country people, observing the uniform, came up and inquired of the wearer whether the same kind officer was still in the regiment who had saved their lives at Montreal. One by one, those whose duty and zeal led them to the fever-sheds, were stricken themselves, and among them two of Maxy Hammond's own friends; and at their bedsides, night after night, for a long and harassing period, he watched and nursed them with a brother's tenderness and love. The two friends who sickened were Mr L * * of H. M. Royal Navy, and Mr W***, the clergyman by the last mail may have caused you some anxiety. Thanks be to God, I am in no way the worse for my attendance on my sick friends. You will see an account of their death in the 'Berean' I send. Upon the arrival of the emigrants, Mr W✶ ✶ ✶ organised a small band from among his congregation to attend to the wants, temporal and spiritual, of the sick and dying at the emigrant sheds. They were indefatigable in their exertions, until, one by one, they caught the fever raging among these unhappy people. Mr L * * * was the first who was laid up. His illness lasted thirteen days, and ended in his death. During this time I was constantly with him, by day and night, until his removal. Mr W *** was taken ill about three days after Mr L * * *, and died about three days after Mr L * * *. I was with him during the last three days of his illness. Of the rest of the party who visited the sheds, one more died, and three more caught the fever, but are recovering. The dispensation is a heavy one, and is deeply felt by the congregation. It appears strange that these men should be taken away in the midst of usefulness, falling victims to their devotedness to their Master's cause, and their love to their fellow-creatures. We can only say, 'It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good.' Both, however, died in the full and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ; and, therefore, the loss is ours, not theirs for 'it is better to depart, and be with Christ.' |