¦'. 'j^,ii tiUXETVE£!i YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY FIVE YEARS' RESIDENCE IN tHE CANADAS: INCLUDING ^ ^OUt tf)XOHQf} ^&Kt OP THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, IN THE YEAR 1823. BY EDWARD ALLEN TALBOT, ESQ., OP THE TALBOT SETTLEMENT, UPPER CANADA. Bold rise the mount^ns* rich the gardens glow. Bright lakes expand, and conquering rivers flow; Hind, mind alone, without whose quickening ray The world's a vnffiernas, and man but clay, — Mind, mind alone, in barren, still repose. Nor blooms, nor rises, nor expands, nor flows. Moore. IN TWO VOLUMES, VOL. II. LONDON: PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, BROWN AND GREEN. 1824; E^aI o f V. 2 James Nichoh, Printer, 22, Warwick-Square, London, CONTENTS VOLUME SECOND LETTER XXIV. Manners and Customs of the Inhabitants of Upper Canada— Fo' pulation Curious amalgamation of different countries Anecdote and characteristic table-talk Personal appearance of the men and women Goitres Manners of the first class in society 9 10 12 1718 21 LETTER XXV. Manners and customs of Upper Canada The second class in society — the Females Marriages Courtship Their low ideas of chastity - An anecdote A female conversation Obsequiousness of husbands. 2931 343S 3842 44 49 LETTER XXVI. Manners and customs in Upper Canada — Origin of its population Their depravity, ignorance, and inquisitiveness S3 54 ir CONTENTS. Dearth of native wit . A horse-race — Curious mode of betting on the course Detestable practice of boxing PAGE 5758 59 LETTER XXVII. Manners and customs of the Upper Province — Want of hospitality among the Canadians . Their Winter visits Their avarice, and various modes of gaining money Barter . Dr. Howison's testimony on these topics. 62 CC68 72 75 LETTER XXVIII. Manners and customs of Upper Canada — no proper criterion by which to form a judgment of the crimes committed . . 81 Frequency of cases of seduction .... 83 An unhappy instance of this, and its fatal termination. . . 84 LETTER XXIX. Education of a Canadian Early indulgence and expertness Entrance on active life — his marriage and settlement Log-hut and furniture Independence and improvidence Their results 949599 101 103 107 LETTER XXX. Manners and customs in Upper Canada — Want of excitements to mental improvement General want of education Anecdote Valuable nature of juvenile labour Legislative enactments for the encouragement of Schools 110 114 115119121 LETTER XXXI. State of Religion and Morals in Upper Canada . Horrid crime of swearing .... Reasons for the deterioration in the morality of many Settlers Their insulated situation 123 126 130 134 CONTENTS. r Necessity of Christian Instruction Ample Provision for a resident Clergy Their Number and Stations The Conduct of the Republican Methodist Preachers towards their British Brethren Distinction between the American and British Methodists Noisy Mode of Public Worship Camp-Meetings and their attendant Evils Conjectures respecting their continuance LETTER XXXII. Emigration Advantages of the Upper Province Situation of Government-Grants Increased Official Fees on Grants Impolicy of this measure . Settlers prefer to purchase Land of Individuals at a cheaper rate Disappointment of many Emigrants, on finding a Charge made for a Free Grant ..... Inadequacy of Fifty Acres for the support of a Paupei Settler Depreciation in the value of Agricultural Produce . Amount of Imports and Exports .... page 133^137139 141 148150 156 161 166 168 169 171 173175 177179 181183 LETTER XXXIII. Emigration— The mode observed in obtaining Government-Grants The Settlement Duties required Best method of their being performed Advice respecting the erection of a Log-hut, and the hiring of Labourers ..... First clearing of the Land .... Contrast between the Irish and Canadian Peasantry Various plans for assisting Pauper Emigrant^ one of them examined Varied success of my Father's Settlers Causes of the scanty produce of Grain on new estates Necessity of employing the Plough . . . 185186187188 190191192 198 200201 LETTER XXXIV. Emigration — Estimated Expence of removing a Pauper Family of five persons to Upper Canada and settling them comfortably Encour^ement of Government .... 203205 VI CONTENTS. Flan of a Township, ten miles square Sale of the Crown Reserves, to aid the internal improvement of the country . . • • • Produce and consequences of snch Sale Reflections on extensive Emigration from Ireland Calculation of the Charge of locating a single Pauper Embarrassments of the Poor, who arrive at Quebec without money Exertions which they make for obtaining a Livelihood Criadations by which a Paupei ascends to independence Advant^es which Canada presents to Settlers of the poorer classes LETTER XXXV. Emigration — Few Inducements for wealthy Men to emigrate to Canada Private Capital not profitably employed in clearing Land . Projected Improvement of the Country, by means of Canals Difficulty of embarking Capital in Canadian Commerce Mode by which a mopied Man may comfortably support himself and Family on his own Estate .... Purchase of improved Land preferable to obtaining a Government- Grant ...... Quantity of Land necessary for support of Stock and supply of Grain The degree of Encouragement to the Emigration of professional Men and Artizans of various descriptions Reflections on the present end future Condition of Canada, and the prospect of its ultimate greatness The error of those who suppose that Canada will one day become tri. butary to the United States, pointed out, and their arguments refuted ..... LETTER XXXVL Pedestrian .Touiney from the Talbot Settlement to Montreal Conversation with an American Tavern-keeper Description of a Canadian Tavern Lost in the Woods Midnight Wanderings The Discovery of a Dwelling Inhospitable Conduct of its Inmates Ijodging in the Barn Arrival at the Seat of Colonel Simons The resumption of my Journey and arrival at the Seignory of Lon gueille ..... Description of the Landlady of a Tavern Manners and customs of Lower Canada— State of society in Montreal Four classes ...... Insolence of upstart vanity . PAGE 208 210 Ibid. 211 S13 214215216220 222 223 225 236 237 241 242245248 250 254 259 263268272 276277278 278 279 280 282 283284 CONTENTS. VU LETTER XXVIL Mr. Lambert's remarks on conjugal infidelity Roman Catholic annual procession Nuptial ceremonies . Happiness of the Canadian Catholics Contrast between them and the Irish Provincial customs on New-year's day The Charivari Happiness of the Lower Canadians, though destitute of education. A Tout through the United States . New Canal near Oak Orchard American Stages A Militia Muster Matthews the Comedian, with notices of his portraiture of American Characters His plagiarisms proved from the writings of Miss Wright and Mr. Lambert .... Humorous description of an American Review Rochester . ... Canandaigua . ... Auburn ... . . Anecdote respecting General Jackson Utica— Schenectady .... Schuylersville — General Fraser's death Saratoga — the Congress Hotel Congress Spring and High Rock Dr. Steel's analysis of the waters of the Saratoga Springs A comparison between the United States and Canada . Albany— the River Hudson West Point — the Story of Major Andr^ Arrival at New York .... Description of that city Its inhabitants . ... A defence of American manners against the prejudiced opinion of other travellers The opinion of Americans with reference to the works of English tra. vellers on the United States Observations on American literature . Places of amusement — Theatre — Vauxhall Gardens State Prison — State of Crime in the United States Synopsis of the Criminal Code Conclusion .... Appendix-.The Indians PAGE 287292295 295296 298299 304 311312314 316 318 322 324 337338 339340 343 344348350351 356359360367 369370 371372 375376 377 378380 384 LETTER XXIV. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE INHABITANTS OF UPPER CANADA POPULATION CURIOUS AMALGAMATION OF DIFFERENT COUN TRIES ANECDOTE AND CHARACTERISTIC TABLE-TALK PER SONAL APPEARANCE OF THE MEN AND WOMEN— GOITRES- MANNERS OF THE FIRST CLASS IN SOCIETY. IhE Population of Upper Canada, according to the returns made by the different town-clerks in 1821, amounted to 122,716 souls. But, as some of these returns, particularly for the new toWn- .ships, were not complete, and as a great number of emigrants have since arrived in the country, it is likely that there are now 150,000 souls in the Province, exclusive of the Indians and the mili tary. In 1783, the number of whites in Upper Canada amounted to no more than 10,000. It is very remarkable, that although the present population of this fine Province is composed of emigrants from almost every European nation, and from every State of North America, there should be so little difference in their manners, cus toms, and habits of life. Germans, Hollanders, French, English, Scotch, and Irish, after a few Vol. II. B 10 REMARKABLE ASSIMILATION years' residence in Canada, forget their national customs and peculiarities, and become, in almost every particular, entirely assimilated to the people of America. These emigrants, having generally been of the lowest class of society in their respective coun tries, — and consequently mere cyphers except in their own immediate sphere, — as soon as they arrive in Canada, begin to assume an appearance of im portance, and to be quite ashamed of their former unassuming manners and native customs. The most absurd notions of equality and independence take instant possession of their vertiginous and unreflecting minds. As they travel through the Province and mingle with its inhabitants, they hear the dialects and peculiarities of their respec tive nations decried and ridiculed, while those of America, both Republican and Monarchical, are invariably defended and extolled. The first, and, as they conceive it, the most es,sential study in which they can engage in this new .state of exist ence, is therefore to imitate every thing Ame rican ; and so successful are they in their endea vours to copy the example of those by whom they are surrounded, that, before they have spent a single season in the Province, they exhibit the most ludicrous specimens of ignorance and affec tation that this or any other country can produce. Not a single ti'ace of native simplicity or of native manners remains. Every thing must give place to OF INHABITANTS. H the influence of example ; and American vanity must be ingrafted on the stock of foreign diffi dence. No magpie was ever more assiduous in mimicking his music-master, than these imported mock-birds are in copying the fashionable slang 'of their immaculate neighbours. They are indefatigable in acquiring a knowledge of the rights of man, the JUST PRINCIPLES OF EQUALITY, and THE TRUE NATURE OF INDEPENDENCE, and, in a word, of every thing which characterises an American ; and thus they quickly become divested of common manners, and common civility, and not unfrequently of common honesty too, — indeed, this latter virtuous quality is rather uncommon on this side of the Western Ocean. It has often afforded me much merriment to witness half a dozen Irish mountainers or Scotch High landers, — who, in their native country had seldom, except "on some high festival of once a year," sat down to a more luxurious meal than " Murphies* and buttermilk, or to an oaten cake and porridge, — surrounding a table in Canada which groaned beneath the weight of a profusion of sweetmeats and fine fruits, and " doing the honours" with all the politeness of newly-elected Aldermen. Shortly after my arrival in the country, and at a period therefore when every thing was calcu lated to make the deepest impression on my mind, I was eye and ear-witness to a scene of this sort, and noted down the whole of the table-talk, to furnish you with the means of half an hour's amuse ment some time, when you are not otherwise more B 2 12 DELECTABLE SPECIMEN OF profitably employed. The place in which it oc curred was a hotel in the London District ; and the company consisted of three Irishmen, a Scotch man, a true-born Yorkshireman, and a full-blooded Yankee. When dinner was announced, the whole party took their seats sansceremonie. Mr. A., Mr.B. and Mr. C, for such were the initials of our coun trymen's sirnames, took their seats on one side of the table, while Jonathan, Sawney, and John Bull occupied the other, leaving no one for the head or foot. The dinner consisted of a young roasted pig, a pair of boiled chickens, some cold beef, apple- pies, and gooseberi-y-tarts, with tea, and cakes of various descriptions, &c. &c. Mr. A. was requested to dissect the young pig, and Mr. B. the chickens. Mr. A. — Gentlemen, will you grant me the permission to do myself the felicity of helping you to some fresh pork ? Mr. C. — If you'll be condescending enough to give me a piece, I'll be under many obligations to you. Sir. A. — Pray, what piece will you have. Sir ? C. — A bit of the flitch, if you have no objection. This put Mr, A. to the utmost stretch of his knowledge, as he had not yet taken off either legs or wings ; but, after turning the pig up and down half a dozen times, he placed it on its back, and, with a good deal of address, succeeded in taking out a well-shaped flitch, and placing it on Mr. C.'s plate,— not, however, before he had dashed, a CANADIAN TABLE-TALK. jg moderate portion of gravy in the Yorkshireman's face, who, with more real politeness than the others would have exhibited in similar circum stances, quietly drew his handkerchief across his eyes, and, as a poet would say, " smiled, lik^ an April' day," through his tears. .. Mr. A., to make amends for his faux pas, next addressed himself with great politeness to John Bull, and begged to know if he would be helped to some of the pork. " Noa ! Noa !" cried the Yorkshireman ; " I'll " be troublesome to Mr. B. for a small morsel of " them there stewed hens of his !" Mr. B. — What part will you take. Sir ? York. — The tore-shouder, Sir, if you have no objection. Mr. B. helped him to the collar-bone ; though it was very evident, that poor John Bull wished for a much more substantial joint. The Scot's turn came next, Mr. A. requesting to know if he would be after helping him ? " I'll have a ham of your wee pig," said Saw ney, with the utmost impatience ; while he reached his plate across the table with his left hand, his elbow resting in the interim on the cold beef. All this time, the Yankee, regardless of cere mony, was feasting himself on the beef and apple- pye. Mr. B., when every one else was helped, and brother Jonathan had nearly finished his din ner, asked him to take a small piece of a hin ; b3 14 DELECTABLE SPECIMEN OF and, without waiting for a reply, desired to know what part he would pitch upon. " I calculate," said the Columbian, " that I'll " take the breast, with a small bit of the sole." Mr. B. gave him the breast ; and then, cutting off one of the feet at the lower joint, laid it on his plate, with " There, my swate fellow, there is " sole, and upper, and all ; and a delicate morsel ?t " is for a gentleman of your portly appearance !" Jonathan, provoked with the ignorant loquacity of his pragmatical companions, and accustomed to help himself, stuck his fork into the chicken that yet remained untouched, and removed it to his plate. When he had helped himself to as much of it as he wished, he very coolly restored it to the dish, and, holding up a part of the sole on the point of his fork, informed Mr. B., " There, d you ! " there's the sole of a chicken ! " Upon my shoul, and I believe you," replied Pat ; " for it looks as if it had seen a good dale of " service on the claggy roads of Canada. But you " must excuse me. Sir ; for in swate Ireland, the " hins, as well as the mins, instead of carrying *' their soles in their bellies, make their soles carry " them." The pies and tarts were next handed about ; after the due demolition of which, tea-drinking commenced, and Mr. A. thus addressed Mr. B. " Will you permit me to be after spelling you " out a cup of the tay ? It's a delightful thing (ANADIAN TABLE-TALK. 15 " after a hearty dinner ; and, I guess, if it were " not for it, myself would be under the sod half a " dozen years before I came to America :" — though, if the truth were known, I dare say we should find that he never tasted of the " cups which cheer but not inebriate," previous to his arrival in Canada, and was as little acquainted with the use of tea as the Highlander, who, when he was enrolled in a regiment, and came for his allowance of coffee, refused to be content with " the wish-wash," and desired that he might " have a goodly portion of the grains to eat," as they bore a greater resem blance to his " crowdy." The" conversation now turned on the rate of Mechanics' wages ; for Mr. A. and Mr. B. were Tailors by profession, and consequently interested in the subject. Honest John Bull, who alone ¦remained as unaffected in his manners and deport ment, and in his speech also, as on the day when he departed from his native Hull, was no great lover of Canada, or at least of its inhabitants. He therefore stoutly maintained, " that men were " paid no better in America, than in Ould Hing- " land ; notwithstanding all the fuss that was made " about fortune-making in the New World, and " such hironical stuff." Mr. C. replied, " I calculate," — for they all hf this time had acquired the habits of calculating and guessing, though in reality fresh as imported a few months before, — " I calculate, Mr. Englishman, " that you are a little too fast there ; for, to my K; an IRISH EMIGRANT. " own sartan knowledge, them there jontlemen, " I mean Mr. A. and Mr. B., have this day been " offered fifty shillings a week, and their board, " washing, and lodging, — and all tliat, at Mr. Roger " O'Flanaghan's, the master-taylor, as honest a ^^ jontleman as ever padded a shoulder or flattened " a seam." The valorous knights of the needle being asked. Why they did not accept so liberal an offer ? an swered with the utmost sang froid, " that on " iiLspecting the bed-rooms in which they were to " lie, they found one of them uncarpeted, and the " other without either basin, wash-hand stand, or " dres,sing-table." After this, a variety of other subjects occupied the attention of the company, among the most prominent of which was, " the propriety of admit ting KX-PARTE and circumstantial evidence in cases oi life and death." The Scotchman contended for the principle, and our more enlightened country men against it : While John Bull and brother Jona than, totally uninterested, having never thought of putting their necks in danger, withdrew to another apartment, convinced that they had at least strong circumstantial evidence of the imper tinent vanity of our countrymen. Of all vapid coxcombs upon earth, an Irish emi grant without education is the most intolerable, the least amiable, and the most preposterous t A perfect model of affectation ! You must recollect, however, that I speak only of the lowest classes. THE INHABITANTS. 17 In their persons the Upper Canadians are tall, slight, and not badly proportioned. The men, though in their complexions little fairer than their Indian neighbours, are nevertheless not ordinary. Their features are generally good, but entirely void of intelligence and expression. Inured to hardships from their infancy, and always accus tomed to labour in the open air, they are strong, athletic, and active. In their dress, they differ little from the English, except that the lower class, — for there are two distinct classes in the country, — invariably wear long loosse pantaloons, instead of small-clothes. The women are in general above the middle size, slight, but not elegantly formed. Their com plexion is perfectly sallow ; and, though some of them are possessed of the finest black eyes, they can boast of very few of those irresistible charms which captivate the heart and enslave the affec tions. They marry while yet children ; and, fre quently before they attain to 30 years, exhibit many symptoms of old age. Even at 25, and sometimes prior to that period, they have an ema ciated and dejected look. Their conversation, — if they may be said to converse at all, — is seldom in teresting, never sprightly, and tends little to atone for the almost total absence of per-sonal attractions. They early become martyrs to the tooth-ache, which greatly disfigures them. Scarcely a female of 20 years' old can be found in the country, one- half of whose teeth are not entirely destroyed and 18 GOITRES. the other half rapidly decaying. They are also very commonly subject to swellings of the neck, usually called goitres. This unpleasant malady is said to have its origin in the frequent use of snow-water ; but as the inhabitants of those coun tries which lie nearest to the Glaciers, drink no other water, and yet are not afflicted with these violent tumours, it does not seem right to fix upon that as the cause. Guthrie says, the people of Naples, of the Island of Sumatra, of Putna, and Purnea in the East Indies, where snow is entirely unknown, are much subject to goitres. This being the case, it is quite evident, that the disease must be attributed to some other cause. Many people think, that the water in Canada, as well as that of the countries mentioned by Guthrie, is impregnated with cer tain deleterious particles, which engender the goi tres. This theory is, however, equally liable to refutation ; for if water were in any wise the cause, men, who in Canada drink four times as much water as women, would also be afflicted with the same disease, — which is not by any means the fact. You must, therefore, if you are at all curious to know the origin of this complaint, apply to some person of more competent judgment than your correspondent.f I have only further to remark, t On this subject I quote with approbation the subjoined just remarks from Professor D wight's Travels: " There is another disease, which is unquestionably owing to the nature of this country, and not merely to the recency of its GOITRES. 19 that the neck swells to a prodigious size, but without producing any pain, or other unpleasant settlement. This is what is called in Switzerland the goitres, or the hernia gutiuris. By the Honoiirable Uriah Tracy, late a senator of the United States from Connecticut, I am informed, that this disease is found to some extent throughout a great part of the regions lying North of the Ohio and West of the Alleghany mountains. Mr. Tracy was employed by the American govern ment on a mission of importance, which required him to make a tour throughout a large extent of this country. Accordingly he passed through Pennsylvania, by the way of Pittsburgh and Presque Isle, and thence, crossing Lake Erie, proceeded to De troit. From this place he went to Michilimackinac, and thence to Lake Superior. From Michilimackinac he returned to BufFaloe Creek, and took the great western road to Albany. In this excur sion he found the goitres existing in the older settlements more, in the newer less frequently, but actually existing at different distances throughout the whole region. Several other gentlemen have confirmed the account of Mr. Tracy. That the disease exists from Utica to Buffaloe is, I think, certain ; probably not in every township, but in such a manner as to indicate that it is incident to the country at large, and has a foundation in its nature and circumstances. When I was at Paris, in the year 1799> there were in the parish of Clinton but two families afiected with it. In "these families, however, and most others where it has been for a number of years, it seized on several of the members. At the North end of the bridge, which crosses the Mohawk from Utica, there was, in the year 1799j a family within the township of Deerfield, consisting of ten or eleven persons, every one of whom, as I was informed, had the goitres. " Persons afflicted with this disease have, as is well known, •swellings of the neck, rising indifferently in front or at the sides ; and, when they become large, extending throughout the anterior half. These swellings are of all sizes, from the slightest protu berance to that of a quart bowl ; and are attended with stiffness of the neck, a slight degree of continual pain, and frequently a 20 GOITRES. effect except that of disfiguring and discomforting the patient. In Upper Canada, there are only two clas.ses of society. The First is composed of professional men, merchants, civil and military officers, and the members of the Provincial Parliament : The depression of spirits. The sufferings of the patient are increased by a cold, and by almost every other infirmity. Women are more frequently and more severely afflicted with this disease than men, feeble than vigorous persons, and children than adults. In the higher degrees it becomes a painful deformity, not only as an unnatural protuberance, but by imparting a disagreeable cast to the features, particularly to the eyes. When the patient conti nues in the same place, and in the same habits of living by which it was produced, it generally increases ; but if he removes to a part of the country where it is unknown, it not uncommonly decreases, and sometimes disappears. " The existence of this disease, throughout so great an extent of country, is, I believe, unexampled in the world. Should it spread very generally among the inhabitants of this region, it must hereafter affect many millions of the human race. When we consider the magnitude of this fact, and remember, that the disease in its higher stages is hitherto incurable, it becomes a very serious evil. It is to be hoped, that the same .good Provi dence, which has so lately and so wonderfully dissipated the terrors of the small -pox, by the discovery of the vaccine inocula tion, will also disclose a remedy for the melancholy disease under consideration. " Distressing, however, as this disorder seems to a stranger, the inhabitants appear already to regard it with abated apprehen sions, and to be approximating in their views of it towards indif ference. An intelligent and respectable lady in Pittsburgh was asked by Mr. Tracy, whether it existed in her family : she said she presumed it did not. The children were then called up and examined, and five of them were found to be affected with it." FIRST CLASS. 21 Second, of farmers, mechanics, and labourers, who a.ssociate together on all occasions without any distinction. The First Class dress exactly in the same way as the people of England ; but the men are much less intelligent, and the women not so refined in their manners. They are fond of public assemblies, but seem to have no relish for small social parties. In the Winter, which is the only season for visit ing in the Canadas, subscription-balls are very pre valent. For this purpose every respectable tavern in the country, how destitute soever of accommoda tions it may be in other respects, is always pro vided with an extensive ball-room. Stewards are appointed either for the night or for the sea son : It is their province to send tickets of admis sion to the different subscribers, to give orders for the accommodations, attend to the suitable decor ation of the house, and collect the amount of sub scriptions for which the proprietor of the hotel always considers them accountable. A gentle man's subscription is generally about five dollars : The ladies never pay any thing. For this sum you are entitled to bring with you a partner and ser vant, and to be supplied with wine and other liquors, with tea and supper for yourself and your fair companion. The company, whether strangers or otherwise, are admitted on producing their tic kets, without any introduction ; and until dancing commences, a solemn stillness reigns around. The 22 FIRST CLASS OF gentlemen sit on one side of the room, and the ladies on the other ; And front to front the banner'd hosts combine. Halt ere they close, and form the dreadful line. A line of demarcation appears to be drawn be tween them, over which one would suppose it were high treason to pass, or to throw even a sentiment. Both parties maintain an obstinate silence, and appear as cautious of trespassing beyond the ima ginary landmark which divides their respective domains, as if the pass was guarded by rattle snakes. When the order for dancing is given, the gentlemen signify their willingness, but not their wish, to take a partner, by awkwardly placing themselves vis-a-vis to their fair antagonists, and making a sort of bow so stiff, that, as the head slowly inclines towards the floor, you imagine you hear the spine and the marrow of the back separating. They seem to be very much attached to country- dances, and' the ladies appear to vie with each other only in the introduction of the most difficult figures. They dance very few steps, and these indifferently ; but they are deeply skilled in all the bon ton of right and left, six hands round, and down the middle. When supper is announced, each gentleman leads his partner to the supper-table, and immediately returns into the ball-room ; where they all wait till the ladies have finished their repast, SOCIETY IN CANADA. 23 after which they exchange apartments, and the gen tlemen sup undismayed by female presence. After supper, dancing recommences, and seldom termi nates before the shades of night are dispersed, and " fair Aurora wakes the morn." Men of the first class in Canada, though, with exceedingly few exceptions, of mean origin, — the greater number of them having acquired fortunes in the country from very low beginnings, — assume quite a genteel appearance, and are very little inferior to country gentlemen in England, either in look or address. But the women of a similar class have, for the most part, allowed their for tunes greatly to outstrip their minds and per.sons in improvement. That graceful and dignified car riage, — that polite and fascinating address, — that demeanour, " nor bashful nor obtrusive," — which so eminently mark the lady of family in Great Britain and Ireland, are no where to be witnessed ii^ the females of America. A concurrence of for tuitous events may greatly change the appearance of man, but it has by no means the same effect on woman. When once the female character is deter mined, it is determined for life; and, through every subsequent vicissitude and change, she con tinues to exhibit in her every look and gesture a something, that carries the mind unerringly back to her real origin, and furnishes a most accurate scale of her pretensions to distinction. The idea of Dr. Johnson, that "the born gentlewoman" 24 FIRST CLASS OF may be distinguished among ten thousand females, is not the least striking proof of that sage's pro found judgment and excellent understanding. It is really wonderful, to observe what an effect appearances produce on the mind, and how greatly they influence the conduct. Whenever I had the pleasure of mingling in respectable female society on your side of the water, I always felt an irresist ible disposition to use all the exertions in my power to render myself as agreeable as possible, to each individual of the company. On such occasions, every faculty of my mind was called into exercise, and every word and sentiment duly weighed ere they were permitted to escape from my lips. The slightest failure in any point of etiquette afforded me matter of serious regret, and suffused my face with a tint, infinitely more propitious to the look than to the feelings. But, in this country, I could sit among the females of its best society with stoical indifference, and converse with the mo-st perfect nonchalance, regardless alike of gene ral approbation and particular esteem. Among the females of my own country, I could scarcely forbear from considering myself in the society of beings of a superior order, to whom I owed the most respectful obei.sance; but among those of America, I regard myself as in the company of equals, who have nothing to expect from me but a respectful deference. The one commanded my respect, and it was cheerfully paid ; the other SOCIETY IN CANADA. 25 seemed to demand it, and the demand was reluc tantly heard. In the one situation, slavery was delightful ; but, in the other, freedom scarcely afforded content. I do not know, indeed, that the young ladies of Upper Canada are greatly inferior to those of England, in what are here commonly denominated, " scholastic acquirements." That few of them can boast of any extraordinary abilities, either natural or acquired, is certain ; but it is equally true, that the majority of them are decently, if not fashion ably, educated. They appear, however, to have little taste for reading, and to be averse to conver sation, — whether from a want of materials, or from a native taciturnity, I cannot say. They will sit for hours in the company of gentlemen, with out once interchanging a sentiment or manifesting the slightest interest in any conversation that may take place. A settled melancholy sits upon their countenances; And, stealing oft a look at the big gloom, the men very soon partake of the same glumpishness, which renders a mixed company in Canada a most excellent occasion, for those who, under any cir cumstances, would find it difficult to preserve such imperturbable gravity, to exercise their risible fa culties. You might as well attempt to reverse the order of nature, by commanding the sun or moon to .stand still, as attempt to extort a smile from Vol. II. C 26 FIRST CLASS OF their countenances by the brilliancy of your wit or the point of your satire. And yet, I am told, when emancipated from the frightful presence of man, they can converse with volubility, And laugh, forgetful of the noon-tide hour. His presence imposes upon them an awful restraint, freezes the genial current of the soul, and renders them, during his intrusion, mere inanimate specta tors of his actions. As fortune is a matter of little, if any, consider ation in Canada, and as parents seldom impose •restraints on the inclinations of their children, men and women marry at an early age. A female who -has the misfortune to attain her twenty-fifth year •without having bowed before the hymeneal altar, is generally considered as having passed the zenith of her g^ory, and no longer entitled to any marked attentions from the other sex. At this period of life, most Canadian women see themselves sur rounded by a numerous family of children ; and, to say the truth, the fair sex are so highly prized in every part of America, that an old maid is a rara avis in terris, a delicacy of which few man sions can make their boast. If it had not been for the importation of our English Dictionaries, the very term would scarcely have been known in the Canadas. The high esteem in which females are , held in these Provinces, may be easily accounted , fpr : A comfortable maintenance for a family is fairly within the reach of every industrious SOCIETY IN CANADA. 27 man ; and a life of lonely celibacy, in a country so thinly inhabited, must not only be attended with innumerable inconveniencies, but with a total deprivation of social intercourse and domestic enjoyment. The consequence is, that every man, when he has attained his twenty-first year, resolves on taking to himself a wife, and thus ridding him self of the cares of the world! The number of male emigrants, who annually arrive in every part of America, on a moderate calculation, is, ta that of females, as three are to one. Women are there fore a scarce commodity in the Canadian market ; and the scarcity of any article, to use a mercantile phrase, necessarily enhances its value, and sometimes increases the dfcmand. The women in Canada, there fore, though intrinsically at least 76 per cent, below our fair cotmtry women, are more highly prized, and much more eagerly sought, after. Though seldom exempt from calumny while unmarried, they are said to make good wives to indulgent husbands, who have no objections to allow their neighbours a participation in their affections. Indeed, it is thought rather derogatory from the exalted notions of liberty, which every American, both under a Republic and under a Monarchy, imbibes with his mother's milk, to tie down the affections, to any single object. Universal Love, as well as Uni versal Suffrage, is, in America, the order of the day ; and heaven have mercy on the man who is married, and is not willing to recognize this as sound doctrine! His head and heart will fre- c2 28 FIRST CLASS. quently ache, and his eyes be often red with weep ing. A certain noble Lord once gave it as his opinion, that the ladies of a certain nation appeared to be all virtuous, and yet were all unchaste. Had his Lordship been acquainted with America, he would have known a certain noble colony to which the remark would be much more applicable. Gentlemen in Canada appear to be much ad dicted to drinking. Card-playing, and horse-racing, are their principal amusements. In the country parts of the Province, they are in the habit of assembling in parties at the taverns, where they gamble pretty highly, and drink very immode rately, seldom returning home without being com pletely intoxicated. They are very partial to Jamaica spirits, brandy, shrub, and peppermint ; and do not often use wine or punch. Grog, and the unadulterated aqua vitce, are their common drink ; and of these they freely partake at all hours of the day and night. LETTER XXV. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF UPPER CANADA — THE SECOND CLASS IN SOCIETY THE FEMALES — MARRIAGES COURTSHIP — THEIR LOW IDEAS OF CHASTITY 'AN ANECDOTE A FEMALE CONVER SATION OBSEQUIOUSNESS OP HUSBANDS. In my preceding letter I brought you acquainted with the manners and customs of the Higher Class in Canadian Society, and I purpose now to introduce you to a knowledge of those of the Lower, or what would, in more civilized regions, be called the Middle Class. But, in doing this, I feel that I shall require your most charitable con sideration, which, under my circumstances, you will not refuse to extend, and which will com pletely exonerate me from the very semblance of the charge contained in the often-quoted couplet, Immodest words admit of no defence. For want of decency is want of sense. If I assure you, that this class of Canadians are exceedingly gross in their manners, and generally addicted to low and obscene conversation, I con vey to you a vague and inadequate idea of the people. But when I give you a few common examples of their vicious habits and discourse, divested as far as possible of their most offensive c: 3 .•^O SECOND CLASS OF accompaniments,t I leave you to form a tolerably correct estimate of the state of society from the remainder. Having thus anticipated the blame of which many v/ell-meaning individuals might, if I had made no apology for the introduction of objec tionable phrases, have thought me deserving, I will now proceed to present }'Ou with a picture of the t The following passage from that polite scholar. Bishop Hurd, would serve perhaps for my exculpation in the minds of many worthy persons, had I related several of the circumstances, to which I here briefly allude, in all their native amplitude of ex pression. But I prefer an error on the safe and moral side of the question. After expressing himself in terms of reprobation at " the hu mour" then prevalent in England, which " had gone far towards unnerving the noblest modern language, and effeminating the public taste,'' the Bishop adds : " This was not a little forwarded by, what generally makes its appearance at the same time, a kind of feminine curiosity in the choice of words ; cautiously avoiding and reprobating all such (which were not seldom the most ex pressive) as had been profaned by a too vulgar use, or had suf fered the touch of some other accidental taint. This ran us into periphrases and general expression ; — the peculiar bane of every polished language. Whereas the rhetorician's judgment here again should direct us : In certain situations all kinds of words are very good, except those which are of an immodest cast. For some times it is necessary to use low and vulgar terms : And those words which to polite and cultivated minds appear corrupt and mean are uttered with the utmost propriety when occasion requires. Which seems borrowed from Dionysius of Halicarnassus, / declare that every part of speech, (though it be mean, vulgar, Jlthy, or containing any other cause of offence,) by which is intended to be denoted ami body or action whatever, will claim for itself an appropriate situation in discourse.'' SOCIETY IN CANADA. 3J l6wer class of Canadians, as accurate as I can pos sibly make it. You may rest assured, that, for the sake of my own feelings as well as yours, 1 can have no desire to overcharge it ; while at the same time it may be requisite to inform you, that the perfect abhorrence created in my mind, by the actual sight of much that I am going to relate, will equally prevent me from extenuating the cri minality of the Canadians, and from bespeaking any improper indulgence for myself. The Second or Lower Class do not differ very materially in their customs and manners from the higher class. They are, however, less intelligent and more inquisitive. They also marry when very young. By a provincial statute, the father is entitled to the labours of his son until he attains his twenty-first year, at which period he considers himself free from parental authority. The women of the class of which I am now speaking, are very poorly educated, greatly addicted to pleasure, and extravagantly fond of dress. They are remark ably cleanly in every thing which relates to their houses, but negligent of their persons, unless when dizened out for visiting. Perhaps no people in the world, secluded as they are from the society of strangers, are so much attached to gaudy ap parel. If the produce of their husbands' or fathers' labours, or the influence of their own personal charms, — to say no more, — can produce them a splendid ward-robe, they will have it. It is really laughable to witness the taste which they display 32 second class of in arranging the various articles that compose their dress. A black silk gown trimmed with pink or green ribbon, a pair of garter-blue worsted stock ings, .shoes that never knew the radiant powers of oi Day and Martin, muslin ruffs trimmed with azure or .scarlet, a bonnet of the finest lutestring or the richest sarsnet, — these not unfrequently compo-se their riding-dress : For you must know, that the humblest fille de chambre in the Province can boast of her riding-dress. In travelling through the country, you constantly meet ladies thus apparelled, riding to market, probably with a bag of apples across the horse's withers, or a basket of eggs sus pended from the horn of the .saddle. It is no unusual thing to see a mother with an infant in her arms, riding merrily along, as if she were wholly unencumbered. I have before observed, that they marry at an early period ; but as there is something in their system of courtship, with which you may not be very intimately acquainted, I shall give you a brief sketch of it. Since it is a plan that is not practised in any part of Europe, with the exception of the principality of Wales, the developement may pro bably cause you to suspect the integrity of your correspondent. I must therefore entreat you, as Brutus did the Romans, " to believe me for mine honour, and to have respect unto mine honour that you may believe." I have already stated, that fortune is seldom the object of an American's pursuit. It is in fact SOCIETY IN CANADA. 33 never spoken of in any part of Canada, — if we except the few towns and villages in which the manners of Europe prevail over those of America. In many parts of the country, particularly in the new settlements, the demand for women is so great, that the father of what is termed a spry lass frequently sells her to the highest bidder, and sometimes obtains for her a valuable compensation. But this is not general, and only occurs when a number of suitors present themselves, the wealthi est of whom, by " greasing the father'' s paw," obtains an ascendancy over his less fortunate competitors. You must not, however, infer from this, that the women here, as in Europe, are guided more by the advice of their parents, than by their own inclinations, in the ^selection of husbands. This would be a very erroneous inference ; for a Cana dian fair one, when she attains the age of eighteen years, would as soon think of consulting the stars, as of soliciting the approbation of either father or mother to her matrimonial engagements. From that moment, she regards herself as independent, and capable of making her own choice. She there fore acts entirely from the impulse of her own feelings. But until she is eighteen years old, she is considered by the father as his bonk fide property, and he seldom consents to her union with any man, excepting under circumstances like those to which I have alluded. When a young man comes of age, he is no longer expected to remain an inmate of his father's 34 second CLASS of house ; but if he has occasion to make it his abode for a longer period, he is obliged to pay for board and lodging while unemployed ; and if he works, he is regularly paid for his labour, like any other unconnected individual. It is very natural to sup pose, that, when young men are thus peculiarly circumstanced, they must feel considerable anxiety to change their condition. Indeed, they are scarcely at liberty to act for themselves, ere they are bound in the bands of Hymen. In preparing for such a change, the erection of a house is an indispensable preliminary. When this is accom plished, they immediately enter on all the cares and pleasures of a wedded life. Marriage, in Canada, is invariabljs'a matter of necessity and expedience, and not of mere choice or taste. The affections are seldom engaged, and it is indeed almost impossible that they should : For no sooner do the females of this country throw off the frock of childhood, and assume the import ant looks and consequential attitudes of matri monial candidates, than, like fresh-blown roses, they are snatched from the parent stem, and pressed to the bosom of some waiting swain. It would be useless for a man to indulge a thought of any par ticular female, before th& very week in which he intends to marry : For every female of this cla.ss is bought up immediately on her appearance in the market. They are children to-day, women to morrow, wives the next day, and frequently mothers ere a week expires. SOCIETY IN CANADA. 35 When a Canadian sets out on a sparking frolic, he is seldom accompanied by any friend. Singly, and without introduction, he proceeds to visit the fair one, on whom he entertains thoughts of bestow ing all his worldly goods. On arriving at the mansion of her father, he introduces himself as a bachelor ; and, if he finds himself favourably received, converses fr6ely with the whole family until evening ; at the approach of which, he is permitted a private interview with the young lady. The object of this interview is not to make a hasty proposal of marriage, but to know if she will condescend to allow him to repeat his visit on the next or any subsequent evening. If the lady is not previously engaged, the prayer of his peti tion is not often rejected. When the appointed evening arrives, he appears, unattended as before, and is received with marked attention. All the delicacies of the season are furnished to greet his return. Until tea, he seldom has an opportunity of enjoying any conversation with his fair intended, as she is busily employed in preparing the innu merable articles which compose a Canadian ban quet. Soon after tea, or — as they call the after noon repast — " supper," is over, the family retire to rest, leaving the hero and heroine in full pos session of the supper-room, in which, for the con venience of such visitors, a bed invariably occupies one corner. In this apartment they continue till morning. How they spend the night — whether in laying plans for the pi^sperity of their future pro- 36 SECOND CLASS OF geny— philosophising on the most approved method of increasing the population — or inquiring into the origin of the passions, — I am not competent to say. One thing, however, is certain : An adjourn ment for a short time always takes place ; and our hero goes home to pursue his usual avocations, promising to return at a particular time, provided they have been mutually satisfied with each other's conduct during the preceding night. At the first meeting of this kind, inquiry is made by the gentleman respecting the character and number of the lady's former lovers, and also con cerning the causes which prevented her union with any of them. If he is satisfied on these matters, another evening is appointed for the second meet ing ; but if the cause of dissatisfaction originates with the lady, she candidly informs him, that she cannot think of receiving him again in the capacity of a suitor. A different and more cruel line of conduct is pursued by the gentleman ; for if he is determined on visiting her no more, he departs without communicating his sentiments, resolved " to play least in sight" for the future. If there is a mutual agreement between them, they have two or three further meetings of this kind ; after which, if their love increases, he acquaints a neighbouring magistrate with his intention of leading his beloved to the altar : The magistrate signifies the same " to all whom it may concern," by fixing a written publication on the doors of all public places in their reispgctive township.s, pro- SOCIETY IN CANADA. 37 vided no minister of the Church of England resides within eighteen miles of either of the parties. This publication, or " publishment," as the Americans call it, continues placarded for three successive weeks ; at the expiration of which, if no person comes forward to make known any just cause or impediment why the parties may not be lawfully joined together in holy matrimony, they are solemnly declared man and wife. From the preceding remarks on the conduct and character of the females of Canada, it is alto gether likely that you will consider virtue as wholly extinct on this side of the Western Ocean ; but you must regard me as speaking only generally, and not particularly. I think I have known many respectable females in this country, who, if they would not add lustre to the first circles in Europe, certainly would not derogate either from the intel lectual or moral character of those who now move in such circles. The influence of climate may unquestionably have some effect in forming the character, and determining the conduct, of women as well as of men. I am at the same time confi dent, that the circumstances in which we are placed, and the examples of tho.se by whom we ai-e surrounded, have a still more powerful ten dency to render us either virtuous or vicious. I see this strikingly exemplified, whenever I con trast the females of Ireland with those of Canada. In the former country, female virtue is estimated 38 SECOND CLASS OF above every earthly consideration. It is valued above the world's worth, above all dignity and rank, and all extrinsic excellence ; and she who is found without it, though laden with princely titles and with princely wealth, and graced with all the charms of wit and beauty, is compelled to seclude herself for life from all honourable society, to veil her face and hang down her head even in the presence of her own family, and, in a word, to relinquish all claims to private attention and pub lic esteem, to present favour and future fame. And what are the consequences ? The Irish ladies are such as might naturally be expected, — such as have stamped a high and exalted character on the domestic economy of our country, and have ren dered her in this respect the envy and admir ation of the world. In Europe and America, and in every place where they are known, the daugh ters of Hibernia are regarded as the LucreTias of modern times, — as the proud and honourable exem plifications^ of the wise man's proverb: " She will do her husband good, and not evil, all the days of her life. She openeth her mouth with wisdom ; and in her tongue is the law of kindness." Alas! what a melancholy contrast to this de lightful picture does Canada present ! Here we find females who are destitute of virtue, as much respected, and as likely to make respectable alliances in the world, as if they were not merely its proud possessors,; but its chaste and attentive guardians. SOCIETY IN CANADA. gjj On this subject, as well as on many others, they differ widely from our inimitable poet : When lovely woman stoops to folly. And finds too late that men betray. What charm can soothe her melancholy ? What art can wash her guilt away ? 'The only art her guilt to cover. To hide her shame from every eye. To give repentance to her lover. And wring his bosom, is — to die. Such a sentiment as this would in Canada be regarded merely as the wild effusion of some moralizing enthusiast, who paid more attention to the harmony of his numbers than to the calm con sideration of his subject. It would in fact be esteemed as a senseless chimera, the creation of a disordered brain. It is to the prevalence of such opinions, more than to any overweening depravity of heart or influence of climate, that I am disposed to attribute the almost universal demoralization of the Canadian females in this class of society. I should be sorry, as I have already observed, to insinuate, that there are no women of virtue, on this side of the Atlantic ; but if there be a country in the universe, to which the too severe couplet of Pope is applicable even in a modified sense, it is Canada : Men some to business, some fo pleasure take. But every woman is at heart a rake. It is not likely, if at all possible, that virtue can abound in any country in which the violation 40 SECOND CLASS OF of chastity is not considered a crime of the first mao-nitude. And so far is this from being the case in Upper Canada or in the United States, that an unmarried female with a baby in her arms is as much respected, and as little obnoxious to public animadversion, as she would be, had she preserved her virtue with a Vestal's fidelity. Every man in the country looks on women in the same point of view as the Poet did when he wrote the poem from which I have taken the above lines ; and the women being conscious in what light they are viewed, not unfrequently resolve to maintain the consistency of their established character. You will be inclined to doubt it ; but it is nevertheless an indubitable fact, that a Canadian female, particularly in the New Settlements, with two or three young ones, ready reared, is much more likely to form an advantageous alliance, than she who has had but one ; and that if her matrimonial prospects be compared with those of a poor solitary girl, who has no such strong title to the appellation of " mother," they will be found greatly superior. This, I believe, is principally owing to the high price of labour. A man who has the good fortune to meet with a wife, who, on the morning of her marriage, presents him M'ith a pair of thumping boys, considers that in a few year.s' time they will amply compensate him by their labours for the sacrifice which he makes of " a few mistaken and absurd notions imported from some European Nunnery." It is a general maxim in Europe, that if a man SOCIETY IN CANADA. 4^ does not marry for money, he marries for love ; but in this country very few marry under the immediate influence of either of these passions. Conscious that " it is not good for man to be alone," particularly in the wilds of America, the young Canadian becomes early fastened by what are com monly called " the indissoluble chains of wedlock." To him, however, they are not always " indissolu ble ;" for either he or his wife generally finds means to unbind them ere a dozen moons have succeeded to their honey-moon. Scarcely a newspaper in any part of the country issues from the press, the columns of which are not graced with some such advertisements as this : "CAUTION. "Whereas my wife, Betsy Swiftfoot, alias the Widow Wild, has wantonly eloped from my bed and board, without any Just cause or provoca tion, (having, as I suppose, become too wild to be steered by my compass,) I do hereby caution the public not to give no credit to her on my account, as I am determined not to pay no bills of her contracting. Jonathan Swiftfoot, . *•' Cuckold's Hall, " Upper Canada, July 20, 182L" The Canadians are, notwithstanding all this, the most indulgent husbands imaginable. So patient of injuries and so regardless of the levity of their wives, that separations, though very common, can seldom be attributed to any harsh treatment on the Vol II. D 42 SECOND CLASS OF part of the men. If their " frail ribs" evince a disposition to attend to the domestic arrangements of the house, they will contentedly wear as many antlers as their wives are disposed to plant upon their foreheads. A striking elucidation of this remark, which came within my own knowledge, at this moment occurs to my recollection. A re spectable farmer, with whom I am well acquainted, on his return from a journey of some hundred miles, surprised his wife in the arms of an old friend, who had endeavoured, kind man, to console her in the absence of her husband ; " for the goodman was not at home, he had gone a long journey." The injured husband, on making this discovery, with a meekness above that of the Stoic Philosophy, addressed the usurper of his bed in the following sentimental language : — " Neighbour H , you " and I have, I guess, long lived on terms of inti- " macy, and God forbid that any event should ever " dissolve that bond of friendship which has so long " united us ! That you have treated Polly badly, is " a fact of which, you know, I have had ocular " demonstration : I have, however, that opinion of " your honour, which amounts to a conviction in " my mind, that you will evince a ready willing- " ness to make a full compensation to her and me " for wrongs we have sustained at your hands. *' The laws of pur country would, you know, give " us redress if so be we were to appeal to them : " But I calculate that law is a bad speculation, and " I do not see why two old friends might not settle " a trifling affair of this here kind, without throw- SOCIETY IN CANADA. 4g " ing away 200 or 300 dollars to a set of rascally " lawyers." Mr. H , who listened with the utmost attention to this animated appeal to his honour, instantly satisfied his friend that he was ready at any moment to hear his proposals. An armistice was immediately agreed to, and in a short time it was settled, " that, within two weeks " of that period, the injured party should receive " two well-fatted hogs of no less weight than4cwt., " as a full and fair compensation for the injuries " which he had sustained, in the person of his " cara et casta sposa." The hogs were absolutely delivered agreeably to the arrangement, and Mr. H continued to be an inmate in the house until the last slice of his forfeiture had smoaked . in the frying-pan, when he returned to his own dwelling, perfectly content with the result of his campaign. " This," you will say, " is a bounce !" But, believe me, it is a real fact, as well known to hun dreds as it is to i^e ; and, singular though it may appear, I could tell you many anecdotes equally true and equally shocking. I certainly would do so, but I am reminded of the salutary counsel of a poet. Lest men suspect your tale untrue. Keep probabiliiy in view. I fear, however, that, in communicating the above, I have not taken this hint ; for I must confess it d2 44 SECOND CLASS OF seems improbable enough. You may, however, rest assured, that, though I sometimes feel dis posed to excite your mirth, I shall never think of doing it at the expence of my integrity; I agree with Dr. Goldsmith, that -A Poet may try By a bounce now and then, to get 'courage to fly ; but do not think this liberty ought to be taken by writers in prose, anA. especially by those whose pro vince it is to relate simple facts. The truth is, Europeans and Americans have very different notions of virtue ; and the very conduct, which, on your side of the water, would be reprobated in every company, here, finds an unblushing advo cate in every dwelling. I was travelling through the Gore District a short time ago ; and on stopping for breakfast at a tavern, where there w^re several American ladies waiting for refreshment, I was much surprised to hear the whole party vociferously discussing a very unimportant political subject ; namely, " whether *' Canada, if it fell into the hands of the United " -States, would be admitted into the Union as an " Independent State, or held merely as a subjugated " country, without giving the inhabitants the pri- " vileges of a republican government ?" As I thought the subject both an idle and an absurd one, I sat down without taking any part in the debate. At length an unexpected circumstance SOCIETY IN CANADA. 45 gave quite a different turn to the conversation. A great, coarse-looking fellow, who appeared from his hands and face to be a Cyclops, entered the apartment, stretching his body and his arms, as if he were on the point of taking flight to that country where blacksmiths' fires are kept alive without the aid of bellows. In a rude and boisterous tone he exclaimed, " Well, now ! I vow I feel * * * tarnation like " the devil to-day ! My tarnation sides are so " almighty sore, that I vow I must have a gill of " whisky to put my timbers in order !" After paying all imaginable attention to this sublime exclamation, one of the ladies said to him, " Why, Mister, what he's the matter with you ? " I guess as how you have been sparking last " night." *' No ! d the Irish !" said the brutal man ; " I went to spark a little cursed bitch, and she " had got so many of them old-country fashions " in her brain, that she would not let me to bed "to her, if I were to lay, empires at her feet: " And only think. Madam, that I was forced to " lie on 9, d d dirty floor all night ! Now, " Mistress, what a righteous shame was this!" The ladies all seemed to listen with the greatest commiseration to his story, and to regard the conduct of which he complained as highly repre hensible : While I, suppressing a laugh, and as suming a grave countenance, inquired of the d3 46 SECOND CLASS OF lady, who had already spoken, what she meant by the word " sparking ?" " I calculate, Mister," she replied, " that you " must be an old-country man ; otherwise you " would not be ignorant of the import of the " word." I told her, that I was a true son of St. Pa trick, and that she must impute my ignorance to this unfortunate circumstance. " And pray. Sir," rejoined she, " how do you " spark in that there country of yours ?" I answered, that if, by " sparking," she meant the preliminary intercourse between two persons intending to be married, the European custom was this : When a young man is desirous of pay ing his addresses to any particular lady, if he has had no previous acquaintance with her, he contrives to be introduced to hei* by some respect able person, who is their mutual friend. Shortly after this introduction, he endeavours to obtain leave of the lady to solicit the permission of her parents to continue his addresses ; and if he is sue- ~ cessful in his first overture, and receives encou ragement both from the lady and her father, he becomes a regular visitor at the house, until Cupid has shot his arrows to a reasonable depth in both hearts, and the lady gives her consent to bind up all their wounds in the bands of wedlock. This, said I, is a brief sketch of the way, by which we Europeans enter on the cares and pleasures of the SOCIETY IN CANADA. 47 married state. Will you. Madam, in return, be pleased to inform me of the method which you Americans pursue in effecting a similar object ? The lady replied, " I should have no objection " to give such information, if so be that you old *' country folk did hot seem to ridicule our custom " of sparking, though it is not in reality half so *' ridiculous as your own. Now, Mister, what can " be more preposterous, than to see a young man " and a young woman merely exchanging looks " for almost half a year together in the company " of their parents, without any other knowledge " of one another than might be obtained by an " hour's conversation ? Now, I vow, it is too much " for a spirited woman to bear." The voluble lady then entered unblushingly into minute explanations, at which I was surprised, and which were too gross to be repeated in these pages. She added as a finale : "¦ But you old-country folk " think it such an almighty disgrace for a lady to " have a child before she is married, that you des- " pise the woman who has thus acted, all the days " of her life. Now, I vow, my Betty was two " years old before I married ; but, I calculate, I " am not a bit the worse for that, neither. What " do you think. Mister ?" Were I to speak my own opinion. Madam, and judge from appearances, I should consider you, even at this moment, as good as new ; but, if you require the sentiments of my country on subjects 48 SECOND CLASS OF of this nature, they are briefly comprehended in this delightful stanza : The traveller, if he chance to stray. May turn uncensur'd to his way ; Polluted streams again are pure : And deepest wounds admit a cure ; But woman no redemption knows, The wounds of honour never close. The idea of being considered as good as new, by a young man, had caused her face to brighten up to such a degree, that I fancied for a moment she was really going to exchange the withered looks of five- and- forty for the crimson cheeks and smooth unwrinkled brow of sixteen ; but the stanza which unfortunately followed, soon drove the smile from her countenance, and left it a perfect picture of rage, disappointment, and revenge. "And pray, Mister," said she, " what does that " boasted country of yours mean by the wounds of " honouirV My dear Madam, I replied, I must leave you to judge of that, from the nature of our conver sation. " O ! you have got such dreadful nice notions " in that there country of yours, that I know not " what to think of you. In America we have more " agreeable notions ; but in Europe you substitute *' certain refinements in their place, most of which " are so very opposite to the rules of nature, that I <' do not suppose I shall ever think much of your SOCIETY IN CANADA. 49 " country or its customs. Your refined ideas and " exalted sentiments may do very well for Metho- " dist Preachers' wives ; but I do not think they " will ever accord with the feelings of spirited " women in any country." Her arguments were so forcible and convincing, and her notions of virtue and honour so Just, at least in her own eyes, that I shrunk into absolute insignificance and silence, — convinced of course of the absurdity of European forms, and a convert to nature and American liberty ! ! The women of Upper Canada pride themselves on being good housewifes ; and as few servants are to be met with in the country, they have ample opportunity for the exercise of their talents in the performance of domestic duties. But they are so particularly careful of themselves, that they compel th^r poor hen-pecked husbands to do the greatest part of their work. A Canadian is, in fact, a slave to his wife in the most extensive sense of that term. He is obliged to answer all her calls, to obey all her commands, and to execute all her commissions, without a murmur. No West Indian slave-driver issues his mandates to the sable sons of Africa in a more authoritative tone, than a Canadian fair one to him who is at once her Lord and Servant. It is very common in Canada and indeed through out all America, for travellers to stop for refresh ment at private houses, when taverns are not 60 SECOND CLASS OF convenient.'f I was returning some time ago, with Mrs. Talbot, from a visit to the Falls of Niagara, when we stopped one night at a, very respect able private house, in the London District. As I had some slight acquaintance with the lady and gentleman of the house previous to my marriage, every exertion was made by the former to entertain Mrs. T. in a style suited to the occasion ; for it was her first appearance in that part of America. The gentleman was engaged in agricultural pursuits, in a remote corner of his farm, when we arrived ; but a blast of the horn soon brought him to the door. He scarcely had time to salute me and pay his respects to Mrs. T., when his own good lady ordered him to put up our horses, and to return with all possible dispatch. During his absence, she was busily employed in laying the cloth for supper, al though the materials of which it was to be composed were still in a very awkward state for mastication. The bread, for instance, was yet in the flour-bag, the chickens were feeding at the barn-door; the tea was in the grocer's canister, and the cream in the cow's udder. In a country like America, however, where the transition from non-entity to existence is almost instantaneous, these were very trifling considerations ; and, before the lapse of an hour, t You may obtain at private houses every accommodation afforded by a tavern, with the exception of spirituous liquors. The charges, — for a charge is always made,>~ar& somewhat less than at the taverns. SOCIETY IN CANADA. gj all were smoking on the table in prime con dition. When our host returned from putting up the horses, the following orders were successively issued by his wife, and faithfully attended to by Mr. X. " Mr. X., I guess, you must go and kill a pair " of fowls." — Off he went, and in about five mi nutes returned with two bleeding captives. " Now, Mr. X., you must pick them." — The order was instantly obeyed, and he appeared once more at the door for further directions. He was next commanded to draw them, — to bring a pail of water, — then to go for the cows, — and afterwards to milk them. When he had done all this, his labours were not yet well commenced. Presently he received direc tions to strain the milk, —to fill the cream-jug, — to bring some butter from the dairy, — and afterwards to " hang down the kettle." All this time, Mrs. X. diverted herself by flirt ing about the room, adjusting the plates, and brushing the flies off the table-cloth, without ren dering the slightest assistance to her unfortunate spouse. When he had hung down the kettle, I took the liberty of suggesting the necessity of his taking a seat and resting himself for some time ; but Mrs. X., at the same moment, ordered him to the Grocer's for a pound of tea. During his absence, she condescended to go down into the cellar for potatoes, which she placed 62 SECOND CLASS OF in a boAvl at the door ; and, on his return, desired him to wash them immediately. The dutiful husband took them away very quietly, and soon returned them both washed and scraped. He was directed to put them down, and prepare some " lithing" for the chicken-broth. After this was accomplished, he enjoyed a short respite, and was allowed to sit down upon a chair until the moment for placing supper on the table had arrived. He was then " put through his facings" once more, in a style which beggars all description. "Oh," thinks I to myself, "Wedlock! If " these are thy duties, how shall I ever perform " them ? If these are thy pleasures, what must " be thy pains ?" I was then only in my noviti ate ; and I assure you, that I should have returned home under some apprehensions for my own fate, if I had not luckily observed, that Mrs. T. cast a look of disapprobation on our hostess when ever she issued her imperious commands to her obsequious spouse. This, thought I, argues well for me ; and for the first time in my life,' — though not the last, — did I bless my stars that my wife was not an American, but one much more likely to fulfil the epithalamial promise of the poet. That hand shall strew thy Summer-path with flowers. And those blue eyes, with mildest lustre fraught. Gild the calm current of domestic hours ! LETTER XXVI. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS IN UPPER CANADA — ORIGIN OF ITS POPULATION THEIR DEPRAVITY, IGNORANCE, AND INQUISI- TIVENESS DEARTH OF NATIVE WIT A HORSE-RACE— CWBIOUS MODE OF BETTING ON THE COURSE DETESTABLE PRACTICE OF BOXING. The great mass of the inhabitants of Upper Canada is composed of emigrants from the United States, and the descendants of those persons who took refuge in the Province immediately after the revolutionary war. These universally maintain the same absurd notions of equality and independ ence which characterise their Republican neigh bours ; but they do not manifest any particular attachment to their native country. Enterprizing and ambitious to a degree without precedent, they are always on the alert to enrich themselves ; but frequently, for want of knowledge to moderate and direct their zeal, they grasp at a shadow, and lose the substance. Although they are the sove reign possessors of a soil, which, under proper management, might place them in the most envi able situation, they seldom, as we say, have any personal acquaintance with independence, and 54 SECOND CLASS OF only know her by report. Led on by some alluring meteor, that shines in the darkness of uncertainty, to chase an illusive phantom which retreats as they follow, and constantly eludes their most ardent pur- suit,~they neglect the improvement of those substan tial realities, those fixed stars, which, if they received due attention, would enable them to realize every wish of a reasonable heart. A propensity to speculate, in which those who value their inte grity, can seldom indulge, by degrees completely destroys the love of truth in their minds. No reli ance, therefore, can be placed on their words, nor any faith in their contracts ; for they will promise without any intention to perform, and make con tracts which they never mean to fulfil. Their de pravity and ignorance are equal, and both are often exceeded by their boundless vanity and unconquer able obstinacy. Like their Republican neighbours, they fancy themselves to be the most enlightened people on the face of the earth ; and it would be as vain to offer them information on- any subject, as to attempt the domestication of a Zebra. Inquisitivenes is their most inveterate besetment. This alone must always render them a perpetual plague to strangers. I never met with any thing in the country which is so great an annoy ance. No man can be desirous of telling every impertinent blockhead who he is, whence he came and whither he is going ; how he likes the country through which he is passing, or how cordiall}^ he despises its inhabitants ; whether his father was a SOCIETY IN CANADA. 65 stocking- weaver or a member of Parliament; or whether his better half more resembles the Roman Lucretia or the wife of Potiphar. Yet he must answer all these questions ; and, if he enquire, like the man in the play, "Must I endure all this?" he will soon be answered by ten times as many more, and discover to his no small consolation that the insolent curiosity of his inquisitors is not yet satisfied. Dr. Franklin, although a native of Ame rica, so heartily abhorred this detestable practice, that, on arriving at a hotel in any part of the country, he always made a point of standing in the hall for a few minutes ; and when the people of the house were collected round him, he declared in an audible voice all the most important particulars respecting himself, and concluded the whole with a smart request to the landlord to allow him and his horse some needful refreshment. The Americans of Dr. Franklin's time must have been less inquisitive than those of modern day.s, or he would not have been allowed to pass without giving a more circumstantial account of himself. To do them justice however, they are as commu nicative as they are inquisitive ; and will always in some degree atone for the trouble which they give, by freely imparting, without even being asked, whatever information they possess: And this, though seldom very interesting, is frequently serviceable to strangers. They will give you a rapid sketch of the history of their lives, recounting, with a minuteness that is truly astonishing, the 56 SECOND CLASS OF various diflBculties which they encountered in effect ing their first settlements, and concluding the whole with a summary of their present prospects, be they favourable or unfavourable. But it is very difficult to understand them; for they misapply many words that are used in common conversation and mingle in every sentence half a dozen of the vilest imprecations. A wealthy man they term a clever man ; hard labour is * * * d d tough work ; a pretty girl, a spry lass ; a good house is either a most royal or a most righteous building, — two terms which I presume are not of Republican origin ; a man of an irritable or passionate dispo sition, is invariably, — and, I think, not inappro priately, — termed an ugly man ; and a woman who is attentive to her domestic concerns, is always a fine woman. It is absolutely necessary to spend a year or two in the country before you can obtain much informa tion by conversing with the people ; for the phra seology which they employ, to say jiothing of the various other modes in which they distort the King's English, is so different from that of the mother- country, as completely to change the idiom of the language, and give it the appearance, to all who have seen it only in its pure and untravelled state, of an old friend with a new face. Even when you have become familiar with the mask, and every difficulty in understanding- them is conquered, you will not find your patience and perseverance greatly rewarded. Having never travelled, either SOCIETY IN CANADA. 57 personally, or by means of the published works of those who have wandered from home, they know nothing of any part of the world, except that in which they live ; and, being ignorant of every thing which does not belong to- gricultural or mechanical pursuits, their conversation, even when it can be understood, seldom possesses any great interest. With sentiment, sensibility, or wit, they are also not greatly overburdened. I never heard but one instance of native wit ; and although we are indebted to the pig-stye for this, it is by no means despicable. Some hogs, which belonged to Judge — , of , were destroyed by the Indians, during the late war between the United States and Great Britain. In making application to the Govern ment for redress, he had the conscience to value one of them at a hundred pounds. A tavern- keeper, who was a near neighbour of the learn ed Judge, having heard of the transaction, informed an old farmer of the whole affair, and expressed his surprise at the enormity, of the charge. " Poh !" said the farmer, drily, " I don't " know that the charge was so very extravagant ; " for if it was as great a hog as the Judge "himself, it was tarnation cheap !" The Canadians are very much addicted to drinking; and, on account of the cheapness of liquor, are very frequently under its influence. Card-playing, horse-racing, wrestling, and danc ing, are their favourite amusements; and as the Vol. II. E 59 SECOND CLASS OF jingle of a dollar is a rarer sound in the ear of a Canadian, than the voice of liberty is in that of an Algerine, their bets are usually made in stock, and are sometimes exceedingly extravagant. The fate of a cow, a yoke of oxen, or a pair of horses, is often determined by the colour of a card ; and an hour's gambling has deprived many a Canadian farmer of the hard-earned fruits of twenty years' industry. I once went to a horse-race, that I might wit ness the speed of their sorry chevaux, as they can tered over a quarter of a mile course. Four horses started for a bet of 10,000 feet of boards. The riders were clumsy-looking fellows, bootless and coatless. Before they started, every one seemed anxious to bet upon some one or other of the horses. Wagers were offered in every part of the field, and I was soon assailed by a host of fellows, requesting me to take their offers. The first who attracted my notice, said, he would bet me a barrel of salt pork that Split-the-wind would win the the day. When I refused to accept of this, ano ther offered to bet me 3,000 cedar shingles that Washington would distance " every d d scrape of them." A third person tempted me with a wager of 50 lbs. of pork sausages, against a cheese of similar weight, that Prince Edward would be distanced. A fourth, who appeared to be a shoe maker, offered to stake a raw ox-hide, against half its weight in tanned leather, that Columbus would be either first or second. Five or six others, who SOCIETY IN CANADA. 59 seemed to be partners in a pair ofilacksmith''s bel lows, expressed their willingness to wager them against a barrel of West Indian molasses, or twenty dollars in cash. In the whole course of my life, I never witnessed so ludicrous a scene. I succeeded for a while in preserving my gravity ; but the wind of the bellows blew every trace of seriousness away, and I laughed so heartily, that I believe the owners of this unwieldy article imagined I had detected some of them in making an American Bull. I dare venture to say, that 10,000 dollars at least were lost and won, in property, at this race, with out a single sou in specie being in the possession of any one present. When the race was over, wrestling commenced ; which was soon succeeded by boxing in the modern style of rough and tumble. This detestable practice is very general in Canada; and nothing can be more abhorrent to good sense and feeling. Instead of fighting, like men whose passions have gained a momentary ascendancy over their reason, — which would to all intents be bad enough, — they attack each other with the ferociousness of bull-dogs, and seem in earnest only to disfigure each other's faces, and to glut their eyes with the sight of blood. The contest always opens with a turn at wrestling, — for they never dream of applying their knuckles; and he who has the misfortune to be thrown, generally suffers a defeat. The principal object of the combatants appears to be the calcula tion of eclipses ; or, in other words, their whole aim e2 (Iff SECOND CLASS OF is bent on tearing otit each other's eyes, in doing which they make the fore finger of the right hand fast in their antagonist's hair, and with the thumb, — as they term it, — gouge out the day-lights. If they fail in this attempt, they depend entirely on their teeth for conquest ; and a fraction of the nose, half an ear, or a piece of a lip, is generally the trophy of the victor. The battle never breaks up before, one of the combatants exclaims " Enough !" which is seldom the case until he finds himself disabled by the loss of blood, or a severe invasion of "his optic, his olfactory or auditory nerves. In these brutal contests no person ever attempts to interfere, not even if it is necessary to do so for the preservation of human life : But the moment that the cry " enough !" is heard, hostilities cease, and the parties, if able, rise up and exhibit their mangled forms. By these savage engagements many persons are disfigured in the most barbarous and shocking manner. Are you not amazed that a people who claim the character of being civilized, can take any pleasure in beholding such appalling sights,— to say nothing of being personally concerned in them? And yet, I am credibly informed that a custom, nearly similar to this, still exists in Lanca shire and part of Yorkshire, in England. And what man seeing this. And having human feelings, does not blush. And hang his head to think himself a man .-' It does not much astonish me, that in a country like Canada, the inhabitants of which live in a half- SOCIETY IN CANADA. 61 savage andahalf-civilizedstate, men should befound to revel in the common use of the most vicious enormities : But I am greatly surprised to hear, that a practice so vile and revolting to humanity, — so derogatory from the dignity of man, — so far beneath what should be the ideas of creatures en dowed with understanding, however obscured by the clouds of ignorance, — is allowed to exist in England, that luminary of the moral world! In various American companies, when I have presumed to reprobate this cruel usage, to my no small confusion have I always been met with a plea of justification ; and " England set us the example !" has invariably been the sweeping stroke to level all my arguments. To such an extent is this method of boxing carried in the Southern States of America, that when the people of New England or those of Canada observe a man who has only one eye, and the place where the other is not, they commonly say that he has received a Virginian brand. E 3 LETTER XXVIL MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE UPPER PROVINCE WANT OF HOSPITALITY AMONG THE CANADIANS THEIR WINTER VISITS — THEIR AVARICE, AND VARIOUS MODES OF GAINING MONEY- BARTER— DR. HOWISON's TESTIMONY ON THESE TOPICS. Dr. HOWISON says, that the Canadians are more than commonly hospitable to strangers. As I agree with this gentleman on most other subjects relating to Canada, which he has touched with his very able pen, I am really sorry that what I conceive to be the truth compels me to disagree with him in this particular, — especially, because it may seem invidious in me, to persons who are not acquainted with the country, and are always for placing the best possible construction on the motives and actions of their fellow-creatures. You will excuse me, however, when you recollect that I promised to give you my own opinions concerning every thing which I observed, and not the opinions of other men. It is possible, that Dr. Howison, and your correspondent, may differ respecting the import of the term hospitality ; and it is more than proba- society in CANADA. gg ble, since I prefer the Iri.sh acceptation of the word, that I have mistaken its true and legitimate mean ing. We Hibernians may, for aught I know, be liable, for the misapplication of terms, to the same objection as the French, who, according to the English sailor, call a horse a shovel; but terms, in the question before us, are of so little conse quence, that I am inclined to think "roast meat byany other name would taste as sweet." Be this as it may, I am very sure, that if " the essence of hospitality be prodigality, and the name of stranger the only requisite passport to its favour," this rare virtue has no existence in Upper Canada. I call hospitality a virtue, and I hope you will not consider the word a misnomer. It is, in my opinion, a virtue of a very high order, enjoined by the Saviour of man, and strongly recommended by all his immediate followers. Although I might find some difficulty in telling you exactly what it is, I certainly can find none in telling you what it is not. — To ask a stranger, who enters at your door, to partake of the good things on your table, to shelter himself in your cabin, and to repose upon your bed, — and, when he rises in the morning and bids you God speed !, to receive from his hands a full pecuniary remuneration for all your kindness ; — this is not hospitality. Nor can I give the appellation to those reciprocal interchanges of entertainment which are common in all decently organized societies, and the exercise of which among the lowest orders proves man to be a social animaL (J4 SECOND CLASS OF No: hospitality is of a much higher character; and I feel some pride in being a native of almost the only country on earth, whose inhabitants can justly boast of inheriting this virtue from the ear liest ages, and of having delivered it unimpaired to their sons and daughters up to the present hour. That cheerful and polite attention which the Irish occupant of a mud-walled cabin uniformly shews to the stranger "who honours his threshold with a visit, — that fond solicitude which the humblest of Hibernia's sons displays for the comfort of his guest, — those looks of liberality which shew, that, while the hand is extended to administer to your convenience, the heart is in it, — such marked traits of genuine hospitality are no where to be witnessed in the more comfortable habitations of Upper Canada. True it is, that if you enter the house of a Cana dian while he is at any of his meals, he will invite you to eat ; but it will be in such a cold and heart less manner, that, if you were not sorely pressed by hunger, you could not think of accepting his invitation. " Sit by," or " Take a seat," is the most cordial solicitation you will hear ; and this, I must confess, I have always thus interpreted : " It is " the custom of our country to ask you to eat, if ^' you appear at the door when provisions are " upon the table : W^ therefore invite you to take " a seat ; but, if it would not put you to an incon- " venience, the staying of your appetite for the " present would oblige us much more !" In tra velling through various parts of America, I have SOCIETY IN CANADA. Q5 been frequently compelled to accept this sort of invitation ; but, whenever it so happened, I al ways asked, on my departure, the customary ques tion, " What have I to pay ?," and with only one exception which I now recollect, the universal reply was, " Whatever you please to give." In such cases, it was my uniform custom to hand over the sum I should have paid at any respectable tavern if similarly entertained, and, with the excep tion I have mentioned, it was invariably received without even a simple " I thank you I" In these remarks, you must bear in mind, that I always speak of the great mass of the Canadians, unless I particularize the First Class, — a class, which in Upper Canada bears nearly the .same pro portion to the aggregate population of the country, as the inmates of a single dwelling do to the inha bitants of a large city. " The manners of a people," says Dr. John son, " are not to be found in the schools of learn ing, or the palaces of greatness, where the national character is obscured or obliterated by travel or instruction, by vanity or philosophy. Nor is pub lic happiness to be estimated by the assemblies of the gay, or the- banquets of the rich. The great mass of nations is neither rich nor gay : They whose aggregate constitutes the people, are found in the streets and villages, in the shops and farms ; and from them, collectively considered, must the measure of general prosperity, [and, I will add, of manners and morals,] be taken." Regarding this as QQ SECOND CLASS OF high authority for such a process, I have resolved to confine my observations on Canadian society and manners, principally to that class of people whom the Doctor ju.stly considers likely to afford the best materials. I am not about to write an eulogy on a few distinguished characters, from whom I have received many marks of kindness and attention, of which I think I am duly sensi ble. My sole intention is to make you acquainted with the country, and with the great mass of its inhabitants. I have already observed, that the Canadians are not fond of small social parties. It is however customary in the winter-season, for half-a-dozen families to collect together, rig out their sleighs, and drive ten or twelve miles to the house of some acquaintance, — where they take tea, chatter a little scandal, and return home the same evening. This sort of unexpected and unsolicited visits would not be very agreeable in countries that are more social andmore hospitable. The sudden arrival of twenty or thirty guests, even at some of your most respectable and best-prepared country-seats, would, I imagine, be productive of no small confusion to the host and hostess ; but in America no such inconvenience is felt from arrivals of this nature. In this land of plenty, every man who is moderately industri ous, is at all times armed cap-a-pie for the proper subjection of these invaders ; for he is provided with such a profusion of les Mens de la terre, that an hour's notice is quite sufficient to enable a far-. SOCIETY IN CANADA. gy mer to spread, before any reasonable number of visitors, a table at which a Prince might feast and be satisfied. The flour-barrel is seldom empty ; the pork-tub is always at hand ; the fowl-house is generally well supplied ; pies, tarts, and preserves are every-day fare ; and a thousand other little et ceteras are always in readiness to grace the banquet. No people on earth live better than the Ca nadians, so far as eating and drinking justify the use of that expression ; for they may truly be said " to fare sumptuously every day." Their break fasts not unfrequently consist of twelve or fourteen different ingredients, which are of the most hete rogeneous nature. Green tea and fried pork, honey-comb and salted salmon, pound-cake and pickled cucumbers, stewed chickens and apple tarts, maple-molasses and pease-pudding, ginger-bread and sour crout, are to be found at almost every table. The dinner differs not at all from the break fast; and the afternoon repast, which they term "¦ supper," is equally substantial. Perhaps there is no passion, the existence of which to any considerable extent among a body of people so strongly marks the want of education, or of enlight ened views with respect to subjects which concern the good of society, as avarice. It is an observation which has been confirmed to me by almost daily experience, that, among mechanics for instance, those whose education has been rather liberal, are never so eager to make large earnings as Others (Jg SECOND CLASS OF whose information is limited, either for want of early instruction or by reason of their incapacity for the acquisition and retention of useful know ledge. This sentiment is still more strikingly illustrated in the character of the Canadians. As I have before remarked, they are utterly devoid of all relish for reading ; and, supposing that, by way of miracle, a desire for knowledge were created in the minds of some of them, yet there would need another miracle to set aside their inability to read. Their minds are unacquainted with their own value, and consequently regardless of their own improve ment: Passion therefore immediately gains the ascendancy; the understanding, being weak, is "led captive by the Devil at his will," and its few exer tions are made to satisfy the demands of their depraved appetites. On the stock of all this igno rance, the wildest notions of individual independence are engrafted : A portion of land is given them to call their own, the produce of which is sufficient to maintain them ; and because they have no need to trouble their neighbours for any thing, they cannot see why their neighbours should trouble them. Very soon they appear like the snail in his shell ; and afterwards, by a process which it is not ne cessary to specify, they become as covetous and avaricious as the veriest miser. This is so prominent a feature in the national character of the Canadians, that I am sure no intelligent man can travel through the country society in CANADA. 6.9 and not observe it. Gain is, in fact, their god, at whose shrine they sacrifice all principle and truth ; and purity and religion, when put in competition with this sovereign good, are regarded as sub jects of a secondary and subservient nature. In their dealings with each other, they evince an un blushing propensity to cheat and deceive ; and, what is rather extraordinary, the greatest rascal among them, or, to use a milder, though not a more appror priate phrase, " the greatest adept in the arts of deception and pocket-picking," is invariably regarded as a man of the strongest understanding, and of the most extensive knowledge. Such charac ters are called clever men, — an epithet which in America, implies wealth, villainy and dissimulation. The Canadians are not easily provoked, nor do their resentments ever carry them to any great excesses. Cold-hearted and little susceptible of refined impressions, love and gratitude, two of the most pleasing emotions that can actuate the rnind of man, are equally strangers to their breasts : The want of personal charms in the fair sex, united with their fickle, unchaste and inconstant dispositions, is little calculated to inspire the for mer ; and for the exercise of the latter, there are few opportunities in Canada. No man is under the slightest obligation to his neighbour ; for there is not such a thing as lending of borrowing in the country. A favour is never conferred without a prospect of immediate remuneration. Every thing- has its price : If any man has. need of his neigh- 70 ^ SECOND CLASS OF bour's plough or harrow, cart or sleigh, even for a single hour, though he would find it impossible to borrow, he easily succeeds in hiring it. Men who have resided within sight of each other from the hour of their birth, are so little disposed to oblige without instant compensation, that one cannot borrow from another a bridle, a saddle, a set of harness, or any other article whatever, without making a previous bargain, not only to repair all damages which it may sustain, but also to pay a certain stipulated sum for every day which it may be necessary to keep it from the owner. A plough, a waggon, and a sleigh, are each hired at two shillings and sixpence per diem : and every other article, from a harrow's tooth down to a cambric needle, at a proportionate price. It is easy to perceive how destructive this sin gular mode of procedure must be to all those friendly dispositions which in other countries attach man to man. If my neighbour evinces a wish to oblige me, without any interested motive lurking beneath, it causes me to consider him in some degree my friend; and I am compelled, by every act of kindness which he does for me, to seek for, or at least to desire, an opportunity of repaying the compliment. When such an occa sion occurs, it gives me infinite pleasure to em brace it, and to convince him that he did not confer his favours on an undeserving object. We are therefore pleased with each other, and each be- SOCIETY IN CANADA. 71 comes resolved to render himself at all times worthy of the approbation of the other. Now, although no thanks are due to the man, who, when he has been obliged by another, takes the earliest opportunity of returning the obligation; yet the constant interchange of such tokens of confidence and consideration forms one of the strongest bonds by which society is cemented toge ther, and is oftentimes, indeed always, the fruitful spring of the tenderest and most endearing chari ties of life. In Canada no man is induced to regard his neighbour as a friend ; and whoever wants the friendship or assistance of another, must purchase it. Gold will quickly find an avenue to the heart, when every thing else has failed in its approaches. Here man appears to live only for himself; social feelings, generous affections, and friendly emotions, exist not in the country : Sel fishness, chicanery, and fraud, have usurped their place ; and the people act without any regard to the admonition of the poet : Yet after all this toil and heat. This fraud and treachery to be great. The last retreat the rich must have. The last and surest is — the grave. It would be impious, as well as foolish, to deny, " that the love of money is the root of much evil ;" for it is proved in the case of those on whose ava rice I have now been animadverting : But it is a 72 SECOND CLASS OF very general mistake, among well-meaning persons, to confound the love of money with money itself. The consequence is not a necessary one, that because the love of money is productive of evils, money itself should be charged with them. It is plainly seen^ that the same evils which spring from a love of money, are not dependent on it for their support ; and that an immoderate attachment to any thing equivalent to money, would certainly produce the same consequences. It cannot, on the contrary, be denied, " that the want of money is the root of many evils." For want of current coin in Canada, a system of barter exists ; and, from the manner in which this is conducted, it is evidently destruc tive of those honourable feelings which should govern the intercourse of mankind. The mer chant who exchanges his goods for produce, has no fixed price for them, but regulates it by the estimation in which he holds the articles offered in exchange. If wheat, or any other kind of grain that is then in demand at Montreal, be offered to him, his goods will probably be obtained on toler ably fair terms ; we will say, for example, coarse linen at 3s. 9c?. a yard. The farmer who deals in this manner goes home satisfied, not knowing any thing about Montreal, or the value of grain in that market. The next week, perhaps, a neighbour of this very farmer offers to the same merchant wheat of equal quality in exchange for linen, of similar fabric to that obtained by his neighbour. In the interim, the merchant has probably received ad- SOCIETY IN CANADA. -yg vices from his commercial correspondents, that wheat is not likely to be a good article of expor tation that year : The price of linen is therefore immediately raised to 6s. per yard, while the wheat has on this account fallen at least a shilling per bushel. In vain does the latter farmer remonstrate, and refer to the better fortune of his neighbour : Some plausible excuse is always at hand ; and the man who has not perhaps a shirt to his back, is compelled to buy the linen at a price 76 per cent. above that given by his neighbour. Having done so, he returns home deeply impressed with the idea that he has been cheated, and as deeply resolved to retaliate the first opportunity. A favourable season soon arrives, and he satisfies his resentment. By such practices, the people are induced to entertain the most unfavourable ideas of each other's integrity ; and so general is this feeling of distrust throughout the Province, that every inhabitant, — from a child of seven or eight years old, who exchanges fish-hooks and whip-tops with his play-fellows, to the most hoary-headed veteran in speculation and deception, — is alike under its influence. To take advantage of the ignorance or confidence of another, is a frequent subject of boasting ; and he who is most successful in such practices, is looked upon as a man of most distinguished talents, and is uniformly styled a dreadful clever man. " He was a stranger, and I *' took him in ; clothed, and I fleeced him ; sick and *' in prison, and I extorted from him his cash;" — is a .Vol. II. F 74 SECOND CLASS OF confession, at the making of which few men in the Province would blush. Were you to accuse a Canadian of betraying the confidence which you reposed in him, and to represent in the most forci ble language the enormity of such conduct, he would laugh you to scorn, and exult in his base treachery. It has been observed, when a traveller represents the inhabitants of any country that he attempts to .describe, in either a very favourable or a very unfa vourable light, he is generally accused either of an unwarrantable prejudice against them, or of a too strong prepossession in their favour. At least, I have always observed, that such a writer fails in his attempts to attain the reputation of an unpre judiced narrator. As I have said much which can not be regarded as very favourable to the people of Upper Canada, I have no doubt that I shall be liable to the accusation of prejudice : How ever, to shew that I am not alone in the opi nions I have expressed, and that I may remove a portion of the anticipated burthen from my own shoulders, I shall quote a few short passages from the only writer of note who has given even a sketch of the manners and customs of the inhabi tants of Upper Canada. According to his own account. Dr. Howison was nearly two years and a half in the Province, during which time he resided in various parts of the country, and travelled through almost all the settlements. In page 136 of his admirable Sketches, speaking of the people SOCIETY IN CANADA. 75 in the Niagara District, who are certainly the most wealthy and respectable in the Province : " Many of them," he observes, " possess thirty or forty head of cattle, and annually store up 2 or 3000 bushels of grain in their barns : But this amelior ation in their condition, unfortunately, has not been accompanied by a corresponding effect upon their manners, character, or mode of life. They are still the same untutored incorrigible beings that they probably were when, the ruffian remnant of a disbanded regiment, or the outlawed refuse of some European nation, they sought refuge in the wilds of Upper Canada, aware that they could neither find means of subsistence nor be countenanced in any civilized society. Their original depravity has been confirmed and increased by the circum stances in which they are now placed ; possess ing farms which render them independent of the better part of mankind, they can, within cer tain limits, be as bold, unconstrained, and obtru sive as they please in their behaviour towards their superiors; for they neither look to them for subsistence nor for any thing else. They now consider themselves on an equality with those to whom, in former times, the hope of gain would have made them crouch like slaves; and they tacitly avow their contempt of the better part of society, by avoiding the slightest approximation towards them, so far as regards habits, appearance, or mode of life. The excessive obstinacy of these people forms one great barrier to their improve- F 2 7G SECOND CLASS OF ment ; but a greater still is created by their ahmrd and boundless vanity. Most of them really con ceive, that they cannot be any better than they really are, or, at least, that it is not worth their pains to endeavour to be so ; and betray by their actions and mode of life, that they are under the influence of an obstinate contentment, and immov able fatuity, which would resist any attempt that might be made to improve them. If they could really be brought to feel a desire for amendment, this effect would most likely be produced by flat tering their vanity. If a man wishes to obtain popularity in Upper Canada, he cannot do it unless he gratify this passion of the people. When a farmer proposes to cheat hi.s neighbour, he succeeds by flattering his vanity. If a merchant determines that one of his customers shall pay him his account, he flatters his vanity or serves an execution. " It is indeed lamentable to think, that most of the improved parts of this beautiful and magnifi cent Province, have fallen into such hang-man's hands, and to feel convinced that the country will retrograde in every thing that is truly great and desirable, or remain detestable — to persons of liberal ideas, so long as these boors continue to be principal tenants of it. " The first view of a new settlement excites pleasing emotions. It is delightful to see forests vanishing away before the industry of man ; to behold the solitude of the wilderness changed into a theatre of animation and activity ; and to antici- SOCIETY IN CANADA. 77 pate the blessings which a bountiful soil will lavish upon those who have first ventured to unfold its bosom. A new field seems to be opened for human happiness ; and the more so, as those who people it are supposed, by the casual observer, to have been the victims of poverty and misfortune while in their native land. But a deliberate inspection will dispel all these Arcadian ideas and agreeable impressions. He who examines a new settlement in detail, will find that most of its inhabitants are sunk low in degradation, ignorance and profligacy, and alto gether insensible to the advantages which distin guish their condition : A lawless and unprincipled rabble, consisting of the refuse of mankind, recently emancipated from the subordination that exists in an advanced state of society, all equal in point of right and possessions, compose of course a demo cracy of the most revolting kind. No individual possesses more influence than another; and were any one whose qualifications and pretences entitle him to take the lead, to assume any superiority or make any attempt at improvement, he would be instantly opposed by all the others. Thus the whole inhabitants of a new settlement, march slug gishly forward at the same pace ; and jf one advances in the least degree before the other, he is usually pulled back to the ranks. That this has hitherto been the case in most settlements, can be proved by a reference to facts. The farmers of the Niagara District, many of whom have been thirty or forty years in the Province and who now possess fina F 3 78 SECOND CLA6S OF unencumbered farms, are in no respect superior to the inhabitants of the Talbot Settlement. They are equally ignorant, equally unpolished, and one would suppose, from their mode of life, equally poor. Their minds have made no advances, and their ideas have not expanded in proportion to the increase of their means. Is it then to be supposed that the people who now fill the new settlements of Upper Canada, imbued with the same ideas and prejudices, will make greater progress in improvement, than persons of the same description have done before them ? A deliberate inspection of a new settlement cannot fail to sink mankind lower in the estimation of the observer, than perhaps they ever were before. Human beings are there seen in a state of natural and inexcusable depravity, that cannot be palliated nor accounted for in any way, except by referring its origin to those evil propen sities which appear to be inherent in all men, and which can be diverted or counteracted only by the influence of reason, religion and education. The apologists of the human race vainly tell us, that men are rendered vicious by artificial means, and that they are excited to evil by those numerous disap pointments and oppressions which are inseparable from an advanced and cultivated state of society. If we examine the wilds of North America, we shall there find men placed beyond the reach of want, enjoying unbounded liberty, all equal in power and property and independent of each other. Such a combination of happy circumstances would SOCIETY IN CANADA. 79 seem well adapted to extinguish and repress evil habits and ruinous propensities ; but it has no effect of the kind whatever. For the inhabitants of the bountiful wilderness are as depraved in their morals, and as degenerate in their ideas, as the refuse popu lation of a great city." In another place the same intelligent writer observes : " The system of barter which exists in the Province, has a very injurious effect upon the characters of the peasantry. It necessarily affords many opportunities of cheating to those who are so inclined; and I lament to say, that the mass of inhabitants have more or less of this propensity, which they endeavour to palliate or conceal under the term of taking advantage, and practise without injury to their reputations. For in Upper Canada, a man is thought dishonest, only when his knavery carries him beyond the bounds prescribed by the law. Various kinds of deception may be prac tised by the parties buying and selling, when barter is the medium of exchange. A dollar, for instance, has a specific value ; and cannot possibly be made to appear worth more or less than it really is ; but other exchangeable articles vary continually, as far as regards value and quality, both of which points must often be decided solely by the judgment of him who proposes to receive them in barter. The ignorant and inexperienced are thus daily exposed to the knavery and deceit of those who think there is no harm in taking advantage." 80 SE(X>ND CLASS OF SOCIETY. As it is not my wish to .swell these pages with large quotations from the labours of other men, I should not have inserted the preceding paragraphs from Dr. Howison, — although I greatly prefer his language to my own, — were I not apprehensive that the unfavourable account which truth com pels me to give of the Canadian character, if allowed to appear without having the support of testimony other than my own, would probably subject me to the imputation of wilfully misrepre senting the people of this fine country. LETTER XXVIIL MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF UPPER CANADA — NO PROPER CRI TERION BY WHICH TO FORM A JUDGMENT OF THE CRIMES COMMITTED — I FREQUENCY OF CASES OF SEDUCTION— AN UN HAPPY INSTANCE OF THIS, AND ITS FATAL TERMINATION. IN England, the judicial calendar is commonly considered the best criterion of the state of morals in the country : There is that sort of spirit in the breast of an Englishman, no matter whether it originate in feeling or interest, which will not permit him to pass by the invasion of his rights, the defamation of his character, the pollution of his bed, the spoliation of his property, or any other species of encroachment or oppression, with out seeking the redress which is afforded by the jurisprudence of his country. ' It is not, however, thus easy to ascertain the relative moral condition of the people of Canada ; for the rule to which I have adverted, does not hold good on this side of the Atlantic. The num ber of trials in the courts of law bears no propor tion to the crimes committed. Actions for Crim. Con,, Seduction, or Breach of Promise of Mar- 82 SECOND CLASS OF riage, are almost entirely unknown in every part of North America ; and, during the whole time of my residence in Canada, I have not so much as heard of one proceeding of this kind being insti tuted. But you must not from this infer, that the crimes, which, in those countries where the spark of honour still glimmers in the human breast, are the foundation of such delicate proceedings, have no. existence in Canada ; for the very reverse is the case. They are of every-day occurrence ; and the practice of them has become so common with the Canadians, that they no longer produce their natural effect on the individuals whom they ought to offend. With regard to criminal conversation, the opinion of a wife's perfect independence is so un commonly prevalent, that I very much question if twelve native Americans could be found on the whole Continent, who, as a jury, would award a single sixpence of damages in a case of this kind, — no matter how positive the evidence, how aggravating the circumstances, or how wealthy the defendant. Accustomed themselves to the wearing of brow antlers, which indeed appear to fit them most admirably, and to sit very lightly on their lighter heads, they cannot conceive why any man should presume to solicit a jury of his coun trymen to award him damages, when the offence of which he complains neither impairs his fortune nor injures his character. Seductions, as you will infer from a former SOCIETY IN CANADA. 93 part of my correspondence, are not unfrequent in Canada. But they do not receive the severe repro bation they would meet with in our own country, and they are not considered offences sufficiently grave to require the institution of an action. Be sides, it would, in a great degree, be useless for the friends of females who have been thus unfor tunately led astray, to enter proceedings against the seducer. For .such, as I have before observed, is the laxity of morals in which the Canadian youth of both sexes are educated, that this sort of con duct is scarcely viewed in the light of a crime. The seducer, on this side of the Atlantic, is but sel dom exposed to any of those unpleasant conse quences, the apprehension of which in other coun tries frequently retards, and sometimes, I have no doubt, effectually prevents the accomplishment of many a well-concerted scheme of villainy. Here, he revels in his base and heartless pursuits with impunity, and is restrained by no fear of incurring the displeasure even of the parents whose daughter he beguiles from the paths of virtae, or of the husband whose wife he persuades to the pollution of the nuptial bed.' Since my arrival in Canada, I have only heard of one instance of unpleasant feelings having been produced in the minds of either parents or hus bands, by occurrences of this nature ; and as this had a very melancholy termination, in addition to the exhibition which it affords of the different manner in which the loss of honour and of reputa- 8'4 SECOND CLASS OP tion operates on the minds of those females who are merely settlers in the country, and on those who are of American parentage, I shall take the liberty of relating it to you. About two years ago, Mr. W., a respectable Irish emigrant, and once the owner of considerable property in his native country, sought a refuge, from the dangers to which the late unhappy dis turbances of Ireland exposed many reputable and inoffensive families, in the fertile but unculti vated regions of Upper Canada. The companions of his exile were, an amiable wife, and a numerous family of fine children ; among whom was a daugh- t-er, young, innocent, and lovely, esteemed by all who knew her, adored by her parents, and beloved by the family over which, to relieve a mother's burden, she was wont to preside. Soon after the arrival of this once happy family in their adopted country, a young man of respect able connections was introduced to Miss W- She was then in the eighteenth year of her age, a time of life when the female heart is perhaps most sus ceptible of deep and indelible impressions. He had heard of the virtue of our fair country-women ; but, with a scepticism peculiar to profligate minds, he could not believe in its existence. Knowing that the females of his own country were never over scrupulous, he could not conceive why those of another should be more so, or how another soil could be more favourable to the growth of virtu ous principles. But subsequent experience con- SOCIETY IN CANADA. 85 vinced him, that, if it was not impossible, it was certainly extremely difficult, to seduce this unfortunate girl from the paths of rectitude. Men of easy natures or indolent habits never think of encountering any thing which presents an appear ance of impracticability. They do not resemble men of industry and perseverance, who, instead of being frightened aw^ay by the first aspect of what they wish to attain, go round about it, and examine it on every side, to see whether it does not afford some other more agreeable prospect of attainment. The practised seducer is not terrified, because the mountain whose summit he wishes to gain is perpendicularly steep on the side which first opens to his view. Though the route may be long and circuitous, he is resolved to gratify his wishes, and frequently after much trouble he discovers a path leading him, by an easy and gradual ascent, to the top of that mountain which at first sight seemed unapproachable. This was unhappily the case in the present melancholy instance. The execrable destroyer of the peace of Mr. W.'s family, regarding his unsuspecting child as an object whose ruin it would be an honour in the estimation of his lewd companions to accom plish, and urged on, rather than intimidated by, the difficulties which opposed him, resolved on exerting to the uttermost a hellish skill in effecting his diabolical intention. The first step which he took was to cultivate the friendship of the family, and to inspire the parents 8(5 SECOND CI;ASS OF with confidence in his honour. His next was, under the cloak of hypocritical pretensions which he wore so well, to engage the young lady's affec tions ; and he finally presented himself as a candi date for her hand. From that time forth, he paid her the most sedulous attention, and eagerly seized every opportunity of convincing her, that from the first moment when he beheld her, she had inspired him with a passion as pure as the dew of heaven and as ardent as the summer sun. But she was too guileless to perceive, that as the dew upon the grass is absorbed by the rays of the sun, the purity of her lover's passion was swallowed up in its ardour. He had made himself the master of her heart ; and, being deceived by his insidious atten tions, she never dreamed that beneath all his seeming attachment, there was hidden a most in fernal scheme for despoiling her of that, without which life to her would prove to be a burden under such humiliating circumstances. She lis tened to his warm protestations of fidelity, with feelings most eloquently expressed in silence ; she answered his affected sighs with her own, which were unaffected ; and she witnessed the love-sick looks which he assumed, with visible emotions of most genuine tenderness. She never called in question the integrity of his motives, the sincerity of his professions, or the generosity of his soul. Unpractised in the ways and customs of the world, unacquainted with the perfidy of man, and unused to the arts of dissimulation, she was never influ- SOCIETY IN CANADA. g7 enced by the tormenting impulse of low-minded suspicion. It might have been happy for her, had she been more deeply skilled in the knowledge of man's depravity, and had she known how frequently it occurs, that, while the tongue is employed in uttering the fairest profes sions and the face in attesting their truth, the heart is projecting the most horrid schemes and the mind is on the stretch to find means for their accomplish ment. For how could she entertain any doubt of the integrity of a man who appeared to live only for the promotion of her happiness ? He gave her every reason which she could possibly require, in favour of his sincerity ; and charity therefore for bade her to hesitate in treating him with her accus-i tomed familiarity and confidence. He was evidently an adept in the business which he had in hand : He talked continually of the plans which he had formed for their mutual comfort ; expatiated, with much appearance of delight, on the felicity which awaited them ; consulted her on subjects of domestic economy, as freely as though she were already the wife of his bosom ; and acted throughout the whole affair with such admirable address, that he succeeded eventually in accom plishing the only design he had in view in forming the acquaintance. If she had been one of those frivolous coquettes who, easily and without remorse, become the prey of any artful villain, I would not even attempt to 88 SECOND CLASS OF draw the veil of charity across her conduct, or screen her from the scorn she would have so richly deserved. But, alas ! the melancholy sequel of her melancholy story too plainly demonstrates, that she was not of this, but of a very different class; and that she madly, — I speak it after much consi^ deration, — madly preferred death before dishonour. When the infamous wretch, — in whom her affec tions centered, and in whom her soul confided, who had pledged her his faith, and sealed that pledge with an oath, — no longer devoted his morn ings and evenings to her company ; when she no longer perceived him " heave the big sigh or drop the briny tear ;" when she saw herself deserted, forlorn, abandoned, solitary in the midst of society, melancholy in the walks of gaiety ; when the ti? which bound her to the world was broken, and the germ by which it ought to have been strengthened was growing apace ; when she could no more boast of a spotless character, nor meet the glances of the malignant with conscious rectitude,— she resolved, as all hopes of being restored to hey former tranquillity and happiness were fled, — horrid determination ! — she resolved to bid farewell to earth, and to seek a fancied respite from misery in the chambers of death. Like Lucretia, she could not bear to survive her disgrace ; and though,— after having received her education in a country in which suicide is discountenanced by law, reli gion, and public opinion, — she might have beea SOCIETY IN CANADA. g9 been expected to possess a greater portion of self- command, than she exhibited, and not to have madly rushed into the presence of her Maker ; yet when we have strongly protested against the com mission of self-murder, it may be well to be alto gether silent on the subject, and not to animad vert with too much severity on the conduct of a person that acts under circumstances which fre quently exclude the investigation of reason, — cir cumstances which have only to be known to be avoided. Before she carried her fatal purpose into effect, this unfortunate addressed a letter to her base betrayer, in which she painted the agony of her heart, reminded him of his promises, and appealed to his feelings, his humanity, his honour ! But his feel ings were dead to the voice of affection; his huma nity could not be softened by eloquence, however powerful ; his honour was the honour of a profligate, and of course no sacred tie whatever was binding upon him. A stranger to every generous impulse, he received this last appeal without any apparent emotion. It was in vain that she thought to move his compassion by the simple recital of her " soul's .sharp agony ," or to melt him into pity by an avowal of her fatal purpose. A cold and unfeeling declar ation, " that he never intended to make her the companion of his life," was the only reiply which she received to a letter that might have drawn tears from the eyes of a marble monument, as plen- VoL II. G 90 SECOND CLASS OF teous as the streams that flowed from the smitten brow of Horeb. The effect which this inhuman rebuff — I had almost said naturally — produced, was, to confirm the unhappy girl in the desperate reso lution which she had previously formed. " There is no medicine for a mind diseased," is in many respects a very wrong notion, and can only properly apply to an extreme case of mental derangement. There is a medicine for every dis ease, as well of the body as of the mind, which has not proceeded so far as to paralyze the exertions of either, or materially to derange their faculties.* She would not live, like the more magnanimous heroine of one of the English poets, to have it said Nine months matur'd her growing shame, but resolved on immediate destruction. What tongue can tell, what heart conceive, the tortured feelings of this young and tender creature, who once would not needlessly set foot upon a worm. But tread aside and let the reptile live, when she went forth with the deliberate intention * Those who endeavour to palliate, much more they who advo-. cate, the crime of self-destruction, even when arising out of the most intolerable grievances, are, of all the public writers of the age, undoubtedly the most dangerous. Nothing in the world can be farther from my intention than to follow in the train of these men : This declaration I beg leave explicitly to make, lest any ejcpressions of pity, which have fallen from me during thjs narrative, should be interpreted in favour of the rash act to which they usually have recoiu'se who are burdened by their own exist ence. SOCIETY IN CANADA. yj of committing suicide and murder in one headlong leap ! The voice of conscience could not, how ever, reclaim her from her horrid purpose ; and, under the mask of taking a walk with a young lady, she proceeded to the spot that she had long regarded as the stage on which she might securely perforin the last and most tragical act of life. It was on the brink of a rapid river, whose perpen dicular banks are in many parts at least 100 feet above its rocky bed. The poor victim of shame had on this occasion secreted about her person a pen and ink, and making some plausible pretence to her companion, she sat down upon the sward, and wrote a few hurried lines explaining the rea sons of her rash resolve. She then placed them carefully in her bosom, hastily arose from her seat, took her friend by the hand, and, bidding her adieu, plunged headlong from the bank into the river. Overcome with astonishment and terror, the surviving female could not stir for some seconds, but at length recovered sufficient strength to approach the precipitous margin of the stream, and on looking down, she beheld her ill-fated compa nion writhing on the bare rocks in the agonies of death. She immediately flew to the house, and acquainted the friends of the young lady with the distressing event. They lost no time in repairing to the spot, accompanied by a physician. But the aid of her friends and the physician was too laie ; g2 92' SECOND CLASS OF for, although when they arrived, the vital spark was not entirely extinct, yet her tongue was silent, her eyes had lost their fire, and her face had already assumed the pale image of death. Every method was pursued which could be devised for her re covery, but without avail ; and in a few short moments after she had been taken up out of the dreadful abyss, her pulse ceased to beat, and .she entered on a life, which she cannot conclude at her pleasure, and in which, if the ends of justice can be satisfied by visiting her last sin upon the head of him w^ho was the real cause of it, retribution will be amply bestowed, and the greatest sinner of the two will receive the largest share of punishment. " I will go to the river and plunge into its flood, " the waters of which, like those of Lethe, shall " cause me to forget and be forgotten. What is " the world to me ? Its pleasures ? Its posses- " sions ? Its hopes ? Alas ! The world will not " now acknowledge my acquaintance. I know it " only in its pains. Its possessions are of no avail " to me when I have lost that without which I " cannot enjoy them : Deprived of its hopes, I am " doomed to despair. I have been deceived, be- " trayed, and now I am forsaken ! Why should I " live ? The reflections of my broken heart, with- " out any excitation from the frowns of others, " are more than I can bear. But what are these, " compared with the ignominy that would follow " the disclosure of my shame to the parents who SOCIETY IN CANADA. 93 " have watched my rising years with such great "anxiety? Oh welcome death! I have been " taught to dread thee, but I will venture boldly on " thy unexplored regions, rather than prolong a " life of upbraiding and reproach !" Such, I dare say, was the plausible sort of reasoning which obtruded itself, and agitated the mind of this unfortunate young lady when about to cast herself headlong down the dreadful steep. G 3 LETTER XXIX. EDUCATION OF A CANADIAN EARLY INDULGENCE AND EXPERT NESS ENTRANCE ON ACTIVE LIFE HIS MARRIAGE AND SET TLEMENT LOG-HUT AND FURNITURE INDEPENDENCE AND IMPROVIDENCE THEIR RESULTS. It is impossible satisfactorily to account for the degeneracy of the Canadian character, without referring to the principles which are early instilled into their minds, and considering the natural effect of an injudicious system of education on the future life and conduct of those who have been the unfor tunate victims of mismanagement in the morning of their days. For 'Tis Education forms the tender mind. Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclin'd, A brief sketch of the life and adventures of a Canadian farmer will not only illustrate many of the observations on society and manners contained in the preceding letters, but may also convey additional instruction to those who are anxious to become more intimately acquainted with the actual A CANADIAN'S EDUCATION, 95 condition of the people. I shall therefore describe, as plainly and clearly as I can, the progress of a native Canadian ; and, as I do not boast of the pictorial skill which some possess, I shall leave it to the pen of him who says of Pennsylvanian scenery. With all its picturesque and balmy grace. And fields that were a luxury to roam, to discover, by poetic intuition, some equally delightful fields in the regions of Upper Canada, and, there fixing his hero and heroine, to weave the magic web of fiction round their habitation, and thereby render the description fascinating to the sentimental reader. Born in a country, the inhabitants of which are all nearly on a level with respect to rank and property, and addicted with equal stubbornness to the practical display of independent principles, the youthful Canadian, having both example and precept before him, naturally emulates his father, and speedily imbibes the same absurd notions of equality and independence. Scarcely has he learned to lisp his mothei''s name, when he begins to feel his oWn importance, and tacitly disdains submission even to his parents. At table, he must be the first served and best attended ; and being accus tomed to have all his desires indulged and all his orders punctually obeyed, he soon learns to scorn the language of solicitation : He loves the Impera tive Mood, and seldom makes use of the Indica- 96 THE LIFE OF A tive, except in the First-Future Tense. His words are conveyed in quite an authoritative tone, long before he is in any wise capable of administering to his own necessities. His every wish is gratified, however unreasonable ; and every sentiment he utters, however insolent, is received with the greatest applause. His parents, who seem bent upon his destruction, cannot think of sending him to school, lest the manly independence of his soul should receive a check from the magisterial lan guage of a teacher, or lest his sweet temper, — which of course is very sweet, — should be soured by contradiction. As soon as the young hero has attained his seventh or eighth year, he is provided with avTaxe, instead of a primer ; and when praised for his expertness in the use of this instrument, he imagines himself deeply read in the philosophy of human life. An adept in the arts of felling a sapling, tapping a sugar-maple, and hollowing a bass-wood trough, he is taught to consider his education finished, and proudly defies the capriciousness of fortune. What a pity, that he should be so spoiled ! How much better would it have been, if he had received such instruction as would have furnished him with the means of subsistence, should the rude arts in which he excelled fail him ! The smallest portion of scholastic knowledge, operating on a sound mind and natural good sense, would have induced habits of reflection, and many a moral lesson might then have been derived from his NATIVE CANADIAN. 97 ordinary occupations! What a check to the growth of superciliousness might have been given, if, when he marked that the tree fell with a tremen dous crash in proportion to its bulk and height, he had drawn the inference of danger in high-minded- ness! And how doubly impressive, as well as pleasing, would such a lecture have been, if, as the result of reading and education, he had been able to associate, with this circumstance, the senti ment of the poet, The tallest pine feels most the power Of wintry blasts : the loftiest tower Falls heaviest to the ground. The bolts, that spare the mountain's side. His cloud-capt eminence divide. And spread the ruin round. Instead of this, however, he pleases himself with the idea, that he shall ere long become a man, the prop of his family and an ornament to his country. Before his youthful cheeks have become ruddy by ihe scorching influence of a dozen summers, he assumes quite a manly air, and enters into familiar conversation on all subjects with persons of all- ages. Having never been contradicted in his life by those who have watched his rising impudence with exulting pride, his indignation is indescribably -fierce against all who do not feel much interested in the negative preservation of his sweet temper, .and who therefore do not care how frequently jthey dissent from his opinions. Inheriting from 98 THE LIFE OF A his father a disposition to speculate, he commences business betimes, and is frequently the owner of considerable property before the completion of his third lustrum. For the acquisition of this wealth, he receives suitable instructions from his parents ; and whenever he is dextrous enough to outwit his unwary playmates, he is crowned with the applause to which, in the opinion of his friends, he is meri toriously entitled. Thus early initiated in the arts of speculation and deception, he enters the world with a mind insensible to every principle of honour, and a soul dead to every generous impulse. Un accustomed to treat his parents with deference or respect, and a total stranger to every thing like subordination, he considers himself free as the mountain air, and independent as the sun of hea ven. Subject to no restraint, he goes wherever he pleases, does whatever he thinks proper, and holds himself accountable to no human tribunal. He yields the rein to his passions and appetites, Spurns the advice and counsel of the parents who have reared him ; and, launching forth into the depths of infidelity and immorality, he professes to hold in the most sovereign contempt the opinions and approbation of the better part of society. Under the misguiding influence of a mind thus constituted and directed, he leaves the paternal roof without ever having entertained a feeling of veneration or respect for its inmates, and consequently without regret. It can scarcely be hoped, that a graceless youth like this can make a very valuable member NATIVE CANADIAN. gg of civil society : Sanguine indeed must the parent be, who can even anticipate his froward child's final escape from the gallows. Such, however, is the education given to his children, by almost every man in the country ; and such is the manner in which the youthful mind is prepared to discharge the important diities of life. As a Canadian seldom expects any share of the paternal property until after his father's demise, when he has attained his twenty-first year he goes into the wilderness ; and, having selected a suitable lot of land, he either obtains a grant of it from government, or purchases it on long credit from some private individual. Having settled the pre liminaries, he goes immediately to work. First. He builds a house, then marries a wife, and, last of all, asks himself the important question, " How shall I maintain her ?" But the answer is always at hand. " Here is a fertile soil and a propitious " climate ! Cultivate the former with diligence, ** and the latter will second your endeavours, and " the earth wiU bring forth her fruits in due sea- " son !" Convinced of this truth, he commences house-keeping, frequently without a dollar in his pocket, or any thing equivalent in his possession, and entirely dependent on the precarious credit of his name for his first year's subsistence. These would be disheartening circumstances to any one but an American; and would damp the ardour of minds to ail appearance much better prepared for encountering the ills of life with manly fortitude. lt)0 the LIFE OF A than are those of the generality of Canadians. But difficulties, which, in other- countries, would appear almost insurmountable, are regarded in America as the merest trifles ; and, being met with unyielding perseverance, are invariably overcome. The hope of independence, and the conviction of its being attainable by every man who will pro perly exert himself, invigorate the weakest arm, and stimulate the feeblest effort towards its ultimate acquirement. It is frequently a dark and cloudy day on which the young Canadian becomes the master of himself, and enters on the busy scenes of life ; but he has lived long enough in the land of his fathers to have obtained, by desultory observation, some slight knowledge of the aspect of the heavens : And, how dense soever the clouds may be, he knows that the star of independence is glittering in all its radiance beyond them. To that, his eye is steadily directed ; and though he is only able to catch an occasional glimpse of the inspiring orb, as the clouds pass heavily before it, yet even these inter- fulgent bursts not only serve to re-animate his ¦efforts, but also to illuminate his otherwise, uncheer- ful path. Independence is ever the Cynosure of a Canadian, and spite of all the discouragements under which he labours in his first establishment, — being destitute alike of mental and pecuniary resources, — he generally succeeds in attaining the object of his pursuit, before the lapse of half a dozen years. Within this period he is frequently NATIVE CANADIAN. 10| enabled, out of the bare produce of his labours, to pay for his farm and discharge his other debts, — to provide himself with the necessary implements of agriculture, — and to buy in a quantity of stock sufficient to answer his immediate demands. It is certain, that for this he must labour hard : Six days, and I lament to say, too often seven days in the week are spent in unremitting toil ; while little attention is paid to any thing but the extension of his farm and the enlargement of his barns. " Let " us eat, drink, and labour, for to-morrow we " shall live," is the language of his heart. It is certainly delightful to see how contentedly he re tires to his cottage each successive evening after the labours of the day are over, and when he has refreshed himself with sleep, how he rises with the sun to resume with wonted diligence his toilsome avocations. For the first five or six years, the pri mitive log-hut affords him an asylum, and he sel dom manifests much- anxiety to multiply its exter nal decorations. His furniture is never of the most costly description, and is seldom cumbersome. A bed-stead, roughly hewn out with a felling-axe ; the sides, posts, and ends held together in screeching trepidation by strips of Bass-wood bark ; a bed of fine field-feathers ; a table, that might be taken for a victualler's chopping-block ; four or five benches of the same rude mechanism ; and the indispensa ble apparatus for cooking and eating, compose the tout ensemble of a Canadian's household furniture. He seems to have no idea of cottage comfort, and 102 THE LIFE OF A seldom evinces any inclination to make his hut even tolerably pleasant. It is frequently so full of " loop-holes," that the morning sun or wintry blast, according to the season of the year, salutes the inhabitants long before the doors and window- shutters are unclosed. In the summer, however, this is on the whole an advantage ; and in the win ter, a good fire in a great measure counteracts any unpleasant effects of which it might otherwise be productive. If a Canadian can keep up his supply of pork and pumpkin-pie, of molasses and sour crout, of tea and Johnny cake, — which he seldom fails to accom plish, — he feels perfectly indifferent regarding those household conveniences which are not so eminently useful. His " better half" also, look ing forward like himself to days of greater pros perity, is quite reconciled to her present humble condition, if she can but obtain occasional permis sion to exhibit herself at " a quilting bee," or in a ball-room ; at both of which she is received, if not as already the possessor, yet as the presumptive. mistress, of a splendid mansion, which, though at the time only a castle in the air, will certainly one day be built. When six or seven years, at most, have been spent in the humble retirement of the log-hut, our hero finds himself out of debt ; and just as he has firmly established his character for industry, and is in a fair way for realizing an ample fortune, he becomes discontented with his mode of life, and NATIVE CANADIAN. jOg resolves to build himself a mansion more suited to his taste than the " wood-built shed." For the more speedy and effectual fulfilment of his pur pose, he mortgages his farm to some neighbour ing merchant, who furnishes him with building materials of every description, and renders him every assistance in his power towards the accom plishment of his magnificent design. The mansion is finished in the most tasteful manner, and suit able furniture is procured: The family remove into it, and, for a year or two, all things go on with tolerable smoothness. Having now a fine house in the midst of a well-cleared farm, our modern Triptolemus turns gentleman ; for he does not deem industry any longer necessary for the maintenance of his family : His arm is more over so completely unnerved by the six preceding years of laborious employment, that he cannot with any personal satisfaction continue his exer tions, especially since he has contracted such an exceeding distaste for agricultural pursuits. Hus bandry now appears to him a very tedious mode of realizing a fortune; he therefore resolves on turning his attention to some more rapid and, as he thinks, gentlemanly means of becoming opu lent. He tries gambling, horse-racing, and a thou sand other schemes for effecting his object ; and, finding none of them successful, but rather other wise, he resorts, with the wreck of his property, to the tavern, where he spends his days, and fre quently his nights too, engaged with the lowest 104 THE LIFE OF A company, in the most degrading pursuits. His farm is allowed to bring forth weeds in abundance ; his stock is neglected, and his family enjoy no por tion of his regards. Presently the merchant pro duces his mortgage, and insists on the payment of his account. The farm is now sold ; and, with the balance that remains when all his debts are dis charged, the Canadian enters into various spe culations, and when he has proved unsuccessful in most of them, and has scarcely a stiver left, he again penetrates the wilderness, and begins^ the clearing of another farm in the same destitute condition as he was many years before, excepting that he has now a family of half a dozen children to maintain. In this cheerless manner, the majority of the people of Upper Canada spin out the thread of their existence, without ever attaining that perma nent comfort and independence which any other people on earth, with the same advantages, could not fail to secure. A casual observer, passing through the country, and beholding .so many fine farms and excellent habitations, would imagine that the people were in the most enviable circum stances ; but a diligent enquiry into their actual condition would produce very different convic tions. I think it would not be going too far to say, that, notwithstanding the superior soil and climate which peculiarly distinguish the lot of an Upper Canadian, there could not be selected one farmer out of every twenty, who would be worth NATIVE CANADIAN. 105 sixpence, if his debts were paid : And all this may be fairly attributed to their idleness, immorality, and speculativeness. Having laboured, as I have before observed, with great diligence for several years, they no sooner demonstrate, by the effects which this labour produces, that " industry is riches," than they resolve on squandering their time in practices, which, surrounding examples might con vince them, are almost invariably the ruin of those to whom they become familiar. It is true, there are instances of persons commencing their career in the manner which I have described, who soon attain to independence : But they are rare ; or, when compared with the number of those who fail in their efforts to accumulate property by des perate or unlikely means, they are as one to a thousand. It is also lamentable to reflect, that even those who, by a more patient continuance in agricultu ral pursuits than the characters to whom I have just alluded, are enabled to acquire a larger property, at length partake of the same spirit of improvidence, and generally see the end of their wealth before the end of their lives. They have then no need to be reminded that, when death arrives, they will have to give up their possessions to the nearest heir : For their actual riches have already taken to themselves wings; and the penny- less son, with the heir-loom axe for his only for- VoL. II. H 106 THE LIFE OF A tune, is compelled to seek out other property in the pathless wilderness. A successful farmer commonly becomes a tavern- keeper, and of course a deep speculator. He lays out his property in the erection of extensive build ings, becomes a regular tippler, neglects his busi ness, and very soon finds himself at the bottom of his purse, which, unfortunately for him, does not often resemble Pandora's box, in being inlaid with hope. With regard to the vice of intemperance, it is universally acknowledged that nine-tenths of the Canadians who succeed in the acquisition of property in early life, not only squander it away but actually shorten their own lives by the immo derate use of ardent liquors. At this moment I can call to recollection no less than .six instances of premature dissolution, which have fallen within my own observation during the last twelve months ; and every one of these has been attributed to habits of dissipation. There is no country in the World, which affords greater facilities than Canada for the acquirement of comfort and independence ; and yet an impartial inquiry into the actual condition of its inhabitants will clearly shew, that, in the English acceptation of these words, there are not many examples of the kind, at least in the Upper Province. The affectionate solicitude of a parent respecting the future prospects of his family, is seldom felt by a Canadian. He began without any thing himself. NATIVE CANADIAN. 107 and why may not his children do the same ? Why may not they meet with the same success which encouraged him, so long as the country retains its former fertility, and land may be bought on such equitable and easy terms ? The independence of such a person has no stable foundation. For a country so fertile and so thinly inhabited presents such numerous avenues to a fair competency, that no man looks with gloomy forebodings to the future ; nor does he find any occasion to regret his improvidence, until his health and strength begin to fail, when his boasted independence proves to be a bruised reed, which is not able to afford him support. The Canadians have no just notions of that real independence which is the glory of a Briton, — to have it in his power to reflect at the close of life, that he has maintained himself and his family with honesty, and is able, out of the fruits of his industry, to leave them a decent forr tune when he dies. It is a lot to be desired, when such a number of the good things of this life are conceded, as will enable us in a great measure to cast off all care about temporal futurity, like the lilies of the field which " toil not, neither do they spin," and to employ our time in the instruc tion of ourselves and families, in making suitable provision for their future respectability, and — as it is only fit that some portion of our earthly rest should be so employed — in learning for ourselves how we may best secure " the rest that remaineth to the people of God." h2 108 the life of a Instead of advancing in the scale of civilization, as might easily be done, the people of this fine Province actually appear to be daily retrograding in every thing which gives a charm to existence. I question if there be a man in the Province, who can say, " My father commenced the world with " very limited resourcesj and yet acquired a con- " siderable property, of which I am now the pos- " sessor. He lived and died without the benefits " of education ; but, feeling in himself the need of " it, and having continual experience of the embar- " rassments to which his want of information " exposed him, he took care that his children should " not be without instruction. The greatest part " of his long life was spent in w^earisome toil; but, " by the prudent management of his affairs, his " children are enabled to devote a large propor- " tion of their time to literary pursuits, and are " seldom necessitated to engage in manual la- " hour." No ; but, " I have myself got through the world " unassisted by my parents, and let my children " do the same," is the dying sentiment by which most Americans conclude their last will and tes tament. But the subject is far from being agreeable, and* I dismiss it with painful sensations. I never reflect upon it, much less write upon it, without its exciting a state of mind which every prudential consideration should induce me to avoid. To NATIVE CANADIAN. J09 know what the inhabitants of this highly-favoured Province are, and to reflect on what they might be if they were under the proper influence of moral and religious instruction, cannot fail to affect most sensibly the mind of every friend to his species. u3 LETTER XXX. MANNERS AND CpSTOMS IN UPPER CANADA WANT OF EXCITE MENTS TO MENTAL IMPROVKIIENT GENERAL WANT OP EDU CATION ANECDOTE— VALUABLE NATURE OF JUVENILE LABOUBT LEGISLATIVE ENACTMENTS FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF SCHOOLS. Endowed as the Upper Canadians undoubtedly are with strong natural intellect, and finding them selves able to struggle through the world without any great portion of learning, they consider the possession of it a trivial advantage. If the farmer can tell how many pounds of wheat are contained in a Winchester bushel ; if the mechanic can point out the difference between an oblong square and an equilateral triangle ; and if the merchant has acquired such a knowledge of the principles of arithmetic as may teach him to disregard the systematic order of " the Tutor," and to practise Addition and Multiplication, without the interven tion of Subtraction ; — they esteem themselves pos sessed of all the essential knowledge appertaining to their respective professions. To say the truth, the Canadian feels not the radical principle which stimulates the mind to active perseverance, and EDUCATION. Ill supports it under close and unremitting appli cation. Fame is the spur that the pure spirit doth raise. To scorn delights, and live laborious days. But this powerful inducement to hard study does not exist in Canada, because literature is not famous in the country. The anticipation of for tune and renown, as the certain rewards of literary merit in an enlightened country, cannot therefore find scope for operation in the mind of a Canadian. He is not one of those who " leave all meaner things to low ambition," and who spend their strength in climbing the difficult and steep ascent of Parnassus ; but is content to continue, in as many senses as you please, " a child of the earth." He looks around him, and plainly discovers that a superior education is by no means necessary to qualify him for the highest situation in the land : For he finds, that the greatest part of those who fill official situations, are as ignorant as himself; while some, who are fitted by their talents for the competent discharge of any duty, are dragging out their existence wholly undistinguished from the vulgar herd by whom they are surrounded. Can it be expected, then, that a young man, with such examples before him, however gifted by nature, will make any strenuous exertions for the attainment of that knowledge which can neither make him more respectable in the eyes of his countrymen, nor procure him any other personal 112 WANT OF advantage ? A well-informed mind has, it is cer tain, innumerable sources of intellectual enjoy ment, unknown to the uneducated, and which alone are in my opinion a sufficient reward for many years of close application. But you might as well expect a blind man to distinguish colours, as a youth without education to appreciate the delights of learning : And how can he be allu red by that of which he is not sensible ? I question whether any man who is compelled to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow, would be willing to devote one half of his time to the acquisition of knowledge, purely out of a love for learning. Archimedes could have raised the world from its orbit, if he had been able to find out a fulcrum for his lever ; and, in like manner, it is not in the nature of man's will, and, — unless he can conquer his own ob-stinacy, — it is therefore out of his power, patiently to undergo that " weariness of the flesh" which is occasioned by " much study" unless he also can find out a fulcrum for his lever, — a glimp,se of future fame, or future wealth, without one of which for its foundation, his machinery would be almost utterly powerless. Inquire of the poet, wherefore he consumes his midnight oil in drinking from the pure stream of classical antiquity, — or why he submits to many sore throats in his equally untimely rambles through the air, uncovered, perhaps out of reverence to the moon, — or for what purpose he impairs his . constitution in profound historical EDUCATION. ]13 research, and philosophical invesUgation, — and he will tell you that he is engaged in the composition of an Epic Poem, with which he means to raise a monument to himself " more enduring than brass." — Is it merely from a consideration of knowledge being preferable to ignorance, that- the statesman endeavours to make his mind familiar with the resources, the capabilities, and the customs of every nation on earth, that he dives deep into the arcana of politics and sacrifices innumerable enjoyments of which he might otherwise partake, for the attain ment of these objects ? Would he do this, if he did not hope hereafter to receive the overwhelming plaudits of " listening senates," and To bear his blushing honours thick upon him } What could induce Demosthenes, to correct the stammering of his voice by speaking with pebbles in his mouth ; — to remove the distortion of his features whiwh accompanied his utterance, by watching the motions of the facial nerves in a mir ror ; — to make his enunciation loud and emphatical by frequenting the steepest and most uneven walks; — to harangue upon the sea-shore, when the waves were uncommonly tempestuous, that he might the better accustom himself to the noise and tumults of a popular assembly ; — and to make use of various other singular methods, which, he knew, would promote his darling project? Was it not, that he might obtain the applauses of his country while he Jived, for his pre-eminent attainments as a public 114 WANT OF speaker, and that, after his decease, the deep im pression of his powers might live in the recollection, and dwell on the minds, of all who heard him ? It is needless, however, to continue the subject: The feelings of every educated individual are a sufficient demonstration of my argument, and I desire no better criterion of the judgment which I have formed. Take away from mankind the hope of fame and distinction, of wealth and honour ; and farewell to poets, philosophers, and orators, and all that is great and noble in the human heart. Were such a misfortune to befal Great Britain, its population would in a few years become as illiterate and ignorant as the present inhabitants of Canada. The beautiful lines of Gray, Full many a gem of purest ray serene. The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear, &c. are, for aught I know, as applicable to Canada as to any other part of the world, whether you regard the imagery of the poet as imagery, or construe it according to its literal meaning. For the Lakes of Ontario, Erie, and Huron are oceanic in their size, darkness, and depth, and may possibly be very fruitful in " gems ;" and nothing can be more easy than for " flowers to blush unseen," And waste their fragrance in the desert air, amidst the interminable forests of America. You may probably suppose, that men who are in this country called to fill high stations in life would EDUCATION. 115 be deeply impressed with a sense of their own de- ficiences, when subjected to some of those mortifying exposures which are in such cases inevitable, and would be induced to procure for their children those advantages of education which were denied to themselves. You must however recollect, that the personifications of ignorance and knowledge, according as they advance in their respective de grees of comparison, not only become less sensible of their own peculiarities, but increase in that mutual depreciation of each other which the total estrangement of their different pursuits is calcu lated to inspire. Thus, the man who is destitute of all acquired information, has never been sensible of his own ignorance, and cannot perceive the advan tages of learning. The Canadians have also a liberal portion of vanity in their composition ; the consequence of which is, that the most ignorant among them will frequently suppose himself the most enlightened. A few days ago when in company with a number of gentlemen, one of them, who was a Justice of the Peace and a Field-officer in the Militia, handed me a newspaper, at the same time directing my attention to a particular advertise ment in its columns. It related to a volume of miscellaneous poems, recently published, and sim ply stated, as usual, in conclusion, that " the price of the above work is 3s. 9c?. in grain, 4s. in boards, and 4s. 6d. in sheep." When I returned the paper without noticing any thing remarkable in this 110 WANT OF advertisement, the learned squire seemed a good deal surprised, and asked, in a tone of astonish ment, if I did not think it singular, that the author would take any thing but cash for a pro duction of that kind, particularly when the price was so low ? I replied, it did not appear to me that he proposed to take any thing else. " Oh ! " yes," said he, " all kinds of trade, or at least " several. Did not you observe, that he offers to " exchange the book for either grain, boards, or " sheep ?" I never had so much difficulty in pre serving the gravity of my countenance : For none of the company appeared to understand the mean ing of the terms ; and each of them actually fancied, that he could obtain a copy of the work for a bushel of wheat, a few hundred feet of boards, or a side of mutton. As they seemed to anticipate much pleasure from a perusal of the poems, and were all acquainted with the author, I did not think it necessary to undeceive them, — agreeing with the poet, that Where ignorance is bliss 'tis folly to be wise. The inestimable advantages resulting from a well-educated and enlightened population, cannot be experienced in Canada for many years to come. The great mass of the people are at present com pletely ignorant even of the rudiments of the most common learning. Very few can either read or write ; and parents, who are ignorant themselves, possess so slight a relish for literature, and are so Education. 117 little acquainted with its advantages, that they feel scarcely any anxiety to have the minds of their children cultivated. The axiom of the great philosopher does not seem to have obtained with the inhabitants of Canada, for they will not believe, that " knowledge is power ;" and, being convinced, that it is not in the nature of " book- learned skill" to improve the expertness of their sons in hewing wood, or the readiness of their daughters in spinning flax, they consider it a misapplication of money to spend any sum in obtaining instruction for their offspring. Nothing can afford a stronger proof of their indifference in this respect, than the circumstance of their elect ing men to represent them in the Provincial Par liament, whose attainments in learning are, in many instances, exceedingly small, and sometimes do not pass beyond the horn-book. I have myself been present in the Honourable House of Assembly, when some of the members, on being called to be Chairmen of Committees, were under the dis agreeable and humiliating necessity of requesting other members to read the Bills before the Com mittee ; and, then, as the different clauses were rejected or adopted, to request these their proxies to signify the same in the common mode of writ ing. I have no acquaintance with any of these gentlemen, nor the most distant connection with their Honourable House, being only an occasional spectator of its proceedings; but I never could witness such exposures of entire incapacity as these. 118 WANT OF without blushing for the ignorance of men in stations so exalted. Ignorance, when evinced only in the bosom of a man's family, will pass unnoticed ; and if it be displayed within the circle of his own acquaintance, it will excite compassion : But when it intrudes its mis-shapen trunk into assemblies, which, from their very nature and constitution, are supposed to be the seat of know ledge, it becomes, in the greatest possible degree, contemptible. Diffidence, in a man of scanty acquirements, invariably meets with approbation, and is the certain criterion of good sense ; but where presumption is united in the same person with ignorance, it excites the universal detestation of all sensible men, and speedily obtains for the centre of union the appropriate cognomen of " an arrant fool." As another proof of the lamentable want of information among the Canadians, I can positively assert, that, during a residence of five years in the Province, I have only seen two persons with books in their hands, and one of these was consulting a medical publication for the cure of a disease under which he laboured. Indeed the scarcity of books in the country-parts of Canada, is nearly as great as that of pine-apples on the summit of Snow- don. I cannot easily account for the fact, that even those persons who have had the benefit of a tolerable education, should entertain such a deter mined dislike to all kinds of reading-, as they dis play, by acknowledging, without a blush, which EDUCATION. 119 many of them do, that they have never read a book through since they left school. Many circumstances concur to make it imprac ticable for the Canadians, even if they were capa ble, to educate their own children. In consequence of the difficulty of procuring labour, which I have already mentioned, the farmer is not only com pelled to devote himself entirely to the cultivation of his ground, but also to call in the aid of his sons, as soon as they are able to assist him. Boys of seven or eight years old are put to work, in Canada, and are kept at it during the remainder of their lives, — unless they acquire those habits of indolence which, I have before observed, are so general, as to preclude the devotion of much care and attention to any honest or equitable sort of trade. Oxen are so well trained, and horses in general so devoid of mettle, that a little child may lead them ; and a boy ten years old is therefore nearly as serviceable to his father as one that is eighteen. When the parent is sufficiently com fortable to dispense with the constant labour of his son, schools are perhaps too remote from his house to render them of any value to his children. Great are the advantages to be derived from a residence in the midst of a condensed and well- organized state of society, and numerous are the evils which result from a scanty population scattered over a wide and cheerless wilderness ! While the Province was in its infancy, the Su preme Government evinced a disposition to pro- 120 PROVISION mote the happiness of the settlers, by calling the attention of General Simcoe, the first Lieutenant- Governor, to the establishment of schools in vari ous parts of the country. This appears from a letter addressed by the Duke of Portland to Go vernor Simcoe, which is dated 1796. It is .said, the General endeavoured to comply with the wishes of his Majesty's Government. In the session of 1797, the Provincial Legislature presented a me morial to General Simcoe, imploring his Majesty to appropriate a certain portion of the waste lands of the crown, to the purpose of raising a fund for the institution and support of a respectable Gram- mar-School in each District. In reply to this me morial, the Duke of Portland, at that time one of the principal Secretaries of State, informed the Legislature, that his Majesty was pleased to accede to their petitions. The grant was accordingly made ; but as land was previously so easy to be procured without purchase, the demand for the crown-land has been very small, and the good effects, which were expected to result from the royal bounty, have never yet been realized. For many years there were only two schools of any note in the whole Province : The one at Kingston, conducted by the Honourable and Rev. Dr. Strachan, a Scotchman of great abilities ; and the other at Niagara, under the direction of Mr. R. Cockerel, an Englishman, who is accounted a good mathematician. In 1807, a Provincial statute was enacted to OF EDUCATION. 121 establish a seminary in every district, in which the the Classics and Practical Mathematics were requir ed to be taught. A number of trustees, nominated by the Lieutenant-Governor, were to have the appointment of the teachers, each of whom was to enjoy a salary of £100 per annum. These schools have been now for some time established ; and we may hope, that the country will derive con siderable advantage from the knowledge which they will thus more generally diffuse. The low and inadequate salary, however, is a subject of much regret : For few men, whose acquirements would enable them to fulfil, with credit to them selves and advantage to their pupils, the import ant offices of classical and mathematical tutors, can be found willing to settle in the wilds of Upper Canada, on the salary of £100, — a sum, which, I know from experience, is not more than sufficient to maintain a single young man in this country. In 1816, another law was passed for the estab lishment of common schools in every township ; but this Bill contains a clause, which in a great degree renders the whole measure abortive. It declares, there shall be a school in every, town, village, or place in which twenty pupils can be collected. To each of these schools £26 was to be appropriated. Now, admitting the population at that time to amount to 100,000, — one fifth of whom may be supposed to be children fit for school, — the annual sum of £25,000 would be Vol, II. I 122 EDUCATION. required to carry the scheme into effect, which is at least three times the amount of what the pro vincial revenue was at that time. The fact is, the Bill has altogether failed in its design. There was another clause, providing that the salary proposed should only be given to such teachers as were British subjects ; which created so much jealousy among the people, that many of them preferred having no schools at all, to having them under the sole direction of Europeans or Canadians. LETTER XXXL STATE OF RELIGION AND MORALS IN UPPER CANADA .HORRID CRIME OF SWEARING REASONS FOR THE DETERIORATION IN THE MORALITV OF MANY SETTLERS — THEIR INSULATED SITU ATION NECESSITY OF CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION AMPLE PRO VISION FOR A RESIDENT CLERGY THEIR NUMBER AND STATIONS ^THE CONDUCT OF THE REPUBLICAN METHODIST PREACHERS TOWARDS THEIR BRITISH BRETHREN DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE AMERICAN AND BRITISH METHODISTS kolSY MODE OF PUBLIC WORSHIP— CAMP-MEETINGS AND THEIR ATTENDANT EVILS— CONJECTURES RESPECTING THEIR CONTINUANCE. Religion, I am sorry to inform you, is even at a lower ebb than common education in Canada. It is, however, a subject upon which I enter with fear and trembling, and to the disc;;ssion of which I feel greatly inadequate. But I am determined to speak what I know, and testify what I have seen j and, being confident of the uprightness of my, intentions, not only with regard to this, but to every other subject which I have noticed, though all men disapprove of what I say, and " worlds judge me perverse," I have one consolation, — the testimony of a good conscience. To be obliged to i2 124 STATE OF RELIGION censure the conduct of my fellow-men, is a duty which I never thought agreeable. Referring to myself as naturally partaking of the imperfections of our common nature, I have always considered the failings of others, intentional or unintentional, as subjects which require a great delicacy of ani madversion, and a wariness in those who remark upon them, lest any space be left for the appli cation of those lines. In Other men we faults can spy. And blame the mote which dims their eye ; Each little speck and blemish find. To our own greater errors blind. But this very commendable feeling may, I pre sume, be carried to excess : For if, on all occasions, those who observe any thing in the conduct of others, which they cannot reconcile with sound and rational principles, should abstain from making mention of it and conceal their disapproval of bad actions, they would then remove from the commission of crime one of its most powerful restraints, — the fear of deserved obloquy; and, what would be a still more injurious result, — they would thus deprive virtue of her chief incentive, the distinction to which she has always been raised by equity and integrity. The sentiment, that " Virtue is her own reward," is not illimitable in its meaning; and, were it not for the Catos of the world, those broad features by which she is distinguished from vice would very soon be lost, AND MORALS. 125 and the future progeny of both would be coubiu- germans, or too close kindred. If " the tree is to be known by its fruits," — and I think there is no other criterion by which we may judge of its health or vigour, — lamentable is the picture which Canada presents of the efficacy of the gospel on the lives of men. If an almost total indifference to the religious observance of the Sabbath, —an unparalleled propensity to take the name of God in vain, — a perpetual use of the most dreadful oaths and imprecations, — an uniform vio lation of all decency, — and a practical contempt for every thing which bears the character of virtue, — if these be strong marks of a depraved and degenerate people. Upper Canada presents to the eye of a reflecting mind a melancholy picture. I came into the country with strong prepossessions in favour of the character of its inhabitants ; but I soon discovered to my infinite disgust, that they were more depraved in their morals, more profli gate in their manners, and more graceless in their general deportment, than any other people upon earth with whom I was acquainted. Without any uncommon temptations to deviate from the paths of rectitude and virtue, they nearly without excep tion wander into those of infidelity and impiety. Though naturally cold and phlegmatic in their dispositions, they live in the regular commission of crimes, which usually proceed from very different natures ; and which, — however pardonable in the untutored savages of barbarous nations, on whose I 3 126 STATE OF RELIGION evil propensities the hand of education has imposed no restraint, and whose lust is inflamed by a warmer clime and a more ardent temperament, — are, in civilized countries, and in those especially which are favoured with the bright rays of Divine Revelation, accounted sins of the greatest magni tude, and, in a certain sense, of the deepest dye. Swearing is a vice to which all nations are, more or less, addicted ; and perhaps there is no country in Europe in which it is so prevalent as in my native Isle. But notwithstanding this confession, which I regret exceedingly to have it in my power to make, I positively think, that in a single week I have heard more profane swearing in Canada, than I had heard during a residence of twenty years in Ireland. Irishmen, — I speak it to their shame, — swear in a passion, or whenever an oath appears necessary to ratify some promise or to confirm some assertion, which would not otherwise, as they imagine, be entitled to perfect credence ; but the people of Canada, without any such colouraible pretence, mingle the most horrid oaths with their ordinary conversation, and seem to consider a sen tence incomplete and inelegant which does not contain some profane or blasphemous allusion to the name of their God or their Saviour. Ten thousand times since my arrival in the country, could I have exclaimed, with the poet. It chills my heart to hear the Bless'd Supreme Rudely appeal'd to on each trifling theme ! And as many times, while forced to listen to the AND MORALS. 12? vilest imprecations, have I trembled with appre hension, lest some awful visitation from heaven should for ever silence those tongues, which seemed to have utterance only for the purpose of " filling up the measure of their iniquities." If there be different degrees of punishment prepared for the wicked in a future state,— and we have every rea son to suppose it, — that of the common swearer must certainly be the most excruciating. It is certain, there is as little warrant for the least offence as for the greatest : But for almost every other crime which can be named, a something may be offered by way of palliation. The murderer is usually influenced either by revenge, or by a desire to possess himself of something which is the pro perty of him whom he would sacrifice. The robber bursts open his neighbour's door, to enrich himself with the spoils of his dwelling. The adulterer, under the influence of a powerful but no less guilty passion, and sometimes allured by the solicitations of beauty, violates another's bed. And the liar, to effect some iniquitous purpose, for the accom plishment of which the purity of truth would be inadequate, consents to forfeit his dignity by stooping to tell a falsehood. — But the common swearer, uninfluenced by any temptation, and without being able to effect any purpose, profanes the sacred name of God, dishonours his own soul, and renders himself an object of pitiful contempt in the estimation of every thinking individual. No man, in good and well-ordjered society, is 128 state of religion ever believed the more readily for attempting to confirm his assertions by an oath. I hope I do not arrogate too much in associating myself with the friends, or at least with the respecters of religion, by saying that when we hear a man attempt to give weight to an affirmation by attaching an oath to the tail of it, we begin to doubt its truth, being well aware, that, generally speaking, he who is relating a simple fact, cannot entertain a doubt of the faith of his hearers, and therefore never dreams of convincing them by an impious appeal to his Maker. I have often been prepared to give my assent to a story, before it was half told ; but as soon as it was concluded with an oath, my yield ing faith has been uniformly converted into an obstinate scepticism. After a perusal of these and some of ray former remarks, which contain a description, imperfect indeed, yet sufficiently deplorable, of the actual state of the inhabitants of Upper Canada, you will allow, that religion, which has gained for itself such eminent and imperishable trophies in many favoured regions of the Old World, has yet much to effect in the hearts and consciences of this peo ple, before they can be justly entitled to the sacred name of Christians. In one of my former letters I have shewn, that neither " the fulness of bread" nor " the abundance of idleness," neither the peace nor the plenty to which these people are habituated, has possessed any potency in_ amelior ating their moral condition ; and that they too AND MORALS. log often remain the same persons, in almost every respect, as they were on the first day of their loca tion. No part of the world presents such a striking exemplification, as does North America, of the truth of the philosopher's adage, " that men, in the " descending node of civilization, are always more " vicious and brutal, than those who are in the cor- " responding node of ascent." The men of family and education, who have formed part of the higher circles in their native country, and have through indiscretion or misfortune been compelled to leave it, soon forget their former elevation, if they begin to mingle with the lower grades of society that surround them ; and they acquire an unusual fero ciousness of manners, which gives some plausibi lity to the first clause of the adage. But many years must elapse before the assertion in the second clause receives an exact fulfilment: Those who have in their native country constituted the lowest order, and who are actually " in the corresponding node of ascent," do not prove themselves to be less " vicious and brutal" than their deteriorated supe riors; but, destitute of the restraints which were formerly imposed upon them, by the mere usages of a dense and civilized population, they seem to exult in a freedom from all moral obligations, and insolently to ask, " Who is Lord over us? Is not our tongue our own ?" This generation of men cannot be altered in their views and feelings, except. through the powerful influence of religion : But 130 state of religion some among their sons or daughters will rise up; and when the country in which they reside becomes more thickly settled with neighbours, possessed of various degrees of intelligence, many of the young people will, through them, be excited to read and improve their minds. Thus a better state of moral refinement may be induced, which will aid greatly in the promotion of true religion, and of indivi dual as well as social happiness. On this subject, one of the most admired of our living British poets has thus prophetically sung : Come, bright Improvement ! on the car of Time, And rule the spacious world from clime to clime ! Thy handmaid Arts shall every wild explore. Trace every wave, and culture every shore. On Erie's banks, where tigers steal along. And the dread Indian chaunts a dismal song. Where human fiends on midnight errands walk. And bathe in brains the murderous tomahawk ; There shall the flocks on thymy pastures stray. And shepherds dance at summer's opening day ; Each wandering genius of the lonely glen Shall start to view the glittering haunts of men. And silence watch, on woodland heights around. The village-curfew as it tolls profound. It is an observation of the highest possible autho rity, that " evil communications incorrupt good manners ;" and I have too frequently seen it veri fied in this country. Emigrants from various parts of Europe, who, while they continued in their native country, were remarkable for an orderly deportment and correct principles, soon after arriv- and morals. 131 ing in Canada, have caught the infection, and warmly embraced the prevailing opinions and practice of the Provincials. I do not mean to insinuate, that all emigrants to Canada are of this description : Far from it ! I charitably hope and firmly believe, that many have retained their inte grity ; but, within the sphere of my own circum scribed acquaintance, there are numbers, who, when called upon to give an account of their stewardship, will bitterly deplore the day which brought them to the Columbian shores. Out of two hundred persons, who came here under my father's superintendence, I think at least fifty were warm and sincere professors of reli gion in connection with the Wesleyan Methodist societies in Ireland. As far as could be seen by human eyes, they were men of unblemished characters, — men who endeavoured to abstain from the very appearance of evil, and whose undeviating aim was, to " perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord." I never knew a company of more upright and unimpeachable Christians. But, alas ! how has " the fine gold become dim !" How has the picture been reversed ! With only two or three solitary exceptions, they have each " returned, like the dog, to his vomit !" They can now, with their ungodly neighbours, profane that Great and Holy Name by which they once were called, and which they formerly revered; they can violate the Sabbath, without any apparent remorse ; and, when occasion offers, they can lift 132 STATE OF RELIGION the intoxicating cup to their lips, and drink deep of its deleterious contents. This melancholy propensity in emigrants, to " tread underfoot the Son of God, and count the blood of the covenant, wherewith they were sanc tified, an unholy thing," is justly accounted for by the Honourable and Reverend Dr. Strachan, in a work which he has recently published in York, Upper Canada, entitled the Christian Recorder. He says, " Emigrants, going into a wilderness, though far better prepared than the generality of loyalists, are found greatly to relax in their religious observances, and to fall into a kind, of moral bondage. They are not restrained by public opinion, nor kept under any regularity of deportment by the rules of decorum. The eye of those whom they fear, is not present to put them on their guard ; nor are they often beheld by those whom they love, and whom they are unwilling to offend. Experiencing no moral restraint from the example of others, they feel at length little from themselves. Whatever vigour and resolution they bring with them, gradually diminish ; their passions and appetites assume the reins ; so that when many of their most pressing difficulties are removed, they have little or no disposition to sup port religion, or to attend to its institutions. When strangers penetrate the woods to form settlements, they are at first too few to support a place of public worship, and they are accustomed by degrees to the want of one. Habitual estrangement from AND MORALS. jgj the performance of religious duties, produces care lessness ; so that, after they are able to bear the expence, they become indifferent and avaricious. In this manner, they sink into the most dangerous apathy." Such a just representation as this, from a person in every respect qualified to form a correct opi nion, ought to have some influence on the minds of those good men who associate themselves toge ther, in different bands, for the promulgation of the Gospel among the Heathen. While, in the strength of the Saviour of men, they are engaged in reclaiming the desolate wanderers and strangers of other lands, they cannot suffer thousands of their own countrymen to relapse into Heathenism, but will assist them in retaining the knowledge of the true God, and in perpetuating his worship in their respective families when removed to a dis tance. These purposes can be effected at a trifling expence by means of Christian Missionaries, who would be greeted, especially by the new settlers, as angels of light and messengers of peace. If those pious individuals who engage in such a laborious occupation, could be content with the substantial and abundant fare to be found in every hut through the country, — and in this particular their condition would be far superior to that of the Methodist, Independent, and Baptist Missionaries in any part of Ireland, — they would find a wide door of useful ness opened to them, and their generous endea vours would be crowned with abundant success. 134 STATE OF religion But some years must pass away, before the poorer race of settlers, who constitute at least three-fourths of the recent population of the Upper Province, will be enabled to contribute much pecuniary aid towards the support of their ministers. * I have •A very judicious writer, (J. M. Duncan, a.b.) who has just published " Travels through part of the United States and Canada, in 1818 and 1819/' gives an elegant description of a settler's circumstances and prospects, in a very advantageous situation, " on the bank of the river Jacques Cartier, about eighteen miles from Quebec," where one of Mr. Duncan's friends " has stationed a farmer and his family, who have recently emi- grated from Ayrshire." And if the extremely favourable condi tion of this farmer could extort the following reflections from the excellent author, what would have been his expressions and regrets had he been witness of the moral destitution of many of the British settlers, in some of the new townships of Upper Canada ! " About three miles' beyond this we reached ' Riverside,' as my friend has very appropriately named it ; where we found the settler and his family, in a very comfortable wooden house of two apartments, with sashed windows, a large stove in the kitchen, and many other conveniences, which could not have been so soon acquired had he been obliged to struggle through, like many poor emigrants, with no resources but his own. " There was nothing very new to be seen at this ' lodge in the vast wilderness ;' but its situation showed something of the cha racter of that life to which thousands axf annually betaking them selves ; many of them sadly ignorant, I am afraid, of the hard ships and difficulties against which they have to struggle, and the utter exclusion^ to wlfich they must in general submit, from all the comforts of civilized society. Lonely, however, as this cottage was, surrounded with dense forests, and very soon to be enveloped in the snows of a Canadian winter, with an atmosphere sometimes cold enough to freeze the mercury of the thermometer, AND MORALS. 135 already explained the rause of the great scarcity of specie which is felt through the Province. This it might be said to know nothing of seclusion, in comparison of many of the thousand huts which, in the more remote regions of this vast continent, are buried in the woods. We passed two or three log-houses before we reached this one, and at a little dis tance on the opposite bank of the stream there are one or two more ; the distance from Quebec also is but trifling, and in winter Vhen the snow is on the ground, the sleigh or carriole will fly across the intervening space in three or four hours. Yet, after all, what a pitiable life awaits them during the long winter n;onths ! The ground completely locked up, field labour totally suspended, the cold so intense that unless they are wrapped in furs it is im possible to stir out, without being frost-bitten ; and no adequate employment within doors to occupy their attention; What can the man and his wife with their three children do, during the long winter months, but hang over the fire in torpid inactivity, eating, sleeping, and fruitlessly sighing for spring ? " This is bad enough ; but to be buried in the boundless forests of the inland country, must be still worse. Our Ayrshire friend fe at least within reach of his fellow-creatures if he should need their aid, and of some of the comforts of life if he has wherewith to purchase them ; but the backwoodsman who buries himself in the pathless savannas or drearier forests of the western country, a hundred miles from a surgeon, and two or three hundred miles from a church, with his thousand acres of land untenanted by a human being but those in his own hut, is surely an object of pity to the poorest inmate of an hospital or a work-house. He may retain as many of the characteristics of humanity as to come within the letter of the schoolmen's definition, animal bipes implume ; but should he not fall a victim to copperheads, bears, broken limbs, or swamp fevers, what has he that the poorest need covet ? He may manage to raise as much wheat and Indian corn, as will satisfy the cravings of hunger, and perhaps procure him once a year clothes for himself and his family ; he may shoot wild animals to make cords of their sinews, candles of their fat. 13(5 STATE OF RELIGION state of things will probably continue for a long time; yet the chief expence to be incurred by Missionary Societies, would be the mere outfit ol their pious messengers : Ample support, of the kind I have described, they would find in every District. A few individuals may be found, thinly scattered in various parts of the country, who are wealthy, and shoes of their skins, — ^but he is absolutely excluded from human society, and a stranger to all the relations, duties, and comforts, which are connected with it. His children grow up without instruction, ignorant of their duty to God and to man. In the monotonous sameness with which time passes, he loses reckoning of the days of the week ; or should he remember the return of the First Day, in all probability he disregards it ; — he has scarcely a single motive for action, superior to those which impel the inferior animals ; nor is he animated by any hope be yond the anticipations of the merest physical gratifications. The hog that burrows beside him for acorns, has scarcely a less intel lectual existence. " It may be said of some who betake themselves to this life, that it was an involuntary choice, and that stern necessity drove them to it. Of a few this may be correct, but of comparatively few. Those whose resour'ces are most exhausted, in general, find a refuge nearer to the abodes of man, where perhaps they obtain a smaller portion of ground, but where at least they are far less excluded from civilized life. Those who select the western wil derness, have been in general men who were enjoying a moderate, and sometimes a liberal share of the bounties of Providence ; but who were the dupes of discontented political principles, or undue desires of increased substance. We have heard of many in our own country, who were supporting their families in a respectable and comfortable way, and even accumulating a moderate inde pendence, who notwithstanding abandoned the occupations at which they had so prospered, and, converting all their property into money, brought it out here to bury it in the woods." AND MORALS. I37 «nd have not expended in the purchase or clear ance of land a fourth of the money which they brought with them at the period of their emigra tion : Men of this class are well able to pay a minister for his pious exertions. But those among them who are willing to incur such an expence, and their number is small, require the minister to reside in the immediate vicinity, and generally to discharge the double duty of pastor and school master to their own families and to those of their neighbours. The influence of such men must therefore be much restricted, though highly salu tary in the particular sphere in which they are called to move. For many years there were only two clergymen in Upper Canada, — Dr. Stuakt, of the Established Church, at Kingston, and Mr. John Bethune, an ordained minister of the Kirk of Scotland. When the Province of Quebec was divided into two distinct Governments, his Britannic Majesty con-sidered it expedient to make provision, in Upper Canada, for the maintenance of a Protestant Clergy according to the Church of England. One seventh of all the lands in the Province was there fore set apart for this purpose ; and, to interest the land-holders in supporting the Rights of the Clergy, no deed is valid that does not contain a specification of land devoted to the maintenance of that body, equal to one-seventh of all the land granted. With a view to increase the Establish ment without any needless expence, and that it Vol II. K 138 STATE OF RELtCtlON might not be requisite for persons desirous of enter ing into Holy Orders to go to England for that purpose, a Bishop of Quebec was appointed, whose Diocese embraces both the Provinces. It may be supposed, that when such an ample provision was made for the support of the Clergy, their numbers would have rapidly increased ; butjt appears, that, in the long lapse of ten years, only two persons were added to the clerical list of the Establishment. The reason of this is, that the land, although it will no doubt shortly afford an ample fund for the siipport of an extensive ecclesiastical establish ment, is at present of very little value ; and, if the Government did not, with this profuse appro priation, contribute other means towards the sub sistence of those clergymen who are now in the Provinces, I am inclined to think, that the Liturgy would be much seldomer read to the inhabitants than it is now ; and, I assure you, our Prayer- books are not yet much the worse for wear in this District. In 1800, there were only three clergymen in the Province ; in 1819, there were ten ; and the number is now increased to sixteen, — all of whom, I believe, are paid, either by the Supreme Govern ment, or by the venerable Society for the Pro- ¦PAGATION of the GoSPBL IN FoREIGN PaRTS. The Provinces have hitherto afforded little assis tance for their support; and as long as Govern ment grants land in fee simple for £12 10s. per 100 acres, few persons will be willing to lease a AND MORALS. 139 clergy- reserve for 21 years, when they are forced^ during that period, to pay 309 dollars for 200 acres, — that is, the sum of fifteen dollars for a lease, seven dollars per acre for the first seven years, fourteen for the second, and twenty-one for the third seven years ; at the expiration of which time, though an industrious agriculturist had expended thousands of dollars on his farm, and wasted the prime of his life in reducing it from a wilderness into a pleasant place, he is liable to be compelled to resign it to any clergyman who may feel disposed to settle on it. The absurdity of rais ing the rent of clergy-reserves to this enormous sum, must appear obvious to every person who reflects, that the fee simple of 200 acres of land, of the same quality and in the same situations as these reserves, can be purchased for half the money which the annual rent of one of them will amount to in twenty-one years. Some idea of the present state of religious instruction in Canada may be formed, by a perusal of the following list : CLERGYMEN OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. Rev. S. J. Mountain, Cornwall, Chaplain to the Lord Bishop of Quebec. Rev. J. G. Weagent, Williamsburgh. Rev. M. Habies, Perth. Rev. J. Leeds, Brockville and Augusta. Rev. G. O. StitauT, D. D., Rector of Kings- k2 140 STATE OF RELIGION ton. Archdeacon of York, and OflBcial of Upper Canada, Rev. J. Stoughton, Fredericksburgh. Rev. J. Thompson, Port Hope and Cavern. Rev. J. Deacon, Adolphus Fairne. Rev. W. Macauley, Cobourgh. Rev. F. Campbell, Belville. Rev. and Hon. J. Strachan, D. D., Rector of York. Rev. R. Leeming, Ancaster. Rev. R. Addison, Rector of Niagara. Rev. W. Leeming, Chippawa. Rev. R. RoLPH, Amersburgh. Rev. R. Pollard, Rector of Sandwich. CLERGYMEN OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. Rev. John Mackenzie, Williamstown. Rev. J. Maclaurin, Lochiel. Rev. — Leith, Cornwall. Rev. J. Barclay, Kingston. ROMAN CATHOLIC CLERGY. Right Rev. Alexander Mao Do.nnell, Bishop of Rhoesina, Glengary. Rev. John Mac Donnel, Glengary. Rev. Mr. Fbazer, Kingston. Rev; Mr. Marchand, Sandwich. Rev. Mr. Clever, Ditto. AND MORALS. 14] These few clergymen, scattered as they are over an immmense tract of country possessing a fron tier of more than five hundred miles, can do but little towards disseminating the Gospel, or en forcing by their precepts and their examples the principles which it inculcates. It may well be asked, " But what are these amOng such a mul titude ?" Many a barony in Ireland, not larger than a single township in Canada, has a greater number of regular resident clergymen, than this extensive province, which is much larger than Great Britain and Ireland. It is true, the country is constantly visited by a num ber of Itinerant Preachers, in connection with the Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States. But to these men there are many and increasing objections. Averse to British Institutiojis and to British Principles, and possessing a considerable influence over the minds of their congregations, I fear that the hope of making Proselytes to Repub licanism is quite as powerful a stimulus to their activity, as that of making converts to Christianity. From the unfriendly and uncharitable disposition, which these preachers evinced towards the British Missionaries of the same denomination, who were sent into Canada, I believe in the year 1818, it would appear that no object was farther from their thoughts than the conversion of sinners. When these Missionaries, who, I am credibly informed, were men of superior talents and eminent piety, k3 142 state of religion appeared in the country, they were hailed by the British inhabitants with joyful acclamations. But scarcely had they set their feet upon the confines of Upper Canada, when those very preachers from the United States, from whgm the British expected to receive the right hand of fellowship, exerted every nerve, and tried every plan which malice could invent, to calumniate their characters, to prejudice all ranks of the community against them, and, as a natural and fondly-desired consequence, completely to defeat the object of their mission. If I am rightly informed, (and I have derived my information from the purest sources in the Pro vince,) the American Divines proceeded so far in their unworthy opposition to their British brethren, as to shut the doors of their Meeting-houses against them. Could such conduct as this, I would humbly ask, be dictated by any part of that charity which never faileth, or proceed from a desire to extend the benefits of the Redeemer's Kingdom ? Could it be the fruit of that mild religion which, at the same time that it teaches us to love our neighbours as ourselves, exhorts us, " as we have opportunity, to do good unto all men, especially unto (hem who are of the HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH ?" If the Disciplcs of our blessed Saviour had been joined by a company of men from aiiother country, who professed to in culcate the same doctrines and practice as those in the promulgation of which they were themselves engaged, would they, with the approbation of the Great Teacher, have thus spitefully entreated them? and morals. 143 What was the reply of our Lord, to one of his Disciples, who, in the warmth of his unenlightened zeal, informed him, " Master, we saw one casting *' out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us ; *' and we forbade him, because he followeth not ** us." But Jesus said, " Forbid him not ! for there " is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, " that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is *' not against us, is on our part." I should be glad to know bow these American preachers, after an impartial comparison of this account with their own flagrant transgression of the duties it enjoins, could, with any face, bend their knees before an impartial Deity, and pray that he would be pleased *' to send more labourers into his vineyard !" But I am informed that the American preachers were not contented with merely shutting their British brethren out of their houses : So long as a Missionary remained in the Province, their righteous indignation could not be appeased. At their ensuing Conference, therefore, they exerted their influence with such effect, that a Remon strance was sent over to the English Conference, in which it was represented that the Province of Upper Canada had been supplied with preachers from the United States ; that, in consequence of this, the labours of the British Missionaries were not required ; and that their continuance in the country was not agreeable to the wishes of the people. The result of this application was, — the Missionaries were recalled, and the American Itir 144 state of religion iierants left in the uninterrupted enjoyment of the loaves and fishes of Upper Canada.* It is scarcely * Since my return to Europe, I have been informed, that the British Conference were induced, for the sake of peace, to accede to the wishes of their American friends, and thus to avoid even the semblance of " entering on other men's labours." The two parties came to an amicable arrangement by mutual concessions : As the Americans professed to have raised several of the Methodist congregations, and to have planted some small churches of their denomination in Upper Canada, and as they represented the pious part of the inhabitants to be generally favourable to their pretensions, (which, however, was a wrong representation,) that province was assigned to their labours : And in the amiable spirit of conciliation which prompted the separa tion of Abraham's herdsmen from those of Lot, the British Methodists were content to confine their ministerial exertions to the Lower Province, in which the Republicans had a few societies which they had formed, and which they gave up to their yield ing brethren from England. I find an opinion generally entertained, that many of the new settlements' are able to support their own ministers, without any aid whatever from England. This idea is on the whole correct, respecting the majority of the settlements ; but there are others, jnore recently formed, that are in the most lamentable condition with regard to the want of religious instruction. The latter con sist principally of settlers of the poorest class in society, whose restricted finances for some years will prevent them from pur chasing religious instruction for themselves. In such cases, it should always be recollected by the men of influence in every religious persuasion, that a few months of neglected Christian ordinances are sufficient to superinduce a state of barbarism, from which, however well-inclined, the new settlers will require many years to be reclaimed. This is the more dangerous, on account of the desecrating and infectious examples with which they are surrounded. AND MORALS. J45 necessary to say, that the British population of the Province were very much concerned by the Mis sionaries being called from among them. Many of the Canadians also, I believe all who are accounted good subjects of England, seemed to participate in the sorrow which it occasioned. The inhabi tants of Kingston, with a liberality which does them credit, made a voluntary offer to support one of the Missionaries at their own expence, if he would continue with them ; and, I understand, he cheerfully acceded to their request, and is now their minister. The Government of England refuses to give land to the citizens of the United States. I do not question the policy of this measure, for I am well aware of its expediency ; but if it would certainly be bad policy to give land to a few humble unin- fluential characters from that country, — and every loyal subject in the land must recognize it as such, — what can we think of the wisdom of allowing preachers from the Union, who possess an unbound ed influence over the minds of their congregations, to disseminate their vile and desecrating political principles throughout the colony ? The palliative suggestion may arise in the minds of those who have more liberality than experience, and particu larly of such as are unacquainted with the Ameri can character, that preachers of the Gospel, recol lecting the commandment, to " be subject to the higher powers," would never think of attempting to alienate the affections of a subject from his lawful 146 STATE OF RELIGION sovereign, or would be guilty of any other violation of the laws of those countries which, in the exer cise of their religious profession, they might be required to visit. This ought to be the conduct of the American divines, I know ; but you will clearly perceive that such is not the case, when I inform you, that a considerable part of the illicit trade, carried on between the United States and Upper Canada, is absolutely conducted by these very preachers. Come, lau^, or mourn with me, the rueful jest, A cassocked owler, and a smuggling priest! Scarcely one of them ever crosses the lines, without having some contraband articles in his possession. They retail, with unblushing effrontery, tea, silksj and satinettes, from one extremity of the Province to the other, though such practices are a direct breach of the well-known laws of the country.* In * I am aware, that from the peculiar constitution of the Methodist ministry in die United States, many of their preacher^ are compelled to betake themselves to traffic, to assist their dila pidated finances : But they ought to be careful to obtain such additional pittance in an honest manner. Among the Methodists in England and Ireland it is, I understand, the general practice for no minister to marry until he has been four years an Itinerant, and has approved himself to his elder brethren as a competent person : After his marriage, he is engaged in the same occupa tion as when he was single ; and, if a young man of talents, he is then accounted to have entered on the period of life in which Tiis previous acquirements can be brought into the greatest acti vity, and may be rendered most serviceable to his felloyT'CreA' AND MORALS. 147' fact, he who imagines that the propagation of the Gospel is any thing more than a secondary consi deration with them, has, I must confess, a much larger portion of charity than that of which I can boast : For I am firmly persuaded, that some of them place no more value on the Christian reli gion, than so far as the profession of it favours their iniquitous proceedings, and they too often estimate godliness according to its gains. I need not teil you, that I am no Methodist, — for it is quite evident, that the Americans have not con yerted me. But it may be proper to observe, that I entertain and have ever entertained as profound a respect for the Methodists of Great Britain and Ireland, as any man who has worshipped God within the pale of their communion. I believe, if there is a people upon earth who have a zealous and scriptural desire to promote the glory of Christ and the salvation of men, that people is the Me thodists ; and I am not ashamed to confess, that to the ministers of that society I am indebted for much of what X know respecting them and their tures. It is exactly at the same interesting period, that an AmC'- rican youthful married preacher, in the zenith of his usefulness, is turned out of the regular ministerial ranks, and forced to ** locate," that is, to sit down as the stated pastor of a particur lar congregation, with liberty to visit a few others in the vicinity. This is a bad plan^^r more reasons than those which I have lei sure to specify ; and the persons who are required to submit to it, often do so With a bad grace, or travel about in contravention of this unwise regulation, and " turn the penny" as profitably as they are a;ble for the support of their increasing families. 148 STATE OF RELIGION institutions. But I draw a very broad line of dis tinction between the Methodists of England and those of America. The attachment of the English and Irish Metho dists to the cause of Monarchy and the Constitu tion of their country, is proverbial : They inherit it from their venerable Founder, who is said to have been exceedingly grieved when the American Methodists sailed with the stream, and, in common with the rest of their countrymen, became Repub licans. — The spirit also which he infused, of a regard for the Established Church and for her truly Chris tian ritual, is seen in his English followers : This has saved them from much enthusiasm, and many mistaken views, into which they must have fallen, had they been left, like the Republican Methodists of America, to regulate their regimen, ritual, and creed, according to the standard of their own reason, without much respect to the usages of the Ancient Church, or to those of the purest among the Modern. — The ministers among the British Methodists labour in a country, in which they must compete with the ministers of other denominations, who are distinguished for learning and diligence, which is a circumstance exceedingly favourable to their own improvement. For if they had felt no personal wish to become men of erudition, that is, able textuaries and divines, the stimulus thus derived from a laudable competition, as well as the bracing institutions of their own community, must have actually rendered the majority of them learned and AND MORALS. 14JJ exemplary pastors. But it has already been shewn, that, how willing soever an American Methodist preacher may be to improve his mind, if he hap pen to contract marriage he is immediately crip pled in the further exercise of his pastoral func tions ; and, at a time when he is better calculated to be serviceable to the immortal interests of his fellow-creatures, by the rules of his society he must locate : This regulation has a manifest ten dency to impede the mature growth of the young man's intellect, leaves the management of the dif ferent societies in a great measure in the hands of individuals still more youthful and inexperienced, and lays the foundation for an unlearned ministry, — one of the plagues with which other denomina tions in the New World are visited, and the fruit ful cause of numerous errors both in opinion and practice ! I had heard much, previous to my departure for Canada, concerning the piety of the Americans, and the glorious effects produced by their camp-meetings and field-preaching ; but during a long residence in the country, I have searched in vain for those fruits of holiness by which, I was told, the conduct of its inhabitants was so eminently and conspicu ously distinguished. To say the truth of them, and " to give every man his due," they are no hypocrites unless when in a place of worship : In every other situation, they are open and undisguised votaries of Mammon. On my first arrival in the country, I was some time in the habit of attending 150 STATE OF RELieiaN their meetings; but, after having witnessed wOh disgust the grossest, and, I might add, the most impious irregularities, I determined to see no more of them. 1 shall never lose the impressions which were made upon my mind, at the first meeting of the sort that I ever attended in Upper Canada. Travelling through the Talbot county, on the Northern shores of Lake Erie, in the fall of the year 1818, I stopped at a tavern, after a fatiguing day's journey through the cheerless wilderness, with the intention of putting up for the night. As I entered, some of the people of the house were preparing to go to the Methodist Preaching. Being a solitary stranger, with a mind at that time not very free from painful anxiety, I signified a wish to go with them. The meeting, I found, was to be held four miles off; and we arrived at the place about an hour after sun-set. As I entered the house, I was strikingly reminded of the words of our Saviour respecting the defilement of the tem ple at Jerusalem : For nearly all the people previ ously assembled were smoking tobacco, and engaged in the discussion of some subject, which, from the peals of laughter that it called forth, must have been very entertaining and equally misplaced. I was much surprised by what I saw and heard, and began to indulge in the doubt expressed by a poet. Perhaps it may turn out a song. Perhaps turn out a sermon ; but by the sequel you will find that we had both. AND MORALS. |5J I looked all round the place, but could not discover any person of clerical appearance. At length a man, clothed in a brown coat and grey pantaloons, took his stand behind a chair, and ga"ve out a hymn. Singing immediately commenced; but more dis cordant musio I never heard. The tune was in accordance with the conversation by which it was preceded, and much better adapted to a country- dance than to the purposes of devotional harmony. Presently the minister began to pray, and the whole congregation joined him aloud. At first the tone of their voices was not raised above medi ocrity ; but, gradually gaining strength through the general emulation, before the lapse of five minutes it reached to the highest pitch. In a short time, one half of the people seemed to be in an agony of rage : Their eyes were fixed on the top of the house, and, in a voice loud enough to tran scend that of Stentor, they shouted, "Here he ** comes ! Here he comes ! Oh ! here he comes !" The countenances of those who thus bawled out, exhibited such a terrible picture of fright, that I began to partake of the universal terror, and was apprehensive of some preternatural invasion. I therefore directed my eyes upward; but dis covering no aperture through which a descent could be made, I very naturally turned to wards the chimney, expecting to be greeted by the sable presence of his Satanic Majesty. We were all alike mistaken ; or, if an emissary of PlutO had certainly been seen on the point of visiting us, he 152 STATE OF RELIGION was as certainly scared back again by the terrible confusion of the place ; for no such infernal addi tion was made to the assembly, at least in a bodily shape. The people now rose from their knees ; and, taking hold of the chairs by the backs, dashed them, with all the fury of maniacs, against the floor. One woman was particularly frantic, alter nately tearing her hair, and dashing her unfortu nate body on the ground, as if bent on discovering by these experiments the most cruel mode of punishment which she could inflict upon herself. At one moment, she was on the floor, wringing her hands and tearing her hair ; and, in the next, she had risen, and, throwing her arms round the neck of another female near her, cast her with great violence to the ground ; then, holding her down, she inquired in a loud voice, why she did not should Her moving exhortations, however, w^ere somewhat ex post facto ; for the poor woman was already screaming loud enough, from the severe contusion which she had received in her downfall. In this tumultuous manner, the meeting con tinued for nearly an hour, when another hymn was sung, and the farce concluded. As I returned to the tavern with the young people whom I had accompanied, I inquired what could induce them to act in a manner so irreverent and extraordinary ? They replied, with great gravity, " that they held " all their meetings in that sort of \yay, and never " felt comfortable after them, unless the Spirit " worked thus powerfully within them." AND MORALS. ^53 To attempt accounting for such conduct as this upon rational principles, would be a very futile undertaking ; for there is certainly no rationality whatever in it. What then shall we say of it ? Could it proceed from a conviction, wrought in the mint by the Divine Spirit, that they were " in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity ?" In that case, many of them might roar out from the disquietude of their consciences ; and if I were assured of this being the real cause of their loud grief, I could endure these vociferations ; for I should know, that they would prove to be but temporary : Penitent " sorrow may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Though inclined to make every allowance for a man's religious feelings, which are matters that lie between God and himself alone, I cannot avoid thinking these violent appearances to be often assumed through custom or the example of others. The more ignorant of the ministers consider their discourses lifeless and unsuccessful, if they are not accompanied with a noise among the hearers like that of thunder ; and the hearers hemselves are too often taught to view moans and lamentations, as the true signs of their own gracious condition. I have heard many singular accounts of proceed ings, in some degree similar to these, which took place under the preaching of Mr. Wesley and his early disciples ; and which, as most of them are attested by Mr. Wesley himself, I fully believe to have originated from the source to which he refers Vol. II. L 154 STATE OF RELliaiON them. But they were only particular cases, ft is recorded, that nearly the whole of a few of his early congregations were seized with convulsions ; but his ministerial experience soon convinced him, that, though in such violent paroxysms there was occasi onally some good, there was likewise much evil; and it was subsequently his sincere endeavour to allay, rather than to excite this mental fervour. For he considered it to be no test of a person's actual possession of Divine Grace ; while he saw it often employed by the Grand Adversary of man to the destruction of souls, as a specious method of self- deception. He therefore guarded carefully against the spread of this evil among his newly-formed societies, and " marked them" whose greatest industry seemed to consist in the sowing of such " tares" among the good seed. But, in the case before us, the man who was the ostensible, but by no means the real, instru ment in producing this wonderful display of strength, agility, and lungs, was a perfect igno ramus, whose sole endeavour was to arouse the passions of his auditors and to excite their feelings. Though making no pretensions myself to any thing beyond a general profession of Christianity, yet I am convinced, that a Divine religion, repre senting itself to be peculiarly adapted to the circumstances in which it finds sinful but intelligent and immortal beings, must address its powerful motives not merely to the understandings of men but likewise to their passions ; and that it must of AND MORALS. 159 consequence be a religion which realizes, in the heart of a believer, the joy and comfort which it sincerely promises. Even on philosophical prin ciples, therefore, Christianity, as a system of motives, recommends itself to the approval of a cool and mature judgment, as well as to the warm affections of the heart ; and the union and just balance of these two modes of vocation, distinguish the true disciples of Jesus Christ in all ages : For, if the judgment alone approves, the man too often is lukewarm in his affections and becomes a mere formalist ; and when the passions only are affected by doctrines which find no reception in the under standing, the subject of them, though generally upright in his intentions, and desirous of serving God according to the best of his knowledge, too frequently suffers his strong and uninformed affec tions to hold complete rule over him, and the por tion of religion of which he is the possessor dege nerates into rank enthusiasm. It seems to me, that the sincere among the Methodists in the new settlements are usually of the latter class ; and that they know no effect which public religious instruc tion can produce, except the mere temporary excitemen"t T)f i;heir feelings. The meeting, which I have just described, consisted principally of such Christians as these, who had not " left the first principles of the doctrine of Christ," — those " first principles," some of which appear in their use to have a close connection with the law, that acts the part of a " schoolmaster in bringing sinners to L 2 j5(J STATE OF RELIGION Christ," — of such Christians as evinced no desire to make farther progress in the hallowing religion which the Bible describes. Even if they had, on that occasion, been for the first time convinced of the .sin of their hearts and the error of their ways, and had been persuaded earnestly to apply for mercy through the Redeemer's merits, I see no reason why they should so far lose their recollection as to suppose, that they would be heard the sooner for their loud and much speaking. Such vociferations as I heard, were undoubtedly more worthy of the worshippers of Baal, than of those who adore the only true God in Spirit and in truth. Camp-meetings are also very general in Canada. I have heard them favourably spoken of in Europe, by persons, who, without enquiring into the authen ticity of the returns made, have judged their uti lity according to the number of persons said to be converted at them. I must, however, beg leave to interpose my very humble opinion, that the Prince of darkness is no where more zealously worshipped, nor the God of Light so little reve renced, as in many of these modern encampments. In former days, they may have been purer in their constitution, and fenced about with stronger guards to prevent their abuse : The well-attested salutary effects, and noiseless character, of some of the ear lier meetings of this description,^ seem to confirm my conjecture. They had their origin in the Wes terly States of the Union, which were then recently AND MORALS. 157 settled ; and to a people deprived of regular Chris tian ordinances during a great part of the year, they must have been exceedingly welcome. But when the country became more thickly peopled the necessity for such assemblies no longer existed, because the inhabitants had then begunto enjoy the benefits of a stated ministry. Many of the people, however, whose religion consisted more in a tem porary passionate excitement, than in a " patient continuance in well-doing," were unwilling to part with one of their dearest delights, which had become a habit ; and Satan, whose constant solici tude is to lead the unwary out of the good way into that of error, soon converted these encamp ments into Carnivals, and nearly destroyed their primitive benefits. It is a fact, which even their most ardent votaries attempt not to deny, that thousands of persons now attend them for the express purpose of rioting in all the criminal plea sures of a degenerate world: — The drunkard, to partake of the bowl which the unthinking prodi gal on such occasions liberally circulates : — The seducer, to entrap the careless victims of his treach erous cupidity: — And the adulterer, to satisfy, amid the impenetrable shades by which these meet ings are invariably surrounded, his carnal and bru tal appetites. In short, a camp-meeting is too fre quently a perpetual scene of carousals. Meetings of this kind mostly take place in the Autumn ; and a journey of 100 miles is considered as a trifling jaunt, when undertaken for so lauda- l3 158 STATE OF RELIGION ble a purpose. Regular encampments are fornled, and whole families relinquish the pleasures of home for the enviable lot of sitting for a week or ten days under the continual sound and thunder of the American Gospel,— I should rather say, for the felicity of seeing promiscuous thousands exhi bit the wildest specimens of the wildest fanaticism : While some are displaying a burlesque or carica ture of religion, and others are admiring the piquancy of the design, the remainder take advan tage of the general confusion, to delineate in all its shades of fraud, and vice, and debauchery, and pro- faneness, a most accurate picture of impiety. Here you may behold men of all nations, and of all creeds assembled together, and for what ? — " To ivorship the King of Heaven," say the advocates of such conventions. But, O Charity, thou that con- eealest a multitude of sins! — canst thou, even thou, draw thy expansive mantle over these irregulari ties, (to use no harsher term,) and say, that Pro testants and Catholics, Jews and Atheists, Armi- nian?. and Calvinists, men of different views and different sentiments, forgetting for a while the points on which they disagree, can thus assemble together for the purpose of adoring in the same form the same God, and of exhibiting, with simi lar holy violence, the renovating power of that Spirit whose very existence at other times, by their conduct, the greatest part of them deny ! If thou canst think so ; then, alas ! am 1 entirely destitute of thy long-suffering, and a total stranger to that AND MORALS. 139 power which enables thee to " believe all things and not easily to be provoked." For I must con fess, that, though I have always seen much fuss about religion when I attended these meetings, I could scarcely believe its existence possible amongst such demoniacal enthusiasm ; nor can I say, that I witnessed them wholly unprovoked. Regular encampments, I have already observed, are formed ; and a meeting of this kind is seldom concluded in less than a week. Provisions of all sorts are brought to the spot, by most persons, ready cooked ; but those who do not wish to encumber themselves with lumber of this descrip tion, can purchase it at the encampment. Ale, porter, beer, and cyder, are also to be had at a moderate price ; but, as the sale of spirituous liquors is wholly prohibited, every one must be furnished with his own brandy bottle, proportioned in size to the extent of his swallow, or the probable urgency of his thirst. The tents form a sort of hollow square, in the centre of which stands the preacher sur rounded by his audience. A number of divines are in attendance ; and as soon as one has exhausted either his subject or his breath, he is relieved by another of his brethren, who is in like manner suc ceeded by a third ; And I am sure, that if heaven were to be taken, as Dr. Young once thought. By sighs and groans, and never-ceasing care. And all the holy violence of prayer, these sieges would seldom be of long continu- 1C,0 STATE OF RELIGION ance. As soon as the preacher commences his oration, a scene of confusion and horror takes place, which is truly revolting. Nothing in the world can equal the variety of tone, gesture, and grimace, which is then displayed, and hypocriti cally put forth as the outward and visible signs of the internal emotions produced by the preacher's pastoral address. I acknowledge it is rather a mournful than a ludicrous sight, when the grace of God is thus turned into licentiousness ; but the man must have greater firmness of nerve, than has fallen to my lot, and a deeper veneration for religion, even when it has lost the chart of reason and is driven by the gale of passion, before he can be qualified to check the rising of his risible muscles, at the contemplation of such a pantomimical di- vertisement. I confess I never could ; for there is such a curious melange of the comic and the tragic, with all their dependencies, that a man of general sensibility may laugh, mourn, satyrize and con demn, in succession to the end of the chapter. If however any of the extravagancies I have named, were produced by the influence of power ful eloquence on minds by constitution warm and enthusiastic, I should not be so much surprised ; and if I could by any means be assured, that cer tain contortions of the face were the indices to particular internal feelings, every syllable which I have written on the subject should be immediately consigned to the flames. But when I reflect, that the only visible causes of such unnatural effects are AND MORALS. jgj ft)r the most part a set of illiterate declaimers, who possess no more inherent power to raise the mild breeze of passion to a hurricane, than a sheet of unstained paper to draw tears from the eye of un relenting cruelty, — and that the majority of their hearers are cold-blooded calculating sons of Co lumbia, who could sit unmoved by the mighty eloquence of a Burke or of a Curran ; words can not express my indignation and astonishment. I have seen many an American, — who, when fire and brimstone was the darling theme, proved equally combustible, and seemed ready to pour out his soul as an oblation to offended Heaven, — sit listening to the most heart-rending tales of human misery as unconcerned as if he were a lifeless statue ; but with little resemblance to the ardent youth, whom Thomson connected with the same image, when Pierced with severe amazement, hating life. Speechless, and fixt in all the death of woe. See the Americans at a Camp-meeting, and you would imagine that aqua vitoe circulated in their veins, instead of blood ; but in any other situation you might reasonably suppose, that the cavities of their hearts were converted into ice-houses. I have always viewed these immense promiscu ous assemblages for religious purposes, as a system encouraged by the preachers themselves, either from a wish to gratify the humour of the people, or with the intention of substituting this erratic 162 STATE OF RELIGION mode of teaching for the regular work of th^ ministry. In all new settlements, both in the United States and in British America, the judi cious pastors of every sect, even when they have, themselves a fixed congregation at the place of their residence, consider it a part of their laborious duties to visit the neglected regions in their imme- ate neighbourhoods, and at stated periods, about a week or a fortnight asunder, to afford Christian instruction to the inhabitants. The religious ser vices, on such occasions, are varied according to the denomination to which the different preachers belong, each of whom has a distinct line of places for himself, and is therefore, in these extensive districts, under no temptation to encroach on the territory of other pastors. These services consist of preaching, prayer-meetings, conferences, — a term of the old Puritans for meetings which resem ble Methodist class-meetings, — meetings under several names for comparing religious experiences, catechetical exercises, preparatory sacramental addresses, and special assemblies for the inculca tion of relative duties, &c. This is the proper way, indeed the only one, in which a minister of Christ can hope to be useful to the souls of men, and to civilize, as well as to evangelize, those around him ; many of whom, from their neglected circumstances and insulated condition, have become semi-barbai'ians. It is not unusual for the constant hearers of these excellent pastors, to come a dis tance of ten or even twenty miles ; and the artless AND MORALS. 1(>3 greetings and exhilarating conversation of friends, who are thus like-minded, have a very improving tendency, whether they occur before or after the meeting. For the minister is generally in the same room, or in one contiguous to that in which the people assemble ; and while his presence serves to check all irregular sallies of reputed wit and. trifling discourse, if he be as affable and ingenious as he is pious, he will promote innocent cheerful ness, and give such an edifying turn to the general conversation, as will induce even those who are somewhat indifferent about religious concerns to attend these meetings, for the sake of enjoying select society. But in the various distant stations, at which meetings of this kind are held, the congregations are generally small, and the attendance irregular. No wonder therefore can exist, if some of the ministers, especially if those who are the most igno rant, evince a desire to exhibit their talents on a wider stage, and to a more numerous auditory, than a Canadian log-hut can contain. After a consultation with some ministers of other parties, T— for no sect is in this particular irreproach able, — a Camp-meeting is fixed, generally at a period in the Autumn when the harvest is housed, and when the farmers and their familes can leave home with the least inconvenience. The prelimi nary arrangements of these large assemblies, and the mode in which they are conducted, have formed subjects of description to other writers: It re- 1^4 STATE OF RELIGION mains for me only to say, that those preachers who had wished for an opportunity of displaying their abilities to greater advantage than in their former humble and confined sphere, have their highest ambition gratified at these religious encampments, and vie with each other in the violent utterance of American oratory. Nor are the truly godly and conscientious part of the community, who ¦ frequent the.se meetings, wholly free from censure. The &trictness of church-discipline, which is enforced among some of the religious denominations, is occasionally viewed even by good men as an undue restraint : And when this feeling is heightened by the wnshes of the young folks of the family, who have perhaps been pent up at home and almost excluded from society a whole year, it is not surprising to be hold them harnessing their horses to their wag gons, and passing leisurely along with a load of immortal beings to join the embattled hosts that have already arrived. It is not improbable, that some of the best pastors, who are really averse to meetings of this kind, finding themselves incapable of stemming the torrent when alone and unsup ported, may yield to (he independent sort of feeling with regard to church-authority, which is really at the bottom of this erratic mode of worship in many well-disposed families. Thus the members of par ticular churches are for a season unrestrained by the ecclesiasaical fetters of their own communion ; and the younger branches of various families, who AND MORALS, fg5 would not be allowed to attend a ball or a concert, are gratified by forming a part of the only public assembly at which they could be present without censure. Pity it is that the concourse of people, with whom they mingle on those occasions, have not adopted a more scriptural plan of Divine Ado ration ! But a change in this respect can scarcely be a subject of hope, while equality and inde pendence, which strongly mark the American character, bear such absurd and extensive signifi cations as they do at present among the new set tlers. When the moral amelioration of these districts has commenced, to which I have alluded in other parts of this letter, and which must neces sarily be a work of time, these evils will be rectified by public opinion itself, without the intervention of any more objectionable authority. LETTER XXXn. EMIGRATION ADVANTAGES OF THE UPPER PROVINCE SITUATION OF GOVERNMENT-GRANTS INCREASED OFFICIAL FEES ON GRANTS IMPOLICY OF THIS MEASURE — SETTLERS PREFER TO PURCHASE LAND OF INDIVIDUALS AT A CHEAPER RATE— DIS APPOINTMENT OF MANY EMIGRANTS ON FINDING A CHARGE MADE FOR A FREE GRANT— INADEQUACY OF FIFTY ACHES FOR THE SUPPORT OF A PAUPER SETTLER^ DEPRECIATION IN THE VALUE OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE AMOUNT OF IMPORTS AND EXPORTS. To give a particular detail of the inducements which the Canadas afford to the different classes of emigrants from Great Britain and Ireland, is a task, for the faithful performance of which an extensive knowledge of the country, and a more than ordinary share of reflection, arte absolutely necessary. It is therefore with extreme reluctance that I enter on a subject of such great importance : A subject, which, though frequently discussed by persons much abler than myself, remains yet to be fairly and impartially examined and explained. While some, as you have already heard, have represented this fine Province as a Siberian desert, fit only for the refuge of wolves and bears ; others EMIGRATION. Igy have blazoned forth its praises with a liberality truly profuse : The former writers, — under the in fluence of national prejudice, a hatred of monar chy, and an unconquerable aversion to every thing appertaining to England, — have viewed these Provinces with jaundiced eyes, and have affected to consider them the repulsive abodes of crouching slaves and fawning sycophants : While the latter, either actuated by interested motives, or by a propensity to deceive the ignorant and credulous, have wandered equally wide of the mark, by giv ing them a character to which, though they may one day attain, they do not at present even aspire, • — a character of " transcendent excellence," and " of decided superiority to any other portion of the globe." I do not pretend to the various acquirements, which are necessary fully to qualify me for the faithful discussion of a subject so important. But, possessing as I do some practical knowledge of Canada, frOm a long residence in it and an atten tive consideration of its present resources, its peculiar advantages, and the privations to which all persons effecting a settlement in a new country are liable, — it shall be my business to communi cate, with the impartiality of truth and candour, the information which I have obtained. I shall " nothing extenuate, nor aught set down in malice." The climate of Upper Canada, although verg- 1(18 ADVANTAGES ing toward the extremes of heat and cold, is, as f have already informed you, very fine, high favour able to the growth of grain, and the production oi the finest fruits ; and the soil, though badly culti vated, is not surpassed in fertility by any tract of land of equal extent on the American Continent. All kinds of grain which are among the produc tions of the mother country, are cultivated here with astonishing success ; and many fruits and vegetables, which in Great Britain and Ireland are only raised at immense labour and expence, attain in Canada, without the assistance of art, a degree of perfection wholly unknown in more Northern Countries. The exports from both Provinces annually amount to nearly 700,000 pounds sterling. They consist principally of timber, pot-ash, beef, pork, corn, and furs. The imports, which are commonly of British manufacture and West Indian spirits, amount to upwards of 1,200,000 pounds per annum. The revenue of Lower Canada, which is almost exclusively raised by duties on imported goods, exceeds 100,000 a-year. We pay no tithes, and but very few taxes. Neither quit-rent, crown- rent, nor any other rent is required of us : We are the undisputed inheritors of the soil, acknowledg ing no lordly master, and expected only to live in obedience to laws which are of our own making, and to respect a sovereign who is emphatically the people's choice, and under whose glorious admi- OF EMIGRATION. jgg nistration we are proud to live, and are determined to die. These unequalled advantages, united to the facility of procuring land at a trifling cost, forci bly invite the hand of industry, particularly from your unhappy and oppressed country, to this Eden of America. There are, however, other circumstances beside those which I have already enumerated, to be taken into consideration, before you can form a proper estimate of the advantages which are held out to emigrants of any class. The situation of lands which can be obtained from Government, — the expence and difficulty of redeeming them from a state of nature, — the scarcity of markets for pro duce, — the enormous price of labour, — and the cost of such European goods as every farmer may be supposed to require, — are subjects of the greatest importance, with which every one who is desirous of leaving his native country for a foreign land should be intimately conversant. With respect to the situation of lands in Upper Canada, all who intend to procure them from Go vernment must be content to penetrate far into the wilderness, to parts which offer few other advan tages than a fertile soil, and a favourable climate. Those are generally remote from any navigable ^waters, and at too great a distance from markets to allow the inhabitants to convert the surplus of their produce into cash. The last, however, is an objection which applies, with equal force and truth. Vol II. M 170 ADVANTAGES to all infant settlements, and one which seldom out lasts their minority. In the first settlement of the country, as might naturally be expected, the shores of the St. Lawrence, and of the Lakes Ontario, Erie, and St. Claire,, became the choice and the property of those per sons who first arrived in the Province. ' The banks of the rivers which empty themselves into these lakes, and all the circumjacent country, have, since the termination of the war, becomi. entirely settled : So that it is now impos.sible to procure land, except by purchase, in any part of Upper Canada in which the various great advantages of situation are attainable. But this is of little con-i sequence to any, except to the poorest class of emi grants : For those who carry " their friend in their pocket," may purchase land in the finest and most eligible townships, with less than is paid for a Go vernment Grant in the midst of interminable forests. This is an assertion which may surprise persons who are unacquainted with the country, and offend the chaste ears of others who are well enough acquainted with it. But it is not a mere assertion; it is a stubborn fact, the validity of which I shall be able to substantiate by arguments that may bid defiance to refutation, and that pre sent themselves incidentally in the discussion of emigration. Before the administration of the present Lieu tenant-Governor, every person, who applied for OF EMIGRATION. 171 land obtained 200 acres or more on payment of the under-mentioned fees : — For Acres 200 -300 400 600 600 700 800 900 1000 11001200 8 8 9 12 13 U 16 17 6 21 1 lOi 25 6 3 29 10 7J 33 15 0 37 9 41 42 3 9 46 8 1^ 60 12 6 In January 1819, these fees were increased to the following sums, and the lower class of emi grants allowed only 100 acres. Acres £. s. d. 100 5 14 1 200 16 17 6 300 24 11 7 400 32 6 8 600 39 13 9 600 47 18 10 700 65 17 11 800 63 2 0 900 70 16 0 1000 78 10 2 1100 86 4 3 1200 93 18 4 M 2 172 ADVANTAGES And now that unfortunate emigrants procure money more easily than it could be procured heretofore, the fees are raised to the following enormous amount : — Fifty acres to pauper emigrants gratis. Acres 100 200300 400 500600700800900 1000 11001200 These sums are payable in three equal instal ments: The First, on the receipt of a location ticket, which is always obtained as soon as the Council have determined on the quantity of land to which the applicant is entitled : The Second, on filing a certificate of settlement-duty : And the Third, on receipt of the^a^ for a patent. Every British subject, of what stamp soever his creed, is entitled, on his arrival at the seat of Govern ment for Upper Canada, to receive any quantity of land, within the provincial limit of 1,200 acres, which he may possess the means of cultivating. X. a. d. 12 0 0 30 0 0 60 0 0 75 0 0 125 0 0 150 0 0 175 0 0 200 0 0 225 0 0 250 0 0 275 0 0 300 0 0 OF EMIGRATION. jyg &,nd for which he is willing to pay the required fees. I do not question the right of the Government to charge such enormous fees on lands which it has fairly purchased, and is of course entitled to dispose of in such way and manner as may most effectually accomplish the objects which it has in view. But if it be the wish of England to increase the population of Canada, and thus render it of some value to the parent-country, I very much doubt the policy of those measures which the Ca nadian Government is now pursuing. Since the increase of the fees, I have known many emigrants, who came here with a determination of settling in the country, but who, on finding that the Govern ment, instead of freely granting land to the unfortunate among its subjects, was actually in the habit of selling it at an extravagant rate, turned their backs on the British Colonies, and immediately went over to the United States, to ^dd strength and numbers to our already formi dable rivals. I can very confidently state, that, since the new scale of fees was adopted, there have not been five hundred-acre lots of land taken up for the one hundred which were previously granted. The object of increasing the fees, whatever it might have been, must therefore have defeated itself; unless, indeed, it were to retard the settle ment of the country. Some persons, perhaps, in the plenitude of their loyalty, may, for the honour «f the thing, prefer dealing with government on M 3 174 ADVANTAGES these terms, to dealing with private individuals on much more advantageous terms : But these per sons, if I may be allowed such plainness of speech, have much more money than wit. For land, in townships which have been long settled, and whose contiguity to navigable rivers gives them a decided superiority over government-lands, can now be purchased for less money than is required in accept ing a grant of an equal number of acres from Government. You must not, however, suppose, that I mean to represent the Lieutenant Governor and Council as a company of land-speculators, who dispose of their forests in the same manner as private indi viduals. Far from it ! There is a very particular difference in the method which they adopt. For instance, if you feel disposed to accommodate the Government with your cash, you must humbly petition for its value in land, and be particularly attentive to the manner in which you receive their munificent gift, taking especial care, in look and word to express no other sentiments than those of unfeigned thankfulness. But if your inclination should lead you to trade with private land-owners, you find yourself quite differently circumstanced. Instead of being the suppliant, you become the supplicated. In the one case, you must obtain a royal fiat for the dis posal of your ca,sh ; in the other, you are presumed to possess a legitimate right to do so of your own accord. In dealing with the former, you must OP EMIGRATION. 175 relinquish your own judgment altogether, and allow the Lieutenant Governor and Council to select for you, in such places as they may deem expedient, the article which they may be graci ously pleased to grant you. Whereas, if you treat: with the latter, you are at perfect liberty to exer cise your own judgment, and to make such selec tion of land as may appear most likely to conduce to your future welfare and respectability. The honour, however, of an interview with his Excel lency and the different members of the Executive Council, and the pleasure of contemplating an enormous seal suspended from your deed, with the Royal Arms thereon impressed, are considered, by some persons, advantages sufficiently substantial to counterbalance the paltry saving which is effected by dealing with men in the humbler walks of life. Who is there so vile, that would not give four or five hundred dollars more, for a deed with half a dozen honourable signatures and the impos ing seal of Chancery thereto annexed, than for a title with the signature of an obscure individual, and the simple impression perhaps of a steel- bottomed thimble ? It is supposed by many persons in Canada, that the Supreme Government at home is wholly igno rant of the amount of fees claimed from emigrants on their obtaining land : But this, I think, is cer tainly an ab.surd supposition. Surely it is not possible, that his Majesty's Ministers can be so ignorant of the affairs of Canada, as not to know 176 ADVANTAGES exactly how the executive Government is exer cising its prerogative. For my part, I cannot entertain an idea so derogatory from their acknow ledged vigilance. I believe, nay I know, they are as intimately acquainted with the matter as I am myself; and I think, that persons who come to Canada under the impression of being able, on their arrival here, to obtain gratuitous grants of land, take very little trouble to be rightly informed on the subject previous to leaving their native country : For, I am well assured, that all appli cants at Earl Bathurst's office for information on this subject, regularly receive due attention. In stances of persons being induced to emigrate to this country, by the confident hope of obtaining a gra tuitous grant of land, are too frequent ; and, I am sorry to add, they are sometimes treated by the Executive Government here with a degree of con tempt, for which it is difficult to account. The Lieutenant Governor and Council seem to think, that they, and they only, are the persons to whom applications for land should be made, and appear resolved to convince all who have been so pre sumptuous as to make application elsewhere, that it would have been better for such applications to have been deferred until the will and pleasure of the Government were ascertained. The Editor of a paper in this Province, has the following just remarks on the injurious conse quences which result from what he terms " the remissness of Earl Bathurst on this subject." He OF EMIGRATION. jyy says, " He has had two letters put into his hands, which were obtained from the Colonial Office upon an application made for the bearers by the Right Honourable Lord Maryborough, one of the Cabinet Ministers, who directed his agent to inform one of the applicants, that the letter which he had obtained for him would empower the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada to put him in possession of land worth at least five hundred pounds." " These two emigrants," says the Editor, " were in easy cir cumstances, and could have provided for their families in their native country. They had good farms and humane landlords ; but, having fifteen children, they surrendered their leasehold property in that country, under the impression of obtaining gratuitously the right of soil in this : They, like many others, made great sacrifices to prepare for their embarkation ; and their expences in coming to Canada, amounted to upv/ards of one thousand three hundred dollars. However, the sale of their property appeared as nothing ; their expences, and their severe trials in the separation of friends, va nished before the happy anticipation of securing to their offspring twelve hundred acres of land, of which they fancied, — Oh fatal delusion ! — they .should one day become not merely the tenants but the proprietors. They knew too, that they were to remain under that government which never practised a deception on a foreigner, much less upon a subject. They had the pledge of the Go vernment at home for those lands, in Lord Bathurst's 178 ADVANTAGES letter. They had, in fact, every thing to satisfy them, that the exchange of countries, however great their trials, and however severe their suffer ings, would be as nothing, when put in competition -with the GIFT of his Majesty. They arrived at the seat of government, presented their letters, and were informed that the land would be granted to them, if required, upon payment of the trifling fee of five shillings per acre, taking the oath of alle giance, and performing the settlement duties.""!' If these men had been able to accept of land on the proposed terms, twelve hundred acres would have cost them as follows : £. s. d. Fees 300 0 0 Oath of Allegiance 2 6 Settlement Duties 250 0 0 Total £650 2 6 For this sum, double the quantity of land can be purchased from private individuals in situations f It is certainly very unjust to attribute disappointments of this nature to the " remissness of Earl Bathurst," and highly ridicu lous to impute them to any disposition in His Majesty's Ministers to allure persons to emigrate, by holding out to them hopes which cannot be realized. I know from personal experience, that appli cations, properly made to Earl Bathurst for information respecting the terms upon which land can be obtained in Canada, are always duly attended to, and the most positive and explicit replies to all such requests communicated with as little delay as is possible. OF EMIGRATION. jyg where land is one hundred per cent, more valuable, than it is in the new townships. It is only a few weeks since, I saw one of the provincial surveyors sell to an English gentleman tw^o thousand acres of land in a most desirable part of the country, for the sum of one, thousand dollars, — two hundred and twenty-five pounds. How great then would be the absurdity of permitting unfortunate emigrants to proceed hither with the expectation of obtaining grants of land, from the crown, when in reality such grants are no longer gratuitously made ! I have already observed, that, since the great increase of fees, the waste lands of the crown settle very slowly. Tho.se emigrants who, on leav ing home, had resolved on settling in Upper Canada, when they arrive in York, and find it impossible to procure land without paying its full value, generally determine either to purchase from private individuals, or to rent cleared farms. It is very impolitic, for those who can afford to pay for land, to pursue the latter course ; but, in the case of poorer emigrants, I consider it much better to do so than to accept of a grant of fifty acres from the government. To persons acquainted with America it would be unnecessary to say, that fifty acres are insufficient for the support of a moderate family. Allowing twenty acres for fuel, which would only be reserving a quantity sufficient for the same number of years, and dividing the remaining thirty into pasturage, meadow-land, and tillage, it might, if well managed, barely maintain IgO ADVANTAGES a family. But a man who is in the possession of this small quantity of land, is in a situation little superior to that of the Irish peasant. Like him, he is compelled to toil hard all day, and to find at even-tide that he has earned w^hat is hardly enough to prolong his existence, — a sort of prison-allow ance, which prevents him from dying of hunger, while at the same time it removes him very far from repletion. Like him, he has no hope of improv ing his circumstances, or of attaining to that inde pendence for which he braved the dangers of the deep. His field is too contracted, and the means of extending it are not within his reach. It is admitted by all persons acquainted with the Canadas, that 100 acres of land are as small a quan tity as an agriculturist should ever consent to cul tivate in this country. This may appear very extraordinary to English or Irish farmers ; but it is nevertheless a fact, which could easily be demon strated. The severity of the winter makes it neces sary for every farmer to provide a large quantity of forage for his horses and cattle, and the exces sive heat and drought of the summer render the meadow-lands rather unproductive. The high price of labour, and the shortness of the tillage season, preclude the possibility of cultivating the ' lands in that excellent manner which would render them as productive as English soils ; and these cir cumstances, united with the low price of produce, and the exorbitant cost of British merchandize. OF EMIGRATION. jg] prove the necessity of farming on a large scale, and the difficulty of existing on a grant of 60 acres. Wheat and Indian corn are the crops upon which the Canadian farmer chiefly depends. Bar ley, oats, and potatoes, are also cultivated, but on a very small scale ; merchants, who are the only corn-buyers in the country, generally pay for pro duce in a very unsatisfactory manner, about 75 per cent, in goods, and the remainder in cash. Of late years, the price of grain, as well as of beef and pork, has been extremely low. In the year 1818, wheat was a good article at five shillings per bushel ; in 1819, it sold equally high in the London District and in some other parts of the country. But in 1822 and 23, half-a-crown could not, with out great difficulty, be procured for it. Barley varies but little in price ; for the quantity reared in the Upper Province is barely sufficient for home consumption. The price is usually about two shillings per bushel. Pork, in this province, is commonly worth about twelve dollars, £2. 14s. per barrel of 200 lbs. ; and beef, two-pence per lb. A very sensible diminution has also taken place within the last four years, in the price of stock of every description. Horses, which in 1819 would have sold for 25 pounds each, can now be pur chased for 15 pounds ; oxen, then worth 25 pounds a yoke, are now scarcely saleable at £12. 10s. ; and cows, at that time in great request at £7. 10s. each, are now not easily disposed of at £3. bs. It appears from the following resolutions, entered 182 ADVANTAGES into by a Committee of the House of Assembly of Lower Canada, that the Lower Province has like wise felt, to a considerable extent, the general depression of the times : " Resolved, That the wages of labourers, and the price of the produce of the soil, have diminished within the last year to nearly half the average amount of the two preceding years. " That the price of land and other real property has, within the same period, experienced a corre sponding diminution. " That great difficulties, distress, and ruinous sacrifices, have, in consequence, occurred among all descriptions of the industrious cla.sses of this community. " That the exports from the Province of its .staple commodities have diminished, within the same period, from an average value of £766,787 to £611,392. " That the imports have diminished, within the same period, from an average value of £1,294,734 to £863,156. " That the Provincial revenue, which is almost entirely raised from duties on importations, have decreased, within the last year, from £102,142 to £73,434." This lamentable decrease in the imports and exports, and consequent deficiency in the revenue, are attributed to the alterations in the laws of England, which regulate the importation of corn, flour, and meal into the United Kingdom. By OF EMIGRATIOff. 183 these laws, the grain of the Canadas has been effectually excluded from the British market. The Canadians complain, and I think not without cause, that, whilst they are compelled to resort almost exclusively to England for a great variety of her manufactures, for which their staple com modities were formerly taken in exchange, they are prevented from sending to foreign countries such articles of their own produce as are excluded from the British markets, where they might obtain in exchange the merchandize of which they stand in need. It is not necessary to possess any extraordinary powers of mental vision to perceive, that a colony whose imports, amounting only to £863^156, exceed her exports by more £360,000, must ine vitably become bankrupt, unless some measures are promptly resorted to for her salvation. I think, however, the evils here complained of, which are now becoming daily more general, might be greatly alleviated, if not entirely removed, without adopt ing any measures that would have the slightest tendency to affect the agricultural interests of the parent state. That it would be highly impolitic to admit colonial or any other produce into the ports of the United Kingdom, so long as you are able to grow what is sufficient for your own consumption, is a fact, which every disinterested man will ac knowledge. At the same time, it is, in my hum ble opinion, a great hardship that we, I speak as a Canadian, should be compelled to purchase your 184 ADVANTAGES OF EMIGRATION. manufactures when you will not accept of our sta ple commodities in exchange. On the very princi ples of " Free Trade," on which you seem inclined to act whenever we, as colonists, ask the slightest boon at your hands, we certainly ought to be allowed to avail ourselves of the advantages which are to be derived from commercial intercourse with foreign markets. Perhaps, if proper encou ragement were given to the culture of hemp and tobacco in Canada, the balance of trade, which is at present decidedly against us, might be turned in our favour. It has been said, that England annually pays, to a foreign power, upwards of a million and-a-half, for the single article of hemp ; every pound of which might be saved to the British empire, by promoting the culture of that plant in Canada. But as I have already adverted to this subject in my Seventeenth Letter, it is not neces sary in this place to be more explicit. LETTER XXXIII. EMIGRATION THE MODE OBSERVED IN OBTAINING GOVERNMENT- GRANTS THE SETTLEMENT DUTIES REQUIRED BEST METHOD OF THEIR BEING PERFORMED ADVICE RESPECTING THE EREC TION OF A LOG-HUT, AND THE HIRING OF LABOURERS FIRST CLEARING OF THE LAND CONTRAST BETWEEN THE IRISH ANI» CANADIAN PEASANTRY VARIOUS PLANS FOB ASSISTING PAUPER EMIGRANTS ^ ONE OF THEM EXAMINED VARIED SUCCESS OF MY father's SETTLERS — CAUSES OF THE SCANTY PRODUCE OP GRAIN ON NEW ESTATES — NECESSITY OF EMPLOYING THE PLOUGH. Before I enter more particularly on the topic of Emigration, I shall make a few preliminary observations respecting the manner of obtaining lands from the crown, the duties required to be performed on them, the price of labour, the mode and expence of erecting houses in the wilderness, «&:c. &c. Emigrants on arriving at Quebec, with the intention of settling in Upper Canada, generally apply to the Government of that Province for lands in this. But applications made at Quebec are always unnecessary and often unsuccessful, the government there not wishing to interfere with the executive authority of the sister Province. If Vol. II. N 1 8(J ADVANTAGES therefore the emigrant should not wish to go up the country as far Westward as the seat of Govern ment, he has only to signify his intentions to " the Land-board" of the District in which he may resolve to settle. These Boards are fully authorized to issue location-tickets to all applicants who require only 100 acres; but if you, or any other person coming to the country, should desire a larger grant, it will be necessary to apply for it to the Lieu tenant Governor in Council. Your application must be made by petition, and, aa I have before observed, if you feel desirous of obtaining a grant of land from the crown to the extent of 1200 acres, you will find little difficulty in effecting your object, provided you are satisfied to take it on the terms already stated. Emigrants of the lower class generally arrive at York in the months of August and September ; and as soon as they have obtained their location-tickets, they pro ceed to their land, and begin the laborious task of reducing a wilderness from the barrenness of nature. Two years are allowed for the completion of settle ment duties ; which are, to build a house twenty feet long and sixteen wide, on every grant ; to clear the road in front of each concession, and to cut down the timber of three and a half acres out of each hundred.. These three and a half acres, with the road, which is one hundred and twenty perches long and two perches wide, make five per cent. On the completion of this duty, and the final payment of the fees, the grantee is entitled to OF EMIGRATION. |gy his deed, and Ihencefortli takes rank as a proud proprietor of the soil. If the emigrant wishes to get his settlement-duties performed previous to taking his family into the wilderness, he can have them completed in a proper manner for about twenty-five pounds,* provided he be careful to make a particular bargain respecting the labour required to be done, and not to pay for it until the completion of the job. Emigrants should be par ticularly careful, in making contracts of this nature, to have their agreement mentioned in the presence of witnesses on whom dependence can be placed ; or to enter into articles of agreement with the con tractor, which articles should always be drawn up by some competent person of integrity. In a land of strangers, too much care cannot be taken to avoid the quibbles and chicanery of designing men. Unless the emigrant is possessed of at least £76 on his arrival at York, I would by no means recommend him to get his settlement-duties per formed by hired labour. The best plan which emigrants of limited resources can adopt, is to procure lodgings for their families as convenient as possible to the land on which they are to be located ; while they them.selves, assisted by some experienced persons, encamp in the woods, until * Five pounds for clearing the road ; £3 10s. per acre for three and a half acres; and £lO lOs. for building a log-house twenty feet by Sixteen. For this sum a log-house should be finished in a comfortable mamlef, with a Stack of chimnies, shingle-roof, and boarded floors. N 2 188 ADVANTAGES they have erected their houses. A log-house, such as is usually built by original settlers, may be erected by four men, with the assistance always rendered by the inhabitants, in ten days. For several reasons, it is most prudent to erect a house of this kind in the first instance ; some of which I shall assign. Uninformed emigrants sometimes build in very ineligible situations, and have frequent occasion to change the site of their habitations, when they become better acquainted with the country. Being ignorant of the custom ary charge for every article used in the construc tion of the better sort of log-houses, they are liable to constant frauds, and are never able to get work done on advantageous terms before they become experimentally acquainted wnth the peo ple. By building a house of the commonest description, considerable expence will be avoided ; and it will be found sufficiently comfortable for one season, after which, w^hen the judgment is .somewhat matured, and the best situation has been fixed upon for the erection of a superior building, the primitive hut may be converted into a stable or other useful out-house. The wages usually paid to labourers in every part of Upper Canada, are 2 shillings and 6 pence per diem, with board and lodging. Carpenters, or hewers of wood, mostly receive double this sum, and sometimes even more. The emigrant, who goes into the woods to construct an habitation, should take with him a yoke of oxen, two labour- or EMIGRATION. j^ ers, and a carpenter, with provisions necessary for their subsistence during ten days. Bread, pork, and peas, with a keg of whiskey or other spirits, are the usual fare in encampments of this nature. On arriving at the destined spot, the first con sideration is, to construct a shanty, or shed, for sleeping in. It is covered with bark ; and when a large fire is made on the outside opposite the entrance, the interior of the temporary dwelling is rendered sufficiently comfortable, during the short time that it is necessary to make use of it. The next thing required, is to clear a spot for laying the foundation of the house ; and, this being effected, the whole party proceed tO cut down a sufficient number of small trees for the building. These trees mu.st not exceed a foot in diameter ; and, on being cut to the required length, they should be drawn up close to the foundation of the proposed house. Beams and sills are then made out, and drawn up to be hewn. Large White Ash and Basswood trees are also cut down ; and, after being divided into lengths of 10 feet, each, supposing the house to be 20 feet in the clear, they are split into planks, and prepared for flooring. When all this has been effected, 10 or 12 persons, who reside in the vicinity of the intended building, are requested to assist in rais ing it. On the arrival of those persons, the found ation is laid, by dove-tailing four of the largest logs together, and notching down the sills, A ^a« then steps up on each corner of the frame, N 3 190 ADyANTAOE* and as quickly as the logs are rolled up, they are connected together. The roof is carried up in the s^me way, and is covered either with bark or split clap-boards. The door and window-places are then cut out ; a stone back is built to the fire-place ; and the chimney is carried out in a manner some thing similar to the stick chimnies common in Irish cabins. The floors are then pinned down, and the inside of the walls hewn. The vacant spaces between the logs are filled up with small timber ; and the outside is carefully mudded over, so as to render it perfectly air-tight. Windows and doors are then put up ; the mansion is pro nounced fit for the residence of a Monarch ; and the family for whom it was intended, take imme diate possession. The clearing of land is next begun ; and the uninterrupted stroke of the axe apprizes the wan dering Indian, that his native forests are falling down before the active exertions of civilized man. Jn redeeming a wilderness, the trees are cut down, about 30 inches from their roots : The branches are then lopped off, and closely piled in large heaps ; and the trunks are divided into lengths of 12 feet ; after which, they are drawn together by the oxen, and indiscriminately consumed. When the season arrives for sowing wheat, it is shaken on the ground, and covered in with a small triangular harrow. Indian corn and potatoes are planted with the hoe, without any previou3 preparation whatsoever ; and the land, even in this Sitate, and OF EMIGRATION. igf with no more cultivation, sometimes yields 40 bushels of wheat, or 60 of Indian corn, per acre. If thousands and tens of thousands of our unfor tunate countrymen, Whom fortune dooms to scythes and spades. And all such hard laborious trades, whose seemingly-inalienable inheritance is poverty, and whose every nerve is continually on the stretch to promote the comfort and independence of others, could only find their way to this inviting province, how differently would they feel themselves circum stanced in the course of a few years! In their native country, they are compelled to labour almost unceasingly for masters, whose principal source of wealth is in the toil of the poor and degraded peasant : And, no matter how frugal and industrious he may be, he can never indulge the solitary hope of essentially improving his condi tion. A scanty subsistence, perpetual toil, and never-ceasing care, are the rewards and the only rewards of their most indefatigable exertions. No cheering idea of one day surmounting their diffi culties, ever darts a transient ray of pleasure into their care-worn hearts. No exhilarating presenti ment of future independence ever visits them, to dispel the gloom of despair from their benighted minds, or to lighten the burden of sorrow from their unaspiring souls. Bom without a worldly inheritance, they live without a worldly hope, and die without a worldly consolation. How different 102 ADVANTAGES would be their lot, if once safely landed on the Western shores of the Atlantic! Here, after labouring a short time for others, they would be enabled to labour for themselves ; by which they might not only procure a comfortable livelihood, but also an absolute and permanent independency for themselves and their families, however numer ous. The question is, " How are such persons to find their way across the ocean ?" For my part, I am not able to say. It is well known, that men of this description seldom realize a sum of money sufficient to equip them for a voyage across the channel; and yet we find many persons of this class in Canada, and in almost every part of America. Various plans have been recently suggested, for the purpose of sending out emigrants to Canada, of the class to which I allude ; but I have not yet either seen or heard of one that is sufficiently rational and feasible, to entitle it to a moment's consideration. Those authors who have written upon 'emigration, have either been altogether igno rant of their subject, or have not bestowed on it the mature deliberation which it demands. Mr. Fothergill, in " A Sketch of the present State of Canada," published at York, Upper Canada, in the winter of 1822, say,s, that a friend of his, in London, has recently proposed a plan, by which, he thinks, a number of those persons who. are now subsisting in England on parochial relief, may be removed to Canada, and employed with OF EMIGRATION. I93 great advantage, both to the public and to them selves. Nothing can exceed the absurdity of this plan. I shall just mention a few of its particular features; for a knowledge of which, I am indebted to Mr. Fothergill. It appears, that the money required in aid of this scheme is not to be paid to the people, but to be laid out, within two years, in provisions, stock, and implements of husbandry, under the direction of certain managers. So far all is unexceptionable. The lands upon which the settlement is to be effected, are to constitute a mortgage, for the purpose of securing the repay ment of the sum expended in the outfit of the settlers, and in furnishing them with every neces sary article. " During the laying out of the money and the clearing of the lands, some slight restrictions respecting the employment and aliena tion of the property, will be imposed on the owners of it ; but, after the payment of the capital employed, they will be free from all interference. The time of such re-payment, within ten years, will depend on the industry of the settlers, who may receive their deeds on redeeming the lands." The projector of this plan assumes a family, of the description to which he alludes, to consist of five persons ; and says, that the sum of two hundred pounds, managed with ordinary prudence, would enable such a family to acquire a prosperous settle ment in Canada in two years, without any expo sure to privations. He also imagines, that, within ten years after their location in the country, the 194 ADVANTAGES family would be able to repay the money lent to them, without subjecting themselves to the slightest inconvenience. He gives a detailed account of the manner in which, he conceives, this important busi ness should be conducted, and then sums up the total expenditure of 100 families, as follows : £. For the journey to the coast, for 100 families, at £20 2,000 For the voyage to Montreal ... ... ... ... 3,000 For the expences to be incurred ... ••• ... ^,000 Item between June and October -. ... 4,500 Item between October, 1822, and January, 1823 2,100 Item between January and May, 1823 1,500 Item between May and July, 1823 1,000 Item in July, 1824 goo 20,000 He then adds, " It appears to me impossible, that upon equal capital any set of men of the cleiss here contemplated, can be placed so advantageously, both to them.selves and to the country, in any other part of the world as in Upper Canada. " In 1796, the parish of Barkham, in Berkshire, contained two hundred inhabitants, of whom about forty, besides the sick, received relief to the amount of seventy-five pounds a-year. The average ex- pence of supporting the families of labourers in Barkham was then about twenty-five pounds each, making the rate of seventy-five pounds to be di visible amongst a number 9f people equivalent to three ordinary families, which may be said to be the number in excess of the want of employment — OF EMIGRATION. J95 If the parish could be disburdened of these three families, and employment should not vary, those left behind would receive wages equal to their full support, until paupers again super-abound. " The means for settling three families in Upper Canada is assumed to be a loan of six hundred pounds, to be repaid in ten years, as before stated ; and this sum will be raised easily by a mortgage of the rates under the sanction of an Act of Parlia ment. —Thus the rates will be lowered forthwith to the interest of that loan ; viz ; to thirty pounds a year from seventy-five pounds ; and they will de crease continually in proportion as the loan shall be repaid; and as the town-plot and other land apportioned to the parish shall become marketable. This will be variable in point of time, and the amount of the proceeds will depend on the general prosperity of the whole settlement ; it can hardly fail of making a very considerable return within seven years of the colonists' quitting England. According to the expenditure of Barkham, the rates for a surplus population of one hundred fa milies, is two thousand five hundred pounds a-year. Upon this income it would be easy to borrow twenty thousand pounds under the authority of an Act of Parliament : The interest on which, being taken at one thousand pounds a-year, the parish firom .which the colonists could proceed would make ^ present annual saving of one thousand five hun dred pounds. " To a settlement of this description, the mana- lOa ADVANTAGES gers should devote their whole attention; and a leader of intelligence would be amply remunerated by the share of wild lands to be apportioned to him in respect of a colony of from five hundred to two thousand families." If the author of this plan ever visited Canada, he must cetainly have done so without acquiring any material knowledge either of the country or of its inhabitants; for if he had, such a visionary scheme as this could never have been framed by his inventive imagination. The supposition, — that any man, no matter how frugal his fare, and how eco nomical his domestic and agricultural arrange ments, could leave England with a family of five persons and with no more than two hundred pounds, cross the Atlantic, travel nearly one thousand miles into the interior of Canada, effect a settlement in the wilderness, and within a period of ten years be able to repay the loan of two hundred pounds, — is too absurd to be credited by any one whose know ledge of Canada is sufficiently extensive to enable him to know, that the produce of Upper Canada is of so little value that a bushel of fine flour maybe purchased for less than half-a-crown. It may be conceived by the fire-side, that, to clear twenty pounds per annum on a Canadian estate, is a task, for the performance of which no great praise would be due ; and that twenty pounds a-year for ten years would serve to pay the two hundred pounds, if no interest were charged. But how trifling soever the accomplishment of this may appear to European OF EMIGRATION. I97 farmers, it is an undeniable fact, that the man does; not exist in Upper Canada, who could effect so great a saving in his agricultural pursuits, if he were placed in the circumstances of the settlers who are the objects of the plan before me. It is allowed by all persons acquainted with, Canada, and by none more readily than by the Canadians themselves, that a farmer who now supports his family by the produce of his land, without being indebted to the merchant, does well, and is entitled to the praise of a good economist and an industrious husbandman. So far however is this from being generally the case, that two-thirds of the farmers in the Province owe more than their respective properties would sell for, if they were exposed to sale under an execution. A few days ago, I addres.sed the following cir cular to those of my father's settlers, who are now residing in the township of London : " Mount Talbot, July 1st, 1823. "Sir, " Being about to depart from your settle ment, with the intention of once more visiting my native land, and being confident that your friends will make many inquiries respecting your situation and prospects in Canada, some description of which country I design shortly to submit to the con sideration of the British Public, I have resolved to solicit from you a detailed account of the monies which you possessed on leaving Ireland, the quan- 198 advantages tity of land you have obtained, the improvements you have made upon it, the stock which you own, and the amount of cash, if any, which you have acquired. You will also have the goodness to inform me whether you are or are not satisfied with your adopted country. " I have the honour to be, &o. " E. A. TALBOT." The various replies to this letter, which, for the sake of brevity, I have thrown into a table, will shew more fully, than any argument which I can produce, the futility of the scheme on which I have taken the liberty to animadvert. These set tlers were sober, frugal and industrious men, three- fourths of whom had been farmers in their native land, and the rest, mechanics. Names. '§S S-8 Si ll 200 30 150 25 100 20 200 15 100 15 100 25 100 15 100 25 100 25 100 10 100 25 100 10 100 20 100 25 100 1& 100 15 100 17 100 15 i 3 ¦g 6 3 1in a '5. >« 5 Mr. William Geary Charles Golding Joseph O'Brian Thomas Gush Robert Ralph John Grey William Haskett Francis Lewis Foilet Grey John Grey, jun. Thomas Howay James Howay John Turner Thomas Howard Robert Keys William Evans William NeU G«org8 Foster 300 100100100 50 50 100 75 100 405020 100 50 505050 30 1 yoke C 8 2 5 6 10 l&l hone 4 4 20 3 5 5 3 5 4 6 10 l&l horse 3 5 10 2 4 5 6 6 10 2 3 2il horse 1 2 4 1 5 3 5 3 3 10 3 4 10 2 2 3 4 10 2 3 10 OF EMIGRATION. ]99 The persons, whose names I have given, are for the mobt part young men of small families ; and, as I dare say you are able from past observation to attest respecting some of them, sober, industri ous, and frugal in their habits. It "appears, how ever, that after a residence of five years in the country, they are totally destitute of money. It is remarkable, that when that elegant writer Geoffry Crayon, Esquire, wished to illus trate the character of a man untainted by the vices and unadorned with the I'efinements of the city, he chose for his hero the old English farmer, happily free from the rage for emigration, and Content to breathe his native air On his own ground. ' Observation, I suppose, — and no man could write like him without observing much, — convinced this accomplished writer, that " Ready-money" Jack or Jonathan- was a name which would sit on the shoulders of his countrymen and their neighbours, much like the peacock's feathers on the tail of the Jack-daw, and as iron sharpeneth iron, might excite their ire by the vein of irony which it would disclose. He therefore very wisely transferred the title to the man, who, when occasion requires, can produce the golden coinage of his country, " and never allows a debt to stand unpaid." Our coun trymen and fellow-subjects here, are, however, so far from supporting this character, tliat, in nine cases out of ten, the ;Bmigrants who have arrived 200 ADVANTAGES in Canada, within the last ten years, are not only without any cash, but have not been able to raise a sufficient quantity of grain for their own sub sistence. The last of these circumstances is occasioned by the following causes : — The land in America yields an abundant crop the first year it is cultivated, and when simply harrowed over. The second year it produces less abundantly, but still at a tolerable rate. But, after this, it will scarcely produce a quantity of corn equal to that which is sown, unless it be ploughed. The persons, therefore, whose names I have mentioned, and indeed all European emigrants, on their first arrival in the country, possess a degree of vigour, activity, and industry, which enables them to clear a consider able quantity of land as soon as they have taken possession of their farms. When this has been accomplished, and a single abundant crop is real ized upon it, the surplus of which it is difficult to di.spose of to advantage, they greatly relax in their endeavours ; and, from an idea that they are ill-paid for their industry, begin to relinquish their designs of further extending their cleared lands, and trust that the land already cleared will afford them, a a plentiful supply for their immediate wants, beyond which they do not consider it adviseable to look. The second year does very well ; but, before the expiration of the third, their fields are so overgrown with weeds, that all hopes of a fruit ful harvest are abandoned. Ploughs they now OF EMIGRATION. 201 discover to be actually necessary ; but their cash by this time being almost exhausted, the difficulty of procuring these articles compels many of them to resume the axe, and submit once more to the labour of clearing the woods. This was precisely the case of the settlers, of whose names I have given you a list. In the Win ter after their arrival in the country, and in the Spring following, — justly considering an acre of cleared land as a jewel of great value, and in the hey-day of strength and industry, — they cleared the greatest part of the land assigned to them, and prepared it for cultivation. In consequence of this spirited commencement, they were enabled to raise nearly a sufficient stock of provisions for their families, the first Summer after their loca tion. The next Summer, having extended their clearings a little further the preceding Winter, they had enough, and even some to spare. But when they came to gather in the produce of the third Summer, it was found so scanty as barely to yield them a subsistence. The necessity of plough ing was now evident ; but they had not " the wherewithal" to procure the proper instruments, and, being very lothe to enter on the clearing of more land, they trusted, that, by a more diligent atten tion to a fourth crop, they should succeed in obtaining a sufficient quantity of grain for their domestic consumption. It remains only for me to say, the event has proved the folly of this system ; and the settlers are now convinced, that they are Vol II. O 202 ADVANTAGES in a dilemma, — the two horns of which are, the plough-share, and the axe; without resorting to One of which, they will never be able to effect their escape. I will not, however, enforce the moral of the proverb among them, of two evils choose the least; for I conceive the larger implement would in their case ultimately prove the most beneficial. From this statement and these rema^'ks, I think it is perfectly evident, that the plan of our London author for sending out emigrants to Canada, how ever well it might answer the views of those who look at such matters through the medium of theory alone, is impracticable, and could not possibly be of any permanent utility to the distressed population of Britain. No doubt, the sum of two hundred pounds is fully adequate, if properly managed, to effect a settlement for five persons in any part of Canada; but of what lasting value would that set tlement be to its owners, if, at the expiration of ten years of toil and hard labour, they find themr selves unable to redeem their lands, and, as a neces sary consequence, be compelled to return the gift of their soi-disant benefactors increased in its value, and themselves removed by one sudden blow, from at least a distant prospect of comfort, to a situation which affords no outlet to the view beyond the close and crowding forms of penury and star vation, with all their innumerable train of evils ! LETTER XXXIV. EMIG RATION— .ESTIMATED EXPENCE OF REMOVING A P.\UPER FA MILY OF FIVE PERSONS TO UPPER CANADA AND SETTLING THEM COMFORTABLY ENCOURAGEMENT OF GOVERNMENT- SALE OF THE CROWN RESERVES TO AID THE 'iNTEHNAL IM PROVEMENT OF THE COUNTRY PRODUCE AND CONSEQUENCES OF SUCH SALE •REFLECTIONS ON EXTENSIVE EMIGRATION FROM IRELAND CALCULATION OF THE CHARGE OF LOCATING A SINGLE PAUPER EMBARRASSMENTS OF THE POOR WHO AR RIVE AT QUEBEC WITHOUT MONEY EXERTIONS WHICH THEY MAKE FOR OBTAINING A LIVELIHOOD GRADATIONS BY WHICH A PAUPER ASCENDS TO INDEPENDENCE^ADVANTaGES WHICH CANADA PRESENTS TO SETTLERS OF THE POORER CLASSES. I AM decidedly of opinion, that much less than two hundred pounds given to each family consist ing of five members, without requiring it to be repaid, would be fully adequate to their removal and settlement, and to place them in circum stances, out of which, with frugality and industry^ a decent competency for themselves and their posterity would in due time arise. If Government would employ some of those ships which are now laid up and rotting in various parts of the world, or other more convenient vessels, in the transpor tation of emigrants to Upper Canada, a family of five persons, three of whom are supposed to be o2 204 ADVANTAGES children, might be conveyed to the seat of Govern ment of Upper Canada, for less than twenty pounds, including provisions of every description. It is equally clear, that forty pounds would support them for one year after their arrival, besides pro curing them the necessary implements of hus bandry, and such stock as would enable them to dispense with any further assistance during the rest of their lives. Admitting that Government would send such a family out in their own vessels,— the wages of seamen, the wear and tear of the ship, and suitable provisions for five persons, might be paid for from any part of Great Britain or Ireland to Montreal, for -.. 12 0 0 Passage from Montreal to York, if in Government boats, allowing the Government the hire of the handSj and the price which the provisions might cost ... ... ... ... ... 8 0 0 From York, to land set apart for their admission,"the distance not exceeding 100 miles, conveyed by the oxen which should be purchased for them ... 1 0 0 A yoke of oxen, sled, and chain, if the latter be pur chased in England ... ... ... ... 13 0 0 Two cows ... ... ... ... ... 6 0 0 Two axes, two hoes, irons for plough, and nine har row teeth ... ... ... ... ... 2 0 0 Some indispensable articles of household furniture, such as pots, kettle, &c. ... •¦• ••• 2 0 0 Building a common log-house, such as settlers of the lower class generally build ... ... ••• 7 10 0 Provisions* for 12 months: Say 12 barrels of flour, at two dollars and a half per barrel, and one barrel of pork at eight dollars per barrel ... .-¦ 8 11 0 £60 I 0 * Oh these provisions, — and the milk of their two cows, settlers of this class will subsist much more comfortably than they did before they came to the country. OF EMIGRATION. 305 This sum appears to me to be fully sufficient to do all that is really necessary to be done for settlers of this class, and if it be possible to lend such per sons two hundred pounds for ten years, it is cer tainly possible to give them sixty pounds without requiring it to be repaid: For if two hundred pounds were put out to interest, instead of being lent to the settlei-s, that sum would in less than ten years, produce considerably more than the amount proposed to be gratuitously given. How different would the feelings of persons in this situation be, from those of persons subject to havejtheir minds con tinually haunted with the dread of an enormous debt which they would be utterly unable to discharge ! If, however, the Supreme Government would manifest a spirited desire to improve the internal navigation of the Canadas, and to encourage the cultivation of hemp and tobacco, sufficient would be done for pauper emigrants, and particularly for young men, by landing them on this side of the Atlantic. Immediate employment might then be reckoned upon with certainty, and would be easily procured ; and an industrious man, within the limits of a single year, could not fail to obtain a sufficient sum to establish him upon his own -lands. If the Canadas are properly regarded, as a valuable portion of the British Empire, surely something more should be done for them than has ¦ever yet been attempted. Sure I am, that if some ¦of those hundreds of thousands which are almost aiinually voted away by the Imperial Parliament^ o 3 206 ADVANTAGES for the further decoration of buildings already sufficiently splendid, and the support of establish ments already too munificently endowed, were devoted to the improvement of this portion of the British Colonies, a great benefit would speedily devolve on the people of England. If the exten sion of your commerce be desirable, — if the enrich ment of your remotest dependencies be an object worthy of regard, — if the possession of valuable territories, capable of receiving and sustaining millions of your overgrown population, now almost literally perishing for want of employment, — if the.se be advantages, and if Canada be worth the paternal care of your Government, — why has she not experienced greater attention ? Why does she not obtain a portion of that liberality which the Parliament of England so frequently and laudably displays ? Let the dwellers in Great Britain and Ireland convince us, that, though we are separated from them by the Western Ocean, they regard us as members of the same family, and therefore entitled to their favourable consider ation. We already purchase from the merchants of Great Britain no inconsiderable portion of their manufactures, and were our condition improved we should soon be able to increase our amount of pur chases ; and in return we are competent to supply you as a nation with many articles of great utility, for which you now resort to foreign nations. We feel the most ardent attachment to your Govern^ joaent, your institutions, your laws, and, as such. OF EMIGRATION. ^Q of " Crown" and " Clergy Reserves :" On the for mer of these I shall proceed to offer some obser vations connected with the improvement of Upper Canada. SOS PLAN OF A TOWNSHIP, 12 3 4 -5678 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 This plan exhibits the division of a Township into TEN MILES SQUARE. gog 17 18 19 20 21 22''23 24 "25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 i:^Mai»:=: .JMi ^ ¦!¦¦ ^:3lfa..jar--- CoNCESsioNS and Lots, each Lot containing 200 acres. | 210 ADVANTAGES There are already no less than 232 organized townships in the Upper Province, which contain upwards of 18,000,000 acres of land, two-sevenths of which are reserved, — one seventh, for the sup port of a Protestant Clergy, — and the other seventh, under the appellation of" crown reserves." Although both these reserves tend to impede the present improvement of the country, remaining as they do almo.st wholly uncultivated, I have no wish to see those diminished which have, in my pinion, been wisely set apart for the support of the Clergy. But as I can neither perceive the necessity nor the expediency of the crown-reserves lying in the possession of the Government, I most heartily wish, not merely to witness their dimi nution, but also their total resignation into the bands of purchasers. Many of these reserved lands are in the best-situated and most fertile townships in the Province, and, if offered for sale, would readily meet with purchasers. The total amount of crown lands, now in the province, is upwards of 2,600,000 acres. If the government would consent to dispose of these lands, in lots of 200 acres, to persons desirous of purchasing, and would extend the same privilege to such of the inhabitants of the United States as would, on becoming proprietors, take the oath of allegiance to his Majesty and reside in the country, every acre of these reserves would be bought up before the expiration of three years ; and a fund would by this means be created, sufficient for the OF EMIGRATION. 211 essential improvement of the country. The value of some of the reserves has been considerably increased by the various improvements which have been made around them ; in consequence of which they would sell for, at least, ten dollars an acre : So that, I have no doubt, but the sum of £2,500,000, at the moderate average of one pound per acre, might easily be raised, within the period to which I have alluded. To my certain knowledge, there are many thousands of the quondam subjects of Great Britain, now in the United States of America, who would joyfully embrace such an opportunity of returning to their allegiance. In whatever point of view this subject may be considered, the pro posed arrangement appears fraught with incalcu lable benefit. It would not only promote the colo nization and general improvement of the country, and the health of its inhabitants, but would also induce capitalists to emigrate to it, and afford ample means of employment for pauper emigrants, who, starved in their native country, might come over to Canada, for the purpose of seeking out a livelihood. Much is every where said of the propriety and indispensableness of adopting some measures for restoring tranquillity to Ireland : But, I greatly fear, that with such an over-grown, half-starved population, there remains but little prospect of any immediate change for the better in that depressed country. Before a people can be made orderly and subject to the laws, they must be placed m 212 ADVANTAGES situations to enable them to procure the necessary means of subsistence for themselves and families. It is the most egregious folly to expect, that any man could remain tranquil and contented while his family were famishing for want of food, and while he was both able and willing to labour for their support, but found it impossible to procure employ ment. Until some means, therefore, are adopted by which the sorrows of the Irish peasant may be somewhat sweetened, or, in plain language, by which his moral and civil condition may be im proved ; until his mind becomes more enlightened, and his body better fed ; soldiers may array them selves before his wretched dwelling, to enforce obedience to those laws, to the violation of which " his poverty, and not his will, consents," and police-men may still prevent him from breathing after sun-set the uncontaminated air of heaven : But it will not avail,--still will hunger occasionally stare him in the face ; and when his attention is turned to discern the cause, though he may be mis taken in some of his ideas, it is natural enough that he should execrate the laws of his country, which, he thinks, were forged only for the purpose of enslaving him, and reducing him to a state of poverty and wretchedness. For my own part, when I think of the present immense population of Ireland, and consider what it may be if it goes on to increase for the next thirty years in the same ratio in which it has increased during the last twenty-five years, I can- OF EMIGRATfON. 213 iiot believe it possible for such a mass of people to find employment in their own country, which is not only small in proportion to its inhabitants, but is almost entirely devoted to agriculture. If such an increase should take place, — and there is every probability that it will, — we may calculate on a population of 14,000,000 souls, by the close of that period. Surely, therefore, means should be taken to prevent so terrible an overflow ! Some persons think, and, in my opinion, think justly that exten sive colonization is the only means by which the calamity of a numerous and discontented peasantry can be averted ; and Canada is a country which would afford, to many millions of them, a safe and comfortable asylum. It was observed by Mr. Wilmot Horton, in the last Session of the British Parliament, that it had been estimated that a man might be conveyed to Canada, located, provided with a cow and maintenance for a year, for a sum of thirty- five pounds; a woman for twenty-five pounds; and a child under twelve years of age for fourteen pounds; making an average of twenty- four pounds a head. Moderate as this calculation may appear, I know from actual personal experi ence, which is in every case the best kind of know ledge, that half of this sum is quite sufficient for effecting such a purpose. It will appear from the calculation I have already given ,that a family of five persons may be conveyed to Canada, located on their lands, provided with two cows and a yoke of oxen, for little more than fifty-nine 214 ADVANTAGES pounds, which is only twelve pounds a-head. So that, on the plan proposed by Mr. Horton, fifty pounds would be fully sufficient for locat ing a family of five persons. The pauper emigrants who now arrive in Canada by their own exertions, not only suffer a multitude of hardships, and encounter innumerable and almost inevitable difficulties, but frequently prove a heavy burthen on the inhabitants of Montreal and Que bec. In the Winter of 1819-20, I believe nearly five hundred persons of this description were sup ported in these cities by public charity ; and many others were scattered up and down the country, where they were compelled to subsist, during a severe winter, on the scanty fare which their feeble exertions procured for them. By the time when persons like these arrive in Montreal, their little stock of cash, and the provisions which they laid in for their voyage across the Atlantic, are fre quently exhausted. Accustomed however, as they were, while in their native country, to hear Ca nada spoken of in the most favourable light, they still imagine it an ea,sy matter to obtain a liveli hood, although they are little acquainted with the proper method to be adopted for this purpo,se. In this situation, they take lodgings in the city or suburbs for a few days, and converse with the inha bitants, who persuade them, that it is almost as difficult a matter to procure employment of any kind in Lower Canada, as in many parts of Great Britain. This they are at first inclined to suspect. OF EMIGRATION. 215 so difficult is it to remove impressions from the mind which have been long and fondly indulged ! But painful experience too soon convinces them of its accuracy. Finding it impossible to obtain work of any kind, they are at length compelled to solicit the cold hand of charity, to relieve them from those embarrassments which they never anticipated until they were felt in the most aggra vating circumstances. In this way they always obtain a temporary relief; but it cannot be ex pected, that the inhabitants of a small city, many of whom are themselves struggling for a comfort able maintenance, can afford a sufficient relief to all those who, from day to day, have the misfortune to need it. To escape from this grievous dilemma, the pauper adventurers are advised to proceed, if possible, to Upper Canada, where employment i.9 not so scarce, and where lodgings and provisions are much cheaper and more easily obtained. But money is necessary for this undertaking ; and the poor emigrants are reduced to the painful necessity of converting into currency their beds and bed^ clothes, and often their wearing apparel. Ar rived in the Upper Province, they generally hire out their children to the old settlers, if they are strong enough for labour. Their wives also, when not encumbered with young children, procure em ployment as spinners, «&c. while their husbands proceed to York, for the purpose of obtaining land from the Executive Government. With great difficulty and much expence, and after a shameful^ 216 ADVANTAGES because an unnecessary, delay, fifty acres are at length assigned to each individual in some remote and perhaps totally unsettled. The emigrant im mediately visits his newly-acquired estate, but quickly returns to h,is family, frightened by the desolate appearance of his land, and fully deter mined never more to pay it a second visit. But men of more experience than himself advise him to hold his location-ticket, and to labour for hire with some farmer until he can provide himself with the pro per means for cultivating his own ground. He is generally prudent enough to follow this advice ; and, after continuing in the situation of hind for two years, takes out the whole of his wages in merchan dize, grain, stock, «&c. He has then been long enough on the American Cantinent to have acquired notions of indepen dence ; and he feels a strong desire to cultivate his own land, that he may thereby become lord and master of an undoubted freehold estate. Col lecting, therefore, the earnings of all together, and converting every thing to some useful pur pose, he proceeds with his wife and family to the woods. They speedily erect a log-hut, and then begin the arduous employment of " making Leba non a plain." Mills are generally remote from all new settlements ; and, as few persons of this description have either oxen or horses, they are almost always compelled to carry their grain upon their backs to the mill, which is sometimes 20, and seldom less than 10 or 15 miles distant. When OF EMIGRATION. 217 the provisions of the family are nearly exhausted, the husband is compelled to proceed to some old settlement, and earn more, which he carries on his back, to his needy family. In this manner, the first , and often the .second year of an emigrant's residence on his own land is dragged out. Nothing but the hope of future independence could possibly support him under the weight of so many hard ships. If however he be not prevented by sick ness, he lifts up his head in the second or third year, and, in consequence of his advancing im provements at home, is released from the most grievous portion of his former toil, I mean, that of earning provisions abroad and bringing them to his family. Being now provided with bread, and having by his previous labour procured two or - three cows, he still finds a yoke of oxen necessary to complete his establishment. He is therefore constrained to leave his family for another year ; at the expiration of which, he returns with a pair of sturdy steers, and perhaps a few other indispensable instruments of agriculture. Every article of primary necessity for the culti vation of his farm has now been obtained by the emigrant ; but his wife and children are reduced to a state of comparative nudity. The clothing which they brought from Europe, is now worn out, and they cannot afford to buy more. As yet the produce of the farm is barely sufficient for their own consump tion ; and, even if any surplus remained, the diffi culty of exchanging it for wearing apparel of any Vol. II. P 318 ADVANTAGES kind in the new settlements, would be very great ; for merchants seldom establish themselves in any part of the country which has not been for several years inhabited. The emigrants who reside in such unfrequented parts, are therefore under the neces sity of cultivating flax, and of manufacturing their own linen ; and until the fleece and the flax make some return, the wife and children must content themselves with imitating, in some degree, their Indian neighbours. Numerous children may be seen in all the new settlements so destitute of clothing, that if any modesty remained in their parents, they would be prevented from appearing before strangers i And yet the moment you enter a Canadian cabin, the naked inmates of it array themselves in the most conspicuous point of view, unweeting, it would seem, of the unpleasant feel ings which such an exhibition must produce on the minds of strangers. In spite of these discouraging events, however, an industrious man, after the expiration of five or six years, if he be not subject to drinking, seldom fails to render himself and his family comfortable by his own individual exertions. He eats his own ham, his own chickens and lamb. He sheers his own fleece and he wears it. And, what is still more exhilarating to the mind, he never dreads the approach of the landlord or of the tythe-proctor. His taxes are trifling, and although he certainly has some difficulty in pay- OF EMIGRATION" 219 ing them on account of the scarcity of specie, they seldom subject him to any serious inconvenience. How different is the situation of such a person in Upper Canada, from what it would have been had he remained a poor half-starved labourer in his own country ! No dread of beggary, servitude, or sla very, now casts a gloom over his countenance, or embitters the cup of plenty from which he may derive continual supplies ; and yet, like Alexander Selkirk, he sometimes indulges thoughts of his " own native land," and heaves a sigh to be there. The friends of his youth, the social amusements in which he was accustomed to partake, and the unfading attachment which all, and especially the Irish peasantry, feel for the land of their birth, with a thousand nameless emotions to which their recol lection gives rise in the bosom of an exile, some times produce on the mind of the emigrant to Ca nada a partial degree of dissatisfaction with his otherwise fortunate exchange. Considerations such as these may appear to your philosophic mind as mere trifles, but if you were placed in similar circumstances, you would very soon think other wise. Believe one, who has experience to justify his opinions, that they are not to be lightly thought of; For Let school-taught pride dissemble all it can. These little things are great to little roan. I do not mean to insinuate that the natural regrets p2 220 ADVANTAGES which are occasionally felt by the man whom misfor tune of any kind has driven from the scenes of liis childhood, deserve to be mentioned as counterba lancing the substantial advantages which Canada affords ; but yet so long as our individual happi ness depends chiefly on peace of mind, every thing which tends to awaken the more gloomy passions of the soul, is, according to the measure of its influ ence, a serious disadvantage. It is not, however, my intention to encourage any man to emigrate, whose circumstances allow him to continue in his native country. Nor is it my object to dissuade the unfortunate from an undertaking, which must eventually be attended with great benefits both to him and to his posterity. I wish to state facts, and allow others to reason on them. Were I a poor Irish pea.sant, compelled to toil year after year without a hope of bettering my circumstances, I would endeavour to find my way to this country, if such an object could be achieved by any human exertions. Nay, if I could not otherwise obtain money sufficient to defray my expences, I would attire myself in the habit of a common beggar, and for seven years, if necessary, would contentedly solicit alms, in order thereby to amass the necessary sum to effect my object. Were I even in a situation similar to that of many of your depressed " middle-men," the parent of a large family, and the possessor of but a small pittance for their support, unable from the OF EMIGRATION. 22^ remembrance of better days to dig, " to beg ashamed," I would, for the sake of my family, but not for my own, remove at once to the Western World, where by industry my children might attain that inde pendence which they could never attain in their native country. But did I possess a ^property which would enable me, respectably to educate and apportion my children, and comfortably to support my family, I should contentedly and thankfully spend my life in the land of my fathers. T'3 LETTER XXXV. emigration— FEW INDUCEMENTS FOR WEALTHY MEN TO EMI GRATE TO CANADA PRIVATE CAPITAL NOT PROFITABLY EM PLOYED IN CLEARING LAND PROJECTED IMPROVEMENT OF THE COUNTRY, BY MEANS OF CANALS DIFFICULTY OF EMBARKING CAPITAL IN CANADIAN COMMERCE MODE BY WHICH A MOMED MAN MAY COMFORTABLY SUPPORT HIMSELF AND FAMILY ON HIS OWN ESTATE PURCHASE OF IMPROVED LAND PREFERARLE TO OBTAINING A GOVERNMENT GRANT QUANTITY OF LAND NECES SARY FOR SUPPORT OF STOCK AND SUPPLY OF GRAIN. If some men of extensive capital were to settle in this country, it would undoubtedly prove of great benefit to the interests of Canada. Their money is much wanted ; but their own success would, I fear, be rather dubious. Eight or ten years ago, it was generally thought, that capital might be well employed in the purchase of wild lands. A fev/ persoris have tried the experiment, and the incor rectness of the idea has been sufficiently evinced by their failure. The prevailing opinion, at that period, was, that land would increase in value, at least 300 per cent, in ten years, instead of which if is at present daily depreciating. In 1818, when we arrived in the country, wild land was worth three dollars per acre, or rather, I should say, it ADVANTAGES OF EMIGRATION. 228 might be sold for that sum. In the present year, 1823, I have seen upwards of 200,000 acres sold for less than 2s. 6c?. an acre ; and, I have no doubt, if things remain in their present situation, that i.s, if the demand for American produce continues as low as it now is, and if the country is still neg lected, that, after the expiration of ten years, it will not be found increased in value. It is, there fore, I conceive, sufficiently evident, that land speculations afford only a very uncertain prospect of success to the enterprising capitalist. It is by no means uncommon to see land, in townships tolerably well settled, selling for less than one shilling per acre ; nor does it require the exertion of uncommon reasoning powers to prove, that even this is more than its real value. Two hundred^ acres^o^f land, 100 of which are cleared and fenced, with ^a^ log- house and framed barn, may now be purchased for less than £160. From this circum stance it is very clear, that wild land is of no immediate value whatever, since the price which I have mentioned is less, by one-half, than would be required to defray the expences of building and clearing. For a log-house of the ordinary descrip tion costs about £j^j_a framed barn £60, and the clearing and fencing of 100 acres at least £300; making in the whole £362. In the_ winter of 1822, a friend of mine sold an estate, which consisted of 400 acres of land, of an exceedingly good quality, for £300 British. On this farm, there stood a neat and excellent framed 224 ADVANTAGES house, 32 feet by 20, which cost £150 ; and a log-barn, 36 feet by 20, which cost about £20. Upwards of 100 acres had been cleared, 60 of which were well fenced, and a great part of it in a state of cultivation. It was thought by every person in the neighbourhood to be well sold, although it did not, in reality, remunerate the pro prietor for his improvements : But he might have kept it ten years longer, without obtaining so much for it ; and was, therefore, so far satisfied. In the year 1S18, if the same farm had been improved as much as it was in 1820, it would have sold for £1,000 ; but land is now becoming every day less valuable, and money more difficult to be procured. The greater influx of emigrants of respectability and capital, would no doubt enhance the value of estates, as the purchases made by them would increase the demand for land, and contribute to the circulation of cash. So that, if it were reason able to hope, that such persons might ere long be induced to settle in adequate numbers in the coun try, capital would even now be profitably employed in the purchase of improved, but not of unim proved, lands. Very few men of capital have hitherto emigrated to the country ; and one would think, there are not many persons of this descrip tion in Great Britain and Ireland who would voluntarily exchange the pleasures of society, and the various other blessings of civilization, for the privations connected with the solitudes of America, and the uncertain hope of independence in a distant OF EMIGRATION. 225 land. I never knew a person of this class in any part of America, who did not look back with regret on the day when he first began to think about emigration, or who in truth had not ample reason for lamenting the folly of his choice. A few capitalists might probably succeed in this country, by establishing extensive salt-manufac tories ; but the high price of labour, and the diffi culty of procuring it at any price, are great obstacles to the success of this and every other enterprize in manufactures. I have lamented, in a former Letter, the want of a body of public-spirited individuals in Canada, whose associated capital might do more for the iinprovement of this fine Colony, than can ever be effected by the mere and well-intended enact ments of the Legislature. But I am happy to find, that something like Public Spirit has begun to manifest itself among the Canadians, and that " they have been moved to jealousy" by the enter prize and activity of their Republican neighbours. The impulse communicated to commerce in Eng land nearly a century ago, by the numerous facil ities which canals afford, is still in extensive opera tion ; and the importance of internal navigation duly appreciated in every trading corner of the United Kingdom. Fine and navigable streams are among the grand and distinguishing features of North America : In some of them, however, occasional interruptions are given to navigation, by shallows, rapids, or falls; and to counteract 228 ADVANTAGES these serious inconveniences, the inhabitants of the United States have cut canals in various direc tions. When I left Canada, in the Autumn of 1823, the public journals announced the resolutions passed at " a Meeting of the most respectable " inhabitants of the Niagara District, convened " and held, pursuant to public notice, at the " Beaver Dam, June the 28th, 1823, to take into " consideration and to adopt measures for opening " a Canal between Lake Erie and Ontario." At that meeting, the following Address, signed by the Chairman, George Keeper, Esq., of Thorold, " was read and unanimously approved of ;" and since it contains a mass of very important inform ation respecting the future improvement of the Canadas, I make no apology for its insertion. " The extraordinary exertions which our neigh bours, the Americans, have made, and which they continue with unabating perseverance, for the improvement of their internal navigation, point out to those who wish well to this country, not only the importance of the subject, but the neces sity which exists for similar exertions amongst ourselves ; for unless some efforts be speedily resorted to, and continued with equal spirit and determination, the direct tendency of their skill and industry, operating with our own supineness, must be the actual loss of a great part of our trade. " On an examination of the state of the two coun tries, it must be evident, that the natural facilities OF EMIGRATION. 227 possessed by this Province for such improvements are, beyond comparison, superior to those of our neighbours. The two great Lakes, which furnish so extensive a portion of our internal navigation, are in one part so nearly connected, as to require an artificial cut of only two miles, by which the water-communication between them , would be uninterrupted. " The ease with which so desirable an object might be effected, has been long known to many indi viduals present ; and it must afford them pleasure to be enabled to communicate to the public this interesting information, corroborated by the report of an able and scientific Engineer. * * The following is the report of Hiram Tibbett, engineer. " Having been called upon to level the ground between the River Welland, or Chippawa, and Lake Ontario, I report as fol lows :— Commenced at Chippawa, on the 6th instant, 10 miles from its mouth, as stated to me, on Mr. John Brown's farm, Township of Thorold ; explored from thence two routes, to the head waters of the 12 mile Creek ; find the ridge of land between the two, requires a cut of 26 feet on an average, for two miles ; from thence, to the road in New Holland, 60 chains ; from thence to Captain John Decoe's, there is a fall of 1 7 feet in a distance of 35 chains; from thence to the brow of the mountain, 71 chains ; from thence to the foot of the mountain, and on the surface of the west branch of Twelve-mile Creek, 50 chains, — fall 242 feet"; thence to Thomas Mill, 107 chains, 50 links, — fall 3 feet, — fall at the Mill, 13 feet 8 inches; thence to Campbell's mill-pond, 118 chains, — fall 8 feet 4 inches ; thence to mill, 14 chains, — fall at the mill, 7 feet 10 inches ; thence to Merritt's mill-pond, ISg chains 60 links,-— fall 9 feet 2 inches ; thence to Adam's mill 75 chains 50 lii^s,.— &11 at the dam, 4 feet ; from this did not measure 228 ADVANTAGES " The object of the present Meeting is, to submit the outline of a plan, by which so very desirable or level to the Lake. I am informed, the distance is about 4 miles, — do not suppose the fall to be more than 2 feet. The whole distance from Lake Ontario, to the mouth of Chippawa, is 27 miles and 50 links. " It will be necessary for the purpose of navigation, to make the above cut 4 feet lower than the surface of the Chippawa, 7 feet wide at the bottom, and 19 feet at the top or surface of the water, which will draw off as much as may be required. Four feet above this, a tow-path must be formed, 8 feet wide on one side, and a beam of 3 feet wide on the other, which will stop all the earth that may crumble off the sides from falling into the water ; from those projections the bank may go up at a moderate elevation, leaving the top of the cut 44 feet wide : The whole makes 310,788 cubic yards. From the great depth of the Chip pawa at this place,— the inhabitants having dug wells to a greater depth on each end of the cut, — and from the quality of the soil, which is clay, I do not apprehend the least danger of meeting with rock. From the peculiar advantages derived from this situation, the excavation can be effected at a comparatively trifling expence. A deep navigable river being situated at the commence ment of the cut, boats can follow every foot of the way, and be so constructed that one man can unload them without loss of time. To give a clear and simple idea of this method, construct on each end of the scow a box similar to a cart's body, which will be filled and discharge any quantity of earth in the stream. Sup pose the farthest end of the canal two miles ; two men will man two boats ; or one man and a horse, while the one boat is loading, will take the other to Chippawa in 30 minutes, and return in 20 minutes, (say an hour at farthest,) and carry 20, 30, or 40 tons of earth, and so on alternately, and will keep 12 men, at least, digging to supply the scows : Whereas, on the American canal, it requires two men to remove the earth, as fast as one man digs it, and the expence of barrows and plank will be equal to the OF EMIGRATION. 229 a matter might be carried into effect, in order to its being maturely weighed and well understood. scow ; the average price of digging from three to ten feet, is eight cents per yard. I am therefore confident, this cut can be effected at 10 cents, or 30,000 dollars, and contractors will offer to take it for less money. Tunneling has been mentioned to me to be the cheapest method, but having never witnessed the -practical part of it, I cannot give an opinion. From the termination of this cut, the water will flow with an easy and gentle descent to Cap tain John Decoe's. It will be necessary to widen the stream, and cut off the points in many places ; but, as Mr. Hall Davis will carry it through his farm, and Mr. Hiram Swayze the greater part of his, the expence will be too trifling to form an item. From Mr. Decoe's mill-dam, it will be necessary to carry the water through the farms of Messrs. Burneston and Cooper, where nature has formed a ravine, or cut, to the top of the mountain. The expence of this cut, at 10 cents the yard, will not exceed 700 dollars. From this, to the waters of the West branch of Twelve- mile Creek, on Mr. Adam Brown's farm, nature has continued her favours ; the ravine extends with a gentle descent, or regu lar inclined plane, the whole way ; and one rail- way may be formed to take up boats at once, or two can be constructed, if necessary or more convenient. I am not sufficiently informed on this subject, to give a correct estimate, but will forward one as soon as I can obtain the necessary information. I am satisfied, however, from the favourable situation of this ravine, it can be locked with 24 good wooden locks, for 20,000 dollars. It will be necessary to construct, at Thomas' Mill, a wooden lock, which, from its height, will cost 1,000 dollars; at Campbell's Mill, the lock will cost 500 dollars ; at Merritt's Mill, the lock will cost 500 dollars; and at Adam's Mill, 350 ; from thence, there is plenty of water to the Lake. I have likewise examined the harbour, but am not sufficiently informed to give an opinion, as to the effect the water may produce on it for the purpose of deepening the channel to admit vessels. It will cost for a tow-path through 280 ADVANTAGES Notice has been given, of an intention to petition the Legislature at its next Session, for an Act to incorporate a Company, with permission to raise a capital of twenty-five thousand pounds, for the purpose of opening a canal, by the most eligible and convenient route, from Lake Ontario to the River Welland, [Chippawa,] and from thence to the mouth of the Grand River. The dimensions to be similar to the Erie Canal, in the State of New York, or capable of carrying boats of from 20 to 40 tons. And as the supply of water is abundant, it is in contemplation to divert part of it in favourable situations, for the use of machinery. the woods, one hundred dollars per mile, — but a small proportion of this distance passes through them, — will therefore compute it at fifty dolldrs per mile, at the extent making fifteen hundred dollars. The whole expense of the route, exclusive of rail-way, is thirty-four thousand five hundred and fifty dollars. I would suggest an improvement, that will of course follow in a few years, viz. a Lock at the head of Mr. Merritt's mill-dam, taken from a race-way that can be dug at a trifling expence, from the foot of Mr. Campbell's mill-dam. A lock on Col. Johnson's farm, at the head of Mr. Campbell's mill-dam, to another race-way at the foot of Mr. Thomas's mill-dam, and one between Captain Decoe's and the Chippawa. Those three will not average more than 1,000 dollars each, and make the stream a regular canal the whole direction, with the exception of the mountain. " Boats of from 20 to 40 tons will navigate this stream with ease ; and two men and a horse will take one from Lake Ontario to Chippawa in a day, or a day and a half at farthest. They navi gate from 25 to 30 miles per day on the Erie canal, on an ave rage ; and the mountain here will only cau^e a detention of probably about two hours, in the ascent." OF EMIGRATION. 231 In this scheme, it is proposed to raise the above capital of twenty-five thousand pounds. The shares to be six pounds five shillings each ; ten per cent, of which will be required at the time of sub scribing, and the remainder when called for at a month's public notice. The principal reasons for making the shares small, are, that almost every individual may have an opportunity of taking one or more, and that it may be as general as pos sible. " Officers and managers, as usual on such occa sions, will be chosen by the stock-holders, when a sufficient amouvit shall have been subscribed. When ten thousand pounds of the stock shall have been taken, it is proposed to commence cutting at Chippawa, and from thence in the direction of the Twelve-mile Creek to Lake Ontario ; and no doubt is entertained, but this part of it may be completed in one year from the time of commence ment. The continuation between the Chippawa and Grand River, will be undertaken as soon afterwards as the state of the subscription will allow; that is, when the whole, or major part, of the stock shall have been taken up. " Agents will be appointed at Montreal, Quebec, Amherstburgh, and the most convenient interme diate situations, for the purpose of ascertaining, at an early period, the amount of stock which the inhabitants of each place will be inclined to take, should our application to the Legislature for an Act of Incorporation be successful. It is desirable 232 ADVANTAGES that the returns from those places should be fur nished by the 1st October next, in order (if favour able) that arrangements may be made to facilitate the work one year, by commencing the 1st day of May ensuing. " It is not yet possible to speak, with the same certainty, as to the expence which must be in curred in making the second cut ; but one route which has been explored, between the Chippawa and Grand River, is only five miles, the other sup posed three ; and as the ground throughout both routes is favourable for cutting, it is presumed the expence cannot exceed £2,600. " A material advantage will return to the Western Districts of this Province, and those parts of the United States which border on Lake Erie, if this last part of the design be effected, in conse quence of the easy access to the mouth of the Grand River ; it being always open for navigation at a much earlier period in spring, than the Ports of Buffalo and Fort Erie. It is the primary object of the merchant to save time and distance in the conveyance of his produce to market, and the route by the Grand River will unite these advan tages. Such inhabitants as are settled on the upper part of the Grand River, and in the townships adjoining, will, in common with settlers on the Western shores of the lake, partake of the advan tages of this early navigation ; as the spring-floods, by enabling them to float down their produce, will, when this part is completed, gain immediate access OF EMIGRATION. 23t to the lower lake, and enable them to reach. Montreal, while Buffalo and Fort Erie remain enveloped in ice. An important benefit must like wise be derived by the owners and occupiers of, land, within reach of the lake and the banks of. this river, from the certainty, that much of their. valuable timber will find easy and ready access to market, after being converted into staves, and other descriptions of lumber, which are in constant demand at Quebec, for the supply of our West India Colonies. It is a melancholy subject, to^ reflect upon the immense tracts of fine timbered land, which, for want of such facilities, are at present not only unproductive to the owner, but. acting as a constant drain upon the purse, whilst the time of remuneration seems, from day to day,, to elude his pursuit, and, after years of protracted hope, closes in final disappointment. " Need it be mentioned, that the farmers and others, the actual occupants of the soil, are not (though undoubtedly great sufferers,) the only losers in this state of things?— No, the Lower Canadian merchant shares equally, though not so immediately, in the loss. He suffers from the dete rioration in value of the property of his debtor, in the Upper Province ; from the difficulty that debtor meets with, in converting the produce of his farm and industry into a tangible shape for the creditor's satisfaction ; and again, from the reduced value of such land as he holds in security, or has accepted in liquidation of debts contracted to him under Vol. II. Q 234 ADVANTAGES a more favourable state of trade — the taxes in the interim, subtracting from the profits of his mer cantile pursuits; — in fact, it is for the general interest of the farmer, the mechanic, and the mer chant, that something effectual should be under taken, to promote their joint welfare. " Another source of profit to the immediate stockholders, will arise from the judicious use of the superfluous water, for the purposes of driving machinery, &c. ; and which, by proper manage ment, might be made to re-imburse them in a very few years for the entire outlay of their capital. This, taken in connection with the public conve nience, in a part of the country where mill-.strearas are both scarce and scant, is far from being one of minor importance. From Long Point, on the shore of Lake Erie, round to Dundas, at the upper end of Lake Ontario, the only mill, possessing a sufficient supply of water to carry on business, to an extent that may be considered mercantile, is that of Messrs. Clerk and Street, at the Falls. " The production of wheat, in a soil and climate so well adapted to its culture, must, of course, be considered one of our principal staples ; but, to render this valuable to the farmer, it is necessary he should possess the means of converting it into a fit state for use, so that he may not only reap part of the benefit arising from the manufacture, but reduce the bulk and iweight of his exportable com modity, so as to be able to enter the market less unfavourably, with respect to the transport charges, than at present. OF EMIGRATION. 235 *' As this Company will be j ustly entitled to all the advantages that will result from the command of the water throughout the route of the Canal, the mills now erected on that part of the Twelve-mile Creek, (which will be benefited by an additional supply of water,) must be purchased at a fair valua tion from the present proprietors, and be at the disposal of the Company, after the completion of the cut. — Two flouring mills of the best descrip tion, and other machinery, should be erected by the Company ; a flouring mill, as near Chippawa as possible, to receive wheat and produce coming down wards from Lake Erie, arid another as near Lake Ontario, to receive produce from the banks thereof, and dispose of all the intermediate situations. " Subjoined is a calculation, upon good data, of the probable expence of the undertaking, con trasted with a sketch of the profits, which it is presumed would accrue to the Company. £. To estimate of first cut, from Chippawa, to Lake Ontario ... ... ... 10,000 Probable amount of valuation of the different mills, &c. on the Twelve-mile Creek, which it wiU be necessary to purchase ... ... 4,000 Erecting two grist-mills, saw-mills, &c. with other machinery ... ... ... 5,625 Cut to Grand River ... ... 2,500 Hal'x. Cur'y. £22,125 By rental of machinery to be erected by the Company 2,000 Interest on sale of the intermediate scites for hydrau lic purposes . . ... ... 300 Rental of mills now erected ... ... 500 q2 236 ADVANTAGES " The proceeds from the Sale of the intermediate scites, for hydravilic purposes, the increased valuei of the mills now erected, and the rental of the Company's two grand establishments on each end of the canal, will, of itself, bring in a handsome dividend to the stockholders, on the amount neces sary to complete the whole — leaving out the rea sonable expectation of a large sum that must be derived from the transportation of various articles. A boat, carrying forty tons, will be taken up at the same expence that two tons can be conveyed with a waggon at the present period. " If a sufficient degree of public spirit should not be found in the two provinces, to complete so great and noble an object, we tru,st, private interest will induce individuals to embark a portion of their capital in a fund, where a profit will be immediately realized, continue, and increase with the growing prosperity of the country." Should this and other public works be exe cuted, the Province would become in a short time a desirable place of residence for almost every description of traders, and a manifold impulse would be given to commercial enter prise. In the present state of the country, men who have property to the amount of from £600 to £2000, if content to live a farmer's life, and to cultivate their land with their own hands, may procure a very comfortable livelihood in Upper Canada ; but if they were to embark their OF EMIGRATION. 237 property in commerce, they would soon arrive at the bottom of their purses. Business in Upper Canada is conducted on principles so different from those of other countries, that it would be neces sary for a man to reside several years in the Pro vince, for the purpose of acquiring a knowledge of all kinds of chicanery and fraud, and of obtain ing an insight into the character of the inhabitants, their system of barter, and general mode of deal ing, before he would be fit for commencing busi ness with the slightest prospect of success. Besides, there is a sufficient number of merchants in Canada at present ; and it is a singular fact, that, although their profits appear to be very great, and are acknowledged to be upwards of 75 per cent, on the cost and charges, few of them have latterly succeeded in making a fortune. I do not therefore hesitate to say, that commerce, if undertaken by an emigrant, without any previous acquaintance with the country, will in a short time prove his ruin, no matter how extensive his capital may be. I will suppose an Englishman, possessed of fifteen- hundred pounds, desirous of emigrating to Canada, for the purpose of obtaining land for himself and his family, and consequently of bettering his cir cumstances by the exchange. We will take his family to consist of eight persons ; for he must not think of servants, for some reasons which I shall hereafter explain. The total expence of transporting such a family q3 238 ADVANTAGES from Europe to Upper Canada, will be nearly as follows : — £. s. d. For a cabin passage across the Atlantic ... ... 50 0 0 Provisions for 70 days, — including liquor, medicine, &c. about ... ... ... ... ... 50 0 0 Passage from Quebec to Montreal, 180 miles, on board a steam-boat, estimating the 6 children as 3 adults ... 15 0 0 Necessary delay in Montreal for a conveyance to Preseott, 2 days' expences if at a hotel ... ... ... 3 0 0 Passage from Montreal to Preseott, i 30 miles, perform ed in 8 days, if not more than 5 cwt of luggage, (for every additional hundred 7s. 6d.) ... ... 4 0 0 Provisions for 8 days going to Preseott, and expences of sleeping at taverns ... ... ... ... 8 0 0 Delay at Preseott, waiting for steam-boat, say 2 days ... 3 0 0 From Preseott to Kingston, 60 miles, 12 hours ... 500 Delay at Kingston, waiting for steam-boats, which are there only three times a month, say 5 days ... 800 Expences from Kingston to York ... ... 15 0 0 Delay at York, petitioning for land and obtaining loca tion-tickets, at least 10 days ... ... ... 15 0 0 Expence of carriage from York to the nearest Govern ment land ... ... ... ... ... 10 0 0 Total Expence from any part in the United Kingdom, to the nearest Government land. Upper Canada ... 186 0 0 I Year's provisions ... ... ... -•. 100 0 0 1 horse ... ... ... ••¦ -.• 15 0 0 2 yoke of oxen ... ... ... .•• ••. 20 0 0 4 cows ... ... ¦.• ••• ••• 10 0 0 Farming utensils, all of which must be bought in Canada 15 0 0 jSheep cannot be kept for a year or two 346 0 0 OF EMIGRATION. 239 £. s. d. Brought forward 346 0 0 Indispensable articles of household furniture,— admitting that beds are brought from Europe ... ... 20 0 0 Fees on 500 acres of land, the complement which a per son possessing £1500. will be entitled to obtain ... 125 0 0 The performance of settlement duties on the land, which must be done to entitle the proprietor to a deed, — 25 acres cleared and fenced, at £4. per acre ... ... 100 0 0 A log-house, 30 feet by 20, with four apartments, and 2 brick chimnies ... ... ... ... 40 0 0 A framed barn ... ... ... ... ... 50 0 0 Total Expence of emigrating from any part of Great Britain or Ireland, with a family of eight persons, and of procuring a deed of 500 acres of Government land, with the necessary stock and farming utensils ... 681 0 0 For this sum the emigrant will be able to defray his expences from his native country to Upper Ca nada, to obtain 600 acres of land, to clear and fence 25 acres, to erect a house and barn, and to provide himself with the necessary farming uten sils, stock and furniture. For £300. more, he may have 76 acres cleared, which in addition to the other 25, will make 100, — a quantity suffi cient for any Canadian farmer. I only mention these facts, to shew the impolicy of Government in charging such enormous fees on wild and uncultivated land. By the statement which I have made, and which, you may rest assured, is perfectly correct, it appears that 600 acres of land, received from the Government, when improved in the way that has been described, will cost no less a sum to the proprietor than £316, 240 ADVANTAGES This land, it should be recollected, must of nece.s- sity be far retired from navigable waters, and at a ^-emote distance from any kind of market. Who then will be so far infatuated, and led blind-fold by a mistaken spirit of loyalty, as to accept such land from Government on the usual conditions, when he may purchase an equal quantity in the same advanced state of cultivation, for far less than that sum, on the banks of Lakes Erie, Ontario, and St. Claire ? I shall therefore consider the emigrant of £1600 to be settled on 600 acres in any part of the Pro vince which he may select, with the quantity of stock, farming utensils and furniture already-men tioned, at the expence of £616. As £884 of the £1500 yet remain, his prospects may be supposed to be decidedly favourable. But if he will not attend to his own business, and sometimes put his own hands to the plough, he must have more laboui-ers and other servants, than he can afford to pay. Properly to cultivate 100 acres of land, will require the constant labour of three men; the annual expence of whom, exclusive of their board, will be £90. For the support of his own family, his labourers, his oxen, his cows, and his sheep, 40 acres will be sufficient, if judici ously cultivated. There remains, therefore, the produce of 60 acres for the payment of his labour ers, and for the procuring of clothing for his family, — supposing that his wife is unwilling or unable to manufacture any. In the due cultivation . Of emigration. 241 of 60 acres of land, 40 acres may produce a yearly crop, which, if in a fertile part of the country, will amount to 25 bushels per acre. This quantity, according to the present price of grain, which is two shillings and sixpence per bushel, will amount to £125 ; out of which £90 must go to pay for hired labour ; so that, making no deductions whatever for the failure of crops, the wasting of grain, or other contingencies, only £35 are left for clothing a wife and six children. If a person of this description therefore were, in addition to his labourers, to keep only one inside servant, whose wages would amount to £16, his whole farm would be found little more than sufficient for the support of his household establishment. The interest of his £884, and the increase of his stock, would however be fully equal to meet all his necessary demands : So that, it may be said, that, with economy, frugality, and good success, he may live comfortably, without draw ing on his banker for any thing beside the interest of his mpney. From these remarks, three inferences may be safely drawn : First. — That no money can at present be made by farming in Canada. Secondly. — That it is as well to leave the land uncultivated, as to cultivate it by hired labour. And, Thirdly. — That it is infinitely better to purchase land from priyate individuals, than to take a grant of it from Government. 242 advantages It may, perhaps, be considered, that 40 acres of land will produce more grain than would suffice for the support of a family, consisting of eleven persons. Forty acres would certainly produce more grain than could be consumed by eleven persons ; but how are horses, cows, and oxen to be fed through a tedious Winter of nearly six months' continuance ? And how is pork to be fattened, in sufficient quantities fer the consumption of so large a family ? Ten acres of meadow-land will be scarcely sufficient to yield hay enough for a pair of horses, two yokes of oxen, half a dozen cows, and fifty sheep. Fifteen acres of pasturage will be no more than adequate to the sustenance of fifty sheep throughout the Summer, admitting that the cows and oxen find a subsistence in the forests ; and five acres will scarcely yield oats enough to feed the horses. There remain therefore only ten acres for the maintenance of the family. If you will take the trouble of estimating the quantity of grain, hay, and pasturage, necessary for the support of such a stock, and the flour which a large family will annually consume, and compare the result of these calculations with the average produce of land in Canada, you will find my state ments to be perfectly correct. The conclusion of the whole matter is, that a respectable emigi-ant, on leaving England with £1,600, may settle himself in Canada on an estate of 500 acres, support a large family comfortably, OF emigration. 243 and die jworth upwards of £800 in specie, if he is not imprudent or exceedingly unfortunate. , Such are the advantages which Canada affords to a person of this description, and if they are not great, they certainly are not contemptible. It should, however, be remembered, that, previous to the acquisition of such a competency as this which I have described, the settler must submit to numer ous privations, from which he would be entirely exempt in his own country. If he be a sporting character, he need not expect to partake in Canada of the pleasures of the chace or the sports of the turf. If he be a lover of society, he must be con tent with that of his family, or associate with a people whose general character and deportment are utterly abhorrent to every virtuous mind. He must educate his own children, or else allow them to remain in ignorance. He must instruct them in the ways of God, or allow them to be unacquainted with the things which make for their everlasting peace ; and, what is worse than all and most to be deplored, he will eventually see them forming alliances with a class of people whom he would be ashamed to acknowledge as acquaintances in any respectable society on earth. These are plain facts ; and, how ever unadorned by the graces of composition, are well worth the serious consideration of every mo- nied man that is desirous of emigrating to America. Respectable families, who, having been unfor tunate in their native country, may be allured by false representations to contemplate a removal 244 ADVANTAGES to Canada, should steadily reflect before they un dertake such an important step. Of all persons they are the worst calculated to succeed in America, and should never on any account attempt to emi grate, unless they be possessed of at least 500 pounds. Many persons of this class have arrived here within the last five or six years, most of whom, I regret to state, have had occasion very bitterly to deplore their fate. Families of this description, who have been accustomed while in Europe to the attendance of servants, unable at once to dispense with such valuable appendages to their household establishment, frequently take them across the Atlantic. This they do from an utter ignorance of the manners and customs of Canada, and under a supposition that the same refined state of society exists in this country as in their own» But here they lie under a mistake : For no sooner do European servants arrive in America, than, perceiving such an outcry about eqtjality and in dependence, and learning the facilities which are afforded of otherwise procuring the means of ex istence, they immediately become ashamed of the fancied meanness of their station, take French leave of their employers, and, procuring land for themselves, commence the occupation of farming on their own account. The sole gratification which remains for those who have paid the passage-money for their servants, is that of reflecting on their own imprudence, in omitting to make the proper enquiries on this subject, previous to their departure OF EMIGRATION. 245 from the mother country. But they have scarcely any leisure for reflection ; for they are suddenly and unexpectedly called to the performance of subordinate duties and menial offices, for which they had never been prepared. As a proof of what I have now stated, it may be well to mention, that, with the sole exception of my father's servants, all those persons who accom panied our party to this country, whether as ser vants or apprentices to the different settlers, very soon after their arrival decamped from the service of their benefactors. The probable reason why those who were attached to our family in this capacity, did not follow the example of the rest, was, that they were afraid of not meeting with equal success in obtaining grants of land. Among professional men, clergymen are the only class of which there is a particular scarcity in Canada. Of these, as I have shewn in the letter on Religion, there is by no means a sufficient number for supplying the spiritual wants of the people. But of lawyers and physicians there are quite enow to satisfy the demands of the Pro vince ; and, until the population of the country becomes more numerous, no prospects of success can be afforded to persons of these two professions, who may feel desirous of emigrating. To the young idlers of the Engli.sh hospitals, the occupa tion of physician in America will not be rendered more enticing, when they are informed, that, in consequence of the paucity of apothecaries' shops. 21Q advantages and the great distance between one town and another, and often between one settlement and another, every medical man who is excluded from practising in the larger towns, because those avenues to wealth are already choked, is driven to the necessity of carrying his medicine-chest with him to the hou-se of every patient, whom he is required to visit : A work of no small difficulty in a country in which the roads are not good ! Half-pay officers under field-rank, who have large families and are chiefly dependent on their pay for their support, will find this country a very advantageous place of retreat. They are exempted from personal labour in the field, because they are enabled by the regular receipt of their money to have their estates cultivated by hired men ; and thus they continue in the same sphere of life, with regard to their non-professional employments, in which they had been accustomed to move, though they cannot mix with the same agreeable society. Among mechanics and common tradesmen, car penters, cabinet-makers, tailors and .shoemakers are the most useful ; and are able to procure the amplest and most certain livelihood. Persons in these lines of life, are generally able to obtain employment, and are paid, as journeymen, on the average about thirty shillings per week. Almost every other de scription of mechanic is unable to maintain himself by means of his profession. Painters, slaters, and masons are especially superfluous ; because all those branches are combined in that of a carpenter ; OF EMIGRATION. 247 who is not only a hewer of wood, but a painter of wood ; and who, since nearly all the houses are built of that material, is able to dispense with the ma sonic art, except in the erection of chimnies, and in the performance of other jobs equally small and comparatively unimportant. But, whether a man be of an occupation that is likely to be called into exercise, or not, it is much better for him, particu larly if he has a family, to procure land and fol low the plough, than to continue in the pursuit of his original occupation. For, .since the popu lation of the country is too thin to allow of his having constant employment in his peculiar call ing, he may fill up the intervals by attending to his farm, and thus derive double the advan tage possessed by the mere agriculturist or the mere mechanic. With respect to the emigration of young men of talent and enterprize, but of no particular pro fession, I think it my duty most decidedly to urge upon their choice the preference that is due to the kingdoms of Europe, and especially to that of Great Britain. For they who imagine, that any other part of Canada, than the cities of Montreal and Quebec, is favourable to their views of lite rary, scientific, or commercial advancement, are of all men the most dreadfully deluded. I have heard of many such persons, who have recently arrived in the Province ; and I feel sorry to say, that I am not able to make a single exception in which they have not been compelled to resort to the use 248 ADVANTAGES of the axe, or to some other office which they' consider equally degrading. In truth, I conceive Upper Canada to be in a state of helpless infancy. The soil, by the luxu riant growth of its spontaneous productions, is evidently one of great richness ; and only needs the steady application of the hand of industry to make it absolutely teem with the various produc tions of nature, which are necessary for the sub sistence of the beasts of the field, the fowls of the air, and for the lords of the creation. Agriculture is of course the first step towards a state of civiliz ation : For it is of the very essence and spring of such a condition, that men should be induced to make that use of the earth for which it was intended, instead of making it the scene of carnage and slaughter ; or, in other words, that they should cultivate the fruits of the earth in a diligent and peaceful manner, instead of endeavouring to subsist On the favourable issue of warlike encounters with the savage or the timorous living creatures of the earth. While husbandry, like a deep but silent and fertilizing river, is stealing over the face of a country with the plainly perceptible inscription of Peace upon its green bosom, the nutritious diet, with which it rewards its humble and a.ssiduous votaries, pro-^ motes their health and longevity ; and the absence of strife and contention, which is produced by a rural life, encourages the formation of all those tender bonds of love and friendship from which OF EMIGRATION. 24<) society not only derives the mere name of society, but likewise all those innumerable charms of which it is the faithfol reservoir and fruitful source. Then, instead of the depopulating ravages of war, we have the increasing influence of peace. Not only is the life of those who now live preserved and prolonged by the healthful and' vigorous nature of their pursuits, — but they also become the fathers and mothers, the grandsires and grand- dames, the ancestors, in fact, of many generations of children and descendants, who, continuing like their progenitors to cultivate the land and peace with love and friendship, produce like them the fruits of each in plenteous and abun dant harvests, in domestic and international amity, and in a numerous and condensed population. This is the era for the encouragement of arts and manufactures, and also for the introduction of every other refinement of refined countries, which is consistent with the comfort, the virtue, and the happiness of man. Before Canada can, to the same extent with other countries, afford encouragement to the various artizans, manufacturers, and the profes sional men to whom I have alluded, it must pro ceed from the comparatively barren condition in which it now lies, through all the several stages of improvement with respect to cultivation, popula tion, &c. until it arrives at that completeness with regard to each, in which a .fit opportunity may be Vol. II. R 230 ADVANTAGES seized for the introduction of every thing calcu lated to promote the rising greatness of an infant nation. Then, and not till then, can we expect to find space for the formation of orbits for the scholar, the philosopher, and the statesman ; in which they may rightly move, and distribute their full radiance of light and influence among the innu merable crowds by which they shall be surrounded, " when the little one becomes a thousand, and the small one a strong nation." But if I may be allowed to prophesy, I will, in spite of the dis honour which may fall upon me in my own country for the exercise of a prophetic spirit, — I will predict, that the day will soon arrive, when those who are fond of making comparisons will be compelled to acknowledge, that, in many respects, the beauty of the daughter equals, if it does not exceed the beauty of her beauteous mother.* Those who reflect that such a consum mation must primarily proceed from the emigration of the starving poor of England, Ireland, and Scot land, — and that the country which was gained by the prowess of the British arms, will thus be made the seat of British industry, wealth, and learning, — will most heartily pray for its speedy accomplishment ! By some persons in England I know it is sup posed, that Canada will one day become an appen dage to the United States of America. They * See Horace, Bookl, Ode xvi. OF EMIGRATION. 2-51 anticipate an event, however, which certainly will never take place, so long as Great Britain retains her present power — and may she ever retain it ! — and so long as she pursues the same liberal policy towards her North American colonies which she has observed since the conquest of the Canadas. I have not formed this opinion without good data, and I shall therefore take the liberty of submitting to your consideration a few of the principal argu ments which I think may very properly be urged in its support, and by which I have governed my conclusions. The French inhabitants of Lower Canada, sen sible of the great value of that protection with regard to their civil, religious, and political rights, which they receive from the English Government, as naturalized subjects of the realm, entertain a warm and grateful attachment to the British Con stitution. Aware that if the country in which they reside, became subject to the United States, their present religious establishment would imme diately be broken up, they look upon the soi-disant citizens of America with a jealous eye ; and, to say the truth, they cherish no sentiments towards them but those of implacable abhorrence, arising from their laudable and chivalric attachment, how ever mistaken, to the religion of their ancestors. Influenced by such feelings and considerations, when occasion shall require they will defend their own rights and immunities, in connection with r2 252 ADVANTAGES those of the government which they have espoused, though the last drop of their blood should be expended in tears, for the infringement of their liberties, and the last breath in their bodies in sighs on account of the subjugation of their country. Those of the inhabitants of Upper Canada who are of American descent, entertain an equal abhor rence against their republican neighbours. For their own and their fathers' adherence to the royal cause during the revolutionary war, they suffered the loss of their estates, and were glad to seek, in the then uncultivated regions of Upper Canada, a refuge as well from the violence of faction, which raged in their native country, as from the conse quent poverty to which they were consigned by the change in its masters and the confiscation of their property. They still regard the Americans of the Union in the light of rebels and marauders ; and this feeling, instead of subsiding after a lapse of nearly fifty years, remains yet in its primitive force and vigour, and has, indeed, been consider ably increased by the lawless and savage conduct* * The burning of towns and the pillaging of their inhabitants were both commenced on the part of the Americans. They were accustomed to range in bands all over the Talbot Country, and made no distinction in the objects of their plunder. One of their chief aims was to deprive the Canadians of all their fire-arms, that the resistance offered to them might prove the less effectual. I have heard of one man who had stolen a gun from a Canadian's house, and was proceeding to destroy it by knocking it against a tree, when, being loaded, it went off, atid killed him on the spot. OF EMIGRATION. 2S3 of the Americans during the late war. There are no two nations in the known world, whose inha bitants entertain towards each other a more cordial hatred, than do the people of Canada and those of the United States ; and I question much, whether, all things being considered, the former would not more willingly become the subjects of the Dey of Algiers, than acknowledge the sovereignty of the adjacent republic. That part of the population of Upper Canada which is of British origin, fully alive to the inestimable privileges which they enjoy under the constitution of their country, if they are not actuated by any feeling of animosity towards the Americans, are yet so firmly attached to their sovereign, and feel their own interests .so insepa rably connected with those of the kingdom in general, that, if their adopted country were in vaded, they would meet the foe with such deter mined resolution, as might ensure success to a more dangerous enterprize. Inhabited by such a people, I would ask, " What has Canada to fear ?" or rather, " What has England to fear ?" Certainly, nothing ; but she has much to do : And if she be desirous to boast of a loval and independent people under her protection on the American Continent, let her adopt such mea sures in the government of Canada as will be more likely to issue in this desirable result, than some of those acts which have emanated from the resident authorities. R 3 LETTER XXXVL PEDESTRI.\N JOURNEY FROM THE TALBOT SETTLEMENT TO MON TREAL CONVERSATION WITH AN AMERICAN TAVERN-KEEPER^ DESCRIPTION OF A CANADIAN TAVERN LOST IN THE WOODS- MIDNIGHT WANDERINGS THE DISCOVERY OF A DWELLING INHOSPITABLE CONDUCT OF ITS IN.MATES LODGING IN THE BARN ARRIVAL AT THE SEAT OF COLONEL SIMONS THE RESUMP TION OF MY JOURNEY AND ARRiVAL AT THE SEIGNORY OF LON- GUEILLE DESCRIPTION OF THE LANDLADY OF A TAVERN. Dr. Goldsmith somewhere observes, that a man who travels through a country on foot, and a man who is whirled through it in a carriage, will neces sarily make very different reflections on the scenes through which they pass, and on the various objects presented to their notice. As I had chiefly travelled in the Canadas, though not in a stage coach, yet in vehicles which carried me over their lakes and rivers with greater velocity, perhaps, than ever the Doctor saw others whirled along the roads of Italy and France, and was, by that method of travelling, prevented from visiting many settle ments, which I felt a desire to see ; I resolved, in the spring of 1820, to undertake a pedestrian tour from the Talbot Settlement to Montreal, thereby to avail myself of the advantages afforded to a PEDESTRIAN TOUR. 255 single man, unincumbered with attendants, and blessed with an almost apostolical scantiness of scrip agd purse. The more important part of the information collected during this journey, I have already communicated in some of my preceding letters. I shall, therefore, confine myself at pre sent to the various adventures of my redoubtable pilgrinmge. I left my father's settlement alone, like Jacob when he went to Padan-aram to the house of Bethuel, his mother's father. I set forth with a feeling of regret, which, when I first took up my abode in the woods, I thought I should never entertain for any part of America. But we become imperceptibly attached to the scenes in which we are accustomed to roam ; and though we may regard them with a degree of indifference while they are continually before our eyes, yet we cannot forsake them without emotion : And not an image, when remotely view'd. However trivial, and however rude, But wins the heart, and wakes the social sigh. With every claim of close affinity ! We frequently identify the action with the scene ; and, in our conversations with persons who have been at some former period of life our companions, the associations of the mind are so strong, that we are apt to make use of a sort of figure of synecdoche, in speaking of the incident when we would speak of the place where it hap pened, and vice versa. The poet, — that sensitive 356 PEDESTRIAN TOUR plant of the animal creation, who is not only touched with every thing, but is moved and thrilled by every thing which touches him, — the poet remembers the silent brook, on whose green banks he has conceived many of his loftiest ideas, with a veneration as profound as though it were substantially the fountain of his inspirations ; and the no less enthusiastic philosopher,— who has been long accustomed to observe the courses of the stars, the phases of the moon, and even to explore what he would make us believe to be, the moun tains and vallies, the rivers and roads, of that beau tiful planet,— when others are wrapt up in slumber, is rapt in imagination to the highest heavens, and, in the true spirit of a lunatic, forgets, while he is walking on the milky way, that he also is made of an earthly substance. The lover likewise, whom the disappointment of his dearest hopes induced to fly from his former habitation, is every where pursued by the fond recollection of those happy hours which he spent in sweet communion with the fair object of his admiration ; and ever enter tains a feeling of high regard for the groves and meads through which, in the dawnings of affection, he was accustomed to rove with the idol of his soul, — to live in her looks and feed on her smiles. But what has all this to do with my feelings on departing from the Talbot Settlement ? I am nei ther a poet, a philosopher, nor a lover; and, of course, cannot feel any of their peculiar regrets. But I am a being of the same passions and recol- TO MONTREAL, 257 lections which are common to pur common species; and I had frequently, while in Lower Canada, found a sigh arising in my bosom when any trifling event directed nay attention to those parts of the Sister Province in which some of my gloomiest days had been spent. While in the wilderness I have oft times exclaimed with the poet. Oh Solitude ! where are the charms, That sages have seen in thy face ? Better dwell in the midst of alarms. Than reign in this horrible place. yet, on leaving it, I could not bid adieu to the most insignificant object with total indifference. After I had walked about twenty miles through the woods, to a place where a tavern had been lately opened, I stopped for the purpose of taking some refreshment ; but on knocking at the door of the inn, I discovered, that, although the ne.st remained, the birds had flown. It had been esta blished a short time before, by one of those specu lating Yankees who roam from settlement to settlement, in the character of experimentalists, and who, not being able to realize their expectations in any place, are almost continually upon the wing. Being a little fatigued, I seated myself an on empty cask, which stood opposite the door, and took from my pocket a small edition of Young's " Night Thoughts," determined, as I could not procure any of the pabulum corporis, to substitute mental pro vender. But alas ! the musquitoes were as hungry 258 PEDESTRIAN TOUR as myself, and compelled me to shut the book and resume my journey. It was rather remarkable that I had opened at a page which contained, as the lawyers gay, a case in point : I rue the riches of my former fate ; Sweet comfort's blasted clusters I lament ; I tremble at the blessings once so dear. And every pleasure pains me to the heart. I had still ten miles of the wilderness to traverse before I came to the Oxford Settlement. In all this distance, I met not a single human being ; but the musquitoes were so glad of my company, and kept me so busily employed in defending myself on this side and on that, as to afford me no time for thinking of any other beings, tl.an those which were thinking or drinking so much of me. On arriving at Oxford, I stopped at a tavern to dine; but I had again the misfortune to find no landlord within. You pity me, I dare say : But the case was not altogether hopeless. He had not, like the other, been guilty of a moon-light removal; but was only outside of the door, sitting on a rock ing-chair, and basking in the sun : His appearance was somewhat rubicund and " landlordly," and indicated, as is usual, the nature of his profession. Although he was very lightly clothed, having nothing on his person but a thin pair of pantaloons and a cotton shirt, he was literally melting from the heat, and, I seriously think, decreasing at the rate of two and a half per cent, per hour. Men of his profession have the care of very powerful sudo- TO MONTREAL. 2.'>9 rifics, diuretics, emetics and aperients ; and if they partake of them in too large doses, they richly deserve to experience the deleterious effects. As I approached the door, he took his segar from his mouth ; and while he surveyed me with an eye, in the pupil of which curiosity was most legibly written, accosted me with, "I guess, Squire, that you he's an English man." You must guess again. Sir, I replied. " Why, then, I calculate as how you must be a Southern!"-}' You are equally unfortunate in your calculations. Sir. " Then I vow you mu,st be a New-Yorker !" Your vow is a rash one. Sir. " Then, what the devil are you ?" I am a cosmopolite by profession, and an Irish man by birth. " Well, I swear that's pretty particular tarnation odd too. Why, I vow you speak English nearly as well as we Americans does." O, not at all. Sir; you really intend to flatter me ! but as I am not much disposed for either pay ing or receiving compliments at present, I shall feel particularly obliged by your ordering me a beef-steak. I have walked upwards of thirty miles without taking refreshment ; and if you feel any disposition to join meat the dinrler-table, I think I shall be able to convince you, that, if I cannot speak + Meaning an inhabitant of the Southern States. 200 PEDESTRIAN TOUR English quite as correctly as you, I can eat a beef steak with equal appetite. "¦ Oh ! I guess, there he's no need for no proof of that, for I never doubted the table-ability of your countrymen." This was, I own, a pretty good hit ; but I made no reply ; being unwilling to protract the conver sation, lest I should thereby protract the prepa ration of my dinner. The beef-steak was at length ordered, when it was discovered that there was none to be had ; and, without consulting me on the subject, a pork-griskin was served up as a sub stitute. I refrained however from complaint, and sat down as contentedly as possible. During din ner, the following dialogue took place, between the landlord and his guest : Landlord. I calculate, you old-country folk don't think much of us Yankees. My dear Sir, it is not possible that I can know exactly what old-country people think respecting you or your country. Landlord. Well, that may be, but I calculate you can tell us what you think yourself. Ye.s, I admit that: But you must be aware, that we do not at all times feel disposed to tell our neighbours what we think of them. I do not know that I should like to tell my most intimate friends exactly what I think of them. Land. Oh ! I know nothing of your scrupulo sity. We Yankees are straight-forward, stiff- TO MONTREAL. 261 necked, clear-tongued fellows ; not afraid to tell no man what we think of him. Well then, what do you think of me, since you are so ready to deliver your sentiments ? Land. Why, I guess as how you he's not a very bad sort of fellow ; though I don't over-and-abovc like you gentry from England. You think too tarnation little of a poor man in your own country to be thought much of in ours. You make slaves of hired men in that there country of yours, and this you know is a most righteous shame. You are entirely mistaken. Sir ; we have no slaves in Great Britain. Slaves cannot breathe in England ; if their lungs Receive our air, that moment they are free; They touch our country and their shackles fall. Land. Aye, Aye ! you mean, you have no negirs in England : We know all that, but we also know that you have got a tarnation grist of slaves there. Well, if you must have it so, I am perfectly satisfied. Pray, what other objection have you to us? Land. Why, you are not clever slick off.* If you are asked half-a-dozen questions, I reckon you grow uglyX right away, and remain silent during the rest of the day. At this moment a man in his shirt sleeves stalked into the apartment in which we were sitting, and requesting " mine host" to let him have a gall- * Free and familiar on all occasions. t Cross and ill-tempered. 2(52 PEDESTRIAN TOUR tickler,* seized hold of him by the collar, and dragged him into the bar with as much sang froid as if he had been an empty rum-cask. I was not sorry for this interruption of our conversation, nor had I any desire to renew it ; for, being assured that I could not have a comfortable bed in the house, I was determined to proceed to the next tavern, from which I was then eight miles distant. When I had paid my bill and was bidding adieu to my ho.st, he said, " Now, Squire, I calculate as how you think I am a most righteous curious craturT^ " Indeed," replied I, " I think you are rather an odd fish." " I am a tarnation clever fellow though, and as good a bit of stuff as ever was wrapped up in so much leather. There's a hand," holding out his hand, " made of a little of the d st stuff you ever saw." After he had said this, I begged leave to decline any further conversation for the present, and set forward on my journey. My route lay through the township of Oxford, which is one of the richest settlements in the whole Province; and at eight o'clock in the evening, I arrived at Dogge's tavern, where I put up for the night. As I have not, in any of my preceding letters, given you a particular description of the Canadian * A glass of spirits. t The American pronunciation of the word creature. TO MONTREAL. 263 taverns, I shall in this place endeavour to describe them. In the country parts of Upper Canada, they consist, for the most part, of small log-houses, with three apartments, — a kitchen, a bed-chamber, and a bar-room in each. The bar-room is alike the coffee-room, the dram-shop, and the counting- house. The kitcbtjn is the scullery, the dining- room, and drawing-room. And the bed-chamber is both store-room and ward-robe. The furniture of a bar-room, excepting its cha racteristic accompaniments, consists of nothing more than a plain cherry-table, two or three pine benches, and a fire-poker. It has also " white washed wall," and " nicely-sanded-floor," but ¦ No varnished clock to deck behind the door. No pictures placed for ornament or use. No twelve good rules, no royal game of goose. No broken tea-cups, wisely kept for show. Ranged o'er their chimneys glittering in a row. The furniture of the kitchen it is unnecessary to particularize, — pots, kettles, plates, dishes, knives and forks, chairs and tables, with half-a-dozen trays, are generally found in these apartments. The bed-chamber commonly contains four or five beds, clean and plain, with cotton sheets and lin sey-woolsey coverlets, but having neither posts nor curtains. The other accoutrements of this apartment are two or three chairs, and a portable looking-glass, so small that a Lilliputian might put it in his waistcoat pocket; and, so far from return- 264 PEDESTRIAN TOUR ing a correct representation of the objects which it reflects, that if you look at yourself in it length wise, it will double the longitude of your visage, and if breadthwise, it will equally augment the latitude. Such is the furniture of a Canadian bed room ! Sans wash-hand-stand, sans dressing-table, sans bureau, sans pot de chcmibre, " sans every thing !" In this sort of apartment do men, women, and children indiscriminately seek repose from the fatigue of travelling. On entering one of these taverns and asking for a single bed, you are told that your chance of get ting one depends entirely on the number of travel lers who may want accommodations for the night ; and if you obtain possession of a bed by promising to receive a companion when required, it is impos sible to say what sort of a companion may come : So that, instead of hoping for the best, one is led into the commission of a sort of practical bull, — to which, however all who regard their own per sonal convenience are equally liable, whether they be English or Irish, — by keeping awake for the purpose of receiving an intruder while no intru der comes to be received ; and thus we are some times deprived of a night's rest, without any ad vantage. I remember once being compelled to take a bed on these conditions, because I could not other wise procure it. I retired early to rest ; and after contending a short time with my apprehensions of some ineligible bed-fellow, I dropped asleep. TO MONTREAL. 26:> About midnight, I was awakened by the chatter ing of five buxom girls, who had just entered the room and were beginning to undress themselves. Perceiving that there were only four beds in the apartment, — a double-bedded room I, — 'each of which was already occupied by one person, I set it down as certain that I should have one, if not two, of these ladies. Under this impression, I raised up my head, and desired to be informed which of them intended me the honour of her company. " Don't be alarmed, Sir!" cried one of them. " We shall not trouble you nor your bed. A look " is quite sufficient !" I suppose I must have discovered .some signs of fear, and probably looked horribly enough ; for the idea of three in a bedi was rather a formidable affair. This, however, was the first time in my life that I owed the luxury of a single-bed, or any other luxury, fo my looks. Until then I had always conceived, that my face was one of those every-day faces which neither excite admiration nor create alarm, but which,^ — like the crow that is vainly set up in a corn-field, in the judicial capacity of a terror to evil doers, — is only observed by the passing world as adding one to the number of its species. My prospect of good fortune was speedily confirmed, by the sight of a large bed arranged on the floor, in which the five young ladies composed themselves to rest. In the course of my short life, I had witnessed much of the Vol II. S 266 PEDESTRIAN TOUR delightful loquacity of the fair sex ; but I was greatly astonished, when, after a brief interval of silence, these females resumed their conversation with redoubled energy. The tone of their voices indeed was less clear than before, and their sen tences rather short and abrupt. They spoke prin cipally in monosyllables ; and from the great stress which they laid on particular words, I was led to suppose they were engaged in the discussion of some topic of vital importance. But I could derive no benefit from their conversation ; for it was carried on in a language which I did not under stand ; but which, from the abundance of gutturals that it contained, was most probably German. I was kept awake for a considerable time by their interesting confab., but arose in the morning too early to hear the termination of the debate, — yet early enough to discover, that ladies speak Ger man when they snore aloud. I have already said, that, in the bed-chambers of Canadian hotels, you are not supplied with wash-hand stands or any of the paraphernalia of the dre-ssing-table. But, le.st I should be hereafter accused of disseminating erroneous or garbled statements, it may be as well to inform you, that, on descending from your bed-room and walking outside the door, you will find something in the shape of a pig-trough, supplied with water, in which you may wash, if you please, after you have dressed, or before, if you have any disposition to walk out in your morning-gown. TO MONTREAL. 2(J7 In addition to these comforts of a Canadian hotel, and as an example of others too numerous to mention, I may be allowed to say, if you have a horse, you are obliged, not merely to see him fed and cleaned, but to feed him and clean him yourself, or else allow him to remain hungry and dirty; and this, too, must be done with a good grace, or you will be assailed by the combined anathemas of the landlord and the windy clamour of his lady. It is vain to expect any sort of attention from the proprietors of hotels in the country parts of either Canada or the United States. If you ask the landlord ever so politely for any accommoda tion to which you may feel yourself inclined, he will sullenly desire you to have patience and wait till he is more at leisure ; and es to the young- girls, who are usually found in these situations, they are, to use the language of Lieutenant Hall, a shade sulkier than the men. " Do you enquire of the damsels for refreshment? The odd,? are, that you will be answered by a monosyllablie grunt, or some such delicate phrase as. Mother, (he man wants to eat!" But let me resume my journey. On the second day, I passed through a tract of country, which belongs principally to civil and military officers who have served in Canada at various periods, and who, in the early survey of the country, obtained these lands without any conditions respecting the performance of settlement or other duties. The s 2 268 PEDESTRIAN TOUR greater part of these grants were made, I believe, more than thirty years ago ; and yet the whole of them are nearly an unbroken wilderness, only three houses having been erected in a distance of nineteen miles. There are few greater impedi ments to the improvement of the country, than the number and extent of grants of this description : For, being in the possession of men who are under no immediate necessity of disposing of them, and whose only object is to retain them until their value is increased by the greater improve ment of surrounding parts, they are likely to remain in their present condition for many years to come. So long as they continue thus unsettled, the roads in their vicinity will be as impassable as I found them to be when I went over them. Nothing of much importance occurred this third day of my journey ; but a sad accident befel me in the evening of the next. When I arrived at Ancaster, which is about eighty miles from my father's .settlement, it was about six o'clock, p. m. My intention was to stop that night at Flambro' Cottage, the seat of Colonel Simons,* which, by * Colonel Simons is a Canadian by birth, and the son of an American who held a commission under his Majesty previous to the revolutionary war, and who, instead of transferring with easy subservience his loyalty to George Washington, drew his sword in defence of George Rex. At the termination of the contest, disdaining to breathe any longer in the rebel atmosphere of his native country, he removed to Canada; and still has the happiness of enjoying the sunshine of British liberty. His eldest son, who is the subject of this note, is one of the TO MONTREAL. 3^9 the regular road, was six miles from Ancaster, but only two and a half miles in a direct line. As the sun was beginning to decline, I resolved to take the shortest cut ; and, having made some previous enquiries respecting the way, set off without any fear of losing myself in the woods. After walking for upwards of an hour and a half, as I thought, in the proper direction, I fancied that I ought to be near my ultimate destination. But on arriving at a house, and making enquiry about the distance and situation of Flambro' Cottage, I found, that, instead of approaching it, I had actually gone in an opposite direction, and was then more than seven miles distant from it. The sun had already disappeared, and I expressed some apprehension to the people of the house, that I should not be able to make out the road. I did this, with a view to induce them to offer me a lodging for the night ; but, they dismissed me with an assu- Tnost hospitable and gentlemanly men with whom I am acquainted. I feel much indebted to him, not only for many personal favours conferred upon me, but also for his polite attention, in innumer able instances, to my father and his family, since our arrival in the country. He has ever proved himself a sincere friend and disinterested counsellor; and I should feel ashamed to conclude these volumes without making some slight acknowledgment for kindness, the memory of which will always be preserved with gratitude in our hearts. — To the brother of this gentleman, Captain Simons, 1 am also under many obligations, and I feel a particular pleasure in being able to rescue their names from the sweeping censures, which my regard for truth and my duty to tlie public have compelled me to pass upon the generality of their countrymen. s 3 27*0 PEDESTRIAN TOUR ranee, " that the way was too plain to be mis taken." Having no alternative, I again set off; but bad not proceeded a mile before it grew sO dark, that I could no longer perceive the path. After wandering about till nine o'clock, I acci dentally arrived at another dwelling, where, on relating my adventures, I had the mortification to observe, that they excited a good deal of mer riment. " Poh !" said the man of the house, who was evidently a Yankee, " I guess as how I have " got a little scrape of a mare in that there field, " that would carry me to Flambro' Cottage in the " darkest night that God Almighty ever made; " and that too, if I was as drunk as a rum-keg. ^' Say, Betsy !" giving a significant look at his wife, " han't Polly often carried me slick forward, " from that to this, when I han't been able to tell " whether I rode her or she rode me?" " To be sure," replied Betsy, " how should she " do otherwise ? Sure, if she were not as blind as /' Bartimeus, she could not miss the way." Seeing there was no one here, who would either sympathize with me, or give me any particular information respecting the plan most proper to be pursued for the purpose of preventing any further aberrations, I departed abruptly from the door, not a little chagrined with the unceremonious and inhospitable treatment which I had expe rienced. All that I could learn from Betsy and her hus band was, that another house was not far distant. TO MONTREAL. Oyj "to which I endeavoured to direct my steps. But as the path was narrow and scarcely discernible, as well on account of the forest through which it winded, as of the " blackness of darkness" which the night had by this time assumed, I soon began to deviate into the woods. Undaunted by these provocations to despondency, I still pei-severed, ima gining that if I pursued a direct course it would even tually lead me either into the Ancaster road, or that of Flamborough. In the prosecution of this plan, I continued to walk as smartly, as the abundance of underwood and other obstacles would allow me, for the space of three hours. I was now not far from the conviction of there being little chance that I should that night be able to regain a settlement ; and the spirit of knight-errantry on which I set out was ebbing apace, when I found myself on the brink of a rapid i-iver, and in walking on its banks I arrived at the foot of a considerable cataract. It has been justly observed by Dr. Johnson, " that the sensations excited by the view of an un- " known and untravelled wilderness are not such " as arise in the artificial solitudes of parks and gar- *' dens, — a flattering notion of self-sufficiency, a " placid indulgence of voluntary delight, a secure " expansion of the fancy, or a cool concentration " of the mental powers. , The phantoms which " haunt a desert are want, and misery, and danger ; " the evils of dereliction rush upon the thoughts; " man i§ made unwillingly acquainted with his own " weakness, and meditation shews him only how 272 PEDESTRIAN TOUR *' little he can sustain, and how little he can per- " form !" At the foot of the cataract, this beauti ful passage occurred to my mind ; and I thought within myself, if a great man like Johnson, while securely straying through one of the Hebrides at noon-day and in the company of an agreeable friend, could anticipate so feelingly the possible evils of such a situation as mine, where could be the wonder that I, alone in the midst of one inter minable wild, and at the noon of night, should experience an equal agitation of the nerves with the illustrious doctor ? Though extremely weary and worn out with fatigue, I was afraid to sit down ; for I knew this part of the country was infested with those animals to which GoLDS.MiTH alludes, when he says : Here, at each step, the stranger fears to wake The rattling terrors of the vengeful snake. I therefore leaned my back against a tree, aban doning myself to my solitary condition. A thou sand painful recollections immediately assailed me, — the friends from whom I had recently parted, — the comforts of home, — the society of my fellow- men, without which the world would be but a wil derness, — and every thing, which, from the differ ence of its nature, could be contrasted with the circumstances of my desolate condition ! How little do we prize our blessings! The clock strikes one; we take no note of time But from its less ! And in the same manner we never know the value TO MONTREAL. 273 tof any thing which we possess until we are deprived -of it. There is something very pleasing to my nature in the ocasional indulgence of sombre re flections ; and so long as I am only brooding over imaginary evils, it is very well. But when, as in the case which I am now relating, the various excitements to a melancholy mood are real, my reveries become exceedingly irksome and mis placed ; and I am forced to confess to greater incongruity than he who complained, " the good that I would I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do." I would fain have indulged a more joyous train of ideas ; but the tide of sadness was steadily set in, and I had only to wait patiently for the return of gladness. The gloom which overspread my heart seemed to increase with that w^hich overspread the forests ; and the various con comitants of the scene, — if those may be called such which cannot be seen, — served only to heighten the original effect. I had lived long enough in this country to hear the howl and the growl of the wolf and the bear without any con sternation, if I was prepared to meet them and possessed the advantage of day-light. But when, like the goblin whose power of locomotion was almost equal to ubiquity, the terrific sounds issued on every side in the same minute, and frequently mingled in a sort of synchronical succession, I could not tell on which side to commence the fray, if I had even been so inclined ; and truly I was not just then oppugnaciously dispo.sed. Now and 274 pedestrian tour then, I thought I could perceive the eye-ball of a deer glimmering through the trees, and was fre quently confirmed in my conjectures by the whistle and the snort which immediately followed, and the rustling noise which accompanied the noble ani mal's decampment. Numbers of squirrels ap proached so near me, that I could plainly remark their gambols ; and though, at any other time, or in another situation, I should have derived consi derable pleasure from the contemplation of their innocent vivacity, I could, on this occasion, only exclaim within myself, They are so unacquainted with man. Their lameness is shocking to me ! Instead of the nightingale, — whose song might have pacified my fears and have appeased the awakened anger of their savage objects, for Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast, the voice of the night-oWl was heard in the dis cordant concert, which vexed me the more, because " it neither added to nor confounded" the rage of my appalling enemies. I am not particularly superstitious, or prone to believe all the tales that I hear respecting super natural appearances, whether they present them selves in the shape of Gorgon s, and Hydras, and Chimeras dire, or in that of Elves and Fairies, or in the intermediate and connecting link of Ghosts, TO MONTREAL. 275 Spectres, and Hobgoblins : And yet, enve loped as I was in the two-fold gloom of my reflections and of the forest, I fancied I could sometimes distinguish, by the fitful gleamings of the fire-fly, objects in the form of men passing and -repassing before me. I likewise imagined, as the night-breeze swept mournfully by, that I could hear the deep groans of some agonized mind — the spirit perhaps of an Indian warrior lamenting the extinction of his nation, and like another .^neas in the shades, exrchanging for a time the place of his residence — the one, to re-visit the scenes where he formerly roved undisturbed by the white man, as the other did, when he explored the dismal re gions of his subsequent abode. By this time I had become so weary as well in mind as in body, that I found it neces,sary to walk about, lest I should fall asleep ; I succeeded in this attempt, but as you will afterwards find, it was only by exchanging one sort of falling for another. Not knowing v/hat direction to select, and afraid of penetrating still farther into the wilderness, I resolved at length on ascending a sort of mountain which rose up before me, under the impression, that, if it should even lead me wider of the track, its elevated situation would afford me ample re compense. The side of the mountain was precipi tous and broken, which made the ascent both difficult and dangerous. In one part a ledge of rocks projected, while, in another, deep and perilous trenches had been dug by the violence of the spring-floods. Now I stumbled over a huge piece 276 PEDESTRIAN TOUR of granite, then I embraced a prostrate oak, and afterward fell into a trench. In these respects it bore some resemblance to the hill Difficulty, which " Pilgrim" had to climb ; and like him in ascend ing it, " I fell from running to going, and from going to clambering on my hands and knees, be cause of the steepness of the place." Like him also, I was not discouraged, but said in my heart, and in John Bunyan's jooe^r^, Bet;ter, though difficult, the right way to go, Tlian wrong, though easy, where the end is woe. ,By dint of perseverance, at length I attained the summit; and being completely exhausted, I climbed up a small tree with the intention of sitting on its forked branches. But I had no sooner taken this situation than I perceived a light through the trees, which appeared to be that of a candle shining from a distance of about two miles. I immediately came down from the tree, and resolved to proceed without delay towards the place where the light seemed to be fixed. But, on reaching the ground, I lost sight of it, and walked in the direction from which it seemed to issue for nearly an hour before I recovered it. It is need less to say that I got down the mountain with more ease, less danger, and in half the time which it took me to ascend. On coming to another hill, I regained the light ; and, keeping my eye fixed steadily upon it, walked forward with renewed alacrity, till I arrived at the house from the window of which it first attracted my attention. To MONTREAL. e^j Never did I approach the habitation of man with feelings of more ineffable pleasure. I had been on my feet continuously for nearly twenty-one hours, and had walked about forty-five miles " without bite or sup," which made me feel, as you may suppose, a strong inclination for both rest and food. As I walked up to the door of the dwelling, I fancied that I was not far from either of these necessary comforts ; — but, alas! the gentle lumi nary which had kindly served as a lamp unto my feet, and as a light unto my path, most woefully belied the character of its inhospitable owner. I knocked, and presently was answered by the usual inquiry, "^ Who comes there ?" — A friend ! " What friend ?" — A stranger who, having lost his way in the woods, throws himself upon your kindness and protection! " We can receive no strangers here !" was the blood-freezing reply. I remonstrated, — claimed the common rights of humanity, — and begged for admittance in the name of my country, whose known hospitality would, I vainly imagined, have obtained me a passport even to the wig-wam of an Indian. " To the wig-wam of an Indian," did I say ? — I should rather have said " to the dwelling of a Turk;" for an Indian refuses no man the shel ter of his hut, but To the homeless child of want His door is open still; And though his portion is but scant, • He gives it with good will. 278 PEDESTRIAN TOUR Finding all my remonstrances ineffectual, and con vinced that there was no disposition to take the siranger in, — which, by the bye, in its secondary acceptation, was rather a remarkable circumstance in Upper Canada, I walked away from the house with feelings of as much benevolence towards its inmates as they deserved, but, to say the truth, with no more. " Surely barns and stables were made to be a " refuge for the destitute," thought I, as I passed over to a building of the former description which stood a few yards from the house. There wa,s no need for open ces a me to be repeated here ; for the door was already open, and I entered without any interruption. Having scrambled up into the mow, I threw myself upon the hay, and thanked heaven that I had procured such a comfortable bed ! Al though my mind was far from being in that tran quil state which most disposes us to sleep, yet my body was so much fatigued by the adventure in the woods, that I speedily fell into a deep slumber arid did not awake until the day was far advanced. Without presenting myself at the door of the dwelling-house, either to complain of the inhu manity of its owners, or to thank them for the accommodation of their barn, I set forward on my journey, and without any further impediments arrived at the house of Colonel Simons, before breakfast. I did ample justice to the good things which the Colonel set before me, and broke my fast in more pieces than I had done for a long time TO MONTREAL. 27i> before. The kind reception which I experienced from the Colonel quickly restored my mind to its wonted tone and serenity ; and the strong dispo sition which he and his family evinced to find out the individual who had refused me the shelter of his cabin, tended greatly to convince me, that, however inhospitable the Upper Canadians may generally be, the number of those who would have thus denied me their protection is but very small. After spending a few days with Colonel Simons, to my no small pleasure and improvement, I pro ceeded to York, and pursued my journey through Kingston to Montreal. The road, from the head of Lake Ontario to York, I have already described: That which leads from York to Kingston, runs all the way parallel to Lake Erie, passing through the townships of Scarborough, Pickering, Whitby, Darlington, Clarke, Hope, Hamilton, Haldemand, Cranake, Murray, Sidney, Thurlow, Richmond, and Earnes- town ; and through the villages of Hamilton and Belleville. The settlers of these townships do not appear to be so comfortable in their circumstances as those of the Gore, Niagara, and London Districts. The inhabitants of Sidney, Thurlow, and Richmond, should, however, be excepted ; for they possess more Wealth, or rather more property in stock and in improved lands, than any other people in the Province. 280 PEDESTRIAN TOi/R I spent a short time at Kingston, and then pro ceeded to Montreal. The road runs alona: the banks of the St. Lawrence, and lies so close to the river, that, except in passing through a part of Glengary, I seldom lost sight of the water for more than a few moments at once. On the following day I arrit^ed in the seigniory of Longueille, which is the first settlement in Lower Canada, next to the line which divides the two provinces. The tavern at which I stopped, is kept by an old lady, who, if I may estimate her age by the number of wrinkles on her face and forehead, cannot be less than half a century. The greater portion of her life has been spent in tavern-, keeping, although she either cannot speak a word of English, or pretended so, that she might have the pleasure of laughing at my bad French. But she did not enjoy this felicity ; for as there were half-a-dozen demoiselles in the house who could, some of them at least, speak English tolerably well, I directed very little of my attention to Ma dame, whose appearance was the farthest from interesting. She was remarkably tall ; high in bone but low in flesh. The colour of her eyes was a beautiful bottle-green ; and they were encircled by a deep purple halo, which gave them exactly the appearance of emeralds set in sapphire. Her voice was so unusually loud and discordant, that every word seemed sufficient to break a bed stead ; and she exclaimed at least thirty times while I was getting my dinner, allez files, allez a TO JlONTRl^AL. 281 vos rouets ! When my hostess was not particularly engaged in scolding the girls, her attention was chiefly engaged by a huge over-grown cat, which strikingly resembled its mistress, being proportion- ably long, lean and lank, and having eyes of a corresponding colour, with an equally expressive countenance. The dear animal sat upon a chair, which was assigned to it with a greater appearance of importance, than ever I witnessed towards any of its species however beautiful. It appeared to be the constant play-fellow of the old lady, who, after stroking it in her lap with the utmost affection, frequently took it by the tail, and held it up in the air, — for the purpose, I suppose, of giving me an opportunity to observe the resemblance which there was between them, as well in their voices as in their persons. If this was really her motive, she succeeded to a hair ; for never were two animals more alike in voice and face, — making always an allowance for the characteristics of their respective species, — than grimalkin and her mistress; and I could almost fancy when I heard the squeaking of the former that she said distinctly, Allez, filles, allez a vos rouets ! But with all these drawbacks from admiration, the manners of the old lady and her young a.ssistants exhibited much more refine ment, and a greater desire to please, than those of the clowns who were inn-keepers in the Upper Province, and whose rudeness must always be shocking to a man possessing the least portion even of natural sensibility. Vou II. T LETTER XXXVIL MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF LOWER CANADA ST.\TE OF SOCIETY IN MONTREAL FOUR CLASSES INSOLENCE OF UPSTART VANI TY — MR. Lambert's remarks on conjugal infidelity — ROMAN CATHOLIC ANNUAL PROCESSION NUPTIAL CEREMONIES HAPPINESS OF THE CANADIAN CATHOLICS CONTRAST BE TWEEN THEM AND THE IRISH PROVINCIAL CUSTOMS ON NEW- YEAR's DAY THE CHARIVARI^HAPPINESS OF THE LOWER CANADIANS, THOUGH DESTITUTE OF EDUCATION. In my letter, I gave you a short account of the city of Montreal ; I shall now endeavour to give you a description of its inhabitants. The merchants are principally of English and American descent. Very few French Canadians are now employed in the commerce of this city: They seem to be exceedingly deficient in that spirit of enterprize which they ought to pos sess before they can successfully compete with either English or American merchant.^ Most of those persons, — and they are numerous, —who have made fortunes in Montreal, are English and Scotch emigrants ; among whom, since they were origin ally mechanics of low origin and scanty acquire ments, you cannot expect to meet with much I'efinement. MANNERS IN LOWER CANADA. 283 The population of this city has, by general con sent, been divided into four distinct classes : The First is composed of the civil and military officers, the mo.st respectable professional men in Law, Physic, and Divinity, and the several members of the North West Company : — The Second, of mer chants of large fortune: — The Third, of shop keepers and the more wealthy mechanics : — And the Fourth, of that class of men, which in England is distinguished by the appellation of the " lower orders." Within the last twenty years, many men have acquired large fortunes in Montreal from very low beginnings ; and it is worthy of remark that, although there are not, I believe, more than five or six families in the city, excepting those of the first class, whose rank in life, before the acquisi tion of their wealth, was above that of servants and mechanics, they exhibit as much pride, and as strong an inclination towards aristocratical distinction, as many of the oldest patrician fami lies an Europe. The ci-devant coopers and carpen-- ters of this city, having once thrown aside the adze and the jack-plane, assume all the airs of nobility, and look down upon their less fortunate compeers with well-merited contempt. Nothing can be more characteristic of the vanity of these gentry, than the fact, that you may see them daily advertised in the public papers as " Directors of the Banking establishments," with Esquire in full length at the T 2 284 MANNERS IN tail of their names. I have now a newspaper before me, which contains no less than three of these advertisements, in which the names of five persons are given to the public as Esquires : — two of whom are carpenters, still working at their trade ; the third, once a plasterer, has become a gin-seller ; the fourth, formerly a cooper, is now a retail grocer ; and the fifth is a painter and glazier. The apologists of purse-pride argue to no pur pose in favour of the skip-jacks of fortune, when they plead in vindication of their ostentatious and aspiring dispositions, that " as all rank must have originally sprung from superiority of wealth, it is but equitable that the increase in property should be followed by a proportionate elevation in the grades of society and in public estimation." No one can reasonably deny to abstract wealth its due por tion of influence ; and when it is accompanied by a continued deference to his superiors in birth and education, and by an obliging and affable deport ment to tho.se who are now his inferiors, in the man who has acquired it, he cannot fail of becom ing respectable in the opinion of all sensible per sons, and of acquiring the character of " a gentle man," in the soundest though not in the most gene ral acceptation of the term. But when opportu nities are eagerly embraced for creating the won derment of the vulgar at the greatness of wealth ; when it is displayed singly, as the instrument for LOWER CANADA. 285 effecting a change in the public opinion, or im^- posed as an argument for the adoption of some chimerical conceit, and when it is audaciously assumed as the ground for acts of insolence and oppression ; the indignation of the poor will baffle the vanity and ambition. of the ignoble upstart, while the rich and the noble will compassionate his fatuity, and trample on his pride. The commonest mistake on this subject, among those who have not learned "to discriminate, is that of considering wealth to be the stamen of distinction, instead of the means by which, if judiciously applied, distinc tion may eventually be procured. The mind is, after all, "the standard of the man;" and when that is properly enlightened, wealth will assume its due form of utility, and " money which," accord ing to one of the ancients, " has no colour but what is elicited by an appropriate use," will then appear in its inherent fitness and beauty. The public amasements of Montreal are at pre sent confined to winter balls and dinner parties on festival days ;* at all of which, the distinctions I have enumerated are strictly attended to : But how they regulate the shades of difference, (which so far as they concern the three lower classes, are wholly imperceptible to me,) I have never been able to learn. The fact is, however, notorious, that each class is called by a particular name, and that particular nights are appointed for their several * Theatricals are at a very low ebb in Montreal. There has been no theatre since the destruction of that building in 1820, t3 286 MANNERS IN assemblies ; and though always glad to admit per sons from a higher sphere, they never condescend to receive any who belong to an inferior rank. Although I have now resided more than a year in Montreal, I have never had the honour of attend ing any of their assemblies, and cannot, therefore, positively say what are the qualifications which entitle persons to admission to any, except those of the first class. I presume, however, that the holder of a card, which sets forth, " tht:t he was a regular-bred footman, and is now a wholesale merchant, with a capital of more than £10,000," would find no difficulty in procuring the entree to the assemblies of the second degree in caste. There certainly must be some standard of this kind by which to regulate themselves ; or else the cooper, who has, by dint of industry, amassed a fortune of £20,000, would occasionally be exposed to the humiliating necessity of leading off a set with the wife of some other cooper, who had succeeded in making only £5,000. The gentlemen,— if they must be nicknamed,— dress very well, and have rather a respectable appearance ; but I have never seen more than half a dozen females in the city, who assume either the air or the dress of ladies. In the summer evenings, the Champ de Mars is an agreeable promenade, and much frequented by gentlemen ; but they are seldom accompanied by their wives, sisters, or daughters. I have frequently remarked, and have repeatedly heard others remark, that an English LOWER CANADA. 3^7 village containing only 1,500 inhabitants, daily turns out a greater number of fashionables than are ever to be seen on this delightful promenade. To me there appears no sign of improvement in this respect among the people of Montreal ; but as all or most of my information respecting them was gathered from others, (for I never had the honour of associating with any, excepting two or three families, whose knowledge of their neighbours was nearly as limited as my own,) I probably am not a competent judge. Let us hear the opinion of one who appears to have known them much better than I do. In page 293 of his Travels, vol. 1, it is observed by Mr. Lambert : " The society of the towns in Canada has been represented by some writers as so ex tremely gay, lively, and agreeable, and possessing such friendly unanimity and generous hospitality, that a siranger might fancy the inhabitants formed only one large family. I am sorry that it is not in my power to furnish a similar representation. At the period when I visited Canada, its society was split into parties : scandal was the order of the day; and calumny, misrepresentation, and envy, seemed to have erected their standards among the greater portion of the inhabitants. The weekly papers teemed with abusive scurrility and malicious insinuations; and all that gaiety and happiness which I had been led to expect in Canada, seemed either to have totally deserted the country, or to have existed only in the imaginations of former 28S MANNERS IN writers. It is true, I afterwards met with indivi duals whose amiable character and private virtues Would do honour to any society, but the general character and disposition of the people very ill accorded with the flattering accounts which had been given of them. In short, the same jealousy, pride, and party feuds, exist in the society of the towns in Canada to which all small communities are liable. They are engendered by the know ledge of each other's origin and private history. Those who cannot trace their genealogy beyond a private soldier or a sutler in the army which con quered the country, are of course treated with contemptuous pride by others, who can boast of a lortg line of ancestors that sprung, perhaps, from the illegitimate offspring of some nobleman's valet de chambre or cast-off mistress. No great cordiality can be expected to exist between such oppo.site and heterogeneous materials, especially in a small community, where full scope is given to the opera tion of petty competition and private malignity. In a large metropolis, these contentions could not be felt, they would be lost in the crowd ; but in a small town, where every one knows his neighbour, and generously interests himself in his concerns, they act like the fire of a volcano, which, at one time, convulses the surrounding neighbourhood, and, at another time, preys upon its own vitals. — The increase of agriculture and commerce has caused several families to rise from poverty and obscurity into opulence and notoriety; and the LOWER CANADA. 260 standard of individual merit in Canada is too often a man's riches or his rank : Virtue and talents obtain but little respect. The large fortunes ac quired by some of the merchants have tended to raise the envy of many who would wish, but have not the means, to emulate them in their style of living." He adds : " For a small society like that of Canada, the numbers of unfaithful wives, kept mis- tres.ses, and girls of easy virtue, exceed in propor tion those of the old country; and it is supposed, that in the towns, more children are born illegiti mately than in wedlock. The frequent infidelity of wives and husbands creates much animosity and discord in some of the higher circles of Cana dian society; and the ladies often run to each other's houses to inquire the truth of the scan dalous reports that fly about. Their passions have been roused, mutual recriminations have taken place, and it is known that they have sometimes proceeded to blows. Trials for crim. con. are, however, unknown ; neither are duels ever re sorted to by the Canadian gentry to avenge their injured honour. The husbands generally wink at the frailties of their wives, and either content themselves with increasing the number of their horned brethren, or fly for comfort into the arms of a f.lle de chambre." I cannot exactly agree with all Mr. Lambert's remarks on this subject : " That there are more children born illegitimately than in wedlock in 290 MANNERS IN the large towns of Lower Canada," is an assertion which I do not think by any means entitled to credit. If this were the caise, at the time when Mr. Lambert wrote, it certainly is not so now ; and however great may be the infidelity of wives, I have heard very few instances in Lower Canada of improper conduct in unmarried females. If, however, Mr. Lambert meant to say, that the number of children in the large towns, who are the fruit of unfaithfulness in wives and unwatchfulness in husbands, greatly exceeds that of those who are the legitimate offspring of marriage, I may ven ture to believe in the truth of his remark, though I cannot tell by what supernatural means he can have made the calculation. But as he was a young man, and doubtless very fascinating, perhaps the ladies let him into their secrets ; if so, I think he should have made some acknowledgment to them in his Preface, for having furnished him with such interesting materials for his work. I have already informed you, that the majority of the inhabitants of Montreal are of French descent, and consequently Roman Catholics. When Mr. Lambert was in this country, it appears, the people were almost wholly destitute of the means of instruction : But so far is this from being the case at present, that, independent of the French Seminaries to which I have alluded in my Fourth Letter, there are at least thirty private Academies in the city, almost all of which are conducted by Irish teachers of respectable acquirements. LOWER CANADA. ggj Catholics and Protestants here associate together, without exhibiting any of that rancourous spirit, or those religious animosities, which are unhappily so frequent in your distracted country. And what may considerably tend to produce such an agree able state of things, is the circumstance, that the clergy are supported by the people of their several denominations. Those of the Roman Catholic persuasion receive a sort of tythe — one 26th part — of the produce of the soil in the actual possession of the members of their flocks. The Clergy of the English Church are supported by the Govern ment ; and those of every other denomination, by their respective flocks. The Roman Catholic Priests are a loyal and highly respectable body of men, who take no concern in the secular affairs of their parishioners, and are mainly desirous of promoting their eternal welfare. They live a life of comparative seclusion from the world, and are seldom seen out, except in the discharge of paro chial duties. They do not even associate with the lay-members of their own community, any further than the fulfilment of their pastoral functions requires. Their principal revenue is derived from the lods et ventes, or fines of alienation, by which they have become a very wealthy body. Their ordinary dress consists of a black bombazeen gown, or pelisse, which trails upon the ground, black small-clothes and stockings, with a broad brimmed hat and buckled shoes. In passing through the city, they appear to be completely engrossed in 292 MANNERS IN own pious meditations, taking no more notice of the inhabitants than if they were themselves beings of another world. They make an annual procession on Trinity Sunday, in commemoration of our Saviour. For several weeks before this grand fete, it is almost the only subject of conversation with both Pro testants and Catholics, and it is anticipated with great interest by persons of every religious persua sion. As I have been witness once to this great sight, I shall be able to gratify you by some account of it. The day on which I saw it, was the second Sun day in June, in the year 1820. Walking out early in the morning, I was much surprised to find the whole city, which on the preceding evening did not exhibit a single tree, literally transformed into a beautiful forest. The streets were every where lined with newly-created trees, planted with so much regularity and skill, and retaining their verdure with so much appearance of fresh ness, that One might almost have supposed them to be flourishing in their native soil. About one o'clock, the city was crowded with anxious spec tators, many of whom had come from a great distance to witness the ceremonies of the day. At two o'clock, the procession took its departure St. Mary's Church, and passed through the Place d'Armes into Upper Notre-Dame Street, thence through all the principal streets of the city, march ing in slow and solemn grandeur, and in the fol lowing order : LOWER CANADA. 293 Four Soldiers and a Constable. The Banner. Females of the Charity-Schools. Females of the Congregation. Ladies of the Holy Family. Grey Nuns. Nuns of the Congregation. Scholars of the Grand Seminary. Scholars of the Lesser Seminary. Men of the Congregation. Musicians. Cross of the Proce.ssion. Children of the Choir. Laymen in Copes. Laymen in Dalmatics. Ecclesiastics in similar Ornaments. Priests in Chasubles. Between the Ecclesiastics and Priests, immense Bou quets of Flowers, supported by Attendants. Taper or Torch- Bearers. Those having Flowers or Censers. La Dais of the Most Holy Sacrament, carried by four Church- wardens. Musicians. Councillors and Judges. Magistrates. Lawyers. Medical Gentlemen. Church- Wardens. Notaries. Gentlemen of Distinction. Ladies of Distinction. On each side. Officers of Militia in Uniform, and Soldiers with fixed Bayonets. 294 MANNERS IN It is impossible to make you clearly understahd the mixture of sensations which this singular spec tacle awakened in my mind. While a degree of awe was produced by the solemnity with which it was conducted, I could scarcely refrain from indulging a smile at the variety of characters of which it was composed. I took my station in a window in Lower Notre Dame Street, from which I had an excellent oppor tunity of examining the whole line of procession. A fanciful thought was suggested to my mind as the close of the column vani.shed from my sight, that surely the day was coining and now was, " when the lion should lie down with the kid, and the young lion and the fatling together." There was only one part of the prophecy which remained unfulfilled : They were walking instead of lying down ; but the other part is sufficiently explained by the congregation of so many different charac ters, — the soldier and the priest, — the man of "war and the messenger of peace ;— blooming and play ful girls, gloomy and devoted vestals, both equal in age but arrayed in different garbs, the one the very picture of health, the other exhibiting the dawn of age and decrepitude. Lawyers and phy sicians, between magistrates and churchwardens, seemed like peace and truth hetwixt Justice andmercy ; or, if you like it better, the vicinity of the church warden and the physician, and that of the magis trate and lawyer, reminded one of the fulfilment of LOWER CANADA. 295 these words, " Mercy and truth are met together ; righteousness and peace have kissed each other." The French Canadians are always married at their Parish Churches, I believe between the hours of eight and twelve in the forenoon. In Montreal, and I suppose in every part of the Province, the bride and the bridegroom are very numerously attended by their friends ; and as the humble,st in dividual in the country is the owner of a sleigh or a calash, you not unfrequently observe more than fifty of these vehicles in attendance on such occa sions. A regular order is preserved, and the pro cession is headed by the bride and the father of the bridegroom. They are followed by the nearest relatives of the latter, who are again followed by the friends of the bride. The bridegroom and his father-in-law bring up the rear. In this way they proceed to church, and, after the nuptial solemni ties are performed, drive through the principal streets of the city till their horses are worn out ; when the whole party return to the house of the bride's father to partake of a banquet, that, on all ceremonies of this kind, is prepared with that pe culiar skill in cookery for which the French are so famous. The evening is always spent with great hilarity ; dancing, singing and card-playing are mostly continued till the anticipated duties of ano ther day admonish them to separate. The French Canadians seem to be the happiest people on earth, and are, almost to a man, in that enviable state of mediocrity which Agur appeared 296 MANNERS IN to consider the most favourable to the preservation of a virtuous mind, when he prayed for " neither poverty nor riches." Without any great bodily or mental exertion, they easily procure the necessaries and comforts of life, and, being entirely contented with these, they make no greater exertion than is necessary to obtain them. I have frequently observed a striking resem blance in manners as well as in religion, between the Irish Peasantry, and the Lower Canadians of whom I am now speaking ; but when 1 have ob served this, and have not beeen able to pursue the comparison without introducing a melancholy con trast, how has my bosom swelled with grief for the misfortunes of my oppressed countrymen ! Their hearts are equally light, and equally susceptible of the tenderest impressions. They are equally ardent in their affections, equally hospitable, and perhaps even more social. But, in almost every other re spect, they are widely different. While the inha bitant of Lower Canada fully appreciates all the blessings of a constitution which faithfully guards his civil, religious and political rights ; while he lives a stranger to want and care, misery and wretchedness, disaffection, discontent and blood shed ; the Irishman drags out a wretched existence, under what he erroneously conceives to be a Go vernment whose grand object is to keep him in poverty and slavery, at once the pity and the scorn of the world. While the one of these Catholics reverences the constitution and the laws under LOWER CANADA. 297 which he lives a life of peace and plenty, the other seems to exist only for the subversion of all order and authority. I have often heard it argued, that Catholics can not feel well-affected to a Protestant Government; but surely there is here a full refutation of this absurd opinion. I question much, if, out of Eng land's 12,000,000 of Protestant inhabitants, there could be selected 400,000 individuals better affected towards the English Government and Constitution than the Catholics of Lower Canada. In all the intercourse which I have had with the French Ca nadians, I have never heard a single voice raised against the English Government. On the con trary, they seem, not merely to appreciate duly the religious and political freedom which they enjoy, but also to seek for opportunities of extolling the justice and the liberality of their King and Constitution. On the other hand, while in Eng land for a period of nearly six months, during which time I had an opportunity of conversing on various subjects, and particularly on that of politics, with upwards of 600 Protestants from various parts of the kingdom, I think I found at least one-tenth of them hot-headed radicals, and averse to the existing authorities of the country. I am aware that there are feelings existing in the mind of an Irish Catholic, which do not exist in that of a Canadian ; and am prepared to admit, that these feelings of irritation cannot be expected Vol II. U 298 MANNERS IN to subside without the application of some powerful lenitive. But I am also of opinion, that if the same line of policy which has been so successfully pursued towards the Canadians, were adopted in the case of the Irish Catholics, and employment were procured for them, nothing farther would be required for the restoration oftranquillity than for Coun,sellorO'Con-. nel, with half-a-dozen of his noisy compeers, to be sent on the Northern Expedition, to equalize in some degree the fervour or caloric of their sys tems. This is a subject, upon which, having thought deeply, I could say much ; and about which I feel all the interest that should actuate the mind of a true lover of his country : But so much is every day said and written on it by abler men, and to little purpose, that I refrain from the fur ther discussion of the question. There are several customs still prevalent among the inhabitants of Lower Canada, which, I believe, originated with the French. New-year's day is one of their most regularly observed holidays, and is wholly devoted to fea.sting and salutations. On this day, every cottager, both in town and coun try, can boast of a table well-laden with fine wines, rich sweetmeats, and cakes of every description. It is the office of the gentlemen, to go from one house to another, for the purpo.se of reciprocating the compliments of the season, and partaking of the good cheer which is universally prepared. On entering the apartment in which both these ceremonies are performed, they lay aside all diffi- LOWER CANADA, 299; dence, and salute every female Of the house with. a chaste kiss. The French ladies present their cheeks to the gentlemen ; but those who are of British origin, still adhering to the custom of their country, are saluted on the lips. The festival continues three or four days ; but whether its pro longation is owing to an overweening attachment on the part of the ladies to kissing, or to an equally ardent passion for wine on that of the gentlemen, I am not able to determine. So far, however, as regards the gentlemen, a difference of tastes may possibly prevail ; and while some of them are fond of roses and two-lips, others may prefer the juice of the grape or the spirit of the cane. Another custom, which is called charivari, is frequently a source of great annoyance to some, and of amusement to others, of the Lower Cana dians. When a young man marries a widow, or a young woman a widower, the surrounding inhabitants collect together, and, providing them selves with rams' horns, old kettles, tin trumpets, and a variety of other equally obstreperous in-stru- ments of war and music, proceed to the house of the newly-married couple, and demand the usual fine extorted on such occasions. The amount of this sum is always regulated by the wealth or poverty of the parties on whom it is levied ; and if it be not immediately paid, their dwelling is closely blockaded, and a perpetual fire of scandal is kept up for several hours, under cover of an u2 300 MANNERS IN ancient usage. The unmusical band is all the while playing the Cuckold's March, and other offensive and appropriate airs. If the sum demanded is not produced on the first application, the same pro ceedings are renewed on the second and every sub sequent night; until the besieged parties, tired of the din of War, capitulate or surrender. The sum demanded on these occasions sometimes amounts to £100 ; and though the Magistrates frequently endeavour to put a stop to these lawless assemblies, their exertions seldom produce any good effect. The first characters of the country are often the instigators of the mob ; and opposition from any quarter only adds to their strength and resolution, as well as to their numbers. The fines, when obtained, are appropriated to the benefit of charitable institutions in the city. Such a state of things shews the inefficiency of the police ; but this is a general complaint throughout America, and is felt less severely in the Canadas than in other parts of the New World. It may be imputed, partly, to the different degi'ees of civilization observable between all colonists and the more refined inhabit ants of the Parent State ; and, partly, to that feel ing of liberty and independence which, as I have frequently intimated, pervades nearly the whole of the white population of this extensive Conti nent. While I was in Montreal in the winter of 1821, a widow lady of considerable fortune was married to a young gentleman of the Commissariat Depart- LOWER CANADA. gOl ment ; and, a night or two after the celebration of their nuptials, £100 were demanded, in the way I have described, from the bridegroom, for the sup port of " the Temale Benevolent Society," of which his lady was herself the patroness. The fol lowing is an account of the proceedings which took place on the occasion : *' The evening of the nuptials, and the succeeding one, were decorously suffered to pass tranquilly ; but that of the third day brought before the man sion of the happy couple a large body of friends and acquaintances, assembled for the purpose of congratulation, merriment, and requiring the usual donation for the benefit of the poor. To surrender on the first summons, is neither ciistomary, nor would be magnanimous : The party, therefore, invested the house in form, and, aftej- a few hours' blockade, retired. — On the succeeding evening, operations were resumed, and the besiegers, con siderably re-inforced, rendezvoused at the Old Market. Amongst them were about 40 masque- raders, equipped as Turks, Persians, &c. exhibiting the usual proportion of nose and grotesqueness of profile, but lamentably deficient in those demons and Calibans whole longitude of tail and other coniely decorations used formerly to have so happy an effect. After some time spent in arrangement, those personages, at the head of a dense column of about 600, commenced their march to the mar tial harmony of cow-horns and trumpets ; made the tour of a part of the city, and returned into u 3 2f02 MANNERS IN St. Paul-street. So far matters had gone on peaceably; but when they arrived opposite Mr. Wragg's hard-ware store, they were accosted by the deputy chief-constable, at the head of his myr midons, who commanded them to retire — an order to which they only replied by an emphatic voci feration of the word ' stick !' Dismayed by this ominous monosyllable, the posse opened to the right and left, and the column passed sternly through. Thence it pursued its former route, and was moving down St. Francois Xavier-street, when lo ! at the corner of the Canada Bank ap peared the watch. Here the same command met with the sam.e reply ; but the guardians of the night, unabld to brook the defiance, rushed in amongst the throng and were seizing several per sons, when a most tremendous scuffle began ; stick clashed with stick ; wooden sabi-e encountered watchman's baton, in irreverent disregard of the G. R. marked on it ; and knock-down blows were distributed with a liberality and skill truly Hibernian, while the narrow street echoed with the shouts of the combatants. Superior numbers, however, decided the contest ; and the watch, after a courageous resistance of a few minutes, fled in disorder, some prudently to their homes, and the rest with more spirit to the watch-house. The victors pursued the latter to the gates of their for tress ; and, learning that some of their comrades had been picked up by a party of constables who had hung on their flanks and rear, sent forward a LOWER CANADA. gQg flag of truce to demand their liberation ; but the valiant garrison, hastily fortifying themselves, returned a refusal and prepared for desperate defence. At this moment, that obnoxious per sonage the chief constable, who had entered by a postern to encourage his troops, unfortunately popping out his head to reconnoitre, was recog nized : The besiegers uttered a dreadful yell of hostility ; and the forlorn hope, bearing a piece of timber by way of battering-ram, assailed the gate, under cover of a shower of snow-balls, pieces of wood, and such other missiles as the spot afforded. Under the energy of the attack, the door was soon reduced to splinters ; the defenders were chased into the yard in the rear ; and luckily escaped from their pursuers, by jumping over a fence with an extraordinary agility, communicated by the urgency of the occasion. The prisoners were triumphantly released, and the charivariers, after a few tours, dispersed. — The fourth day a spe cial session of the Magistrates was held, end a pro clamation issued, prohibiting a recurrence of the charivari, and inviting all well-disposed persons to unite with the municipality in its suppression, if attempted. This, nevertheless, did not prevent an assemblage much more numerous than on the pre ceding evening; the party remained unmolested; but something serious might possibly have oc curred, had not the bridegroom flung open a win dow and capitulated. — On the fifth day, £60 was in consequence presented to the Female 304 aiANNERS IN Benievolent Society, thus adding another to those acts of beneficence and charity which the bride is in the daily habit of performing. The charivari principally consisted of mercantile and professional men ; though afterwards augmented by other per sons, attracted by the novelty of the spectacle and a desire of amusement. Several individuals were afterwards apprehended." I have several times derived considerable pleasure from taking a walk through the villages of Lower Canada, When toil, remitting, lends its turn to play. And all the village train from labour free. Lead up their sports beneath the spreading tree. No sooner are the duties of the day performed, than the youth of both sexes assemble together in large parties ; some to dance, and others to sing ; some to make love, and others to make merriment ; all arriving by these various means at the same end, — to banish care, and leave no room for melaur- choly to insert her corroding teeth. Much has been said respecting the effects of edu cation, as well on society in general as on indivi duals in particular. Persons of equal judgment and penetration have argued the question at full length, and seem to have viewed it in every light in which it is capable of appearing ; and, what is more strange, some of them have arrived at very different conclusions. One party has adduced the example of civilized nations to illustrate and LOWER CANADA. 3O5 strengthen its arguments, by pointing out the mental aliment which is furnished by books and other instruments of information ; and by tracing the various processes of operation up to their several results, in the gradual reduction of tyranny in kingdoms, in the establishment of written laws for the well-ordering of society, and in the increase of domestic and national happiness. The other party has, on the contrary, taken its stand in the midst of barbarous and savage nations, whose minds are as dark as the colour of their skin, and has affected to discover so much more primeval innocence, virtue, and happiness among them, than exists among those who have been corrupted by education, that, if their premises be correct, nothing can be plainer than the conclusion, that crime and misery, if they did not originate in the commu nication of refined instruction and mental cul ture, have, at least, derived nutriment from this source. Both sides of the question have been argued with .great plausibility ; and the last proposition has not been urged with less ingenuity than its rival. The obviousness of truth requires nothing but a clear and impartial statement, to recommend itself to the minds of men : But whatever is tinctured with error or prejudice, needs all the aid which sophistry can furnish, before it can be rendered feasible. But, after all, it cannot prevail over truth, and Jiowever great and numerous the obstructions to the light and influence of the latter may, be, they 806 MANNERS IN must eventually be dispersed: Till then I shall say regarding the general dispute, " Who shall decide when Doctors disagree ?" To those, however, who are disposed to argue, that, in a certain state of society, no particular be nefit can be derived by education, the case of the Lower Canadians would, I am inclined to think, furnish a much more successful argument than that of the aborigines of Africa. They are as contented , as social, as polite, as virtuous, and as religious as the populace of the most enlightened nations ; and yet, unless the advanced state of civilization in which they live include something of the kind, they are for the most part without any education, and few of them can either read or write. They have not only a respect but a veneration for religion, and for every thing connected with it. What their pastors require them to perform, — no matter how painful it may be to flesh and blood, — they do it with a fervour and devotedness which might well put more enlightened Christians to the blu.sh» The necessity of education might however be denied, with much greater show of reason, than its beneficial tendency. If a man is so confined in his sphere that he cannot obtain a livelihood except by means in which the instrumentality of education will be required, to him, of course, education is a matter of necessity. Or if a man is so far removed from the public worship of God, as not to receive the religious instructions of a regular minister, a know ledge of reading is necessary to him, that he may Lower canada. 3Qy be able to supply the want of oral information by perusing the word of God in his own dwelling. Few men, I think will attempt to prove, that edu cation is necessary to the acquisition of wealth ; for we find many unlettered men, in almost every civilized country, who are much more successful in business than others of good education and in the same line of commerce. If education were exclusively necessary to human happiness, the people of Lower Canada, whom I have briefly described, would not uniformly wear such joyful countenances ; and these are the only marks,^-however deceitful they may possibly be, ¦^by which we can judge of internal feelings. If it were necessary to religion, the most learned would exhibit the greatest portion of piety ; but what is more contrary to fact ? Now, as in the Apostolic age, " not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called." I am aware, that the Scotch peasantry are the best-informed ; and, if not the most reli gious, are certainly the most moral people of their class. This says much for education ; but let us examine the particular nature of the education they receive. They are not only instructed in what is termed " useful knowledge," but their minds are early familiarized with the grand truths of the Gospel ; and these are the principles which, exert ing their hallowing influence over the inhabitants of Scotland, issue in the good effects which are 808 MANNERS IN beheld in the manners and deportment of the people of that country. The peasantry of the United States are as well versed in common learn ing as the peasantry of Scotland ; but they are neither a religious nor a moral people. Leaving others to decide the question, all that I can say is, I have found, among the uneducated inhabitants of Lower Canada, more real happiness, more true politeness, greater reverence for reli gion, and a stronger national attachment to each other, than I have found among the inhabitants of any other country in which I have sojourned. They all live by agriculture, — a life which is most favourable to virtue, and most conducive to health ; and I have often thought, that he who is desirous of seeing rural life and rural felicity in their per fection, would do well to become the inmate of a French Canadian's dwelling. Cheerful at mom he wakes from short repose. Breathes the keen air, and carols as he goes ; With patient angle trolls the finny deep. Or drives his venturous ploughshare to the steep. At night returning, every labour sped. He sits him down, the monarch of a shed ; Smiles by his cheerful fire, and round surveys His children's looks that brighten at the blaze. If I could banish from my heart the attachment that I feel for my native country, and forget the friends who, though separated from me by the wide Atlantic, continually live in my affections. LOWER CANADA. 30<) I should erect for myself a little cottage among the unaspiring dwellings of Lower Canada ; and, in that sweet haven, escaping from many of the storms of life, would I pa,ss the rest of my sojourn ing here, cheered by the social converse of that social people, and exhilarated by the daily con templation of their happy faces, healthful pursuits, and innocent pleasures. A TOUR THROUGH THE UNITED STATES. Having some bu.siness to transact in this country, I left the Talbot Settlement for New York on the 15th of August last. On the 18th, I crossed the river Niagara, and found myself, for the first time, in the territory of the United States. I intended to take a seat in the stage from Lewiston to Roches ter ; but I found, on arriving at Lewiston, that an hour had elapsed since the departure of the coach. Being unwilling to remain in Lewiston till the next morning, I hired a waggon, and arrived on the same evening at Oak Orchard, a village 46 miles from Lewiston. Here I waited till the fol| lowing day for the coach ; but, on its arrival, I found it impossible to procure a seat. Again dis appointed, I asked the keeper of the tavern where I lodged, if he could let me have a horse to ride as far as the New Canal, about six miles from Oak 312 tour through the Orchard. After waiting an hour, I was furnished with a horse, bridle, and saddle, but no girths. Notwithstanding this deficiency, I mounted ; for in America it is quite unfashionable to be exceed ingly particular. I soon arrived at a part of the canal, where some workmen were engaged in the construction of an aqueduct. In the course of my conversation with some of the men, I learnt, that each of them received 13 dollars — £2 18s. 6d. — a month, beside board and lodging. Although this great national undertaking was commenced only 5 years ago, the canal is already navigable for a distance of 200 miles. It is intended to connect Lake Erie with the River Hudson ; and the total expence of completing the cut, which will be 350 miles long, is estimated at 8,000,000 dollars, or £1,800,000. The inhabitants of New York are indebted to De Witt Clinton, their late Governor, for all the benefits which will accrue to them from the facili ties afforded by this canal. For if it had not been for the perseverance and influence of that distin guished statesman, the present race of men had not even seen the project commenced. No national undertaking of such obvious utility as this, ever met with greater opposition.' Every argument which the ingenuity or absurdity of the State- legislature could supply, was called fprth in the discussion of the Bill. One of the members opposed it, on the principle that it would be impossible to find a sufficient supply of water for a canal of united states. 313 such large dimensions ! But this ridiculous argu ment was set aside by another gentleman, who proved the fallacy of his honourable friend's argu ment by declaring his conviction, that, " if there " were not a single spring in the country, the tears " of the inhabitants would afford an adequate sup- " ply for at least a century !" After inspecting the canal for nearly two hours, I returned to Oak Orchard, without having expe rienced any serious inconvenience from the want of girths to my saddle. The road from Lewiston to Rochester is com monly called " the Ridge Road," or " the Allu vial Way." The Ridge extends along the South side of Lake Ontario, from the river of Niagara to that of Genesee, a distance of nearly 90 miles. The top of the ridge, on which the road runs, is in some places considerably raised above the sub jacent country ; but for about forty miles from Lewiston, the elevation is so trifling as to be scarcely perceptible for the greater part of the distance. In this country, (England,) such a road would be considered as quite impassable by any sort of carriage larger than a wheel-barrow ; and yet the stages, which leave Lewiston at six o'clock in the morning, arrive at Rochester by seven in the evening, — thus performing a distance of 96 miles in 13 hours. The American stages are constructed on a prin ciple very different from those of Great Britain. They are licensed to carry nine inside and two out- VOL. II. X 314 TOUR THROUGH THE side passengers ; both of the latter sit on the bok with the driver. The roof is supported by eight wooden pillars ; the sides and ends being entirely open for the free admission of air. When the dust is disagreeable, curtains may be let down from the roof. A vehicle of this kind weighs about 24 cwt. ; and is hung at least two feet higher than a British coach. The horses which are used, are generally as good as those employed in the same service in this country, and the wheel-horses are commonly as far from the body of the carriage as our leaders. The usual fare is four dollars and a half, for one hundred miles. I remained for three days in Oak Orchard with out being able to procure a place in the coach, and on the fourth day, I hired a waggon and proceeded to Rochester. With regard to cultivation, the country all the way from Lewiston to Rochester is yet in its infancy, having only been ten years in a state of settlement. The houses on the road are built exactly in the same style as those of Upper Canada, and the fields are fenced in a similar manner. But the land is light and sandy, and greatly inferior to the worse parts of Upper Canada ; notwithstand ing which, even in its wild state, it is sold at eight dollars per acre, while an equal quantity of the best soils in Upper Canada may be purchased for one eighth of that sum : Such are the effects of spirited exertions for the internal improvement of a country ! When I left Upper Canada, the people were all ' UNITED STATES. 315 in excellent health; I was therefore greatly sur prised to find, that sickness prevailed in almost every house between Rochester and Lewiston : But it appears, from Miss Wright's patriotic "Vievv^s of Society and Manners in the United States," that this is frequently the case ; for she informs us, that " it is curious to see how patient men are of physical sufferings when endured vo luntarily, and when they have it not in their power to charge them upon their rulers. On the South ern shores of Lake Ontario, heaven knows, we found sufficient sickness to have broken down the stoutest spirits ; and yet there we never heard a complaint. On its Northern shores, we found dis content every where ; perhaps it was often unjust ; but it is in human nature to charge our calamities upon others, whenever a pretext is afforded us. The only sure way to keep the peace, therefore, is to remove all pretext. This being done in the United States, a man shivers in the ague, swallows his remedies, recovers or dies, without having quarrelled with any one, save perhaps with his apothecary." It is rather singular and worthy of particular remark, that in the course of a rapid tour through the Canadas, this lady could discover .so much disr satisfaction and discontent among the inhabitants, while I who have been for so long a time a resident among them could never perceive the least sem blance of either. I really should not like to evince any ungallant disposition, but there certainly have x2 316 TOUR THROUGH THE been in all ages, and still are, writers as well in prose as in poetry, to whom the stanza of Burns is extremely applicable : Some rhyme a neebour's name to lash ; Some rhyme (vain thought !) for needfu' cash; Some rhyme to court the countra clash, And raise a din ; For me, an aim I never fash, I rhyme for fun. While at Oak Orchard, I was present at a Mi litia muster, and had the pleasure of seeing enter taining proofs of the practical effects of equality in property, and of republican principles, on the minds of a military body. From the moment when the Colonel of the regiment requested— iov there is no commanding in this land of liberty, — requested his men to fall in, until they had put themselves through the manual exercise, a continual conversa tion Was kept up between the officers and the men, and between both and the Colonel. I was strongly reminded, by the disorderly conduct of these inde pendent gentlemen, of certain passages in my early life. The careless manner in which the orders, or requests, or whatever they are called, of the com manding officer were received, and the inclination which appeared to put ridicule upon them, were very much like what I have seen, when, in the temporary absence of the schoolmaster, some for ward and fun-loving youth has wantonly assumed the chair of authority, and— lifting up the badge of office, reduced by custom from the original fasces UNITED STATES. 7)17 to a single sugar-cane deprived (I wot) of most of its sweetness, — hascalled " silence" as nearly in the tone of the pedagogue as he was able, and issued sundry other commands : His prospect of obedience was speedily beclouded by a multitude of books and other appurtenances, as well as by many ugly names which it would not be advisable to repeat. An American Colonel, and especially the one that I saw in Oak Orchard, is exactly in the same situation as the school-boy whom I have described, and is treated with no more respect by his soldiers than he by his school-fellows. They seldom con descended to yield compliance with his humble and obsequious directions, before they had first minutely examined into their correctness and ex pediency ; and, after arguing and shouldering, and shouldering and arguing for upwards of an hour, the Colonel apparently acquiesced in the expe diency of his retiring, and he therefore resigned the command to a Captain, who immediately went into an adjacent tavern, and presently appeared in front of his battalion, with a large bottle of whisky in each hand, and a wine-glass stuck between his knees. Thus accoutred, he addres-sed a most elo- - quent speech to his men, in which he dwelt with particular emphasis on their constitutional privi leges, their heroic achievements during the late war, and their happy deliverance from the yoke of British bondage. Like the shoemaking Captain, represented so admirably by Mr. Matthews the Comedian, talking, it would seem, had made him x3 318 TOUR through the, dry ; for he ho sooner concluded his frothy oration, than he poured out a goodly glass of John Barley corn, and drank it to the health of his brave comrades. Mr. Matthews, apropos: — Since my arrival in London, I have been repeatedly asked, if the repre sentations which this gentleman gives of the Ame rican character be correct and faithful. I enter tain the highest opinion of his astonishing powers of imitation; but I certainly think, there is no person among those included in his " Trip to America," from whom an accurate judgment could be formed of the real peculiarities of a Columbian, excepting the Innkeeper at Elizabeth Town, Mr. Jonathan W. Doubikin, and Mr. Raventop the reputed editor of an American Jest-book. The Major, who says nothing but Very well!, is by no means a person exclusively American : Such habits of speech, with many others equally ridiculous and affected, have been seen, but very lately, to exist even among persons of the highest rank, holding military commissions under his most gracious Majesty. The English army, since the peace, is well known as having been the prolific source of many extravagant fopperies and follies in speech and dress, manners and deportment, — the growth of which has been engendered, like that of weeds in a garden, by the idleness and ease of those who ought to have diligently tilled the soil. It is therefore, I consider, quite as likely for an English as an American Major to be found-, who makes UNITED STATES. gi-g t use of no other phrase in conversation than Very well!, however he may vary the pronunciation, intonation, or accentuation, with which it is deli vered. This circumstance inclines me to suppcse, that Mr. Matthews has chosen such a character, to act rather as a prop to the spirit and humour of the piece, by the occasional apt introduction of his interlocutory remark, than for the purpose of exhibiting any obsei'vable trait in the American character. The inn-keeper at Elizabeth-town is very accu rately delineated by Mr. Matthews. The same carelessness about the accommodation of travellers, the same sturdy independence, and the same unconquerable love of ease, run through the whole of that class of Americans. Mr. Jonathan W. Doubikin is in every respect a perfect, and by no means an overcharged, repre sentation of the generality of Americans in the middle ranks of life, and especially of the Ken tucky farmers. The dress in which Matthews appears, when performing this character, is exactly that which is worn in America by agriculturists, as well in form and fashion as in material, except that a lighter stuff is used during the summer season. They carry a gun in the same manner. In their conversation they make use of the same phrases; and hold in equal contempt, and treat with similar cruelty, the poor Africans who have the misfortune to become their slaves, in the land of reputed liberty and independence. Indeed 320 TOUR THROUGH THE these two pretended attributes of their country, are a sort of convenient scape-goat for whatever enormities Americans, in their folly or their rage, may think proper to commit. As they live in a land of liberty, they think they have liberty to do as they choose, without respecting the common rights of humanity, or any other rule of human conduct. And they also argue, that because they are made independent by the constitution of their country, no one has any business to prevent them from acting just as they please. The only trait in the character of Mr. Raventop which is purely American, is that of his unbounded vanity. The rest of his peculiarities belong as well to the ancient gentlemen of the Old as to those of the New World ; and perhaps some of them had never any existence, except in Mr. Matthews's humorous personification of this part. The ficti tious circum,stance of Mr. Raventop's projected publication, affords an admirable opportunity for the display of that strange self-possession and uni form arrogance, which, as I observed in one of the preceding letters, forms so distinguishing a feature of the American. In this respect Mr. Raventop's corresponds minutely with the disposition of every Columbian that is not, by education or other adven titious circumstances, raised to an equal footing with the higher orders of England, who, by travel and a constant intercourse with books and men of various nations, are so completely deprived of nfi- tional characteristics, as no longer to form any UNITED STATES. g21 % ^ahdard for the judgment of foreigners on English diagnostics. Having now noticed all the characters which bear any striking resemblance to the Americans, it only remains that I should point out a few circum stances the explanation of which may tend to pre vent any misconception of their trans-Atlantic brethren, on the part of those who from time to time have enjoyed a collateral laugh with Mr. Matthews at the Lyceum. There is one of the dramatis personce that is entirely got up, and is the furthest from any thing American : I allude to the smooth-spoken gentleman, Mr. Pennington, who endures the sarcastic animadversions on his country and his countrymen, with so much exem plary meekness and manly fortitude. The evident intention of Matthews in introducing this person has been, I conceive, to intersperse his jokes with a sort of serio-comic conversation pretended to be held at various times between himself and Mr. Pennington ; wherein he takes occasion to praise the Americans for their liberality, hospitality, va lour and wisdom, while Mr. Pennington is made to quote with great discrimination, but without acknowledgment, the patriotic sentiments of the afore-said Anglo-American lady, Miss Wright. Let my readers peruse the following extracts from the eloquent, though in many parts mistaken, work of this lady on America, and I will engage that unless that gentleman deviates very materi ally from his accustomed course, they will hear the 322 TOUR THROUGH THE same observations nearly verbatim, the next time they go to see Matthews : " It is to be regretted, that our country is visited by so many travellers of this description, and so few of any other kind. We are a young people, and therefore perhaps despised ; we are a people fast growing in strength and prosperity, and there fore perhaps envied. We, have doubtless errors ; J never yet saw the nation that had them not ; but is equally certain that we have many virtues. An enemy will see only the former ; the friend who would wisely point out both, ' nothing extenuating nor setting down aught in malice,'' would do as kindlj' by us, as honourably by himself. Will no such man ever come from your country ? " I often lament, that we should be visited only by the poor or the busy, the prejudiced or the illiterate of the English nation. Their reports are received for lack of better, and form the texts from which the European journalists draw their reports of our character and our in-stitutions. " All this were very ridiculous, if it were not very mischievous. Cutting words cut deep; and I fear that we are human enough to feel ourselves gradually estranged from a nation that was once our own, and for which we so long cherished an affection, that I am sure would have grown with our growth, and have strengthened with our strength, had not the pen yet more than the sword destroyed it. " A traveller is, of all men, most at the mercy of UNITED STATES. 323 these nameless trifles ; it is a pity, however, that nations should be laid at their mercy too, or rather at the mercy of a jaded traveller's distempered mind. Would it not be a good rule, that when a tourist sits down with pen and paper before him to pass judgment upon the world around him, he should first ask himself a few questions : * Am I * in good health and good humour ? in a comfortable * room and an easy chair ? at peace with myself and ' all men about me ?' I have a notion that some such short catechism would save volumes of mis stated facts and mis-represented characters, and keep the peace not only between man and and man, but nation and nation, in a manner undesired by statesmen, and undreamed of by philosophers." While endeavouring to convict the famous Co median of plagiarism, it is not worth while to do it only by halves, and I shall therefore transcribe the account which Mr. Lambert gives of a Review, not only that my readers may be able to remark the co-incidence between it and Mr. JVIatthews's description of a similar scene, but also because it will be new to many of my country readers who have not witnessed that gentleman's performance, although it will undoubtedly seem old to those who have been so fortunate. " I happened, not long since, to be present at the muster of a Captain's company, in a remote part of one of the counties ; and, as no general description could convey an adequate idea of the achievements of that day, I must be permitted to 324 TOUR THROUGH THE go a little into the detail, as well as my recollec tion will serve me. The men had been notified to meet at nine o'clock, ' armed and equipped as the law directs,' that is to say, with a gun and car- touch-box, at least ; but as directed by the law of the United States, ' with a good firelock, a suffi cient bayonet and belt, and pouch with a box to contain not less than twenty-four sufficient cart ridges of powder and ball.' At twelve o'clock, about one-third, perhaps half, the men had col lected; and an inspector's return of the number present would have stood nearly thus : ' One Cap tain, one Lieutenant, Ensign none, Serjeants two, Corporals none, Drummers none, Fifers none. Pri vates present twenty-five, ditto absent thirty, guns fifteen, gun-locks twelve, ramrods ten, rifle-pouches three, bayonets none, belts none, spare flints none, cartridges none, horse-whips, walking-canes, and umbrellas, twenty-two. " A little before one o'clock, the Captain, whom I shall distinguish by the name of Clodpole, gave directions for forming the line of parade. In obedience to this order, one of the Serjeants, the strength of whose lungs had long supplied the place of a drum and fife, placed himself in front of the house, and began to bawl with great vehe mence, ' All Captain Clodpole's company to parade ' there ! Come, gentlemen, parade here ! Parade * here !' says he ; ' and all you that has^nt guns, fall ' into the lower eewrf.' He might have bawled till this time, with as little success as the Syrens sung UNITED STATES. 825 to Ulysses, had he not changed his post to a neigh bouring shade ; there he was immediately joined by all who were then at leisure : The others were at that time engaged either as parties or spectators at a game of fives, and could not just then attend. However, in less than half an hour the game was finished, and the Captain was enabled to form his company, and proceed in the duties of the day. " ' Look to the right, and dress .'' " They were soon, by the help of the non-com missioned officers, placed in a straight line ; but, as every man was anxious to see how the rest stood, those on the wings pressed forward for that pur pose, till the whole line assumed nearly the form of a crescent. " ' Whew ! Look at 'em !' .says the Captain. ' Why, gentlemen, you are all crooking here at ' both eends, so that you will get on to me by and ' by : Come, gentlemen, dress ! dress !' " This was accordingly done ; but, impelled by the same motive as before, they soon resumed their former figure, and so they were permitted to remain. " ' Now, gentlemen,' says the Captain, ' I am ' going to carry you through the revolutions of the ' manual exercise ; and I want you, gentlemen, if ' you please, to pay every particular attention to ' the word of command, just exactly as I give it ' out to you. I hope you will have a little patience, ' gentlemen, if you please, and I'll be as short as 326 TOUR THROUGH THE * possible ; and if I should be ai-going wrong, I ' will be much obliged to any of you, gentlemen, * to put me right again, for I mean all for the * best, and I hope you will excuse me, if you please. ' And one thing, gentlemen, I must caution you ' against, in particular, and that is this, not to ' make any mistakes, if you can possibly help it ; * and the best way to do this, will be to ^o all the * motions right at first, and that will help us to get ' along so much the faster, and I will try to have ' it over as soon as possible. Come, boys, come to ' a shoulder ! " ' Poise foolk ! " ' Cock foolk ! — Very handsomely done. " ' Take aim ! " ' Ram down cartridge ! — No, no ! Fire ! I ' recollect now, that firing comes next after taking ' aim, according to Steuben ; but, with your permis- f sion, gentlemen, I'll read the words of command * just exactly as they are printed in the book, and * then I shall be sure to be right.' " * O yes ! Read it. Captain, read it !' exclaimed twenty voices at once ; ' that will save time.' " ' ' Tention, the whole then I Please to observe, ' gentlemen, that at the word.^re ! you must fire ; * that is, if any of your guns areloaden'd, you must ' not shoot in yearnest, but only make pretence, ' like ; and all you gentlemen fellow-soldiers, who's * armed with nothing but sticks and riding-switches, ' and corn-stalks, need'nt go through the firings, ' but stand as you are, and keep yourselves to ' yourselves.' UNITED STATES. 327 " ' Half cock foolk ! — Very well done. ^ " ' S, h, u, t, (spelling) Shet pan ! — That, too, ' would have been very handsomely done, if you * had'nt have handled the cartridge instead ; but I ' suppose you was'nt noticing. Now, 'tention one ' and all, gentlemen, and do that motion again. " ' Shet panl — Very good, very well indeed: ' you did that motion equal to any old soldiers ; ' you improve astonishingly. " ' Handle cartridge ! — Pretty well, considering * you done it wrong eend foremost, as if you took * the cartridge out of your mouth, and bit off the * twist with the cartridge-box. " ' Draw rammer ! — Those who have no ram- ' mers to their guns need not draw, but only make ' the motion ; it will do just as well, and save a * great deal of time. " ' Return rammer ! — Very well again. But that ' would have been done, I think, with greater ' expertness, if you had performed the motion ' with a little more dexterity. " ' Shoulder foolk ! — Very handsomely done, ' indeed, if you ' had only brought the foolk to ' the other shoulder, gentlemen. Do that motion * again, gentlemen, and bring the foolk up to ' the left shoulder. " ' Shoulder foolk ! — Very good. " ' Order foolk ! — Not quite so well, gentlemen ; * not quite all together : But, perhaps, I did not * speak loud enough for you to hear me all at ' once. Try once more, if you please ; I hope 328 TOUR THROUGH THE * you will be patient, gentlemen ; we will soon * be through. " ' Order foolk ! — Handsomely done, gentlemen I * very handsomely done ! and all together too, ' except that a few of you were a leetle too soon, ' and some others a leetle too late. " ' In laying down your guns, gentlemen, ' take care to lay the locks up, - and the other * sides down. " ' 'Tention the whole ! Ground foolk ! — Very ' well. " ' Charge bagonet !' " (Some of the men.) — ' That can't be right, ' Captain ; pray look again, for how can we charge ' bagonet without our guns ?' " (Captain.) — ' I don't know as to that, but I ' I know I'm right ; for here it is printed in the ' book, c, h, a, r, yes, charge bagonet, that's right, ' that's the word, if I know how to read : Come, ' gentlemen, do pray charge the bagonet ! Charge, ' I say ! Why don't you charge ? Do you think ' it an't so? Do you think I have lived to this * time of day, and don't know what charge bago- ' net is? Here, come here, you may see for ' yourselves ; it's as plain as the nose on jour ,' fa stop — stay — no ! — halt ! no, no ! 'faith I'm ' wrong ! I'm wrong ! I turned over two leaves at ' once. But I beg your pardon, gentlemen ; we ' will not stay out long ; and we'll have something. ' to drink, as soon as we've done. Come, boys, ' get up off the stumps and? logs, and take up your UNITED STATES. 399. * guns, and we'll soon be done ; excuse «ie, if you . * please. " ' Fix bagonet ! "'Advance arms! — ^^Very well done, turn the ' stocks of your guns in front, gentlemen, and that * will bring the barrels behind ; and hold them * straight up and down, if you please. Let go with "* your left hand, and take hold with your right just ' below the guard. Steuben says, the gun must be * held up p, e, x , perticular : yes, you must always * mind and hold your guns very perticular. Now, * boys, 'tention the whole ! " ' Present nrms ! — Very handsomely done ! only * hold your guns over the other knee, and the other * hand up, turn your guns round a leetle, and raise * them up higher, draw the other foot back ! Now * you are nearly right. Very well done, gentle- * men ; you have improved vastly since I first saw * you : you are getting too slick. What a charming * thing it is to see men under good discipline! ' Now, gentlemen, we are come to the revolutions : ' but Lord, men, how did you get into such a hjg- ' glety-pigglety ?' " The fact was, the shade had moved consider ably to the Eastward, and had exposed the right wing of these hardy veterans to a galling fire of the sun. Being but poorly provided with umbrellas at this end of the line, they found it convenient to follow the shade ; and, in huddling to the left for this purpose, they had changed the figure of their Vol II. Y 330 TOUR THROUGH THE line, from that of a crescent, to one which more nearly resembled a pair of pot-hooks. " * Come, gentlemen,' says the Captain, ' spread * yourselves out again into a straight line, and let * us get into the wheelings and other matters as * soon as possible.' " But this was .strenuously opposed by the .sol diers. They objected to going into these revolutions at all, inasmuch as the weather was extremely hot, and they had already been kept in the field up wards of three quarters of an hour. They reminded the Captain of his repeated promise to be as short as he possibly could, and it was clear he could dis pense with all this same wheeling and flourishing if he chose. They were already very thirsty, and if he would not dismiss them, they declared they would go off without dismission, and get something to drink ; and he might fine them if that would do him any good ; they were able to pay their fine, but could not go without drink to please any body; and they swore they would never vote for another Captain, who wished to be so unreasonably strict. " The Captain behaved with great spirit upon this occasion, and a smart colloquy ensued ; when at length, becoming exasperated to the last degree, he roundly asserted, that no soldier ought ever to think hard oi the orders of his Officer; and finally he went as far as to say, that he did not think any gentleman on that ground had any just cause to be offended with him. The dispute was at length set- UNITED STATES. 331 tied by the Captain's sending for some grog, for their present accommodation, and agreeing to omit reading the military law; as directed by a late Act, and also all the military manoeuvres, except two or three such easy and simple ones as could be per formed within the compass of the shade. After they had drunk their grog, and 'spread themselves,' they were divided into platoons. " ' ' Tention the whole ! — To the right wheel V Each man faced to the right about. " ' Why, gentlemen, I didn't mean for every ' man to stand still and turn nayturaUy right round ; ' but when I told you to wheel to the right, I in- ' tended for you to wheel round to the right as it * were. Please to try that again, gentlemen ; every * right-hand man must stand fast, and only the others * turn round.' " In a previous part of the exercise, it had, for the purpose of sizing them, been necessary to denomi nate every second person, a ' right-hand man.' A very natural consequence was, that on the present occasion those right-hand men maintained their po sition, and all the intermediate ones faced about as before. " ' Why loolcat 'em now !' exclaimed the Cap tain in extreme vexation. ' I'll be d -d if you * can understand a word I say. Excuse me, gentle- * men, but it rayly seems as if you could'nt come at ' it exactly. In wheeling to the right, the right ' hand eend of the platoon stands fast, and the other y2 ,332 TOUR THROUGH THE ' eend comes round like a swingle-tree. Those on ' the outside must march faster than those on the ' inside, and those on the inside not near so fast as ' those on the outside. You certainly must under- ' stand me now, gentlemen; and now please to try ' once more.' " In this they were a little more successful. *' ' Very well, gentlemen ; very well indeed : and ' now, gentlemen, at the word, wheel to the left, * you must wheel to the left. ""Tention the whole!— To the left— left no— ¦' — that is the left — I mean the right — left, wheel ! ' march? " In this he was strictly obeyed ; some wheeling to the right, some to the left, and some to the right, left, or both ways. " ' Stop ! halt ! let us try again ! I could not just * then tell my right hand from my left ; you must * excuse me, gentlemen, if you please; experience ' makes perfect, as the saying is; long as I've served, ' I find something new to learn every day, but all's * one for that ; now, gentlemen, do that motion once ' more.' " By the help of a non-commissioned officer in front of each platoon, they wheeled this time with /considerable regularity. *' ' Now, boys, you must try to wheel by divi-* ' sions, and there is one thing in particular which I ' have to request of you, gentlemen, and it is this, * not to make any blunder in your wheeling. You ' must mind and keep at a wheeling distance ; and UNITED STATES., ggg * riot talk in the ranks, nor get out of fix again ; for ' I want you to do this motion well, and not make ' any blunder now. " ' 'Tention the whole ! By divisions ! to the ' right wheel! march .'' " In doing this, it seemed as if Bedlam had broke loose ; every man took the command—' Not so ' fast on the right !— How now ! how now !— Haul 'down those umbrellas!— Faster on the left !— ' Keep back a little in the middle there— Don't ' crowd so---Hold up your gun, Sam— Go faster ' there ! — Faster ! — Who trod on me? — D n ' your huffs, keep back ! keep back !-"Stop us, ' Captain, do stop us— Go faster there— I've lost ' my shoe— Get up again— Ned, halt ! halt ! halt ! ' —Stop, gentlemen ! stop ! stop!'— " By this time they got into utter and inexplica ble confusion, and so I left them." I do not adduce these examples of colloquial plunder on account . of thinking it to be out of character, in those who get up dramatic exhibitions for the public entertainment, to enrich themselves by the labours of others : For I can well conceive, that if persons be allowed to Terrify the spleqdid works of Walter Scott into Operas,, and Melo dramas, and such-like, it is equally pardonable in Mr. Matthews to borrow from the writings of inferior ihen, women, and children, whenever he can meet with any thing that suits his purpose. Liberty of discussion is, however, vested in the hands of the public ; and if no one has hitherto y3 334 TOUR THROUGH THE distinguished between what is original, and what is not, in the Monopolylogue of Mr. Matthews, I can do no possible harm by informing the admir ers of this gentleman, that most of those fine sen timents concerning England and America which they cheer with so much enthusiasm, are from the eloquent pen of Miss Wright. The calm and dis passionate manner in which Mr. Pennington is made to deliver them, could only belong to the followers of Penn in America ; but the correspon dence between the two names is the only co-inci dence from which it could be inferred, that Penn ington is meant for a Quaker : For, although the smoothness of his speech is much like that which attaches to the people of this sect, he does not make use of the second person singular, in addresis- ing himself to individuals. From this and other circumstances it appears to me, that this character was introduced merely for the purpose of height ening the effect of the performance, and not as exhibiting any thing peculiar to America, unless the liberal and enlightened views which he expresses may be so considered. The German Judge, whose whimsical charge to the Jury produces an abundance of merriment, is another exotic transplanted by the hand of Mr. Matthews. Indeed, there needs no ghost to rise from the grave to tell us, that no man, whether he were German or Dutch, or of any other nation, could possibly give such an exposition of the cri minal code as that with which Matthews so emi- UNITED STATES. 335 nently edifies his audience ; and leaving out the mode in which it is conveyed, the mere person described in this character is entirely foreign to America. The man who is at once Colonel of Militia and Shoemaker, is also in many respects an exagge rated representation of persons of this class in Ame rica. Setting aside his attachment to drink, and the incongruity of his civil and military professions, which are certainly genuine American, there is nothing in which he resembles the people of that country, except in the peculiar phrases that he occasionally employs, and in the love of idleness and independence that he exhibits. With respect to the rest of the characters which this modern Proteus represents, I can only say, — they are extremely like what I have seen when in the company of persons belonging to those various nations. To the accuracy with which the Irish character is delineated, I can speak with confi dence, on account of my own Hibernian origin ; but I am informed, by a Yorkshire friend who has wit nessed the whole performance, that Mr. Matthews fails exceedingly in his attempts to imitate the dialect of that county, and would do well either to pay a visit to the West Riding in person, or to peruse with attention a small book which has recently been published, called " the Craven Dia lect," before he attempts to personate again the Illinois Farmer. 336 TOUR THROUGH THE In all the remarks which I have taken the liberty of making on this topic, I wish it to be distinctly understood, that I am quite as much impressed in favour of Matthews, as a comic actor, as any of his most fervent admirers ; and, although having been for six years a resident on the Continent of ' America, I could easily detect whatever did not an.swer to the life, when I witnessed the " Trip to America," yet the desire to be critical did not, in the most unreal case, overcome my disposition to be merry ; and I venture to say, that many errors escaped my serious attention, because their first and only effect was tried on my risible nerves. The charge of the German Judge, which is the most erroneous passage in the whole, kept me in such a continual fit of outright laughter, that I may thank my stars it was fictitious, or I certainly should have undergone some dreadful punishment for my contempt of the Court. In concluding my observations on this subject, it may be well, for the information of those who go to the Lyceum to obtain some acquaintance with the American manners and customs, as well as to be amu.sed with the facetiousness of Mr. Matthews, to remark, that whatever denotes pride, vanity, and self-conceit, with ignorant notions of liberty and independence, may be safely relied upon as being near the truth. For such is the extent of empire which these qualities have gained in the minds of the lower and middling classes of the UNITED STATES. ggy Americans, that when travellers have told all that they can, and when even Matthews himself has exerted his utmost skill in retentiveness of memory and fidelity of imitation, it may truly be said, " the half is not told." The particular sort of phraseology employed, must of course be taken into the account ; and here also the observation should be made, that no one can form any adequate idea of the terms in which conversation is carried on, unless he has been upon the spot. The curious applications which are made of the words calculate, reckon, and guess, with many others, are but given as specimens of a dialect that is replete with similar and yet more strange transfigurations of the English language. Rochester is situated on the banks of the Erie Canal ; and although the spot on which the vil lage stands was, ten years ago, a perfect wilder ness, it now contains upwards of 6,000 inhabitants, and is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Although it boasts of no less than five exten sive and excellent hotels, each of which is capable of accommodating between fifty and seventy per sons, I could not procure a bed on the night of my arrival. Every public bed of the town was occu pied, and I was compelled to sleep on a sofa. The next morning I breakfasted at the Mansion- house Hotel, in company with about 100 persons, of fashionable appearance and genteel address. The breakfast, as in Canada, con.sisted of a variety of 3.38 TOUR THROUGH THE meats, pies, cakes, tarts, «fcc. ; and as each indi vidual finished his last cup, he rose from the table and walked out without any sort of ceremony. The streets of Rochester are laid out. at right angles with each other. The houses are built of brick, and neatly painted red and pointed out with white : This embellishment, with Venetian blinds, piazzas, verandas, balconies, &c. gives the village a very delightful aspect, and designates the inhabitants as tasteful, enterprising, indus trious, and opulent ; but, I believe, it is more owing to the other qualities than to their opulence. From Rochester I proceeded on the canal by the packet-boat to Utica, a distance of 166 miles. The fare in boats of this description is six dollars, exclusive of eating and drinking, both of which are furnished at a moderate price and are very excellent. We passed through several villages, the most considerable of which was Canandaigua, which is situate near the outlet of the lake from which it derives its name. The houses here, as well as in every other village which I have seen in the United States, are gene rally built of brick, and painted. Willow and poplar trees are also planted along the sides of the ways, which, combined with the light, airy, and elegant appearance of the buildings, the bustle and activity of the inhabitants, and the commercial aspect of the mercantile houses, cannot fail to con vey a very favourable idea of American enterprize and industry. The principal street of Canandargua UNITED STATES. 33.) is nearly two miles long : In the centre of the village is a sort of square, where the Court-house and several other public offices are situated. This village is superior to any that I ever saw, either in Europe or in America. In Europe we com monly associate the name of village with poverty ; but an American village presents to the beholder's view all the business-like air and all the wealth and taste of a city. At a short distance south-west of Canandargua, a curious spring, called the Burning Spring, has lately been discovered. The water issues from the sides of a deep ravine, and exhibits on its surface a bright red flame, which, on the application of wood or any other combustible substance, produces an immediate blaze. The water is of the same temperature as common potable water, and has no peculiar taste or smell. The next village through which I passed on my way to New York, was Auburn, situated at the outlet of the Owaseo Lake. This village contains about 300 houses and 1,200 inhabitants, beside a number of mills — cloth and cotton manufactories. There is also a prison, erected for the reception of convicts, and a Theological Seminary, The canal which passes by, at the distance of seven miles North of " this loveliest village of the plain," will, it is thought, materially retard its further improve ment, and will soon render it, in destiny as in name, a facsimile of its Irish predecessor. The company on board the steam-boat frqm 340 TOUR THROUGH THE Rochester to Utica, consisted of several citizens of New York, among whom were Mr. Waring and Mr. Horton, respectable merchants of that city, and a Lawyer, who styled himself Counsellor Childe. When we had proceeded a little on our way, and the common topics which are generally handled by strangers, on their first introduction to each other, were briefly discussed, the conversation very naturally turned upon politics, and the civil and military affairs of the different great nations of the earth. From things we generally pass to men,' — from the various public events which occur to the instruments by which they have been brought about. It was, therefore, an easy transi tion, from the events of the late short war, to the notable Commander, General Jackson. In the midst of our conversation on the merits of this officer, I was asked by one of the party, " what opinion was entertained respecting him by the people of Upper Canada ?" I replied, that he was certainly no great favourite with them ; and to con vince them of the truth of my remark, I would relate to them an anecdote. The word " anec dote" had a wonderful effect upon their nerves, and all awaited in silent expectation. A short time ago. Gentlemen, said I, a citizen of the United States came over into Upper Canada with a splendid exhibition of figures in wax-work, which he displayed in the town of York. Among the rest of the great American heroes, whose effigies were found in this collection, was that of General UNITED STATES. 341 Jackson. As soon as the inha^bitants were gene rally made acquainted with this circumstance, such was their zeal for the reputation of his eminence, that they deputed some person or persons to treat with the owner for the purchase of his waxen figure of the General. When they had learned the sum which would be required for the purchase of such a prime article, a subscription was immediately entered into ; and, in consequence of the spirited labours of the collectors, and the ready liberality of the subscribers, a sufficient sum was speedily obtained. It was therefore immediately taken to the exhibitor, and General Jackson was brought away, from his companions in arms, in the arms of several stout Canadians, with triumphal accla mations of delight. For what reason, do you think, they bought him, and how did they intend to dispoise of him? Not to place him in some conspicuous part of the town, where he might receive the daily homage of his warm admirers; for then, in the space of a few short melting moments, he would have been dissolved by the rays of the sun. But a particular night was solemnly set apart for the celebration of his re puted valour ; and when it arrived, he was led forth to the scene of festivity, exalted on a large pole, and burnt in the sight of all the people. Many of the gentlemen aboard v/ere heartily amused with the ludicrous termination of my story ; but the aforesaid Counsellor Childe, whom I afterwards discovered to be a rank republican. 342 TOUR through THE and rather deistioal in his ideas of religion, was dreadfully enraged, as well by the daring sacrilege of the Canadians, as by the merriment which it occasioned among his countrymen and fellow- citizens. He said, he could not tell how any man who shared the independence which that great and magnanimous hero (General Jackson) had so powerfully contributed to maintain, could be for getful enough of the benefits for which they were indebted to his valour, to laugh at such a daring insult on his name ! The Counsellor argued with so much resolution, that those who were inclining to the opposite side of the question, thought it would be wiser to give up the contest, and allow Mr. Childe to smother his favourite with laurels if he pleased, rather than keep his temper, which was naturally good, in such an uncomfortable state of effervescence. We afterwards found him to be an exceeding clever and pleasant fellow, and conferred upon him the quizzical surname of " General Jackson" during the remainder of the voyage. The principal bone of contention between Mr. Childe and his countrymen, who seemed to entertain as high an opinion of Jackson's military prowess as the Counsellor, was respecting his pre tensions to the Presidency of the States. No one present could allow, that he was at all fitted for such a situation, excepting Mr. Childe, who ap peared to make the establishment of his favourite's universality of talent a part of the business of his life. UNITED STATES. 343 Utica, though it contains more than 4,000 inha bitants is also called by the name of village. It stands on the South bank of the Mohawk River, and near the spot where Fort Schuyler formerly stood. It is a place of much trade, and is said to be rapidly increasing in wealth and population. It contains two Banking establishments and a Court-house. The canal which passes through it, united with various other advantages, renders it one of the most desirable situations for trade and commerce in the state of New York. From Utica I proceeded in a stage-coach, and in company with Messrs. Waring and Horton, to the Ballston and Saratoga Spring.?, a distance of nearly eighty miles. In the course of this journey, which, for a great part of the way, ran along the banks of the Mohawk river, we had a fine view of the rich alluvial vale, called the Herkimer and German Flats, once the region of war and bloodshed, but now glowing in all the beauty of cultivation. Not far from the city of Schenectady, a large wooden bridge has been made across the Mohawk. It is 997 feet long, and is roofed over. Schenec tady is one of the most ancient towns in America. It was burned by the Indians in 1680, and was considerably injured by a second fire in 1819. Union College is the chief among its public build ings : It is a plain brick structure, but was not entirely finished when I saw it. At this institution 200 students now receive their education, at an expence of only 130 dollars per annum, — £29. 16s. 344 TOUR THROUGH THE Schuylersville, a small village, containing not more than forty houses, is celebrated as the resi dence of Philip Schuyler, Esq., son, I believe, of the late General Schuyler, — but still more as the spot on which General Burgoyne surrendered to the American army in October 1777. The par ticular place of the surrender is marked by the ruins of a small entrenchment, and is pointed out to strangers by Americans with a feeling of exultation of which they seem to expect even Britons to par take. I confess I viewed the spot with consider able emotion, which did not how^ever partake of the exultation expressed by Americans. The following interesting account of the death of General Eraser which took place in a small house about six miles below Schuyler's ville, now occu pied as a tavern by one Smith, was written by the Baroness Reidsell, who with her two children occupied the house in which the General expired : " But severe trials awaited us, and on the 7th of October, our misfortunes began ; I was at break fast with my husband, and heard that something was intended. On the same day I expected Ge nerals Burgoyne, Phillips and Frazer to dine with us. I saw a great movement among the troops ; my husband told me it was merely a reconnoisance, which gave me no concern, as it often happened. I walked out of the house and met several Indians in their War-dresses, with guns in their hands- When I asked them where they were going, they cried out, Wai- ! War ! (meaning that they UNITED STATES. 345 were going to battle.) This filled me with appre hension, and I had scarcely got home, before I heard reports of cannon and musketry, which grew louder by degrees, till at last the noise became excessive. About four o'clock in the afternoon, instead of the guests whom I expected. General Frazer was brought on a litter mortally wounded. The table, which was already set, was instantly removed, and a bed placed in its stead for the wounded General. I sat trembling in a corner ; the noise grew louder and the alarm increased ; the thought that my hus band might perhaps be brought in, wounded in the same way, was terrible to me, and distressed me ex ceedingly. Gen. Frazer said to the surgeon, ' Tell me if my wound is mortal, do not flatter me? The ball had passed through his body, and unhappily for the general he had eaten a very hearty break fast, by which the stomach was distended, and the ball, as the surgeon said, had passed' through it. I heard him often exclaim with a sigh, ' Oh fatal ' ambition! Poor General Burgoyne ! Oh my poor ' wife !' He was asked if he had any request to make, to which he replied, that ' if General Bur- ' goyne would permit it, he should like to be buried ' at six o'clock in the evening, on the top of a ' mountain, in a redoubt which had been built ' there.' I did not know which way to turn, all the other rooms were full of sick. Towards even ing I saw my husband coming, then I forgot all my sorrows and thanked God that he was spared to me. He ate in great haste with me and his aid-de- Z 31G TOUR THROUGH THE camp behind the house. We had been told, that we had the advantage of the enemy, but the sor rowful faces I beheld told a different tale, and be fore my husband went away he took me on one side, and said every thing was going very bad, that I must keep myself in readiness to leave the place, but not to mention it to any one. I made the pre tence, that I would move the next morning into my new house, and had every thing packed up ready. " Lady H. Ackland had a tent not far from our house, in this she slept, and the rest of the day she was in the camp. All of a sudden, a man came to tell her that her husband was mortally wounded and taken prisoner ; on hearing this she became very miserable, we comforted her by telling her that the wound was only slight, and at the same time advised her to go over to her husband, to do which she would certainly obtain permission, and then she could attend him her.self; she was a charming woman and very fond of him. I spent much, of the night in comforting her, and then went again to my children whom I had put to bed. I could not go to sleep, as I had General Frazer and all the other wounded gentlemen in my room, and I was sadly afraid my children would awake, and, by their crying, disturb the dying man in his last moments, who often addresised me and apologized ' for the trouble he gave me.' About three o'clock in the morning I was told, he could not hold out much longer ; I had desired to be informed of the UNITED STATES. 347 near approach of this sad crisis, and I then wrapped up my children in their clothes, and went with them into the room below. About eight o'clock in the morning he died. After he was laid out, and his corpse wrapped up in a sheet, we came again into the room, and had this sorrowful sight before us the whole day ; and, to add to the melancholy Scene, almost every moment some officer of my acquaintance was brought in wounded. The can nonade commenced again; a retreat was spoken of, but not the smallest motion was made towards it. About four o'clock, in the afternoon, I saw the house which had just been built for me in flames, and the enemy was now not far off. We knew that General Burgoyne would not refuse the last request of General Frazer, though by his acceding to it an unnecessary delay was occasioned, by which the inconvenience of the army was much increased. At six o'clock the corpse was brought out, and we saw all the Generals attend it to the mountain ; the chaplain, Mr. Brudenell, performed the funeral Service, rendered unusually solemn and awful from its being accompanied by constant peals from the enemy's artillery. Many cannon-balls flew close by me, but I had my eyes directed towards the mountain, where my husband was standing, amidst the fire of the enemy, and of course, I could not think of my own danger. " General Gates afterwards said, that if he had known it had been a funeral, he would not have permitted it to be fired on." z2 348 TOUR THROUGH THE The next place which we visited, after we left Schuylersville was Saratoga, principally famous on account of its numerous springs and as a place of fashionable resort during the Summer months. When I arrived at Saratoga, many of the fashionables had returned to their respective homes, for the season was then pretty far advanced. But there was still a great number of visitors at all the hotels in the village. The inn at which I stop ped was the Congress Hall, which is the largest in the place, being one hundred and ninety-six feet and a half long, two stories and a half high, with two wings, each extending backward sixty feet. In the front is a neat and commodious piazza, that opens upon a beautiful garden, and a small grove of pine-trees which appertain tb the establishment. This hotel is said to be capable of accommodating two hundred persons, all of whom breakfast, dine and sup at the same table. A number of waiters, I dare say not less than twenty, are in attendance ; and, as in this land of independence no gentleman ever deigns to carve a dish, the duty of a waiter is very arduous. The plan pursued at table, here as well as in every other part of the United States which I have visited, is this : When the company have taken their seats, each person casts his eye right and left along the whole range of the table, for the purpose of noting what is the nature of its contents. As soon as he has fixed upon a particular dish, he palls out for it to the waiter, who brings it from its station on the table, and, setting it before the person United states. 34() who asked for it, waits until he has carved what ever part of it he prefers, and then returns it to its former situation. This practice creates a great deal of confusion; for, during the whole of the repast, nothing can be heard but cries of " Waiter, bring me this !" and " Waiter, bring me the other ! ;" and nothing can be seen, but waiter bumping against waiter, and dish rattling against dish. There is no sort of ceremony observed at the most fashionable houses ; for as soon as a gentleman has satisfied his appetite, he rises from his seat, and, walking out in the Piazza, begins to smoke his segar. The generality of Americans eat so fast, that one might suppose they were engagedindetermininga wager; for by the time that a man of moderation, both as it respects the quantity which he eats and the time which he consumes in mastication, has nearly done his dinner, the whole table is deserted as well by the company as by the meats. I have hitherto spo ken of the visitors to Saratoga as if they were all gentlemen ; but I should not forget to say, that many ladies resort to the springs of this place, though few of them, I think, on account of any sickness they wish to get rid of. At Congress Hall, the house which I have just described, there were ladies whom I had frequently the pleasure of meeting in a morning at a neighbouring spring, called the Congress Spring. They used to make a regular practice of drinking a small portion of, the waters ; and I then thought, from the emaciated and sallow appearance of their countenances, they did z3 350 TOUR THROUGH THE SO for the purpose of curing the jaundice or some other similar complaint. But when I arrived in New York and observed the faces of the females in that city, I found that these were characteristic of the American females, and by no means betokened sickness or ill health. At a short distance from the Congress Spring, and on the West side of a valley which bounds the Eastern side of the village of Saratoga, there is another spring called " the High Rock." The rock by which this spring is enclosed is in the shape of a cone, the diameter of whose base is nine feet, and its height five feet. It would appear to have been formed by the gradual concretion of particles thrown up by the water, which formerly overflowed its summit, through a small opening in the centre, and diverged regularly from the apex of the rock to the circumference of its base. The water now only rises within two feet of the brink of the rock, which has uniformly been the case since the fall of a tree that struck upon it, and, as the vulgar have supposed, created a fissure in the side of the stone which let out the water and prevented it from issuing as formerly from the top. This opinion, however, may be doubted. This alteration in the escape or the rise of the water has most probably been occasioned by the decay of the rock, which, as the formation of it was commenced on the natural surface of the earth, may have yielded to the perpetual motion of the water, and at length made an outlet betwixt its decayed base UNITED STATES. 35I and the loose earth on which it was originally founded. This supposition is considerably favoured by the external aspect of the base of the rock on its Eastern side, which ha^ already yielded several inches of its thickness to the penetrating implements: of public curiosity. Most of the other mineral springs, for which the vicinity of Saratoga is so famous, are to be found between the two to which I have already alluded, the Congress and the High Rock. At the two chief ones among these, namely, the Hamilton and the Monroe, large and commodious baths have been built, which are commonly resorted to during Summer, as much for purposes of pleasure as of health. The following description of the properties and uses of the Saratoga Springs has been given by Dr. John H. Steel, residing at the place : " Those which have become the most distin guished at Saratoga Springs, are the Congress, Columbian, Hamilton, Flat Rock, High Rock, and President ; and those at Ballston Spa, are the Old Spring, Washington, and Low's. Of these, the Congress unquestionably ranks first as an acidulous saline. One gallon, or 231 cubic inches of this water, contains, agreeably to an analysis which I made several years ago, and which sub sequent experiments fully confirm, 676 grains of solid substance, in a perfect state of solution. Of this something more than two-thii-ds is muriate of soda or common salt, more than one-fourth car- 352 TOUR THROUGH THE bonate of lime, and the remainder consists of car bonate of soda, carbonate of magnesia, and car bonate of iron. But what more particularly di.?- tinguishes and characterises the water of this spring, is the fact that it contains, the moment it is dipped, nearly one-half more than its bulk of car bonic acid gas, a quantity hitherto unprecedented in any natural waters, except those of this country. " The Columbian is an acidulous chalybeate ; it contain 364 grains of solid contents to the gallon, nearly two-thirds of which is muriate of soda, about one-third carbonate of lime, seven and a half grains of carbonate of iron, and a small proportion of the carbonate of soda and magnesia. It contains something more than its bulk of carbonic acid gas. " The Flat Rock is likewise an acidulous chaly beate. It contains the same quantity of iron as the Columbian, but a less proportion of the saline ingredients, while it contains rather more of the gaseous property. " The Hamilton, High Rock, and President, are siline, their solid contents being composed of muriate of soda, in the . proportion of from one- half to two-thirds, and carbonate of lime in the proportion of about one-third. They likewise con tain iron, carbonate of soda and magnesia, in con siderable quantities, and more than their bulk of gas. " At Ballston Spa, the mineral waters all belong UNITED STATES. 353 to the acidulous chalybeate class. The Old Spring contains 263 grains of solid contents to a gallon ; something more than one-half of which is muriate of soda, a little less than one-third carbonate of lime, and the remainder is carbonatie of magnesia, soda, and seven and a half grains of iron. It like wise contains more than its bulk of gas. " The Washington contains 235 grains of solid contents to the gallon, more than one-half of which is muriate of soda, nearly one-fourth car bonate of lime, and the same quantity of iron as the old spring, and about l-13th of magnesia and soda. There is another well, called the low tube, close to the Washington, and apparently issuing from the same aperture in the earth, which con tains 13 or 14 grains more in its solid contents: This excess is in the quantity of the muriate of soda. The waters of both these fountains are super-saturated with the aerial acid, while the super-abundant gas is continually escaping in im mense quantities. " Low's Spring contains the same articles as the foregoing, but somewhat less in quantity. " The temperature of the water in all these wells is about the same, ranging from 48 to 62 degrees on Fahrenheifs scale; and they suffer no sensible alteration from any variation in the tem perature of the atmosphere ; neither do the varia tions of the seasons appear to have much effect on the quantity of water produced. " The waters are remarkably limpid, and, when 354 TOUR THROUGH THE first dipped, sparkle with all the life of good Cham pagne. The saline waters bear bottling very well, particularly the Congress, immense quantities of which are put up in this way, and transported to various parts of the world ; not, however, without a considerable loss of its gaseous property, which renders its taste much more insipid than when drunk at the well. The chalybeate water is like wise put up in bottles for transportation, but a very trifling loss of its gas produces an immediate pre cipitation of its iron ; and hence this water, when it has been bottled for some time, frequently be comes turbid, and finally loses every trace of iron ; this substance fixing itself to the walls of the bottle. "The most prominent and perceptible effects of these waters, when taken into the stomach, are Cathartic, Diuretic, and Tonick. They are much used in a great variety of complaints ; but the dis eases in which they are most efficacious are. Jaundice and bilious affections generally. Dyspepsia.Habitual costiveness. Hypochondriacal complaints. Depraved appetite. Calculous and nephritic complaints. Phagedenic or ill-conditioned ulcers. Cutaneous eruptions. Chronic rheumatism. Some species or states of gout. Some species of drop.sy. UNITED STATES. 355 Scrofula. Paralysis. Scorbutic affections and old scorbutic ulcers. Amenorrhea. Dysmenorrhea and chlorosis. " In phthisis, and indeed in all other pulmonary affections arising from primary diseases of the lungs, the waters are manifestly injurious, and evidently tend to increase the virulence of the disease. " Much interest has been excited on the subject of the source of these singular waters, but no re searches have as yet unfolded the mystery. The large proportion of common salt, found among their constituent properties, may be accounted for without much difficulty; all the salt-springs of Europe, as well as those of America, being found in geological situations, exactly corresponding to these. But the production of the unexampled quan tity of carbonic acid gas, the medium through which the other articles are held in solution, is yet, and probably will remain, a subject of mere speculation. The low and regular temperature of the water seems to forbid the idea, that it is the effect of sub terranean heat, as many have supposed ; and the total absence of any mineral acid, excepting the muriatic, which is combined with soda, does away the possibility of its being the effect of any combi nation of that kind. Its production is therefore truly unacountable." Before I proceed any further in the narrative of my journey to New York, I shall make a few 356 TOUR THROUGH THE reflections on the aspect of the country betweetf Lewiston ;and Saratoga. When compared with the country in which I had then resided for several years, in respect to picturesque scenery, it has a decided advantage ; for it is not, like Upper Ca nada, a plain and level country, but is plenti fully interspersed with hill and dale, which con tribute much to vary the monotonous appearance that a land so partially cleared and settled must otherwise undoubtedly present. But when the productiveness of the soil, in that part of the American Continent to which I now more imme diately refer, is compared with the settled or unsettled townships of Upper Canada, the palm- must certainly be yielded to the latter. In the whole course of my journey to Saratoga from the Niagara river, I do not recollect to have observed a single acre of what might be called excellent land, with the exception of the fine alluvial beds on the Mohawk river, to which I have alluded in a pre ceding part of my narrative. Every other portion of the country through which I passed, appeared to consist of a light sandy soil, without any mix ture of that vegetable mould, which forms the superior stratum of all lands in the Province of Upper Canada, of whatever materials the sub stratum may be composed. While I resided in Canada, it was frequently a subject of astonish ment to me, that so many of the inhabitants of the State of New York should emigrate to that coun try; but when I arrived in the State myself. TJNITED STATES. 357 ;and had an opportunity of ascertaining the degree of encouragement which it held out to agriculturists, I soon discovered a sufficient reason for such an exchange of countries, in the great inferiority of the soil of New York to that of Upper Canada. Another cause ' may be found, that is not less effectual than this, in the difference of price for which land is obtained in these respect ive parts of America; for, while eight dollars an acre are asked for inferior land in the State of New York, land of a greatly superior quality may be procured in Upper Canada for two dollars, and frequently for one, per acre. Such, again, are the effects of the spirited exertions used by the Ame ricans in the improvement of their country ! From what I have seen of the United States, I conceive, the advantages which they present to emigrants of any class are so trivial, in comparison with those of Canada, that I wonder how any man, who has lived in Great Britain or Ireland, can reconcile it to his prudence or his patriotism, to choose a residence in an hostile country and become subject to the levelling laws of a Re public, when he might enjoy privileges much more extensive in the British Colonies, — to say nothing of the superior fertility and cheapness of the land. For my part, I have always enter tained such a warm attachment to the laws and constitution of my own country, that, even if the case were reversed in regard to the encou- sagements to husbandry, and the scale of fertility 3o8 TOUR THROUGH THE and cheapness were in favour of the Union and against the British Dominions, I would still pre fer " the bread of carefulness" in Canada, to the cornucopia of the United States. It must be very unpleasant for any truly patriotic subject of his Britannic Majesty, who entertains the slight est regard for the peculiarly noble and liberal institutions of his country, to live in any part of the United States ; for he can scarcely pass a day of his life, except he be entirely secluded from the society of men, without hearing every thing which he considers valuable in the British constitution, and praiseworthy in the conduct of those Statesmen who support it, vilified and condemned. After remaining a few days at Saratoga, I took my departure for New York in the Stage-coach, in company with Mr. Waring, and two other New York gentlemen, having left Mr. Horton behind. We passed through the villages of Ball ston, Waterford, Lansingburgh, and the city of Troy. The situation of Troy is very beautiful ; being bounded, on the Eastern side, by a con siderable range of hills, delightfully interspersed with woods; and, on the Western, by the river Hudson. The population is about 8,000, and the appearance of the city is very flattering. We arrived before noon in the city of Albany, which is the capital of the State of New York, and about six miles from Troy. Though some of the streets are narrow and insignificant in UNITED STATES. 359 their appearance, many of the houses are of ele gant con,struction. But there are others, which, frotn their peculiar structure, strongly remind the spectator of the original Dutch settlers. They are principally built of wood, and the roof is made, after the umbrella fashion, to project entirely over the balcony of the second story. At Albany, we embarked on board a fine steam- vessel, called, if I rightly remember, " the Chan cellor Livingstone." The distance from Albany to New York is about 160 miles, and the fare six dollars, or 27 shillings, including accommoda tions of every description. The River Hudson, along which we sailed to New York, has been celebrated by many emi nent men as the most picturesque and magnifi cent river in America; but I confess?, that, in my opinion, the St. Lawrence is much more munificently endowed with these qualities. Not withstanding the preference which I feel myself constrained to give to the St. Lawrence, as that which, having been first seen, was calculated to make the most lively impression on my mind, I cannot but acknowledge at the same time, that the Hudson possesses many of those traits which entitle it to the classical reputation it has gained of being " the Tyber of America." West Point, an important post of the American army during the revolutionary war, stands on the West bank of the Hudson, near the entrance of the Highlands. This village consists of a small num- 960 TOUR THROUGH THE ber, of houses, and a Military Academy, built upon a large plain which forms the bank of the river. A mo.st melancholy event must ever be associated with the scenes which surround West Point, — the death of the gallant Major Andre. This unfor tunate young officer, who was only twenty-nine years old at the time of his going to America, had, on account of the amiableness of his disposition and his superior acquirements, obtained the entire confidence of his officers, and was decidedly the favourite of the British army. He had made him self early familiar with the learned lore of classic antiquity, and was considerably skilled in the fine arts of painting, poetry, and music. In his youth he had formed a violent attachment for a lady, whom he was accustomed to address in his epistles by the name of Delia. To her he devoted all the leisure he could spare from the laborious occupa tion of a mercantile profession, and to him she was the only source of Joy and grief, and hope and fear, until by one sad fatal blow, her unexpected mar riage with a more successful but not a more deserving competitor, he was driven to seek in the restless life of a soldier, a refuge from the unrest and the anguish of his wounded heart. The following is the character given of him by his biographer : " There was something singularly interesting in the character and fortunes of Andre. To an UNITED STATES. 361 'excellent understanding, well improved by educa tion and travel, he united a peculiar elegance of mind and manners, and the advantages of a pleasing person. His knowledge appeared with out ostentation. His sentiments were elevated, and inspired esteem ; as they had a softness that conciliated affection. His elocution was grace ful ; his address easy, polite, and insinuating. " By his merit, he had acquired the unlimited confidence of his General, and was making rapid progress in military rank and reputation. But, in the height of his career, flushed with new hopes from the execution of a project the most beneficial to his party that could be devised, he is at once precipitated from the summit of prosperity, and sees all the expectations of his ambition blasted, and himself ruined." After a short but brilliant career in the service of his country, it fell to the lot of this distinguished- officer to consummate his fame, and secure his immortality, by the treaty which he made with the traitor Arnold, for the cession of West Point, and the American forces under his command, to the British army. The agents on the part of our country, were Colonel Robinson, — who had relin quished the revolutionary service and joined the royal army at New York, — and Major Andre. They had frequent communications with the Ame rican General Arnold, from on board the Vulture Sloop of war, then lying at Haverstraw Bay, ten miles below Stoney and Verplacnk's Point. Vol.. II. Aa 362 TOUR THROUGH THE A night in September, 1780, was appointed for the fatal meeting between Arnold and Andre. Under the pretence of corresponding with the British General on the subject of a treaty of peace, Arnold had succeeded in engaging in his service a respectable and intelligent citizen of the name of Smith. A boat was despatched to the Vulture Sloop of War, which then lay across the Bay of Haverstraw, under the direction of this man, to convey the British agent to the spot fixed upon by Arnold for their interview. When the papers which he brought were examined, they were found to consist of a pass for Colonel Robinson, and a blank one for the person who should be selected for the important trust of accompanying him. In the latter, the name of John Anderson was inserted ;: and under this appellative Andre consented to be conveyed to the shore, from which he was destined never to return. The place appointed for the interview was at the foot of a mountain, called "the Long Close," on the Western side of the River Hudson. General Arnold had repaired to this rendezvous; and Major Andre, upon his arrival at the spot, found that officer concealed in a shady copse of firs, which was the scene of their subse^- quent conference. After a close conversation, which continued till the morning of the follow ing day, it was judged impossible for the Major to return without being observed from the adja cent forts of Stoney and Verplanck's Point. He was therefore conducted to the residence of UNITED STATES. 3^53, Smith, the person who had brought him to the shore, where he exchanged his military dress for^ a suit of plain clothes, and set out in the even ing, in company with Smith and under a pass from the American General, for White Plains. They spent the first night of their journey at the house of one Mr. Mac Koy, about eight miles from the place of their departure. On the next day without any sort of interruption, they rode as far as Pine Bridge, which crosses the Proton river, a branch of the Hudson. At this place, Andr6 took leave of his guide, euid, when hs had taken the proper instructions respecting his route, he departed ; but he had not ridden many miles, where he was stopped by three militia-men, who were on the scout between the outposts of the hostile armies. They arrested his progress at a place in the vicinity of Tarry-town, by seizing hold of the bridle of his horse as he passed through a narrow part of the road. The Major, instead of producing the passs which he had obtained from Arnold, demanded who they were and to which army they belonged ; and when the crafty fellows answered, *' To below," without any suspicion of a fraud he rejoined, " So do I ;" and, declaring that he was an English officer, requested that they would not detain him as he was engaged in the transaction of some important busineiss. He was, however, soon given to understand, that a mere request would not procure his release ; and when he perceived their unwillingness to let him go, he offered them AA 2 364 TOUR THROUGH THE a very costly gold watch. But the readiness whicb he evinced to make so great a sacrifice, rather than submit to be held prisoner, only increased- the suspicions of his captors, and induced them to lead him aside and examine his person. They had not searched long, before they discovered a quan tity of papers in Arnold's hand-writing, relating to the force and defence of West Point, concealed in his boots. When the disclosure was made by the Ameri cans to the proper authorities, despatches were instantly forwarded to the head quarters of Gene ral Washington, apprising him of the circumstance,, and a letter was at the same time sent from Major Andre to General Arnold, complaining of his seizure and imprisonment. On account of some blunder of the messenger to General Washington,, intelligence of the affair reached Arnold some time before Washington had received any inform ation respecting it. As soon as Arnold had read the letters, he mounted the messenger's horse, and immediately galloped down a steep hill which led to the river, and jumping, into one of the boats which were always in readiness ta pass to and from West Point, directed the rowers to bear down the river to the Vulture Sloop of War. In the mean time General Washington had received the despatches ; and scarcely had Arnold passed by the points of Stoney and Ver- planck, when Colonel Hamilton arrived at the latter place with orders to arrest him. ¦UNITED STATES. ggg The 23d of September was the day of Major Andre's detention ; and on the 29th of the same month, a board of General Officers, who were appointed by Washington, determined, that Major John Andre, Adjutant General of the British Army, ought to be considered as a spy from the enemy, and that, agreeably to the law of nations, he ought to suffer death. This sentence was opposed, on the ground that Andre was admitted into the American camp, under the protection of a flag, and at the immedi ate instance of Arnold, the commanding officer of "the district, from whom he had a right to demand a passport and a safe return. The sentence might have been waved, if the British had consented to deliver Arnold into the custody of the American army. But as that was refused by the British •General, Andre was executed on the 2d of Octo ber, 1780, at Tappan, or Orangetown, where his remains were subsequently deposited. Thus, in the midst of his years, and notwitli- standing all the accomplishments of nature and of education for which he was admired and esteemed by his countrymen, did this brave and unfortunate young man fall a prey to his laudably ambitious thirst for the glory and the honour of his country, and the augmentation of his well-deserved lau rels and his high reputation. Like Nelson, and a long train of British heroes, he died at a moment jnost favourable to the consummation of his future aa3 366 TOUR THROUGH THE fame, and lived not to tarnish the honours which he had acquired. A decent respect to his memory caused the Bri tish Government, some time ago, to bring his remains to England, at their own expence ; where they have been placed in the family vault of his most gracious Majesty. When his remains were opened in America, it was disc!Overed that the roots of a cypress-tree close by, had very poeti cally entwined their branches round the skull of the young hero. This tree, it is said, at present embellishes the private garden of George IV. Another object of interest to me, as a stranger, was, the astonishing range of hills, called the Fish- kill Mountains : They are Eibout sixteen miles in width, and extend along both sides of the Hudson to the distance of twenty miles. The height of the principal mountain has been estimated at 1,665 feet : These are what are called the Highlands, on the South side of which, at the entrance from New York, there is the site of an old Fort on Ver planck's Point, opposite to which stood the fort of Stoney Point, Ten miles further on the North is the site of Fort Montgomery. Beside those which I have mentioned, I do not recollect any other objects of particular interest. In the intervals between my arrival at these differ ent places, my attention was sufficiently kept on the alert by the beautiful and varied scenery of the Hudson ; and I arrived at New York quite unex pectedly, and without having suffered any of that TJNITED STATES. 367 ennui of which long journies are commonly pro ductive. On landing from the boat, I made inquiries for ihe City Hotel, whither I proceeded in company with another gentleman, having previously pro cured a porter to carry my luggage in his truck. As I passed along, I was much pleased with the light and neat appearance of the city. The houses are chiefly built of brick, and, like those which have been described in other parts of my narrative, . are painted witJi a bright red, with lines of white drawn over the mortar. The City Hotel is a very large building, five stories high, and containing seventy-three rooms. It is the best hotel in the place, and is frequented by the first characters in the country. The dining- itjom is large, commodious, and well-furnished ; but the bed-rooms, like almost all others in Ame rica, have beds without curtains, cotton sheets, and are, in other respects, deficient in their furniture, and much inferior to many European Hotels of more modest pretensions. The company take all their meals together, and at stated times ; breakfast at eight, dinner at half- past two, tea at seven, and supper at eleven. The provisions and all other accommodations are of an •excellent description, with the exception of vfeget- ables, of which there appears to be a great defi ciency, as well in quality as in abundance. Here, as in every other place, every one at table helps Mmself, and calls to the nearest waiter to reach * 368 ' TOUR THROUGH THE him the dish which he prefers. Before I saw this practice in New York, I imagined it to be confined to the other places where I had seen it ; but now I conceive it is general throughout the Continent. The charge for board and lodging per week is ten -dollars; but for wine and liquors of every kind there is a separate price. One may look in vain at the dinner-table for the welcome visit of an ale or porter glass, for no malt liquor is ever to be seen : Diluted spirits are the drink which is com monly used, and before any of this can be obtained, one is forced to call to the waiter and tell him one's name and the number of the chamber, to gether with the order a boire, which he delivers at the bar, and immediately returns with the kind and quantity required. Before they have swallowed the last morsel, American gentlemen rise from the table without any regard to those rules of etiquette which, in Europe, are so destructive of liberty and inde pendence, and immediately proceed to the hall or bar-room for the purpose of smoking their segars. The public edifices of New York are numerous, but all of them are plainly built and unworthy of particular notice, excepting the City Hall, which is a large and elegant structure, composed of white marble. This building i-s appropriated to the use of the Common Council, to the Judges of the Courts of Law, and to the various officers con nected with these departments; and also contains TDNITED STATES. 369 TOoms for their several accommodation. I was present at the sitting of one of the Courts, and was much disappointed on finding, that Judges, Coun sellors, Jurymen, and spectators, all dressed alike. It appeared to me, that the want of their respec tive accoutrements, in wigs and gowns, entirely divested the Judges and Barristers of that dignity and venerableness, that acuteness and sagacity, which distinguish the lawyers of this country. If we may judge of the religion of the people of New York, by the number of places of worship, we must come to a very favourable conclusion : For there are no less than 82 buildings of this kind in the city. But my residence was not long enough, to enable me to form any accurate estimate of the state of religion or of morals. New York has been mentioned by some writers as a dirty city : But when I was there, it struck me as being perfectly clean ; I observed no sort of nuisance within its boundaries, excepting pigs, which are improperly suffered to partake of the liberty of their masters and to go at large. The shops have also been stigmatized by a late writer, as betraying a considerable want of taste and clean- line.ss ; and the same person complains, that large .packages of goods were allowed to stand outside of the doors, obstructing the passage of the street. This may have been the case some years ago, but it was not so when I was in the city. In my opinion, the shops in the principal streets, and especially in that of Broadway, are every way '370 TOUR THROUGH THE equal to any that we see in Bond-street or in Ludgate-hill. ^ The gentlemen of New York have also been represented as negligent of their persons ; but to me the reverse appeared to be the case : For neither in Portland-place, nor Rotten-row, nor in any other place of fashionable resort, have I seen gentlemen more elegantly dressed, or who seemed to be more attentive to the fashionable outfit of their exterior. They are tall and slight, but generally ill-made ; in this respect differing widely from the ladies, who, beside being slender and rather high in stature, are elegantly formed. The gentlemen have the advantage, in regard to the features of the face ; and the pallidness of their complexion might entitle them to the appellation of ^Ae/aeV sea?, rather than the ladies, who have almost universally a sallow, sickly, and emaciated look. The females of New York are frequently seen walking through the streets, unac companied by gentlemen; and indeed Ihaveremark- ' ed,that,throughout America, the women receive far less attention from the men than is commonly paid to them in European countries. Perhaps, this may partly arise from the paradoxical circumstance, that although the inhabitants of the United States ' have long since been declared independent, few of them have obtained the actual enjoyment of their declared privilege : For almost every man, who is even from his education entitled to be called a gentleman, is engaged in the business of his peculiar profession with such little intermission, that he can- XTNITED STATES. g^j Mot devote so great a portion of his time to the service of his female friends, as he otherwise might wish. But who can tell how soon the day may come, when in America, as well as in Great Bri tain, abundance of men will be found ready at all times for the delicate and pleasing office of carrying a reticule or parasol, or, if occasion should Require, of Capering nimbly in a lady's chamber To the lascivious tinklings of the lute.' It has been diligently propagated by various travellers, who appear to have been greatly preju diced against the people of America, that the boasted independence of the country has been pro- •ductive of many injurious effects. Among other examples of its evil tendency, it is said to have gone so far in banishing civil and obliging disposi tions from the people, that in his intercourse with individuals of every class, an Englishman is in vain -toexpectthe " Sir" and " Y9ur honour," with other tokens of respect, which are lavished upon every person of genteel appearance by the lower orders of his own country. That good things sometimes administer to bad ends, is what every one knows ; and it cannot be denied that in America one may occasionally meet with persons of a rude and bear ish disposition, who could not for the life of them return a civil answer to a civil question : But where is the country that does not partake of a similar ad mixture? During my short Stay in New York, I 372 TOUR THROUGH THE had occasion to make several purchases among the stores-men or shop-keepers ; and I found them as suaviter in modo, as perfectly polished in their address, as the most accomplished London Haber dasher. None of them would permit me to carry the smallest articles myself, until I had repeatedly declined their pressing offers to send them to my lodgings. I also found every class of Americans much less inquisitive than I was prepared to expect ; and, upon the whole, I could have easily fancied myself in the midst of the capital of my own coun try, if there had not been wanting those beautiful streets and squares for which Dublin is so justly celebrated, and the refreshing lingo of the hardy natives. Of English writers on their country, the Americans have in general a very contemptible opinion ; but the name of Mr. Fearon is an object of their peculiar contumely. I never entered into conversation with any respectable persons in the city, when the work of this gentleman was not introduced ; and with so little ceremony was it treated, that I beg leave to assure Mr. Fearon, if these volumes should happen to fall into his hands, that, on revisiting New York, he will meet with a very unwelcome reception. On one occasion I had nearly got into a scrape, by a few remarks that escaped me in representing Mr. Fearon's work as containing altogether a fair representation of the country : When I made the observation, the com pany immediately proceeded to proofs ; and one of the UNITED STATES. 373 misrepresentations adduced was the assertion, that there was not a bed in New York fit for an English man to lie upon. I did not recollect the passage ; but appealed to a gentleman present, who had been in England, and asked him, if any of the beds in American hotels were fit to be compared with those of England? You will tell me, continued I, that I am now residing in the first hotel of this city ; but I can tell you, there is not only not a single bed in the house with a suit of curtains around it ; but the sheets are all of cotton, things to which tra vellers in England are never accustomed ! Another instance of misrepresentation was al leged to be implied in the anecdote " of a gentle man walking in Broadway, and a friend passing him who called Doctor, and immediately sixteen persons turned round to answer to the name:" This I sufficiently defended, by replying, that Mr. Fearon did not relate this circumstance as an obser vation of his own, but as having been related by some indifferent person in his company. Many more examples were selected, but nothing to affect the general veracity of Mr. Fearon, or the truth of my unlucky remark. The fact is, that Americans have too much inhe rent vanity to take a joke, even when it is passed upon one of their countrymen with whom they have not the slightest acquaintance; and every thing therefore, which does not exactly redound to the making of the individual concerned the most 374 TOUR THROUGH THE perfect of his species, is by their knock-down moiTe of argumentation, nolens volens, untrue. Miss Wright is a writer who has succeeded ad mirably in flattering the vanity of the Americans, and in teaching them to cultivate a wonderfully high opinion of themselves and of their nation : But I have conversed with individuals among the more refined classes, who only laughed at her glorious representations of their perfect integrity, honesty, and virtue, and dignified her neat octavo with the opprobrious epithet of a mere puff. Those who- have not intelligence sufficient to guard them against the subtle point of flattery, may at any time be pierced ; and to them, in the large portion of pleasure which is infused with the wound, it proves like the arrow of Cupid, and, immediately on its entrance. Keen transport thrills through every vein. They never felt so sweet a pain. While, on the contrary, the well-informed part of a community are relieved from that moral blindness which would prevent them from distinguishing be tween " the precious and the vile" and reject what is offered in the shape of food for their ambition, with the same precipitance with which the stomach of a sick man discharges an emetic. With regard to American literature, I had nei ther means nor opportunity sufficient of acquaint ing myself with it, to give any lengthened account UNltED STATES. 37^ of its character and progress, or to mention it otherwise than incidentally. All competent judges* have allowed, that some time must elapse before it can lay its own foundation by the instrumentality of its own authors. The standard works of Eng lish, Irish, and Scotch writers are still the principal ornaments of public and private libraries in the United States; and, with the exception of some few living and some late men of considerable talent, the American muse is rather limited in the number of her votaries. The periodical literature of the United States,- which, with the exception of the writings of D wight, Irving, Browne, and a few others of infe rior note, forms the only criterion of native ability, is tolerably flourishing. Besides the formidable host of newspapers which are published in every town or village of considerable population, there is a prodigious number of monthly and quarterly pub lications, many of which are of a sound moral and religious tendency. Few of them are, however, deserving of notice, when compared with the va rious excellent magazines which, on my return to England, I found recently established : The intel ligence and information of American journals are, for aught I know, correct and instructive ; but they are not dressed in that alluring garb o'l chaste language and splendid imagery, which has proved so attractive to the rising generation, and has tended so manifestly to resuscitate the dying spark of a desire for knowledge, in the British Empire. 376 TOUR THROUGH THE The North American Review is, perhap.s, the only periodical work which has any pretensions to rank among the foremost of its Trans-atlantic co-temporaries. It differs from the Edinburgh and Quarterly Reviews, in being more impartial in its decisions on the merits of the various books which it examines, and in evincing less virulence in its animadversions upon those which it does not deem worthy of its commendation, either on account of a difference with them upon political and other or subjects, in consequence of a reputed deficiency of genius in poetry, fidelity in history, or learning in philosophy and science. It is equally respectable, I think, in point of ability as well as research, with the two which I have named, and is so high in the erudition and accomplishments of its various contributors, that I confess myself un- ableto decide very accurately on their merits when contrasted with those of their compe titors in England. The literature of their own country, and the works of their own authors, do not influence the general conversation of Americans, so much as the writings of English men. The Sketch-Book and Bracebridge-Hall, which have earned so great and just a reputation for their accomplished author in the British Isles,; are scarce ever regarded as deserving of their consideration, in comparison of many foreign works, the writers of which, for purity of style and ingenuity of conception, are utterly beneath their liberal and worthy countryman. UNITED STATES. 377 The principal places of amusement in New York, are the Theatre, and Vauxhall Gardens. The Theatre is a neat plain building, and the sce nery and other embellishments are tolerable. There are several Englishmen in the corps dramatique, whose performance is very highly appreciated in that city. Vauxhall Gardens resemble those of London, only in the name; and they who had the christening of the place, would have done wisely in giving it any other cognomen ; for the only effect which is produced by its present one, is to induce a comparison between it and the English Gardens, which cannot but terminate unfavourably to those of America. The public prison of New York is an extensive building in the Doric order. It stands at a place called Greenwich on the banks of the Hudson, and in an elevated situation, about a mile and -a half from the city. No prisoners are received into this gaol, whose sentence of confinement does not exceed three years ; the rest are generally placed in the minor prisons. The prisoners are fed and clothed, and kept at hard labour during the time of their imprisonment. It appears, that during the year 1814, there were received into this prison 213 convicts, of whom 173 were Americans, 16 Irish, 13 English, 3 Nova Scotians, 3 West Indians, 1 Frenchman, 1 German, 1 Portuguese, 1 Swede, 1 Dutchman, and 1 Scot. This enumeration of the prisoners convicted during one year in the Vol. II. Bb 378 TOUR THROUGH THE State Prison of New York speaks volumes in favour of the Scotch, as there are more of the people of that country in the State, than of either English or Irish. This may be^ccounted for, on the principle of the superior moral and religious educa tion, which every Scotchman receives in his infancy. Until the year 1817, treason, murder, and arson of an inhabited dwelling-house, were the only crimes punishable with death in the State of New York ; but since that period, an Act has been passed which de clares, "that if any person confined in the State Pri son, or any other prison, shall wilfully and maliciously set fire to the said prison, or to any of the work shops or other erections within the walls thereof, or procure the same to be done, or aid or abet the doing thereof, or shall be guilty of an assault or battery with an intent to commit murder upon any officer of the said prison, such person, being thereof convicted, shall be adjudged guilty of Fe lony, and shall suffer death." The crimes for which persons are confined in the State Prison, and the periods of their respect ive commitments, are as follow : " Imprisonment for life, — Rape ; robbery ; bur glary ; sodomy ; maiming ; breaking into and stealing from a dwelling-house, some person thereof being put in fear ; forging the proof of a deed, or the certificate of its being recorded ; forging pub lic securities ; counterfeiting gold or silver coins ; a second offence in committing arson of an unin habited house, building, barn, or mill ; or in forg- UNITED STATES. 379 ing a record, deed, will, bond, note, bill, receipt, warrant, or order ; and all offences above the degree of petit larceny, not otherwise provided for. " For life, or some shorter period in the discretion of the Court. — Forging any record, charter, deed, will, note, or bill of exchange. " For life, or some shorter period not less than seven years. — Selling or exchanging a counterfeit note ; engraving any plate for making such notes, or having such notes in possession with intent, &c. ; or blank unfinished notes to fill up and pass, or plates for forging such notes. " Not exceeding fourteen years. — Stealing a record, &c.; arson of an uninhabited house, building, barn, or mill ; counterfeiting any deed or will, not affecting real estate, bond, bill, or note unless negotiable warrant or order, not being a bill of exchange, endorsement or assignment thereof; a receipt ; and every offence above petit larceny, not otherwise provided for ; for forcibly marrying a woman against her will ; poisoning, where death does not ensue within a year and a day ; a second a^ault with intent to rob, murder, or commit a rape ; acknowledging a fine, bail, iStc, in the name of another. " Imprisonment, not exceeding ten years. — Aiding a person to escape from the State Prison, or any other prison, convicted fbr felony, perjury, or subornation of perjury ; false swearing under the BB 2 380 TOUR THROUGH THE UNITED STATES. Insolvent Act, under Absent and Absconding Debtors' Act ; lottery managers swearing false ; the like surveyors under the land-office, before a Commissioner in Chancery. In the Supreme Court, *' Not exceeding seven years. — Having in posses sion counterfeit gold, or silver coins, with intent &c. ; assault with intent to rob, murder, or com mit a rape ; serving process under foreign autho rity. " Not exceeding five years. — A second convic tion of buying or receiving stolen goods ; or obtain ing money by false pretences ; or accessary, after the fact, to any felony not otherwise provided for. " By an Act of the Legislature, passed April 15, 1817, it is enacted, that in all cases of conviction for larceny which may hereafter be had and made, the same shall be adjudged petit larceny, unless the goods so stolen shall be of the value of more than 25 dollars. " For double the original term, — A convict for years breaking the State Prison." My account of New York must necessarily be imperfect, not only because of my short residence in that city, but also because the limits of these volumes will not allow of further dilatation. I expect very shortly to revisit America, ^d may then have more leisure for making observations ; which it will give me pleasure to insert, if the indulgence of the public should hereafter call for a second impression of my humble production. APPENDIX THE AMERICAN INDIANS. THE AMERICAN INDIANS. So much has already been written on the manners and customs of the aboriginal inhabitants of North America, that it will probably be deemed quite superfluous for me to enter on a subject repeat edly discussed : I shall therefore confine myself at present to a brief sketch of the present condi tion of the Canadian Indians. The domiciliated Indians, as well as those who pursue an erratic life in Canada, are rapidly disappearing from the face of the earth.* Perhaps before the close of the pre- * On this subject Miss Wright makes the following remarks, which though in part coi-rect, are on the whole worthy of her pa triotic pen. She would willingly give to the United States the merit of having ever treated the Indians in the most humane and benevolent manner, while she would, on this as on every other occasion, attribute to the government of her native country, the most unworthy motives and the most fatal consequences as una voidable results of their policy. " The falling greatness of this people, disappearing from the face of their native soil, at first strikes mournfully on the imagi nation ; but such regrets are scarcely rational. The savage, with all his virtues, and he has some virtues, is still a savage, nobler, doubtless, than many who boast themselves civilized beings ; nobler far than any race of slaves who hug their chains while they sit in proud contemplation of days of glory that have set in 384 APPENDIX. sent century, the various tribes, which, a little more than 300 years ago, were scattered, in countless night J but still holding a lower place in creation than men who to the proud spirit of independence, unite the softer feelings that spring only within the pale of civilized life. The increase and spread of the white population at the expence of the red, is, as it were, the triumph of peace over violence ; it is Minerva's olive bearing the palm from Neptune's steed. " Not that the aborigines of this fine country have never had to complain of wrong and violence, offered by the invaders of the soil. The Indian, as he looks mournfully upon the scattered rem nant of his once powerful tribe, recounts a long list of injuries, received by his ancestors from those strangers whom they were at first willing to receive as friends and brothers. Though he should acknowledge, that the right by which the early settlers were willing to hold a portion of their territory, was that of pur chase, he may justly complain, that the sale had little in it of fair reciprocity, which was often rather compelled than proposed. The first contracts, indeed, were peaceful; entered into with tolerable fairness on the one side, and with willingness on the other ; but it was not in human nature, that the native inhabi tants should long view without jealousy the growing strength of new comers, whose knowledge and cultivation of the peaceful arts, secured a ratio of increase to their population so far beyond that of the wild aborigines ; and whose hardihood, scarce inferior to that of the savage, marked them as such dangerous antagonists. Actuated by this jealousy, the massacre of the various colonies, thinly scattered along the shores of the Atlantic, was often at tempted ; and, had these savage measures been taken in concert by the different tribes and nations, the extermination of the ob noxious intruders must have been effected. Hostile feelings, so naturally aroused on the one side, were soon as naturally aroused on the other. In these earlier acts of aggression, were we to al low nothing to the jealous passions, common to the Indians as men, and to the wild passions peculiar to them as savages, we THE INDIANS. 385 multitudes, over the vast continent of America, will have ceased not merely to inherit the soil of might, perhaps, find more cause to charge the natives with cruelty and treachery, than the European settlers with injustice. " In considering the sufferings of those hardy adventurers, we are filled with astonishment, as well as pity and admiration. How powerful the charm of independence to reconcile man to such a course of hardship ; to lead him forth from the pale of civilized life, to seek his subsistence among wolves, and bears, and savages ; now exposed to Siberian rigours, and then to African heats ; en during famine, and brercthing unwholesome exhalations ; lighting his nightly fire to ward off the attack of the wild beast, and ap prehending from every thicket the winged arrow of the Indian. Well may we look to find a proud and vigorous nation in the de scendants of such hardy progenitors. •• The attacks of the Indians usually ended to their disadvantage; weakened their numbers, and forced them to make concessions. By each succeeding treaty, the boundaries receded ; and, as the new people gained in strength what the natives lost, the latter became as much e.icposed to European rapacity, as the former had ever been to Indian cruelty. The contention for mastery between the French and English, which, had the natives been united in their councils, might possibly have afforded them the opportunity of crushing both, only hurried forward their own ruin. The sub sequent policy of the British Government, so magnificently de nounced by the generous Chatham, which, during her struggle with the revolted colonies, raised the war-whoop of their savage neighbours, was the cause of additional ruin to the native tribes ; whose numbers were always thinned, whatever might be the issue of their incursions. " After the establishment of American independence, the In dians soon felt the effect of the wise and humane system of policy, adopted by the federal government. The treaties entered into with the natives, have never been violated by her sanction or connivance, while she has frequently exerted her influence to preserve, or to make peace between contending tribes. She has S8G APPENDIX. their ancestors,— for that has already been wrested from their hands, — but also to number with the dwellers on the earth. sought to protect them from the impositions of traders and land jobbers, and to lure them to the cultivation of the peaceful arts. Among the most useful of the government regulations, are those which deprive individuals of the power of entering into land con tracts with the Indians, and which exclude spirituous liquors and fire-arms from the bartering trade prosecuted on the western borders. It is to be wished, that the Canada government would equally enforce the latter regulation. Intoxication has proved a yet worse scourge to the wild natives, than the small-pox. It not only whets their ferocity, but hurries them into the worst vices, and consequently the worst diseases. While blankets, wearing apparel, implements of husbandry, peltry, &c., are the American articles of barter for the game and fur of the Indian hunter.s, those of the traders of the north-west are chiefly spirituous liquors, and fire-arms. This secures to them the preference in the Indian market, where more furs will be given for a keg of whiskey, or a musket, than for a whole bale of woollen goods. But this is a short-sighted policy. The northern tribes, armed with muskets, and intoxicated with liquor, jgo to war with each other, or else with the more southern tribes ; which last they have, in many cases, almost, if not altogether, exterminated. The intrigues of European traders, and the species of goods exchanged by them with the savages, have, of late years, done more towards the extermination of the aborigines, by war and disease, than has even the rapid spread and increase of the white population, by the felling of the forest, and destruction of the game. The last cause operates only on the borders ; but the others are felt to the Pacific, and the icy barrier of the North. The Indians are now disappearing from the face of the earth, by the silent, but sure operation of corruption and misery : wherever the American trader pierces, he carries poison with him, and thus is at once working the destruction of the nati . e hunters, and of the rich trade v.hich he prosecutes with them." THE INDIANS. .387 In Lower Canada, beside the domesticated Indians settled in the little villages of Lorette, Becancour, St. Francois, Lake of the two Moun tains, and Cochenonaga, there still remain a few wandering tribes. In the Upper Province, there is the remnant of a tribe at St. Regis, another at the Bay of Quinte, a third at the Rice Lake, and some scattered settlements in the neighbourhood of York, which, combined with the Six Nations adverted to in the first volume of this work, and the Delawares and Moravians on the River Thames, may probably amount to about 5,000 or 6,000 souls. The Roman Catholic Missionaries have done much towards civilizing the Indians of St. Regis, as well as those of several villages in the Lower Province, and particularly that of Cochenonaga. Indeed, one may find, among every domesticated tribe in Lower Canada, a number of individuals who are so far evangelized as to give their assent to the doctrines of the Christian religion, and to profess a belief in its divine original. But I certainly have never conversed with any Indian whose life and conversation were calculated to inspire a belief, that religion had set up her throne in his heart. In Upper Canada, the clergymen of the E.stablish- ment have made some efforts towards the conver sion of the Indians of the Six -Nations; but I believe their exertions have not been followed vAth any great success. The chief misfortune for the 38S APPENDIX. Indians has been, that, while they were yet in a state of native barbarity, and as little acquainted with the bad as with the good customs of civilized nations, their peace was destroyed by the base inroads of marauders and evil-di.sposed men, who, — belonging to nations professedly Christian, and claiming the privilege of that sacred name in con tradistinction to the objects of their ignorant contempt, the coloured people, — both disturbed them in the quiet possession of their beloved haunts, and taught them to contaminate their formei" healthful pursuits, by an occasional indul gence in acts of dissipation and debauchery, of which they could have no ideas but such as were derived -from the example of others. Example has ever been more powerful than precept ; and it was the bad example of those who first visited the wilds of America, which gave the lie to their secret or declared profession, and not only in creased the vicious propensities of the Indians by continual excitement, but taught them in their moments of cool and sober reflection, to despise a people who, at the same time that they pretended to such a great degree of civilization, could them selves indulge and encourage others in habits which were evidently destructive of the happiness to be derived either from a refined or from an original state of society. The consequence of such a primeval contamination has unfortunately been, that, by the time when the better part of civi lized society have begun to feel for the desolate THE INDIANS. qqq condition of the Indian rover, and to devise meahs for his improvement, he has suffered so deeply from all his previous intercourse with white men^ that he is rather delicate upon the point of further experiments, especially concerning the subject of religion : For, although it may not be difficult to shew that the Indians have a much deeper sense of religion, than many who have been far more familiar with its rites, yet such is the ascendancy which European habits have gained Over them, that any one of them would much more readily discuss a bottle of whiskey, than justifica tion by faith, or any other topic in divinity. I have had frequent opportunities of observing the practical truth of these remarks, in conversations with the Indians : For whenever I have attempted to reprove them for profane swearing or excessive drunkenness, or any other crime, they have inva riably excused themselves on the ground, that white men are guilty of similar practices ; and so obsti nate is their belief in the incapacity of white men to teach them any thing better than what they have already taught them, that every missionary who may hereafter attempt their conversion to the Christian faith, will find a formidable barrier in his way. This however is not the only injury which the Indians have sustained, at the hands of those who vehemently lay claim to something of ,a superior nature. Among many other species of oppression which were practised upon them for 390 APPENDIX. a long series of years after the discovery of Ca nada, and its settlement by the French and after wards by the English, the forcible seizure of their lands was the most grievous. This however has now for some time been done away with, and the British Government fairly purchase their land, and pay for it in a manner the most advantageous to the Indians.* But still as they dispose of their lands, they are compelled to retire further into the wilderness, or to remain scattered up and down among the settlements, where their means of subsistence every day become scarcer and more difficult to be procured ; and where a closer assimilation is effected to their more civilized * " It must be interesting to many readers to see a statement of some of these purchases, the following are the most recent :— 1818, October, The Lake Huron purchase, per annum. of 1,592,000 acres £ 1,200 The Mississauga purchase, of 648,000 acres. 522 10 November, The Rice Lake purchase, of 1,861,200 acres. 740 0 18 19, April, The Long Wood purchase, of 352,190 acres. 60O 0 1820, February, The Mohawk purchase, (Midland District) of 27000 acres. 450 0 Being 4,680,390 acres at the annual charge of £3,512 10s, which is defrayed by an appropriation of part of the amount received for fees on the grants of land to emigrants. This system prevents any complaints, or even a murmur of any kind from the aborigi nes of the country, who live on the best terms with their white neighbours.'' THE INDIANS. ggj but more depraved neighbours, in the open viola tion of chastity and sobriety. It is true, there is an Act of the Provincial Parliament of Upper Ca : nada, by which every person is subject to a heavy penalty, who sells spirituous liquors to an Indian, in smaller quantities than three gallons : But this Act is far from producing the desired effect. For though it undoubtedly prevents many persons from selling liquor to the Indians, who formerly derived a great and iniquitous profit from that kind. of traf fic, yet it prevents no person from giving it in any quantity, and from receiving, in a sort of indirect way, a full remuneration, though not in money, in something equivalent if not superior. Those tribes which have no villages, but still con tinue to wander about from place to place, appear, to civilized man, to live the most wretched and comfortless lives imaginable. Entirely dependent on their guns and their spears for every thing which supports their miserable existence, they are often exposed to the pinchings of hunger. In dolent and improvident, they seldom go in quest of game, until absolute necessity drives them from the lazy slumber of their wig-wams. Indeed the men may be said to be supremely indolent ; for they compel their wives to do every thing which involves hard labour. When an Indian shoots a deer at the distance of three or four miles from his habitation, instead of dragging it homeward, he .simply ties it to a neighbouring tree, and, on ar riving at his wig-wam, acquaints his unfortunate 395 APPENDIX. wife with his success, and informs her in what di rection he has left the game. Without any .signs of dissatisfaction she proceeds to the spot, with un erring certainty, and strapping the deer upon her back, cheerfully brings it to her lazy lord, who skins it and then leaves her to complete the dres sing, while he reclines upon his bear-skin, seemingly insensible to every thing but his own comfort. I do not mention this as an example of peculiar inhumanity on the part of the one sex towards the other ; but merely as adding another to the numerous instances which have been at various times adduced in proof that according as a people is farther removed from a state of civilization, the female part of the inhabitants are held to be of in ferior rank and importance. How it came to be disputed whether females are possessed of souls, it is difficult to guess ; or how they have in the case of barbarous and heathen nations become so unjustly the subjects of oppression, neglect and deprecia tion, I cannot tell ; unles,s, indeed, it may have originated in the two-fold cau.se, of the superior strength of the men, and their disposition to exer cise a supremacy, and in the inferior strength of the women, and their willingness to be made sub servient to the wishes of their lords. Perhaps the more refined heathens were induced to go one .step farther, in denying to the females of their nation, the posses.sion of -a soul, in consequence of the hoard of speculative and fictitious knowledge which they have accumulated, and which has only THE INDIANS. gg^g tended, so far at least as any discovery has hitherto been made of its effects, to confirm and augment, while it refined and systematized, their native and acquired barbarity. To civilized men, the situation of these people, men as well as women, appears hardly superior to that of the beasts which perish ; and to tho,se especially who are acquainted with the history of their op pressions, it will in many particulars appear much more degrading and miserable. Labouring like every son of Adam under the curse which his im prudence entailed on his posterity, they are com pelled to provide by one sort of toil or another, a scanty and precarious subsistence, which, in the case of all graminivorous animals at least, is scat tered with profusion all over the earth, and is con sequently procured with but little toil and less anxiety. The cattle on a thousand hills covered with nutritious herbage, regularly partake of nature's bounty, without either foresight or care, and, when satisfied with food, lie down in their lairs, where none of the painful reflections to which reasonable creatures are subject, prevent them from enjoying that repose which renovates their strength, and prepares them for the gratifi cations of the succeeding day. On the other hand, the Indian, with an appetite as keen, often spends a whole day in ranging the wilderness in quest of game, which are thinly scattered up and down, and too often elude the most vigilant search, or iaffle the swiftest speed. Weary and hungry, Vol. II. C c 394 APPENDIX. and oppressed with the gloomiest reflections, he returns without food to his insulated wig wam, and is hailed by the cries of his little children, " Father, we are hungry ; we have waited for your return with thoughts of anxiety, and looks of expectaion ; we have prayed for your success, but alas ! we perceive that our prayers have been in vain!" How wretched is the lot of such a parent, how miserable is the fate of such children ! This, however, is not all ; for as the night draws on, the snow-storm frequently pours its gelid effu sions into their unprotected huts ; where, hungry and cold, they strive in vain to cease from think ing, by seeking that sleep which the wintry blast banishes from their eyes. Often, too often have I witnessed scenes like this : Frequently have I be held these neglected sons of Adam, kindle a fire in the midst of the wilderness, and, rolling them selves up in a blanket, stretch their trembling limbs on a bed of snow, without a murmur and without a sigh ; and frequently have I seen them soliciting in vain, from their white-faced, but black-hearted neighbours, permission to partake for a single night of the comforts of the white-man's dwelling. In America, the name of an Indian or Negro, gives existence to none but the most abhorrent and contemptuous feelings. The people regard them as beings destined by their Great Creator, to suffer all the hardships, and all the cruelties, which it is in the white-man's power to inflict. They even speak of them, as being destitute of an immortal part, and THE INDIANS. 295 consider them as if they were animals of the brute creation. On the subject of an Indian's capacity or inca pacity for the acquirement of knowledge, I cannot do better than quote Miss Wright's just and generous apology for the paucity of those among the coloured inhabitants of the American Conti nent, who have distinguished themselves in the arts and sciences of civilized life : " It has been remarked, that there is no instance of any Indian youth, who has been educated in the colleges of these States, having risen to distinction, or assumed a place in civilized society. We must bear in mind, first, that not one in a thousand of any race whatsoever is gifted by nature so as to become dis tinguished. Experiments of this kind have hitherto been few, and we must draw many blanks in a lot tery before we can draw a prize. Secondly, it may be supposed that the prouder spirits, who are usually the stronger intellects, have been those who spurned the restraint imposed by habits and laws foreign to those of their race, and who fled from the refinements of strangers to the savage woods, and the savage ways of their fathers. Where is the young mind of vigour and enthu siasm that is not curious to trace the character of those who gave it being, and is not prone to ascribe to it something noble and singularly excellent? They who have known the feelings of an orphan, when in a house and country foreign to his race, how he yearns to hear of those who nursed his 39G APPENDIX. infancy, but whose voice and features are lost to his memory ; how he muses on them in solitude, calls upon their names in moments of distress, and idly fancies that fortune could never have wrung from him a tear, had they lived to cherish and protect him ; they whose fate it has been to know such feelings, will easily conceive how the young Indian, alone among strangers, must look wistfully to the wilderness, where his tribe tread the haunts of their fathers, free as the winds, and wild as the game they pursue." But an exclusive apology is happily not required : For numerous examples are already upon record of Indians possessed of a spirit as proud, a mind as capacious, and a soul as enterprizing, as any of their fellow-men. One of the principal characters of whom I have gained any knowledge by report, is Captain Brandt. This man, as every one that is at all acquainted with the history of America must well know, was not only a brave soldier, but a skilful politician, and the sole conductor of all the treaties between the English Government and the Six Nations^ And beside all this, he was so deeply impressed with the necessity there was for people of every tongue to become acquainted with the Christian Religion, that he undertook the translation of the four Gospels into the language of his own nation. After the completion of this laborious but noble task, he paid a visit to England ; and, in conse quence of mixing rather freely with the company THE INDIANS. Q^ and amusements of the higher circles in London, he was found, on his return to his native country, to have lost much of his former relish for religion, and his regard for its best observances. The son of this chief is still living, and resides upon his own estate, at the head of Lake Ontario. He also is an example of the Indians' capacity for knowledge and refinement ; for, in no other re spect than in the colour of his skin, is any difference perceptible between him and an Euro pean gentleman of birth and education. In his manners and acquirements, and in his ordinary deportment, he is, what is generally termed, " a perfect gentleman." Another celebrated Indian is Tecumseh, who, in the capacity of a warrior, so materially assisted the British in the last war. This man, although he devoted all his time and his talents to the ser vice and interests of the British troops, was not afraid to confess, " that he still owed them, as " the invaders of his country, a grudge ; and that, " if he could have any hope of ultimate success, " he would not rest till the forests were restored " to their native tribes, and every white man was "expelled from America!" Here was a picture of the real patriot ; a man, who, at the same time that he could easily distinguish between the re spective merits of opposing factions, and could not therefore repress an impetuous desire of embracing the right cause, was never able to forget, however he might have forgiven, the original oppressions J3l98 -APPENDIX. under which his ancestors had fallen, and could' not reconcile himself to the practical expatriation endured by his countrymen. The story of Logan is so well known, that it would not be good taste in me to repeat it. After having thus enumerated a few of the exam ples of superior intellect and courage, which are to be found among the neglected inhabitants of the American wilds, I cannot refrain from expres sing my surprise, that, while so much has been done for the conversion or civilization of almost every other heathen nation, the North American Indians are still most culpably neglected. I do not wish to insinuate, that any of those who are now the subjects of Missionary labour, are really less deserv ing of such attention than the Indians : For if all of them have souls capable of knowledge, and natures susceptible of domestication, there can be no difference in fact. But, surely, when the Indian is every way so much superior to the Hottentot, he ought to be indulged with a preference, if any preference were given; and since the means for the encouragement of missions have hitherto been so much confined, that it was impossible to embrace the whole earth at once, a commencement must of course be made, as we have seen to be the case, with some particular quarter of the globe. I do not wonder, that a mission to the African slaves jn the West Indies was one of the first undertaken by the English : For the pity which the miseries of the Negro population of those islands could not THE INDIANS. 39jy fail to inspire in the breast of every friend to his species, under any circumstances, must have com pelled the organizers and supporters of missionary schemes, out of mere and deserved compassion, ta send teachers of the Christian Religion to those parts first, where, in consequence of the " law's* delay" with respect to the gradual abolition of slavery, it was necessary that the poor Africans should learn " patience under their sufferings," and be directed to that " happy issue out of all their afflictions," which is promised to them, in common with all who " believe in the Lord Jesus Christ with their hearts unto righteousness." But I certainly am rather astonished, that, next to thesCy or nearly in that order, the obstinate followers of the Hindoo philosophy, who have hitherto resisted with so much hardihood all our attempts to shake the foundation of their superstitious and visionary faith, should be selected as worthy to receive the gracious offers of a system of religion as merciful and clear and sublime, as their own is cruel, con fused, and ridiculous. The noble conceptions of an Omnipresent, Invisible, and Omnipotent Spirit, who made and has governed the world ever since it had an origin, — which have been delivered down by their fathers to the latest posterity of the Indi ans of North America, and still exist in all their freshness, to influence in some degree the actions and the thoughts of every inhabitant of the woods, — ought surely to have proved a strong recom mendation for a much earlier introduction of 400 APPENDIX. Christianity among them, when their own system of religious belief, to say nothing of the superior, docility of their dispositions and the greater strength of their understandings, is so much better adapted to be moulded into that purer and more encouraging form, than that of many who have been privileged with a priority of presentation. Feeling, as I do, a consciousness of the superioi claim which the North American Indians offer to the attention of those who have the direction of missionary institutions, and being also acted upon by a powerful sympathy for their present desolate and pitiful condition, I could with great pleasure enter more deeply into this part of my subject ; but I may not exceed the narrow limits which I have prescribed for myself, and therefore I shall leave it to the consideration of my Christian read ers, whether the Indian subjects of his Majesty, who were so materially serviceable in the different engagements of the late war, and who stand in so much need of religious instruction, ought not most certainly to become the immediate -objects of our anxious and Christian regards. FINIS. ¦James Nichols, Printer, 22, Warwicic Square, London. m\^' I".! •¦^!X \U '-It ''•.'It' 'if'-' ' "''^'"'