IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 11.25 150 ^^^ M^H o> w 7 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716)872-4503 m \ iV \ \ ^ ^I^ ^ CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques at bibliographiques Th to The Institute has attemoted to obtain the best original copy available tor filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. D D D D D Q Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur I I Covers damaged/ Couverture endommag^e Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaur6e et/ou pelliculie I I Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque I I Coloured maps/ Cartes g6ographiques en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) I I Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Relid avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ Lareliure serr6e peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge intirieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajouties lors d'vrtiQ resvauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela dtait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6t6 film^es. Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppldmentaires; Various pagings. L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a it6 possible de se procurer. I.es details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-Atre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la m6thode normale de filmage sont indiqu6s ci-dessous. |~~| Coloured pages/ D Pages de couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommagies Pages restored and/oi Pages restaur6es et/ou pellicul^es Pages discoloured, stained or foxei Pages ddcolories, tacheties ou piqu6es Pages detached/ Pages ddtachies Showthrough/ Transparence Quality of prir Qualiti indgale de I'impression Includes supplementary naterit Comprend du materiel suppldmentaire Only edition available/ Seule Mition disponible r~T Pages damaged/ I I Pages restored and/or laminated/ r~:f Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ r~p( Pages detached/ r~^ Showthrough/ I I Quality of print varies/ |~~| Includes supplementary naterial/ I I Only edition available/ Th po of fil Oi be th si( ot fir si( or Th sh Tl wl Ml dh en be rig re( m< Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partieilement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont dt6 film^es d nouveau de faqon d obtenir la meilleure image possible. This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est filmd au taux de reduction indiqu6 ci-dessous. lOX 14X 18X 22X 28X 3GX y 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X 9 itails I du lodifier r une Image The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the ger ^rosity of: National Library of Canada The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. L'exemplaire filmd fut reprodult grflce d la gindrositi de: Bibliothdque nationale du Canada Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettet6 de l'exemplaire filmd, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beglrining with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprim^e sont film6s en commen^ant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second plat, selon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont film^s en commen9ant par la premidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol —^(meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Un des symboles suivants apparattra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole ^^> signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN ". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre film6s d des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul cliche, il est film6 d partir de Tangle supdrieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n6cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. rrata to pelure, nit a 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ^^ l.'l aNADA NATIONAL LIBRARY BIBLIOTH^QIJE NATiONALh \ A \ '• . ■'- (■ '4 H « V \ /r '■1'- ■ >h% f 1 * • X \ « ' . n ;^t i I- hi Vi i: Ml ■ ■ I. NOTES ON PUBLIC SDBJECTS, HADE DDBINa 1 TOUR IN THE UNITED STATES AND IN CANADA. Br HUGH SETMOCR TREMENHEERE. Hue geminas nunc flecte acies, hanc aspice gentem, Romanosque tuos. Virgil. K I: VA- LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1852. U3310 ,./■ J' -I •Sn LONDON I l-HISTBD BV W. CIOWBS AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET. j i CONTENTS. UNITED STATES. The Public System of Education in the Free States OP THE Union The Theory on which it is based — namely, that the Religious instruction which is not given in the Day Schools is given in the Sunday Schools — is not sup- ported by facts, in reference to a large proportion of the labouring population PAOE 8 That the injurious consequences of separating Beligious from Secular instruction are becoming evident to some of the most observant persons and the most zealous supporters of popular education . . 47 Reasons why another effort should be made to bring all parties in this country to an agreement on the principles on which a general system might be founded • . 58 Railways in the United States 60 Their probable effect on the future price of wheat in this country 69 ■>/' m^} 4^ / A. Water Supply in the Cities and large Towns a2 . 105 .*i ir CONTENTS— rNITED STATES. *■ (;■ Th* becret Ballot at the Elections for the State of Massaohusettb Note on Bribery at Elections Extract from Message of the Governor of the State of New York on that subject «... The Press General Remarks Beneficial results of the present more frequent inter- ^ course between the educated classes of the United -v/i States and of this country ..... Good feeling towards England prevalent among those classes in the United States .... Reasons why more travellers from this country should visit the United States Railway travelling, &c. ..... Endeavours of the Press and of the Public Schools in reference to " Manners" Hotels, Climate, Scenery, &c. .... PAOI 114 123 123 126 143 143 144 146 147 147 119 Appendix (A.) Estimated Cost of growing an Acre of Wheat on a Farm of 200 Acres in the wheat-growing districts of Ohio . . 157 „ (B.) Cost of Transport of Wheat from those dis- tricts to Liverpool, and Selling Price there 159 „ (C.) Report to Cincinnati Board of Trade . 162 „ (D.) Extract from Report on Boston Public Schools 165 t CONTENTS— CANADA. » ' . v CANADA. " * Not sufficiently appreciated in England .... 173 Extent of Tour in 176 ^ * ye Roads, &c 178 • ' Climate 184 Geological Survey 198 Cultivation 195 Railways, open and projected 209 Canals, completed and projected 210 Increase of Towns 214 Field of employment for British capital and labour . . 218 Canadian politics 220 Progress made in the working of Constitutional Government 221 General results of ....... 228 Boston Railway Celebration Note p. 227 State of the Canadian press ...*.. 233 ■•'' Education 235 Upper Canada 235 Prospective good effects of ..... . 244 Lower Canada ........ 258 Inducements for persons of the upper class of society in this country to settle in Canada 267 Mistakes of previous settlers 267 Country society 270 Occupations of country life 271 Field of exertion in public business 273 English sports 274 Deer Stalking, Shooting. Fishing. Fox-hunting. ,, Races. Financial credit and prospects of the Colony . . . 276 i/ w vi CONTENTS-CANADA. PAOII English sentiments and haHts in the Colony . . . 283 Honours emanating from the Crown .... 287 Question of the Representation of Canada in the Imperial Parliament, or at the seat of Government . . . 288 Possible effect of Railways, &c., in the United States and Canada, on Emigration from this country . . . 293 Society in Canada 298 The French Canadians 299 Concluding remarks 305 Appendix (E.) Return of Crown, Clergy, and School Lands , I in Canada 310 „ (F.) On the Custom of the Sub-division of Pro- perty in Pennsylvania, &c. . . . 312 „ (G.) Extract from a Speech of the Hon. Francis Hincks, Inspector-General (Chancellor of the Exchequer), on the Financial Condition of the Province, delivered before the Legis- lative Assembly of Canada, July 16, 1851 (Toronto, 1851) 313 „ (H.) On the Extent and Resources of the Great Basin of the Ottawa 315 \ \ V, ^ t ri UNITED STATES. %p \ 4 ■» f ♦ ^ H NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, de. PUBLIC SYSTEM OF EDUCATION. An explanation, and indeed almost an apology, is due from any one who presumes to offer to the public any observations upon coun'iies which he has visited for the first time, after so brief a sojourn as mine has been in those which afford the subjects of the following pages. I can with sincerity say that when I com- menced a short tour last autumn through a portion of the United States and Canada, I had no intention of writing a book. I hoped, indeed, to bring home with me some useful ideas on matters to which my time has been for some years chiefly directed — the education, and the general condition, of the working population. I thought also that, instead of tracing again the beaten tracks of Europe, where at present little B 2 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. » is visible but the ruins of politiccil liberty, there would be more pleasure and satisfaction, as well as more intellectual profit, in taking a glance, however hasty, at the great people of our own race and kindred who are now rapidly filling a Continent, and also at those more immediately and closely allied to us, our fellow-subjects in Canada. But even a hasty glance at those great and magnificent countries opens so many wide fields of thought, and fills the mind with reflec- tions upon so many subjects of the deepest interest to us in England, that it is impossible to be in the midst of those subjects without being carried imperceptibly into as full and complete an investigation of them as time and oppor- tunity permit. The introductions I took with me, and the acquaintances, and, I trust, lasting friendships, which it was my good fortune to make in both those countries, placed me at once at the fountain-head of much valuable information on various public questions, and therefore enabled me to make the best use of a short period of observation. Accordingly, in- stead of the recreation I went to seek on the i I ■ Wf'S PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. of a other side of the Atlantic, I found myself in- volved in inquiries which demanded no small amount of labour. The working of the great system of public, that is, free Education, supported by local tax- ation, in the different Northern and Western States of the Union and in Canada, was the question which chiefly occupied me, and I was led to examine and consider it principally with reference to or.r own wants and our own diffi- culties in England. The example of the New England States has been the one hitherto generally referred to, and the success of their system under their circum- stances has been regarded as a strong argument in favour of a similar system in this country. But it appeared to me that there were many reasons why it was necessary to extend the field of observation beyond the New England States, in order to arrive at a conclusion applicable to the condition of things among ourselves. Ac- cordingly, with a view to this inquiry, I visited in succession the following places: — the two small manufacturing towns of Newport and Fall \ b2 m: \/^i NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. River, in Rhode Island; some Iron-works on the Hudson River ; Philadelphia, where there is a large manufacturing population ; the town of Pottsville, and the large villages in the Coal district around, about 100 miles north-west of Philadelphia; the manufacturing town of Pitts- burgh on the Ohio; the great and flourishing principal city of Ohio, Cincinnati, abounding in manufactures; the commercial and rapidly- increasing town of Cleveland, towards the south- western end of Lake Erie. Passing thence, through Detroit, into Canada at its most western point, I visited all its principal towns and a large portion of that fine country ; and, finally, I terminated my inquiries at Boston, Lowell, and New York. At all these places I received the most kind and ready assistance from every person to whom I felt at liberty to apply, whether "Super- intendents" of Education, Chairmen and Secre- taries of different Boards, members of School Committees, various gentlemen interested in the subject and practically acquainted with its de- tails in their own neighbourhoods, the clergy, or % / T'UBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. tlio principal teachers of the different schools; and I was in many instances aided in collecting, personally, some statistics applicable to the in- quiries I had in view, or was subsequently fur- nished with them from the proper authorities. I left England on the 2nd of August (1851), and landed again on the 2nd of December. I was consequently absent four months, of which I spent fourteen weeks on that continent, — a brief stay, indeed, and one which the most kind and warm- hearted hospitality made me feel to be still shorter ; but the facilities of travelling are such that little time is lost in mere locomotion. With the exception of 150 miles in Pennsylvania, and 250 in Upper Canada, for which I pre- ferred hired carriages, for the sake of stopping at certain points (in some parts of those routes there was no other conveyance), nearly the whole of the rest of the tour above indicated was per- formed by railways or in steamboats, with a rapidity that greatly economises the available time of the traveller. There is unquestionably in England a grow- ing conviction that, notwithstanding the increased 6 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. voluntary efforts of the last ten years to extend, with the aid of the Government, the means of education for the labouring classes of the com- munity, those efforts are, and are likely to remain, insufficient to meet the exigencies of the present state of society. Some general system, based on local taxation, appears to be looked to by certain large parties as inevitable, by others as desirable. In despair of any agreement among the different religious denominations as to any mode of giving religious instruction in day-schools, the promoters of the Lancashire education movement propose a system purely secular. The counter-proposition, under the sanction of the Lord Bishop of the diocese and the Very Rev. the Dean of Manchester, aims at the establishment of day-schools under the immediate superintendence of the respective re- ligious denominations, with the possible sacrifice, however, in many instances, of the ancient paro- chial relations. Another large party in this country would, I believe, contend for the su- perior advantages of the principle adopted in the United States, and they refer with confidence i PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. to the New England schools, and especially those of the State of Massachusetts, not only as examples of admirably conducted and eminently successful schools in all the ordinary branches of secular teaching, but as proofs of the sound- ness of the principle resorted to in order to meet the difficulty of religious instruction. I have endeavoured to look at this question in the United States, principally with a view to this latter proposition; and the conclusion to which I have been led, by a wide survey of its working in other besides the New England States, and by the seriously expressed opinions of a considerable number of able men of calm judgment, in various parts of that country, is, that the mode of solving this difficulty adopted in the United States is not one which we should be justified by the facts to follow. y^ It is necessary that I should here say that I admit to the fullest extent the correctness of all that has been asserted of the general excellence, as regards secular instruction, of the public day- schools in the towns, wherever I had an oppor- tunity of seeing them, and the efforts making to improve those in the country ; and I recognize ! /■ r 11 I 8 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. also, with all the best-informed persons I met with, the fact that, whatever may be its inhe- rent merits or defects, the present public school system in the United States is a political neces- sity; and that, even were any large number of persons convinced of its unsoundness and its in- jurious tendencies, it would be impossible at present to depart from it. The question is, is it one to be followed elsewhere ? , The theory on which the whole public school system of the United States is based is, that the religious instruction which is not given in the day-school is given in the Sunday-school, ex- ception, of course, being made in regard to the children of those parents who are able and willing to instruct their children in the doctrines of their own faith at home. In considering, however, a scheme of public instruction having special reference to the poorer and less educated classes of society, the above qualification may be left out of view, and the proposition may stand as above stated. It is important to ascertain whether this theory is carried out in practice. If it be so in certain parts of the United States, whether this .*. -r IT. PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 9 is not SO much due to local circumstances that it can afford no safe guide for ourselves. If it fails under different circumstances, whether those are not precisely the circumstances we have to deal with in this country. The first place where I made any inquiry into this subject was Newport in Khode Island, one of the oldest towns of the Union, and possess- ing several branches of manufacture ; its neigh- bourhood has also of late years been much resorted to by the wealthier classes from all parts of America as a summer residence, on ac- count of its climate, which is moist and tem- perate, and thought to be somewhat like that of the Isle of Wight. I am indebted to the Eev. A. H. Dumont (Presbyterian Minister), School Commissioner and Chairman of the School Committee of the town of Newport, for much information on the general subject of edu- cation in that State. With regard to the pre- sent point, Mr. Dumont stated that, until above eighteen months ago, a portion of the manufac- turing population was imperfectly provided with opportunities of public worship and with Sunday- b3 \ 10 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &o. *i schools, while another portion had more than they could take advantage of: that the attend- ance at the day-schools of the children belong- ing to that part of the population seldom ex- ceeded four years on the whole, and at irregular intervals : and that at present the efforts of the different religious denominations succeeded in causing all, except about 10 per cent, of those who attended the day-schools, to attend the Sun- day-schools. But among a small neighbouring manufacturing community at James Town, Mr. Dumont was of opinion that, from local circum- stances, 50 per cent, only of the children who attended day-school attended Sunday-school ; an unusual case no doubt in New England, but show- ing the possibility of such occurring on a larger scale, and not unlike what may very possibly occur in many localities in this country. About twenty miles from Newport is the ma- nufacturing town of Fall River, containing about 11,000 inhabitants. It has eight cotton mills, two print mills, a large woollen mill, and extensive iron foundries. The Rev. Mr. Porter, curate of the Episcopal church, and Mr. J. Eddie, a PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 11 member of the Congregational Baptists' com- munity, both of whom took an active part in education, informed me that, notwithstanding the efforts of the different denominations, by advice and by the attraction of clothing societies, to get the children to attend the Sunday-schools, such was the indifference of many of the parents and the reluctance of the children, both those of Ame- rican parents as well as of English or Irish, that a considerable proportion of those who attended day-school did not attend Sunday-school ; that very many attended neither ; and that those who attended at Sunday-schools could seldom be induced to stay after they attained the age of 14 or 15. This impression was confirmed by the opinions of two of the gentlemen most largely engaged in the manufactures of the locality, and for many years acquainted with the habits of the population. It receives also a further confirmation from the General Report of the School Committee of the town for 1849-50, with which I was obligingly furnished. At p. 4 of that Report it is stated that "the School Committee are required by law to ascer- w .■■K 12 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, fcc. tain each year the number of scholars belonging to the town on the 1st day of May." It ap- peared that the number between the ages of five and fifteen was on the 1st of May, 1850, 2502. At p. 17 of the same Report is a table giving the attendance of scholars at all the schools of the town, including the High School, the 1st and 2nd primary, and the 1st and 2nd grammar schools. The average attendance in summer was 1244, and in winter 1380 — giving an average attendance throughout the year of 1304. This leaves 1198 children (or about 48 per cent.) be- tween those ages who are not at day-schools ; and with every allowance for the demand for juvenile labour in a manufacturing town, it indi- cates a neglect of the means of education placed within their reach, especially when the ample wages of all labour are taken into account. The Eeport also comments strongly on the irregu- larity of attendance of those who are registered as belonging to the schools.* I was desirous of ascenh.'.ii^ whether the habits of the persons employed at other iron- ♦ See Note, p. 170. PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 13 works in that country differed materially from those I had seen, and also from the average specimens of our own. I accordingly visited one of the largest in the State of New York, employing on an average about 500 men, Ameri- cans, Irish, and a few English. I learnt from the proprietor, who was good enough to show me his extensive works, that the extravagant habits usually accompanying high wages in that branch of trade were conspicuous here as else- where ; that pains were taken to provide good education for them in the day-schools, which were pretty well frequented; but "that there were none but very young children in the Sun- day-schools. As they grew into boyhood, they were apt to be led away from the Sunday- school by their superiors in age, who felt them- selves above that restraint; and accordingly, having had no definite religious belief early implanted in their minds, they usually, on mar- rying, adopted that of their wives:" a conse- quence, I believe, not unusual on this side the water, under similar circumstances. I passed a week at Philadelphia, and saw -^ .■X \\ » ' H NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &o. many of tlio admirably conducted primary, «eeoiid?ii'y, ami 'grammar schools, as well as the High School, and received most ready and zealous nssistance from several gentlemen in- terested in educ^^ion, in making the inquiries I desired. In one large and excellent esta- blishment, containing all the three first-named classes of schools, numbering, under one roof, 625 children, 1 ascertained by personal inquiry, by aid of the principal, that within a fraction ot 30 per cent, did not attend any Sunday-school. In nine other schools — in some of which I was present when the inquiry was made, in others not — out of 2129 children, 389, or a fraction above 18 per cent.; did not attend any Sunday- school. Allowing, in both instances, for the children of Jewish parents, and those belonging to the Society of Friends, the proportion would not probably be greatly altered. In seven others, principally girls' schools, contaming 1599 chil- dren, 148, or a little under 10 ner cent., did not attend Sundry-schools^ gir'? *>' ''to usuall found to attend more frequeiuiy than boys. The difference in the percentage of attendance rUDLIC EDrCATIDN IN TIIF, UNITED STATES. 15 is probably aLtribuhible, in a groat degree, to the locality of the school, whether in tho ])ari of the city « ^'iefly inl»ahited by the manufac- turing and labouring portion of the comniunit;-, or by the more easy classes ; the fact being recog- nized there as elsewhere, that, geficrally speak- ing, the lower the habits of the poj)ul;ition, the greater their negligence in attending to the religious education of their children. The above facts confirm what was stated generally to me by a gentleman of the city, much interested in education, that, as nearly as could be ascertained, out of a popul ition of about 400,000, not more than 35,000, o • rather above one - tenth, (about one-half of those of school-age,) attended the Sunday-schools : not- withstanding the exertions of all the rel'gious denominations, aided by donations of clothing when required. There are in Philadelphia ron- foundries, machine manufactories, cotton and wv)ollen ffictories, establishments for dye ig, paint-making, lead-tube making, hand-lo »m weaving, &c. &c. This city, in fact, contain.s, I was informed, the largest manufacturing popu- N 16 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, kc. lation in the United States. That a similar result should be found in the coal districts of Pennsylvania, around Pottsville, and at Pitts- burgh on the Ohio, might be expected, inas- much as the working colliery population consists principally of, probably, not the best specimens of Scotch, Welsh, Irish, German, and a few English labourers. The fact was stated to me by several gentlemen practically engaged in the mining and mercantile business of those districts, as one of which they had no doubt, and was confirmed to me by teachers of schools and other persons conversant with the subject. In the town of Pottsville, with a population of 9000, there were in the day-schools 1000 children. Of these, according to the statement of a gentleman of the town well qualified to form a correct opinion, *' about one-third go to no Sunday-school, and get very little, if any, religious instruction at home." In the country districts a less proportion attend Sunday-schools, as there are not the same facilities as in the towns and large villages. In confirmation of this I may add that, in one portion of the dis- ■:y^ K PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 17 trict, where there was a population of about 1800, there was, I was informed, only one small Sunday-school. The principal village and the public school were about two miles off. In another part of the district, where a large col- liery population is collected, it was stated by the schoolmaster of the principal school that — " There were only t.vo Sunday-schools near, and those small ones ; and that consequently great numbers of the children of school-age were running about doing nothing on Sundays, though on week days six- sevenths of those of school-age were in the day-schools." Another person, residing in the district, stated to me that — " Hundreds of children in the neighbouring country districts go to no Sunday-school, and their parents are too ignorant to instruct them ; they, consequently, get no re- ligious instruction at all except what they get in the day- school, which cannot be much, as we read the Bible only for five or ten minutes daily." It is to be observed, with reference to the latter remark, that this is the whole amount of " religious instruction" permitted in the day- schools of the United States, with the occasional exception of a short prayer and a hymn. •it ■V 18 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. " Moral instruction" is enjoined on the masters and mistresses to the utmost extent to which they are able to carry it in the course of the ordinary lessons of the school. * A gentleman extensively engaged as a Mining Engineer, not only in Pennsylvannia but in other States of the Union, and himself person- ally interested in colleries and iron-works, in- formed me — " That he had taken an active part in promoting ednc tion in all the neighbourhoods with which he wa^* con- nected, and had seen and talked with a great many persons all over the mining districts upon the subject; and his conviction was, that, generally speaking, the ciiildren in the mining districts do not go to the Sunday-schools if they can help it, although tliey are ready enough to go to day-schools. The Sunday-schools in the mining districts do not thrive much. An active Wesleyan minister npay come among them and get up Sunday-schools, but he only stays two years ; and wiien ins term is up, another comes, who may not be so active, and the schools droop, or per- haps disappear." Pittsburgh on the Ohio is an important seat of manufactures for the supply of the " Great AVest." It possesses, according to a statement emanating from the local Board of Trade, 13 '■5 I iM:., ■3fr 'i PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 19 EoUing Mills, 30 large Foundries, 5 large Cotton Factories, 8 Flint and 11 Window Glass Manufactories, together with many others. The population was in 1850 (including a large suburb) about 85,000. I visited some of the best schools there, and found them conducted on the same scale of liberal expenditure, under well-qualified teachers, as I had seen in the other great towns. With- out going again into the same details as I have given above, I may state generally, on the au- thority of a gentleman to whom I was presented as being fully conversant with the state of educa- tion there — '* That in the public schools of the town there are about two-thirds of the whole number of children of school-age (excluding those in some private schools) ; and that of those attending the public day-schools, from thirty to fifty per cent., according to the locality, do not attend any Sunday-school." The circumstances of the large and rapidly iiicreasing manufacturing and commercial city of Cincinnati are, as regards the lower portions of the population, very similar to those of a like m 20 !,■ * NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. kind among ourselves. Accordingly, the An- nual Reports of the Trustees and Visitors of the Common Schools there speak of the difficulties attending the general diffusion of education much in the same manner as we are familiar with in this country. In the Report for 1850, at p. 6, the President of the School Committee states — ■ " There always has been, and must be, in a population so unsettled as ours, and so heterogeneous, a constant change in the number of those scholars who commence the school year ; and long before it closes, the higher classes (in each school) are much reduced, while the primary departments are greatly increased. In the more busy seasons of the year many of our youth of both sexes are required by their parents to aid them in various domestic employments ; and perhaps the false notion of permitting the child to select his own school, and attend as he pleases upon its instructions, is not among the least of the many causes which have produced so great fluctuations in the number and regularity of the attendance of the scholars." This irregularity of attendance, and the dis- proportion between those who do attend and the total number of children of school age, are strik- ingly shown in the two Reports for 1849 and 1850. 'i PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 21 It is stated at p. 5 of the Report for the former year, that the total number of white children between the ages of four and twenty- one, in October of that year, was 33,548. Of these there were enrolled at the public schools of the twelve districts into which the city was divided, including certain additional Ger- man and English schools, the Orphan Asylum, and the Central School (for the higher branches of Education), 11,544 children. The average number, however, actually in the schools amounted to only 6004 ; and the average daily attendance throughout the year to 5090. To these must doubtless be added a certain number, not ascertained, attending private schools. In the Report for 1850, p. 6, the number enrolled as above is stated to be 12,240, and the average number in daily attendance 5362. Adverting to the Census of the previous year, the Report proceeds to state that, "of the 33,548 children between the ages of four and twenty-one, perhaps one-half are nominally connected with the common schools, and the numerous private institutions and seminaries of learning in the city." «>. 22 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. 1 As the common schools are free, and excellent in their kind, and have the entire confidence of the population, it is probable that the " private institutions and seminaries of learning" are chiefly supported by persons to whom the ex- pense of private education is no object. With regard to the irregularity of attendance of the children, of the lower classes especially, a gentleman to whom I was referred as one com- pletely conversant with the subject, thus ex- pressed himself to me : — " Tlie indifference and the cupidity of the parents are the great obstacles to the reguhir attendance of the children: the consequence is, that not half of those who pass through tlie schools are educated. And as respects Sunday-scliool education, notwithstanding all the efforts of the different denominations to ' look them up,' and to induce them, by offers of clothing, to attend, numbers of tliose who come to our day-schools go nowhere on Sundays ; and many are uncared for altogether." Cleveland in Ohio is another instance among the many in the United States of the growth within the last 30 years of a village into a city of considerable commercial importance. Its favourable situation on an eminence above Lake I: rUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 2c JiO Erie appears to have encouraged the inhabitants to bestow even more than the usual pains visible in American cities, upon their public buildings, squares, and other sources of general embellish- ment. Among the rest their school buildings occupy a conspicuous place, and the encouraging Annual Reports of their acting managers meet with a ready response in the liberality of the citizens. It is affirmed in the Report for 1849-50 that " probably not less than five-sixths of those who are being educated " in the city " are de- pending for instruction solely" on the public schools. The Report does not afford the means of estimating with accuracy the numbers not under education. It gives, however, the total number of scholars in the school districts or wards and in the central high school for 1849-50 as 2081, and the average attendance as 1440; the Report for 1850-51 giving under the first head 2304, and under the last 1650. The total number of children between the ages of four and twenty-one in 1849 was 4773. It appears that those under four are excluded by law from their schools, " and those above fifteen generally ex- 24 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. elude themselves." I gather from the general tenor of these Keports, urging the building of additional schoolhouses, that many yet remain to be included in their schools; and in reference to the point of the attendance at Sunday-schools, I am enabled to state, on the authority of the acting manager of the Board of Education, " that at least one-third of the children attend- ing the public schools never see the inside of a Sunday-school." I would next refer to the instance of the city of New York, which I have adverted to after the above because the fluctuating and miscellaneous nature of its population makes it less a case in point in reference to any of the dense manu- facturing populations of this country. As it has, however, its points of resemblance, it should not be overlooked. The superintendent of common schools for the county and city of New York, Mr. Joseph M'Keen, was kind enough to furnish me with the following statistics, a portion of which he had prepared for his forthcoming Annual Report. According- to the census for the past year. PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 25 the number of children in the city and county of New York between the ages of five and fifteen was 97,959. Allowing for those few under five and above fifteen who may attend school, the number of school-age may be stated at 100,000. The average attendance at the public, ward, and corporate schools throughout the year had been 40,055. The average attend- ance at the Sunday-schools had been ascertained to be only about 30,000. Mr. M'Keen stated that the total number of children who had passed through the schools in the course of the year had been 107,000; and that the total number frequenting the Sunday- schools irregularly in the course of the year may be estimated at about 60,000. And as there are always many children at the Sunday-schools who do not go to day-school, the proportion of the children attending the day-schools of New York who do not attend Sunday-school is, from the above figures, obviously very considerable. It is clear from the above facts that in several of the most conspicuous cities, towns, and seats of manufacturing industry in the free States of " 1 ' .•-! 20 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECT3, «ec. I ^;l the Union, containing populations analogous to those in this country for which there is the most jiressing need to extend the means of education, the theory of a complete education, according to the view adopted in the United States, is not fulfilled in relation to a considerable proportion of the children at their schools; inasmuch as, in the first place, a certain, and in some cases a large proportion of the children attending the day-schools do not attend the Sunday-schools ; and in the next, it is conceded that, of those who do not attend Sunday-schools, by far the greatest number, indeed nearly the whole, belong to parents incapable of giving religious instruction themselves, or indifferent to it, to the extent to baffle the efforts of the various religious denomi- nations to induce them to attend to the religious welfare of their children. I feel it necessary to add that these conclusions, founded on personal in- quiry and statistical facts, are at variance with the first impressions of very many persons, whether officially or practically conversant with the sub- ject or not, whose opinions and impressions I asked for respecting it. To the inquiry, " Do PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 27 the children regularly attend Sunday-schools, and obtain there the religious instruction which is not given at the day-schools ? " — whether ad- dressed to school teachers, or to gentlemen who only possessed a general acquaintance with the actual working of the system of* education — the very common answer was in the affirmative ; and it was often a matter of surprise to the teachers themselves, that, on their asking the children present who attended Sunday-school to hold up their hands, so many hands were not held up. I have learnt in the course of many inquiries of this nature, that general impressions are seldom to be trusted from any quarter, and that they are very apt to be contradicted when brought to the test of accurate inquiry. To a considerable number therefore of the children under education in the public schools in the places above referred to (including a tolerably wide range and much diversity of cha- racter), the education actually imparted will be almost purely secular ; for the giving five or ten minutes daily to reading a few verses of the Bible without comment cannot be called, in re- c2 \ 28 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJKCTS, &o. I ference to the education of youth, religious in- struction ; nor can its place be supplied by tho mere moral teaching which is enjoined, and practised as far as opportunity offers and the ability of the teacher extends to give it. And in reference to all who do attend the Sunday- schools, it may be added, without, I think, much fear of contradiction, and without in the least degree undervaluing the zealous and self- denying efforts of the immense number of volun- tary Sunday-school teachers throughout the land, both here and in the United States, that the re- ligious instruction given by persons unaccustomed to teach, and usually not trained to deal with the subject in the manner most capable of pre- senting it in all its parts to the minds of children, cannot be so precise and effectual as when it forms, as in all our Church and Denomina- tional schools, a prominent part of the busi- ness of the school for an hour of every day in the week. The conclusion I arrive at from the above facts, drawn from portions of the United States having populations similar to our own, is, that PI ULIC EDUCATION IN TlIF, UNITIID BTATIIS, 29 inasmuch as the great majority of all classes and (lonominatioiis in this country agree that no syst< m under the sanction of and aided by the State could be consented to which did not in some way or other make effectual provision for religious as well as secular education, the ex- ample and experience of the United States, in so far as the localities above referred to are concerned, cannot be quoted as having fulfilled that requirement. The question remains, in what particulars do the New England States generally, and Mas- sachusetts in particular, differ from the localities above referred to, and to what extent do those differences affect the point at issue. In the first place, in the New England States, instruction of all kinds, religious and secular, has been zealously attended to from the earliest period of their history. The indication of this general feeling in the New England States is to be recognised in their earliest laws, as in the follov.ing instance from the laws of Massachusetts. The first settlement of the town of Boston 30 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. took place in 1630. In the year 1637 the fol- lowing law was passed relating to " SCHOLES.* " Sect. 1. — It being one of the chief projects of Satan to keep men from the knowledge of the Scriptures, as in former times keeping them in unknown tongues, so in these latter times, by persuading from the use of tongues, that so at least the true sense and meaning of the original might be clouded and corrupted with false glosses of de- ceivers ; to the end that learning may not be buried in the graves of Our forefathers in Church and Commonwealth, the Lord assisting our endeavour, " It is therefore ordered by this Court and authority thereof, " That every township in the jurisdiction, after the Lord hath increased them to the number of fifty house- holders, siialJ then forthwith appoint one within their towns to teacli all such children as shall resort to him to write and read, whose wages shall be paid either by the parents or masters of such children, or by the inhabitants in general, by way of supply, as the major part of those that order the prudentials of the town shall appoint. Pro- vided that those which send their children be not oppressed by paying much more than they can have them taught for in other towns. " 2. And it is further ordered, that when any town shall increase to the number of one hundred families or house- Sic. as in so in PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 31 holders, they shall set up a grammar-school, the master thereof being able to instruct youth so far as they may be fitted for the University." [May, 1647.1 In the year 1671 the following enactment was added : — " Forasmuch as it greatly concerns the welfare of the country that the youth thereof be educated, not only in good literature but in sound doctrine, " This Court doth therefore commend it to the serious consideration and special care of the overseers of the Col- lege, and the select men in the several towns, not to admit or suffer any such to continue in the office or plac of teaching, educating, or instructing youth or children in the college or schools, that have manifested themselves unsound in the faith or scandalous in theiv lives, and have not given satisfaction according to the rules of Christ." — [May, 1671. — Ancient Charters and Laws of Massachu- setts Bay.'\ It is not necessary in this place to do more than allude to the divergences of doctrine which so soon began to manifest themselves among the early settlers ; the second of the above laws in- dicates its existence, and the desire to keep it in check ; but the whole taken together are a striking proof of the manner in which, without venturing to lay down a test of what " sound • •'•^'faiir.W r t-*.«*rf*^.(yri*^ f-*- .>*^'' Vrf-,— ,- 32 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, «tc. it doctrine " was, they endeavoured to maintain the principle that learning in "Church and Commonwealth" should proceed together, and to declare their conviction that it " greatly con- cerned the welfare" of their country that their youth should be educated, "not only in lite- rature, but sound doctrine." And it cannot be doubted that the existence of these township schools from that early period has produced in the New England States (for I believe they were adopted in all the other States as soon as they rose into Commonwealths) a general average of intelligence, and a general appreciation of the duties of parents in those particulars, beyond what is found, or what it is reasonable yet to expect, in the younger States of the Union. Secondly, the strong religious feeling, derived from their Puritan forefathers, still pervading the New England States, imposes a social as well as a moral obligation upon every father of a family to attend to the religious education of his children ; and this duty is to a great extent fulfilled, I am informed, even in the towns, with the exceptions hereafter to be noticed. As «. iL.„. PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 33 regards the rural districts, a gentleman whose position enables him to express an opinion founded on a wide experience, the Rev. Dr. S. C. Jackson, Assistant Secretary to the Board of Education in Massachusetts, educated in Ver- mont, and formerly settled for some years as a pastor at Andover, in Massachusetts, stated to me that, — " It is the general practice of the great majority of families in New England, in the rural districts, even in remote localities, to attend at the different places of wor- ship, on the Sunday. The fact is, that nearly all are con- nected with some place of worship, and attend it more or less regularly, according to circumstances. It would be considered disreputable to any man not to be able to say honestly that he belonged to some congregation." This religious feeling, fortified by hereditary association, as well as strong by its intrinsic power, is a guarantee, in these States, for the supply, through domestic or Sunday-school teaching, of the religious instruction which is not given at the day-schools, beyond what can be looked for in ordinary communities and under circumstances less favourable to its de- velopment. c 3 84 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. Thirdly, the populations of the New England States may be described as, upon the whole and with comparatively slight exceptions, composed of one great middle class, having at their com- mand, in their various spheres, the fruits of honest industry, living in comfort and respect- ability, and considering ignorance discreditable. It is very possible that a system of general education may be adopted by a community cir- cumstanced as above described, with safety to the faith and morals of the people, as well as with benefit to their secular intelligence, which would be eminently dangerous to the former if followed by another community under circum- stances materially different. And even in Massachusetts there are indica- tions sufficient to show that, where the circum- stances of the community do materially differ from v/hat has been above described, the general svstem of education is not to be trusted to fulfil the part required of it, to enable it to correspond in practice with its theory. The gentleman above mentioned, Dr. Jack- son, thus informed me respecting the state of t i n-nr-^riMim PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 35 England lole and )niposed eir com- Pruits of respect- iitable. general nity cir- afety to well as e, which )rmer if circum- mdica- circuni- y differ general to fulfil respond '. Jack- state of the case on this point in localities of dense populations : — " In the villages and towns — meaning by that where the population is dense rather than rural — there is a class, especially foreigners, the most degraded and depressed of the population, whose children are irregular in their attend- ance at the day-schools ; and therefore also, for the same reason — the neglect and indifference of the parents — irre- gular in their attendance at the Sunday-school." The Secretary of the Board of Education for Massachusetts, the Rev. Dr. Spears, very oblig- ingly gave me a full account of the working of their system, which, as it relates to many points beside the one now under consideration, will be more conveniently given at length in another paragraph. But, as regards the present point, it will be seen (p. 44) that he thus gives his opinion : "Under the present state of things, our system does not reach the whole population of our manufacturing towns 5" which Dr. Spears attri- butes to the fact that " the parents themselves neglect the education of their children." And if I might, without impropriety, add the result of my own personal observation during a very brief visit to some of the principal schools 36 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. in Boston, containing several hundred children each, accompanied by the late Chairman of the School Committee and of the Board of Educa- tion for the city, J. Codman, Esq., Advocate, &c., I would state that, in about one-third of the school-rooms where the question was put by the principals of the different schools to the children, it appeared to them, as well as to Mr. Codman and myself, that about twenty per cent. — and, in a few instances, somewhat more — of the children acknowledged that they did not attend Sunday-schools. These day- schools were frequented, as might be expected, to a great extent by the lower portions of the population. But it appears that even in Massachusetts there has been for some time a growing con- viction of the necessity of more religious in- struction being given in the day-schools, and also of greater exertions being made to obtain attendance at the Sunday-schools, and to make them more efficient. The following is the state- ment made to me by the Rev. Dr. Spears, the Secretary to the Massachusetts Board of Edu- PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 37 cation, which I insert here at length by his permission : — *' The readiest way of explaining the present state of opinion in regard to the question of the religious instruction of the children attending our public schools, is first to refer you to the 7th and 8t^ sections of Chapter XXIII. of the Revised Statutes of the State. These sections are as follows : — " ' Section 7. — It shall be the duty of the president, pro- fessors, and tutors of the University at Cambridge, and of the several colleges, and of all preceptors and teachers of academies, and all other instructors of youth, to exert their best endeavours to impress on the minds of children and youth committed to their care and instruction the prin- ciples of piety and justice, and a sacred regard to truth, love to their country, humanity and universal benevolence ; sobriety, industry, and frugality ; chastity, moderation, and temperance ; and those other virtues which are the ornament of human society, and the basis upon which a republican constitution is founded ; and it shall be the duty of such instructors to endeavour to lead their pupils, as their ages and capacities will admit, into a clear under- standing of the tendency of the above-mentioned virtues to preserve and perfect a republican constitution, and secure the blessings of liberty, as well as to promote their future happiness; and also to point out to them the evil tendency of the opposite vices.* 38 NOTES ON rUBLTC SUBJECTS, &c. " * Section 8. — It shall be the duty of the resident minis- ters of the Gospel, the select men, and the school com- mittees, in the several towns, to exert their influence, and use their best endeavours, that the youth of their towns shall regularly attend the schools established for their instruction.' " Previously to the establishment of the Board of Education in 1836, sufficient prominence was not given to these sections ; not from any inten- tional neglect, but from the matter especially referred to in section 8 being left dependent on such clerical influence as happened to be brought to bear upon it. There has been a simultaneous growth of opinion, both among teachers and school committees, in favour of more moral and religious instruction, and that is every day on the increase. At all the teachers' institutes, and all the conventions of teachers, v/here the topic has been brought forward, there has been an unanimous expression of opinion as to the ne- cessity of more religious instruction. Secular instruction has hitherto occupied too much of the time. Formerly, in many schools, the Scriptures were used as a lesson-book in all the classes. At present this is being abandoned, PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 39 ; minis- al corn- ice, and • towns >r their Board ce was inten- ecially ent on rough t aneous s and al and lay on s, and 3 topic en an le ne- ecular ich of s, the all the ioned, and the practice of using the Scriptures in con- nexion only with devotional exercises and re- ligious instruction is taking its place. This is the result of the progress of individual opinion upon the subject. Such explanations are given as are necessary for moral purposes; the re- ligious tenets of the different denominations being excluded. Our reason for this is, that we consider that polemical divinity is not so appro- priate to the education of young children as ethical and devotional instruction. The modes adopted are, reading the Scriptures, singing, and prayer, extemporaneous or written, according to the preference of the teacher. Another reason is, a suitable regard for the religious rights and opinions of the different classes of religious denominations. Thirdly, as a general proposition, in Massachusetts, great reliance may be placed on the family and the Sunday-school for the inculcation of definite religious know- ledge in the rural districts and in the cities ; but this cannot be said to the same extent of the manufacturing towns. " In regard to Sunday-schools, there was for- 40 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, fcc. m merly much jealousy among the religious de- nominations as to what religious instruction should be given in them where only one could be sustained, which was attended by the children of persons differing from each other in religious opinions. Within the last half a dozen years a great unanimity has sprung up, in consequence of the proceedings of the American Sunday School Union, which pervades the whole of the United States, the head-quarters of which are at Philadelphia. It is composed of the various * evangelical ' denominations : that is, the Methodists, Baptists, Independents, and Epis- copalians. Those who do not join it are the Unitarians, the ' Universalists,' and some others. The children of parents belonging to these various denominations frequently attend the same Sunday-school ; and even where the different denominations have Sunday-schools of their own, they contribute largely to the funds of the Union, making use of their books, and giving instruction very much in the spirit of the Union. In the case of a village where any one denomination is so much the most numerous 1 PUBMC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 41 that the rest cannot set up a separate Sunday- school, the families of the latter would have ordinarily no hesitation in sending their children to the school of the majority. This is the ordinary course of things. In such cases the particular tenets of any one denomination are taught in only a subordinate degree ; and it woidd be possible to attend such Sunday-school for many Sundays together without hearing one word bearing on the distinctive peculiarities of either. The origin of this is, that there is a arrowing opinion that their respective peculiari- ties of doctrine are subordinate to the great truths which they hold in common. It is this fact which enables us to place so much reliance on our Sunday-schools for religious instruction, and on our present mode of giving it in the day- schools, because this system has the confidence of nearly the whole community. It affords an answer to the objection of those who say that our religious instruction in the day-schools is too negative, that the positive part of it can be taught more fully in the Sunday-schools ; and, in point of fact, it is so taught to the great \^' 42 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. majority of the population, both in the cities and in the rural districts. It must be borne in mind that the above statement does not apply so specifically to the manufacturing towns. *' A few years ago there was some opposition made to the Board of Education on the ground of the negative character of its reli.^ious instruc- tion. The clergy of the difterent denominations, upon closer examination, and upon observing the actual working of our system, have, speaking generally, abandoned their efforts in opposition to it. I discussed the question with several leading clergymen of different denominations, and the question was put to them as to how they could support * denominational* schools in the rural districts and in the smaller inland towns. They were quite satisfied that the pecu- niary means could not be found in such districts ; and in the next, that, if means could be found for sclniols of a certain class, sufficient could not be obtained to make it possible to introduce the entire system of primary, grammar, or high schools, such as we have in every township. The only places where such ' denominational riTBLIC EDUCATION IN TIIK UNITED STATES. 43 schools would be possible would be in the large and populous towns, and even there they have judged it inexpedient to attempt them, except in a few instances. The only * denominational ' schools that I am aware of in Massachusetts are set up by individuals, relying chiefly on the support of the denomination to which they be- long, but without any ecclesiastical pledge of any sort, and these are rapidly declining ; and even academies, incorporated and unincorpo- rated, for the higher branches of English and classical education, are being converted in con- siderable numbers every year into high schools, which are frequented by the children of persons of the highest station in the country. We have a hi^a school for every four thousand inhabitants. " Our usual arrangement is this. Our town- ships are about six miles square. In or near the centre is the village, the churches and chapels, and the high school. Around these, about a mile distant from the centre, are the grammar-schools; and nearer the extremities of the township, and elsewhere where needed, the \' NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. primary schools. We have two agents, who are sent where required, to give advice as to the best localities for these schools. One of these agents, Mr. Banks, was Speaker of the House of Representatives of the State, and the year before a Commissioner of Education : the other agent is Mr. Greene, Professor of Didactics at Brown University, New Providence. '* We have teachers' seminaries, established in 1836 or 1837, two for both sexes. The term is in one a year and four months, and in the other a year and a half. We intend to raise the qualification for entrance, and then make them schools for teaching. " Under the present state of things, our system does not reach the whole population in our manufacturing towns. The parents themselves neglect the education of their children, and the manufacturing companies sometimes evade the spirit of the law which requires a certain amount of attendance at school of children under a certain age. It is not the special duty of the school committees to correct this evil, and it will probably be necessary for the towns to appoint PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 45 its, who ce as to One of ' of the and the ion: the )idactics lished in 'he term i in the raise the See them r system in our emselves and the ade the amount under a y of the id it will appoint some person of influence, or with more or less of legal authority, to look after such children and bring them to school. A gentleman at Rox- berry, Mr. Ritchie, employed by the city autho- rities, has made this experiment, and he has informed me that he has so far succeeded as to be of opinion that the attendance of all the children of school-age can be secured in this way, by the appointment of an ofl5cer of this kind. The condition of our population is such that there could be no difficulty in any family as to clothing the children decently, so as to attend the schools. If there are a few excep- tions in our manufacturing towns, those towns themselves could easily make provision for that purpose." On this plain and candid statement of the progress and present state of opinion in Massa- chusetts in regard to the question of religious instruction, it is in this country scarcely neces- sary to observe that the mode of imparting it in the day and Sunday-schools of that State, as above described, is one which, after long and vehement discussion among all the religious de- 46 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. nominations of England and Scotland ten years agu, was unanimously rejected as dangerous to the faith, and as tending inevitably to confound all distinctions, and to weaken and eventually to destroy in the mind all firm hold of the essential doctrines of revealed religion. It is at once noticeable, by any one who attentively considers the sections of the revised law relating to moral and religious instruction above quoted, that the list of moral virtues is no more than may be found in the works of many excellent heathen writers, and does not include many of the distinctive virtues of Christianity. And when the necessity for something more positive and more distinctively Christian is felt, and the attempt made to act upon that feeling, nothing more precise is found possible, under what is called a general system, than a mode of teaching which the reason and convictions of all the religious denominations in this country with one voice decided to be one on which Christianity could not be taught. I took all the means in my power to ascer- tain what were the various currents of opinion PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 47 •t ti years rous to aifound lutually of the le who revised Tuction es is no f many include stianity. 5 more in the United States with respect to the actual effects traceable upon morals, character, and religion, of the mode of religious teaching in the public schools. On a question so delicate and difficult, and involving so much of political as well as other considerations, there will of course be many and great differences of opinion. Many gentlemen of distinguished ability, for the conscientiousness of whose convictions it is impossible not to entertain the greatest respect, while by their personal character they inspire le highest regard, informed me that they could discover nothing objectionable in the principle, and could recognise no injurious consequences as traceable to the system in its mode of action. Others, equally estimable and equally eminent, informed me that they looked upon it as ** a great experiment," of the ultimate results of which upon the religious character of the people they confessed their apprehensions, but that in the actual state of public opinion they consi- dered no other system possible. Other gentle- men again, both lay and clerical, with equal opportunities of observation and means of arriv- ■ 1 1 I i i] I- i '■ i\ I' 48 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. ing at a right conclusion, spoke in the most dis- tinct and emphatic manner of the visible effect which, in t leir opinion, the small amount of instruction m the distinctive doctrines of Chris- tianity, and the lax mode of teaching them in the Sunday - schools, were producing on the religious convictions and moral practice of the mass of the people. Dr. Spears adverts to the abandonment by the clergy, with whom he discussed the question, of their endeavours to found denominational schools, on the ground that they were unable to see their way towards obtaining the pecuniary means for them. I heard the most earnest de- sires expressed by many clergy of the New England States, of the State of New York, and of Pennsylvania, for the establishment of such schools, could the means be found, for the sole reason that they were distinctly sensible of the effects the present system was producing in loosening the hold of definite Christian prin- ciples on the minds of the people. In an inter- view I had the honour of having with the Bishop of Massachusetts, he stated that he should un- PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 49 doubtedly prefer, in the interests o^ religion, parochial schools, but that, under present cir- cumstances, he considered them, except in a few instances, unattainable. Some of the prin- cipal clergy of the Church of England in New York are exerting themselves with some mea- sure of success with that object, and their views were expressed to me very strongly in the same sense. The portion of the press devoted chiefly to religious matters has frequently adverted to the same point; and at a recent public meeting, composed of persons of all religious denomina- tions, the apprehensions above described were ex- pressed, as resulting from the imperfect religious education of the people. I am able to state on what I believe to be undoubted authority that the Bishop of Pennsylvania (who was absent from Philadelphia during my stay there) is anxious, for the sair.e reasons, for the establish- ment of similar schools. I might multiply the individual opinions of observant and calm - judging men in various parts of the United States, who expressed them- selves to me to the same effect, but probably the i t hi 1 I i 50 NOTKS ON PUBLIC SUBJKCTS, &c. cxpcrienee of the j^jiitlcinan who furnislicd nie with the following statement of his opinions will he siiffieient, in addition to what I have ahove stated, to show in how grave a light;, and with what apprehensions for the i'uture, (apprehensions which have been publicly ex- pressed in terms far stronger than I have thought it necessary to repeat,) the present experiment on so momentous a subject as the religious education of the people is considered by large classes of persons in that country. The Rev. Dr. Edson, Hector of St. Anne's Church, Lowell, to whom I was directed as thoroughly conversant with this subject, ex- pressed himself to uie to the following effect : — " It was twenty-seven years last IMareh since I first cauie to Lowell, which was tiien a village of about six hundred inhabitants. Public worship was then lield for the first time in tlie village, and the service was performed by myself. Lowell is now a town of about forty thousand inhabitants. I have resided here as a minister of the Epis- coi)al Church ever since, and during the whole time have taken an active part in education as a member of the School Committee, and otherwise. Seeing that the system of public schools established by law was the only one pos- sible under tiie circum:^tances of the country, I have I PUBLIC EDUCATION IN TIIK UNITED STATES. 51 appllod myself with all tlio zeal in my power to make it efficient ; and I hav;; endeavoured to cause the deficiency of reli|ri()U8 inatruction in the day-schools to be supplied, by encouraging Suixhiy-schools to the utmost of my oppor- tiniities. To the children of n.y own Hock I have given all the doctrinal instruction in my po'ver in the Sunday- school, and by other nutans. I have interested myself generally in favour of Sunday-schools, seeing in them the only mode under our systeni to imprint on the minds of those who most require such teaching, the princi})les of revealed religion. My experience, however, of now nearly thirty years, as a pastor, has, I am sorry to say, forced upon me the painful conviction that our public school system has luidermined already among our population, to a great extent, the doctrines and principles of Christianity. I perceive also its effects distinctly in the modes of tliouglit and action of the young people who flow into Lowell from the neighbouring States, and, in fact, sup[)ly the demand for labour that is constant here. I find in my frequent intercourse with them that they possess a knowledge of noi>e, or nearly none, of the distinctive principles of the Christian faith, and that many are in a state of uiind be- yond that of mere indifftireiice, though not precisely in that of those imbued witii the principles of the Frenclt and German schools of infidelity. I find in them a considerable indifference as to what sect they may belong to, thinking all religions alike, and generally showing a great ignorance of the Bible, which they profess to take as their guide. I find many not only unable to repeat any of the Ten Com- mandments, but entirely unaware of there being any Ten Commandments at all. I find them generally well grounded d2 52 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. ' in the ordinary elempiits of what is called oommon educa- tion, and clever and acute as to all worldly matters that concern them, but very lax in their notions of moral obli- gation and duty, and indisposed to submit to any authority or control whatever, even from a very early age. This exhibits itself, among other ways, in the irregular nmnner in which they attend school, Sunday or day school. I have taken much pains with regard to ihat subject in Lowell, and I have, I aw sorry to say, come to the following con- clusion. In the first pl'ce, we have the Irish population. These are well looked after by their priests, and I have no doubt tlat nearly the whole of them attend some Sunday or other catechetical instruction. Looking, then, solely at the American population, and the few foreigners not Irish mixed with it, I believe that less than half of the whole number of children between the ages of five and six- teen attend any Sunday-school, or do so only most irregu- larly. It is easy to infer what sort of hold the Bible, its precepts, and its doctrines, can be likely to have on minds thus loosely prepared for the temptations of life. There is in tlie minds of the great majority no principle of deference to authority. There is indeed a school of persons in this country, and a very numerous one, who think it wrong to try to influence a child in its adoption of any form of reli- gious belief. Very commonly also no point of doctrine seems to have been effectually and thoroughly explained to them, and taught as from authority. All doctrines seem to have been treated as the deductions of individual opinions, and left pretty much to a child's own inference. The moral effect of this is visible in relation to all authority, beginning with the parental. It is no new remark that, PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 53 unless a child is from his earliest years taught to reverence an authority higher than, and in support of, the parental, he will very soon begin to question and resist the parental. That this evil is already nearly universally felt and ac- knowledged in this country there is no longer room to doubt. From throwing off authority in regard to religious matters, and holding doctrines loosely, the step is easy to abandoning them altogether ; and accordingly it consists Avith my observation here during several years past, that the great majority of those now growing up cannot be said to hold more than belongs to mere natural religion. I look upon this very prevalent condition of mind with very groat apprehension, for all history shows that this is only the first downward step to complete irreligion and infidelity, and thence to the corruption of morals such as was exlii- bited in the heathen world. I much fear that we are making sure and not very slow strides in that direction ; and while I deeply lament it, I am free to confess I see no present remedy for it in this country. Allow me, how- ever, to say, that it gives me the greatest satisfaction to learn that in England you are alive to these dangers. I earnestly pray that you may not fall into them ; and if you tliink that the result of my experience here, and of the sincere convictions it has forced upon me, can be of any service in your country, I beg you will make any use of them you think proper." I owe it to Dr. Edson to state that he is a gentleman very highly considered in his own neighbourhood, and that neither theoretical nor 54 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. party bias appeared in the least degree to enter into the expression of his opinions, which evi- dently were the result of earnest and sincere conviction. That the result of such a system of education would be of the nature above described, has often been argud on general principles. Into those arguments this is not the opportunity to enter. My present concern in dealing with the subject, at a moment when probably public attention in this country may soon be again con- centrated upon it, is to contribute some few facts and opinions which may tend to show, that the example of what has occurred and is occur- ring on that subject in the United States cannot be referred to as a solution of our own diffi- culties, or as a safe guide in a path upon which we have not yet entered. If the example of the United States does not assist us in solving the religious difficulties in the way of establishing a general system of element- ary education, the most cursory observation of what has been done there, and is still doing, with so much zeal and energy for secular education PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 55 at least, cannot fail to leave a deep impression on the mind of an Englishman who witnesses it. He will see in the cities and larger towns large buildings, for the purposes of day-schools, three or four stories high, divided into class-rooms, and affording accommodation under one roof for 1000 or 1500 children.* He will find in every village and township one or more buildings ap- propriated to this purpose, according to the needs of the population, and the greatest libe- rality exhibited in the expenditure upon books and apparatus, and generally in the salaries of the teachers. As an instance, I may mention that of the village of Storey, eight miles from Boston. Speaking of this, and of several others similarly circumstanced, Dr. Spears stated to me that — " The disposition of the people to vote money for edu- cational purposes is so great that it needs to be checked in many cas's. In the township of Storey, the whole real * As a proof how little regard is paid to expense in the fitting up of these class-rooms when the question of the efficiency of the school is concerned, it may be mentioned that the plan now be- coming common, because most approved of, is to give every child a sn)all desk and a chair to himself, or at most two are placed at one desk, with a chair each. !|i 56 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &o. property of which is valued at only 500,000 dollars, not less than 17,000 dollars were expended last year in the erection of five new schocdhouaes, besides the ordinary expenses of maintaining tin three grammar and two primary sc-iiools. It has been publicly mentioned on the best authority, with regard to the city of Cambridge, con- taining 16,800 inhabitants, that it pays annually more money in taxes in support of its public schools than is paid for instruction, from every source, in tlie University there (the Harvard), which is regarded as the richest endow- ment and the most expensive University in the rountry. Such instances of a similarly liberal expenditure are very common." This liberality of expenditure for the pur- poses of education is rapidly extending itself over the whole length and breadth of the vast free ter- ritory of the United States. It has already for some years been conspicuous in all the cities and principal towns, as will be seen from the fol- lowing statement, which I copy from the ' St. Louis Intelligencer,' in order to show that even in that remote quarter — in that astonishing city of nearly 100,000 inhabitants, on the banks of the Mississippi, nearly a thousand miles direct west from Philadelphia and Baltimore — the education of the whole people is as zealously PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 57 provided for as in most of the older settled cities of the Union, at a cost per head far ex- ceeding what is applied to such purposes in the common schools of this country. Cost of education per child in the public schools of — St. L(mis New York . Boston Philadelphia Baltimore . Cincinnati . Dollari.* . 9 . 10 . 15 . 7 . 10 . 6 Cents. 50 92 42 88 84 3^7 + I may add to this — one of many facts which I might mention, illustrative of the extent to which at least secular education has been carried in some of the States under their present system — that in the state of Connecticut, with about 400,000 inhabitants, only 500 were found, on a late inquiry, not to be able to read, and those were Irish. I mention this oii the authority of a gentleman now representing a portion of Con- necticut in Congress. Any one from England visiting those schools would be also greatly * = 4s. 2d. t Report for 1851, p. 14. d3 58 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. 1) I I struck with the very high social position, con- sidering the nature of their employment, of the teachers, male and female ; he will observe with pleasure their polite and courteous bearing, of such importance as an example of good manners to the children; he will admire the complete order, quiet, and regularity with which the whole system of instruction is conducted by the exer- cise of mild, temperate, and, generally speaking, judicious authority; and he will perceive how great an amount of elementary secular instruc- tion is given to those who stay a sufficient length of time to derive the full benefit of the oppor- tunities of improvement there afforded. And I must confess that he will be likely to feel it as a just subject of reproach to his own country, that her very tenderness and zeal in the cause of religious truth, her very apprehension lest in her desire to attain an acknowledged good she may be betrayed into a step fraught with evil — or, to descend to lower ground, her religious jealousies and animosities — ^^should interpose to keep all education, both secular and religious, from the minds of tens of thousands of our fel- PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 50 low-citizens: at a time, too, when secular edu- cation is more than ever needed as a means of temporal prosperity and advancement, and when socialism and a vast and dangerous flood of " revolutionary literature " of the worst kind is occupying the ground left bare for its reception by the absence of all culture, secular or religious. How long, it may well be asked, is the Govern- ment of this country to be paralyzed by sectarian jealousies ? and to what further extent are the very foundations of religious truth and social order to be undermined while the dispute rages as to the best method of preserving them ?* * See further on this subject, pp. 235-262. 60 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. RAILWAYS. We are in the habit of hearing from time to time of the number of miles of railway completed and projected in the United States, the cost of their construction, and other particulars relating to fchem; we hear also of the comprehensive system of railway communication projected in Canada, and probably soon to be carried into effect. The fine series of canals in Canada, and the great public works of the same kind in the United States, are also occasionally brought to the notice of the public in this country. I am not aware, however, that, considering the full de- velopment which they will have attained in the course of the next few years, their probable bear- ing unon two questions that most nearly concern us in England — the increase and transport of agricultural produce, and emigration — has yet been adverted to with the particularity and dis- tinctness which the subject deserves. RAILWAYS. 61 111 passing over the countries through which these main routes take, or are about to take, their course, I was much impressed with the considerable amount of influence that they were likely to exercise in a few years on those in- terests. Up to the time of my leaving the United States (1 9th November last) no railway map had been published giving a complete idea of this subject, and I accordingly collected for my own information the maps of various com- panies, by which I ascertained what were to be the main arteries through which the cities of the Atlantic sea-board were to communicate with the vast West, and to what distant points in that wide and magnificent regiv^n they were to pene- trate. From those materials, including the im- perfect railway maps now in use, I have caused the annexed map to be prepared, showing also the principal lines in Canada, in progress and proposed. The lines of latitude are given as on a globe, in order the better to exhibit the rela- tive positions, in point of latitude, in reference to this country, of our own possessions in North America. 62 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. Let any one take this map in hand and trace the lines, completed and projected, communicat- ing from the sea-board with the interior. Beginning with the South, he will find a line projected from Mobile, on the Gulf of Mexico, to take up the trade of the Mississippi at Cairo, and to be continued in a direct line north to Chicago, on Lake Michigan; thus opening a line of country comparatively unsettled, but full of resources, and affording another inlet for manufactures to the great West. Next, on the Atlantic sea-board, from Sa- vannah in Georgia, and Charlestown in South Carolina, converging lines (meeting in the northern part of Georgia) run through those territories, the " Upper Country" in each of which, or the district removed from the sea, is capable of a great increase of production ; thence through the highly fertile but still comparatively thinly-peopled States of Tennessee and Ken- tticky, to Evansville on the Ohio, J across the lower portion of Illinois to St. Louis — that great and increasing entrepot for the trade of the West, situated just below the junction of the RAILWAYS. 63 Missouri with the Upper Mississippi, command- ing 10,000 miles of inland navigation, and having already, though still in its infancy, a trade equalling nearly one-third of the whole foreign commerce of the United States. The next great projected line westward is from Baltimore, penetrating, in spite of great obstacles, the Alleghanies and the Laurel Ridge south of Pittsburgh ; crossing the Ohio at Wheeling ; opening another rich and abundant mineral region ; descending on the one hand on Cincinnati, and proceeding on the other to St. Louis. The shortest and the cheapest line, however, to St. Louis from the Atlantic sea-board, will be the one from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh (the Pennsylvania railroad), carried on from that important manufacturing town, by the " Penn- sylvania and Ohio Railroad," throup:! the centre of the grtut wheat - growing district of Ohio, the four counties of Columbiana, Stark, Wayne, and Richland, of ibout 500 square miles each in extent; crossing five lines of communication: with Lake Erie by railway and canal, and four with Cincinnati, and striking directly across the ' r<\ n wn =' ll t) 80 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. are at present shipping flour f^-om Cleveland, via Buffalo, as follows : — "To Buffalo 12 c. By Erie canal to New York 56 c. Cost of barrel of flour at Cleveland (October 1) C8 3 25 3 93 " From Cleveland to New York, via the Wel- land Canal, — " Freight 65 Cost of barrel of flour (October 1) . 3 25 3 90* " The railway, therefore, is now carrying: as cheaply as the Erie, and cheaper than by the route through the Welland Canal, "Railways made at a greater cost and with heavier gradients charge more ; but it is ex- pected that the western railways through Ohio * At that time, and as a confirmation of the above, the statement of the prices current in New York (September 27) was as follows : — " Less wheat pressing on market. Demand for home and ex- port moderate. No sales. Dol. c. " Flour — Canadian . . .40 per barrel. ,, Ohio . . . .40 ,, New Michigan and Indiana 4 12 ~,i. RAILWAYS. 81 will charge about a cent per ton per mile. They will ^>e made at a moderate cost, and will be reniarkably level and straight. The average cost of the Ohio roads will not be above 20,000 dollars per mile completed. The Columbus road has straight stretches of from 9 to 20 miles, and only 4 miles of curvature in 135 miles, and those at some of the stations ; the Cleveland and Ashtabula (and thence to Erie) Railway has * straight stretches ' of from 7 to 20 miles ; the Pennsylvania and Ohio mns along the backbone of the State, right through the great wheat - growing district from Pittsburgh westward ; the * Pennsylvania,' from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, has also comparatively easy gra- dients and small curvatures. They will, there- fore, attain high speeds ai d carry cheaply." If these expectations f.re realized.; a barrel of flour will (probably in the course of 1853) be carried from Massillon, the great inland mart for flour in Ohio, to Philadelphia for 44 cents, being 440 miles, at the assumed and probable rate of one cent per ton per mile. From Cleveland to New i ork, by the " Lake e3 II 8S NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. 'I I Shore" ^oads, which will be opened in 1852, and by the New York and Erie liailway, will be 633 miles. The cost of transport of a barrel of flour from that place to New York would, at the above rate, be 63 cents. From Cleveland to New York, via Pitts- burgh and Philadelphia, will be, by the rail- ways now in progress, 583 miles ; consequently, a barrel of flour would reach New York by that route, at the above rate, for 58 cents. From Cleveland to Philadelphia, via the same roads, is 493 miles ; therefore, at the same rate, a barrel of flour would reach Phila- delphia from Cleveland at a cost of 49 cents. Fra)n Philadelphia to Crestline, the point of inters'iction between the great western line of the Pennsylvania and Ohio and the Cleveland and Cincinnati line, is 541 miles; consequently a barrel of flour would reach Philadelphia from that point, at the above assumed rate, for 54 cents. In estimating the probabilities of these re- ductions being in fact realized, it is necessary to bear in mind three considerations : first, that the RAIT WAYS. 88 4 great Atlantic cities, in projecting and nearly bringiiif^ to completion th( above lines, have been actuated by a spirit ')t v(ry sharp rivalry in the endeavour to dra^^• towards themselves as large a share as poss .h ' tV- - pidly develoj)- ing traffic of the *' gi it ;" secondly, that the Reports of the L Hugress in Ohio speak confidently of then ig well supported by the local traflSc alone, which will enable them to carry the " through " traflSc to Philadelphia at the lowest possible charge ; thirdly, that, " as the canals are State property, they can, if pressed by competition, reduce their tolls to the lowest point sufficient to keep them in repair." Fourthly, that the average time that a barrel of flour is on its passage from Cleveland to New York, viA the canals, is 1 6 days, and that there would therefore be a saving of perhaps six to eight days' interest on every transaction— a small item, doubtless, but yet not to be left out of the account. The above considerations lead, it would ap- pear, legitimately to the conclusion that when these lines of railway are completed, which will !i:-J\ .%. ^^0. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // /^ .^^4p. » I/. ^ 1.0 I.I u liii WUu Hill 1.8 i-25 1.4 1 1.6 < 6" ► % /] ^^^V' i-^ ^/: /A /y^M V Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 4r 84 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. be, it is expected, in the course of 1853, there will be a reduction of several cents in the cost of transporting a barrel of flour from the great wheat-growing districts of the United States to the Atlantic sea-board. Another point for consideration in reference to future prices of wheat is the effect that will be produced by the opening in Ohio, Indi- ana, and Illinois, of so much new land by the passage of these railways through them. The extent of such land must be considerable. It is stated that " the Columbus line alo^ie opens new land along almost its entire length of 130 miles." A large and valuable tract will also be opened by the proposed railway from Cincinnati to St. Louis (see p. 63). The advantages of being near a railroad, in States so abounding in re- sources as Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, will doubtless attract settlers ; and as new settlers can raise their crops at the cost of not much beyond their own labour, and look forwar:\ as a part of their future remuneration, to a continued rise taking place in the value of land, they will, probably, not be very particular as to the price ■ RAILWAYS. 85 they will obtain for their wheat, if they grow any. It must be remembered, however, that in those new lands wheat does not make any ne- cessary part of a rotation ; and that a settler will grow Indian corn and other crops, with a view to stock, if he finds it pays him better. Also that the older settlers will be disposed to do the same ; and that the process already commenced among them of diminishing their wheat cultiva- tion would be stimulated by any further fall of price. Again, the railways, by opening cheaper and readier communications with the great cities, will tend to the increased production of stock, as well as of butter, cheese, &c. The extent to which this will be carried will, of course, depend principally upon the demand afforded by the increasing markets. The probable growth, there- fore, of the great cities and of the smaller towns, becomes an important element in the inquiry. Little need be said of the well-known rapidity of growth of the Atlantic cities during the last 30 years : — of New York, from a population of 123,706 in 1820 to 517,000 in 1850; of Phi- ^?*ie. 86 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. ladelphia, from 119,325 to 411,000 witbin the same period; of Boston, from 43,298 to 138,788; of Baltimore, from 102,313 in 1840 to 169,125 in 1850. The continual development of the vast resources of the " Great West" causes a constant stream of supplies of all kinds to flow through them towards it, while their increasing demands for labour are fed by the perpetual influx of foreign immigration. But less is known of the manufacturing and mercantile capabilities of the towns and cities of the interior beyond the Alleghanies, and within or border- ing upon the vast basin of the Mississippi. In the course of next year the important ma- nufacturing city of Pittsburgh, on the Ohio, will be brought within twelve or fourteen hours of Philadelphia — exchanging its present slow and expensive communication by the Pennsylvania Canal and Portage Railroad for the excellent line of the Pennsylvania Railway. The popu- lation of Pittsburgh has increased, even with such imperfect facilities as it has already enjoyed, from 7250 in 1820, to upwards of 80,000 in 1850. The following account of the industry *^ RAILWAYS. 87 and prospects of this remarkable city was given me by one of* its principal merchants : — " The manufactures of Pittsburgh took a start in ni2, when we were cut off from supplies from England, and they have been making great progress ever since. The published statement of our Board of Trade shows that we have now 30 large iron-foundries and several small ones, 13 rolling-mills, 5 large cotton factories, 8 flint and 11 window glass manufactories, 5 white lead factories, a copper smelting and rolling mill, besides numerous smaller branches of skilled labour, such as the making of locks, steel springs, axles, saws, gun-barrels, files, shovels, spades, soda, 7 phial furnaces, &c. &c. Our fine bitumi- nous coal lies in nearly horizontal layers of from four to nine feet thick above the level of the river, and cropping out on its banks ; the enormous extent of this formation is well known. About 12,000,000 bushels are raised an- nually for our own consumption, and delivered at the factories and iron-works at from a cent and a half to three cents per bushel of 76 lbs. ; for domestic purposes we pay four cents to four and a half per bushel. We export also down the river annually 12,000,000 bushels more. The total annual value of our manufactures is estimated at 50,000,000 dollars. The iron-furnaces are in all direc- tions from ten to fifteen miles round. Those that have not depended too much on borrowed capital, and are also well situated — tliat is whose sites have been chosen with judg- ment in reference to facilities of getting the materials, and for taking advantage of the water-carriage — are flourishing, 88 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. and do not want protection, having easy water-carriage and lime and coal near. The finest kind of iron-ore is found on the * hanging rock ' on the Ohio, and chiefly in Clarion County, about 50 to 100 miles N.E. up the Alleghany river and the Clarion, which is a branch of it ; some is brought also from Tennessee and Missouri. There are many furnaces also on the Monongahela, a few miles above the city. The cotton is brought up from Tennessee, and most of the cotton-yarn can now do without protection. Woollen factories would take root here, if there was capital for them. There is a flannel and blanket factory on the Alleghany, a few miles off. The hills all round us are very favourable for sheep ; all through the southern and eastern counties of Ohio sheep do well ; and there are great capabilities for sheep runs all over the northern parts of Virginia adjoining us. '' We, in common with all the towns and cities on the rivers west of the Alleghanies, have the great advantage of participating in an inland navigation of at least 10,000 miles, extending over the whole of the vast basin of the Mississippi. The Monongahela and Alleghany, uniting at this spot, place us at the head of the navigation of the Ohio (the two first-named rivers being navigable from 60 to 200 miles upwards), and thence we communicate with the Wabash, the Mississippi, the Missouri, the Illinois, the Tennessee, the Cumberland, the Arkansas, the Red River, and all the canals connected with them. We have also the great advantage of a fine and healthy climate ; we are 700 feet above the sea-level, and have no marsh or stag- nant water near — nothing but dry hills all round us. Our resources are enormous, and we have as yet far too little RAILWAYS,* 89 capital for our purposes. More will probably come to us when our communications with Philadelphia are com- pleted. Nothing can deprive us of our great natural ad- vantages ; and the continually increasing population in the ' great West * will afford us a growing market. Hitherto capital has been scarce, and we have to pay very high rates of interest for it, on the best freehold securities. Our exports to New Orleans and other places in the south are paid for by sugar, molasses, groceries, * dry goods,' &c. The workmen in many occupations here are paid chiefly through the * stores * with these goods. The contractors who supply many of the foundries, glass-houses, &c., with coal, receive in payment iron, glass, nails, groceries, &c., on account, which they must dispose of at the market price ; and on settling, the manufacturer gives his note of hand at four to six months. The employers who pay :n cash command the best men, and if cash-payments could be more general we could turn out articles of manufacture at a much lower price, notwithstanding the high rate of labour — 75 cents to a dollar a day."* Another gentleman gave me, as a proof of the * Colliers earn from a dollar to a dollar and a half a day. An attempt was lately made to reduce them to a dollar and a quarter, which caused a strike, in which they succeeded. The colliers consist of about one-third Welsh, one-third German, the rest Irish, with a few English and Scotch, and a very few Americans born. Those who are engaged in supplying the " river trade " are subject to frequent interruptions of work, while the river is not in a proper state for navigation. The rest are pretty steadily employed at the above wages. , I ■ 'I f 90 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. prosperity of the city, the following facts as to the rise in the value of land : — !• " The city authorities wanted lately a spot for a * House of Refuge,' and tried to get a ' cheap lot.' They nego- tiated fur thirty acres about six miles from the city, and the lowest sum that they could get it for was 600 dollars per acre. The proprietor of eighteen acres of garden -ground between three and four miles below the city, now let for 25 dollars per acre, could at this moment get 12,000 dol- lars for them, being at the rate of near 670 dollars per acre. Two years ago ordinary farmiiig land could have been had within five miles of Pittsburgh at .50 dollars per acre ; it is now held for a much higher sum. On the whole, our manufactures are flourishing, and, with the exception of some of the iron (the foundries) and some of the cotton, do not want protection. Oliio and all the Western States, and also the South, are for free-trade. Our tariff may want amendment in some particulars ; and the ad valorem system is objected to as giving rise to frauds. Our great lines of railway will be finished westward to the Mississippi, and perhaps to the Missouri, in three years, and probably soon after to Chicago ; all of which will tend to the in- crease of our business here." There is every probability, therefore, that Pittsburgh will afford a growing demand for other agricultural products besides wheat. And as regards the actual price of wheat at that city I RAILWAYS. 91 as compared with New York, it may be interest- ing to record the following figures : — When I was at Pittsburgh (September 24) the price of flour was — Ordinary , Superfine . Wheat . d. c. (1. c. 3 15 to 3 25 per barrel. 3 50 60 to 65 per bushel. At New York, about the same date, the ** Price Current" stated — " Prices very low, and have probably touched the bot- tom. For flour — d. c. , Wisconsin 3 75 Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan . 3 75 Fancy Michigan . . . . 3 81 to 93 Pure Gennessee . . ..40 Extra ditto 4 76." The prices, therefore, at Pittsburgh and New York were, considering the cost of transport to New York, nearly the same, the price in Pitts- burgh being slightly the highest, if estimated at the usual cost of carriage from Massillon. Four hundred and seventy-seven miles below 1 I X" 9i NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &o. 'i. Pittsburgh, by the waters of the Ohio, and 350, when the railways are completed, by land, is Cincinnati, the " Queen City of the West," beautifully situated in a fold of the Ohio, and on a small rising plain between encircling hills ; — almost the creation of this half-century, and one of the many astonishing evidences of Ameri- can energy and industry with which that country abounds. Its population in 1800 was 750; in 1820 it was 9602 ; and in 1850 it amounted to 116,108. It is more popularly known for its " hog-trade " and its great slaughter-houses. But its numerous and increasing manufactures have not, I apprehend, attracted the notice they de- serve. In the Annual Report to the Chamber of Commerce, dated August 13th, 1851, is given " a full and complete statement of the manufac- tures and industrial products of Cincinnati." Of these the Report states, " The number and products of the several manufactories and work- shops in 1851, compared with 1841, show the great and unprecedented increase of this depart- ment of business, and present in a clear light the future destiny of our city." 1 RAILWi^YS. 98 The number of the different branches of manu- facture is 180. This number is so remarkable, and embraces so many different kinds, that I think it would be acceptable to many persons in this country to have an opportunity of consider- ing it. I therefore add it to the Appendix (C), p. 162. Their rapid extension is confidently an- ticipated, from the effect of the lines of railway now being constructed, which will connect Cin- cinnati with St. Louis on the one hand, and with the sea-board at Charleston on the other, through Lexington in Kentucky ;* even more, however, * " We present in connection with this report a full statement of the manufactures of Cincinnati, which affords a very clear idea of the importance and magnitude of this branch of business. In our last annual report we took occasion to notice the advantages of this place as a manufacturing city, arising partly from her cen- tral position, partly from her natural resources, and partly from the numerous channels of communication, natural and artificial, which connect her with the surrounding country. For many of the leading articles of our manufactures tho 5;outh has been, and will continue to be, our most important mnikec ; and everything, therefore, which is calculated to extend the trade in that direc- tion must be regarded with favour by the friends of these in- terests. The statistics alluded to show that the increase in the manufacturing business has been rapid, and it is now so extensive that it is necessary the markets for the products should be ex- tended in every accessible direction. It is gratifying, therefore, to observe that important connections will shortly be afforded by 94 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. )i from the fact of the line to St. Louis *' passing at many points" in a total distance of 327 miles, ** through inexhaustible beds of iron and coal " (p. 5). Another valuable district of coal and iron will also be opened to Cincinnati by the railway through Chilicothe, about 100 miles off, into Virginia and on to Baltimore. In connection with the rapid development of their trade and manufactures is discussed the question of the supply of provisions, and es- pecially the price of wheat, to their large popu- lation ; and, at page 7, the remarkable statement is made, that during the whole of the past year the relative value of wheat and flour has been higher at Cincinnati than at New York. The passage is evidently deserving of consideration in this country : — W'' the projected railroad lines ; and while the Hamilton and Dayton railroad, with Indiana connections, and the Ohio and Mississippi railroad, will benefit this trade much, the line constructing from Covington to Lexington, in Kentucky, which will be extended through the south, and have its terminus on the seaboard, will prove more important than either ; and, indeed, we consider it to be utterly impossible now to estimate the advantages this road will be to our manufacturing interests.'' — Report to Chamber of Commerce, p. 3. UAILWAYS, 96 " Breadsluffs. — The market for flour, throughout the year, as will be seen by the weekly average prices below, presented an unusually hteady appearance ; and the lowest monthly averayje was i$3 15 [for the month of July], and the highest g 3 G8 [for the month of December]. From the large crop of wheat in 1850 it was expected that the receipts of flour at this port would show a large excess over last year ; it being expected that they would reach at least 600,000 bbls. They have not proved, however, as heavy as was anticipated, although the increase on last year is 50 per cent. It is now very evident that the sup- plies at this port have not increased in proportion to tiie amount produced, and unless our railroads are extended into the surrounding country we cannot look for anj other result. There are three channels of transportation through our State which are rapidly attracting the produce busi- ness of the interior from this point; so much so, that the relative value of breadstuffs in this market is now, and has been during the year, higher than in New York. The value of a barrel of flour at this time in our market is (wholesale) g! 3 20, while in New York it is g 4. Freight from this city to New York is 9oc., and other charges would increase the expense to g 1 15; so that flour pur- chased here at S3 20 would not net the shipper in New York over g 2 85 or g 2 90, allowing for the difference in exchange. The only reason why flour should not be at g 2 90, instead of g 3 20, is the inadequacy of supplies to the demand." — p. 6. As also are the following, which prove incon- testably the great amount of surplus of wheat 96 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. 7) ;|:,- I !; W, f li during the last two years in Ohio, and confirm the statement that the Ohio farmers will not send their wheat freely to market when the price is mider 65 cents per bushel. " In our Report of last September we had occasion to state that the prospects were highly favourable for a pros- perous season. The crops were good, especially wheat, the yield of which in Ohio we estimated at 30,000,000 bushels. This estimate provnd to be very nearly correct, the official reports showing the crops in sixty-two counties to have been 25,137,174 bushels. The remaining twenty- six counties, from which we have seen no returns, would doubtless increase the amount to 33,000,000 bushels. This yield was greatly larger than that of any previous crop. In Kentucky, Indiana, and other western States, the crop of this grain was also unusually good, as has been fully shown by the supplies that have been sent forward through the several outlets. The fact that the stock of wheat in the country at the commencement of the past year was larger perhaps than ever before, led many to look for very low prices early in this season ; but we took occa- sion to predict that prices would not recede, as expected, until the close of the season, and not even then, unless the prospect of the harvest of 1851 should be favourable. One reason given for the conclusion arrived at was, that farmers would retain a very large proportion of the grain should low prices prevail ; another, that low prices would induce a heavy consumption ; and another, that Europe, notwithstanding the favourable result of her own harvest, RAILWAYS. 97 ■rect, inties enty- vould shels. vious tates, been ward k of past look occa- cted, s the able. , that grain ould rope, Irvest, would, at moderately low prices, increase her demand ; and the result of the season shows we were not far astray. The increase in supplies of flour sent forward was not in proportion to the increased yield of wheat ; and until within the last month or two fkir average prices have been maintained. The lowest monthly average in this market, prior to July, was g 3 43, and the highest g 3 68, and the average for the year is about $ 3 50. In New York prices have receded to a low point, and it is remarked that flour was lower in that market since August 1st than ever before. The European demand during the year, notwith- standing the low prices current abroad, v^s- good, and the exports from the United States to Great Britain and Ire- land, during the eleven months ending August 1st, were 1,493,345 barrels of flour, against 792,742 barrels at the same time last year; and 1,318,905 bushels of wheat, against 332,939 bushels last year."^ — p. 1 . " The crops throughout the west, with scarcely an ex- ception, were again large the last season ; and the supply of cereal products is larger in tlie west, and we may say in the United States, than ever before. This abundant yield, following, as it does, a harvest scarcely less productive than that which has recently been gathered, tends ta destroy confidence in the market ; and on the eastern sea- board prices have already reached an unprecedentedly low point, and in this market they are tending in the same direction ; and the probabilities strongly favour prices very little above,, if not below, a producing points The con- sumption (as is always the case during seasons of low prices) will doubtless be heavy, and we may also look for a continued good European demand, notwithstanding the 98 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. good harvests which have been gathered in Great Britain, as well as in most of the continental countries; but all this will not be sufficient to absorb the surplus stocks to such an extent as to enable holders to obtain prices equal, or nearly equal, to the average of the last season. There will doubtless be a much heavier surplus stock held at the close of the season of 1851-2 than that now in the country. " (Indian) Corn is also giving way, under the favour- able prospects of the growing crop ; but a partial failure of this crop in some of the southern States, and a total failure in others, will give it some advantage over flour. It is also probable that an increased European demand will exist, though the low price of flour will restrict its consi'.mptio'^ abroad."^ — p. 2. The Report comments on the remarkable fact of the relative value of wheat being at Cincinnati, within a few miles, comparatively, of the place of its growth, higher than at New York, and points to the numerous lines of railway now under construction and being completed, as " feeders " both of the population and their trade. Of the one then projected and since determined on to St. Louis, it thus speaks v — " The road, as at present surveyed, is nearly on a straight line ; and the distance from Cincinnati to St. Louis is reduced to 327 miles. This road traverses a beautiful and fertile country, everywhere susceptible of irs »> the to )n a St. ses a lie of FA' '/ATS. ^ the highest cultivation, crossing in its route the valleys of the two "White rivers and that of the Wabash — all famed,, the world over, as unsurpassably rich and productive. At many points it passes through inexhaustible beds of iron and coal. We doubt whether any line of equal length could be projected in the country that would compare favourably with this for all the varied products of the west. " The road in its course intersects at eligible points six distinct and important lines of railroads, all either com- pleted or in course of construction. These roads must necessarily throw upon it an amount of business that it would now be impossible to estimate." — p. 5. And aflker noticing the great increase in the export of cheese, it concludes by congratulating the community that they have now " many things besides wheat to sell ;" and that they are "wiser than of yore, and have not put *all their eggs into one basket.' " The commercial importance of the great city of St. Louis is well known. It has already nearly 100,000 inhabitants, and, being about to be brought into direct communication with Philadelphia by a continuous line of railway, it will doubtless assume a still higher place. The distances will be divided in round numbers as follows : Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, 350 miles ; f2 100 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. ! (, Pittsburgh to Cincinnati, 350 ; Cincinnati to St. Louis, 327 — a little above 1000 miles. A line from St. Louis to the City of Independence, on the Missouri, direct west for, I believe, up- wards of 250 miles more, has been already determined on, and, indeed, commenced. There are springing up, besides, in the West many second-rate cities and towns, of which little has yet been heard in this country : such as Chicago, which, within the last ten years, has grown from a small village to a city of upwards of 30,000 inhabitants ; Milwaukie, which in the same time has increased to above 20,000 ; being the principal shipping places for the wheat of Illi- nois and Wisconsin. Detroit, Cleveland, San- dusky City, and Toledo, better known, are also rapidly increasing, by commanding the grain trade of Michigan, Ohio, &c. These and other inland towns are rising into importance, and will become more and more large centres of demand for all kinds of agricultural produce. It remains to say a few words on the price of agricultural labour. I believe it may be stated in general terms, that, over the wide space (in / RAILWAYS. 101 the free States) from the Atlantic to the ex- tremity of Ohio, the usual wages of agricultural labour are 50 cents a day and board and lodg- ing, the latter being estimated at a dollar and a half more per week ; the whole equalling about I85. 10c?. a week of our money. This applies chiefly to the best labourers in steady employ, and living with the farmers. In the well-farmed counties of Chester and Lancaster, in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, the rates are said, in some cases, to be rather above this ; the price of farming-land being also in those counties often as high as 120 or 150 dollars per acre, and the farmer not considering himself remunerated for growing wheat unless he can obtain a dollar a bushel. On the other hand, towards the western part of that State, in answer to some inquiries on the subject, I was informed that wages were often, in winter, as low as 50 cents per day, without board and lodging (=125. 6d. per week), and that many were then out of employ. The price of wheat when I was in the interior of Penn- sylvania in September last was, at Bedford, a town of about 1500 inhabitants, and 31 miles lii ^' 102 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. west of the railway, 62 to 65 cents per bushel of 62 lbs., " and had been at that point for about two years; but previously to that, about a dollar per bushel was the average price." In winter, wages, according to another account, went down sometimes to 1 dollar and board and lodging (=105. 2d.) per week. Harvest wages are 1 dollar 50 cents (=6s. 3d) per day. In the neighbourhood of HoUidaysburgh, on the line of the railway, wages were said to average throughout the year 7 to 8 dollars per month, and board and lodging 6 dollars, equivalent to about 135. 4c?. to 145. 7d. per week. Again, after passing through the AUeghanies, I found that, on their western slopes and through Ohio generally, agricultural wages for steady men were stated at 50 cents per day and board and lodging, or 4 dollars 50 cents, equalling 18s. 10c?., per week. This was the rate given me by four English farmers who had settled near Blairsville, about 50 miles east of- Pittsburgh ; the same was also stated to be the usual rate near Greensburgh, about 30 miles in the same direction ; the usual value of farming land being RAILWAYS. 103 throughout that region (of red sandstone) about 35 dollars per acre. There, also, occasional labourers only received 50 cents (25. Id.) per day, without board, &c., and many were said to be out of employ in winter. Much was said by farmers of the high price of labour; but notwith- standing the approaching completion of many lines of railway, which would set free much Irish labour, they did not expect that the price would be materially brought down, inas- much as there were three great demands which would tend to keep it up : first, that of the extreme West ; next, that which would be created by the opening of new land along the lines of railway ; and thirdly, the growing pros- perity of the cities west of the AUeghanies, as well as of those on the sea-board. The above, therefore, are, I believe, the prin- cipal elements in the problem, of much interest to this country, as to what will be the probable paying price at which American wheat can be delivered in any large quantity at Liverpool. Some of the above particulars have been ad- verted to in various published statements on the a. , --•#^B- (,,,„?(««♦.' i 104 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &o. subject ; others, however — such as the effect of the railways now in progress, in opening new land so much nearer to the Atlantic sea-board, and cheapening the cost of transport thither — have hitherto, I think, scarcely received due consideration. Without pretending to be able to draw any very definite conclusion from what I have ventured to put together, it may, perhaps, be allowable to say, that the question cannot be altogether disposed of by the alleged fact that in the United States the growth of the con- suming is equal to that of the producing popu- lation. Of the extent to which the question may be affected by the circumstances of Canada, and its great capabilities of production, I shall have something to say in a future page ; to which I shall also defer what I wish to add on the manner in which the opening of these great and new fields of well-remunerated industry bears upon the question of emigration from Ireland and from the United Kingdom generally. WATER SUPPLY. 105 WATER SUPPLY; MEANS OF CLEANLINESS IN THE CITIES AND LARGE TOWNS. To any one wlio has had opportunities of ob- serving the state of some of our large centres of mining and manufacturing population, the general aspect of cheerfulness and cleanliness pervading the manufacturing portions of the cities and towns of the United States, presents a contrast by no means flattering. The absence of smoke, arising from the use of wood or of anthracite coal, is of course at once a great point in favour of the trans- Atlantic cities of the sea-board, and suggests a keen desire that the celebrated " Smoke Bill," which has so often made its appearance in Parliament, may one day end in something less evanescent. f3 N' 106 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. But what is of more importance for our con- sideration, the public opinion of the United States will not permit the health, the comfort, and — as far as morals are affected by material things — the morals of the community to be sacri- ficed by the reckless and irresponsible use of capital in the manner so prevalent in parts of our mining and manufacturing districts. Any one conversant with those districts could point to many localities where large capitalists have covered whole square miles with buildings for the labouring classes, without the smallest regard to drainage, ventilation, cleanliness, decency, cheerfulness, or comfort of any sort. Under the municipal arrangements of the United States, and in the face of the public opinion dominant there, such things cam ])< done ; and in being permitted to do them here, that class of the community are continuing to furnish, most unfortunately, I believe, for them- selves and for the general interests of the country, rightly considered, the most forcible arguments to the worst opponents of our social system. It would, perhaps, be unfair to compare WATER SUPPLY. 107 Lowell, the creation of the last five-and-twenty years, with only 40,000 inhabitants, where only water-power is used, and in the laying out of which town the different companies had the ex- perience of England before them as a guide and a memento of what to avoid — Lowell, with its wide streets, ornamented with trees, like all American towns, after the manner of the Parisian Boule- vards, and its neat houses and gardens — with the dense masses of population gathered together upon our coal-fields. Moreover, if need were, it would be easy to enumerate a long list of in- stances, in this country, where either large com- panies, or individuals of wealth and of eminent station, have, both in the manufacturing and the mining districts, housed the hundreds — nay, the thousands — of people in their employ, with an attention to comfort and even elegance which I have never seen equalled out of England. But the average state of things is that which most demands attention, and I would rather refer, as a standard of comparison, to the extensive and wealthy manufacturing and commercial city of Philadelphia, as an instance worthy of observa- .• ' ;•'' I Id ON PiilSI.U J*f BIECTS, &e. tion i\\ reference to this count^y^ The manu- facturer, and consequently the manufacturing popuifation of that city, are rapidly increasing ; and if any I went to two of the polling-places to see the process. Persons were in attendance dis- tributing printed lists of the candidates of the three competing parties. The voter took which list he pleased, put it into an envelope, and handed it to the persons sitting in a portion of the room parted off, who were appointed to re- ceive it. I saw no attempt at concealment or mystery ; the voting which I witnessed was as open as if no envelope had been used. It was, indeed, in the power of any one to have taken all the three lists and an envelope, and, stepping aside, to have put into the envelope, secretly, the list he preferred. But, as was argued by one of the speakers at the meeting above re- ferred to — a manufacturer and a large employer of labour — it would have been most easy for any one wishing to influence votes, to cause the voters, whom he could not trust, to put the proper list into the envelope in the presence of an agent attending for that purpose. The particular mode adopted, therefore, would not have ensured a protection from intimidation, if any powerful parties had been determined to exercise it, and any others were in a position to il BALLOT. 119 be subject to it. And the general arguments used against secret voting, at the large meeting just mentioned, were as strong, and assumed as high ground, as any that could be used in England. I was informed that the same feeling was common to a large proportion, all but a majority, of both the Whig and Democratic parties in the State. I have been induced to touch upon this sub- ject more for the sake of recording the high principle on which so large a party in that state (Massachusetts), and, I believe, in the United States generally, reject and repudiate the secret ballot, than with the view of describ- ing the particular mode which I witnessed of endeavouring to carry it into effect. But as the ballot is still made in this country a topic of " popular " oratory, addressed to certain por- tions of the community, I thought it incumbent on me, as I undertook to advert to it at all, to seek for information upon its average practical working in the United States, from persons whose position, and opportunities of observation, would place their testimony beyond dispute. I accordingly add the following, which has been 120 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &o. i addressed to me by a gentleman of long political experience, and of the highest personal charac- ter, but whose name I, of course, am precluded from giving. To state it, would be to draw down upon himselfj from a portion of the press of the United States, a series of comments which would probably amount to what we should call persecution. I therefore, in full confidence in the integrity of my informant, take upon myself the responsibility of the truth of his statements. The ballot, in America, is looked at by the honester ])ortion of the people merely aa an expeditious mode of voting. It is ' ily by persons of a very opposite character that it is sought as a veil or blind — as a convenient instru- ment of fraud — by which they are frequently enabled to make the smaller appear the greater number, and to trans- fer the victory from the conquerors to the conquered — from the majority to the minority of the electors polled. For, far from the undue influence of money, party-spirit, or any other evil thing, being controlled by the ballot, I believe it to have been immeasurably increased. It has only changed the course of corruption. Instead of buying hun- dreds of voters, the candidate has only to buy one or two of the judges, with whom the result of the election must, in almost all cases, ultimately rest. And how are the judges,, acting under such corrupt influence, and making their felse returns, how are they to be detected ? Cer- •BALLOT. 121 tainly not by a scrutiny of the ballot-box. 77m/ would show no evidence of the fraud. Let every precaution which the experience of this country has suggested be taken ; let clerks be appointed to record on tally-lists the names of the voters as they hand in their ballots to the judges ; let connnittees, composed of the friends of the respective candidates, stand on the outside, prepared to write down the names of the voters as they come up to the box; — what can these arrangements do more than prevent tlie judges from receiving illegal votes? They cannot prevent them, or any one of them, from abstracting tickets from the box, and replacing them with an equal number of a different complexion. If care be taken to replace those abstracted with an equal number of other ballots, then the whole number of tickets in the box will corre- spond with the number of names on the tally-lists, as well as with the lists of the committees on the outside. Perhaps this can be done with greater facility when the poll is closed and the tickets are being counted off. The tickets, being counted and then put into parcels (say) of ten each, are then tied up in bundles. Now, if a judge be prepared with a supply of bundles in his pocket, it requires but little slelglit of hand to substitute them for the true ones ; and, if he is only careful to return as many as he has taken away, how is the fraud to be detected, except by taking the opinion of every voter (as has been done in several instances, and especially in the recent case of the Penn- sylvania district election), which is, after all, but a return to the viva voce system, as the only certain test of truth ? Frauds of the kind which I have been describing are, I believe (nay, I am morally certain), of common oc- currence in this country ; and what is there to preclude G < Hi Fl i 122 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJIXXS, &c. 'I iM it them from being, under like circumstances, equally com- mon in England ? Why should not a thousand pounds be able to accomplish in the latter what has been so fre- quently effected by less than a thousand dollars in the former ? Sir Charles Lyell tells us that a member of the Missis- sippi legislature had declared to him " his conviction that the repudiation of the State debt there would not have been carried in his county but for the facility afforded by secret voting. The same individuals who openly professed a more honourable line of conduct must (he said), out of selfishness, have taken advantage of (he ballot-box to evade an increase of taxation, otherwise there could not have been a majority in favour of disowning their liabilities." And, from all accounts, much the same may be said of Viany other repmliating counties and states. It has been crlten asserted, and I believe with perfect truth, that Ballot Ims been the parent of Repudiation. How fully these th..;gs bear out Pliny in those passages of his 3rd Book, XX., and his 4th Book, xxv., to which you referred, — '' Quotocuique," &c., and " Quis sciet ! " * Whoever, in this country, has perseverance enough still to recommend the bailot to public • Vceor ne prooedentc tempore ex ipso remedio vitia nascan- tur. Est enini pcriculum ne tacitis suffragiis impudentia irrepat. Nam quotocuique cadem honestatis cura secrete, qua; palam? C. Plinii Ep., lib. 3. xx. Scripseram tibi verendum esse ne ex tacitis suffragiis vitium aliquod existeret : factum est, . . . Tantum licentioe pravis ingeniis adjicit ilia fiducia, Quis enim sciet ? Poposcit tabellas, stylum accepit, demisit caput, neminem veretur, se contemnit. Lib. 4. xxv. BALLOT. 123 favour, must not seek to support his arguments by the principles or thi- practice of the United States. Intimidation, or any other form of interfer- ence with the rights and the independence of the elector, will always in this country be stigma- tised as it deserves ; and neither that nor any other abuse of power, wherever it is disposed to show itself, can eft'ectually or for any length of time resist the wholesome effects of public ex- posure. NoTK. — Bribery at Elections. — Having adverted above to the alleped " bribery and corni|)lion " that goes on at certain elec- tions in the United States, not\vithstandin;j: wliat is in this country popularly considered a panacea for it and so many other evils — namely, large constituencies — I ieol bound to add the following justification of the assertion. Extract from " The Message of the (lovornor of the State of New York to the Senate and Assembly," for the year 1850: — " The alarming increase of bribery in our popular elections demands your serious attention. The preservation of our liberties depends on the purity of the elective franchise, and its indepen- dent exercise by the citizen ; and I trust you will adopt such measures as shall effectually protect the ballot-box from all cor- rupting influences." — New York Commercial Advertiser, Jan. 8, 1850. Extract from the " Message of the (Jovernor of the State of New York to the Senate and Assembly," for the year 1851 : — " The increase of corrupt practices in our elections has become a subject of general and just complaint. It is represented that, in some localities, the suffrages of considerable numbers of voters g2 X 124 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. have been openly purchased with money. We owe it to our- selves and to posterity, and to the free institutions which we have inherited, to crush this hateful evil in its infancy, before it attains sufficient growth to endanger our political system. The honest and independent exercise of the right of suffrage is a vital j)rinciple in the theory of representative government. It is the only enduring foundation for a republic. Not only should the law punish every violation of this principle as a crime against the integrity of the State, but any person concerned in giving or receiving any pecuniary consideration for a vote, should, upon challenge, be deprived of the privilege of voting. I submit the subject to your consideration, in the hope that additional remedies may be prescribed and enforced." Tlie interpretation to be given to this passage is not, if I am rightly informed, to be confined to the lower Irish of the large cities, or to the State of New York. There is a certain class of persons, somewhat numerous in the United States, who live by '• working the elections," which, as they are j)retty frequent, give them ample occupation. There is another class, that of " trading politicians," who look for their reward in various shapes during the tenure of office of the party which they espouse. There is, finally, the large, and in some places not badly organ- ized, class of Irish labourers, whose votes are apt to turn the scale on very many occasions. These are, it is notorious, often won to the side of the party in power, whatever it may be, by being employed out of the public funds, at by no means inadequate wages, for special jobs, just previously to the period of elections. The practice has given rise to a common euphony for bribery, " pipe-laying." It arose from an alleged manoeuvre at New York during the progress of the introduction of the Croton water. After a j)criod of inaction, the authorities, as is reported, were suddenly seized with an extraordinary degree of zeal in breaking up the streets and laying down pipes — in some instances, it is said, long before they were wanted ; and Irishmen were brought into the city from all quarters to assist in that beneficent expendi- ture. It is further said that many of these pipes had to be taken up again, having been laid in a manner that did not meet with subsequent approval. BALLOT. 125 Another term appears frequently in the public prints which requires a little explanation, for the benefit of our optimists in this country : it is the term " log-rolling," and is derived from the " backwoodsman's craft," and from the neighbourly assistance common on the outskirts of civilization. When a settler has cut down his timber, and sawn it into convenient lengths forgetting it off the land, his neighbours assemble with their oxen and chains, and in a few hours drag the whole oiFhis "clearing." When summoned, he is ready to do them the same turn. Political and electioneering " log-rolling" means, therefore, " Help me in my job, and I will help you in yours." There is evidently a slight difference in principle in the two processes, which, however, docs not prevent the political " log-rolling" from being successfully resorted to. In the first case — that of the backwoodsman — the end is attained by all pulling one way ; in the second, thougli ostensibly each party is pulling different ways, the end, somehow or other, turns out to be the profit of both. It may be desirable to illustrate this by an instance. A mem- ber of a State Legislature wishes to obtain an appropriation of 20,000 dollars for some public work in his county ; he secures the support of other members by promising to vote for a similar grant to theirs. Some 50,000 or 100,000 dollars of the public money will therefore be spent, where a tenth part of the sum would be all that would be strictly necessary for the public service. Authentic instances of this kind are freely mentioned to any one who may have the curiosity to inquire into this phase of the working of the United States Legislatures, some of which are, of course, more conspicuous than others in this particular. Also in the matter of Government contracts of all kinds, if common fame is to be depended upon, the amount of jobbing and corruption, especially in times of war, would astonish the acute Parliamentary critics of our army and navy and miscellaneous estimates. It is asserted that one of the principal reasons why war is so popular in the United States is the wide field it opens for these practices. The Florida and Mexican wars abounded in examples of them, some equalling anything that could have oc- curred in the most corrupt period of our own Government during the last century. 126 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. THE PRESS. It had never come in my way, previously to my landing in New York, to read an American newspaper, and all I knew of them was by description, and through such extracts as are copied occasionally into the daily London papers. It was, therefore, a new and pretty ample field of study, between the intervals of riding, driving, and walking by the sea at Newport in Rhode Island, enjoying for ten days its refreshing cool- ness, and the abundant and most friendly hospi- tality of the numerous pleasant families who have their villa residences in that favourite neighbourhood. Papers from New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Charles- town, New Orleans, Richmond (Virginia), Cin- cinnati, St. Louis, Independence (Missouri), Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago — three at least from some of those places and two from others — tempt the curiosity of a stranger; and if the THE PRESS. 127 whole of the above are not found at the gigantic hotels at Newport, you are not long before making their acquaintance on the desks round the walls of the reading-rooms in the hotels of the different cities. Raising my eyes from the daily study of all that was attractive in I know not how many square yards of paper (no slight matter consider- ing the usual smallness of the print), I was tempted for some time to ask myself whether it were really true that I, as an Englishman, was meeting with nothing but civility, cordiality, and kindness from every one I fell in with, while probably every individual among them had been just reading, in some paper or other, the most virulent denunciations of England, the bitterest taunts against her policy, the most undervaluing remarks on her power, and the most depreciating estimates of the individual character of her people. After a three months' course of these papers, I think I am safe in saying that the ordinary tone of more than two-thirds of them is of that quality, whenever they take occasion to discuss 128 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. anything in which England, or English customs, or English character may be involved ; and that in a moment of the least political excitement, a still large portion of them join in the same cry, and it then requires no ordinary courage in the editor of an American newspaper to deal out to England, or any one of her actions, the simplest meed of fairness. I asked very many persons what was the meaning of all this, and the answer I invariably received was, " Oh, you must not mind what our papers say ; we don't read such trash as most of them contain ; it is written to catch the Irish votes at the elections." With all deference to my numerous and most respectable informants, I am not satisfied that this answer goes to the root of the matter. For a solution I think it is necessary to begin with the beginning; and that beginning is, in a nation all educated on one plan, the public schools. In the course of my visits to these schools, in the range of country which I have already de- scribed, I asked permission to look, among the THE PRESS. 1291 IS, other school-books, at the book of histor}^ in common use. I found there were several, some preferred in some parts of the country, and some in others. I looked through them all. They contain either a very brief resume of history^ both ancient and modern, or of modern alone, principally that of England, so brief, however, as to be entirely unimpressive to the minds of youth, being very little more than a mere dry detail of facts and dates. The staple of these books is, as is very natural, American history, from the landing of the Puritans to the termination of the last war. The most prominent part is, as na- turally, given to the history of the war of inde- pendence. Of the spirit of their forefathers in undertaking that war, and of their courage in carrying it to a successful issue, they have much reason to be proud. The exploits of that war (and the successful ones of the last) figure, of course, conspicuously in those histories. The error of the British Government and people in provoking the struggle is chastised with no sparing hand ; while the power of the American people, as exhibited in beating the British Go- g3 130 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. vernment, and the glory thence resulting, occupy a conspicuous place. As long as such histories are written in a fair and simply patriotic spirit, without seeking to perpetuate hostile feelings, and without either unjustifiable exaggerations or unfair concealments (and I cannot say that some of the books I looked at were free from such defects), no one can complain that American children should read principally American his- tory ; but a young person who has been in- structed in a course of history in which a few years and a few events are made to assume such prominence, while the history of previous cen- turies and subsequent events are all but un- known, will be apt to have very exaggerated ideas of his own nation and a very slender one of any other. By way of exemplifying the exceedingly meagre summaries of history, ancient and mo- dern, that accompany some of these Ameri- can histories, I will refer to the following passage from the *' Report of the Annual Ex- aminations of the Public Schools of the City of Boston," for 1849 (page 13) :— THE PRESS. 131 '* The text-book of history now in use in our schools is not a good one. It is very brief, not very accurate, and very uninteresting. It appears to be nothing more than a very dry detail of the leading facts of history, related in no connection except that of chronological order, and utterly destitute of anything to awaken and interest the attention. We will give an illus- tration of its character. In the part devoted to Grecian history, the names of Miltiades, Themis- tocles, Aristides, and Leonidas are not intro- duced in the narration of the Persian invasions ; and the name of not a single inhabitant of Greece, who lived between the time of Solon and that of Epaminondas, is mentioned in the course of that part of the history. Yet this period of nearly two hundred years was prolific of great men, and is probably the most important era in the history of civilization." To prevent any possible misapprehension, I add the whole passage in the Appendix (D), p. 165, together with the questions in History, at an examination of candidates for the High School at Lowell. For similar instances, in reference to modern 132 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. times, and to the history of England in parti- cular, no one need be at a loss who will take up any of the Histories in use in the schools of the United States. It would seem that " heroic examples," that "pathetic incidents," that "sen- timents that either exalt or fortify, or soften and melt the human heart " * — those main instruments for the inculcation of a high tone of thought and the creation of expanded sym- pathies in the mind of youth — were to be found almost exclusively within the brief period of the United States' history, from the war of independence to the present hour. It may be said that the number of those who are taught in schools, or who acquire afterwards even the elements of any such comprehensive knowledge of history, or are possessed with the feelings that arise from it, are few in any country. The material difference, however, be- tween most other countries and the United States is, that in the former the numerical mass do not govern, and that in the latter they do. * Sir James Mackintosh. Vol. i. p. 118 of his ' Memoirs and Life,' by his Son. London, 1836. .H THE PRESS. 133 Ignorance, therefore, or, what is perhaps worse, contracted ideas, are there of m /lo political mo- ment, and afford a greater hold for the senti- ments and passions that the declamatory writings above described inspire. And that these writings do take that hold on the numerical mass of the people in the United States — by which expression, the numerical mass, I mean to exclude the higher, the educated, the commercial, and the better sort of the trading classes generally, and some of the most enlight- ened of the rural classes as they have been de- scribed to me — is abundantly evident to any one who even for a short time freely mixes with them. How, indeed, can it be expected to be much otherwise, when to the universal mass, prepared or unprepared by intellectual training, young or old (for mere boys very soon turn politicians), comes the daily stimulus of the democratic press, flattering their vanity, pandering to their passions, and striving to fill them v,'ith exag- gerated notions of their self-importance ? Neither is there much difference between the democratic and a large part of the Whig press in that par- 134 NOTES ON i^UBLlC SUBJECTS, &c. ticular. The writers in these papers seem to delight in fanning and keeping alive national animosities ; and it is both strange and unnatural to see the most studious and unceasing en- deavours made to maintain those animosities between us and our brethren of the same race and kindred on the other side of the Atlantic, when between ourselves and the French they have all but expired.* Of all this the people of England are in general profoundly ignorant, and, it must be added, profoundly indifferent to it. In the mean time that democratic press is occupied in nursing the popular ambition by holding forth the doctrine that it is the " manifest destiny " of the American people to absorb the whole con- tinent and its adjoining islands. It stirs up the warlike spirit which pervades the whole * Unfortunately our own press not uncommonly presents ex- amples of a mode of comment on \fvhat it disapproves in the conduct of the American government and people, the caustic satire of which burns deeper than the arguments. Every dis- paraging word is caught at, and its import magnified, and every sarcasm, from whatever quarter, in book or pamphlet, speech or newspaper, is quoted and re-quoted for years, as proofs of the bad disposition of the English people towards everything Ame- rican. THE PUESS. 135 1 ( 1 country ; it systematically teaches them to undervalue the power of England, and to look upon her as weak and declining ; and it inspires them with an evident desire to try their strength with Great Britain, in the confident expectation that it would give them very little trouble to lay her prostrate. That during the excitement on the Cuban affair, of which I had good opportu- nities of watching the course, the democratic press should pour forth even more than its usual quantity of declamation in its endeavour to stir up the passions and promote the objects above ad- verted to, might be expected ; but I confess I did not expect to see so many of the Whig papers at that time fall in with the same tone. The con- duct of some few of them was manly and honour- able. They resisted from the first the popular im- pulse towards that unprincipled aggression. But it was lamentable and of evil augury to read, in other papers of that party, leading articles, the premises of which were for, and the conclusions against, that act of piracy; sentences one day condemning the offender, yet defending the offence ; another day sentences taking the oppo- i 1 RMNBB 136 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. 1)0 quoted as proDis site line, and so written as of consistency shoidd the turn of events render the " cry for Cuba " an avaihible one at the next elections. The trinmiinj^ of some of the Whig papers during several weeks displayed as com- plete a want of principle as the aggression, and a less amount of determination than the demo- cratic papers exhibited in their bold and un- scrupulous adoption of it from the beginning. I should be sorry to be thought for a moiuent to imply that any number of the upper classes in the United States, commercial or professional, or of the respectable and intelligent trading classes in their various grades, or of the rural population in the New England and parts of the other settled States, partake in these feelings or opinions. The cultivation and knowledge of the former, and their acquaintance with foreigu countries (for it is rare to meet with an American in easy circumstances, in the cities, who has not been to Europe), and the general high average of intelligence among the latter, prevent any such supposition entering one's mind. But the proportion which these classes bear to the whole THE PUE8S. 137 population, even of the cities, is comparatively small ; and it is upon the lower portions of the people in the cities and towns, upon the inunl)er of persons of unsettled occu])ations that con- gregate in them to prey \n some way or other upon the comnnmity, and upon the less intel- lifi:ent of the 23,000,000 people scattered over the vast extent of territory from the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico to the Mississippi and the Missouri, that these papers speculate, when they create or keep alive the excitements ahove referred to. And that they operate upon con- genial ground I do not doubt ; not so much from the numerous instances I met with in distant villages and towns towards the West, and in intercourse with a great v^iiety of people in the middle and lower grades of life, whom a traveller has no difficulty in conversing with whenever he pleases, — among whom, with a great degree of practical knowle(lf2:e of their own neighbourhood and its various interests, I was invariably struck with their almost entire ignorance of anything beyond it, — but from the opinions of a coiisid^T- able number of the most observant and intel- IMfi MMH* .^».W M ll 138 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. ligent persons who have been long conversant with the real state of opinion and the average modes of thought in the remote parts of the country. This high opinion of themselves and low estimate of other powers, which pervades, I be- lieve, the numerical mass of the people of the United States, renders it by no means impro- bable that they may at any moment, in a period of popular excitement, hurry along the upper and more sober-minded classes of the com- munity, and their Government, into a course of national policy which those classes might in reality condemn, but which they would have no power to arrest or alter. Such an instance, to refer to no others, occurred in the case of the Mexican war, which was condemned by all their best statesmen, and against which they were warned in the most earnest manner by nearly all that deserved to exercise any moral weight in the community. But the popular current was too strong for them, and they were finally led to acquiesce in what they could not prevent ; one imprudent step of the Government, in risk- THE PRESS. 139 ing a small body of troops in an exposed position, having been held to commit irretrievably both Government and people. Such periods of po- pular excitement must be expected to recur at no very great intervals, where their causes fall in with the principles of a large, not to say pre- ponderating body in the State ; where so many eager expectants are ever on the watch to profit by them ; and where an unscrupulous Press is ever at hand to mislead the popular mind, and to play upon the excitable temperament of the people. When such occasions arise, I believe there is no more effectual mode of keeping the peace than to show unmistakeably to those persons who pull the wires of these popular excitements, that there is no weakness in the counsels of Great Britain, nor any failing in the strength of her arm, if need be, to sustain them. Those persons, indeed, know full well that no more than a minute fraction of that strength was ever put forth in the unfortunate collisions that have hitherto taken place between Great Britain and the United States. The great mass of their m>lltaim0m Yljili 'ji«lwil«»'iii» NJiM tlitil^l^y/ 140 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. readers are profoundly ignorant of that fact. It will not be the fault of these newspaper writers, if their fellow-countrymen are not some day rather roughly awakened to their error. I think it necessary to justify what I have stated respecting the Whig press by an instance. It shall be the last, in point of time, of a long list that I might have referred to. I have been, since August last, a diligent reader of one of the Nevjr York Whig papers, which was described to me, and I think, on the whole, rightly, as the one most ably and respectably con- ducted. In its number of December 13, 1851, is a copy of a speech which its editor was to have delivered, if he had an opportunity, at one of the banquets in honour of M. Kossuth. To this in- tended speech the editor attaches his own name at full length. The sentiments, therefore, were not uttered on the spur of the moment, but are deliberate. The editor had recently returned from Austria, to the government of which country he had been accredited as the minister of the United States. In this intended speech occurs the following sentence, in reference to the recent affair of the Prometheus, which had been fired into by a British man-of-war, and compelled to pay port-dues to the Government of Nicaragua : — " But we are asked to interfere in European politics! With whom, and against whom ? Why, with England, and against Russia! With England, who is daily striving to get a foot-hold upon our southern border ; who respects not the faith of treaties recently made ; and who but yesterday, as it were, dishonoured our flag on the coast of New Granada ; and from whom we have just demanded the most ample apology, under a threat of war." This gentleman, who had been recently filling one of the most honourable diplomatic situations which his country could confer, sees, it would appear, nothing indecorous in charging the British Government with a wilful disregard of the faith of treaties ; and THE PRESS. 141 this, without waiting to see whether the British Government Mouli or would not disavow the act of the commander of the British vessel. Neither, apparently, does this former minister see anything unbecoming in holding such language as that of " demanding a most ample apology, under a threat of war." It might be somewhat curious, though not to the present point, were I to add an extract from a speech delivered in the Senate of the United States by Mr. Senator Foote, printed in the very next colunm to that occupied by the above intended speech, and in which Mr. Foote designates this gentleman by his name at full length, and charges hirn, by his title of the "late minister to Austria," with •* more than fiendish malignity," and with *' sj)reading abroad the most reckless assertions;" and volunteers to show that " every falsehood and un[)rincipled statement " made by him had been amply refuted ; with more in the same peculiar style. How fa ' '-■-■ amenities may be held to neutralise each other I am unable to say. An American friend, for whose character and abilities I have a very high esteem, and to whom I have submitted this volume, was of opinion that I should suppress the two last paragraphs, on the ground that they were of no public interest. I very respectfully beg to differ from him. I think it desirable that a portion, at least, of the public in this country should have an opportunity of being acquainted with such facts, and drawing from them their own conclusions. My friend is also of the opinion that I have attributed " too much authority to the newspapers " in his country. Doubtless, among the class of cultivated and intelligent gentlemen to which he belongs, they have a very limited influence. But I cannot abandon a very strong impression, from all I saw and heard, that among the mass of the population they have a great deal. Nothing can be more repulsive to an English taste than the ser- vile flattery, the reckless abuse, the suppression of truth, and the propagation of falsehood, that is continually meeting the eye in a 142 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. vast majority of the newspapers of that country. The facility with which they can be set on foot gluts the market, and reduces the profits to so low a point, that very few men of character and ability will condescend to embark in t at species of occupation. Many newspapers ; se established by tradesmen a^ vehicles for their own advertisements — many to serve a temporary political purpose, which they advocate unscrupulously for a few weeks, and then disappear. The above facts convey their own moral, for consideration in this country. .■K- -^: \ . GENERAL REMARKS. 143 GENERAL REMARKS. -»— The best results are taking place from the greater frequency o.^' intercourse between tlie upper and educated classes of both countries, occasioned by the facilities of steam navigation. It is almost a part of the business of the mer- cantile and the principal members of the retail trading classes to go to Eurc?pe to extend their connexions, to gain information in their parti- cular line, or to lay in their own stocks. Of the wealthier and the professional classes, nine oui of ten go to Europe the moment they are able to accomplish it ; and it is rare to find any person who inherited even a moderate com- petence, or has obtained the means by his own exertions, who has not been there. In the course of many most agreeable con- .•-r^.'s; ^\ 144 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. versations with individuals of all those classes who had visited England, the only thing I felt disposed to regret was, that, generally speaking, they had seen very little except the town life ; the manufacturing districts and the capital bein^ usually the principal points of attraction, accord- ing to their respective occupations or pursuits ; the wealthier persons, and those travelling for mere information and pleasure, passing on to the Continent after a short stay in London. Th3re are, of course, many exceptions among the latter, who, in the course of their sojourn, see various specimens of our modes of country life. It is much to be desired that that phase of British social life and institutions should be more generally and better known to those who visit England from the United States ; a nearer acquaintance would probably remove some lingering misap- prehensions on both sides. But whether an educated American has travelled or not, he is, if I may allege my own experience, ever ready to display the greatest cordiality and kindness to any one from this country, on the slightest in- troduction. Indeed, even without it, in the i I GENERAL REMARKS. 145 casual intercourse of hotel life, or in travelling, I invariably found every one disposed to con- verse, if conversation was volunteered, and most willing, if opportunity offered, to perform any act of courtesy and politeness. I cannot adequately express the gratification I have ex- perienced from the personal intercourse it was my good fortune to have with very many among the highly-cultivated families of the upper class in different parts of the country. That in the course of travelling you are not occa- sionally forced into juxtaposition with persons of a very different description, to whom some of the severe things that have been said and written of portions of American society might apply, I will not assent. But I am able to say that, in the ten weeks I was in the Unitied States — a great part of it spent in what may be popularly called rather " out of the way " parts of the country, though short of the great, half-settled, anomalous West — I met with nothing that the commonest good -humour and forbearance would not make light of. If the manners of some are much too free and easy to consist with the simplest principles H 146 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. of good-breeding, and the habits of others ob- noxious in many respects, the traveller in a country not his own is, I think, bound to re- member that he came to these annoyances — if such he feels them to be — and not they to him, and that probably, if he were to come again when he was twenty years older, he would mid that many of them had disappeared. And if he looks above these secondary matters, and sets to work to endeavour to understand the *' form and pressure," the meaning and the bearing of the vast society that is, within this century, to fill up the great valley of the Mississippi, with all their present experiments in govemmentj in re- ligion, in laws, and in social life, he will, if he be one of English training, find subjects of reflection, speculation, and inquiry, which the application of a year or two, if he had time for it, would scarcely satisfy. It was everywhere a subject of regret among the educated portion of the community that so few Englishmen not connected with mercantile pursuits visited them. I believe it would be greatly to the public benefit ! Doth sides of the water if more did so, and if GENERAI. REMARKS. 147 we saw more of the upper class of American society here.* Whoever from this country visits the United * On the subject of manners, which has proved so attractive to other pens, I do not intend to say more than one word, and that shall be neither offensive nor flattering. I suspect that, if all people in this country were compel'ed, if they travelled at all, to travel in third-class carriages, or, which comes to nearly the sanie thing, if a general average of comfort were struck between first, second, and third, and there were no escape fiom the mode of travelling that resulted from it, the process would not be agreeable to sensitive minds. Hap- pily, the use of tobacco in its most repulsive form is all but unknown to us, and, therefore, you would not find persons guilty of practices resulting from it, that are inexpressibly disgusting, and from which, moreover, you have often no exemption, whether you are sitting near persons of the most respectable exterior or otherwise. (It must be remembered, however, that it is most rare to see any one in the rank of a gentleman in the United States offending in that particular.) Neither, if you had just risen from a chair on the deck of a steamboat, to take a momentary look at a passing view or to reach anything, with a most evident "animus revertendi," would you be likely to find that a " gentleman " standing near you, and having a keen eye to number one, had taken the chair from under you and appropriated it to himself; and also that it required no slight tact and good humour to induce him to surrender it again. Similarly with regard to your seat in a railway carriage. Nor would you, probably, be often addressed in a manner that wouiu not sound quite appropriate to "ears polite." If, however, there is one thing on which the press of the United States is unanimous, it is in condemning and endeavouring to correct what remains of these " disagreeables." They need no one's aid or inter- ference ; and, indeed, in this, as in many other matters cf no h2 148 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, 8co. States for the purpose of mere travelling, will probably at first experience a little difficulty in conforming to the mode of life in the great concern to us, such interference and harsh comment have led to much mischievous irritation. I was informed, and indeed I saw evidence of it in all parts of the country, that the root of these matters was being attacked in the public schools. The following was a statement made to me on the subject by a gentleman of large experience, holding an important public office in the education department of one of the e.jtern States : — " We are aiming at the reformation of manners in all our public schools, and in our normal schools, teachers' institutes, and county associations of teachers. Manners are made a pro- minent subject of criticism daily in all the teachers' institutes of the State. Any impropriety of speech or demeanour is com- mented upon, without, however, reference to the individual. Several of our leading writers on education have held that the national manners ought to be corrected through the public schools." In a considerable number of the many public schools I visited in different parts of the United States I had been struck with the entire absence of good manners on the part of the children, whenever any circumstance gave occasion for exhibiting their ordinary demeanour. There was a marked want of any outward demonstration of deference and respect, and, on the part of the teacher, what appeared to me a most singular submission of himself to the children. Nothing was put to them as from authority, but the most trifling command was conveyed in a tone and in language implying that it was for them to judge whether they would obey it or not ; and in some addresses to the children I heard somewhat inflated appeals to them as responsible for their own actions, and soon about to become citizens of the greatest and most glorious Republic that the world had ever seen, with .7:^.-1^ -,. ...^ . GENER.\X REMARKS. 149 g est Uh hotels. Private sitting-rooms are seldom asked for, except for families, and therefore not always to be had by persons travelling alone, or if so, at in some cases rather a high rate. The early dinner-hour is at first felt to be a constraint ; but other topics in the same strain, all tending, as it seemed, to produce a most undue notion of themselves in the minds of the children, and a complete independence of all control, parental or any other. In other schools I observed nothing of the kind ; but, on the contrary, the master or mistress maintaining their proper position and speaking with authority, yet asserting it with all due mildness. I asked a gentleman, holding an ofRcial position in the cduca** tion department of one of the States, for a solution of this. His answer was as follows : — *• What you have noticed has been the result of a reaction against the Puritan severity in the management of children, which has carried many among us to a contrary extreme. It produced a school of thinkers who maintained that nothing but ' moral suasion ' should be resorted to in the management of children. They are called ' non-resistants ;' they think that no force should be used in the management or training of children, but only appeals to their affections, their conscience, and their reason, and that human nature can be depended upon largely for bringing them right. These doctrines have been carried into the public schools in numerous instances. The effect is, that the master appears in a false position before the children, and the principle of deference to authority is loosened, or rather not established at all. Opinion is now beginning to set the other way, and we are endeavouring slowly to reproduce ■ more authority in our schools." Both manners and principles will, I apprehend, in time feel the benefit of the gradual diffusion of these sounder views. 150 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. there is more trouble in deviating from, than in adhering to, the usual practice. At some of the best hotels at New York the hour is later, five to half-past, but in the other cities fro. a two to three. French cookery is the rule in the cities, and an imitation of it in the country and on board the steamboats. Those remarkable river steamboats, some of them of astonishing dimen- sions, have been often described. They are bold conceptions, and admirably adapted to their double purpose of freight and passenger traffic. But on surveying with surprise the luxury and splendour of their decorations, you are tempted to ask yourself for what potentate of the East or West they were originally con- structed, and how they contrived to get across the Atlantic. Everywhere you meet with uniform civility and attention, and even in the smallest country inns universal cleanliness, though often a scanty supply, according to English notions, of the materials of the toilette. The high wages of servants, and the difficulty of obtaining good ones, are, I believe, among the principal causes of the custom of so many people GENERAL IlEMARKS. 151 breakfasting, dining, and taking all other meals at the same table ; and the general absence of conversation is the natural consequence of such a number of persons being brought together, unacquainted with each other, and perhajis mutually unwilling to form acquaintances they know not with whom. Meals, moreover, on such occasions, are popularly said to be *' matters of business," to be got over as quickly as possible. Not so, however, at some of the best hotels, where the numbers you meet are smaller, and where mutual confidence springs up rapidly among people evidently of similar tastes and similar social position. The autumnal climate is, as is well known, generally delightful, but this year there was a period of unusual heat in September, the ther- mometer being for some days from 92'' to 95" for the greater part of the day. It w-?3, iiow- ever, so far endurable, that it did not seem to prevent any one going about his ordiuary occu- pations. From 95^ the mercury sank, in less than thirt}"-six hours, to below the freezing-point in and in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, and, ( 152 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. I believe, over a wide extent of country. The rapid alterations of temperature are among the most trying incidents to the climate of the United States. Its general brightness and dry- ness are said to be among the causes of the alleged excitability of the American character. No one who has seen will ever forget the gorgeous autumn tints of an American forest, wherever the "hard woods" and not the pine predominate. That "lustrous woodland" is un- equalled by anything of the kind in Europe. But to an eye accustomed to the luxurious love- liness, the exquisite outlines, the picturesque combinations of the south of Europe, the general aspect of the scenery in the United States (I speak of its northern portions) is monotonous. There are scenes on the Hudson, on the Catskill Mountains, in other directions in the State of New York ; c.mong the AUeghanies ; on the banks of the Susquehanna and the Juniata; on the Ohio ; in Vermont, among the AVhite Moun- tains — to say nothing of Niagara, which needs . no mention — doubtless of great beauty ; but they are widely apart, and few in comparison with the GENERAL REMARKS. 153 great extent of country. The aspect of the country towns, too, is monotonous, as well as that of the villages, though they are bright and clean, with unvarying white houses and green Vene- tians, and white church-spires and public build- ings. Here and there a few good specimens of Gothic and Elizabethan, and also of the Roman style, show a growing taste in architecture. The public building's generally in the towns and cities are of fine dimensions and solidly constructed. One peculiarity in the cities is that of the lines of railway passing on a level along some of the prin- cipal streets. The trains are, however, drawn by horses from the point where they enter the suburbs, or soon after. Another unusual sight to an English eye is the habit of carrying the electric telegraph wires along the streets, into the heart of the cities. I counted six-and-twenty lines, on one occasion, visible from one spot. They are very loosely hung (partly, I believe, on account of the great changes of temperature to v/hich they are exposed), and altogether seem put up in a very " rough and ready " manner. But of this no one will complain who finds that he can h3 {'1 :■} I t 154 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. send a message from New Orleans to Quebec and Halifax, or from New York to Chicago, and re- ceive an answer in a few hours, and for a very mo- derate payment. It is singular to see along the common road, in the remote forest, the solitary wire stretched, or rather dangling, from tree to tree, or from the rudest, and by no means the most upright, poles, crossing and recrossiug the road to cut off angles, quite unprotected, but usually the trustworthy and all but instan- taneous messenger of thought between minds perhaps a thousand miles asunder. Even small country towns often have their electric tele- graph, conducted for many miles along the common township road from the main line. The chief characteristic, however, of the towns and villages is the breadth of the streets, the excellence of the foot-pavements, and the or- namental appearance of the trees which are so commonly planted along their sides. The portions of the cities, also, that are inhabited by the wealthier classes, partake largely of this element of cheerfulness and beauty, — a matter doubtless often before adverted to by travellers, but i GENERAL REMARKS. 155- id US which it would be most desirable to imitate more frequently in our own land. The exceeding good taste of many private residences which I had the good fortune to see indicates the spread of real refinement The public evidences, however, of the increase of mere luxury are very numerous, and excite many reflections on matters of public policy. With the temptations of wealth and luxury all around, and the standard of expense in all the ordinary social relations continually rising, how are ill-paid public men to be expected to stand alone in retaining a republican simpli- city, and to keep themselves undefiled by cor- ruption ? On the slavery question I do not touch, not because I feel in the least degree indiflferent to it, but because I have a strong opi.iion that all comments on it from this country do more harm than good. It is a heavy weight on the minds of the most thoughtful inhabitants of the United States from one end of the country to the other. Interference of any kind only tends to exasperate feelings already, perhaps, too much' heated for calm consideration. If it could be put aside and forgotten for five years, it would 156 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. be a great gain for all parties. A practicable solution might then, perhaps, be arrived at. We may rest assured that nothing that can be said on this side of the water can add to the impression of the momentous fact that the slave population are already 3,000,000, and in the lifetime of many now in existence will possibly be 6,000,000. Still less do taunt and crimination become us, whose predecessors brought to that country the first elements of the present tremendous problem (funesta dote d' in- jiniti guai). These, and many other things that he may meet with, may not suit the ideas of an Englishman of the present day ; but if wrong, there are plenty of minds in the United States engaged in the effort to correct them. I have no desire to meddle with them. I am writing, not for American, but for English readers, and because I believe that I have had a few things to say which may not be un- deserving the consideration of my own country- men. ifihfigfcWiTrl^i 1 1 :r APPENDIX. ( A. ) Vide p. 74. Estimated Cost of growing an Acre of Wheat on a Farm of 200 Acres in the wheat-growing districts of Ohio. Doln. Cents. Dolt. Cento Two ploughings after fallow - - - 2 Two harrowings and seed - - - 1 75 Weeding, &c. - - - - - Harvesting and carrying - - - 2 Threshing, at 3 cents ; cleaning and stacking, 3 cents ; 20 bushels, at 6 cents. - - 1 20 Carrying to mill, 10 miles, at 2 cents (20X2) 40 Cultivation and delivery to miller Interest on Capital invested in land at 6 per cent., say at 40 dollars per acre - Interest on Fanning Capital for 2C0 acres, 650 dollars, or 3 dollars 25 cents per acre, at 6 per cent. _ ^ _ _ Interest on Farm-buildings for 200 acres, 3000 dollars, or 15 dollars ])er acre, at 6 per cent. - - - - - - Taxes (State, County, Roads, Schools, Poor), Appraisement of 1 per cent, on 76 per cent. of the Capital and Buildings, 3ti 0=^2775 dollars on 200 acres, say per acre - - - 14 10 99 - 7 35 - 2 40 20 90 158 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. Return. PoI>. Ccnia 20 bushels, at f cents. - - - 12 20 , , 66 ,, - - - 13 25 , , 66 , , - - - 13 75 25 , , 60 ,, - - - 15 26 , , 66 ,, - - - 16 25 Under their present system their straw is of little value to them. The common assertion was, thas: tha averaj-j' produce was net above twenty bushels p.^r acre, and also '>hht they did not bring their wheat freely to market ^nril th ? price was at least 65 cents. If imerejjt and taxe^ wo^-e reduced by one-half, it would not, prob»l)ly, make any material difference in the actUol result, as it would be an indication of less pro- duce or of produce of inferior value. With regard to the above statement, another gentle- man, having good means of judging, said to me — ** Tiiere are many farmers in Ohio, living in great corrfort, with houses and buildings worth at least 2000 dollars, who live at more cost, and hire labour, and who cannot get on as they have been accustomed with wheat under 75 cents to 80 cents. These men will probably have made their own bricks for their buildings on the spot, and have had a saw-mill near to prepare their timber, and have done a great deal of the labour themselves. It is common to say that * the West ' can grow wheat at 50 cents ; but the cost of <;ransport from the interior will be in proportion to dis - I ■■■■'^- '■; v;-TTi ¥'<■ •'•'f^ ^^'^ APPENDIX— (B). 159 tance, unless close to the lakes, where a few hundred miles in addition do not make much difference. My opinion, however, is, that there is no rule yet for price in the West. The main elements of cost there are labour and the distance from the lakes. The great difficulty is to harvest the crop." (B.) Vide]). 76. Cost of Transport of Wheat from the above-mentioned districts to Liverpool, and Selling Price there. According to information from the best sources at Cleveland, at the end of September last, the prices and cost to New York were as follows : — Per buahel offlOlbn. The farmer in the interior is now getting for red* wheat - - - - - - 65 cents. Freight to Cleveland - - - - 10 „ 66 „ " We are now vshipping ' Ohio red ' from Cleveland to ]Sew York at 65 to 67 cents, the lowest prices we have known for some time. The cheapest mode of transport to New York is through the Welland Canal to Oswego, and thence on by canal. The usual cost by that roiite is 18 cei;:o to 20 cents per bushel. We * The wheat of Ohio is principp.lly red. 90 , , , , „ 95 , , , , ' „ 1 dollar , , Per Winches- ter of 60 lbs s. d. 3 11 : i^ * nil 4 lOj Per Bushel of 70 lbs. d. 6l 4 10] 5 4* o 5 8 To sell at Liverpool and pay first cost and charges as above. Per Winches- ter of 60 lbs. f. d. 4 9 5 Oi\, 5 3 5 6i 5 9 Per Bushel of 70 lbs. I. d. 5 6\ 6 10,'b 6 U 6 sl 6 si *1 { 162 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &o. ( C. ) Vide p. 93. The Manufacturing and Industrial Products of Cincinnati. Re- port to the Board of Trade. g. . ." 1 851, by Mr. Charles Cist, editor and publisher »[ '. i T.n.'iaiLi in 1851.' PACTOKIES, SHOP*, WOKKH, MM.I.g, YARDS, KTC. Agricultural machines Alcohol and spirits, win'' ilistillers , Animal cliarcual factory Apple-butter maken .' Atcliitecta Artincial (lower factnri^^l Awnin;;, tent, liai,' m il;ers liai^i^ing factories Hakerg Band and hnt box .» ikors Hasket, cradle, mai.ers ]k>ll and hiMi touiideH Hellows make , Blacking pastu muKerij Blacksmith aliops Blinds, Veuetian, iihops Block, spar, and pump makers . . . Boiler yardi^ Bonnet -bleachers and pres.>8,447 212 247,400 65 51; . JOO 7 7,000 8 55,000 9 18,500 79 226,000 36 7.'), 000 6 3,000 950 ;, 947, 800 17 38.000 18 18,000 18 40,000 796 387,000 240 258,000 APPENDIX -(C). 163 rACTORIKS, SHOP!), WORKI, MM.LI, YAIllllt, KTO. (yopper-plate printers ('orani;e and rope makers Curers of beef, tonnueo, &c Cutlery, gurf(ical and di-ntul instni- ) meats, tailors' shears makers , . ) Da^uerreotypists . . Dentists Die-sinkers Domt-stic liquor fa(;tories Dyers and scourers Eu^e tool makers , , grinders Kngravers Fancy jol) printers ........ Feed luxl ffuurinfi: mills Fire engines, hydraulic apparatus I builders 3 Flooring mills Florists Foundries and engine shops Frin,. >, tassel, X:c., niikers Fumil lire factoritis Gas and coke works Cias-fltters Gas burner cap Cactory Gilders Glass works, cutters, Vc (.' ve&ctories 01. " G".- ■ leaf and den . foil makers . , , ,jen factory Grates, Sec, factorit-. Urouiid - nice and drug mills . . . . ,, stard ,, . . . . , , iitar'jle dust , , , . . . Gunsmiths }Iatters .... Ilat tilock factoric Horse-sHoers Hose, l)elts, &c., factories Hot-air furnace builders Ice packers Iron, rolling-millings , , safe, chest, and vault factories . , , railing factories . Japanned filter maker ,, tin ware factory Lever lock factory. . .' Lightning rod factory Lithographers Looking-glass factories Machinists Marble workers Masonic and Odd Fellows' regalia > embroiderers ) Mathematical and optical instruO ment makers j Matmaker mil. No. Mils. Product i:< 1 59 1 25 8 18 13 I 10 HO 8 37 11 43 13 31 503 7 335 15 15 181 148 2 49 4 17 42 3 16 Dollars. 81 ,000 33 10 4 83 81 73 668 I 664 14 16 312 394 II 2 311 3 26 77 10 30 nuo 700 950 540 60O 550 7t)0 750 000 657 400 Olio 000 000 842 000 109 000 400 ono OHO 500 ono 000 ouo 000 1851. No. Hdn. Ihroduct 32 36 3 16 15 19 1 14 2 14 1 14 IS 44 4 136 1 2 1 10 2 3 5 1 1 2 6 2 2 6 40 1 12 4 1 14 5 3 S 1 1 10 1 4 7 12 3 9 130 40 S3 110 80 5 46 24 72 18 30 85 65 37 72 35 4695 40 1158 50 24 3 36 30 3:5 40 5 3 52 56 10 4 30 367 4 35 26 20 60 550 56 77 4 34 60 50 24 34 120 164 18 24 3 Dollars. 50,000 180,000 135,000 40,000 80,000 92,000 5.000 726,000 88,000 97,900 80,000 60,000 30,000 1,690,000 63,000 351,200 120,111)0 3,676,51)1) 20,000 1,660,000 65,000 45,000 5,000 39,000 40,000 20,000 28,000 11,000 3,500 45,000 140,000 15,000 3,500 35,000 445,000 4,500 48,000 9«J,000 60,000 150,000 1,050,000 96,000 96,000 6,000 52,000 53,000 150,000 yo.ooo 48,000 1.10,000 190,000 21,000 40,000 7,240 164 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, Ac. '11 II ^ rACTomid, ihopi, work*, mill*, TABD*, ITO. MaUrcM makenand iipliolitorert. . Millincn Mineral water factories Mineral teeth tHctory Morocco leather yurui Musical InNtriiment milkers .... Music piibliHherH Nut and watlier milker Uil, castor, factory I, lard and stearine factory, . . . , , linseed milU , , vitriol laboratory l'ackin)(-box ami •rri;,'et itor factories I'ainterM and iilu/. ;rs Paper makers I'utenf medicine factories Pattern maken Perfumers Picliles, preserves, sauce makers . , Plane, &c. makers Planing miichine factory Platform sciile makers Plough makers Plumbers Plujj, bung, &c. factory Potters Pork, beef, and htm curers' factories Printing ink factories , , press factory Publishers Hoofers' patent Saddlery, harnea't and collur makers. Saddle-tree makers Sail makers Saleratus factories Sand-paper factories Sarsaparilla cough-cand' factories. . Sash, blind, and door fai tones . . . Sausage factories - . Saw mills Saw factories Screw-plate factories Sheeting, yarn, and candlewick fac- 1 tories • j Shirt and stock makers Silver and gold worker^i Soap and candle factories ..... Spectacle makers Spoke factories Stainers, ulass Stair builders Starch factories Steamboat builders Stencil cutters Stereotypers Stockini; weavers Stone cutters Stone masons 1S41. No. lids. Product 10 Si 28 bH \H 4 2H 148 10 3 34 30 18 n • • 4 •I ll)2 90 15 31 75 36 122 Iff 306 7 70 818 Dollars. 64,800 85.000 31,000 • ■ 36,000 3!), 000 78,000 (18,000 3,500 95,000 37,9"0 48,000 12,000 a^'ioo «,ouo 23^100 71,700 21,000 73,000 40,000 56,500 322,940 45,000 508,500 12,000 83,000 101,000 1N51. No. lids. Product 10 80 8 1 7 6 1 1 1 31 3 1 12 72 9 14 14 8 8 7 1 6 fi 16 1 14 33 2 1 18 1 40 1 4 S 8 1 85 28 15 2 2 15 5 38 1 2 1 3 5 7 3 3 4 22 36 80 650 64 5 76 62 30 40 7 124 3N 24 «5 6:i2 IWO 91) 30 45 12 96 12 36 24 i:i5 8 80 2-iao 6 30 6;i6 12 828 5 15 6 10 10 820 !B6 206 6 18 410 250 .^0 710 4 36 6 18 48 554 8 60 21 349 428 Dollars. 95,000 880,000 165,0(10 S,0il(i 67,000 89,500 50,00U 20,000 60,001) 3,015,900 863,000 135,000 120,000 385,000 330,000 660,001) 25,500 120,000 25 , 000 167,000 30,000 60,0(iO 45,000 195,000 12,000 36,000 5,760,000 15,000 52,000 1,246,540 36,000 346,600 4,500 9,000 50,000 12,000 92,000 318,000 162,000 411,000 6,700 16,600 636,000 157,000 90,000 1,475,000 9,000 70,500 15,000 24,000 98,000 4>'8,000 5,000 46,000 13,000 222,000 308,000 APPENDIX-(D). 165 rAOTOHIIR, BHOPH, WORKI, MIt.M, VAHDN, KTC. Strtw hat nnci bonnet factories , . Htucco workers Tailon Tanners and curriers Tobacco, rlKHr, anil HniilT fkctorlrs 1 runl(s, carpet bags, 8(U. malicrs . Turners . Typefounders Undertald'rs Varnisii factories Veneer i , VinuKtr • I Waddmg ■Vai;nn nnalroduct. 5 8 98 30 68 :5 30 8 14 8 8 86 1 48 4 3 4 8 -J 40 5 4 4 3B 50 14 H15 3S0 1310 875 143 181 511 »0 59 II 136 •Hi 40 183 5 400 500 30 13 18 110 Uotlars. 60,01)0 IV.OOM 938,000 965,000 031,000 506,000 159,000 100, OOU 76,000 135,000 66,000 16»l,750 85,000 i:{8,000 30,000 85,000 385,000 7 , 500 60,000 150,000 69,000 10,500 9,000 9,857,020 (D.) Firfep. 131. Extract from Rkpobt on Boston Public Schooi^. " In history we do not think that the attainments of the pupils are such as could he wished. Nor is the mode of teaching in this study a good one. The fault, however, is not to be attributed either to the pupils or their instructors. The classes generally have shown a very fair knowledge of all that could be learned from the sources of learning at their command. The text- book of history now in use in our schools is not a good 166 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. liS ^■1 one. It is very brief, not very accurate, and very un- interesting. It appears to be nothing more than a very dry detail of the leading facts of history, related in no connection, except that of chronological order, and utterly destitute of anything to awaken and interest the attention. We will give an illustration of its cha- racter. In the part devoted to Grecian history the names of Miltiades, Themistocles, Aristides, and Leonidas are not introduced in the narration of the Persian invasions, and the name of not a single inha- bitant of Greece who lived between the time of Solon and that of Epaminondas is mentioned in the course of this part of the history. Yet this period of nearly two hundred years was prolific of great men, and is pro- bably the most important era in the history of civiliza- tion. It embraces the time of the Persian invasions. It was the age of Pericles, of Alcibiades, of Plato, of Xenophon, of Herodotus, of the great dramatic poets — in short, of nearly all the most eminent intellects of ancient Greece. It is but justice, however, to the author to say, that the principal defects of this book are inseparable from the plan on which it is compiled. A history of the world in a duodecimo volume of 300 pages cannot be otherwise than meagre in its in- formation, and a book of larger size would be too expensive. ■' History might be made the most interesting and one of the most profitable studies to which the atten- tion of children could be directed. It so abounds with APPENDIX— (D). 167 the materials of reflection, there is so much in it to impress the imagination, to elevate the moral senti- ments, to touch the heart and enlarge the mind, that it is much to be desired that its capabilities as the means of moral as well as intellectual culture should be duly improved. But this cannot be done while pupils have no other books than those which are con- fined to the detail of facts, the mere husks and dross of history, without comment or improvement. A child may learn that the Athenians defeated the Persians at Marathon and Salarais, that they were in turn repelled with disaster from Syracuse, that Alexander overran Asia, that the Romans expelled their kings and con- quered the known world, without having awakened in them one glow of feeling or being made aware of the materials for reflection and for a higher instruction than the mere knowledge of facts which these and other such great events in the world's story might pre- sent to their view. And such is all the advance that can be expected from the book now in use. In the course of our examinations it was not much used, and such attempts were made as the limited time permitted to draw out what knowledge the children had, and to awaken their interest in this study, but it was generally found that, while they could tell very readily what was in their text-book, the information derived from it had not been conveyed to their minds in such a manner as to induce a desire for greater research. In short, we do not think, from what appeared at the examina- 't $ T' 168 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. tions, that history is a favourite study, or that the quality of the knowledge of it which can at present be obtained is of a very valuable or durable kind. A book is wanted which, while it narrates facts, should also contain such reflections as would awaken the in- terest of the children, and, if this were supplied, there is no branch of study that would so much contribute to mould aright the intellectual and moral habits of children as history. We have occasionally met with pupils in the schools whose answers showed that they had read more and better books of history than their text-book, and they were generally among the most intelligent and meritorious. Could a school history be found which converted the dry outlines of events into such life-like pictures as are presented in the pages of Herodotus, or as are drawn in the Cyropaedia of Xeno- phon, or in the delightful narrative of Livy, the effect on our schools would be very soon perceptible; and history, instead of being what it now appears to be, a very imperfectly studied and ill-relished task, would become one of the most delightful recreations, as well as one of the most improving studies, that could be adopted for their improvement." By way of further illustration of the subject of the text (p. 131), I add the questions in history proposed to the candidates for admission to the High School at Lowell, which I find in the ' Twenty-fifth Annual Report of the School Committee of the City of Lowell, for the year ending December 31, 1850.' — p. 21. APPENDIX-(D). 169 The public schools of the city of Lowell consist of " forty-six primary schools, nine grammar schools, and one high school in two departments." The candidates for admission into the high school were presented from the nine grammar schools. " History. — 1. In what year was America discovered by Columbus ? 2. What people colonized the West India Islands ? 3. Who was the conqueror of Mexico ? 4. Who first circumnavigated the earth? 5. Under whose patronage did John and Sebastian Cabot sail ? 6. What river was first explored by James Cartier? 7. Which of the United States was first settled by the English ? 8. To whom was Pocahontas married ? 9. Did Virginia favour the cause of Cromwell, or of King Charles ? 10. What adventurer gave the name to New England, and made a map of the country ? 11. With what Indian chief did the Plymouth colony make a treaty of peace, which continued fifty years ? 12. What war terminated this peace? 13. Under the jurisdiction of what colony was Maine placed in 1652 ? 14. By whom and where was " King Philip " killed ? 15. Why was Canada hostile to New England in the wars which arose between France and England ? 16. What made Louisburg a place of great import- ance in King George's war? 17. Of what religious sect were the New Haven colonists ? 18. What State was colonized by Roman Catholics? 19. Of what religious sect were the first settlers of Pennsylvania ? 20. What were the feelings of the Indians towards 170 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. I I # William Penn? 21. Which of the United States was colonized under the direction of Oglethorpe ? " li III Note to page 12. I have since received a return, made by the sixteen different denominations at Fall River, of the average attendance at the Sunday schools in that town. I am indebted to one of the principal manufacturers of that place, Mr. A. Robeson, for this information. The number returned as the average attendance is 2026. It has been shown that the total numbers between the ages of five and fifteen were, in May, 1850, 2502. Twenty per cent., therefore, of the children between those ages are not in habitual attendance at Sunday-schools — a number corresponding with that exhibited by other localities subsequently mentioned. The number of teachers is given as 341 , and the number of adult classes as 62. It must be remembered that it is very much the habit in the United States for the upper as well as the middle and lower classes to send their children to the same Sunday and day schools. The above statistics, therefore, apply probably to nearly the whole of the population. ■w~- was rent the the this nee the per in ing of CANADA the ver lay rly i2 ii! ^61!*^ CANADA. " The people of England are by no means aware how fine a country they possess in Canada," said an Upper Canadian gentleman to me, a few days after I entered the province ; and I am inclined to subscribe to his assertion. Books, especially travellers' hasty and imperfect sketches, such as my own, can do little more than convey a few facts and a few general im- pressions : it is necessary to have passed through the heart of the country, to have seen its splendid agricultural capabilities, to have wit- nessed the enterprise that is now at work in drawing them forth, to have mixed with its in- telligent and loyal people, to have observed how much they have done for the improvement and embellishment of their country by great and noble public works ; by their canals, roads, and buildings for general purposes in towns, and how 174 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. VI ii rapidly its great resources, agricultural and com- mercial (not to speak of incipient and very promising branches of manufacture), are being de- veloped, before a right estimate can be received of the value of this favoured portion of the most important of the colonial dependencies of the British Crown, the provinces of North America. My justification for attempting to say any- thing on the subject of that country, after so orief a visit, is the strong impression it has left upon me that neither Canada in particular, nor the British North American provinces generally, are appreciated as they ought to be by the people of England ; and having passed through both Upper and Lower Canada, from the extreme western point opposite Detroit, to Quebec, and taken all the means that came in my way to inform myself on some of the interesting points concerning them, I feel a desire to impart to others a portion of what I have myself gathered. It may be useful to mention briefly the mode of travelling I adopted, and the time occupied in my tour. 1 entered Upper Canada, on the 3rd of Oc- CANADA. 175 tober, from Detroit, by steamboat, through Lake St. Clair, up the " T^^ames " " (Arentem Xanthi cognomine rivum) " to Chatham in seven hours. I drove to London " (Parvam Trqjam, simulataqiie magnis Pergama)" 67 miles, in fifteen hours (the roads being un- usually bad after heavy rains), changing horses and carriage twice ; stayed a day there, and thence to Woodstock, 32 miles, in four hours and a quarter, the owner of the horses, who drove, only puliing-up twice, for five minutes each, to water. Remained a couple of days in the neighbourhood of Woodstock, and proceeded thence to Ham- ilton, 50 miles, in nine hours, baiting two. Coasting the upper end of Lake T^rie to Lewis- ton, a few miles up the Niagara River, and thence to the Falls by carriage, across the lower Suspension Bridge, and along the Canada side to the Clifton Hotel, immediately opposite the Falls, six hours. Stayed four days at Niagara, and then back to Hamilton by land, taking " en route " the most interesting portion of that fine 176 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. ■|. national work the V' 'Hand Canal, the succession of locks neflv its highest level ; distance 47 miles; time, changing horses once, eight hours. A day at Hamilton, and thence by steamboat to Toronto, in five hours. Remained five days at Toronto, during which I drove some distance inland to see farms. By steamer to Kingston, in half a day and a night, coasting the shore. At Kingston a day, and then, leaving Upper Canada after a stay of nineteen days, 1 divided the remaining part of the month, and up to No- vember 5th, between Montreal and Quebec. I am sensible that so short a visit of scarcely five weeks can givf> l»tit the slenderest title to say anything abcu" a. country then seen for the first time, notwithstaiitlmg any amount of diligence in seeking for information, or access to the most trustworthy sources for obtaining it. I have only to say to those who may be willing to receive it on the above terms, '* valeat quantum." Few Englishmen will be induced to visit a country for pleasure or information without knowing something first about the hotels, roads, and means of conveyance. Ellah's hotel at CANADA. 177 Toronto, and Young's at Hamilton, are kept in the English manner ; and at the Clifton House at the Falls there are private sitting-rooms, with bedrooms adjoining, the magnificci ' spectacle of the Falls being immm te^ oppo te the windows. At Sword's hotel ec, you may also live, if you please, ' " iglish hotel. At Woodstock and Lum here are very respectable hotels; and at Delaware and Chatham such as are suitable to the smaller kind of country towns. Of the above 1 speak from experience, and I believe that any one ex- tending his range of travel to the other country- towns of the province, would find a similar fair average of comfort. If he enters this country from the States, he will be glad to find at those hotels what is not very common in the country he has left — good, well-fed beef and mutton, and the humble, though useful, accessories of good English knives and forks, and other minor articles of manufacture for domestic purposes, which we are too much accustomed to in abund- ance and perfection not to miss greatly wherever tariffs are high enough to forbid their general use. i3 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ^4^ ^4^ "^ %" 1.0 I.I I!: I4£ 1^ IM lllllli 2.0 18 IIPS II 1.4 1.6 <« 6" ► v] n Am 4VV % ^ 7 Hiotographic Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 .\v 178 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. The roads of Upper Canada are, as far as I have seen, quite as good as could be expected in a country of such extent and so newly settled. The worst which I encountered was the un- finished one from Chatham to London, part of a fine line completing the main communication through tlie province from east to west (from Hamilton to Windsor, opposite Detroit), and which has been left in its present state in con- sequence of the Government having abandoned the charge of local works. It is, however, now surrendered to the counties through which it passes, and will, I understand, be taken in hand again next spring. From London to Woodstock there is a macadamized road, over which you may drive in fine weather at the rate of ten miles an hour. From Woodstock to Hamilton, through Paris (the great rival European capitals have fur- nished ambitious names to very peacefiil spots on the margins of bright streams, surrounded by a few score acres of " clearings," and beyond those a belt of beech and maple and the towering pine), about a third of the road is macadamized, and the rest was being planked, and was nearly 'J A 'ai^ia^^J Ml .'^ CANADA. 179 completed. The road more commonly used, by Brantford, was then in some places temporarily out of order. The greatest portion of the road from Hamilton to the Falls is good, and in part macadamized. From Toronto to Lake Simcoe a macadamized road runs in a straight line for 42 miles. There are other main roads of com- munication, partly macadamized, partly planked, or in process of being completed in one way or the other: as, from Hamilton to Toronto and Kingston, from Hamilton to Gait and Guelph, from Woodstock towards Goderich, from Coburg to Rice Lake, and several others. The cross-roads, especially those leading to shipping ports on the lakes or to market-towns, did not seem, as far as I had an opportunity of observ- ing, to be in as good a state as the farmer would find it his interest to put them. If by help of a good road he can take to mill or market three times the load in half the time, and with much less wear and tear of cattle and carriage than he can on a bad one, a liberal expenditure to obtain a good road is one of the best of economies. But the struggle between the more and the less 180 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. enlightened farmers on this point has to be gone through in Canada, as was the case in times past in every county in England. In Canada the especial value of good roads, in enabling the grower of wheat to send his produce early to market before the season for shipping closes, appears likely to hasten conviction in that par- ticular. In Canada, as in the United States, the public conveyances, called stages, in the form of those seen in old prints of the time of Eliza- beth, roll through the country in a manner somewhat strange to unaccustomed eyes. These "stiiges" are apparently washed but once in their natural lives ; but they are drawn usually by four good horses, and driven by a man on a low seat, with his knees not much below his chest, after a fashion which would dis- turb the thoughts of an old disciple of "The Road, the Turf, and the Chase." The spirit of adaptation, a common and valuable one, has evidently prevailed .'e ; for whereas in England ^ we have adapted the road to the carriage, in Canada they have prudently adapted the carriage CANADA. 181 I to the road; and accordingly these springless vehicles, poised on their broad bands of leather, rear and plunge very safely over and into the numerous mud-holes of the unfinished roads; while the light vehicles in private use, with their high fore-wheels (well enough for hoi-ses that never shy or attempt to turn short round), bound over them without doing any very great violence to the ril s and back of the occupant. I had heard, before I entered Canada, many comparisons to its disadvantage in regard to enterprise and activity in various matters, and not least in regard to roads ; and I had seen statements to that effect in various newspapers of the United States. It was therefore with some degree of surprise that I found myself travelling occasionally at the rate of eight and ten miles an hour on roads superior to any I had met with in Pennsylvania or Ohio. I en- deavoured to ascertain what number of miles of macadamised and of plank roads had been made in the province, but no sources of information that I have been able to refer to give any general summary of them. In an able publication now if Y 182 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. coming out and nearly completed, "Canada, Past, Present, and Future," by Mr. W. H. Smith (Toronto, 1851, 2 vols. 8vo.), I find detached accounts of the sums spent on roads in different counties of the upper province, under the head of " Public Works," and which, therefore, exclude the various smaller lines of communication made by private companies and by the townships ; and a great stimulus has been given to the operations of the latter in those matters by the Municipal Act of 1849, to be adverted to more especially in a future page. On the roads, however, that have been made by the public, I gather, on enume- rating them, that there had been spent, up to December, 1849, in the Western District, on 4 roads, exclusive of bridges .... County of Middlesex on 2 roads Norfolk 1 ,, Lincoln, Haldimand, Welland 1 , , Wentworth, Halton 2 , , York county and Toronto roads Canada Company's roads and bridges, to Feb., 1848 £49,365 74,079 33,333 28,788 80,520 157,664 27,493 ^451,242 ,; ; :ijJ^;J„«fci:f^ CANADA. 183 On the "Welland Canal . Cornwall Canal > » This does not comprise the whole of the upper province, the work from which I extract the state- ment being yet incomplete ; nor is the number of miles given ; but it shows no very great lack of public enterprise in that particular, for a popu- lation which in 1824 was only 151,000, and which had risen in 1849 to 720,000. Between those periods there had also been expended by the upper province — . iPl, 400,000 515,000 besides the sums spent on the St. Lawrence Canals and the Chambly Canal by both provinces. Roads had also been made by private com- panies, but the cost of obtaining a special Act of the Legislature for each prevented their being very numerous. In 1849 a general Act passed, with very simple provisions, enabling any five persons to form themselves into a joint stock company for making roads. The readiness with which the land-owners and farmers of Upper Canada have availed themselves of these powers, is made evident by a "Return of the several Companies" under the Act of 1849, "autho- 184 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. rizing Joint Stock Companies to construct Roads and other works; the amount of Capital sub- scribed in each, whether for roads or other works, and the extent of the road contemy^lated by each Company," presented to the Provincial Parlia- ment July 18, 1851. No tabular summary is appended to the Report, but I have put the whole together, and found that thirty -seven companies have registered themselves to make that number of roads, and have a subscribed capital of 228,146/. There can be very little doubt, therefore, as to Upper Canada being pretty well supplied with roads before many years have elapsed, whatever may be her present deficiencies. The last part of the return asked for, as to the number of miles to be made, was not complied with. Climate. — Many erroneous impressions prevail as to the climate of Canada, and especially of that of the Upper Province. Extreme heat in summer, extreme cold in winter, deep snows, late springs, frosts injurious to vegetation, have been the characteristics usually attributed to the whole country. Accurate scientific observations. CANADA. 185 and improving agricultural skill, are rapidly dissipating these opinions. A vei*y interesting little Tract has lately been published, which places these matters in a right light : — " A Com- parative View of the Climate of Western Canada, considered in relation to its Influence upon Agri- culture," by Mr. Henry Youle Hind, Lecturer on Chemistiy and Natural Philosophy at the College of Toronto, &c. &c. (Toronto ; Brewer, M'Phail, & Co., 1851). In this Tract Mr. Hind shows very convincingly the " decided superiority" of Western Canada " for agricul- tural purposes, over the State of New York, the northern part of Ohio and Illinois, the States of Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, the Far West, and the whole of New England — in a word, over the wheat-growing States generally;" and that the emigrant " in prefemng any part of the United States" for farming purposes " is actually se- lecting for himself «, climate of greater winter cold and summer heat, and not only more un- healthy, but also far more hazardous to the agri- culturist than that which obtains in the Canadian peninsula." — (p. 1.) ^ ^^ \\ 186 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. II Admitting that what is yet known of the climate in relation to agriculture is as yet imper- fect and elementary, it is still strongly confirma- tory of the supposition that " the peculiar situation of the Province among the great Lakes" gives it many advantages. These are enumerated as 1. In mildness, as exhibited by comparatively high winter and low summer temperatures, and in the absence of great extremes of temperature. 2. In adaptation to the growth of certain cereals and forage crops. 3. In the uniformity of the distribution of rain over the agricultural months. 4. In the humidity of the atmosphere, which, although comparatively less than that of a truly maritime climate, is greater than that of local- ities at a distance from the Lakes. 5. In comparative immunity from spring frosts and summer droughts. 6. In a very favourable distribution of clear and cloudy days for the purposes of agriculture ; «nd in the distribution of rain over many days. 7. In its salubrity. / CANADA. 187 Mr. Hind adds that " the meteorological data introduced are chiefly derived from the admirable and extensive series of observations which have been made at Her Majesty's Obser- vatory at Toronto, under the direction of Captain Lefroy, R.A., F.R.S. ; the Reports of the Regents of the University of the State of New York*, Forrey*s Climate of the United States; the American Almanac; and Dr. Drake's Work on the Diseases of the Valley of North America." — (p. v.) The direct influence of the Great Lakes in elevating the winter temperature is shown by the high mean temperature of Toronto as compared with other places north and south of it, but away from their influences ; and by a compari- son of the occasional minimum temperature of Toronto, eleven degrees below the freezing- point, with the occasional minimum of places west of the Lakes, or in the great valley of the Mississippi; at Fort Crawford, Wisconsin, — 32 ; Fort Howard, Wisconsin, — 32 ; Fort Snelling, Minesota, — 40 ; St. Louis, Missouri (five degrees south of Toronto), — 25 ; Cuba, I 188 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &o. New York, — 2G ; Louisville, New York, — 35 ; the higher tem})erature of Toronto being trace- able partly to the fact that ** the surface-water of the open Lakes is never less than 32°, and gene- rally about 33-5°," or " about T or 8" above the mean temperature of Toronto during the three winter mouths." Another table shows as con- clusively the much greater equability of tempe- rature of Toronto than of the western States, in the far greater differences between the summer and winter mean temperature in the latter ; in other words, " the great and often dangerous extremes of temperature" in the western States. The summer mean temperature of Toronto, on an average of ten years, was 64*51°. The sum- mer mean of Fort Crawford, Wisconsin, is given at 72-38''; Council Bluffs, Missouri, 75-81°; Muscatine, Iowa, 69°; Fort Winnebago, Wis- consin, 67-97"; Detroit, 6733°; (Berlin, 63-2°; Cherbourg, 61*9°; Greenwich, 60-88°; Pen- zance, 61-8°). The effect of clearing the land of forests is next adverted to in its relation to climate, by enabling the sun*s rays to penetrate the soil, rfl»i MH I'M CANADA. 180 "diminishing thereby the duration of frost and snow in the winter months, and retarding their advent in the autumn months." In connexion with this subject the advantages and practicability of draining are touched upon, and instances are mentioned of drains in a clay subsoil, (one of which I saw,) two feet, two feet ten, and three feet six deep, and about one-third of a mile long, which ran the whole winter ; " the thermometer when introduced into water coming from them never falling below 34 degrees, while when ex- posed to the air it sank to zero." These drains were made of rough pine slabs, with the clay firmly stamped over them. Another was formed of "road metal," in a rich vege- table mould, having a depth of two feet six, and a length of 250 yards, and it also ran all the winter. The frequent recurrence of spring frosts in districts remote from the lakes is next mentioned, from which the lake district is comparatively free. The effect of the clearing of forests, on this point, is noticed, on the authority of Hum- boldt and others. W.I l^ 'I'l ■)! • ^ 190 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. " The extensive forests with which the greater part of Western Canada is still clothed, tend, by their nocturnal ra- diation, to diminish the temperature of the nights during the summer season. Humboldt has clearly shown, that by the reason of the vast multiplicity of leaves, a tree, the crown of which does not present a horizontal section of more than 120 or 130 feet, actually influences the cooling of the atmosphere by an extent of surface several thousand times more extensive than this section. The upper surfaces of the leaves first become cool by nocturnal radiation ; these again receive heat from the next lower stratum of leaves, which is, in turn, given off into space. The cooling is thus propagated from above downwards, until the tem- perature of the whole tree is lowered, and, as a necessary result, the air enveloping it. As the forests of Western Canada disappear before the rapid encroachments of the settler, we may look for a rise in the minimum temperature of the spring, summer, and autumnal nights. Late spring and early autumn frosts will probably become rarer as the country becomes more cleared. " Notwithstanding the cold produced by the radiation of heat from the leaves of forest trees during summer nights, there is no reason to suppose that the destruction of forests elevates the mean temperature of the year. From observations extended over thirty years, at Salem in Mas- sachusetts, it appears that the annual mean temperature of the year oscillates in that neighbourhood within a degree about the mean of the whole number of years. The win- ters in Salem, instead of having become milder during the last thirty-three years, as supposed from the destruction of forests, have become colder by 4 deg. Fahrenheit. — (Forrey, r CANADA. 191 quoted by Humboldt.) The tendency of the destruction of forests is, ccBteris paribus, "1. To elevate the mean temperature of the summer months. " 2. To lower the mean temperature of the winter months, but to shorten their duration. " 3. To accelerate tlie advent of spring. " 4. To dry up swamps and shallow springs, and to diminish the supply of water in creeks. " .5. To hasten the disappearance of snow from exposed districts. " The comparatively gradual approach of spring, in the Canadian Peninsula, is a great advantage to the husbandry of the country. High maximum means of temperature, at that season of the year, with low minimum means, are treacherous, and often indeed ruinous to the agriculturist. Their influence on health is also very detrimental. Com- pare Toronto with Muscatine, Iowa, to the west of the Lakes, in these respects. Toronto. Muscatine, near Iowa City. March. April. March. April. 1845 1846 1849 Mean. o 35-68 26-25 33-24 Min. 6-6 5-4 15-1 Mean. 42°13 39-06 38-74 Min. 15-5 9-3 15-5 Mean. 40-3 40-3 37-3 Min. o 8- 20- 10- Mean. o 55-1 52-7 44-3 Mia. 16- 28' 22- Mean . 31-72 9' 39-97 13-4 39-3 12-6 50*7 22* " Hence, April, with a mean temperature at Muscatine of 50°'7, sufficient to force on vegetation, suffers occasional -ffiT' :?^ " ^ I 192 N0TE8 OF PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. mean minimum temperatures of ten degrees below the freezing point ; whereas the mean April temperature at Toronto is nearly eleven degrees b^low that of Muscatine, and effectually arrests the progress of vegetation until the danger arising from killing frosts is greatly diminished. These are important considerations in estimating the adap- tation of a climate to the purposes of agriculture. " The destruction of forests seems to have a marked effect upon swamps, springs, and running streams. In all parts of the country neglected saw-mills may be seen, hav- ing been abandoned by their proprietors owing to the * want of water.' It is indeed a constant and yearly in- creasing complaint, that springs and rivers are drying up, and that the supply of water in mill-creeks is year by year diminishing. This decrease may reasonably be ascribed to the destruction of forests, whereby extensive swamps are exposed to solar radiation, and that supply of moisture which they received in the summer months from the con- densation of the aqueous vapour of the atmosphere, by the leaves of the trees overshadowing them, being altogether cut off. The frequency of extensive swamps is one ac- knowledged cause of the retardation in the advent of spring, and the production of early spring frosts ; it is evi- dent, that with the progress of the settlement of forest- covered tracts, these causes will gradually exert less influence in producing one of the most objectionable features in the climate of this country."* — p. 25 — 27. * Whether from climate or other causes, the proportion of persons of florid complexions and robust frames appeared to me much greater in Canada than in the United States. CANADA. 193 of lie The comparatively even monthly distribution of rain is alSb of great benefit to Canadian hus- bandry. By the tables given at p. 30 it is shown that while at Muscatine the rain fall for the year 1849 was 57*9, nearly 50 per cent, of which fell in two months, June and August, it was at Toronto 32*18, and pretty evenly distributed throughout the year. In the months of May, June, and July it appears that the number of rainy days at Toronto were in each of those months respectively 8-6, 10-4, 10*5, 7-8. The bearing of this fact on the important matter of turnip husbandry is very evident, as well as upon many other forage crops; and the general hu- midity of the climate is shown to be only 7°*5 less than that of Greenwich. Geology. — The admirable Keports of the Geo- logical Survey of Canada which are published " by order of the Legislative Assembly," and are in a very convenient form for reading and reference, give so complete an account of the geological distribution of the various strata and their agricultural capabilities, as far as the suiTcy under Mr. Logan has yet been carried, that • 1 1 ■■' ' ^"- ii 194 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. m 'i! no emigrant or landowner can be at a loss for the fullest information as to the best purposes to which to apply his land, or as to the " eco- nomic materials " it contains. These Reports show what vast resources lie yet undeveloped in the splendid lands of Canada. It is most strik- ing to one who has never before witnessed such prodigality of nature, to see whole districts of many square miles in extent composed of alluvial deposits from 30 to 80 feet deep of soil in some places so rich as to bear good crops of wheat for several successive years without manure ; and others of nearly equal value resting on red sandstone, trap, serpentine, limestones, and other strata most favourable for agriculture; the evi- dences of the strength of the soil being manifest over all that still remains in the state of aboriginal forest, in the noble trees that occupy the ground in every stage of vigour and decay. There are also for many miles in succession (as along the Grand River), soils too rich for wheat; others of a good sandy loam, suitable to, and requiring, the usual English rotations ; other tracts of rich black mould, but requiring drainage — too rich at CANADA. 195 ler iSt lal Ind iire he fers S» lat first for wheat, but which have been cropped with wheat for thirty or forty years with- out manuring. — (Report for 1849-50, p. 92.) " The natural growth of these lands " (along the valley of the Thames, Western District) *' is oak, elm, with black walnut and white-wood trees of enormous size ; the black walnut timber is already becoming a considerable article of export. Fine groves of sugar maple are also met with, from which laige quantities of sugar are annually made," p. 93. The rich soils of the neighbour- hood of London, Woodstock, Zorra, Goderich, Gait, Paris, Brantford, Port Stanley, Port Dal- housie, St. Catherine's, Hamilton, Toronto, Lake Simcoe, Coburg, &c. &c., are in the course of being analysed, and the results of several of the analyses have been already published. The scientific agriculturist therefore has these valuable preliminary points of information ready to his hand. Farming. — In consequence, perhaps, partly of the very fertility of the soil, there is undoubtedly a great deal of very bad farming in Upper Canada. Judging from the state of the farms of a very k2 .•■,71; js- f^^^mimmmm 'i h'' 1 ^ 196 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. large proportion of the smaller occupiers, one is led to conclude that they must have taken to the business without much previous knowledge of it. They very seldom follow any proper rotation, but, as a general rule, '* grow wheat as long as the land will produce it." Root crops are but little cultivated by them, their management of stock therefore is very primitive ; the young stock are nearly starved during the winter, and require the feeding of more than half the sum- mer to recover the weight they have lost during the severe season. Many also die for want of proper food, for in addition to the want of nour- ishment they are seldom kept under shelter suf- ficiently in the winter months. Root crops being neglected, fodder is scarce, and no skill or economy is shown in the preservation and use of manure. The land is foul, and the grain when brought to market has usually a large admixture of dust and seeds. The value of land is con- tinually rising ; the small proprietor therefore thinks himself sufficiently remunerated for his labour in clearing the land and bringing into cul- tivation by the price it will fetch, notwithstanding CANADA. 197 its comparatively exhausted state, whenever he chooses to " sell out." There are, however, large and rapidly in- creasing exceptions to this state of things. Over large tracts of some of the best land in the province is now to be seen as good farming as one could desire to meet with. Gentlemen of independent property have set the example in many of the most eligible situations for settlers ; substantial farmers from England and Scotland have followed, and have introduced with success all i;he best practices of "the old country." I saw in the neighbourhoods of London, Wood- stock, Paris, Hamilton, Toronto, admirably managed farms ; and whole townships elsewhere — such as especially some north and east of Toronto, and north-west, north-east, and south- east of Hamilton — are described as being of similar excellence. Great attention has been paid to the importation of the best stock from England and Scotland; the markets, therefore, of Toronto, Hamilton, Kingston, &c., &c., are supplied with meat of excellent quality and well- fed. An objection to the growth of roots and i 198 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. crops that had been entertained by the sma^' / fanners without much capital or enterprise — namely, the difficulty of preventing their freezing in the winter — had been easily overcome by the superior class of farmers, by storing them pro- perly in cellars under or near their cattle houses, and I accordingly saw many fields of well- cultivated turnips, mangold, and white Belgian carrots, and heavy crops of each. Wool bears a good price (I5. to Is. Sd. per lb.), and is much sought for by agents from the manufacturers of New England, as well as by the rising woollen factories in Canada, as at Sherbrooke, in the eastern townships, and elsewhere. The country is becoming well settled in all directions, and land within a reasonable distance of a market is worth from 20 to 50 dollars per acre, buildings included. In many cases, occupiers of their own land take also an adjoining farm on lease ; in others, tenants are found for separate farms. In one case, which was mentioned to me, the terms for a farm of 120 acres, about forty miles from Toronto, were 501. per annum for the first year, 60/. for the second, and 75Z. for the remainder of \ V CANADA. 199 a seven years* lease. On some farms which I went over, the land was as clean, and the whole details of husbandry put out of hand as skilfully, as on a good average farm in England.* Climate and Cultivation of Loicer Canada. — Still more general, I believe, has been the mis- apprehension as to the climate of Lower Canada and its effect upon agriculture in that province — a misapprehension which has arisen in a great degree from the want of precise and scientific inquiries. In the month of August, 1850, a " Report of the Special Committee on the State of Agriculture in Lower Canada " was presented and printed by order of the Legislative Assembly. This Report is one of much interest; it has cleared up many errors, and laid the foundation of a greatly amended state of things. At pages 130-2 of that Report, tables are given, comparing the mean temperatures of Montreal and Toronto for a period of thirty- four months, from 1847 to 1849, no farther * Lest I should be thought to be dealing with a subject of which I have no experience, I feel it necessary to add, that I have had a small model farm in hand for the last ten years, and have given some attention to farming matters for the last twenty. ,jit^»'-m:, irirs*-*-. " 200 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. I (lata being accessible ; and it results from that comparison that the difference of temperature between Upper and Lower Canada for three years was only 1° 48': the mean of Montreal being 46° 4', and that of Toronto 45° 50'. With reference to the result, the Report states (p. 7), that "daring the mid-winter months, when the temperature is much lower in Lower than in Upper Canada, it is of little consequence to the plant whether the cold varies a few degrees more or less, as the snow protects the earth from the too violent action of the frost." In proof of the little difference in the climate of Upper and Lower Canada, as regards its influence upon agriculture, the natural productions of the soil are the same in both sections of the province. .... The cultivated products are also the same, with the exception of certain fruits (peaches, melons this IS grapes, &c.). At page 129 of the Report, shown m dclail " In Lower Canada the new land is covered with tim- ber ; tlie greater part of the trees being from two to three feet in diameter — the larger the timber the better the soil — and therefore the elioice of land is generally directed by the growth of timber on it. Where beech, maple, hickory, r: i; ».«*■■ r.<.rfi>..«*^'«-' ' ) t CANADA. 201 butternut, and chesnut grow, we find a good soil of yel- low or hazel loam ; wliere elm, white ash, white ouk butternut, and red oak grow, the soil is strong; where white-pine, hemlock-pine, birch, and spruce grow, the soil is sandy ; cedar swamps, though often composed of good soil, are not desirable, unless easy to drain ; black ash, soft maple, or plane swamps, are mostly on a clay or marl, and if well drained make lasting meadows; wliere there are small poplar and small white birch, the soil is poor, being light loam on white clay. " The foregoing may be taken as a descriptive list of forest trees in the Lower Province, and the soils on which they grow. The soils most congenial for orchards are light loams or gravel. Apple-trees thrive much, also, on rocky or limestone land. A great variety of apple, pear, peach, plum, cherry, grape-vines, and other fruit trees may be found in the neighbourhood of Montreal ; the apples from thence are considered superior to any other. Cherries, chesnuts, walnuts, hickory, hazel, and filbert nuts, grow wild, as in Upper Canada, — as do gooseberries, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, cranberries, and black currants. " The emigrant farmer, therefore, may be told with truth, that although the season appears short, and the cold intet)se, at certain periods, the winters are more pleasant and salubrious, and the summers warmer than those of England ; the seasons more uniform, and the air more clear and dry." Eemarks have been often made on the bad farming of the French Canadians and their backwardness in following in the steps of modem k3 .jj>r>4Ui'^ \\i 202 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &o. improvements. In one of the numerous and valuable comnmnications to the Connuittec, ap- pended to the Report, some ('acts are stated which will suggest more charitable and equitable eon- oll^^ns on that subject : — •' Our first settlers from old France were not ag J ;ul turists, but either fishermen or the sons of good f^in with a! J new land, from the continual decomposition oi Aegetable matter — was rich, and although the seitlers only worked one- third of the year, with their economical habits, the ground produced much more than they consumed ; the remaining two-thirds of their time they spent in .smoking, dancing, ceremouies of the church, and on the road going to Court or market. " Education was not thought of; the children went on the oame way: and yet, without any improvement to their land, ii still yielded more than sufficient for their families. Another generation comes on, and they begin to complain of the crops fulling off, and not producing as formerly, but for the want of education could not imagine the cause ; and, unfortunately, the Seigniors, who actually were as much interested as the farmers, were not acquainted with agriculture or car°c! hvit little about it. This has continued until all the ok! truv-— in thf '. .ids of Cana- dians of French origii > so worn out from continual cropping, they will not produce enough for their subsist- ence, and the proprietors are all in debt." I 1 I ^ CANADA. 203 To this is to be added the fact, that to this day they are, generally, unacquainted with our I.'iiiguage, and ''labour und^r the additional disailvantage of havuig no agrieultur;> 1 works published in their own." (pp. 64, 1 16.) The principal defects in their system of M^ tivation, as enumerated by tlie Committee ^p. 2 1)^ are — " First, the want of an appropriate rotatiun of crops ; secondly, tlie want or bad application of manures; tliinlly, the little care bestowed upc i the breeding and keepin cattle ; fourthly, the want uf draining in certain plat fifthly, the want of attention u iven to the meadows, and ti, production of vegetables for feeding rattle ; sixthly, th scarcity of improved agricultural implements." And the consequence ' is, that " they do not derive from the soil more than one-fourth of what it can produce." (p. 21.) Among the means pointed out in that Report for the improvement of the agriculture of the lower province (such as th> opening of new roads, the survey of the Cro' n lands, and the adoption of a better principle in the award of prizes in the Agricultural Societies aided by the State), was the publication ol a short tract, i, I w ,ff^V f:^ 204 NOTES ON rUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. setting forth, in plain terms, how a French Canadian could improve his cultivation by very easy processes within his own reach. A tract of this kind has been written (Traite sur la Tenure generale d'une Terrc dans le Bas-Canada), and *' published by order of his Excellency the Governor-General (the Earl of Elgin and Kin- cardine), and presented and recommended by him to the cultivators of Lower Canada." (Quebec, 1851.) It is described as having been written "by an inhabitant of the district of Montreal, who has put in practice, with the greatest success during more than twenty years, the system which he recommends ; and who, having commenced without capital, has become a proprietor of lands." A copy of this excellent little treatise was presented by the Governor General (through the Koman Catholic Archbishop and the parochial clergy) to every individual French Canadian oc- cupying land. It is easy to conceive with what feelings of respect and gratitude so valuable a mark of interest in their welfare, and so useful a guide to their future prosperity, was received by the loyal, warmhearted, and courteous inha- ¥M'- CANADA. 205 bitants of Lower Canada, when coming to them under such sanctions. There can be no shadow of doubt as to the effect it will produce in correct- ing the errors of their old system of management, and bringing out the resources of their fertile soil. What they are capable of under good guid- ance, or under the stimulus of example, has been already shown in several localities, to an extent sufficient to justify more favourable anticipations from the future. Proofs of this were mentioned to me in reference to the neighbourhoods where good farming had been introduced by English or Scotch settlers ; and the communications at- tached to the Agricultural Report above men- tioned, sufficiently attest the capabilities of the land when properly treated. In one of them (at p. 122 of the Report), it is affirmed that there are many instances in Lower Canada of men who twenty or thirty years ago commenced with nothing but their skill and industry, and who, having raised themselves to comparative independence, " have leased worn-out farms at from ten to twenty shillings per arpent" (1 arpent 18 perches = 1 English acre). Many 206 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. ! i\ could be pointed out " who have not only paid these rents, but have purchased several farms for themselves." Many prejudices had been dis- pelled by the enterprise of these good farmers, such as the idea that winter wheat could not be grown with success, that good root-crops could not be raised, &c. &c. At the Agri- cultural Show at Quebec, on the 28th October last, I saw as good turnips, mangold, carrots, parsnips, kohl-rabi, and other roots, as I ever met with at an average Agricultural Exhibition in England. If this could be done in the neigh- bourhood of Quebec, still more could it be on the fine land round Montreal, nearly a degree and a half more to the south. Accordingly, at the extremely interesting farm of Major Campbell (late secretary to the Governor Gei.vral), at his seignory of St. Hilaire, about 25 miles from Montreal, on the line of the Montreal and Portland Railway, I saw, a few days later, excellent root- crops, some stored for the winter, some still in the ground, and an establishment which approaches very nearly, in the completeness of its building arrangements, and in the scientific skill with CANADA. 207 he es th which the whole is managed, to the best speci- mens of high farming in this country. One of the most valuable districts of Lower Canada is that of the eastern townships. It has hitherto, from certain local circumstances, been imperfectly settled, though affording every in- ducement to attract both agricultural and manu- facturing capital. While this great tract of 4,886,400 acres of land, of which less than a third can be considered, according to good autho- rity, as unproductive, has been all but neglected, an emigration of no less than 25,000 persons took place from Lower Canada in the five years ending with 1849. To endeavour to check this, and to open the eastern townships to settlers generally and to the Lower Canadian population in particular, an inquiry took place this year, the result of which has been a " First Report of the Special Committee appointed to inquire into the Causes which relate to the Settlement of the Eastern Townships of Lower Canada." Printed by order of the Legislative Assembly, Toronto, 1851 (June). This territory is thus described at p. 11 of the Appendix to that Report. ! iB 208 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. , " Tliis vast territory promises to become, at no distant period, tlie richest, the most populous, and the most flourish- ing part of Lower Canada; not only on account of its climate, milder than that of the shores of the St. Lawrence, of the immense extent of excellent and fertile soil which it includes, and of its abundant streams of water, but also, and more especially, because that part of our fine country borders on the territory of our industrious neighbours, and must be traversed by the main lines of connnunication between the two countries ; as by the railroad from Mon- treal to Melbourne on the St. Francis, and from Melbourne to Portland on the Atlantic, and soon hereafter, we trust, by that from Melbourne to Quebec." The recommendations of that committee are — first, to lay a tax on wild lands; secondly, to establish an efficient road-law; thirdly, to open good lines of communication and to improve existing roads ; and there can be no doubt that these suggestions will forthwith be taken into consideration by the Legislature. This being the state of the case with regard to the climate, soil, communications, present condi- tion and prospective improvement of agriculture, in these noble provinces, let any one take up the map of British North America and consider what will be the effect of the completion of that Vt CANADA. 209 Tiiagnificent, imperial system of railway com- munication, wliich, starting from Halifax, is about to pass from Nova Scotia, through New Brunswick, to Quebec, and from thence to Montreal, Kingston, Toronto, Hamilton, and through the entire length of Upper Canada to its western extremity, opposite Detroit; there to meet the already constructed railway across the State of Michigan to Chicago, and onward, towards the Mississippi, which will be reached by a line now in progress, within the next few years. I speak of this great main line through the British provinces as "about to be completed," because the Legislatures of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, have agreed upon a basis of co-operation, Canada making herself responsible for four-twelfths, New Bruns- wick for five-twelfths, and Nova Scotia for three- twelfths of the cost, the Imperial Government being expected to guarantee the necessary loan, which will enable these provinces to borrow the money, 7,000,000/., at three and a half per cent. ; and because half the portion from Quebec to Montreal is open, and the line from Hamilton to I I .11 ! 11 f I ^%::&. « 210 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. '\l • New Windsor (its western terminus), partly under contract.* Let the branch lines from the main one be then traced ; from Prescott on the St. Lawrence, to Bytown on the Ottawa, now under construction ; from Toronto to Lake Sim- coe, 50 miles north, and on to Lake Huron, already commenced ; thus following out sugges- tions as to opening this rich and valuable line of country by a railway, from which the most pro- fitable results are anticipated : again, the proposed branches from Toronto to Guelph andGodcrich; from Ilamilton to Niagara, to connect with the lines through the State of New York ; from Brant- ford to Goderich, on Lake Huron, on one side, and to Port Maitland and the mouth of the Welland Canal, on Lake Erie, and beyond, to a point opposite Buffalo, on the other. Let the magnificent canal communications be next considered, — both those that exist and those that are projected, and which will at no distant day be, without doubt, effected. The first are * A guarantee of the whole sum at once will clearly be for the interest of this country, as it would secure the contemporaneous constri'.otion of the best-paying portions of the line, — those from Quebec westward. CANADA. 211 b be lose Itant are ^r the leous I from well known ; those that enable a vessel of 350 tons burden, laden at the extreme end of Lake Michigan, to pass through the Welland Canal, and thence by the Rapids of the St. Lawrence, to Montreal and Quebec, laden with 3000 barrels of flour below and 1000 upon her deck. The second are the improvements now in progress in deepening Lake St. Peter, which it is proposed to continue until ships of 1000 tons burden can come up from the ocean to the wharfs at Mon- treal — upwards of 500 miles inland from the mouth of the Gulf of St. Lawrence at Point Gaspe ; the construction of a large canal from a point somewhere nearly opposite Montreal to Lake Champlain, with a corresponding enlarge- ment of the canals from that lake to the Hudson, which wall enable the large vessels laden on the upper lakes to proceed by that route to New York without " breaking bulk ;"* the construc- * For aa account of this proposed canal, and for many in- teresting and valuable facts relating to the resources of Canada, and best means of giving them further development, I would refer to a Prize Essay on ' The Canals of Canada, their Prosj)ects and Influence.' Written for a premium oft'ercd by His Excellency the Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, K.T., Governor-General of British North America. &c. &c. By Thomas C. Kcefer, Civil Engineer. — Toronto, A. H. Armour and Co. 1850. i\ 1 i I '. I f I 212 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. tioii of a short canal (of only one mile) at Sault Sainte Marie (a plan projected also by the United States), in the narrow strait above Lake Huron, and which will open the whole of Lake Superior, — that vast inland sea, — with its newly discovered mineral resources of copper and iron, to the commerce of the St. Lawrence, and give another impulse to the already rapidly increasing settlement of the territory of Minesota* — a name hitherto probably scarcely heard of in England, but the name, nevertheless, of a fertile region nearly as large as England, and one so attractive to settlers that it is expected, within three years from the present time, to be sufficiently peopled to be able to demand admittance into the Union.f * The purchase from the Indians of the whole of the remainder of the territory, not before sold by them, is just completed. t The following extract, from an able Report by the United States Consul at St. John's, New Brunswick, to the Secrerary of the United States Treasury, on the Trade and Commerce of the British North American Colonies (Washington, 1851), adverted to again at p. 279, will be read with interest in connexion with the subject of the anticipated effect of the proposed Lake Cham- plain Canal on the future development of the trade and com- merce of Canada : — " It is proposed to construct a canal on a large scale near Montreal, to unite the waters of Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence : this, if carried out, will unquestionably prove to be •-'W.;>»*»*»'»*!..-- •«*•„,«<•■» CANADA. 213 corn- near le St. to bo Let any one who has considered these pro- vinces thus far now glance for a moment at their of great benefit to the inland conimercv. generally, and the Imn- bering districts of Eastern Canada. You can, however, judge of its merits, and better appreciate its importance, by the foU lowiny extracts from a report of a Committee (of which the Hon. R II. Walworth was chairman), appointed by a meetings lield at Troy, in July, 1849, of which meeting Major-General Wool was president, to whom was referred the duty of visiting the site of this great undertaking, and an extract from a report made by the Montreal Board of Trade on the same subject, of which board Thomas Ryan, Esq., is president. *' One source of revenue from the canal anticipated by your Committee, is the transportation of large quantities of coal from Pennsylvania and other States situated upon our great western lakes, for the manufacture of iron, and the transportation of such iron for the use of the western States. It is well known that a very considerable region of country in northern New York is filled with the richest and most extensive beds of iron ore in the United States, or perhaps in the world. Many of these beds which have been opened, and are now being worked, are situated upon the very borders of Lake Champlain, or within a short distance from it. The present capabilities of the iron works in the vicinity of these mines, or on the shores of the lake, are about 60,000 tons of iron annually, the production of which quantity of iron will require about 120,000 tons of coal. The future capability of these extensive mines for the production of ore, and the extent to which iron works may be erected in that region where water-power is so abundant, are incalculable, and can only be limited by the wants of the country. The present price of coal at Erie, is from one dollar fifty cents to two dollars per ton ; and the estimated price of tonnage and tolls, supposing it to be the same in this as in the Welland Canal, is about seventy- seven cents. All other expenses of transportation to points upon Lake Champlain, would not exceed from seventy* five to one I I 214 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, Sec. f (I h great and flourishing towns ; — Hamilton, be- neath a bold escarpment and enfolding hills hundred cents, making the price of tiiis coal, wlion dolivered on the shores of Lake Champhiin, only from three dollars fifty cents to three dollars seventy-tivo cents per ton. Tiiis is much less tliun the coal can bo obtained for from any other (luarter, cs[)e- cially when the wood for the manufacture of charcoal shall have been cut olF, as it must be in a very few years. And this canal, by opening a direct communication with the western States and the fertile region of Upper Canada, will furnish a new and con- stantly increasing market for *.\\c iron of northern New York, and will supply return cargoes for the vessels which bring down the coal. *' Again, connected as this canal would be with the Ottawa, as well as other rivers which flow iito the St. Lawrence, either above or below Montreal, the shons of which rivers arc now lined with immense forests of the most valuable pine timber, it would bring to Lake Champlain, and through the Champlain Canal to the Hudson River, the products of those forests ; and will thus chea])cn that species of lumber, which, from its scarcity, is now commanding exorbitant prices. This, of itself, it is be- lieved, would for many years afford a very handsome revenue to the canal. A large Ji inch of trade would also be oi)oned with Newfoundland, Labrador, and Nova Scotia; for there is but little doubt that their fish, oil, gypsum, coal, &c., could be delivered on Lake Champlain, and even at Troy, at a less cxi)enso for transportation than the same articles are now delivered at these points by way of Boston and New York. But when there is added to this the trade of northern Pennsylvania from Lake Erie, the trade of Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minesota, and the fertile peninsula of Upper Canada ; when it is considered that the lands now cultivated in this extensive region of country boar but a small proportion to the wild lands, and that such will be the gradual increase of production then, that the Erie and Oswego canals, even when enlarged, will be If Si* , 1 111 V^jf*' ' t-iitlJ^f ' ■ ---V i-"«'3WTO&ij^ CANAl V. 215 bc- hills and carcity, is be- tiue to d with t little vercd ISO for these icre is Erie, Iowa, len it insive ands, then, 11 be richly covered with the primeval lores ^ undulating plain on which it stands di\ . ified totally inadequate to such increased commerce ; by this single improvement, steamers and vessels from all the ui)])er and western lakes, as well as from the (Jidf of St. Lawrence, can reach Burlington, Whitehall, and all the other ports on Lake Chaiiiplain, without breaking bulk. The flour, jjork, beef, coal, and all the products of the west, can, by means of the railroads now in course of construction, be distributed in the interior, and also be landed at Boston, at a less expense, with less depreciation of value by transport, and in a shorter period than by any other route. " To the city of New York the construction of this work is of the greatest possible importance. With the Champlain Canal of sixty-six miles to Troy, or seventy-two miles to Albany, en- larged to the same size as the proposed canal, vessels fiom any western lake port could, without breaking bulk, discharge at the port of New York, and then could there reload with emigrants and merchandise direct for the west. " From Lake Eric to New York, by the St. Lawrence and Lake Champlain, there would be about 194 miles of canal navi- gation, with 702 feet lockage, against 3G3 miles of canal, with 6i)8 feet lockage, by way of the Erie Canal. In the one case there would be no transhipment from the lakes to New York, but a continuous water communication, affording navigation for vessels of 350 tons burden. In the other case there would bo two transhipments, and, by the present size of our canals, a water communication navigable by boats of 75 ton- only. It must also be borne in mind that vessels, in descending the St. Lawrence, need not be delayed by passing through the locks in that river, as loaded vessels may now descend the rajjids in safety, and are only compelled to use the locks in the ascending voyages." Having mentioned with some particularity the resources and advantages of other favoured portions of Canada, I am reminded by the reference to the district of the Ottawa in the above ex- I 21G Hi NOTES ON PUBLIC HIIIWIXTS, Stc. with t'oliap^e, cultivution, Jiiul villas ; t\\v inlot from the Lake, which forms its harhoiir, pro- sciitin^ an agrceahly varied outliiu' ; the villas generally in a thoroughly correct style of archi- tecture, and surrounded hy groimds as well ke])t and as neat as art and care can make them ; the streets wide, the houses suhstantial, the ])ul)lic buildings creditable, the shops and wholesale warehouses showing every sign of a thriving and exuberant trade:* Toronto, spreading over a wide and gently rising plateau on the lake shore, handsomely built, increasing most rapidly, pos- sessing public buildings which in dimensions, in correctness of taste, and in solidity of construc- tion, are surpassed by few of a similar kind iu the second-rate towns in England; its wealth steadily accumulating, under perhaps the compa^ ratively slow but yet the certain course of the tract, that it would be an injustice to it not to add some account of its vast capabilities. I accordingly give in the Appendix (II), p. 315, some extracts from a public document concerning it. * It is to be regretted that the j)lariting of trees for shado along the foot-pavements of the principal streets, which gives so pleasing an appearance to the towns in the United States, has not yet, except in a very few instances, been adopted in Canada. »"_*.-*^... ^ CANADA. *il7 strict business principles uiul incrcuntile honour of the " old country ;" its numerous neat and well-kept villas, and houses of* larger pretensions attaehiHl to eonsiderahle farms at a further dis- Uuice from the town, attesting the effect of the process:* Kiiifjfston, also showing signs of pros- perity and progress; distinguished even among the towns of Canada for the grandeur and cor- rectness of design of its public buildings (market- houses, public offices, &c.) ; occupying an im- portant ])()sition at the head of the Ilideau Canal ; guarded by its strong fort, which com- bines in the landscape with the varied outline of the town, the inlet forming the small dockyard, the woody islands, and the surrounding country : Montreal, alive with commerce, pleasing the eye with the graceful forms of the hills around; liccount (II), It. shiulo Ives so ^s, hu3 Itcd in * It was lately publicly stated, on undoubted authority, that, MJiilo at one of the great couuiiercial towns on the other side oi the lake, in the State of New York, the individuals composing the leading mercantile firms had nearly all changed three times over within the last twenty years in consequence of failures, the persons in leading positions as merchants, &c., at Toronto, had been the same during the whole time, or had transmitted their wealth and position to their sons ; and that many who were be- ginning their career at the commencement of that period, had been pursuing it without reverses and were now wealthy. 218 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. II ! Si i ! some of its old narrow and somewhat picturesque streets reminding one of Europe; its public buildings,* erected and in progress, equally sub- stantial and creditable: Quebec, with its un- dying interest, its beauty of position and outline, its crowd of masts along the wharfs, its fleets at anchor below the citadel, or in the *' Timber- coves" beneath overhanging cliffs and foliage, its quaint old streets, its imposing fortifications, and its busy population. Let all these circumstances be weighed ; the great natural resources of these provinces, the energy now at work in developing them, the inducements thereto held out by the home growth of a consuming population, and by the expanding flicilities of transport either to the home or the foreign market ; and it will be seen how extensive a field is there opening for the still further employment of British capital and labour. ♦ In the term " public buildings," wherever I have used it, I do not mean to include the churches, although several in each town are in an excellent style of architecture. The cathedral at Mon- treal has very slender claims to any merit of this kind ; yet 1 fear it is often considered, by visiters from the United States, as a specimen of the cathedrals of Europe. CANADA. 219 it, I town Mon- yetl Ites, as The ordinary interest of capital in Canada is 6 per cent. The ordinary price of common labour in Upper Canada is 25. to 35. (sterling) a day ; and as all common articles are admitted under a low revenue tariff of from 2i to 12 J per cent, the usual articles of consumption, including pro- visions, are cheap and good. The principle, indeed, of the Canadian tariff is to levy pretty high duties on sugar, tea, coffee, tobacco, wines, spirits, and other articles not produced either in the colony or the mother country, and to place revenue duties, as low as the wants of the pro- vince admit, on manufactures. The annual accumulations of British capital were stated, during the discussions on the in- come-tax and on the railway mania of 1846, as amounting to some 60,000,000?.; they have since been estimated at 75,000,000?., of which vast sum about one half finds employment in invest- ments as fixed capital, in new buildings of various kinds — as houses, manufactures, bridges, roads, &c. &c. — while a large portion of the other halfj which cannot be profitably occupied in extending existing fields of investment, is obliged to seek l2 , i l> 1 ; si n 220 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. for new ones. The amount of British capital already employed in Canada is very great; a considerable number of the leading merchants being either connected with large mercantile houses in London, or being independent off- shoots from them. A supply, also, of excellent agricultural settlers has of late years come to the colony. That there is an ample and a growing field for more, the facts above adduced show- without a doubt. The question is, are there any reasons, in addition to those exhibited, why it should flow in that direction ? This opens the consideration of Canadian poli- tics, which, however, I shall touch upon but briefly. The politics of Canada were, for many years, " a sore subject" in England. Whenever public attention was called to them, it was generally in relation to complaints as to the mode of govern- ment, terminating in insurrections; complaints (and most just ones) as to the suddenness of the alterations of our tariff, and the want of con- sideration shown to the Canadians at the time ; civil disturbances, threats of throwing off all connexion with the mother country and "annex- apital it; a ;hants antile t off- lellent to the owing show re any vhy it n poli- )riefly. vears, public ally in overn- ilaints lof the cen- time ; ff all nnex- CANADA. 221 ing" themselves to the United State* And whoever, in his desire to look more closely into those matters, consulted the public press of the colony, found it (with a few and occasional exceptions) dealing in accusations of the blackest kind against opponents, imputations of the lowest and most corrupt motives, personalities, and other marks of bitter animosity, and very seldom rising to a tone of calm and searching discussion on the important questions of the day. It re- quires a nearer view and a better acquaintance than books or newspapers can give, to form a just estimate of the beneficial change that has latterly taken place, and of the point at which those provinces have arrived in the process of ini- tiation into the working of constitutional govern- ment. There is no need to revive in this place the facts relating to that great cause of difference a few years ago between the Executive and one of the parties in the province — the Rebellion Losses Bill. They are unhappily too familiar to every one in the colony. The result of the course of policy then pursued has, however, been this — i .'/frr-T^ 222 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. I! ;(i, . If r 1 1 it has shown most unequivocally to the whole people of Canada that they are bond fide and to the fullest extent in possession of the great privi- lege of Constitutional Government. This is unquestionably a great point for them to have established, and worth a great deal more than the temporary feelings of irritation which accom- panied the passing of that celebrated Bill. I think I perceived that those feelings had been considerably softened down in the great majority of persons that I met with, although it still re- mains as a deep cause of offence in the minds of many. They cling to the idea that the Governor- General (Lord Elgin) should have refused his assent to the Bill, and should have sent it to England either with or without a recommenda- tion that it should have been disallowed by the Crown. To have done the former, as was argued at the time in this country, would have been to place the Crown in direct antagonism with the French and the Liberal party in the colony ; to have done the latter would have been to shrink from a responsibility which on great occasions it is often the first duty of a servant of the Crown CANADA. 223 to assume. In either case the Crown would have been brought into direct collision with powerful and exasperated parties in the province, and, what would have been still worse, the repre- sentative of the Crown would have been lowered to the position of a partisan. I believe it is now, after two years of reflection, pretty generally ad- mitted that, considering the failure of former attempts to carry on the government on the basis of the ascendancy of race and party, and considering the then embittered state of public feeling, the discontent engendered by commer- cial distress, and the hostility to British rule in Canada manifested by certain classes in the United States, even as late as the year 1848, it was a critical moment in the destinies of this colony, and that it is fortunate that it terminated as it did. Where the contrary opinion still lin- gers, it appeared to me to be the result of too low an appreciation of the constitutional position and duties of the Executive. This is far from being unnatural, considering the comparative novelty of constitutional government in the colony, and the long habit, contracted under the old mode of '^TWW*t»P< " . ^V-:C ' H I! li 224 NOTES ON rUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. administration, of looking at the Queen's repre- sentative as the supporter and ahuost the insti'U- ment of one party alone. It may be, as it is still argued, that the experiment of constitutional government was introduced too soon, that neither the state of intelligence of the mass of the people, nor the condition of the public press, was such as to justify so sudden a change. But it is admitted on all hands that there is no returning to the past — that what has been done cannot be undone — and that all that remains from henceforward is to make the best of matters as they now exist. It is therefore natural to conclude that, the more constitutional questions come to be studied, as they arise in the course of public affairs, the more will the point, which in England is so familiar, become plain and obvious, that the true place of the representative of the Crown is one above and aloof from the personal considerations of party, and one which keeps in view only the just and impartial administration of public affairs with reference to the great general interests of the country. A circumstance, exemplifying this principle. i CANADA. 225 litions the IfFairs Its of iple, was agitating the colony during my stay there, in consequence of the appointment to office, in conjunction with the party which had a majority in the Legislative Assembly, of two individuals personally very obnoxious to the party out of power. It was the simple constitutional course, and any other would have had the disadvan- tage, in addition to being unconstitutional, of making political martyrs, and therefore placing in such hands a great accession of popular power. Two other circumstances are also worth advert- ing to, as indications of how entirely the govern- ment is now being carried on in accordance with the Parliamentary principles of this country. I. This very change of the "personnel" of the administration, adverted to in the last paragraph, was in part the result of a measure of a distin- guished member of the ministry having been voted against by some of his usual supporters, aided by members of the old Tory party and some of the Radical section of their own. The minister v/hose measure was by that vote condemned by an influential portion of his own party, took the dignified course of resigning oflfice — the measure l3 226 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. I i ■ It > that was condemned having been the year before strongly supported by both parties. 2. The general election was about to take place, and all parties were busy with canvassing and addresses. The Ultra-Radical party, which apparently draws its inspirations from the most *' advanced " portions of the American democracy, adopted the line of attempting to bind their candidates by pledges on every question of the day. A very firm stand was made against this unconstitutional attempt at dictation, by some of the men of highest position in the colony, who refused to submit to what would utterly destroy the House of Representa- tives for every useful purpose as a deliberative body, by converting its members into a mere meeting of delegates to register the decisions of irresponsible committees. These are the processes by which a real feel- ing is brought home to public men of their duties and responsibilities, by which statesmen are formed, and the public mind educated in the working of constitutional government. And it must be evident to any one who calmly observes what is passing in those provinces, that, in the CANADA. 227 feel- their ;men the id it Tves the short time during which they can be considered to have been in possession of real responsible government, they have made great and im- port? ^^t steps in its practical assertion according to its true theory. This consideration cannot but raise the Canadian people in the estimation of every Englishman who visits that colony, and of every one else acquainted with the privileges which they enjoy under their essentially fi^ee constitution.* * It was, doubtless, a sense of this well-established and im- portant fact that showed itself in the cordial and animated re- ception which the authorities and people of Boston gave, in the month of October last, to the Governor- General of these provinces, and to the large body of distinguished Canadians who accompanied him. The occasion was a railway celebration, on the completion of the Vermont central line from Montreal to Boston. The mayor and corporation of Boston, and other eminent persons of that city, had repaired to Montreal to invite the Queen's representative, the ministers and the leading members of the Canadian Parliament, the municipal authorities, and the most prominent individuals of the latter city, to a friendly fSte in commemoration of an event pregnant with great prospective commercial advantages to both those wealthy communities. The invitation was accepted; the Governor-General, surrounded by his ministers, and a large assemblage of persons of distinguished position and character in Canada, was received by the authorities and the whole people of Boston, not only with the most muni- ficent hospitality, but with marked demonstrations of honour and respect to himself as Her Majesty's representative, and the constitutional head of the Canadian people. The Canadian :; >^ [ 228 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. The general results of the complete introduc- tion of Constitutional Government in Canada ministers also, and the distinguislied individuals with them, met with a reception that spoke a sense of their being fully appre- ciated as representing a people holding a place among the free governments of the world. In that light the celebration was looked upon even by the local papers in distant parts of the Union, where I chanced at the time to see them, and it was spoken of in a very gratifying manner. In point of fact, as I have undertaken to express an opinion on the present constitutional state of the government of Canada, I cannot withhold my conviction that it possesses a far greater degree of real freedom than it could acquire by any imitation, such as the ultra- Radical party are apparently aiming at, of any of the peculiarities of the constitution of the United States. The Executive in Canada, holding j)recisely the same relative position as the Crown with us, has far less direct power and patronage than the President of the United States. The ministerial re- sponsibility, also, is far greater and more immediate than any- thing that can exist under the system of the United States Government. In Canada they are, as with us, members of Par- liament, and ready and obliged to answer in their places any questions, and to meet any charges brought against them. The ministers of the United States are not permitted to enter the Legislature, nor can they be displaced by a hostile vote ; during the whole term of their being ministers, they are entirely free to act in any way thf y choose, under the direction of the President (who may, if he pleases, act in the most important matters without them), and, if they satisfy him, it matters not to them what the rest of the nation may think of them or their measures. And it should be remembered also by that ultra-party, that the adoption of portions of the United States' system of government, without the whole, would form a constitution far less guarded by constitutional checks than that of the United States; for this CANADA. 229 met may, I think, be stated as follows : — First. That although many most estimable persons continue to think the experiment had better not have been tried, all now acquiesce in it, and are prepared to make the best of it ; while the great majority of the community look with satisfaction and hopefulness on the change that has taken place from the old mode of administering the simple reason, that the judges of the Supreme Court of the United States hold in their hands a supremo and arbitrary power of declaring what is and what is not consistent with the written constitution, and can, consequently, disallow and annul any attempt of any ultra-party to go beyond it. The British con- stitution, being an unwritten one, and the venerable result of tho wisdom of successive ag"s, has no such arbitrary check; and while it rests on the good sense and moderation of an enlightened public opinion, will never need such. Let, however, nii.abcrs overbear weight of character and authority, and our constitution has no ulterior appeal, and must be swept away. Our needful and useful reforms have hitherto been kept within that dangerous boundary, and it is to be hoped ever will be. There was no constitutional point which I had an opportunity of discussing with able and intelligent men of all parties in the United States and in Canada, which was adverted to by them with greater interest than this ; for it is there deeply felt, that, of all the nations of the civilized world. Great Britain alone has, tlirough the shock of long-past as well as recent convulsions, preserved the principle of authority and the sentiments of respect and reverence, and has, tiierefore, the better chance of preserving, as of old, wisdom in her councils, and the blessing of Providence on her course. II 230 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. affairs of the colony, and at the same time feel a not unjustifiable pride in the reflection that they now possess a system of government, in all the most important respects precisely analogous to that of the British Constitution. Secondly. That the Conservative party are recovering the good feeling that a large j)ortion of them so entirely lost at the period of the unfortunate occurrences at Montreal in April, 1849,* of which a signal proof was very recently given in the presentation of an Address by the Mayor and Corporation of Montreal, and a large number of the inhabitants, to the Governor-General, on the occasion of his return from the gratifying and in all respects important reception at Boston. That address bespoke an entire oblivion and reconciliation in respect of the past. It was responded to in a spirit and in words that will long live in the hearts and memories of the people of Montreal. • Most fortunately, and by the wise forbearance of those in authority, no blood was shed ; and consequently no rankling wound was left in the breasts of either party. Had the British arms been call-^d in to support by force either of the exasj)erated parties at that critical moment, half a century would not have effaced the mischief. ff CANADA. 231 in ng sh ed ve Thirdly. Animosities of race appear to be fast disappearing — a great result in every point of view. French Canadians and English are learn- ing to act together as a great united Cana- dian people, having the same object in view — the honour and prosperity of their magnificent country. Fourthly. The French Canadians are loyal and contented, and are partaking, as I have taken occasion to show, in as great a degree as can yet be expected, in the onward move- ment of the active races around them. Fifthly. Authority, law, and order, have been strengthened by the public example of the harmonious working together of the two great powers of the State, the Legislative and the Ex( cutive. Sixthly. Attention is less distracted than formerly, from the great questions of public improvement, — rail- ways, canals, roads, education, agriculture, — on all of which the public mind in Canada is now bent with great energy, — little less, apparently, and judging from the public prints, than exists among ourselves. All this tends to show that government and society in Canada are upon a sohd basis ]So 232 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. other fact .could have so much weight as this in en- couraging persons, who may think of emigrating, to ally themselves and their fortunes with the vlestinies of that country, or in bringing com- mercial capital to its shores. As for the "an- nexation" movement of a few years ago, the mention of it now only excites a smile ; and if universal rumour is to be trusted, those who, in a moment of temporary irritation, were most forward in it, are the last to wish to hear any allusion to the subject. A newspaper which was set on foot to advocate those ideas, died away in a few months. The discussion provoked by it had the good effect of making only more clear to the understandings and feelings of the whole Canadian people the fact, that they were and would be of far greater importance, as a people, while connected with Great Britain, than they ever could be as one of the States of the Union ; that they had already within themselves all the guarantees of law, order, and good government, and all the elements of material prosperity, with the important addition of the aid of British credit and British capital; and that they had good CANADA. 233 )ii; I the mt, rith bdit )0d reason to be proud of being part and parcel of this empire, and of a country which enjoys, beyond all other countries, the blessings arising from a temperate and rational freedom.* One of the greatest aids that could be now * Canada has, in point of fact, more freedom of action than is possessed by the individual States of the Union, and consequently more than she would have if she wore one of them. An illus- tration of this is now before the public in those countries. All the States bordering on the great lakes are anxious for the free navigation of the St. Lawrence, which Canada is ready to grant. The general Government of the United States has opposed ob- stacles to this, arising out of the imagined interests of some of the other States, To any such measure which Canada might think advantageous to her interest, the Imperial Government would not think of interposing the slightest obstacle. Also, under any right estimate of happiness, Canada has the advantage, in a comparative immunity from the perpetual strife and intrigue of elections, and from the ostracism of wealth, talent, high principle, and wisdom to which Universal SuiFrage is al- ways more or less inclined. Since the abovi was written, the General Election has taken place, and T cannot help thinking that many circumstances re- lating to it, which I see mentioned in the public papers, may be fairly taken as confirmatory of the soundness of the policy pur- sued in that country during the last few years. It is said that never was an election in Canada so free from violence; that " annexation" has been almost unheard of; and that the attacks were few upon the Union of the Provinces, the change in the seat of Government, and the Governor-General. It is much to be hoped that this may be regarded as the inauguration of a long period of moderation, peace, and mutual efforts for the common welfare. '4 L 234 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. , given to the prosperity and dignity of these fine provinces would be an elevated and purified daily press. With a very few exceptions (and those not always and altogether such, according to my own limited observation), the press of Canada does injustice to the political, moral, social, and intellectual character of the people, and is not of a tone to qualify it to speak for a cultivated and intelligent society.* It rarely, as far as I could observe, attempts any calm and philosophical discussion of the topics of the highest moment to the future destiny of the colony, moral and social ; but is rather occupied in stimulating, instead of striving to allay, the exasperations of party struggles, which are always apt to be most bitter among men only beginning * The state of the press in Canada makes it necessary for me, to prevent any possible misrepresentation and imputations of motives, to say that I have not, nor ever had, nor ever expect to have, the slightest personal interest in Canada, or in anything that concerns it. The interest I have taken in it is of a purely public nature, and such as any Englishman may be allowed to take in a question of great public importance, — the material and moral progress of our colonies ; and what I have thus essayed to write upon it has arisen, as I have before said, from the mere accident of my turning my steps in that direction, instead of another, during an autumn tour, without a previous acquaintance with half a dozen individuals in Canada. CANADA. 235 as me, to lotives, Ive, the Incerns lature, lestion ress of Ipon it ]of my ing an dozen to learn to act together on the great arena of public life, under a system of political freedom. An improvement in the tone of the press would, by degrees, educate the public taste above that which now only tends to lower it, and with it, to a certain extent, the estimation in which the colony must be held elsewhere. It must be admitted that such writing as appears in some of the papers that are the present organs of party, would not be found in them unless it was in harmony with the tastes of a considerable number of subscribers ; and the admission must lead to the inference that educa- tion has a great work before it in that colony. Education in Upper Canada. — The manner in which the great question of elementary edu- cation has been dealt with in Upper Canada is eminently deserving of earnest and impartial consideration : not only from the effect it is likely to produce in Canada itself, but on account of its more general interest In order to explain the provisions of the Act under which the system now in force has been established, I cannot do better than quote largely from an ■f*^ 236 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &o. rt H "Introductory Sketch of the System of Public Elementary Instruction in Upper Canada," by the Chief Superintendent of Schools (the Kev. Dr. Ryerson), on the occasion of the ceremony of laying the first stone of the " Normal and Model Schools and Education Offices for Upper Canada " at Toronto, on the 2nd of July of this year (1851). For thirty years previously to 1841, annual Parliamentary grants were made in aid of com- mon schools, but expended without system and to very little effect. In that year the first school- law w";s pfiosed. In 1845 Dr. Ryerson made an extensive personal inquiry into the common- school systems of America and Europe, the result of which was embodied in a Report, and afterwards in two laws of 1846 and 1847, sub- sequently enlarged and improved by the present law of 1850. Dr. Ryerson states (p. 5) that the system embodied in this law is derived from what ap- peared to him most excellent in all those which he examined. 1. He derived the machinery of the law from that in force in the State of New York, CANADA. 237 ftem ap- he the lork, which was, however, " defective in the intricacy of some of its details, in the absence of an efficient provision for visitation and inspection of schools, religious instruction, and uniform text- books for the schools." 2. He considered the principle of supporting scLools in the State of Massachusetts the best, but requiring modifica- tion, in order to substitute the free action of each locality for the compulsory requirements of the State. 3. He preferred the books of the Na- tional Board of Education in Ireland. 4. He considered the system of training teachers, and the principles and modes of teaching prevalent in Germany, superior to all others. "Another feature, or rather cardinal principle," which is embodied in the law, is that of " not only making Christianity the basis of the system and the pervading element of all it^ parts, but of recog- nizing and combining, in their official character, all the clergy of the land, with their people, in its prac- tical operation " (p. 7) ; maintaining at the same time "absolute parental supremacy in the religious instrurtion of their children, and upon this prin- ciple providing for it according to circumstances." I 238 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. I 5 i each city and town there is one board of trustees for the management of all the schools in snch city or town — two trustees elected for cacii ward, and holding office for two years — one retiring annually. In each incorporated vil- lage not divided into wards there is a board of six trustees elected, two retiring from otiice and two elected each year. These boards of trustees, thus constituted, appoint the local super! ntenchnt, and determine upon the number and kinds of schools, the employment of teachers, and all the expenses necest-ary for the schools in each such city, town, or incorporated village ; and the municipal council is re- quired in each case to raise the sum or sums estimated by the board of trustees for all their school purposes, and in the manner that they shall desire. There is also the same provision for the establishment of libraries in each city, town, and village, as exists in respect to their establish- ment in each township and county. " At the head of the whole system we have a Council of Public Instruction and a Chief Superintendent of Schools, both appointed by the Crown. The Council has the entire management of the Provincial Normal and Model Schools, recommends the text-books for the schools and books for the school libraries, and makes the regulations for the organization, government, and discipline of common schools, the examination and classification of teachers, and the establishment and care of school libraries throughouj. Upper Canada. " The Chief Superintendent, who is ex-officio member of the Council of Public Instruction, and provides accom- modations for its meetings, apportions the school fund to the several municipalities throughout Upper Canada, pre- ( CANADA. 213 lember iccom- funil to a, pre- pares the general scliool refrulations, and submits them, as well as that of text and library books, to the consideration of th(5 Council ; prepares the forms of reports and modes of all school pr» local assessments or rates for common school purposes. As contrasted with the school laws of the United States, that of Upper Canada is distin- guished by two great leading peculiarities. 1st. It admits the principle of daily doctrinal teaching. 2ndly. It affords aid towards the establishment of Denominational Schools. A certain ground of anticipation therefore exists that in the schools of Upper Canada a consi- derable amount of doctrinal instruction will be given, and that consequently the distinctive principles of the faith and persuasion to which each family may be attached, will be early implanted in the day-school, by teachers of their choice, trained in the art of teaching, and therefore affording some guarantee that they will be competent to teach it. The risk is con- sequently diminished of a generation growing up, as is apprehended by some and asserted by others in the United States, firmly attached to no religious faith, and therefore already em- barked on the downward course to infidelity, and from thence to every phase of moral corruption. 252 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, ka. To a certain extent, the enactment (3ect. 32) by whicli " all clergymen recognized by law, of whatever denomination," and many of the mosl distinguished of the laity, are constituted visitors of schools (the former, both where they reside and where they have paetoral charge), has been acted upon by the clrgy The Report of 1849 states, that 2848 visith iiad been vnade * by clergymen " in that j ear ^ without, iiow- ever, dietinguislting thdr detiOminations. The total nniKber of schools in operation wf»s 2?71 ; there had been thereiure little more than one v'sit per school. The iiicreasi' in sJe number of visits was, however, 594 above the previous )oar. The Chief Superintendent informed me that the clergy of the Church of England in general co-operated with the system, and that in many instances they took an active part in superintending the schools in their districts. The rector of Toronto is a member of the Council of Public Instruction. If the existing plan is the only one possible under the circum- stances of the colonv, it is satisfactory to know that the clergy are inclined to make the best la-V me id in that. t in 'icts. the Iting iuu!- lOW Ibest CANADA. 253 of it, and to improve such opportunities as it affords for definite religious instruction. The public grammar-schools, established by an amended Act in 1819, afford a higher edu- cation for all who desire it, and are an appro- priate supplement to the system of elementary schools. The Act contemplates these schools being set on foot in every district of the pro- vince, with a salary to the teacher of 100^. per annum. By sect. 6 ten children may be sent to them by the trustees, to be taught gratis, to be selected from the most promising scholars of the common schools. Above these district schools is the Upper Canada College ; and above that, in order, the University of Toronto. The fine building for the latter is in course of being erected. And by a provision in the admirable municipal law of the province, of 1849, power is given to the county councils to defray the expense of send- ing to the College or to the University as many of the pupils of the different public grammar-schools *' as shall be deserving, and in the opinion of the respective masters shall be of competent attainments for entering into 254 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. competition for any of the scholarships, exhi- bitions, or other similar prizes offered by such University or College for competition among such pupils," their parents being unable to incur the expense. Such is the legislative provision for public education in Upper Canada ; and, as far as the means of secular education are concerned, it affords every facility for extending a full mea- sure of it throughout the whole country. To its religious basis — with reference chiefly, I was informed, to the higher institutions — a large number of the members of the Church of Enjx- land have taken strong exception ; and have consequently, with the powerful aid of friends in England, commenced a college near To- ronto for the higher branches of study, and as a place of education for young men preparing to enter the Church. The building has already made some progress, is in a very appropriate collegiate style, is well situated, and has several acres of ground attached to it, very capable of representing the " silvas Academi," and adding to the charm of a residence there. And, indeed, long since, and without any such appliance?. I riate eral e of ling ?etl, ice?, CANADA. 256 i the education of the Church of England has given to the colony men who are among its most distinguished citizens, and who would have been an ornament to any country. But whether in rivalry (not bitter, it is to be hoped) or in harmonious union, the two agencies toge- ther — those of the State and those of the reli- gious bodies that fear tlie consequences of lax religious teaching — are embarked in a career of energetic action for diffusing the rays of both secular and religious knowledge throughout the whole community, that may be expected to raise the standard of intelligence and of high moral and religious principle to a point satisfac- tory to the warmest friends of the colony.* * There is a question still pending betw^on the Church and the other religious societies, relative to the disposal of the clergy reserves, which will require much Christian forbt ■• c on both sides. Although a very delicate one for a stranger lo meddle with, I would just wish to eay to every strong advocate for their seculari- zation, that it is greatly to be desired, belbre he made up his mind definitely on that subject, that he would come to England, and calmly inquire into the effcc produced on the national character ; on the strength, permanence, and diffusion of religious belief and religious principle ; on the harmonious and friendly inter- course between rich and poor ; on the national taste, manners, and cultivation ; on the self-respect, natui. , ity, and good breeding of our lower classes (except where tiiey have been sub- ject to most unfavourable circumstances) ; in a word, on every L '\ 11 1 liil 256 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. Wlien this result takes place, the sliallovv opinions and dogmatical style of writing to which reference has been made above, and which now find so much favour, will yield to sounder v.< vv:. and a better tone in expressing them. It is impossible for any one who at present, in passing through Canada, puts Jiimself at all in the way of hearin^r the floating opinions among good element of our sccial state, by that provision of our fore- fathers, by which it has been secured that there shall be ui least one educated gentleman in every parish, and that one the pastor of the flock. Like many of the other " happy accidents," (or rather benevolent dispensations of an overruling Providence,) to which we are indebted for the place we at present fill in Lho world, the eftects of the institution of tithes, under the modern impulse of a higher sense of responsibility, could never have been foreseen. The crude and short-sighted theories of a jealous and mistaken liberalism may intercept such ad- ntages from an 'ven locality or country. In such cases, the generations tiiat ar^ to ooMie will look back on the present with a very dirferent eye li i that which we, in this country, turn reverently towards those that have gone before us. A large majority in the last Provincial Parliament were in favour of i-( <'onsidering the existing settlement of this question. It is anticij-iited that the disposition of the present Canadian Legislature will tiot differ from that of the last. The Government of Lord John Ri.ssell adopted the opinion that the Act of the Parliament of this country, relating to it, should be repealed. If t!ic Imperial Parliament shou" I follow this course, and therefore refer the matter ; » the good sense of the Canadian Legislature, the last question of .•'ny importance would be removed, on which a Constitutior il issue could be raised as to the right of the Colony to manage ir wn at^uirs. CANADA 257 persons may casually converse with — in tlie log-liiit, 111 the recent ''clearing/' in the frame- house which indicates the growing prosperity of its owner, in the road-side inn with the yet untouched forest close by, enveloping the small openings of cultivation — without being struck with the many superficial views propounded on public questions, very much after the manner of the democratic papers in the United States. Again, among other classes in the colony, there is visiMe a dislocation of opinion, and a con- sequent tendency to a subdivision and breaking up of parties, religious and political, which may, and very probably does, arise from the prevalence of a superficial education, taking up its ideas and principles at hazard, and holding nothing firmly. The more manifest therefore is the need of all the supports, that the institu- tions for education of all kinds in the colony can give to the cause of true enlightenment, practical good sense, and right feeling.* * Amongst the means resorted to by some of" the democratic papers in the United States to encoiirage ■. feeling of sympathy with their opinions among the suipil hut active ultra-Radical party in Canada, is that of a " Canadian Correspondence," con- sisting of letters representing the Canadian people as living under a Contemptible form of government ; as oppressed by the mother I ;-i 258 NOTi:S ON PUBLIC SUPJKCT8. &c. ii I ElementavTj Education in Lower Canada. — The subject of elementary education in the country ; us treated like cliildrcn liuving no will or power of their own ; as being of no weight or estimation in the world ; as poor, and without enterprise, in comparison with the people of tlic Unit('<| States ; as having little influence in directing their own affairs, and as in reality anxious to emancipate themselves from all ties with England, and to become one of the " great and independent States of the Union." Though the '* annexation cry " is believed to be extinguished in the minds of ninety-nine hundredths of the people of Canada, these continued suggestions that they would bo better oH' under a pure Democracy, cannot but make some impression on the loss-informed minds, and pro- duce a feeling of doubt and distrust as to the real merits of our own social and political arrangements, and the substantial bless- ings they confer upon a peoi)le capable of receiving them. To some of those worthy and warm-hearted persons from the " Old Country," whom I found pondering over those papers and those ideas, in the solitude of the " backwoods," or in the thriving vil- lage, I would wish to say, in the words of a philosophic poet — '' Love thou thy land, with love far- brought From out the storied Past, and used Within the Present, but transfused Through future time by power of thought. « * * * " A land of settled government, A land of just and old renown, Where Freedom broadens slowly down From precedent to precedent." Tennyson-. If they would take those words into their minds and hearts they would distrust " the braggart shout For some blind glimpse of freedom," and learn to beware of *' The falsehood of extremes." CANADA. I 259 hearts Lower Province lias for many years past engaged tlie attention of the motjt enlightened persons in it. In 1842 Dr. Meilleur, the present Superintendent of Education, presented a Report to the Governor- General (Sir Charles Bagot), proposing several amendments in the existing law. Many of them were adopted in the Act of 1846, which was, however, further improved hy the Act of 1849, the one now in force. If education has not yet spread more widely among the French population, it is '* not for wantofpuhlic advocates; for various patriotic individuals, besides the clergy of all denomina- tions, appear to have from time to time devoted themselves to the duty of zealous pioneers in the noble work ; and among these Dr. Meilleur, as already alluded to."* Again the same pub- lication speaks of " the continued untiring exertions of the clergy of all denominations, but more particularly those of the Catholic Church, and of the benevolent religious ladies * Extract from * Remarks on the State of Education in the Province of Canada,' Montreal, 1848. 260 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. )\ of the various cliari fable Orders, in beljalf of the extension of general education in all its branches " (p. 54) ; such as, elementary schools, philanthropic asylums, and " the higher semi- naries and colleges." Nevertheless that it is now making a more satisfactory progress is shown by the Report of Dr. Meilleur for 1850 (Toronto, 1851), in p. 5 of whicli he states that, in the year ending July 1850, " the number of schools had in- creased by 166, and that of the children attend- ing them by 5221 " above the previous year. In the same period also "there had been esta- blished more than sixty new school munici- palities ;" and *' the advancement of the scholars in learning" is affirmed to be as satisfactory as the increase in the means of obtaining it. There are also " 64 model schools in operation, and 44 superior girls' schools." There are no statistics for Lower Canada showing the proportion which the children attending school bears to the whole number of school age. It is acknowledged, however, to be still very low, as compared with CANADA. 261 girls' otlier countries, and with the Upper Province. Dr. Meilleur urges further improvements in the law in the following particulars : — 1. A literary qualification for School Com- missioners. 2. The establishment of a Normal School. 3. Deputy Superintendents. 4. Public Libraries. 5. A Journal of Education. The provisions for " Dissentient " or Deno- minational Schools are peculiar and deserve attentive consideration. The School Acts of Lower Canada (of 1846 and 1849) throw no obstacles in the way of Denominational, there called Dissentient Schools. They do not, like the Act of Upper Canada, limit the aid to the cases only where the differences are between Protestant and Roman Catholic, but they enable every deno- mination, if it pleases, to have its own school, and to receive its proportion of aid both towards the building and the support of the school. By sect. 26 of the Act of 1846 (9 Vict. c. 27), it is provided that, when *'any number whatever of the inhabitants professing a relig-ious faith different from that of the i il 262 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. ' I 1'! :( majority" wish for a separate school, they may have one, and if it is attended by fifteen chil- dren they will be entitled to an allowance out of both the general and local school fund ; and the trustees of that school are empowered (by sect. 18 of the Act of 1849, 12 Vict. c. 50) to collect both the Assessment and the School fees from the " inhabitants so dissentient," and at whose instance the school was established. The clauses of those Acts given below will, I feel assured, be read with interest by all persons who are desirous of informing them- selves on this difficult question ; and no one, I apprehend, after the above statement, will be disposed to say that the French Canadians are not making vigorous exertions to remedy the results of past reluctance and backwardness in the matter of elementary education.* * Act of the Provincial Pailiament of Canada, 9 Vict,, c. 27, s. 21. Among the duties of the School Commissioners of each municipality are the following: — " TentJili/.— To cause to be levied by assessment and rate, in the manner hereinafter provided by this Act, in each munici- pality, a sum equal to that allowed out of the Common School- fund for each municipality, and to report their proceedings in this respect to the superintendent; and to enable the School CANADA. 263 L c. 27, |of' each [■ate, in iiunici- Jchool- lings in 1 School Inducements for Persons of the Upper Class of Society in this Country to Settle in Canada. — The consideration of the subjects last touched Commissioners to receive from the Superintendent of Education their share of the Common School-fund, they shall furnish him with a declaration from tiie secretary-treasurer that he has ac- tually ;\nd bona Jide received, or that he has placed in the hands of the School Commissioners for the purposes of this Act, a sum equal to the said share accruing to such Commissioners. * * * * " Twelfthly. — They shall fix the fees per month to be paid dur- ing the eight school months for each child of age to attend school, by each father or mother of a family, tutor, or curator, to the secretary-treasurer above and over the rate levied, and for the use of the school district (arrondissement) paying the same ; such fees not to exceed in any case two shillings per month, nor less than three pence per month, at the discretion of the Com- missioners, according to the means of the parents,'' &c. With respect to " Dissentient Schools," it is provided by " Section XXVI., that when in any municipality the regulations and arrangements made by the School Commissioners for the con- duct of p.ny school shall not be agreeable to any number whatever of the inhabitants professing a religious faith different from that of the majority of the inhabitants of such municipality, the inhabit- ants so dissentient may collectively signify such dissent in writ- ing to the chairman of the said Commissioners, and give in the names of three trustees, chosen by them for the purposes of this Act ; and such trustees shall have the same powers and be subject to the same duties as School Commissioners, but for the manage- ment of those schools only which shall be under their control ; and such dissentient inhabitants may, by the intervention of such trustees, establish in the manner provided with regard to other schools, one or more schools, which shall be subject to the same provisions, duties, and supervision, and they shall be entitled to 264 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. upon was suggested by the inquiry as to wliether there were not increasing attractions receive from the superintendent or from tlie School Commissioners such sum out of the general or local school fund as slmll be ])ro- portionatc to the dissentient population they represent : Provided always, that whenever the majority of the children attending any school now in operation, and the school-house, shall belong to or be occupied by such dissentients, the said school-house shall con- tinue to be occupied by them so long as the number of children taught in such school shall amount to the number required by this Act to form a school district, and the entire amount of monies raised by assessment on such dissentients shall be paid to the trustees of such school, together with a due proportion of the building-fund. " XXVII. — And be it enacted, that to entitle any school to its allowance out of the general or local school-fund it shall be requisite and suilicient that such school has been under the management of School Commissioners or Trustees appointed in the manner provided by the next preceding section ; tiiat it has been in actual operation during at least eight calendar months : that it has been attended by at least fifteen children (periods of epidemic or contagious diseases excepted) ; that the returns liavo been certified to the School Commissioners or Trustees by the master, mistress, or teacher, and at least two of the Commis- sioners or Trustees ; that a public examination of the schools has taken place ; that a report signed by the majority of the School Commissioners or Trustees and by the master has been transmitted to the Superintendent of Schools, according to the form pre- scribed by him for that purpose, every six months, that is to say, before the first day of July, and the first day of January, in each year ; and, finally, that a sum equal to the allowance made by the legislature for the municipality has been raised as hereinbe- fore provided. "XXIX. — And be it enacted, that the trustees of dissentient minorities shall also be elected fur three years, except that at the 519 to ictions iiissionors 11 1)0 pro- Provided idiii!:? any ong to or shall con- f children quired by .mount of be paid to tion of the school to It shall be under the )pointcd in hat it has months ; periods of turns Iiavo !es by the Commis- ichools has ihe School •ansmitted form pre- is to say, , in each made by hereinbe- llissentiont Ihat at the CANADA. 265 in Canada for the safe and satisfactory employ- ment of British capital and labour ; meaning end of each of the two first years one of the trustees shall retire and be replaced or re-elected by such dissentients ; children from other school districts, of the same faith as the dissentients for whom the school was established, may attend the same whenever such dissentients shall not be suflBcientiy numerous in any district to support a school alone : Provided that the individuals of the dissentient minority shall not ,be elected nor serve as School Commissioners, nor vote at the election of the School Commis- sioners ; and that in like manner the individuals of the majority shall not be elected nor serve as school trustees, nor vote at their election." Provisions as to the cities of Quebec and Montreal : — "XLIII. — And be it enacted, that in the said cities no rate shall be levied for the schools, but the treasurer of each city shall pay out of the funds thereof to the said J3oards of Commis- sioners, and in proportion to the jwpulation of the rcliylous per- suasion represented by them, a sum equal to that coming to such city out of the Common School-fund, to be employed by them for the purposes of this Act ; and if such payment be refused, the School Commissioners or their Secretary may apply by petition to the Court of Queen's Bench sitting in Superior Term, who, upon proof of the service of such petition upon the treasurer, shall take cognizance of the matter, and shall determine the same in a summary manner, and may, if right shall require it, compel payment by all legal means and process." The Act 12 Vict., c. 50, makes the following additional pro- vision for " Dissentient Schools:" — " XVIIl. — And be it enacted, that anything in the twenty- sixth section of the above-cited Act, or in any other part of the said Act contained to the contrary notwithstanding, whenever the trustees of Dissenti'^nt Schools shall have been chosen and shall have established one or more Dissentient Schools in any school municipality, and the said trustees shall not be satisfied N 4 i y 2G6 NOl'ES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. m by those terms commercial and farming* capital and ordinary agricultural labour. But from with the arrangements antecedently made bj the School Com- missioners ol' the said municipality relative to the recovery and the distribution of the assessment, they may, by a written de- claration to that etiect, addressed to the president of the School Commissioners, at least one month before the first day of Ja- nuary or July, in any year, acquire the right of receiving them- selves, for the following and all future years during which they shall continue to be such trustees of dissentient schools, accord- ing to law, the assessment levied on the inhabitants so dissen- tient, who shall have signified their dissent in v. riting, conform- ably to ^he said above-cited Act, or who shall hereafter signify the same at the times and in the manner hereinbefore provided, and the said trustees shall in such case be entitled to obtain a copy of the assessment in force, of the list of children capable of attending school, and of other documents in the hands of the School Commissioners or of the secretary-treasurer, and connected with the future government of the Dis^ientient Schools ; the said trustees may and shall also receive the aiiount of the vwnthhj fees payable in respect of the children of such dissentient parent or masters, and may institute ali suits or prosecutions, and do all other things necessary for the recovery of the said assessments and monthly fees; and they, the said trustees, shall be a corporation for the purposes of their own Dissentient Schools and school district, and shall be entitled to receive from the superintendent shares of the General School-fund bearing the same j)roportio!i to the whole sums allotted from time to time to such municiixility as the number of children attending such Dissentient Schools bears to the entire number of children attending school in such municipality at the same time, and a similar share of the building fund ; and the said trustees shall have the right to constitute their own school districts inde- pendently of the school districts established by the Commis- sioners aforesaid, and shall have the same rights and shall be ^. ..^y capital t from ool Com- [jvory and rittcn dc- lie School ay ot" Ja- ing them- hich they is, accord- so dissen- conform- ter signify ])rovided, I obtain a capable of ids of the connected the said mthhjfees parent or nd do all isessments hall be a t Schools from the baring the lie to time jding such children le, and a Itecs shall lets indc- Commis- Ici shall be CANAT>* 267 what I observed in the colony I was strongly impressed with the opinion, that there was also a fine field of occupation and ambition open to settlers of a different class — namely, to young* men of education and moderate independence who are now crowding the professions in Eng- land, or to gentlemen of small fortunes and large families, and with no very definite prospects of providing for them. The mistakes that have been made by several subject to the same duties and penalties as the said School Com- missioners, in respect of the collection and application of the monies by them received, of the rendering and examination of their accounts, and of all other matters whatever in reference thereto, and may be removed and others appointed by the Gover- nor in council, or by the Superintendent of Schools in all those cases in which School Commissioners are liable to be dealt with : Provided always, that if after such declaration of separate ma- nagement, there slmidd be no subsisting assessment, or if the assessment should not appear to them a proper one, the said trustees may, in the months of July and August in each year, proceod to make such assessment for the future conformably to the said Act upon the inhabitants so dissentient as aforesaid ; and provided also, that the said trustees shall be, and they are hereby held to furnish to the superintendent a written statement, under the oath of at least two of them, of the number of children attending such Dissentient Schools at least one month previous to the said first days of January and July, to enable the said superintendent to make the proper apportionment of the said general and building funds." n2 _jc: ' w:f^ mmtmmm 2G8 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, kc. ( I persons of the above description, in selecting* their place of settlement too hastily, in invest- ing nearly the whole of their capital in wild land with bad roads or none to it, and at a long distance from markets, and also in build- ing largely, and employing at fi^'st too much labour, have had some effect in discouraging otliers of the same class. Many gentlemen, eminent as men of business in the colony, ex- pressed to me their regrets at those failures, and stated that the safe course to take in such cases on arriving was to purchase stock in the different banks of the colony, which are consi- dered perfectly safe investments, and which yield six per cent., and to wait patiently for a year or two. This would afford opportunities for studying the different localities, for making acquaintance with the society to be found in each, and for deciding on the district which promised to afford most prospective advantages in accordance with the particular views and objects of the individual. It would probably not l)e long before some property would be for sale in that district, which would offer a very «fi»l :#"^ CANADA. 269 selecting II invest- in wild ind at a in build- 30 much ou raging* ntlemen, lony, ex- failures, 2 in such ck in the re consi- d wliich tly for a rtunities making- bund in t which srantages 9WS and irobably Id be for r a very good investment either for a part o .he wliole of the capital at command. Persons of the above class are now frequently leaving England as emigrants, for our colonies on the other side of the globe. Without in the leuv* degree undervaluing the advantages pos- sessed by those magnificent dependencies, there are several points in favour of Canada in addi- tion to those that have been already described, which ought to be well weighed by any one in- tending to emigrate, and which have not, as far as I am aware, been yet placed before the public as distinctly as they deserve, The points which I have hitherto touched upon have been so'l, climate, institutions (as similar to our own as circumstances admit), the strong and all but universal loyalty of the people and their attachment to this country, the splendid commercial and agricultural prospects now opening, the iiopes of a higher tone of intel- ligence, and the provisions, such as they are, for the maintenance and diffusion of religious truth. But, in supposing the case of young men, or others, accustomed more or less to countrv life ■~ :t^'- f V 270 KOTI'S ON riliLIC SUBJECTS, &c. ' I 1i in England (and such are those most lil; /j to be disposed to embark in the country life of the colonics), there are other considerations besides the above, which v,',>uld operate very forcibly in determining their choice of a colony, namely, points having reference to habits and modes of life sucli as they have been familiar with at home. In the first place, a new settler of the class supposed would find in the large towns and in the several comparatively thickly-inhabited country neighbourhoods above mentioned, a nucleus of cultivated and highly intelligent society, with whom it would give him the greatest satis- faction to associate. Secondly, these towns and neighbourhoods will, within a few years from die present, be brought into almost close juxta- position by the grand system of railway com- munication, which has been determined upon and in part commenced ; multiplying thus, as in the old countr}^ his resources of society, occupation, and pecuniary profit; while that same great railway system will, by itself and by its results, shorten materially the already CANADA. 271 little-regarded time and dist;mcc botwccu him and England. Thirdly, in regard to all the details of county and parochial business, he may hold [)recisely 'lie same position, and find precisely the sam occupation thai he would in England, and indeed more; for the admirable new munici^)al * L ^)per Canada, of 1849, (12 Vict., c. ^ ^ a T'lore extensive powers than are pot c. by vestries. Poor Law Boards, or magistiatcs in this country. It is worth while to enumerate some of its provi- sions. It is an Act for " the erection of muni- cipal corporations, and the establishment of regulations of police, in and for the several counties, cities, towns, townships, and villages * of Upper Canada." Boards of '* councillors " are elected in each, and constituted a corpora- tion for, among various other and more usual purposes, purchasing land and building school- houses, making drains and watercourses for general drainage, including that of land, making roads, granting powers to joint-stock * Villages of 1000 inhabitants may be incorporated under this Act. ^>. ^^'^^o. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 121 12^ 110 K 1^ SKA ■ 2.2 2.0 1.8 1.25 IIU J4 « 6" — ► <^ /} .% /. /A '/ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. M580 (7 1 6) 872-4503 k^ J W 5 i9 .7" 272 M I NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. y companies to make them, ** destroying and suppressing the growth of weeds detrimental to good husbandry," regulating fences, " en- dowing fellowships in the University of To- ronto," &c., " making a provision for the expenses of pupils attending the University of Toronto, &c., whose parents are unable to incur such expenses," taking precautions against fire, exercising many of the powers of a Board of Health, abating nuisances, esta- blishing public fountains, laying out public cemeteries, purchasing land for an industrial farm for the employment of thb poor, or persons under sentence of the law, &c. &c. Fourthly, if he gives his attention to the public business of his neighbourhood, and displays a capacity for public life and a desire to enter into it, it would probably not be long before his services would be sought for by some con- stituency to represent them in the Legislative Assembly, or (according to tne practice of this country, in not confining constituents, in the choice of their representatives, to persons resi- dent among them) he might offer himself to [ CANADA. 273 (C the electors in any city or county in the pro- vince. A gentleman, therefore, whose pecu- niary means in this country would be insuffi- cient to enable him to exert his talents in the noble arena of political life, might, instead of wasting his energies in a subordinate position here, find in that country a fitting sphere of useful and honourable exertion. Fifth! v, if rightly used, the power placed in the hands of the Governor-General to nominate members to the Legislative Council or Upper House of the Provincial Parliament, is capable of giving dignity and political weight to that body, and making it an object of ambition and a just reward of meritorious services. The high posi- tion and character of every Governor-General will be a guarantee that no unworthy motives will influence such appointments ; and if mis- takes are made, they will not escape the cen- sure of a vigilant public opinion. In placing these appointments, as well as those of justices of the peace, in the hands of the Governor- General, not only is there a better security for their being made with an exclusive regard to n3 ! y' 274 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. the public interests, but the principle is im- portant, as maintaining the analogy with that of the British Constitution. In a new country every such principle is of the greatest practical value, as a support of the whole system of government on its existing basis. Sixthly, the settler whom I have supposed, would find, in the different country districts I have already enumerated, many of the resources, in the way of amusement, of English country life. Of the ordinary field-sports there are some by no means to be despised. Whoever likes hard work and a rough life, may take two or three Indians as guides and follow the moose and reindeer through the forest a« long as he pleases, "camping out" and livlii^ /his rifle. For common shooting, there is plenty of quail, woodcocks, snipes, wild-fowl, &c., also prairie grouse in abundance within three days' tra- velling. Fishing is to be had in the lakes and streams ; but the best sport of that kind is the salmon-fishing in some of the tributaries of the Ottawa, and amidst the wild and magnificent scenery of the Saguenay, wherever the saw- CANADA. 275 is im- ;h that juntry 'actical tern of ily, the ind, in already in the ry life, e some er likes s two or 3 moose g as he lis rifle. )f quail, prairie lys' tra- ikes and id is the es of the Tnificent ;he saw- mills have not destroyed the fish. A small pack of fox-hounds is kept at Montreal (twelve couple), and they afford some sport for about two months in the year — enough to keep that of the "old country" in remembrance. They have occasionally some sharp runs of thirty minutes, over a country of " posts and rails," and ** snake-fences," * the latter rather awkward. Another jjack was also kept at Coburg. I heard also of a third small pack. There is no doubt that as the country gets more cleared fox-hunting will flourish ; as well at least as those almost universal " snake-fences," and the quantity of oover, will allow. Races also figure in the list of the annual amusements of all the principal places in the colony. Some of the best English blood has been imported, of which I saw specimens, out of winners of the Derby and St. Leger. In these, as in all other matters of graver import, it appeared that English * The fence common to Canada and the States, made of rough slips of timber twelve to fourteen feet long piled upon each other, each length making an obtuse angle with the other, and the upper bar (often five or six feet above the ground) resting oh cross pieces, which project like chevaux de frise. f' ' 276 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. usages, manners, habits, and feelings, had taken deep root and were widely diflPused among the mass of the people ; and that where the contrary was visible, in the remoter local- ities, it seemed to arise from accident and igno- rance, and not from any settled preference for anything else. Indeed it may be safely said that in no country out of Great Britain would the younger sons of her nobility and gentry find themselves so much " at home," or have a nobler field of usefulness before them, or a finer scope for all the active and manly enjoyments of country life, than in Canada. Seventhly, The financial credit of the colony is in so sound and satisfactory a state, and the prospects of increasing wealth and revenue so » great, that they may well inspire confi- dence in the future, in any one disposed to go there. According to the Return of the Public Accounts of the colony for the year 1850 (Toronto, 1851), it appears (p. 66) that the total amount of the public debt was 4,512,468/. 145. 9c?., and that there had been applied to its redemption, since the union of » i CANADA. 277 the provinces in 1841, 518,483/. 125. 6c?. (being the excess of revenue over expenditure), including 62,366/. 105. 7d. invested in Eng- land on account of the sinking fund for the guaranteed loans. All future investments are to be on account of the latter. There was, as far back as last summer, as I was informed, a sum of nearly a quarter of a million, either in- vested or ready to be so, on account of the last three years, for the same purpose. The annual interest of the debt is at present (p. 89) 197,029/. 3s. bd. ; and it appears by the same " Abstract of Revenue and Expenditure," that in the improbable case of any serious falling* off of revenue, or any unwillingness to increase taxation to meet it if it occurred, the sums now voluntarily applied to two heads of expenditure only — those of Education and Agricultural Societies, amounting together to upwards of 66,800/. — might be applied to the payment of one-third of the annual interest of the debt. But as the revenue for the year 1851 was up- wards of 800,000/., and as the interest of the debt is about 200,000/., there can be no doubt of 278 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. » « I i the completeness of the security for its payment. Since the great commercial changes which were effected in 1846 and subsequently, the Imports into Canada have risen as follows : — In 1848 they were 2,058,798/., in 1849, 3,002,599/., in 1850, 4,245, 517/.* The value of Exports of domestic products for the year 1849 was 2,327,564/., and for 1850, 2,669,998/. The growing inland trade with the United States in all the most important staples of the colony (timber, wheat, flour, oats, ashes, &c.), is one of the most encouraging features. Great however as has been the recent increase of that trade (32i per cent, during the last year), it is exceeded by that with Great Britain, which, during the same time, "notwithstanding all assertions to the contrary, had increased at the rate of 44 per cent., and with tlie Sister Pro- vinces of British Nortli America, under the operation of reciprocal Free Trade, about 100 per cent.'' (Speechf of the Inspector-General, * Montreal Banker's Circular, quoted in Scobio's Canadian Almanac, p. 58 (Toronto, 1852), which contains an excellent summary of all the statistics of the colony. t I add a further and very instructive extract from the same speech in the Appendix (G), p. 313. -^,^tr-^ •Jtl'--^y' CANADA. 279 tlie Hon. Francis Hincks, to the Legislative Assembly, July 16, 1851, Toronto, 1851.) Although therefore the sudden and rapid changes in our commercial legislation in those and previous years, occasioned great losses in the colony, and much very natural irritation at the want of due consideration for the circum- stances and the interests of Canada, shown at the time by some of our public men then in power, a new career of prosperity has com- menced; and as no further changes, except beneficial ones in the shape of further relaxa- tions of commercial tariffs, are to be antici- pated, trade and commerce are now upon a firm basis. And by none are the future pros- pects of Canada, and indeed of the British Provinces generally, considered brighter than by the best-informed of their enttrprising neighbours ; as will be seen by the following passage which I extract from a very remarkable document lately issued at Washington. (A Report of the Trade and Commerce of the British North American Colonies with the United States and with other Countries, em- 11 'it 280 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. bracing full and complete Tabular Statements from 1829 to 1850. Presented to the United States Senate by Thomas Corwin, Secretary to the Treasury, Washington, 1851.) The facts brought out in this document will greatly strengthen the conviction of the mutual advan- tages to be derived from the proposed measure of reciprocal free-trade between those colonies and the United States. The Report is drawn up by Mr. J. D. Andrews, United States Consul at St. John's, New Brunswick. At p. 34 thei'e is the following passage : — " A cursory glance at the resources of Canada will impress the most casual observer with a profound sense of the influence she must soon exert over the general com- merce of this continent. To her unsurpassed physical capabilities are added majestic internal improvements, reflecting credit on a government and people who projected and completed such admirable auxiliary pathways from the ocean to the interior, to facilitate the transport of the products of the industry of her population from that in- terior to the markets of the world. If the sanguine antici- pations of the Canadian go>^ernment and people are real- ised, by the SU Lawrence becoming one of the great channels through which the vast supplies of merchandise required for the consumption of the population of the interior and far west will be carried, the revenue derivable 1 1 CANADA. 281 from these canals, the tolls upon which it is in contempla- tion to reduce, will form a large item to the credit of the colonial exchequer." " Occupying a most extensive country, of an area of nearly 55,000 square miles, stretching from the 42nd to the 50th degree of north latitude, abounding in forests of the finest timber and minerals of great value, and with a soil fitted to afford exhaustless supplies of food to man ; a country, moreover, blessed with a healthy and invigorating climate, favoured witli unparalleled facilities for sea, river, and lake navigation, watered throughout by streams which furnish an unlimited amount of water- power, and are stocked with the most valuable descriptions of fish : bordered by a sea-coast indented with bays and admirable harbours, which are open to the most valuable sea-fisheries in the world ; possessing such superabundant resources, and sustained and stimulated by an energy of character which they have inherited witli us from a common source, these colonists are destined to become a great and flourish- ing people, and to exercise no mean influence on the inte- rests of our northern continent." Neither is the protective duty now so much complained of, arwounting to 20 per cent., against Canadian wheat imported into the United States, likely, according to the best opinions, to last long ; nor if it did, could it do much harm to the Canadian grower. The above able Report shows (p. 48) that nearly 282 NOTKS ON rUDLIC SUBJECTS, &c. / the whole amount of the wheat imported from Canada to New York and 13o8ton was balanced by exports of wheat of their own growth to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfound- land, and that under the recent arrangements between Canada and those provinces, the latter were expected for the future to derive their supplies direct from Canada. *' Within the last year arrangements have been made by Canada with three of the lower provinces for a free interchange of their natural productions. The experience of the last season has induced persons fully competent to judge in commercial matters to express the opinion, that a very large trade will be diverted to these provinces from New York, unless the present restrictions are removed, for the vessels which can advantageously take flour from Canada to the lower provinces, under the present free-trade arrangement, will carry back sugar, molasses, and the heavy foreign commodities, which they have for the last few years purchased in New York and Boston." — (p. 47). Again (p. 46) the following reason is given why the protective duty is in fact of very little advantage to the American grower : — *' It is urged as an objection to the proposed reciprocal free-trade, that the American wheat-grower, who is taxed heavily to pay the expenses of our government, will have to contend on unequal terms with the Canadian, who has V. 1 1 CANADA. 288 ed from alanced jwth to wfound- jements le latter ^e their een made or a free ixperience ipetent to on, that a tices from removed, our from Free-trade le heavy :'e\v years given :y little eciprocal is taxed will have who has coinpurutively light taxes to pay ; in other words, that fur this reason tlie American needs protection against the Canadian farmer. *' But when we produce more than we consume, there is no need of protection. Tlie surplus production thrown upon the markets of the world establishes the price of all consumed. Canada and the United States export a sur- plus of wheat to the same foreign markets. The prices at Mark Lane, to a great extent, iix the prices uf the Ameri- can market." It is an acknowledged wish in the colony that more settlers of the class of English gentry might be induced to go there, in addition to those who have already adopted it as their second home. And as long as the sentiments and habits of " the old country " find a response, and a fair field of growth and action in the new, there will be that very powerful motive, in addition to the fine material pro- spects of the colony, to lead such persons towards it. That class of men, conjoined in political and social sympathies and interests with the great middle class of this country, has never yet learnt to submit to the dictation of mere numbers. It is convinced that the social and political institutions of England conduce (.^.«.^.^%-'%W 284 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. more thau any others to the formation and maintenance of a system of rational and tem- perate freedom ; that they lay the foundation of that national character which alone makes such a system possible ; that they encourage a strong sense of religion, and a firm attachment to the doctrines that are the bulwarks of its exist- ence ; that they lead to a high degree of intel- lectual cultivation, a high standard of social refinement, and an elevated sense of personal honour; that they dictate those common Christian courtesies which smooth the path of social life and cause its ordinarv tenor to be even and unruffled ; and that they thus produce upon the whole a greater amount of happiness, national and individual, than can be found elsewhere. For under them, the domestic virtues, founded on domestic dis- cipline, are most common; and, in public matters, " the great councils of the nation " are directed in a spirit of moderation, and can be enforced, when the call arises, with strength proportioned to the need. The laws, the public policy, and the social i I CANADA. 285 habits of the people of Canada are, to as great an extent, probably, as difference of circum- stances permits, in harmony with these ruling sentiments of this country, and I believe that there is nothing more important to the future pro- spects and to the well-founded happiness of that noble colony, not only that no violence should be done to those sentiments by the course of legislation there, but that they should be fully recognised, respecied, and cherished, by every legitimate and available means. For be it observed that it possesses a mode of government, as analogous as under the circumstances is possible to that of the British Constitution. But let it also be borne in mind by every well- wisher to the colony, that without the incfci- tutions, or the nearest practicable approaches to them, which form the national character that makes the British Constitution practicable at all, it will be the hardest of all problems to preserve it.* * Having used above the expression " Christian courtesies," it may be added that even the infidel confessed that, *'at all events, St. Paul was a perfect gentleman." The ultra-democratic theory of social and political life, which so unduly exalts the individual, 286 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. ! ^ In the Canadian Constitution the aristocratic element is recognised. The Governor- General is at variance with every precept of Christian humility. " In low- liness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." " In honour preferring one another." " Put on humbleness of mind, meekness." " Be courteous." I must admit that I was occa- sionally reminded of these passages during my stay in the United States, and sometimes also in remote comers of Canada. Tiie ultra-democratic theory, as represented in the expression of one of the preachers of that doctrine, *' I am equal to everybody, and nobody is better than me," when carried into effect in manners, can hardly, one would imagine, be less disagreeable to those who hold it, than it is to those who, not holding it, unfor- tunately come into close contact with it. Self-exaltation in theory can do no otherwise than lead to intense selfishness in practice, and an entire and a very repulsive disregard for the feelings, thoughts, wants, and wishes of others. One of the phenomena in the condition of society in the United States, is the relaxation of parental control. The fact is admitted ; its causes and effects afford a very wide subject of speculation. In addition to ultra-democracy, socialism is very prevalent in the western States. One of the most widely circulated of the New York papers is, in its principles, ultra-democratic and socialist, and is the one of greatest influence in the west. Social- ism has also its special organs among the large German popula- tion of the remoter States. Canada also is favoured by inspira- tions from the same source, not improved in spirit or sense by passing through the medium of some of the worst specimens of ou'' own people, "friends of every country but their own." The doctrines which those persons are endeavouring to impress upon the small body of their followers in Canada, would, if reduced to practice, very soon complete the usual round from tyranny to slavery. " Haec natura multitudinis est ; aut servit humiliter, aut superbe dominatur." These words of 1800 ;ears CANADA. 287 is appointed by the Crown. In him, as the representative of the Crown, rest the appoint- ments to the Legislative Council, the appoint- ment of Judges and Justices of the Peace, and the nomination to several administrative offices of dignity and importance. On the Governor- General's recommendation also, titles of honour are conferred by the Crown on individuals in the colony, for distinguished services. The Companionship of the Bath has, I am informed, been so conferred in a few instances of late years. Such acts are spoken of in the colony with the greatest satisfaction. They contribute to make the colonists feel, what they are so de- sirous of feeling, that they are in fact and in truth '* part and parcel of the British empire ;" and they aid in removing one of the greatest causes of the reluctance which men of ability or ambition have to emigrate — namely, that by so doing they cut themselves off from all chances of sharing in the honours emanating from the British Crown. I could not, without ago are receiving ample illustration in the present day, in the New World as well as in the Old. 288 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. J 1 ' I V 1 1 m I ■ »' impropriety, dilate upon this subject, but it is one which I heard frequently discussed in all its bearings, both in its political aspect and in reference to the increasing wealth of the colony and the consequent increase in the number of those capable of sustaining an elevated social position.* In close connexion with this branch of the subject was another, which at this particular juncture, when the state of our own represent- ation is about to be reviewed, deserves to be again brought under discussion. It is felt in Canada as a great and serious grievance, that there is no person in the House of Commons capable, by the possession of inti- mate personal knowledge and of direct personal interests, of adequately representing the wants and feelings of the colony. They attribute to this, the abrupt and entire sacrifice of an im- mense amount of the capital of the colony, which many among them allege to have been made by the acts of the Imperial Legislature * The recent Act relating to intestacies was not regarded as likely to have any effect in opposition to those sentiments. / CANADA, 289 but it is ;d in all ;t and in le colony imber of id social h of the articular epresent- ^es to be 1 serious le House n of inti- personal le wants ribute to an im- colony, ave been ^islature regarded as lents. in the process of the changes from a protective to a free-trade policy. Questions also are still continually arising, in which they assert that their interests are misunderstood, and their claims to attention undervalued. They affirm, and I believe with very great truth, that their character as a people, that their country, their resources, their position as an element of strength to Great Britain, are not appreciated as they ought to be by the people of this country. Judging from what I heard in vari- ous quarters, I should say that if, on due con- sideration, it should be found possible to open the doors of the House of Commons to a couple of representatives from this great and flourish- ing community, it would be a boon which they are worthy to receive, and which it would be advantageous to this country to grant. Or if this should be incansistent with theory, or likely to lead to inconvenient consequences, it would not, one should imagine, be a matter of any great difficulty to assign to a " Represen- tative of the colony at the seat of Govern- ment," in the capacity, as it were, of a colonial o f 290 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. *' Charge d' Affaires," a recognised position of dignity, beyond that of the " Colonial Agent " of former times. The position might be a new one, and out of the common course of diplo- matic representation ; but so is the fact new, that Great Britain possesses, on the other side of the Atlantic, a dependency growing up rapidly into a great and noble, a wealthy and powerful community, whom it is her duty and interest to attach to herself by every available tie of sympathy and affection. As an additional reason for taking this step, it is urged that, when a man of capacity and in- dependence leaves this country in early life for the colonies, he feels, as matters now stand, that he cuts himself off, to a great degree, from the hope of being thought much of, or perhaps even known, in the most distinguished society in the world. He attains eminence, probably, in the colony to which he devotes his life and services. In the mean time a generation has grown up, his own contemporaries, occupying the foremost places as statesmen,, lawyers, men of science and literature, stirring politicians, merchants, and CANADA. 291 (sition of Agent " 36 a new )f (liplo- act new, ther side wing up ilthv and duty and available this step, y and in- ly life for :and, that from the laps even ty in the y, in the services, rrown up, foremost ience and ants, and men of note in the various other careers of public service or private enterprise. If the leading men of the colonies knew that a way was open to them which would enable them to make their appearance, of right, and in a recognised and defined position, on this wider and much-coveted stage at home, it would doubtless be a great gain to all parties. It would encourage men of the upper classes of this country to embark in the stirring and expanding field of colonial life, and it would go a great way towards extinguishing the sense of contrast between colonial life and that of England.* Again, when a citizen of the United States, of no great mark perhaps in his own country, comes to this, he naturally feels a desire to see, if he has the slightest pretensions to be admitted into it, something of the remarkable society con- gregated at a certain season of the year in the metropolis. He has the minister of his own country to apply to; and, accordingly, the in- habitant of the smallest state of the Union, or of the most distant city in the great valley of the Mississippi, has a ready mode of access, if it be o2 ) I 292 a NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. meet that he should have it, to some portion at least of that distinguished society. I heard it frequently asked in Canada, *' Why should the inhabitant of Maine, Vermont, or New Hamp- shire, be better off in that respect, when he visits England, than an inhabitant of Canada and a subject of the British Crown? Why should not the rising men of the colonies, on temporary visits to England^ have oppor- tunities of being properly introduced at the house of the representative of their colony in London ? " One of the most painful results of a separation from this country would then be obviated — that of cutting off, to so great an extent, the opportunities of social acquaintance and intercourse with the best men of the day. Were the option given to Canada — the first in importance of our colonies^ — there would be little doubt, I apprehend, of her soon finding fit men to represent her ; and as little, it may fairly be expected, that her legislature would consult its own dignity in assigning to him an income befitting his station among the leading persons of this country. CANADA. 293 jortion at '. heard it lould the w Hamp- when he ■ Canada I? Why onies, on e oppor- id at the colony in results of i then be great an uaintance the day. —the first would be n finding le, it may ire would him an le leading The former ties which used to be deemed of value in binding our colonies to us — those of trade, in an exclusive sense, have been greatly loosened, if not almost entirely put an end to. Our market is now not much more to them than any other. Among the great remaining ties — those of relationship and affection, of security under the British sceptre, and a par- ticipation in British commercial credit — is that of honour. The honours emanating from the British Crown, and the honour of representing in Eng- land a new and vigorous nation of our own bone and blood, are ties stronger than gold, as they are loftier than anything that gold could pur- chase. Emigration. — If the facts that I have brought together in the first portion of this volume, relating to the great prospective demand for more capital and labour in the United States, consequent upon the opening of the vast system of railway communication now in progress towards the west, together with the additional facts just given to the same point respecting 294 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. /■ Canada, should be in any measure new to any one interested in the agricultural districts of this country, I apprehend they cannot fail to excite in his mind some very serious consider- ations, especially if he should be connected with any of those southern counties where wages are lowest, or with a neighbourhood where strong competition for farms has hitherto kept up rent above what the tenant can meet in the present state of his agricultural skill, without encroaching upon his capital. The increasing demand for labour in the United States will, in all probability, enable the Irish emigrant to obtain, for many years to come, the high rate of wages he can now command, either on the railways or in the far West, not- withstanding the great stream of emigration that is still setting towards that country from Ireland. The agricultural capabilities of Ire- land and the low price of land are already ope- rating as a strong attraction to many enter- prising farmers of capital in this country, who are taking their labourers with them. Canada — not now more distant in point of time from '-..- v^ I-' — ,- n CANADA.' 295 England than York was from London in the early part of the last century — is drawing many of the same class to her exuberantly fer- tile soil. In Canada the English farmer and the English agricultural labourer find them- selves in the midst of their own countrymen (for many coming from the same counties have settled near each other), surrounded by asso- ciations similar to those they have left behind them — the same manners, the same habits, the same kind of farming, the same form of govern- ment, the same or even a more direct system of control over the local affairs of the neigh- bourhood. Every farmer, therefore, and every agricultural labourer with whom I conversed in Canada expressed himself pleased and con- tented with the change, as far as the increased means of living were concerned ; for it would be unjust to them and to this country were I not to add, that the almost universal sequel to these expressions of content on that score was, " But, after all, there *s nothing like * the old country,' for those that can live in it." The English farmers and labourers whom I met II / .^6 ¥(fTF.» ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, Ac. witili in tiie UiiikMl Slates were but few. They liad been successful, and they s[)okc in coirlial terms of the kindness and general civility of the people among w^hom they had settled; but there was much in manners and habits which, to use the expression of one of them, " went against the grain ;" and they generally com- plained of the climate. The insulation also in which they lived — so far from neighbours whom they had known before, and kindred — seemed to weigh upon them. While the Irish emigrant, therefore, will chiefly be attracted towards the United States, the English or Scotrl^ emigrant will probably continue to prefer setting up his new resting- place in Canada. And there is in that country, in truth, a great and enticing field for every ele- ment of British character. By what means a still further encouragement can be given to the best settlers of all classes to go tber<\ is a subject occupying th; attention of • 1? t^'. men of business in the colony. A direct communi- cation between Liverpool and Quebec, by large crew-steamers, is projected, and will, I believe. '-"^ wfth^"'- ■jisC: rANADA. 297 very soon be carried into effect. The great line of railway from Haiifix to Quebec, untl thence through the entire length of the two provinces, will, when completed, lead at once to a much higher appreciation in thin country (>^' the value and attractiveness of that. It is devoutly to be hoped, in the interest of that suffering and most deserving class of men, the agricultural labourers in our southern counties, who are existing on the low rate of wages there prevalent, that they may have intelligence enough to see the prospects held out to thoni in that new society of English habits, Engl sh sympathies, and English principles, and that they may be enabled to join it. One of the leading wants in America is cheaper labour ; and capitalists are taking the means to facilitate its introduction. It is possible that, before many years are over, it may be leaving our own shores even more freely than would accord with the present interests of some among us. There is no need to follow up the reflections which these facts open. They will suggest themselves, in all probability, to those who o3 298 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. / ! have been hitherto wasting in a useless struggle the energies that are wanted for the full deve- lopment of the agricultural resources of this country. Society in Canada. — I cannot omit to re- count the very agreeable impressions I received of the society I had the good fortune to meet with, both in the great towns of Canada and in the country. It adds greatly to the charm of travelling in a new country, to find at every halting-place so much that recalls the mode of life, and is in harmony with the ideas, manners, and habits of England. I feel impelled to ex- press in the very warmest terms the gratifica- tion I experienced in the many opportunities I enjoyed of cordial and friendly intercourse with persons of both the leading political parties in the colony, and with others who live apart from public life. The presence also of even the few British regiments in the different parts of the colony cannot do otherwise than contribute to keep up an English standard in many things. There is much in Canada to reconcile the emigrant, to a certain extent, to 'S Bttn ttm 8 struggle full (leve- ls of this lit to re- [ received e to meet da and in charm of at every mode of manners, led to ex- gratifica- tunities I itercourse political who live e also of different vise than ndard in lanada to extent, to CANADA. 299 what nothing can altogether compensate him for — his separation from the society of England.* The French Canadians, — There is no more interesting circumstance throughout the wide range of our Colonial or our Indian Empire, than that of the existence, under British rule, of the 700,000 French in Lower Canada. Side by side with them, and under the same form of government, are rather more than the same number of individuals of our own kindred and language, principally in Upper Canada. * In reference to the number of British troops in Canada, I would beg the gentlemen of the " Peace Party" in this country, who are bo anxious for the reduction of all our means of main- taining it, to go and study, even for a short time, the present temper of the democracy of the United States. They will find abundant evidence to convince them that there is no people, even among the military nations of Europe, so penetrated with a war- like spirit, and so inclined to aggression. To weaken our means of defence in Canada, is to prompt and invite another demon- stration of " sympathy " from the other side of a long and ex- posed frontier. The aristocracy of the United States (let no one start at the name — the feeling exists in as great strength as in Europe), as represented by the professional, commercial, and the wealthier of the trading classes, is far too enlightened, and too generally impressed with a high sense of right and wrong, to partake of this spirit; but they are yet numerically and socially weak, and consequently liable to be overborne by tlie mass of the people- i'^,,.,^'._tf. ■>.,. ..-^t^^^^^ vsi 300 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, ke. Christian charity and political wisdom will have achieved no greater triumph than that of harmonizing under one sceptre these hitherto discordant elements. The entire extinction, in the breast of every well-disposed Englishman of the present gene- ration, of that bitter spirit of hostility towards our French neighbours, which was engendered by the long and deadly strife of the last war, has been brought about partly by better ac- quaintance, partly by the Christian temper happily prevalent in this country. It would be strange indeed if the old feelings of alienation and disrespect which have well nigh totally expired here, should be designedly kept alive by the people of our own stock in Canada, against those of the French race who are so closely allied to them by the ties of citizenship and of mutual interest. I was extremely glad to hear from the lips of many persons who had the best right to speak upon the subject, that the idea of govern- ing the country with reference to English ideas and feelings alone (or, to use an old phrase, of mmsUfi itammna ^gjgt^l^^j CANADA. 301 '* swamping the French Canadians"), had been practically abandoned, and that there was every disposition to give them a fair share of, and their due weight in, the administration of public affairs. The consequence has been political peace, and an increasing degree of social harmon3\ ** Maintenant," said a French gentleman to me, in conversing on this subject, " tout est calme, et nous sommes tous contents. Nous avons un Gouverneur que nous prisons beaucoup, et que nous aimons tous ; et ce qui est encore beaucoup, qui est honore de la con- fiance de sa Majeste." Public demonstrations of late have clearly proved this. And if the English part of the Canadian people have cause to regret the slowness which the French por- tion display in making up their minds to the adoption of changes in their old laws and usages (such as the Feudal tenure and other matters now under discussion — if, indeed, they are not obstructed in regard to changes in the former by some English interests), they may find encouragement in several things that have been already effected, and in the many indica- il \ .Hi 'Pi 302 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. tions given both by the French representatives in the Legislative Assembly, and by other in- dividuals, of a considerable movement of mind in the way of solid and progressive improve- ment. Physically, the French Canadians struck me as being far superior to any of the peasantry of France, except the Normans, from whom they are descended. They seemed to me as a race athletic and robust, and with florid and healthy complexions. They have the same charm of manner that is still found among their European brethren, wherever the lower- ing and in reality anti-social spirit of repub- licanism has not trodden it out. The graceful courtesy of address, the respect for the feelings of others, the warm and cordial interchange of little kindnesses, the genial flow of animal spirits, the frank and fearless joke and the keen play of " badinage," remind you of how much they have derived from those past gene- rations which cherished and diffused all these smaller elements of the happiness of life, as the healthy accessories and the indispensable garni- CANADA. 303 ture of the greater. A gross, unimaginative, and selfish philosophy was unahle to distin- guish between the abuse and the use of those ingredients of cultivation ; between the hol- lowness and servility of the mere courtier, and that dignified self-respect of the gentleman, that *' proud submission, which kept alive, even in servitude itself, the spirit of an exalted freedom." The civilization of the New World owes something, I think, to the French Cana- dians, for keeping alive a reflection of the best manners of the old. But on what grounds of policy or justice it could ever have been proposed to "swamp" the French Canadians, I am at a loss, after seeing themselves and their country, to con- ceive. You cannot resist saying to yourself, Do they not number half the population? Have they not a history of which they have a right to be proud ? Are they not strongly and sincerely attached to their own peculiar insti- tutions, which have descended to them through many generations, which they enjoy under the solemn guarantee of England, and from which 1 1 ■ i 1. ill : <•■ )?iS 304 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. nothing but slow conviction could ever induce them to swerve in the minutest tittle ? Have they not to the full, and in a manner no less remarkable than gratifying, transferred to the British Crown those warm feelings of loyalty which with them are a part of their religion ? Do they not speak of our Queen with as much deep homage of the heart as any one of our- selves ? Have they not wealthy, well-sup- ported, and energetic establishments of charity, education, and religion, which are calculated in many instances to put our own lukewarm efforts to shame? Are they not a people so singularly well-conducted and free from crime that there is no such thing as even a parish constable from one end of the French Canadian territory to the other ? * Now that they are treated with consideration and justice, are they not among the most devoted of all her Majesty's subjects ? And can there be any closer bond of union among themselves, or firmer basis of * When any one is taken into custody, he is handed on from county to county by the *' Capitaine de Milice," until ne is de- posited at one of the towns. CANADA. 305 i attachment to the British Crown, than that strong nationality which they preserve intact, and in fearless security, under its protection, and in defence of which they would pour out their last drop of blood ? * Concluding Remarks. — The respect and admiration I couceived for that splendid colony, on seeing it from one end nearly to the other, were in nowise diminished by what I witnessed or heard of the French Canadian portion of it ; nor were the antici- pations of its future progress in any degree lessened. And should any one in this coun- try be disposed to undervalue it, either in itself or as " part and parcel " of the British dominions, I would beg of him to go and pass through the length and breadth of that fa- voured and magnificent land. Let him picture to himself its thirty millions of acres of soil, than which finer and richer never came from the beneficent hand of Nature ; let him survey that splendid river, bearing to the ocean ves- sels that have navigated its parent waters for * See Appendix (F), p. 312. >' I u 306 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. two thousand miles; let him examine its canals — those noble works of skill and science that have as it were smoothed the rapid, and made a stepping-stone of the rocky ridge that throws Niagara over its brow ; let him walk through those towns on the margin of those lakes and of that river — towns which wealth has already decorated, and which a sober and correct taste, and solid comfort and convenience, have already stamped with a thoroughly English character. Let him then look at the varied and in some parts picturesque scenery, either glowing in the hot summer's sun, or arrayed in the gorgeous tints of an American autumn, or reposing under the bright and silent win- ter's sky. Let him see the many and various fruits of the earth pouring into those towns daily, as from the very lap of Plenty. Let him think of the genuine English feeling, grounded on the participation of British free- dom and the pride of British origin, which pervades that land ; and the no less deep and elevated sentiments of French nationality, with which, in singular and beautiful union, a chi- CANADA. 307 valrous loyalty to our Queen is mingled as the colours in a prism, distinct yet united. Let him see and consider these things, and then ask himself if that is a country of which to speak lightly, as one that may possibly be torn, or may one day fall away, from the British Crown ? I should have deemed the trifling incon- veniences of a long tour amply repaid by one scene alone. On tlie north bank of the St. Lawrence, six miles below Quebec, the rushing mountain-stream, the Montmorenci, upwards of 100 feet broad and 250 feet high, leaps over a wooded cliff" into the bed of the mighty river. Standing on a bold promontory, with this beautiful fall on your right, you have before you and on your left the broad expanse of the St. Lawrence, flowing majestically between a framework of rising ground, here abrupt with escarpments of varied outline and hung with foliage, there undulating away to a distance until it meets an amphitheatre of mountain. Receding bays and jutting eminences break the line of water and of land. Numerous neat >- 308 II' ' ^ h . / ' Sir; ii; 1*1 f I. I NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &o. cottages of the "habitants" dot the course of the main roads. Projecting full into the middle of the river, about six miles off, rise the town and the citadel of Quebec ; the latter, in form not unlike Ehrenbreitstein, and worthy of the comparison and the name. Upon its lofty brow waves the British flag. The equal heroism of Wolfe and Montcalm has invested that spot with an undying interest. TLu chi- valry of the latter makes his memory as dear to the descendants of the defeated, as the youth and genius of the former can exalt him in our eyes. It is a spot where the glory of both nations has an enduring reco?.'^, and to which both must ever look witli an equal pride. Gazing upon it in the distance, I could not but remember also our own reverses on that wide continent, and those men, no less brave but less fortunate, who fought without success in their country's cause.* In the city of Mont- calm and of Wolfe now sits the Parliament of the United Canadian Provinces, under a Con- * 'Owe ATTOvraf 'ofioitoc rj ttoXiq rije avriig a^iwaatra Tifirjc ida\p£Vf ov\i tovq KaropOuaavraQ avrwy . . . ^ikqiwq. itfs: ■■♦..^i..^ % .* f * ■*-< t i CANADA. ^09 stitution essentially British ; and the singular and gratifying spectacle is now being given, of the French and English combining their in- telligence and their public spirit towards the useful, just, and harmonious working of a common government. The whole scene, under the mild rays of an autumn evening, was one which, for a union of the beauties and sublimities of nature with associations equally touching to every French as to every English heart, has not its equal in the world. im m our IIIIIB ■ ' I! i I. K< ^■!' h'h !li APPENDIX. (E. ) Report of Select Committee on Crown, Clergy, and School Lands (surveyed), 1845. Upper Canada Lower Canada Acre*. 18,153,219 17,655,942 35,839,161 I How disposed of :— Upper Canada : For support of Protestant Clergy 2,407,687 For education — King's College, Toronto . 225,944 Upper Canada College . 68,642 Grammar schools . . 258,330 547,916 808,560 2,485,413 10,404,663 1,500,000 Indian reservations not disposed of . To Canada Company .... „ United Empire Loyalists Land remaining on hand 18,153,219 /LERGY, and 1. Acrea. 18,153,219 17,655,942 35,839,161 2,407,687 547,916 808,560 2,485,413 0,404,663 1,500,000 8,153,219 APPENDIX— (E.) 311 iwer Canada : Jesuits' estates not appropriated 664,080 Indian reserves, near St. Maurice 87,000 Seignonal tenures, granted to individuals . . . 7,496,000 Free and common soccagu . 3,847,629 Included in the above . . 1,687,233 On hand .... 3,907,000 11 R- 9.14. 862 17,685,942 From the Census of 1848 it appears that, of the 18,358,800 there given as the total surveyed acreage of Upper Canada, only 521,130 acres were returned as imfit for cultivation. — {Scobie^s Almanac for 1850, p. 50.) I have found no return for Lower Canada. It may not be uninteresting, as a means of comparison, especially with reference to the statement which follows at p. 315, relating to the extent and resources of the Ottawa region, to add here the area of tlie United King- dom expressed in square miles and acres, on the authority of the Population Returns. Area of' the United Kingdom. England . , Wales . . Scotland . . Great Britain Ireland . . Total Square Miles. 50,387 7,425 32,167 Acres. 32,247,680 4,752,000 20,586,880 89,979 57,586,560 32,512 20,808,271 122,491 78,394,831 ■*««■ 312 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. M!l m ( F. ) Vide p. 305. On the Custom of the Subdivision of Property 'n Pennsylvania, &c. It is instructive to remark the different effect which the custom of the equal division of property has pro- duced among the French Canadians and the Pennsyl- vanian Germans, as compared with the law of compul- sory division in France and in the Rhenish and other provinces in Germany, where the Code Napoleon was introduced at the time of the French conquest. The French Canadians and the Pennsylvanian " Dutch," as they are called (from the word Deutsch), having the opportunity of " going West" and getting as much land as they like for a dollar and a quarter per acre, or, if they go to the frontier of the States, for nothing at all, will not subdivide their inheritances below that which they find they can live upon in what they deem sufficient comfort. I was informed in Penn- sylvania that, on the death of a proprietor, a jury of his neighbours is usually summoned to assess the value of his land, and to give their opinion whether it ought to be divided. If the division would bring each property below about one hundred acres, they generally decide that it should not be divided, but be offered to each APPENDIX— (F.) 313 ROPERTY m son in succession, until one consents to take it, and to pay off the portions of the other children. The value put upon the land by the " Jury" was, it .was said, generally such as to make it pretty easy to the occu- pant to save or raise the sums needed to clear off the incumbrance. Among the French Canadians the habit has been, according to the " Report on the State of Agriculture in Lower Canada " quoted in the text, to hold " too much land considering their means," renting or purchasing the portions of those who have emigrated ; and they are recommended, in a sensible communication at p. 79 of that document, to " confine their attention industriously to the cultivation of fifty j> acres. Wliat would the French or German pear.ant, starv- ing upon his few patches of mortgaged land, give, if it were possible, and not a bitter mockery, to recommend him not to reduce his holding below 100 or even 50 acres ; and what an amount of misery does he not owe to that rash and presumptuous generation, which com- mitted errors under the guise of philosophy and phi- lanthropy, that the experience of the present age is at its wit's end to repair ? (G.) See p. 278. Extract from a Spkech of the Honourable Francis HiNOKS, Inspector General (Chancellor of the Ex- chequer), on the Financial Condition of the Pro- P NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. vince, delivered before the Legislative Assembly of Canada, 16th July, 1851 (Toronto, 1851). Speaking of the larger proportionate consumption of imported articles by Canada, in consequence of her low tariff, Mr. Hincks states : — " In order to show the effect of this policy, I shall refer to some of the leading articles of manufactures imported inio the United States and Canada. The most important of these are cottons, woollens, iron and hardware, silk and linen. With regard to silks and linens, the protective duties may be considered as inoperative, there being no ex- tensive manufactures in either country. Of these articles the importation into the United States is from 40 to 60 per cent, greater, having reference to popu- lation, than into Canada, which is not surprising, con- sidering the greater wealth of the inhabitants, and the fact that these articles are consumed by the higher classes. Perhaps the proportionate increase ought not to be so great on cottons, woollens, iron, and hardware. Still we may fairly assume that the consumption of these articles would be greater than in Canada, and that under a similar tariff the imports would be 10 to 20 per cent, higher. But, sir, what is the fact ? The imports of cotton goods are, in proportion to popula- tion, nearly four times as great as into the United States, woollens nearly three times as great, and iron and hardware nearly double. These, Mr. Chairman, are instructive facts, — instructive as proving to the Mother Country the value of the colonies as a market I Assembly of >51). jnsumption of [uence of her jr to show the of the leading » the United t of these are ilk and linen, itective duties being no ex- f. Of these States is from Bnee to popu- irprising, con- tants, and the by the higher ;ase ought not and hardware. )nsumption of Canada, and ould be 10 to le fact ? The ion to popula- to the United reat, and iron ^r. Chairman, roving to the es as a market APPENDIX— (G.H.) 315 for British manufactures, and instructive to ourselves as showing the cost to the consumers of a protective tariff." (H.) See p. 216. On the Extent and Resources of the Great Basin of the Ottawa. Having mentioned with some degree of particularity several of the regions of Canada most abounding in agricultural and other resources — such as the splendid peninsula of Upper Canada, the rich territory north of ^ Lake Ontario, the fine country of the eastern townships, and others — it would be an act of injustice not to notice the great basin of the Ottawa, the chief seat of the lumber trade, a region hitherto very little known, but nevertheless one of the most surprising in the variety and extent of its resources, in that teeming land of undeveloped wealth and power. I find an account of it in a volume entitled ' Pro- ceedings of the Standing Committee (of the Provincial Parliament) on Railroads and Telegraph Lines, together with the Minutes of Evidence. Ordered by the Committee to be printed, July 14th, 1851. — Toronto.' From this I shall take the liberty of abridging some of the interesting statements there given. The great basin or region of the Ottawa occupies an area of 80,000 square miles. One-eighth only has p2 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &c. been surveyed and organized into townships or seigno- ries ; another eighth would include all the extent over which lumbering operations are carried on, leaving three-fourths wholly unoccupied, except by a few hun- dred families of the aboriginal inhabitants, and of this there is an extent equal to all England quite unknown except to the agents of the Hudson's Bay Company. The length of the course of the Ottawa is about 780 miles, or 50 miles shorter than the Rhine. Many of its tributaries, falling into large lakes towards its upper waters, have not yet been traced, but fourteen, which have, possess an aggregate length of 2153 miles ; some of them are as large as the Hudson, the Shannon, the Thames, the Tweed, the Spey, and the Clyde ; one, the Gatineau, larger : and after re- ceiving all these tributaries " when at the highest and the north waters are passing, the volume of the Ottawa, by calculated approximation, is fully equal to that passing Niagara — that is, double the common volume of the Ganges." Many of these rivers, as well as the Ottawa itself, present long uninterrupted reaches of navigable water," with "unlimited water-power" at their falls and rapids. One of the former, the Chaudiere, six miles above Bytown, " is arrayed in every imaginable variety of form," and not the least interesting feature it presents is the " Lost Chaudiere," where a body of water, greater in volume than the Thames at London, is quietly sucked down and disappears underground. APPENDIX- (H.) 317 The extent of this grand region, its geological cha- racter, the line soil and climate, and the attractive features of a large portion of it, its vast forests of valu- able timber, and its great mineral resources, are more particularly described in the following extract : — " Taking a bird's-eye view of the valley of the Ottawa, we see spread out before us a country equal to eight times the extent of the state of Vermont, or ten times that of Massachusetts ; with its great artery the Ottawa curving through it, resembling the Rhine in length of course, and the Danube in magnitude. " This immense region includes a variety of geolo- gical formations, and presents all their characteristic features, from the level uniform surface of the silurian system, which prevails along a great extent of the south shore of the Ottawa, to the rugged and romantic ridges in the metamorphic and primitive formations, which stretch far away to the north and north-west. " As far as our knowledge of the country extends, we find the greater part of it covered with a luxuriant growth of red and white pine timber, making the most valuable timber-forests in the world, abundantly inter- sected with large rivers, fitted to convey the timber to market when manufactured. " The remaining portion of it, if not so valuably wooded, presents a very extensive and advantageous field for settlement. Apart from the numerous town- ships already surveyed, and partly settled, and the large tracts of good land interspersed throughout the i 318 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, &o. timber country, the great region on the upper course of the western tributaries of the Ottawa, behind the red pine country, exceeds the state of New Hampshire in extent, with an equal climate and superior soil. It is generally a beautiful undulating country, wooded with a rich growth of maple, beech, birch, ehn, &c., and watered with a lake and stream, affording nume- rous mill-sites, and abounding in fish. Flanking the lumbering country on the one side, which presents an excellent market for produce, and adjoining Lake Huron on the other, the situation, though compara- tively inland, is highly advantageous. " In the diversity of resources, the Ottawa country presents unusual inducements alike tc agricultural industry and commercial enterprise. The operations of the lumberers give an unusual value to the produce of the most distant settlers by the great demand they create on the spot, while the profits of lumbering yield those engaged in it a command of wealth which other- wise could not be had in the country. " The value of the resources of their forests to the inhabitants of the Ottawa country will be evident on comparing the value of their exports with those of other countries. Take, for instance, the state of Maine (as American enterprise is so much talked of), with all its commercial advantages, and the enterprising cha- racter of its people. When their population was up- wards of 500,000, the exports amounted in value to 1,078,633 dollars , whiie the value of the exports of !« APPENDIX— (II.) 319 the Ottawa country amounts to double that sum, with less than one-third the population. " If such be the case now, how much more will it be so when, in addition to the more extensive prosecution of agriculture, the unlimited water-power which the Ottawa and its tributaries afford is even partially applied to general manufactures, as well as to that of deals. It woulvi be impossible to conceive an un- limited power presented in a more available form than that which the Ottawa offers in its many divided falls ; while she lavishes invitingly unparalleled power to manufacture them, she offers her broad bosom to bring the cotton of the soutli and the timber of the north together. " Nor are the mineral resources of the Ottawa coun- try to be overlooked. And here the Gatineau offers its services, with an unlimited supply of excellent iron, and within a mile of its navigable water, close to its lowest falls, affording unlimited water-power, and abundance of timber for fuel ; and there are equal ad- vantages for its working on other parts of the Ottawa. The plumbago, lead, and copper, the marble, and the ochres of the Ottawa country will yet become of com- mercial importance. " To judge of the importance of the Ottawa country, we should consider the population which her varied agricultural and commercial resources may ultimately support. Taking the present condition of New Hamp- shire as data, without noticing its great importance in 320 NOTES ON PUBLIC SUBJECTS, Sec. I i commercial advantages, the Ottawa country, when equally advanced, which is not much to say, should maintain 3,000,000 of inhabitants. But taking Scot- land as our data, which the Ottawa country surely equals in soil, and might with its peculiar advantages resemble in commerce and manufactures, the valley of the Ottawa should ultimately maintain a population of 8,000,000 of souls." When it is considered that the above is a description of a section only of the British colonial possessions in North America — and a description, as particular, of any of the rest would present facts and circumstances not less calculated to fill the mind — and when it is remem- bered also that the area of this one region alone — the grand basin of the Ottawa — comprises an extent of 80,000 square miles, or only 9979 square miles less than the area of Great Britain, I would ask whether the Canadian gentleman whom I have referred to at p. 173 had not some reason for his assertion, " That the people of England are by no means aware how fine a country they possess in Canada" ? LOXDON : PRINTED BY W. CLOWES AIil> SONS, STAMFORD STREET. untry, when say, should taking Scot- untry surely advantages the valley of a population a description >ossessions in cular, of any mstances not it is remem- n alone — the an extent of miles less ask whether sferred to at tion, " That 'are how fine )HD STREET. TUree ^<^, / ^R»•cqi ^^1tio lis I 54. Bl I *■ i\.^ / s\ ir- y/j d^Bath \ / V gtN IJ S Y I. —■/^—'^ •■v; r / A R\o/ I'-^^^-^Nj A^ "lougdni ^tud.t I' X 3iA:i:ij^5rAT^ iicl l84"i '^ ^.. lA ^. \ Published bv John Murray. Albe ''*•"/«. i MtAtlnrax COMPLETED AND PROJECTED III IJlf BnVftS 5tAt£5 HrilKsL Possess jous in 1852. i'lmifitftd fri'iit f/ii /ftitfmii Omrff of i/u Cnitti/ ,S(a(is(UiH from (/k Miif/,s- v/'smral (i'liifidtiiis Xii'hvav oj)(>nHd. — — -> I'iiixlisti Mill's 4CC '1 7|0 65 a*^ M .w sv no 3i no MAT WING THE MAIN LINES OF COMMUNICATION WESTWARD, WHEN COMPLETED, IN THE II'UaTJSlfff FOi^^^'E^Ml^^^ ami lu tiie ■^5 4V I. \ Joliii Murray. Albemarle .Street. 3P J. i C. Wniitfrlithv. 13: J'lWT 50, Alb«m»r1« Itrnof, Tiondon. January, iHii. MR MURRAY'S GENERAL LIST OF WORKS. ABBOTT'S (Ukv. J.) Philip Musgrave ; or Memoirs of n Cliurch of KnKluiKi MIsHioiipry in the Nunii American C'ulunleH. I'osit 8vo. !2«. OJ, ABELL'S (Miifl.) ItccollectionH of tlio Emperor Napoleon during the Finit Tlireu Ye»M of hit Captivity on the lalund of 8t. lluloua. Second ICdition. Wnodcuta. PuatSvu. 10«. 6ii. ft ABERCUOMBIE'S (John, M.D.) Enquiries concerning the Intel- lectual Powers and the luveHtlgatlun of Truth. TUirtetnth Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 0«. 6(/. PhiloHophy of the Moral Feelings. EighUi Edition, Fcap. 8vo. 4«. Puthological and Practical Researches on the DiioaHes of the Stomnch, tlin Intustltial ('nnal, thn I/(ver, and otho^ ViHcera of tiiu Abdomen. 2' hird Edition. Fcap. 8vo. Ha. ACLAND'S (Tuoa. D.) and William Stukok's Reports on tho Farming of Homenietshire. Map. 8vu. in. Qd. (Rbv. Charles) Popular Account of tho Mai \or3 and CuHtohm of India, IliiiHtratcd with NuuiuroiiH AnccdotoN. I'oHtUvo. 2«.6(/. iESCHYLUS. (The Agamemnon and Choephoraj). A Nev< Edition of the Text, with Notes, Critical, Uxplnnntory, and I'hilonoplilcnl, for tlio Doe of Students. liy Kev. W. I'eile, I>.U., Head Master of Kepton School. Second Edition, 'i Vula. 8vo. 05. eauli. iESOP'S FABLES, for Old and Young. A New Version. By Kev. Thohab Jaurs, M.A. Illustrated with 100 Woodciitx, by .Toii'x Tbnniki.. Tost 8vo. 2«. Od. A Few Copies on tine largo I'uiicr. 8vo. 16«. AGRICULTURAL (The) Journal. Published (half-yearly) by the Royal Agricultural Society of England. 8vi>. 10«. AMBER-WITCH (Thk). The most interesting Trial for Witch- craft ever known. Edited by Dr. Mkinhold. Trnniilated frdiu the German by Lady Dvvr Uohdok. Post 8vo. 2a. M, ARABIAN NIGHTS (The). A New Ti. s !..tion arranged for Family Reading. With Explanatory N ■■ Aew Edition. With 600 Woodcuts, by Wilmam H auvey, 8vo. llis. ARAGO'S (M.) Historical Eloge on James Watt. Translated from the French, with Notes by J. P. Muiburao. Portrait. 8vo. 8a. 6d., and 4to, 21«. ARTHUR'S (Little) History of England. By Ladt Calloott. Fi/Uentk Edition. Woodcuts. 18mo. 2a. 6rf. AUNT IDA'S Walks and Talks ; a Story Book for Children. By a Lady. Woodcuts, 16mo. 6s, f 1 LIST OF WORKS ADMIRALTY PUBLICATIONS (The) ; Published by direction of the Lords Commisaioners of the Admiralty : — 1. A MANUAL OF SCIENTIFIC ENQUIRY; for the Use of Officers in H.M. Navy and Travellers in General. By Various Hands. Edited by SiE J. F. Hkbschel, Bart. Second Edition, Post 8vo. 10s. 6d. 2. AIRY'S ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS made at Greenwich, 1836 to 1847. Royal 4to. 60s. each. 3. APPENDIX TO THE ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS. 1836, 1837, 1842, Ss. each ; and 1847, 14s. Royal 4to. CONTENTS. 1836.— Bessel's Refraction Tables. Table for converting EiTors of R. A. and N. P. D. into Errors of Longitude and Ecliptic P. D. 1837. — Logarithma of Sines and Cosines to every Ten Seconds of Time. Table for converting Sidereal into Mean Solar Time. 1842.— Catalogue of 1439 Stars. 1847.— Twelve Years' Catalogue of Stars. MAGNETIC AL AND METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVA- TIONS. 1840 to 1847. Royal 4to. 50s. each. ASTRONOMICAL, MAGNETICAL AND METEOROLO- GICAL OBSERVATIONS, 1848 and 1849. Royal 4to. SOs. eacli. REDUCTION OF THE OBSERVATIONS OF PLANETS 1750 to 1830. Royal 4to. 50s. LUNAR OBSERVATIONS. 1750 4. 5. 6. 7. 8, 9, L' . to 1830. 2 Vols. Royal 4to. 50s. each. BERNOULLI'S SEXCENTENARY TABLE. London, 1779. 4to. 5s BESSEL'S AUXILIARY TABLES FOR HIS METHOD OF CLEAR- ING LUNAR DISTANCES. 8vo. 10. FUNDAMENT A ASTRONOMIC :i?«fftomon«. 1818. Folio. 60s. 11. BIRD'S METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING MURAL QUADRANTS. London, 1768. 4to. 2s. 6d. 12. METHOD OF DIVIDING ASTRONOMICAL INSTRU- MENTS. Z/ondon, 1767. 4to. 2s. 6d. 13. COOK, KING, AND BAYLY'S ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS London, 1782. 4to. 21s. 14. EDWARDS ON THE COMPOSITION OF METALS FOR REFLECT- ING TELESCOPES. 8vo. 2s. 6d. 15. EIFFE'S ACCOUNT OF IMPROVEMENTS IN CHRONOMETERS. 4to. 2«. 16. ENCKE'S BERLINER J AHRBUCH, FOR 1830. Berlin, 1838. 8vo. 9.'. 17. GROOMBRIDGE'S CATALOGUE OF CIRCUMPOLAR STARS. 4to. 10s. iG. HARRISON'S PRINCIPLES OF HIS TIME-KEEPER. Plates. 1767. 4to. 5s. 19. BUTTON'S TABLES OF THE PRODUCTS AND POWERS OF NUMBERS. 1781. Folio. 7s. 6d. 20. LAX'S TABLES FOR FINDING THE LATITUDE AND LONGI- TUDE. 1821. 8vo. 10s. 21. LUNAR OBSERVATIONS at GREENWICH. 1783 to 1819. Compared with the Tables, 1821. 4to. 7s. 6d. 22. DISTANCES of the MOON'S CENTRE from the PLANET 1822, 3s.; 1823, 4s. 6d. 1824 to 1835. 8vo. is. each. U .^L-^J PUBLISHED BY MR. MURRAY. ii Adhiralty Publications — continiied. 23. 24. 26. 2G. 27. ■28, 29. 80. 31. 82. MASKELYNE'S ACCOUNT OP THE GOING OF HARRISON'S WATCH. 1767. 4to. 2a. Sd. MAYER'S THEORIA LUN^E JUXTA SYSTEMA NEWTONI- ANUM. 4to. 2s. 6d. TABULAE MOTUUM SOLIS ET LUNiE. 1770. 4to. 6*. ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS MADE AT GOT- TINGEN, from 1756 to 1761. 1826. Folio, la. 6d. NAUTICAL ALMANACS, from 1767 to 1864. 8vo. 2s. 6d. Mch. SELECTIONS FROM THE ADDITIONS, up to 1812. 8vo. 5s.— 1834-54. 8vo. 5s. — SUPPLEMENTS, 1828 to 1833, 1837 and 1838, 8vo. 2s. each. 1766. 8vo. 2s. 6d. TABLES requisite to be used with the N. A Second Edition, enlarged. 1781. 8vo. 5s. Third Edition, ccr reeled. 1802. 8vo. 5s. POND'S ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS. 1811 to 1835. 4to. 21s 34. RAMSDEN'S 4to. 6s. 35. 37. 88. 40. 41. 42. ENGINE for Dividing Mathematical Insteuments ENGINE for Dividing Straight Lines. 4to. 5s. SABINE'S PENDULUM EXPERIMENTS to determine the Fioima of the Earth. 1825. 4to. 40s SHEPHERD'S TABLES for Cobbecting Lunar Distances. 1772. Royal 4to. 21s. TABLES, GENERAL, of the MOON'S DISTAKCEi from the SUN, and 10 STARS. 1787. Folio. 5s. 6d. TAYLOR'S SEXAGESIMAL TABLE. 1780. 4to. 15s. TABLES of LOGARITHMS. 4to. 3/. TIARK'S ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS for the Longitude of Madeira. 1822. 4to. 6s. CHRONOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS for Difference* of Longitude between Dover, Portsmouth, and Falmouth, 1823. 4tx), 5s. 43. VENUS and JUPITER : Observations of, compared with the Tables. London, 1822. 4to. 2s. 44. WALES and BAYLY'S ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS. 1777. 4to. 21s. 45. WALES' REDUCTION of ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS made in the Southern Hemisphere. 1764—1771. 1788. 4to. 10s. 6d. AUSTIN'S (Mas.) Fragments from Gennan Prose Writers. Trans- lated, with Biographical Notes. Post 8vo. 10s. Translation of Ranke's Political and Ecclesiastical History of the Popes of Rome. Third Edition. 2 Vols. 8vo. 24s. BABBAQE'S (Ohables) Economy of Machinery and Manufactures. Fourth Edi.'ion. Feap. 8vo. 6s. Table of the Logarithms of the Natural Numbers from 1 to 108000. Fourth Edition. Royal 8vo. 6s. — , Ninth Bridgewater Treatise. Second Edition. 8vo. 9s. 6rf. Beflections on the Decline of Science in England^ and on some of its Causes. 4to. 15s. Exposition of 1851 ; or, Views of the Industry, the Science, and the Grvemment of England, Second Edition. 8vo, Js.Gd, B 2 I Pre MMMMH ■ilt-ift* LIST OP WORKS BAllllOWS (Sir John) Autobiographical Memoir, including Reflections, OlinervHtionR, and Keminisccnces at Home and Abroad. From Early Life to Advanced Ago. Portrait. 8vo. IGs, Voyages of Discovery and Research within the Arctic RegionH, from tlie earliest periods to the present time. Under tlie Command of tlio several Naval Otticers, employed by Sea and I^and, in search of a North-west PassaKe fh>m the Atlantic to the Pacific : witli Two Attempts to reach the North Pole. Abridged and arranged from the OHicial Narratives, with Occasional KemarlcB. Maps. 2 Vols. 8vo. Vol. 1, 12s. Vol. 2, 15». (John) Memoirs of the Naval Wortliies of Queen Elizabeth's Keign, their Gallant Deeds, Daring Adventures and Services in the infant state of the British Navy, with brief Biographical Notices of the respective Commanders. 8vo. lis. Life and Voyages of Sir Francis Drake. With nume- rous Original Letters from him and the Lord High Admiral to the Queen, and great Oilicers of State. Post Bvo. 2s. 6d, Tour in Austrian Lombardy, the Northern Tyrol, and Bavaria. Woodcuts. Post 8vo. 10». 6d. BASSOM PIERRE'S Memoirs of his Embassy to the Court of England in 162C. Translated with Notes. 8vo. 9s. 6d. 3ELISAHIUS (LiFH of). By Lobd Mahon. Second Edition. Post 8vo. 10s. 6d. BELL (Sir Charlks) on the Anatomy and Philosophy of Expression as connected with the Fine Arts. Fourth Edition. Plates. Impl. 8vo. 21s. On The Mechanism and Endowments of the Hand as evincing Design. A New Edition. Portrait and Woodcuts. Post Bvo. 7s. M. BENEDICTS (Jules) Sketch of the Life and Works of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. 8vo. 2.^. 6d. BERTHA'S Journal during a Visit to her Uncle in England. Confiiininff a Variety of Interesting and Instri ctivo Information, adapted for Young I'ersons. Seventh Edition. Woodcuts, 12mo. 7s. 6d, Heiress in her Minority ; or, the Progress of Character. By Author of " BEnriiA's Journal." 2 Vols. 12mo. IBs. BETHUNES (J. E. D.) Specimens of Swedish and German Poetry. Part I. Poems of Esaiaa Tegner. Part II. Schiller's Maid of Orleans. Crown Bvo. 12s. BIRCH'S (Samuel) History of Ancient Pottery : Egyptian, Asiatic, Greek, Itoman, Etruscan, and Celtic. With Illustrations. Bvo. {Nearly liead'j.) BIRT'S (W. R.) Hurricane Guide. Being an Attempt to connect tlm Rotatory Gale, or Revolving Stonn, with Atmospheric Waves. Jr uding Instructions for observing the Phenomena of the Waves and Stdrrns; with Practical Directions for avoiding the Centres of the latter. With Circles ou Curds. Post Bvo. 3s. BIOSCOPE (The) ; or, the Dial of Life explained. To which is added a Translation of St. Paulinus' Epistle to Celantia on the Rule of Christian Life nnd an Elementary View of general Chronology. By Granvillr Pknx. Second Edition. With Plate. 12mo. 12s. T" PUBLISHED BY MR. MURRAY. BLUNT'S (Rev. J. J.) Undesigned Coincidences in the Writings of the 01(1 and New Testament, an Argument of their Veracity : with an Appendix containing Undesigned Coincidences between the Ciospuls, Acts, and Josephus. Third Edition, 8vo. 9«. Principles for the proper understanding of the Mosaic Writings, stated and applied, together witli an incidental argument for the truth of the Kcsurrcction of our Lord. Being tlio Uulseak LEcruRES for 1832. Post 8vo. &». 6d. BOOK OF COMMON PRA.YEII. Illuminated with 1000 Illus- trations of liorders, Initials, and Vignettes. Medium 8vo, 21s, clotb, Sl«. M. calf, or 428. morocco. BORROWS (Georok) Lavengro ; The Scholar— Gipsy— and Priest. With Portrait. 3 Vols. PostSvo. 30s. __ BiUe in Spain; Or the Journeys, Adventures, and Imprisonments of an En^dishman in an Attempt to circnhite tlio Scriptures in the Peninsula. 3 Vols. Post Bvo. 27s., or Cheap Edition, 16mo, 6s. —^ Zincali, or the Gipsies of Spain ; their Planners, Customs, Keligion, and Language. 2 Vols. Post 8vo. 18s., or Cheap Edition, 16mo, 6«. BOSWELLS (James) Life of Dr. Samuel Johnson. Including the Tour to the Hebrides, with Notts by Sir W. ScoiT. Edited by the Itiglit Hon. .'jHN Wilson Ckoker. A New and Cheaper Edition, thorouyhly revised (18^), with mitchadditional Matter. With Portraits, Complete in one Volume Koyal 8vo. 15s. *,* JDe particular in ordering Ckoker's Boawell, in One Volume. BRAY'S (Mrs.) Life of Thomas Stothard, R.A. With Personal Keminiscences. Illustrated with Portrait and 60 Woodcuts of his chief works, 4to. 21s. BREWSTER'S (Sir David) Martyrs of Science, or the Lives of Galileo, Tyclio Urahe, and Kepler. Second Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 4s. 6d. BRITISH ASSOCIATION REPORTS. Held at York and Oxford 1831-32, 13s. 6d. Cambridge, 18.33, 12s. Edinburgh, 1834, 15s. Dublin, laSS, 13s. 6d. Bristol, 1836, 12s. Liverpool, 1837, 16s. 6d. Newcastle, lass, 15s. Birmingham, 1839, 13s. Gd. Glasgow, 1840, 15s. Plymouth, 1841, 13s. 6d. Manchester, 1842, 10s. Gd. Cork, 1843, 12s. York, 1844, 20s. Cambridge, 1845, 12s. Southampton, 1846, 15s. Oxfonl, 1847, 18s. Swansea, 1848, 9s. Birmingham, 1849, 10s. Edinburgh, 1850, 16s. 8vo. BROGDEN'S (Rev. Jas.) Illustrations of the Liturgy and Ritual of the United Church of England and Ireland. Being Semions and Discourses Selected from the Works of eminent Divines of the 17th Century. 3 Vols. Post 8vo. 27s. Catholic Safeguards against the Errors, Comiptions, and Novelties of the Church of Home. Being Sermons and Tracts selected from the Works of eminent Divines of tlic 17tli Century. Second Edition. With Preface and Index. 3 Vols. 8vo. 36». %• The Second and Third Volume may he had separateh/, lis. each. Records of the Supremacy of the Crown, and of the Civic and Kcliglous Liberties ot the People of England. 8vo. 4s. ^ '6 LIST OP WORKS BROOKE'S (Sir Jauiss) Journals of Events in Borneo, including the Occnpation of Labiinn, and a Visit to the Celeben. Together with the Expedition of H.M.S. Iris. By Capt. Rodney Mundy, R.N. Plates. 2Vol8. 8vo. 32». BUBBLES FROM THE BRUNNEN OF NASSAU. By an Old Man. Sixth Edition. 16ino. 6a, BUNBURY'S (C. J. F.) Journal of a Residence at the Cape of Good Hope; with Excursions into the Interior, and Notes on the Natural History and Native Tribes of the Country. Woodcuts. PoatSvo. 9s. BUNYAN (John) and Oliver CromwelL Select Biographies. By Robert Soutuey. Post 8vo. 2.i. 6d. BURGHERSH'S (Lord) Memoir of the Operations of the Allied Armies under Prince Scliwarzonberg and Marslial Blucher during the latter end of 1818-14. 8vo. 2U. Early Campaigns of the Duke of Wellington in Portugal and Spain. 8vo. 8s, 6d. BURN'S (Coi.) Naval and Military Technological Dictionary of the French Language. English and French— French and English. For the Use of Soldiers, Sailors, and Engineers. Post 8vo. In the Press. BURNS' (Robert), Life. By John Gibson Lockhart. Fiflh Edition, Fcap. 8vo. 3s, BURNES' (Sir Alexander) Journey to and Residence in the City ofCabooI. Second Edition, Plates. 8vo. 18s, BURR'S (Q. D.) Instructions in Practical Surveying, Topogra- phical Plan-drawing, and on sketching ground without Instruments. Second Edition. Woodcuts. Post 8vo. 7s. 6d. BUXTON'S (Sir Fowell) Memoirs. With Selections from his Correspondence. By his Son. Fourth Edition. Portrait. 8vo, 16s. ; or Cheap Edition, 16mo, 8s. 6d. BYRON'S (Lord) Life and Letters. By Thomas Moore. Collected and Arranged, with Notes and Illustrations. Library Edition. Plates. 6 Vols. Fcap.Svo. 18«. . . Complete in One Volume. New Edition. Portraits. Royal Svo. 12s. Poetical Works. Collected and Arranged, with Notes and Illustrations. Library Edition. Plates. 10 Vols. Fcap. 8vo. 30». Complete in One Volume. JN'eiv Edition. Portrait. Royal 8vo. 12s, Poetical Works. Ifew Edition. {Nearly Ready.) Vol.5.- M 2s. ed. each. Vol. 1.— Chllde Harold. Vol. 2. — Tales and Poems. Vol. 3.— Dramas, Vol. 1. Vol. 4.— Dramas, Vol. 2. 8 Vols. 16mo. icellanies, Vol. 1. Vol. 6.— Miscellanies, Vol. 2. Vol. 7.— Don Juan, Vol, 1. Vol. 8.— Don Juan, Vol. 2. Childe Harold. Illustrated with Vignettes. A New Edition. Crown 8vo. In the Press. PUBLISHED BY MR. MURRAY. BUTTMAN'S LEXILOGUS; or, a Critical Examination of the Meaning and Etymology of numerons Greek Words and Passages, intended principally for Homer and Hesiod. Translated, and edited with Explanatory Motes, and copious Indexes, by Kkv. J. U. Fibiilakb. Third Edition. 8vo. 14s. - Catalogue of Irregular Greek Verbs ; With all the Tenses extant— their Fonnntion, Meaning, and Usage, accompanied by an Index. Translated, with Motes, by Ubv. J. U. Fibulakk. Secarid , Edition, 8vo. 7s. 6d. CALVIN'S (John) Life. With Extracts from his Correspondence. By Thomas II. Dyer. Portrait. 8vo. 15*. CALLCOTT'S (Ladt) Little Arthur's History of England. Fifteenth Edition. Woodcuts. ISmo. 2« 6rf. CAMPBELL'S (Lord) Lives of the Lord Chancellors and Keepers of tlie Great Heal of England. From the Earliest Times to the death of Lord Eldon in 1838 Third Edition. 7 Vols. 8vo. 102s. [TheWwkmay also he had ds folloias^ 1st SERIES. From the Earliest Times to the Revolution of 1688. 3 Vols. 8vo. 42s. 2nd SERIES. From the Revolution of 1688 to the Death of Loi-d Thurlow in 1806. 2 Vols. 8vo. 30s. 3rd SERIES. From the Birth of Lord Loughborough, in 1733, to the Death of Lord Eldon, in 1838. 2 Vols. 8vo. 30s. Lives of the Chief Justices of England. From the Norman Conquest till the Death of Lord Mansfield. 2 Vols. 8vo. SOs. . (Thos.) Specimens of the British Poets. With Bioi- graphical and Critical Notices, and an Essay on English Poetry. Third Edition. Revised by Peter Cunningham. Portrait and Vignette. Royal 8vo. 15s. ■ — — Short Lives of the British Poets. Post 8vo. 6*. CAREME'S FRENCH COOKERY. Translated by W. Hall. Second Edition. Plates. 8vo. 15s. CARMICHAEL'S (A. N.) Greek Verbs. Their Formations, Irregularities, and Defects. Second Edition. Post 8vo. 8s. 6d. CARNARVON'S (Lord) Portugal, Gallicia, and the Basque Provinces. From Notes made during a Journey to those Countries. Third Edition. Post 8vo. 6s. CATHCART'S (Major General) CommentarK-^ on the War in Russia and Germany, 1812-13. With 28 iJiu ^rams and Plans. 8vo. Ui. CHARMED ROE (The) ; or. The Story of the Little Brother and Sister. With Illustrations. By Otto Speckter. 16mo. 6s. CLARENDON GALLE^^Y (The) ; or, Lives of the Friends and Contemporaries of t;. ijord Chancellor Clarendon, illustrative of Por- traits in his Gallery. With an Introduc.'on, containing a Descriptivw Catalogue of the Pictures, and an Account .lie Origin of the Collection. By Lady Theresa Lewis. Portraits. 3 V ols. 8vo. 42s. 111 miimtAm LIST OP WORKS 'JLARK (Sir James) On the Sanative Influence of Climate, trith an Account of the TicBt Places for Invalids in tlie South of Europe, &c. £ •mrth Edition. Post 8vo. 10.' Qd. CLAUKEWITZ'S rarsKRAL Carl Von) Campaifri ^>f 181 "2, in Itussia. Trunblt'tcd from the German. With a Map. 8vj. Wh.M. OLIVE'S (Lord) Life. By Ret. G. R. Gleio, M.A. Pos' ovo. Ih. COLERIDGird (Sakoel Taylor) Table-'t'ilk. Fi,vr*h Elilvv Portrait. Fcap. (mo. &s. (HKiTftY Nelson) lutroduct'ong to «,he Study of the Greek Classic r By By his Son. Portrait. OIL .DIOR'S /liKY. GBCisau) Life and Letters. . Lho iiiid Poetical Works. Collected nnd Arranged, >v : i i; ^otos and illustrations. Library Edition. Platct^. 8 Vols. Fcap. 8vo. 24s. — Complete in One Volume. New Edition. Portrait and Vignette. Royal 8vo. KH. 6d. CROKEll'S (Right Hon. J. W.) Progressive Geogvi^phy for Children. Fourth Edition. 18mo. Is.Qd, — Stories for Children Selected from the History of England. Fourteenth Edition. Woodcuts. ]6mo. bs, Boswell's liife of Johnson. Including the Tour to the Hebrides, with Notes by Sir W. Scott. A New and Cheaper Edition, Kcvis^id (1848), ti-itb much additional Matter. Complete in One Volume. Portraits. Royal. 8yo. 15<. Memoirs of the Reign of George the Second, from his accession to the death of Queen Caroline. By John Lord Uervky. Portrait. 2 Vols. 8vo. 36*. SelecL Biographies. CROMWELL (Oliver) and John Bunyan. By Robert Southey. Post 8vo. 2s. 6d. CUMMING'S (R. Gordon) Five Years of a Hunter's Life in the Far Intcrioj" of South Africa. With Anecdotes of the CJase in hunting the Wild Beasts of the Deserts aud Forests. Jliird Edition. With Woodcuts. 2 Vols. PostSvo. 24«. COOKERY (Modern Domestic). Founded on Principles of Economy and Practical Knowledc^e, and adapted for Private Families. A New Edition. By a Lady. Woodcuts. Fcap 8vo. 6*. CURZON'S (Hon. Robert) Visits to the Monasterif ■' of the Levant. Fourth Edition. Woodcuts, PostSvo. 15«, E D D D I) D D D D -.^M > Ma ^OT "^ / -^ PUBLISHED BY MR. MURRAY. 9 CUNNINGHAM'S (Alian) Life of Sir David Wilkie. With hia Journals, Tours, and Critical Remarks on Works of Art, and a Sulcctiuii from his Correspondence. Portrait. 3 Vols. 8vo. i3a. .- Pocma and Songs. Now first collected and arranged, with an Introduction and Biographical Notice of the Author, by Peter Cumninoham. 24mo. 2«. dd. — (Capt. J. D.) History of the Sikhs. From the Origin of tlie Nation to the Battle of the »utlej. Second Edition. With Memoir of the Author. Maps. 8vo. 15«. (Peter) London — Past and Present. A Hand- book to the Antiquities, Cariosities, Cliurches, Works of Art, ]'iil)lic Buildings, and Places connected with iuteresting and historical asso- ciations. Second Edition, PostSvo. 16s. Modern London. A complete Guide for Visitors to all the Obfecta and Sights of interest in the Metropolis. Map. 16mo. 6s. Environs of London. Including a circle of 30 miles round St. Paul's, With Hints for Excursions by Rail,— Koad,— and River. Post 8vo. Jn the Press, Westminster Abbey. Its Art, Architecture, and Associations. Woodcuts. Fcap. 8vo. Is. DARWIN'S (Charles) Journal of Researches into the Natural Ilistoi-y and Geology of tlie Countries visited during a Voyage round the World. PostSvo. 8«.6d. DATES AND DISTANCES; Showing what may be done in a Tour of Sixteen Months upon the Continent of Europe. Post 8vo. 8s, 6rf. DAVY'S (Sir Humphry) Consolations in Travel; or, Last Days of a Philosopher. Fifth Edition, Woodcuts. Fcap. 8vo. 6». Salmonia; or, Days of Fly Fishing. With some Account of the Habits of Fislies belonging to the geuus Salmo. Fourth Edition. Woodcuts. Fcap. 8vo. 6s. DENNIS* (George) Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria; or, the extant Loc.il Remains of Etruscan Art. Plates. 2 Vols. 8vo. 42s. DEVEREUX'S (Hon. Capt., R.N.) Lives of the three Devereux, Earls of Essex, from 1540 to 1646. 1. The Earl Marshal of Ireland. 2. The Favoi'rite. 3. The General of the Parliament. Founded upon letters and documents chieiiy unpublished. 2 Vols. 8vo. In the Press, DE VERB'S (Aubrey) English Misrule and Irish Misdeeds. Four Letters from Ireland, addressed to an English M.P. Seco7id Edition. PostSvo. 7s, 6d, DIXON'S (Rev. E. S.) Dovecote and Aviary ; or the Natural History of Plgeont; and other Domestic Birds in a Captive State. With Numerous Woodcuts. Fcap. 8vo. 7t, 6d DODGSON'S (Rev. C.) Controversy of Faith ; or. Advice to Candi- dates for Holy Orders. Containing an Analysis and Exposition of the Argument by which the Catholic Interpretation of the Baptismal Services is to be \ indicated. 12mo. 3s. DOG-BREAia.NG ; the Most Expeditious, Certain, and Easy .■^f fcUiod, v.-i;:;ther gitat excellence or only mediocrity be required. By LiKUT.-Ooi-. HuTCiMMSON. Second Edition. Woodcuts. Fcap.Svo. 7s.C' I 19 LIST OF WORKS PEATHERSTONHAUOH'S (O.W.) Tour tlirouph the Slave States of North Aniorica, ttoui the river I'utoniac, to ToxaM and tlit* Frontiers of Mexico. riAteu. 'i Vols. 8vo. 'iOa. FERGUSON'S (Rohfrt. M.D.^ Essays on the Discnnes of Women. Parti. Fi l'o8t8vo. 9.?. «W. PERGUSSONVi ;.. ..Ml i'JaccB of Nineveh and PcrsepollH KeH' ".1; (III '-'i .a> un Aiitlcnt Asgyrian and Persian Arcliiit'cture. Willi ^n ^\ .KHifiiU. 8vo. 16«. Illustrated Handbook of Architecture. Being a Coiu'lsc and I'opular Account of the Ditf'-ri-nt Htylen previillln;; in all Arcs and CountripR in tliu World. With a DeHcription uf tliu must rcinarliable Uiiildinh'S. Witli liluHtrationR. 8vo. In the Press. FEUEUBACH'S Remarkable German Crimes and Trials. Trans- lated from the Gorman by Lnii<- 1 >ON. 8vo. Vis. FISHER'S (IIkv. Gkorok) Elements of Geomcuy, for the Use of Schools. I'kird Edition. ISino, Us, {I'uh'ishrdhy order of the Admiralty. First Principles of Algebra, for the Use of Schools. Third Edition. 18mo. 8». FISHLAKE'S (Rev. J, R.) Translation of Buttman's Lexilogus ; A (.'ritlcal Exiiniinatlon of tlie Meaning mid Ktymolopy of luinieroiiH (Ircek Words and I'assaKOS, liit*Midud principnlly for Ilomor and lieHiod. Witli Kxplanatory Notes and Copious Indexes. Third Edition. 8vo. 14«. Translation of Buttman's Catalogue of Irregular Oreolc Verbs: with all the Tenses extant— their Formation, Meanlnj;, and Usage. With Explanatory Notes, and accompanied by an Index. Second Edition. 8vo. Is. 6d. FORBES' (John, M.D.) Physician's Holiday, or a Month in Switzer- land during the Summer of 1848. Second Edition. Plates. PostSvo. &».(!st - o. 12», G G G G G G O G G G 91 1 A.. PUIHilSIIKl Y MR. MUUItAY. It GILLY'S (Rcr. Dr.) Romaunt Vcrnlon of the Ooupcl of Sf,. Jolin, nrlKliiully In um aninnit thu old WHliU-iiHuit. KiUUmI I'roin tho AIHS., with NotiMt. Hvo. &f. M. GLADSTONES (Rioiit Hoic.W. E.) rraycrs arriinifcd from tho MttirKX for Faiiilly Uhu. Se.cimil KilUiim. I'inui. '.'.«. M. — TraiiHlatlon of Farlni'a History of the Uomaii Stuto, 1815— 18fi0. 'i VcU. 8vo. 24«. GLEIO'S (Rkv. O. II.) Campaigna of the British Army at Washing- ton and Now OrlcnnH. I'oit Hvo. 2*. iSd, — Storj- of the Hattio of Waterloo. and Authentic SoiircoH. I'oHtHvo. hn. Compiled from Public Narrative of Sir Robert Sale's HriRndo in Af^liani«tfin, with an A(«imntof the Bolcuru and Uuftuicu of Ji^Unlnbad. I'uHt Hvo. *la, \iU, Life of Robert Lord Clive. Post 8vo. 5.>». Life and Lettcrn of General Sir Thomas Munro. PoHt 8vo. 0«. GODLEY'S (John Robert) Letters from America, 2 Vols. Post 8vo. m,. GOLDSMITH (Oi.ivkb) ; a Biography. By Washington Irving. I'oHt 8vo. ba. GOOCH (RoBKHT, M.P On tho most Important Diseases peculiar to Women, Heeonti Euuion. 8vo, 12». GORDON'S (Sir Ai-kx. Duff) Sketches of German Life, and Srcnca from tho Wiirof [liberation. Trangliitud from tho Ciurnian of Vanilmguii Von Knso. I'oHt Hvo, 6». (Lady Duff), Amber-Witch : the most interesting Trial for Witchcraft ever known, TrunHlatud from tlio (iiinnan of Mkinuuli). I'uHtHvu. !2.«. (M. French in Algiers. 1. The Soldier of the Foreign Lofjion, 2, Tho Prisoners of Abd-el-Kiidlr, Translated from the French, Tost 8vo. 2», (W. Remarkable German Crimes and Trials. Translated from the German of Feuerbach. 8vo. i2n. GOSPEL STORIES FOR CHILDREN. An Attempt to render the Chief KventB of tho Life of Our Saviour intcUlKiblo and prolltablu. Second Kdilion, 18mo, Sa. dU, IRANT'S (Asahkl), Nestorians, or the Lost Tribes ; containing Kvidenco of their Identity, their Manners, (Justonis, and (/'eremonies ; wltli Skutchcsof Travel in Ancient Assyria, Armenia, and Me!«'>|)otaniia; and Illustrations of Scripture Prophecy, Third Edition. Fcap. Hvo. (in. ORENVILLE PAPERS (Thk) ; being the Private Correspondence of Richard GrenvlUe, Karl Temple, and his Hrother, Oenr^c Urenvillc, — their Friends and Contemporaries ;— Includlni; Mil. Oiiksvii.i.k's Diaky OK Political Events; 176,1 — 66. Edited by Wim.aji Jamks Hmith. Vols. 1&2. 8vo. .S2». (To be completed In 4 Vols. I GREEK GRAMMAR FOR SCHOOLS. Abridged from Matthiso. By tho Uisiiof OF Lonuok. Seventh Edition, revised by Ker. J . Edwakks. 12mo. 3a. ACCIDENCE FOR SCHOOLS. Abridged from Mattiii^k. By tho Bishop or London. Fourth Edition, revised by Kev. J Ei»vaui>h. 12mo, Sj. Ji 14 LIST OF WORKS OROTE'S (Oeorob) Hifltory of Greece. From the Earliest Period. VoU. I. to X. MnpH. 8vu. liU. oach. Thu Work mat pubUnhml an /illlt>U>» '. — VoLH. I. AKD II.— Lfluoi'dnryUroecn. Urvctan UUtory to thu Heign of I'eiiiliitratiiit Kt A tlietiM. Voi.K. III. AND IV.— History of Knrly Atlinnn, and tlio liPfflHliitlon of goton. Grecian Colon ten. VlowofthuContempornry NntinnHmirround- in){()ret!ci'. Orucliin lIlHtory downto thu flrHt I'crMlan Invaition, and the Dattlo <>f Marathon. Voi.H.V. ANi> VI. — I'nriilanWar and Invasion of Oronco byXnrxes. Perlo"t Hynicimo. V01.B. VII. AND VIII.— The I'uacu of NIklua down to thu Uuttio of Knldus (ii.o. 421 to 394]. Hocratoa and the HophUta. Vols. IX. and X.— From tne Rimtoratlon of the Democracy a Athcni* down to the Accession of I'hilip of Macedon (b.c. 408 — 8fi9). OUIZOT (M.), On the Causes of the Success of the English Revo- lution of 1040-1688. Hvo. Qs. ; or Cheap MUimt^ 12mo, U. Democracy in Trance. Sixth Edition. 8vo. 3». 6d. GURWOOD'S (Coi;.) Selections from the Duke of Wellington's Dospatches and Oeneral Orders. New JCtlition. 1 Vol. 8vo. IHs. HALFORD'S (the late Sir IIeniiy) Popular Essays and Orations. Third Jidition. Fcap. 8vo. 6». Qd. — NugsB Mctricte. Pcap. 8vo. 3*. 6d. HALLAM'S (Henry) Constitutional History of England, from the AccesHion of Henry the Seventh to the Death of Qeurge tlie Second. Sixth Ji'ditiij'i. 2 Vols. 8vu. 24». View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages. Ninth Edition. 2 Vols. 8vo. 24*. Introduction to the Literary History of Europe, during the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Third Edition. SVoIs. 8vo. 36«. HAMILTON'S (Walter) Facts to Assist the Memory in various Sciencu.>4. Second A'dition. Fcap. 8vo. 6s. 6d. HindoBtan, Geographically, Statistically, and His- torically. Map. 2 Vols. 4to. 41. 14a. 6d. ■ — — — — — (W. J.) Researches in Asia Minor, Pontus, and Armenia; with some Account of the Antiquities and Geology of those Countries. Plates. 2 Vols. 8vo. 88«. HAMPDEN'S (Bishop of Hereford) Essay on the Philosophical Evidence of Christianity, or the Credibility obtained to a Bcrlpture Kevelation, from its Coincidence with the Facta of Nature. 8to. ds. &/. HARCOURT'S (Edward Vernon) Sketch of Madeira ; with Map and Plates. Post 8vo. 8a. Qd. HART'S ARMY LIST. 6ro. 6a. and 20«. each. BASE'S ANCIENT GREEKS; their Public and Private Life, Manners, and Customs. Translated from the 0«rm«n. By Mn. Austin . Fcap. 8to. 6a. 6d, {Published Quarterly and Annually.) PUDLISHED BY MR. MIJKRAY. 15 HAND-BOOK (Mcrray'ii) OP TRAVEL-TALK ; or, Convemtlonii in KhkIInIi. (iiiminii, Kruncli, itiid Itnllan. Intended fur KnKliHl'XX'i* truvullInK abroad, ur FuritiKnt^r* vlNltiiiK (Ircat lirllalii. I811111. 6.«. NOKTFI GERMANY— Holland, Belgium, I'ruKHia, und the Rhine. Map. l'a«t 8vo. 18«. . SOUTH GERMANY— Bavaria, A iistm, Salzber^', the Anxtrlan and Ilavarlan Alpn, thn Tyrol, und thi; U»nulH!, from L'Ini to the Itlock ttfi. Map. I'oat Hvu. 12«, PAINTING— the German, Flemish, and Dutch BehoolH. From thn (Inrman of Kkolkii. Editud, wltli NotuH, hy Hiu EUHUKl) Hkai). I'oNtBvo. Vi». — SWITZERLAND— the Alps of Savoy, and Piedmont. Map. l»0Ht 8vo. 10#. - PRANCE— Normandy, Brittany, the French Alps, tho Itlvora liOlrn, Heino, Uhonn, and (jaronnc!, Dauphlntt, rrovcnci;, and tho I'yrsnues. MapR. Poat 8vo. 12*. SPAIN — AndaluRia, Ronda, Granada, Valenci.a, Catalonia, Gallicia, Arragon, and Navarre. MapH. I'oHt Hvo. 16«. . ._ _ PAINTING— the Spanish and French SchoolH. By Sib Edmund Head. PnatUvo. 12s. MADEIRA. Maps and Woodcuts. Post 8vo. 8». G PUBLISHED BY MR. MURRAY. 21 LA YARD'S (AusTKN H.) Nineveh and its Remains. Being a Narrative of Researches and Discoveries amidst t)io Uuins of Assyria. With an Account of the Chaldean Christians of Knrdistan ; the Yezedis, or Devii-worsliippers ; and an Enquiry into the Mar.ners and Arts of tlm Ancient Assyrians. Fifth Edition. With Plates and Woodcuts. 2 Vols. 8vo. 36«. — — - Abridged Account of liis Researches at Nineveh. From the above Worlc. With Woodcuts. Post 8vo. 5». Fresh Discoveries at Nineveh, and Researches at Babylon; being the Kesults of the Second Expedition to Assyria; also a Jouniey to the Khabour the Desert, Lake Van, ancient 'Armenia, Knrdistan, and the Borders of the Euphrates. With many Woodcuts. 2 Vols. 8vo. In the Press. Monuments of Nineveh. Illustrated by One Hundred Knyravings. Imperial Folio, 10/. 10s.; or Colombier folio, \U. 14». Illustrations of Vases, Sculptures, and Bronzes recently Discovered at Nineveh and Babylon, principally Bas-Keliefs of the Wars and Exploits of Sennacherib from his Palace at Kouyunjilc. Imperial Colombier. Folio. {Nearly Iteady). LETTERS FROM THE SHORES OF THE BALTIC. By a Lady. PostSvo. 2«. Cd. MADRAS ; or, First Impressions of Life and Manners in India. By a Lady. Post 8vo. 2s. Gd. SIERRA LEONE, written to Friends at Home. By a Lady. Edited by Mrs. Norton. Post 8vo. 5». LEWIS' (G. Cobnewall) Essay on the Government of Dependencies, 8vo. 12s, History and Antiquities of the Doric Race. Translated from MuLLER by UEKhv Tuk.vei.l and Gkorge Coenewall Lewis. Second Edition. Maps. 2 Vols. 8vo. 26s. Glossary of Provincial Words used in Herefordshire and some of the adjoining Counties. 12nio. 4s. Gd. • Essay on the Origin and Formation of the Romance Languages : containing an E-amination of M. Raynouard's Theory on the Relation of the Italian, Spanish, Provenfal, and French to the Latin. Second Edition. 8vo. 12s. (Lady Theresa) Lives of the Friends and Contemporaries of the Lord Chancellor Clarendon, illustrative of Portraits in his Gallery. With an Introduction, containing a Descriptive Catalogue of the Pictures, and an Account of the Origin of the Collection. Portraits. 3 Vols. 8vo. 42s. — (M. G.) Journal of a Residence among the Negroes in the West Indies. PostSvo. 2s. Gd. LEXINGTON (The) PAPERS ; or. Some Account of the Courts of London and Vienna at the end of the 17th Century. Extracted fi*om the Olflcial and Private Correspondence of Robert Sutton (Loru Lexington^ wrhil' Minister at Vienna, lb,M-lC98. Edited by Ho.v. li.. Mannbub Sutton. 8vo. 14s. n *» >M ^ tf «i-- i )yft- iw , i< II " II .fi,*F^ n LIST OF WORKS LINDSAY'S (Lord) Sketches of the History of Christian Art. SVols.Svo. 3is.6d. Lives of the Lindsays ; or, a Memoir of the Houses of Crawford and Balcarres. To which are added, Extracts A'om thu Official Correspondence of Alexander, sixth Earl of Balcarres, durin;; the Maroon War; together with Personal Narratives, by his Brothers. the Hon, P.obert, Colin, James, John, and Hugh Lindsay; and by his Sister, Lady Anne Barnard. 3 Vols. 8vo. 42s. Progression by Antagonism. A Theory, involving Considerations touching the Present Position, Duties, and Destiny u' Great Bri'Ain. 8vo. Cs. (ilev. H'jsby) Practical Lectures on the Historical Books of the Old Testament. 2 Vols. 16mo. IDs. LITTLE ARTHUR'S HISTORY OP ENGLAND. By Lady Callcott. Fifteenth £dition. 18mo. 2s. 6d. LIVONIAN tales.— The Disponent.— The Wolves.— The Jewess. By the Author of " Letters from the Baltic." I'ost 8vo. 2s. 6d. LLANDAFF'S (Bishop of) Letters with the Earl of Dudley. Second Edition. Portrait. 8vo. IDs. Gd. LOCH'S (Capt. G. C.) Events of the Closing Campaign in China. Map. PostSvo. 8s. 6d. LOCKHART'S (J. G.) Ancient Spanish Ballads, Historical and Romantic. Translated, with Notes. I'hird J'Hition, with Illuminated Titles, Borders, &c. 4to. 42s, Life of Robert Burns. Fifth Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 3*. History of the Late War : with Sketches of Nelson,. Wellington, and Napoleon. 18mo. 2s. (kl. LONG'S (Gkorqe) Essays on the Conduct of Life, and Moral Nature of Man. 2 Vols. Post Hvo. 6s. each. LOUDON'S (Mrs.) Instructions in Gardening for Ladies. With Directions for Every Month in the Year, and a Calendar of Operations. Eighth Edition. Woodcuts. Fcap. 8vo. 5s. ... Modem Botany for Ladies ; or, a Popular Introduction to the Natural System of Plants. Second Edition. Woodcuts. Fcap. 8vo. 6s. LOWE'S (General Sir Hudson) Letters and Journals, revealing the true History of Napoleon during his Captivity at St. Helena. Portrait. 3 Vols. Svo. In Preparation. LUSHINGTON'S (Mrs.) Narrative of a Journey from Calcutta to Europe, by way of Egypt. Second Edition. Post Svo. 8s. 6d. LYELL'S (Sir Charles) Principles of Geology; or, thr Modern Changes of the Earth and its Inhabitants considered as illustrative of Geology. Eighth Edition. Woodcuts. Svo. 18s — ■ — — Manual of Elementary Geology ; or, the Ancient Changes of the Earth and its Inhabitants illustrated by its Geological Monuments. Fourth Edition. Woodcuts. Svo. 12s. ^ , Travels in North America, 1841-2; with Observations on the United States, Canada, and Nova Scotia. Plates. 2 Vols. Post Svo. ils. Second Visit to the United States of North America, 1845-6. Second Edition. 2 Vols. PostSvo. 18s. PUBLISHED BY MR. MURRAY. 99 MACFARLANE'S (Charles) Travels in Turkey during the Years 1847-8, made on purpose to examine into the Trae State of that Country. 2Vol8. 8vo. 28s. MANTELL'S (Gideon A.) Thoughts on Animalcules; or, the Invisible World, as revealed by the Microscope. Second Edition. I'lates. 16mo. 6s. MACCULLOCH'S (J. R.) Edition of Rioahdo's Political Works. With a Notice of his Life and Writings. 8vo. 16s. MAHON'S (Lokd) History of England, from the Peace of Utrecht to the Peace of Paris (1763). Vols. 1 to 4. Second Edition. 8vo. 62». First Years of the American War, 176.^—80. Vols. 5 & 6. "Forty-Five;" or, Scotland. PostSvo. Ss. History of the War of the Succession in Spain. Edition. Map. 8vo. 15s. Spain under Charles the Second ; or, Extracts from the 8vo. 30s. a Narrative of the Rebellion in Second Correspondence of the Hon. Alexander Stanhope, British Minister at Madrid from 1690 to 1700. Second Edition. Post 8vo. 6s. 6d. Life of Louis Prince of Cond6, surnamed the Great. Post 8vo. Life of Belisarius. Second Edition. Post 8vo. 10s. Qd MALCOLM'S (Sir John) Sketches of Persia. Third Edition. Post 8vo. 5s. MANUAL OF SCIENTIFIC ENQUIRY, Prepared for the Use of Otficers and Travellers in general. By various Writers. Edited by Sir J. Hersciiel, Bart. Secoiul Edition. Maps. Post 8vo. 10s. Qd. (Pub- lished by order of the Lords of the Adviiralty.) MARKHAM'S (Mrs.) History of England. From the First Inva- sion by the Romans, down to the fourteenth year of Queen Victoria's Reign. New Edition. Woodcuts. 12mo. 7s. 6d. .. History of France. From the Conquest by the Gauls, to the Death of Louis Pliilippe. New Edition. Woodcuts. 12mo. 7s. 6d. History of Germany. From the Invasion by Marius, to the Battle of Leipsic. Woodcuts. 12mo. 7s. 6d. History of Rome and Greece. 12mo. In preparation, Sermons for Children. ^SecondJ^cZt^io/i. Fcap.Svo. Ss. MARKLAND'S (J. H.) Remarks on English Churches, and on rendering Sepulchral Memorials subservient to pious and Christian Uses. Fourth Edition. Woodcuts. Fcap. 8vo. 6s. Gd. Reverence due to Holy Places. 7^l^rd Edition. Woodcuts. Fcap. 8vo. 2s. MARRY AT'S (Joseph) Collections towards a History of Pottery and Porcelain, in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth, and Eighteenth Centuries. With a Description of the Manuf.icture a Glossary, and a List of Monograms. With Coloured Plates and Woodcuts. 8vo. 31s. 6d. •,* A few copies on India Proofs, mounted mi Large Paper. 4to. 52.5s. ANCIENT POTTERY ; Egyptian, Asiatic, Greek, Roman, Etruscan, and Celtic. By Samuel Birch. Woodcuts. 8ro. Nearly Ready. r.« W i'— ". ?^ W>'*WA; H | V ill.l« L ll ._ u LIST OF WORKS MATTHIJl'S (AnonsTos) Greek Grammar for Schools. Abridgcl fi"om the Larger Grammar. IJy tlii) Dimiop oc L> 'uov. Seventh Edition, revised by Ruv. J. Edwauds. 12mo. 3.1. — Greek Accidence for Schools. Abridged by the Bishop of London, fourth Kdilion, revised by Kov. J. Edwabhs. l'2mo. 2.<. Index of Quotations from Greek Authors contained in Matthlffi's Greek Orammiir. Second Edition. 8vo. 7». (W. MAWE'S (H. L.) Journal of a Passage from the Tacific to the Atlantic, cronsing the Andes in the Northern I'rovinccs of Peru, anJ descending the great River Marauon. 8vo. Vis, MAXIMS AND HINTS for an Angler, and the Miseries of Fishing. To which is added, Maxims and Hints for a Cliess-Playur. By Richard 1'enn. Second Edition. Woodcuts. 12mo. 6s. MAYO'S (Db.) Elements of the Pathology of the Human Mind. Fcap. 8vo. 5a. Qd. MELVILLE'S (Hermann) Typeo and Omoo; or, Adventures amongst the Marquesas and South Seas. 2 Vols. Post 8vo. 10». MENDELSSOHN'S (Fbhx Bartholdy) Life. ByJoLES Bknedict. 8vo. 2s. 6d. MERRIFIELD (Mrs.) Original Treatises on the Arts of Paintinar in Oil, Sliniaturp, Mosaic, and on Glass; of Oiiiling, Dyeing, and tl i? Preparation of Colours and Artilicial Gems, described in several un- published Manuscripts, dating from the Twelfth to the Eighteenth Centuries. Preceded by a General Introduction, with Translations, Preface, and Notes. 2 Vols. 8vo. 30.s. { Published by Authoriti/.) MEREDITH'S (Mrs. Charles) Notes and Sketches of New South Wales, during a Residence from 1839 to 1844. Post 8vo. 2s. 6d. MILFORD'S (John) Norway and her Laplanders in 1841 ; with a Few Hints to the Salmon Fisher. 8vo. 10s. 6d. MITCHELL'S (Thomas) Plays of Aristophanes. With English Notes. 8vo.-l.CLOUnS, lOs.— 2. WASPS, 10s.— 3. FROGS, 15s. MODERN DOMESTIC COOKERY. Founded on Principles of Economy and Practical Knowledge, and adapted for Private Famiru's. Woodcuts. Fcap. 8vo. 6s. MILMAN'S (Dean of St. Paul's) History of Christianity, from the Birth of Christ to the Extinction of Paganism in the Roman Euipii>'. 3 Vols. 8vo. 36s. Edition of Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Edited with Notes, by M. GuizoT. Second Edition. Mui>.,. 6 Vols. 8vo. SI. 3s. — — Life and Correspondence of Edward Gibbon. Portrait. 8vo. 9». Life and Works of Horace. Illustrated with Statues, Coins, Views, &c., chiefly from the Antique. With 3tX) Woodcuts. Crown 8vo. 42s. __ _ Poetical Works. Second Edition. Plates. 3 Vols. Fcap. 8vo. 18s. Character and Conduct of the Apostles Considered as an I'videnc* of Christianity. (Being the Bampton Lecture, 1827 . 8vo. lOs. M. ■ — ■- (Capt. E. a.) Wayside Cross ; or, the Raid of Gome;:. A Tale of the Carllst War. Post 8vo. 2s. Gd. PUBLISHED DY MR. MURRAY. 9S MOOllE'S (Thomas) Life and Letters of Lord Byron. With Notes and IltuBtrationii. Library Edition. J'latos. U Vols. Fcai>. 8vo, l&i. Complete in One Volume. Portraf Ml Vignette. Koyal 8vo. 12j, MUCK MANUAL (Tiie)for the Use of Farmers. A rractical Treatipc on the Chemical Properties, Management, and Application of ManurfK. By FREUEnicx Falkner. Secnnil L'dition, Fcap. 8vo. 0«. MUIlllIEAD (J. P.). James Watt, an Historical Eloge. By M. Arago. Translated, with Notes. Svo, tit, Od. ; or 4to, 21s. Correspondence of James Watt on his Discovery of the Theory of the Composition of Water, with a Letter from Lis Sou. I'ortralt. Svo, 10» 6d. ; or 4to, 248. MULLER'S DORIANS ; The History and Antiquities of the Doric Ktkce. Translated by IIiiXRV Tufnkll and Ueouuk Coknkwali. I.cwis. Second Edition. Maps. 2 Vols. Svo. 2(iii. MUNDY'S (Capt. Rodnkv) Events in Borneo, including the Occupation of Latuan end Visit to the Celebes. Plates. 2 Vols. Svo. 32«. MUNRO'S (Genkrai, Sin Thomas) Life and Letters. By the Rkv. G. K. Glkio. Post Svo. 6s. MURCHISON'S (Sir Roderick) Russia in Europe a.id the Ural Mountains; Geologically Illustrated, With Coloured Mnps, Plutus, Sections, &o. 2 Vols. Koyal 4to. 8^. i^a. MURRAY'S (Capt. A.) Naval Life and Services of Admiral Sir Philip Durham. Svo. 6s. M. MURRAY'S READING FOR THE RAIL. Or Cheap Books in large readable type. To be published occasionally, varying lu size uml price. Already published : ESSAYS PROM "THE TIMES." Fcap. Svo. 4s. NIMROO ON THE CHACE. Woodcuts. Fci\p. Svo. Is. LORD MAllON'S FOKTY-FIVE. Post Svo. a». LA YARD'S POPULAR ACCO'JNT OF NINEVEH. Post Svo. C». NI.MROD ON THE ROAD, v, «)dcut8. Foap. Svo. Is. JAMES' ^SOP'S FABLES. ' ■«) Wooft<;iits. Post Svo. 2s, 6d. NIMROD ON THE TURF. Wi Icuts. Fcap. Svo, U. (id. NAUTICAL ALMANACK (The^ {Published by Order of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty^ Royal Svo. 2s. 6d. NAVY LIST (The Royal). ^ (PttWw/teti Quarterly, by Authority.) 12mo. 2s. Gd. NEALE'S (E. V.) Feasts and Fasts : an Essay on the Rise, Pro- gress, and Present State of the Laws relating to Sundays and other Holidays &c. Fcap. Svo. 9.', 6d. NEWBOLD'S (Lieut,) Straits of :ralacca Penang, Malacca, and Singapore, 2 Vols. Svo, 26s. NIMROD On the Chace— Turf— and Road. Woodcuts. Fcap. Svo. NORTON (The Hon, Mrs.) Letters ^'-om Sierra Leone, -written to Prieuds at Home, By a Lady, Edn^ ' by Mrs. Norton, Post Svo. 6s ■ » - Ji n - ni- «j H i v> 'M; ■ x y ti< * ;i i lH-- - I ^ ■ - *»«..^-v_ ri^ -^'i^rv J4»»'- 2G LIST OF WORKS O'BYRNE'S V i» H) Naval iiiographical Dictionary, comprising tlio LIfo HiiU ServiecH of ovcry LiviiiK Olllcer in II. M. *'^vy, from tho ]>aiik of Adinlral of tho I'Mtu't to that of liiiMitunitnt. ipilud from Aiitluiiitioaiid Fmnlly Uocumoiits. Uoyiil tivu. 42s. O'CONNOll'S (R.) Field Sports of Franco ; or, Hunting, Shooting, and FiHhInK on the Continunt. WoodciitH. 12mo. 7s. 6d. OXENHAM'S (Rkv. W.) English Notes for Latin Elegiacs ; designed for early Vrofleluntu in tho Art of Latin Vorsltti-atlon, with I'mfatory Kiik'H of CompoHitlou in Kii'giuc Metre. Second Kdilimt. 12ino. 4«. OXFORD'S (Bishop of) Charge to his Clergy at his Second Visitation in Nov., 1861. 8vo. PAQET'S (John) Hungary and Transylvania, With Remarks on tholr Condition, Hochil, I'ollticul, and Econoniicul. Second Editimi. Woodcnt8. 2 Vols. 8vo. 24*. PARISH'S (Sir Woodbine) Buenos Ayrca and tho Provinces of tho Hlo do la Plata. Tlieir First Discovery and Conquest, I'roscnt State, Trade, Debt, «Ssc. Map and Woodcuts. 8vo. PARIS'S (T. C.) Letters from the Pyrenees during Three Months* I'odeBtrian WanderinKS amidst tho Wildest Scenes of tho French and Spanish I'yrcnees. Wowlcuts. Post 8vo. 10«. Otf. PARRYNS' (MANSPiEtD) Personal Narrative of a Residence in Abyssinia. Witli Maps and Woodcnts. 2 Vols. 8vo. In the I'rcss. PEILE'S (Rkv. Dr.) Agamemnon of Jlschylus. A New Edition of the Text, with Notes, Critical, Explanatory, and Philological, for tlio Use of Students. Second Edition. 8vo. ds. Choephoroa of uEschylus. A New Edition of tho Text, with Notes, Critical, Explanatory, and Pliilosophical, for tlie Use of Students. Secnml Edition. 8vo. 9s. PELLF iV S (Dean of Norwich) Sermons on many of the Leading OiO*! i'len and Duties Tanglit in tlie Clmrch of England. Prcaclied in CiUif'iral Churclies. 2 Vols. 8vo. 21s. — - Life of Lord Sidmouthj with his Correspondence. r»!t:-.iits. 3Vols. 8vo. 42». PENN'S (llicHARD) Maxims and Hints for an Angler, and the Miseries of Fisliing. To which is added, Maxims and Hints for a Chess-player. Second Edition, Woodciita. Fcap. 8vo. 5a. (Granville) Bioscope ; or, Dial of Life Explained. To which is added, a Translation of St. Paulinus' Epistle to Celantia, on the Kule of Christian Life ; and an Elementary View of General Chro- nology. Second Edition. With Dial Plate. 12mo. 12s. PENROSE'S (Rev. John) Lives of Vice-Admiral Sir C. V. Penrose, and Captain James Trevenen. Portraits. 8vo. 10s. 6rf. Sermons for Households, or Fifty-four Sermons Written for Sunday Reading in Families. 8vo, lOs 6d. PENNINGTON (G. J.) On the Pronunciation of the Greek Lan- giiage. 8vo. 8s. 6d. PHILLIPS' (John) Memoirs of William Smith, LL.D., (the Geo- logist). Portrait. 8vo. 7s, 6d. Geology of Yorkshire. The Yorkshire Coaftt, and . the Mountain-Limestone District. Fart I,, 31s. 6d. Part II., 62s, 60. Plates, 4to. r p P( P( PC PI PI PI Ql HA RA Ir Mm ^■^•» i ^ '_y "TT- "IS^'T'- PUBLISHKD IIV MR. MURRAY. 27 PHILOSOPHY IN SPOUT MADK Pr^iKNCE IN EARNEST; or, tho FirMt I'l-lnclplt's of Niitiinil tMiilusupliy Ineiilcntod liy iild of tlic Toyn mid HportH of Youth. tiu:t/i /Olitimt. VVooilciits. Fciip. 8v(i. K'*. PIIILPOTT'S (Bishop ok Exetkr) Lcttorn to tlic luto Cluulca l)utl<*r, on tlio Theoliwlcal jmrtH of ''i«i Boi k of the Koinnii (Intliollc Cliiirch; wltli KoniarkHoii certain Workdof 'M-. Mllncr and Dr. l.luKard, and on some partH of till! Kvidtiiici' < Dr. IH>> k*. Snnnd Julitioii. Hvo. IHn. Letter to tho ArcliUibli i of Canterbury. Twenty- First Edition. 8vo. "■' M. — Pastoral Lcif'-, ." "ssed tr sent State of tliH Clmrch Eig — Acts of til' i'lo'caa Church of Kxeter. On ,Ii 26' is ClerfQr, on tho Pre* ii, li'ltl in the Cathedral ndir 1H61. Third EdUioii. 81 iidence, Literary anfl Waid. IVrtrait. 2 Vids. ..J Chronolojrj' of Ancient 8vo. 2s. m. PHIPPS' (Hon. Ei.mcnd) *I Unpublished DiurieH of Ko.tu 8vo. 28«. POOLE'S (R. S.) Horoo Egjptiaca Egypt, discovered from AHtrononiicui mid Hieroglyphic Itccords iipou ItH Moniinients. I'lateH. 8vo. 1U«. M. (Rev. G. A.) Handbook for the Catljcdrals of England. Containing Dencriiitions of eacli. Woodcuts. Post 8vo. In the. I'ress, POPE'S (Alexander) Works. A New Jldition, containing nume- rons unpubliHlied Letterx, &c. Edited with Notes and a Life. Ity tlii> Right Hon. John Wilson Croker. I'ortraitH. 8vo. {In the J'l-ess.) PORTER'S (G. R.) Progress of the Nation, in its various Social and Economical Ueln^lona, from the beginning of tho Nineteenth Centurj-. Third Edition. (1831.) 8vo. 24,f. POWELL'S (Rbv.W. P.) Latin Grammar simplified. 12mo. 3«. 6f/. PRAYER-BOOK (The), Illuminated with 1000 Illustrations of Bor- ders, Initials, Vignettes, &c. Medium 8vo. Cloth, 21».; Culf, 31*, 6 Notes, illustrating the History and Geography of Herodotus, from tho most recent sources of information, embodying the chief Results,. Historical and Ethnographical, which have been arrived at in tho progress of Cuneiform and Hleroglyphical Discovery. Assisted by Colonel Rawlinson, and Siu J. G. Wilkinson. 4 Vols. 8vo, (/-f tA« Press, :«;;.,: > ^\5 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ,. ym ^iB ^ fh L * •mtf^'-t^n^ - // PUBLISHED BY MR. MURRAY. 29 SCUOFE'S (WiLLiAu) Days of Decr-Stalkin j in the Forest of Atholl ; with some Account of the Mature and Habits of tlie Ked Deer. Third Edition, Woodcuts. Crown 8vo. 20*. Days and Nights of Salmon Fishing in the Tweed ; with a short Account of the Natural History and Habits of the Salmon, and Instraotions to Sportsmen, &c. Plates. Royal 8to. 42a. ■ (G. P.) Memoir of Lord Sydenham, and his Administra* tion in Canada. Second Edition. Portrait. 8vo. Os. Qd. SERMONS. Preached during the Visitation of the Bishop of Exeter in 1845. Published by Request. 12mo. 6s. SEWELL'S (Kev. W.) Evidences of Christianity; or. Dialogues between a Brahmin and a Christian. Fcap. 8vo. 7«. 6(1. SHAW'S (Thos. B.) Outlines of English Literature, for the Use of Young Students. Post 8vo. lis. SIDMOUTH'S (Lord) Life and Correspondence. By the Hon. and Rev. Geoboe Pellew, Dean of Nobwich. Portraits. 3 Vols. 8vo. 42<. SIDNEY'S (Rkv. Edwin) Life of Lord HilL Second Edition. Portrait. 8vo. 12«. SIERRA LEONE ; Described in a Series of Letters to Friends at Home. By A Lady. EdAed by Mrs. Mobtom. Post 8vo. 65. SMITH'S (Wm., LL.D.) Dictionary of Greek and Roman Anti- quities. Second Edition. With 600 Woodcuts. 8vo. 42s. School Dictionary of Antiquities, abridged from the above Work. With 200 Woodcuts. Square 12mo. 10s. 6d. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and My- thology. WithWoodcute. 3 Vols. 8vo. bl.lba.dd. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. With an Historical Atlas, Part 1. 8vo. Classical Dictionai:)' for Schools, compiled from the last two Works. 8vo. Illustrated Classical Manual, designed for the Youth of both sexes. 200 Woodcuts. Post 8vo. (Wm. Jas.) Grenville Papers, formerly preserved at Stowe — now for the first time made public, including nlno Mr. Gbenville'sDiary OP Political EvESTS. Vols. 1 & 2., 32s. 8vo. (To be completed in 4 Vola.) (Wm., the Geologist) Memoirs^ Portrait 8vo. 7*. 6(1. (James k Horace) lUtjected Addresses. Edition. Portrait. Fcap. 8to. 6s. SOMERVILLE'S (Mary) Physical Geography. Portrait. 2 Vols. Fcap.Svo. 12s. Connexion of the Physical Sciences. Edition. Plates. Fcap.Svo. 10s. 6