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BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY MISS S. M. GODFREY, '•*' At No. 32 Congress Street, 1855. A 3^ H- o ^ I' M Fame, in the shape of " somebody, By this time all the parish know it, Had told that thereabouts there lurked A wicked imp they call a Poet, Who prowled the country far and near, Bewitched the children of the peasants, Dried up the cows, ant' lam'd the deer. And suck'd the eggs and killed the pheasants. His highness heard the joint petition, Swore by his coronet and ermine. He'd issue out his high commission, To rid the manor of such vermin. Gray. In peaked hoods and mantles tarnished, Sour visages enough to scare ye, High dames of honor once that garnished The drawing room of good Queen Mary. Gray. i INTRODUCT ION. The numerouc disadvantas-es besetting tho pathway of the Colonial author, rsonia of which the following compilation undertakes to elucidate and depict, renders authorship an onerous and a wearisome task, rather th. n the light and pleasant effort. None of the many incitements which allure the youthful Citizen of the American Republic, sustain the writer of the Colonial world in that com- petition for the palm which is the leward of those who elevate a country by revealing the value and the beauty thereof, or benefit society by exposing the 'irking evils which it is calculated too frequently to gloss over, or to shelter, and leading on to a higher appreciation of moral as well as physi'^al value. Having been by untoward circumstances rebelliously drawn inkward, it becomes requisite in trespassing upon the "indulgent public," to state this fact in exculpation of the crime of inflecting upon the satiated reading com- munity another book. Irresistible contingencies may lead imperceptibly onward and accumulate an irrestrainable tide, and not having rubhed madly "into print," being no rapid enthusiast, bent upon the promulgation of novel or abstruse dogmas, but a simple and straight forward Provincial, collecting, and amalgamating sketches of the day, and writing for the present time, the patience of the " mighty many headed monster" will undoubtedly bo graciously and benefi- cenily extended. Newspaper critics and oppugners of a certain locality may undertake to confute this last assert-'^^n, thereby provoking the retort that had the really important portions of the work ever gained publicity in Nova Scotia, the press of the United States might assuredly have claimed a debt of gratitude, and those territories benefitted equally with the northern districts of the vast American Continent, if a concise and lucid e planation of peculiar ineiden !je advantageous to throe great nations, or provide for the protection, the comfort, or the well being of individuality. F \ It is a delicate subject to contrast the rapid advaneo of civilization with the lingering tinge of despotism, still hovering over the whole, and, by the irresistible chains of self-interest.tiiding tho reinstation of that opacity, from which it has so lately emerged. To behold this relic of past barbarism wrestling with the universality of the mighty engine advancing 6arth's progress in all holy and good things, which, like the sensitive cellular tissue of vegetable life, shrinks from partial injury, suffering none the less in the entirety-has awakened the energy of one of the weakest of her sex, and aroused that spirit of resistance to oppres- sion which, self-experiencod, has placed a woman in the anomalous position of pleading for the freedom of the press. By lirile else can evil be suppressed, or good accomplished ; by nothing else cau be preserved intact, that rich heritage of British liberty, delegated by British sovereignty to the Colonies, and slight will be tl.e security of the inhab- itants of those Colonies, from Tcligious intolerance, and a crushing anathema, if they contend not boldly for the pristine and permanent elevation of that instrument which may in so many ways be exercised for righteous, or iniquitous purposes, and which, like a sonorous and deep toned bell, rever- brates at the touch of a pebble, and personal participation authorizes this decisive asseveration as previously observed. The Colonial authorities who have trespassed upon public notice, are few and for between ; ^therefore, must the present one plead guilty, that so weighty a matter be thrust upon them, rather than thai which combines racy entertainment, or pithy and light amusemmt, but giving an utterance as it were to the voif.e of the people, assuming to be the medium of expressing the predominating tendency of mind, in one of its phazcs. Being in heart and life a Colonial subject of the British Empire, llmii'="r with none other, and experiencing in common, the peculiar wants and expectations of such a position, the necessity off uch a work as this now p>-esented, and for the free expression of a gradually formed and accurate opinion, can best be approved by a quotation, not more ancityit than classic learning may bestow ; but from a volumo far richer in aptitude, and glowing with heavenly senti- ment. The poetical scintilations of which outvie, and the inculcated juris- prudence of which has been the precursor of human institutions, and is elevatod far above that which aids, or assumes to do so, the public man for present day eminence too frequently severally misplased " Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" 4 ilization with , and, by the opacity, from iniversality of gootl tilings, :3 from partial the energy of nee to oppres- lalous position I ; by nothing , delegated by y of the inhab- ing anathema, ;vation of tlrat r righteous, or ed bell, rever- luthorizcs this INDIRECT DOMESTIC INFLUEKJE. A NEW PAGE IN THE HISTOR'S^ OF NOVA SCOTIA. CHAPTER I. Though silver salmon gaily play, And glad our gilded stas, Though health on eveiy breeze is ours, Heaven's blessings what are these. If Canada's rough hand be raised, in remembrance of her slain, If Xova Scotia break her heart against a grinding chain. We are rising ! we are risin,'- In intellect's bold pov> er ; Simple means great things ' . ■ The germ, the bud, the f We hear you calling Uncle Sam, youi • hills. And we know religious tjTanny has Cj.». notice, are few guilty, that so diich combines in utterance as of expressing ig ill lieart and th none other, :ations of such d, and for the n, ciin best be ig may bestow ; leavenly senti- iculcatcd juris- itutions, and is public man for Relations of facts and circumstances connected with, and relative of, the position assumed and advocated by the vari- ous circles and classes of social life, are unquestionably :a- teresting. These are welcome to the careless and superficial, as well as^ to the philosophical reader. And to many they are the only history of their own times which is looked into or explored. Little of this style of reading has as yet ema- nated from Nova Scotia. It li s partially v/iihin the province of the daily newspaper, which lives by recording national or inter-provincial events, the boundaries of national polity, and general additions to local and scientific theories. And occasionally does the often issued pamphlet in furtherance of some pet provincial scheme of personal or territorial aggrandizement, so constantly scattered through a country, new or old, tend to rhow how such scheme enters the domain of private life, and works, perchance, incalculable evil, though unintentionally. The romancer and the moral essayist must equally fail in such topic as this. It is a thing of life, of feeling, and of principle ; and truth can be the only expositor. The expo- !l r • sition of truth must of necessity create enmity, from which it is the natural tendency of the timid to shrink, and un- less some strong, overpowering grievance arouse an entire country into resistance ! Casual nnd domestic occurrences fail to impress very strongly, connected with reol evils though they be, the man Avh'o boasts of high-toned moral principle, and whose position secures him from vicious acri- mony, and surrounds him with powerful friends. This is more especially the c'«e in the colonies, which seek for no great standard of public excellence, but are content to take the rough and the smooth of circumstances in humble imita- tion of their lofty and antique piogcnitor. Without possess- ing internally that rallying point of paramount importance around which may culminate the nobler tendencies of na- ture, high, progressive, and religious sociality ; a star which of necessity mtist increase in lustre. The observation is trite and commonplace — that trifling circumstances create important events. There ure few who would willingly ac- knowledge, however, their own accepted instrumentality, for human nature is ever willing to cast ofl' the responsibility incumbent upon action. So gladly dp we (ling from us that spirituality, that elevation, of feeling, rendering life a link of eternity ; something above a sensual and physical creation ; a transient period of idle indulgence ; a busy mart for the enterprising merchantman ; a canvassing around wherein an eager placemen may search for constituents. Leben ist le- beii, says the solid, and stolid, and social-hearted German. Leben ist leben we repeat, whether with the wild'man seated beneath the dew-hemmed spruce trees of Nova Scotia, making his old violin strike up a competuion with the blue- -bird^s note, and stoicalb' philosophi'/.ing upon city life, where " Work IS woiA, and k.ding yourself all for nothing;" he remarks ; " and when you die, yon have got no more than me, dat never work wit anything." Life is still life, and nothing more ; though the rich Southern planter lounges in the shade, and watches the curling odors of his deUcatc cigarette curving in the atmosphere, and schemes, and hur ries, and drives," at times, that he may secure his thousands. Domestic life and home, with its varied associations, arc they but the boiling of the tea-kettle in the pine forest upon the hemlock bough ; the evening gossip and merry satire upon the white folks ; or is it the united wealth of foreign from which ink, and un- se an entire occurrences h real evils toned moral vicious acri- ids. This is 1 seek for no ntent to take umble imita- hout possess- t importance ?ncies of na- a star which bservation is ances create willingly ac- itrumcntality, responsibility I from ns that ; life a link of ical creation ; r mart for the id wherein an Leben ist le- tcd German. ld*man seated Nova Scotia, ivith the blue- ity life, where nothing; " he lo more than still life, and ter lounges in f his delicate mes, and hur tiis thousands, lociations, are le forest upon I merry satire Ith of foreign lands ; the luxuries ; the perquisite! ; the pageantry for which peace of mind and a hope of fulure and spiritual happiness may have been blindly and madly sacrificed . A simple flower, unattractive and unheeded, by the rondside, may become the medium of extencive influence ; it needs not a mighty ixxaseular energy to work out a pathway, for God's providence. It is around, about, and forever near. Needles and thread, pens, ink, and paper, these are sim- ple nouns, and in daily requisitition, and with that sage reasoner, Thomas C-^^lyle, we echo, what would the world do without them ? a reflection and a trueii?m which every human being might as thoughtfully, and with as ^^ ^:^ an amount of sagacity, repeat, and while regarding ft ; ;vi h tie articles as one of the connecting links in the comm.ercial intercourse of nations in more ways than one, we hear with amazement of the millions of human beings whose snpport is derived from their manufactur . ; for Nova Scotia stands alone as far as regards mechanical or textile articles, as also in the generous combination of purpose which must lead to such a consummation. Hitherto she has been a mere recipient of the intellectual efforts of more favored lands. A consumer, but not a producer. Statistical accounts of the variety of branches of trade requisite to the formation of each individual article, whether it be a household appendage or ar. intricate piece of me- chanism, attracts immediate attention ; but those who are in the habit of doubting the value of trifles, will slowly ac- knowledge to how great an amount, and in how very many peculiar "degrees, and variety of incidents, a very trifle may subserve the advancement of truth, the exposure of error. We watch the old huckster woman beside her stafl. surrounded by her nuts and candy, heedless of dust-be- sprinkled work, plying her ready steel upon the coeirse attire, which will reward her industry with a few extra pence ; and its glittering emblem traces for itself a course amid Brussels lace, and showers of glossy silk and glowing worsted, leaving bright chaplets of unfading flowers, bud- ding, blooming, and expanding, without a seedling or a germ, dropped in their pristine bloom from hands that have, perchance, never ministered to the happiness of other than their owner. An embroidered pin- cushion may work wondrous things, \ 8 however, and ttlthongh modern perpetrators in this depart- ment of handiwork have wonderfully circumscribed the ancient system of proceedings, and fashion has ceased to suspertd the arras of rich and vivid coloring upon the walls of parlor or saloon, enumerated upon which arose the martial deeds or hair-breadth escape of a father, a lover, or a brother, emblazoning each apartment with refreshing me- morials, to be gazed upon for a life-time, and handed down to an admiring succession of imitators. The addiction to the elegantly idle task, however much decried by creations monarchs, is not, we are disposed to believe, altogether over- looked by them, nor is it probable that they altogether dis- card an interest in the art which has made so many sacrifices in doing homage to the vanity of their sex ; and to which the romancers of past and present days owe so much of historical record, so much traditional and social incident. In these money-seeking and practical times of ours, we idle not eaoh minute in empty homage, or vapid boastfulness, or warlike enterprise. The wheels run sAviftly, and much is unfinished, or but, as it were, scarcely commenced. — There seems to be an arising impression that the shadows are declining upon the dial-plate : — that the closing hour o-^proaches. Wonderingly we inquire concerning the occu- pation of our progenitors in past times, and the philan- thropist eagerly and anxiously i.eeks to amalgamate the dispersed particulars of useful enterprise, that the motto may be exemplified, whatsoever thine hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. We write our history as wc go, and the :^*emembranc(?s thereof spring up around us in no visionary shapes. Our imagery must be moral progress, for the signs of the horo- scope are marked and strange ; and overpowering excite- ments are working and seething beneath the surface for present and future participation. For now and then. Acquis- itiveness is abroad, also, in the more enlarged and extended form, and much of future moral benefit must obtain endur- ance through the mighty workings of expediency, for cacli p-roduetion 1 1' nature or of art is now valued, not by an intrinsic estimate, but according to what they "will bring." The world, in one wild race commingling, scarcely now stops pantingly to study the i)roportions of statuary, or the glories of a painting, because, perchance, the very ideal of 9 I this depart- rnscribed the las ceased to ng upon the lich arose the 2r, a lover, or efreshing me- handed down ! addiction to by creations together over- iltogether dis- lany sacrifices and to Avhich 3 so much of II incident. s of ours, we I boastfulness, V, and much )mmenced. — t the shadows closing hour ling the occu- d the phihin- algamate the at the motto indeth to do, emembranc(?s shapes. Our of the horo- rering excite- e surface for hen. Acquis- and extended obtain endur- ?ncy, for caeli d, not by an "will bring." scarcely now ituary, or the very ideal of the beautiful thereon still lingers. Neither will it pause before a tinted end blended specimen of ancient skill and honored genius, because thereby an abstract idea is conveyed to the mind. Even the embroidering a wreath of fruits or flowers must have a purpose, and what is the good of it : That good will it do, too frequently resounded upon all sides, reveals a mighty principle in the workings of society, which the hurry of the moment permits not the exphcation of. Even now I may be tracing a destiny for those who little dream it, for the age of contention of physical strength has passed away, and calm, soul-searching, unprejudiced intel- lect has taken her place in the lists. Nation* of the world, and the powers of hell, rush to the onset. But all heaven, and tlie hosts thereof, are the witnesses, and God above is the arbitrator. And will the result be uncertain ? Does evil always have the pre-eminence ? Whatever the earlier history of earth may reveal, the existing record of the last three centuries as strongly refute it. Three centuries ! It is but an atom in the gloomy arena. And intellect perverted is fearful in th6 dominion, and remorseless in exercise. And pure and sacred principle must have its deadly foes. Weak is our faith. But God — the guider of this instrument, is Ahuighty. Where is the youthful heart which does not bound at the mention of that magic and. eastern-sounding cog- nomen, a bazaar ? A bazaar ! How delightful. See the nmititude of nimble fingers had in requisition. See the heaps of silk, and nett, tinsel and beads, and velvet, and other feminine delights and vanities. But what miracles of dolls emerge from the combination. What gay pictures glitter also on the mental vision of gas-lit halls. Fresh ilowers, gay music, ices in abundance, lots of pleasant social)ility, and aflabiliry, and not a small degree of vanity, among the weaker portion of the assistants, when the " ap- pearance behind the tables " is discussed. And in this complicated excitement how frequently is the working pur- port almost overlooked, or seen but indirectly, while the intricate influences may go on 'extending, and extensively urging, to do whatsoever ihine hand fhideth to do ! for there is a time and a season, wherein by high and low tendencies, by human nature's holiest, or most peurile passions, must the Kingdom of Heaven be erected and advanced upon earth. !fr~' i ;|f* 10 What young girl, with head bent over a bead bag, with attention 'absorbed, the gas jet showering its rays around her, suffers her imagination to wander to the busy quay, deside which the tarry-breasted merchant-ship bounds up and down, making deep gulphs in the cold, blue walers, impatient for its flight, and nerved to meet the tempest? While carelessly tossed amid the bales of goods, the pack- ages, the trunks, and the barrels, lie the strong, smooth deal boxes, directed to an agent in one of the colonial cities, revealing not to the idle gazer that the " Light which has Hghtened the Gentiles" is contained therein. That indus- trious hands and kindly hearts have been at work, and that the entire gathering and the dispersion has been, and is to be, effected by that combination of feminine skill, a bazaar. The childlike vanity, the glorying self-love, the delight in display, has been controlled by a governing hand. But the result is not yet. Thunders roar and lightnings flash around the dark hull of the merchant-ship ; and the too often as dark mind of the jaded and brine-soaked sailor. The light in the binna- cle grows red and redder, and then seems quite extin- guished ; and then flickers so palely that it seems more a shadow in the distance than part and parcel of the ship. Just as the light contained in those white boxes shall glim- mer and flicker over the wild plains of the country to which they are being conveyed, well nigh extinguished at times, but still clinging kindly to the creature it is sent to conduct, through the storms and billows of life, to the quiet port of heaven. Many men have embarked their speculations of various value. The ship's cargo is rich, and rich will dotibtless be the returns, when the Canadian pine board, and the New Brunswick hemlock and ash, are converted into gold. Truly, trade must change the face of nature. But what would be the position of traflic and civilization, were it not for the influences contained in those white boxes ? By these are the little white church, the meeting house, the school house, the asylum for the aged, erected ; and there, so snugly packed, they lie in the hold of the tarry merch^vjt- ship. We know what the trade of ancient times lias wrought. That its records are few and faint, and that one little volume has survived the wrecks of ages, strangely preserved by its greatest enemies. 11 lead bag, with ', rays around le busy quay, ip bounds up , blue walers, the tempest ? ods, the pack- r, smooth deal lolonial cities, ght Avhich has That indus- v'ork, and that sen, and is to ikill, a bazaar, the delight in and. But the , the dark hull dark mind of in the binna- 3 quite extin- seems more a 1 of the ship, es shall glim- jntry to which ihed at times, nt to conduct, e quiet port of )ns of various il doubtless be and the New ed into gold, re. But what »n, were it not boxes ? By ig house, the id ; and there, rry merchavjJ- nit times lias , and that one ges, strangely Go, herald, go, ii6 pageant thee a^Yaits, No flatter)' thy self-love elevates ; Weak hearts rejoice, oh teach the fallen to soar. Thou art thy master's servant. Be no more. FiW through the forest hoar thy horse hoofs ring, Breaks the calm grandeur of the stern frost-kuig. Wide spreads the cabin door, 'neath green fir-trees, Where anxious watchers thy glad coming sees. The strife is over. Time with thee has fled. And glory hai^ another numbered. High above thunders roar, the lightning's gleam, Heaven is revealed, thy hope is not a droam, Go thou encircled by the diadem. Of saving mercy, and love's glorious gem. The wide, white, snow waste of a new country lies around the pathway of the missionary. But his course is onward ! or should be. Is he not civilization's honored herald ? Niglit sets in. Still, still, only that bleak, white waste, stretching out before, behind, beside, the incident of a poorly settled country, so cheerless, so appalling to the denizen of the crowded city. But the message from God has to be delivered to the scattered flock, and some are even here. Yonder point of land stretches far out into the tossing billows. The roaring sea proclaims an approaching storm. How welcome to the tired traveller is the fire-gleam from yonder dark, decaying hut. The small, squre window is approached. The jaded horse partakes his maslv^r's glad- ness, and energetically plunges into the deep and pathless piles. Strong contrast to his former feeble efforts. Who would expect to hear the sound of the violin, the heavy tramp of fishermen's boots, in a real right down earnest jig upon such a floor as that ? Who would be prepared for the piles of cards well thumbed, half-worn ? Who would ex- pect to see the blue delf saucer of half pence ? Or the heaps of barrels, and the kegs stowed among the old rafters ? There is work here for a missionary ! And plenty of room for one treasure of that tarry ship. And one volume may become an angel messenger. For the long, low bows out- lined in the bay, force a conviction upon the mind of the missionary, that he is in the vicinity of the lawless trafficker. He has found a smuggler's den. 12 R . ' And here may the work of civilization commence. There is ready welcome for man and horse. And good-natured listeners, ready for anything, v/herewith to " Help pass the time," and not unwilling recipients of good impressions. The present is one means of varying the struggle for sub- sistence. And among the changes of colonial life they may become farmers, householders, and respectable members of country villages. They are by no means bound down to crime, as are the poor of older oountries. Yet is their crime not lessened by the fact, as some of them will frankly acknowledge. An 1 when at day dawn the missionary and his audience sepai-fite, it is with mutual kindly wishes, with thanks for his warning, even his reproof. But they dread not the consequence of his discovery, for many a weary mile lies before him with a jaded horse, and the smugglers have the trackless; ocean in which to choose a path. But confidence has been reposed. The pearl of price has been deposited. And though the fruit be unrevealed until eternity shall gather in its harvest, the missionary knows that it will never altogether fail. For 'that by high and lo\s^, by the gold of kings, and by the farthing of the poor, by the wildest human passions, and the glorious outpourings of the spirit, the Creator shall be glorified. The Bibles gathered by the bazaar table shall do their work, whether they lie upon the rich scarlet cushion of the church chancel, or find a home in the camp of the Indian, battling there with the W''d, demoniacal superstition so frequently uniting with Popish error. It is not in the crowded city, amid the whirl of wheels, and the rush of business that we expect the appalling fallacies of the heated nn'nd, and warped brain, where traffic Avrites strong lines upon hard faces, where science lights her votaries to wealth, and all unite in pursuits calculated to elevate a country. Human nature has a tendency to inertness, or to over- exertion, and we fondly think that superstition has been driven to lurk despised and disregarded among earth's dark and dismal places. Willingly would we forget that it is still a living principle, capable of being brought by able hands into the broad daylight and set to do its work. That the strong German mind has been so wrought upon by this poison, as to warp administration at the bar ot justioe in open courts. After enduring all that man could endure 13 imence. There d good-natured Help pass the )d impressions, truggle for sub- al life they may )le members of )Ound down to . Yet is their em will frankly missionary and lly wishes, with But they dread many a weary 1 the smugglers L path, pearl of price be unrevealed the missionary For 'that by the farthing of id the glorious glorified. The do their work, I of the church Indian, battling I so frequently crowded city, usiness that we ted nn'nd, and nes upon hard vealth, and all try. jss, or to over- :ition has been ig earth's dark 3rgct that it is fought by able ts work. That ht upon by this r of justioe in I could endure and live of Papal persecution, and a domineeringly vicious, though religious faction, with resignation of long loved homes, of clustering associations, of venerated and almost adored usages, that it s\vept like a pestilence through hberty- loving England, while vain-glorious and pedantic, James the First celebrated his " wonderful and mighty deliverance " from Popish treason, to which he had been appointed, as a •' sheep to the slaughter." We read a provincial writer's account of the strange blending of ignorance in our North American Micmac tribe of Indians, v/ith ancient supersti- tion and modern Romanism. How the one, grafted upon the other, they flourished together, a strong, and vigorous, and remarkable opponent of revelation. And we doubt not for a moment that it forms one of the many fangs of the greedy dragon opposing upon earth the kingdom of the Messiah with indomitable, undismayed perseverance, and an assurance which forbearance only increases. It is this capacity of seizing upon one passion or faculty of the mind, and without casting the others into oblivion. Working with that — leading it on unsuspectingly to give an aid, for or against, sometimes with an apparent desire to gratify, when gratification is the object sought, and again, to repress, control or deter, when systematic action, govern- ed by Scriptural principle, is to be subverted, that this power so admirable in its united viciousness, works ! The perfec- tion of perverted intellect. In the female mind the senti- ment of fear may be easily excited and predominate. Its effect is the destruction of will and resolution. Men may be blinded, and prejudiced, and misled. It is the same tei:den- cy diircrently acted upon. But just as often avarice, dom- inancy and selfishness, are exercised for their purposes by those masters of human nature — Papal Priests. How tenaciously the mind of the writer has been drawn to this subject, is exemplified in the foUo^ving pages, the eager suppression of \Yhat was foolishly considered a love of authorship; a seeking notoriety by literary divertisement. A vain-glorious emulation. From whence was inferred, of ne- cessity, a desire for pre-eminence which must obtain in a small community. And this with a connection of local sub- jects with Protestant principles, and the prompt extinction as the basis of the remedy sought for. These erroneous and incompatible proceedings arc elucidated in a narration which rW :*i Jf ll 1:T i 14 may appear egotistical. It is but a supposition of the mo- tives of continuous aggression. The decision to submit these facis to the public is strength- ened by a sense cf dnty to society, to the cause of revelation and humanity, as well as a conviction that greater security lies in publicity th^n in silonce. That which relates to the well-being of life, must be known, that it may be apprecia- ted, and though strongly advised by the timid to desist from such a purpose, the very singularity and triviality of the cir- cumstances gave redoubled strength to suspicion. Weak advisers may deter ; influential individuals may control and subvert ; but the question still remains and be- comes one of moment, that vice should ever be permitted the pre-eminence, while correct opinion, or that which is based upon Protestantism, must be forced back abashed and confounded. Be it then distinctly and definitely understood, that though individuality may be substantiated, not a single individual is decisively convicted of an agency in a system of espionage calculated to set at defiance all human ties, all sacred bonds, by a controlling, subverting and established system. A sys- tem which has been the glory of dark and barbarous ages, which may be at any time revived, and which might, in a very transient period, totally change the tone of civilization. A succession of peculiar or distressing vexatioi;s arising without any apparent reason, does not, though traced to the originators, necessarily convict of a lack of principle. Prej- udiced and erroreous partizanship will ever disown collu- sion. The only remedy therefore must lie in ai\ appeal to elevated and advanced principle, to display in the ab- stract the binding and extensive unity prevailing, the quiet endurance of which may be the precursor of mighty and un- mitigated evils. It may be about thirteen years ago that having visited a friend residing in the city of H. I remained the greater part of the summer of that year an ininate of her establishment, and an associate of many of her acquaintances. Being a distant connection of some branches of my mother's family, an intimate acquaintance had of course- previously subsisted for many years. A gentleman who has by Roman Catholic liberal suflirage attained the highest civil position it is hi the :! on of the mo- iblic is strength- ise of revelation ;reater security relates to the ay be apprecia- 1 to desist from ality of the cir- non. idividuals may mains and be- r be permitted that which is ck abashed and )od, that though ^le individual is n of espionage I sacfed bonds, system. A sys- )arbarous ages, lich might, in a I of civilization. xatioiiS arising ih. traced to the )rinciple. Prej- r disown collu- i an appeal to lay in the ab- iling, the quiet mighty and un- iving visited a the greater part ■ establishment, ices. Being a Mother's family, ously subsisted loman Catholic it ion it is hi the I 15 gift of the Nova Scotian people to bestow, and who was also a relative of the person above alluded to, was together with his wife and her friends, a frequent visitor at the same house. Having been long an inhabitant of a country village upon one of the sea-ports, distant from the city of H. some sixty miles, the change to varied bustle and a succession of amuse- ments, was, of. course, exceedingly delightful to one who had known much of monotonous seclusion and quiet atten- tion to domestic duties, while the quickness of observation usually fostered by such a position, found endless occupation among the varied shades and diversities of character, with which it necessarily came in contact. Whether or not a harsh, dogmatical tenor may not also be engrafted, is left for the reader to judge. It is very possible that a being so situate 1 may possess the purest tone of pat- riotism, altogether free from selfishness, which humanity can ever possess or partake of, or association engender. This phase of feehng has been the precursor of advance- ment in our neighbors across the tempesluors Bay of Fundy ; it has neither been comprehended or sustained in the gener- alities of Colonial life, because their system has widely dif- fered. At that time I was as careless as are most other young women, of anything but passing affairs, and the amusements of the moment. And here I cannot but remark with regret, the pernicious nature of the system of female colonial edu- cation, ha /ing deeply and personally experienced it. The means of subsistence being attainable without much diffi- culty among the better and middling classes, a limited in- come almost procuring the luxuries of life, women have, for the most part, little cause for mental or physical exertion. Little mental cultivation is bestowed upon them, and nothing obtains favor beyond showy accoiuplishments, and the Very merest smattering of intellectual pursuits ; and a woman who evinces any desire, or a taste for literature, has been regarded as an a^iomaly, almost an absurdity in creation. A vast amount of time then is thrown upon the hands to be frittered idly away ; to be spent in empty chit-chat and frivolity ; to be cut up into visits among elderly ladies, whose lives having been passed in a similar manner, tbey eagerly discourage any change or innovation in the juni'ir members of society. I We know not how much cause political men in older countries have to dread female interference in their especial domain. There must be danger where a thing is so con stantly decried. This one thing is certain, it must be a strong, singular, and extraordinary event which will draw a woman of Nova Scotia sufficiently forward to even give an opinion unreservedly, still less to undertake the responsibility of influencing othcis. Perhaps if it were not so, this coun- try might, ere this, have attained a higher position ; for there are many parts of a topic upon which a silent observer is capable of forming a correct opinion, just from the fact of being wholly and pecuniarily uninterested. But the powers of the mind being totally uncultivated, or left in rich but uncalled-for profusion. The habit of fascinating idleness, becomes positively habitual. The aversion to dwell for many- minutes at a time upon serious subjects, is indulged irremed- iably. The entire errors of a life-time inculcation, are hard to overcome ; and if ever the hour of action arrive, it is more than dreaded, it has been totally unprepared for. Of what use, then, is religious principle to such a person ? Speaking of the young, they cannot bring it practically to bear upon practical life. It must fall back and expire. It must become inanition, and not the vital gem of hallowed hopes. It must shrink from collision with those very subjects which it is the most beautiful part of religion to elevate, to influence, even to control. The race must be left to the swift, and the battle to the strong, and those • must and will stand aloof whose dearest interests are at stake. For the af- fairs of a country's advancement are not for a day alone. They spring from eternity, and go onward to meet one. It is not the struggle only of position, wealth, and authority, it is the contention of light with darkness ; vice with holi- ness. We do not presume to say that religion should be taken from its own domestic sanctuary to be tossed into the ballot-box, but would not society be more generally im- proved if this bright star were permitted to govern it more, and to culminate ? My early training having been, then, upon the customary code above elucidated, I think the only powerful tendency of my mind was a warm, devoted, and admiring adherence to the Episcopal Protestant Church form of worship, and an intense admiration of the beauties of Nova Scotia scenery, t^-vmm men in older I their especial ing is so con it must be a 3h will draw a ) even give an e responsibility t so, this coun- ition ; for there !nt observer is from the fact ed. But the , or left in rich lating idleness, dwell for many ulged irremed- ition, are hard )n arrive, it is pared for. Of ch a person ? t practically to nd expire. It n of hallowed 5e very subjects to elevate, to be left to the must and will e. For the af- ' a day alone. to meet one. and authority, /ice with holi- gion should be tossed into the generally im- overn it more, the customary erf[d tendency ring adherence /orship, and an Scotia scenery, 17 Its traditionary legends, and its old settler stories ; knowing nothing and caring less for the political position of that Church, such as she is in the British Colonies, and such as she has been. I was willing to take it for granted that as her tenets are pre-eminently Scriptural, so her ministers were devoted to truth, unconnected with predominance. That in her system so antique and courtly, there was entire security from every error, and reason for perfect reliance. I had not been long resident in the city of H. at the house at which I was a visitor, without perceiving that this predi- lection excited marked notice among the connected circle already alluded to. But being perfectly heedless of, and utterly indifferent to, the various struggles for power going on in the Province, I heeded it very little, and no deep im- pression waa at that time experienced. CHAPTER II. There's nae luck about the Imsc ! There is nae luck at a', When the auld hat blinks in the window's light, And the chimney's stuffed wi' stra'. Then its hey up the chimney pot, hey after you In search of an ingle bra. Tliere is nae luck abou' the hus, When the aul mon's eyes are blinkin' ! When the clerk an tlie parson die on the grate, It shows tliat the times are o'er late ; ^\ji that folks must tak to thinliin' When the sjiark has died in the ingle nook. Then it's hey and away, for another to look. Heligious intolerance will " Put a girdle round the earth in forty minutes." — Siiak. Nova Scotia being, as one of her most eminent and dis- tinguished statemen has felicitiously observed, "just like the fingers of a hand," and occujjying a peculiar and important place upon the verge of the bkie Atlantic, it has been a mat- ter of serious inquiry why, ^vith so many varied facilities for traffic, commerce and intercourse, with the great human family ; so imperfect a knowledge of the internally working organism of its social 'ife has Supervened. How frequently has the weary traveller, and the gaun- dised denizen of the burning po:?sessions of the Eastern Con- tinent paused upon her hill-sides, that his fevered brow may be cooled by her encirclinfj breezes, and his overstrained and too lavishly tasked energies be calmed and soothed by con- templating the exquisite scenery for which she has been so celebrated, said to be Italian, in its soft insinuating loveli- ness, its luscious reaction if dare obsure. Is it then all in vain, her wild promonlaries stretch out far into the turbulent l that her rivers teeming with shining and joyous vitality, . .ow their silver tracery about, around, beyond, and through everything, that her capes and jutting peninsulas, and shady coves dotted with the birchen iiamp of the Indian, and fringed with drooping alder, in 19 w's light, ifter you M le grate, ; nook, ook. minutes." — Siiak. nineiit and dis- ci, "just like the r and important has been a inal- ■ied facilities for e great hatnan ernally working and the gaun- tlie Eastern Con- vered brow may overstrained and soothed by con- she has been so sinuating loveli- lontaries stretch rs teeming with ^r tracery about, at her capes and with the birchen Doping alder, in the friendly covert of which the privateersman of some fifty years ago lande?l his ill-gotten wealth, and bestowed it in some mossy nook or buried it deep beneath the sod. And while these all speak' loudly to the strap : and the sojourner of a day, are those whose home associations are part and parcel of the same, to continue the only spectators uninter- ested ; and as each hill, and bay, and inlet, and grassy mound, and green island, "utters forth a glorious voice" of adoration to the beneficent Creator, "are the living to be alone," silent, and the wild romance which the literature of other lands eagerly seizes upon, and appropriates as a valued heir-loom, marking progression, and forming bright beacons upon the cliffs of time, to lie moulding in inerlion, as do the many pleasing historical incidents of past provincial interest among the time-warped voliimes of her absolete statutes. Italy's classic recollections have given bright constellations to an admiring world ; and the wild legends and rugged mountains of Germany, have been the household words of milder climes. A Goethe, a Mozart, a Handel, have aided the advance of civilization. The Ranz Des Vaches, of the Swiss Cowherd, has resounded through her fertile valleys, and among the snovtr-capped Alps, reverberating and repeated in the hacmatac shade of North America, and upon her rocky and storm-scathed coast. The songs of the mountain and the heather have received an indying tone from the stirring memories of a thousand years. And the meadows and rural way-side cottages of England have taught her children their well learned song of Home, Sweet Home. — But the bright skies, the blue lakes, the shady groves, the fragrant water-lillies, of Nova Scotia, are yet untold of, and unsung. Even the dashing, pushing, driving, go-ahead dovvn-easter or south-wester in our contiguity pauses one moment in the rush onward, and Avhile tuning his violin to yankee doodle relates, unweariedly, to untired audiences, the exploits of Bunker Hill, and the Battle of Orleans, while Nova Scotia claims for herself but small participation in nature's outpourings, meanwhile seeking, too hnmbly seek- ing, a share in her gifts to others. If it be true that the scenery of a land calls the voice of poetry into being, that it creates and cultivates a literature, that this, blending with the daily event, the legislative deci«. sion, the municipal enactment becomes a nation's glory, 20 • and her pride, the strong bulwark of philanthropic institu- tions ; the safe conductjof a people, thougfl the shoals and straits, invented by wily diplomatists, for the advance of aggression, then has home, s\ eet home, been indeed incul- cated in multitudinous and multiplied, and yet beloved accentuation ; and the mistress of the isle of the ocean has received the grateful incense of wayward generations. Of a surety, such a task has been heaven-instilled, and the people who appreciate the mental acumen w hich may become great, even in their depreciation, who shrink not from the pure satire, treading upon the footprints of false judgment, upon the stringent sarcasm which, in a single paragraph, may attect, and bear down upon a desperate grievance, and adrrinister at the same time, a remedy; in the terse and pithy epigram, or motto, by which the complete '■ mullum in Parvo" may be impressed or obtained, are of a sterling value in the same ratio with the author. The incidents, the reference to which has been commenced in the preceding chapter, having transpired through the period of Provincial history, in which the question of respon- sible government began to be agitated, and the appointment of native, rather than British officials to public elevations, and civil control, it becomes necessary to enter into some explanatory relationsi as to the supposition influence which might have been brought into contact, had a free scope been permitted ^ iu. unfettered perceptions of a competent and judici " \'\,i :nene^^euc community. The system referred to may be the basis of a christian advancement. It may also be produclivN in an unhallowed grasp, of the most vicious and infamous ransaetions, inas- much as a thorough acquaintance with the generally existing order of things, and the circles, classes, divisions and degrees of men inhabiting a country, may be turned to vast account, particularly if the intimacy have subsisted for a lifetime. If business considerations or habitual sociality has erected a continuous intercourse, and " individuality" may thus become fatally a masonic symbol. The detriment must obtain by that evidence which must already have been suggested to the mind of my reader — namely, denominational precedence. This fearful and en- ^croaching evil which theological and dogmatical old England has many a time and oft rushed to the onset against, while ( I mthropic institu- i the shoals and the advance of en indeed incul- md yet beloved )f the ocean has jnerations. -instilled, and the hich may become nk not from the false judgment, e paragraph, may ! grievance, and in the terse and )Iete '■ multum in ofa sterling value been commenced red through the lestion of respon- the appointment public elevations, enter into some influence which a free scope been I competent and ?is of a christian in an unhallowed ransactions, inas- generally existing sions and degrees d to vast account, or a lifetime. If ity has erected a ility" may thus ience which must of my reader — s fearful and en- jtical old England jet against, while 21 cherishing internally on, and violently entering the lists for the preservation of the liberties of the world. This overbalancing scourge which has 'mpressed bloodshed a»id destitution in its pathway, and bestowed upon ihe glorious western world of America, — an intellectual and swaying multitude, vas» as the sand of the sea in number, has taken a firm foothold upon the colonial soil unquestioned in priority, Mtiheeded in position, because a "small community could not but flinch' from the expose of an indolent pliability. Irish Catholic suffrages having increased so greatly, within the last few years, have rendered it a rather questionable thing, as to whether Nova Scotia is to be nothing more than a "delightful little tea garden," or a continental water- ing-place, to the entire hemisphere, as some of our many very sanguine well- wishers, am ong^the retired half-pay officer list have so egregiously fancied in which a delightful littk circle of " just ourselves and two or three others" might ^o safely instituted, exactly as we do at home, " A sort of pre- siding coterie of domestic deities self-elected." The entire amount of marching and counter-marching of scheming and manoeuvering needful to the obtaining the desired independence above referred to, was, it is to be believed, but inadequately comprehended by the masses, and but slowly acquiesced in, save by the immediate dispensers of the delegated boon, or the more expectant recipients of the benefit. 'Tis true, the columns of the weekly newspaper teemed with voluminous despatches to the mother country, combining the language of humility, with that of bravado, which, asa matter of necessity, ladies were in self-compassion, desirous of dispensing with lamenting, meanwhile the der- eliction from the well beaten path of love and murder t stories upon the part of the publisher. But, " whaj; all the fuss about nothing was to end in, or what it was all to come to after all," we only cared to ask without troubling our- selves to wait for an answer. " Only hoping fervently, by way of consolation, that we should not ue given up to those horrid creatures, ' the Yankees,' without being aware of the fact, until the deed -vas irretrievably accomplished." These ideas emanating from the wives and daughters of those who had swayed our " tea garden" for near half a cen- tury, of course, won a rapid currency, without any depre- ciation of the standard estimate, and as each year sped 'P onward, the grand desideratum became ultimately attained ; and Re3{X5nslbIe (?rovernment has been amalgamated with our now changing interests, and blended with our insti- tutions. In some measure it was acknowledged as altoge- ther embracing the requirements of a new country, but gradually, and at lengh definitely, the once ambigous ques- tion became adirmatively responded to " may it not Ije ren- dered a great curse." A handful of interested individuals upheld and controlled, by a deiiomiMatlonal clique, may, by employing and enforc- ing pre-eminence, possessing no scriptural basis, or one winch is liable to daily and hourly misconstruction, become the ineradicable originators and sustainers of a complete sys- tem of espionage, and at once, and together, be the death knell of Protestantism and freedom of conscience. Bitter experience suggests these comments upon passing things; where defined division exists, not in the individual mind and conscience, there must be preponderating influence. Slight diversties are a very nonentity, a constant succession may be instituted as an understood thing, as a religious usage in fact, and if those who are interested in sustaining so cor- rupt a vehicle of injurious polity, take umbrage at such an unrestrained invasion of thei.- securely guarded domain, let them not overlook the fact that endurance has its bounds, let them remember that the world, the wide spreading uni- verse may be deeply concerned in such a subject, equally with the little territory which so firmly grasps the ocean at a given signal, for it involve j that v.'hich is by all, but the bar- barian, acknowledged as the only true standard of truth and peace, and is, by its unwearying assailants, technically termed the liberties of tlie people. The v^st and scarce developed countries, the wealth and resources of which have formed the subject of endless discus- sion and furnished material, for many works bearing upon- statisticts, upon physical characteristics, and great political controversies, are still in their denominational characteriza- tions, which have, for a period of time extending far into the past, exercised an unsuspdcted impulsion upon other lands, proudly and boastingly sustaining it as the premised basis of loyalty. But in reference to an explicit comprehension of such a topic, the colonies are an intricate, a complicated, and a sealed volume. ir- 23 mately attained ; lalgamated witii with our insti- dged as altoge- w country, but ambigous ques- ly it not Ije ren- 1 and controlled, ying and enforc- ,i basis, or one ruction, become f a complete sys- 3r, be the death ;ience. its upon passing n the individual jrating intluence. istant succession a religious usage ustaining so cor- )ragc at such an rded domain, let : has its bounds. 3 spreading uni- subject, equally ps the ocean at a all, but the bar- idard of truth and ants, technically , the wealth and of endless discus- ks bearing upon- id great political nal characteriza- nding far into the ipon other lands, premised basis of jomprehension of :, a complicated, There must be a cause for such an effect, for untiring watchfulness, for rigid surveillance, for continuous internal animosity, and a certain succession of events, which may, or may not rapidly progress, which may sooner or later attain a climax, may receive the doubtful cognomen of a denomina- tional crisis. Thi^ crisis, if it transpire, will eventually change the tenor of local and general things, should of necessity, be gifted with a voice, but when every effort to facilitate an explication is at once crushed upon the native soil, it is but natural to seek new channels of intercourse with the outer world, and for necessity we turn to a land possessed of a more advanced and cultivated tone. A facility of utterance which the fates have denied these older countries of dealing with a university of hope and elevation of mind which the voice of the people, and an unrestrained press can alone elucidate. When great occurrences transpire, and their origination is silenced, when a line, a sentence, a paragraph, is checked in the publication thereof, when a word is controled in the utter- ance, conclusion must be unfavorable as to the justice of the opposition, the national integrity existing but nominally, and the reliance of a people upon a system they have early learned, to reverence from attachment ^o usages which have become an heirloom, and cherished devotion to the father- land, must be at times sorely shaken. A dearth of local literature weakens the attachment of a people to their country, home vexations cannot be fairly dealt with, therefore arises discontent. The lower classes of society being thrown aside from competition, perfectly aware of their exigencies, but utterly unable to cope with, or over- come them, hastily renounce the hercrlean task, and wander away to seek life's sustenance, without a grievous contention for it elsewhere. And by such a stringent and vicious policy as this, has the United States of America become inundated by people from the lower colonies, where great re^ irces lie dormant, and bound down by a chain of iron, twice blended. It was at a time Avhen the social elements of England, of the United States and the British Provinces were jarred by a shade of hostility upon a once genial horizon, that the writer of the present work was restiained from inserting in the Per- iodical of a certain locality, the following sentence, intended 24 as the commencement of a series of articles, tending to throw light upon the then absorbing topic of the day. "It is not generally known that the late Fishery Disturb- ances were based upon a principle which more than two centuries ago, then a little band of heart-broken wanderers threw upon a foreign and inhospitable shore, there to endure privation, suffering, and death, rather than the grinding slavery of Religious intolerance and absolutism." The whirlwind of excitement which followed the event above alluded to, is now numbered with the past, as also the faint counterpart accrueing in the city of H , where the originators of the scheme rejoiced with impunity. Stringent measures had undoubtedly been called for, yet, few knew why it so unexpectedly and violently arose, it becomes not a woman, nor is it consonant with her tendencies to trespass upon the subject of national traffic, her best interests, and those mostconj^jnial to her nature, are incident with local, domestic and religious sentiments. These are dear to the vast human family, and when grossly tampered with, it becomes a needful duty to step from privacy, and lay bare the connecting link which so extraordinarily reacts upon that individual comfort, and upon national greatness and inter- course, and by which the balance of power may be in a moment overthrown, and a way paved for aggression, and thus regarding the passing and local interests of that period in the light which should have been dispensed ; but die fall- ing rays of which scarcely glanced along the darkness, and only made it visible, the fact became but too glareing, that in the armed force which Nova Scotia sought, and obtamed from the mother country, for the protection of her Fisheries, there was no proof of the providing care which should have guarded her interests, since her first settlement, but one of the most complete Papal aggressions which England has ever been the instrument of perpetrating against a free people and a holy principle. The resentment of a conservative nation has been fre- quently aroused against the baleful influence which may yet work her own destruction, and has undoubtedly involved her in many vast and expensive wars, in this instance, an influence little suspected was brought to bear upon her very constitution, and desperate struggles might have supervened nvolving the happiness and well-being of the one-third of 25 jnding to throw • ishery Disturb- nore than two ken wanderers there to endure I the grindmg m." wed the event )ast, as also the — , where the nity. Stringent ^et, few knew becomes not a ies to trespass interests, and snt with local, re dear to the pered with, it , and lav bare eacts upon that less and inter- may be in a ggression. and 1 of that period 1 ; but ihe fall- darkness, and jlareing, that in , and obtanied ■ her Fisheries, 2h should have nt, but one of igland has ever free people and has been fre- which may yet itedly involved ,s instance, an upon her very ive supervened he one-third of the known world, and while every press in either interested portion of the hemisphere, teemed with allusions to the tooic and expressions of irritation or wounded pride, that of Nova Scotia was alone and utterly silent. But it is needful to return to the narration of the previous chapter. During the visit to my friends house, I found it a most unpleasant circumstance, that a tendency of mind, with regard to religious form of worship, should constantly pro- voke stricture and discussion, and that the Prayer Book of the Episcopal Church, so highly reverenced and deeply ven- erated, should be daily analysed and criticised, with the evident purpose of drawing forth argument and expressions of opinion, which were duly repeated to the gentleman to whom I have alluded, at each subsequent visit, to be received by comments from him, by concise and curt, and pointed rejoinder, it was also exceedingly unpleasant that a ready and quick observation of things, and people, and character, was daily and constantly registered. This might have been the kind attention of friendship, had it not been indubitably stamped by the most complete and rapid surveillance. Biit I stood not alone in this subjected scrutiny, and many other persons, who little dreamed m which way their words were scanned, and misinterpreted, while absent, and which though carelessly and unheedingly uttered were treasured up, to be eagerly brought to bear against them at some future time. And those who have obtained a high position through the last few years, by liberal party patronage, have worked for it by the sacrifice of the most kindly feelings of humanity, by the outrage of holy principle, and the suppres- sion of accurate statement. They have strangely worked for it by warped judgement and blighting injury to those nearest them, and drawn to them by the ties of consanguinity. The Church Episcopal, was not the only one which appeared to be reprehensible to this rising clique, whose bye- word was, and is still Toryism, and, to an individual who habitually regards with reverence , every sectarian institu- tion which is founded upon a pure revelation, it seemed an extraordinary circumstance, that individuius attacks should be so insparingly hurled at the Methodist body of the inhab- itants, and the Baptist denoinination brought forward, as a fitting and right] object of stigma, After years explained all. There was a gradual division being effected ir 26 ♦ throughout the country, a gathering of the dry bones, in the valley of indecision, and the absolute need of reliable, capa- ble and leading minds, was daily and hourly exciting a con- fidence wherever it might evidently be most securely reposed. The City of Halifax, was at that time inundated, as it were by an arrival of the Roman Catholic Priests, and French gentlemen of noble birth, or of good family, whose stay was but cursory, and who seldom or never returned again. The seminary dedicated to, or known by the appellation of St. Mary, was getting fast into efficient operation, and aid was bestowed, and existed in connection with some of the most wealthy families in the country, and the projectors and sus- tainers of that institution. Frequent opportunity was afforded of forming conjectures as to the ultimate object sought by these people, as many of them resorted constantly to the house ai whiclf I was visiting, and several of the Priests con- cerned in carrying forward the project, and giving future efficiency to the establisiiment, resorted constantly to the house at which I was visiting, accompanied by students who were preparing to take orders in the Papal Church. They dropped in socially in the evening, and made informal and accidental calls in the morning, previous to the usual fash- ionable visiting hour, nor was this opportunity of gaining some insight into character, as it exists nidividually, in a class of persons who constantly attract the attention of the laity heedlessly disregarded. Daily topics, and local interests, trifling chit chat, and gossip, mingled wiih |)layful gester or repartee, were but too evidently not the decidedly native forte of these men, and but little discrimination was requisite, leading to the inference that education had been lavishly bestowed upon a productive and fertile soil. They were men far above the customary standard to which we assimilate the Papal heirarchy, men of acute and vigorous intellect, possessed of subtle minds, familiar with every subject that was brought to their atten- tion, and at home, as regarded each topic which chance or fancy might draw upon the tapis. Thoroughly versed in the art of pleasing, courteous and courtly in manner, which wore no mere semblance of gloss or an adventitious polish, and was apparently the reflection of a sterling luster, the condescending familiarity so assumed which so frequently in other persons, immediately disen- 27 y bones, in the reliable, capa- exciting a con- curely reposed, undated, as it sts,and French vhose stay was 2d again. The (ellation of St. I, and aid was le of the most ictors and sus- ty was afforded ect sought by istantly to the he Priests con- I giving future istantly to the )y students who I^hurch. They informal and he usual fash- lity of gaining ually, in a class •n of the laity chit chat, and c, were but too bese men, and to the inference on a productive the customary lieirarchy, men subtle minds, to their atten- bich chance or courteous and blance of gloss y the reflection irity so assumed lediately disen- chants, was, m this instance, doubly enhanced, neither' deteriorating the respect which we anxiously profferred ihem, or detracting an iota from their evidently great merit. They likewise possessed an agreeable and momentary tact of drawing forth playful discussion, quite consonant with youthful propensities, and participating in the wishes or attainments of those who are frequently passed by in gay society, as being of a more sombre mood, and but sbghtly given to levity. Light conversation, however, invariably took a firmer tone, and assumed a graver import, and a species of argument, and fanciful controversy, which, while exciting reflection, seldom attained to definitejor concise con- clusions, leaving a vague and dissatisfied restlessness, a rambling of the faculties as it wer*^, a desire for some tangi- ble and determined end, a nervous doubtfulness, which was^ always ungratified, inasmuch as having elicited this state of mind, the conversation was always broken through suddenly by either of the gentlemen, suddenly recalUng a pressing engagement at the other end of the city. At other times we were indulged with delightful com- ments upon our country, leading gradually to allusion, res- pecting individual and native character, and particular per- sons, their names, their pursuits, their probable intentions, which was a marked proof of disinterested friendship, and also a remarkable one, supposing these gentlemen to have visited the city of H upon their own private and parti- cular business. Domestic life in all and every of its colonial phases, its intense destitution, its positive demands, was not forgotten, neither were circumstances of local domesticity, or general and political interest. Dissertations on character were to a great extent mingled with these, but an adroit checking of unguarded warmth, a ready capacity of chang- ing the conversation, a facility for soothing and stifling irri- tation, if by any means it became excited, were additional reasons for a rejoicing in such acquisitions to our ; circle, equally with the fact that we were the envy of less favored mortals, in whose power an expensive entertainment, or a possibility of proffering an elegant reception, lay not. These men were a new study for one of the uninitiated so guarded, yet so perfectly at ease, so profuse a cultivation of each power of the mind, will memory and judgment. So lavish a storing from valuable authors, and recondite speculators. / 28 and while a marked resemblance most extraordinarily sub- sisted, there was yet an intense diversity, and still while exacting favor as it were, by main force, and eliciting unbounded gratification and gratulation, by the bestowal of their society upon us, a sensation of distrust and uneasiness was inculcated, by the zeal and ofRciousness in tracing out, and evidently very deeply sympathising in each predeliction of every chance visitor, or each inmate of the household, nor was my vanity at all gratified by the observation that this attention, while it was gratuitously bestowed upon the heads of the establishment, was as freely and unrestrainedly lav- ished upon myself. The children of the family won by their insinuating address and benevolent smile, soon learned to repose confidence, respecting their simple troubles, while each of the domestics appeared to share in the same ratio with ourselves, this highly flattering condescension, nor was self-esteem to any extent soothed by the fact that general reading matter, and selections of books excited their observation. At that time the novel reading community was inordinately delighted by a perfect inundation of the very worst descriptions of light literature, which was poured in with unsparing hnnd, upon the general library to which the family had access. This is as a matter of course, stored with standard works ; but few young ladies will devote much attentibn to such, while they are at liberty to weep or laugh over the imaginary joys or sorrows of visionary beings, or can amuse their waiting maids with a recital which will serve to keep them in a good humor, and dispose them to become more eflScienl and ready operatives. This literary romance-mania, was frequently adverted to by our Papal annotators in an easy jocular vein of pleas- ant humor, which had the effect of eliciting additional infor- mation as regarded character, mental tendencies, and so forth, and a vast amount of incautiousness and sociality of feeling becamo quite imperceptibly inculcated, though sev- eral of the works of fiction brought from the circulating library through their hinted instigations, and upon which youthful heads in turn reposed upon at night for a week at the very least, were, most leniently speaking, unfit for waste paper. Again, conversing with evident freedom upon the literature 29 rdinarily sub- nd still -svhile and eliciting e bestowal of nd uneasiness 1 tracing out, h predeliction lousehold, nor Ltion that this ipon the heads trainedly lav- uating address se confidence, the domestics mrselves, this isteem to any g matter, and .t that time the delighted by a )tions of light ig h;ind, upon ■cess. This ie orks ; but few ih, while they jinary joys or ' waiting maids m in a good ;ienl and ready y adverted to vein of pleas- Iditional infor- ncies, and so id sociality of d, though sev- he circulating I upon which for a week at anfit for waste a the literature ./ of the day as it existed throughout the British Empire and the United States, from whence a quantity of tracts upon infidelity and in favor of open discussion of the subject had emenated the subverting effect of latitudinarian views, was loudly in- veit'hed against, while the matter was brought home to our- selves quite gratulatorily that we possessed not so useless or pernicious a flood of originality as the source whence these emanated, and which must end in a total anarchy of moral and religious sentiment, as a matter " par necessite," and with the ever inquisitive newspaper, our love for our father land would remain undiminished, and our principles remain unimpaired. However, Avhen at times our wounded patriotism traced enviously the elevation which a native literature he- stowed upon other lands, we were soothed by remarks to the effect that though Nova Scotia possessed as yet, no controlling mind, no swaying and reliable intellect capable of revealing to a sympathizing universe our wants and wish- es, our anticipations and projects, our feelings or imperfec- tions, we must hope for the best. The beam of the bright particular star, the envied advent of which wcs thus precur- sorily announced by the denizens of a far-away-land, whose disinterested interest in the future late of our country filled our hearts with gratitude inexpressible, was to be more than usually efTulgent, and the rays thereof to be refracted and reflected in the meanest as well as the most exalted .intel- lect, and that as .such desperately rapid strides had been made into those regions of late years, we might yet take courage and lift up our heads, for it was settled beyond a doubt that either a Byron, a Scott, or a Burns, might drop from t' e clouds, or possibly a huge epitome of the distin- guished trio might dash into the hearts of the people, with a steam engine velocity, or a forty horse ^ower, and not only our beloved native land, but each household, and every member of the same, down to the demure cat and the do- mestic but military old Newfoundlander would be handed down •' wiU be well he" to a highly interested and truly grateful posterity. That such conversations as these, left an indelible inipres- sioB upon the mind of the writer, must be very perceptible. The vacuum of literature, and the innumerable deficiences thereof existing in No'a Scotia, had been frequently re- marited upon, and as frequently lamented, not 9nly by chance ^;* f^ 30 - visitants, but by those who were highly capable, had the requisite ynity, energy, and enterprise, been forthcoming of amehc rating our condition, and prospects. Considering the nunierous and untouched resources, profusely scattered by beneficent nature, the rich fund of local incident and histor- ical fact, that might be gathered from various sources throughout the country, the sylvan scenery, the then un- touched natural history and botany, and recently explored geology, its extensive species of algtp, its lauded but sealed up coal fields, and yet more the physical position which leaves this province, while a participator of the natural his- tory, the botany and the geology of the whole continent in what may be termed a distinct and original position, so that a litcratiTe for such a country, without discarding science altogether, needs but to be practical, and to the purpose, to be generally serviceable, and the vehicle of continuous ben- efit. • • This not having been the case, is an incontrovertible proof tjiat public interest wherever sucii had been positively inde- pendent and influential, had been diverted into shallow or pebbly chaimels, and a lurking exultation was at times glar- ingly evident, through the screen wiiich policy drew around it,'as though the default indefeasibly worked by reaction, while the laxity of principle at that time, combined with the abundant originality of the United States, while openly eon- denuied, evidently met with an equal approval, as though it were considered the precursor, and contained the active agent of self-destruction. I cannot say but that the new ideas thus presented had some effect at'tl :\t time, as related to decisive action regard- ing personal things, but some specimens of rhyme, written and carelessly handell about, underwent the ordeal of a rigid and radical scrutiny, not in any degree pleasing to the au- thoress, or calculated to add to internal satisfaction. It was at this epoch of our social life, that the slumbers of the Province were disturbed by a terrible vision of an inter- minable railroad prospectus, and the cabbage tree, around which our associations from early life had clustered, waxed pale and wan at the zephyr-breathed murmur which moaned through its crisby-curled leaves, that the very ground" from whence its sustenance was elicited, might, in unmistakable and positive and unimaginative realiiy be turned upside 31 )able, had the brtbcoming of onsidering the '■ scattered by ent and histor- irious sources the then un- ;ntly explored ded but sealed losition which le natural his- 3 continent in osition, so that irding science le purpose, to )ntinuous ben- overtible proof ositivcly inde- to shallow or ; at times glar- r drew around I by reaction, bined with the ile openly con- 1, as though it le active agent presented had action regard- liyme, written deal of a rigid [ig to the au- ction. le slumbers of »n of an inter- tree, around stored, waxed *vhich moaned ground" from unmistakable :urned upside down by the ruthless ploughshare. But there is not a so):- row that hath not a balm, saith the poet, so in the midst of the general distress of mind, what should suddenly appear in our capacious harbor to gladden the drooping hearts of " our regime " than the fleur do lis of la belle P'rance. Yes, positive- ly and undeniably, the vital elements resumed their wonted course and a general smile of gratulation shed a refulgent glow upon the landscape, for in very deed and truth the French Prince answering to the title of De Joinville,Avasno\v honoring our poor country with his presence. His presence, did I say ? Why one third of his shadow would have been a resuscita- ting anodyne ; but his royal shoes left our rugged coast, with- out ever once being brought into contact with the coarse, vulgar element from whence Ave derive our existence. The human mind always flying off at a tangent, we highly laud- ed such a decision, doing extra homage to the shadow that could .ot probably endure to gaze upon such a miserable country as was ours, and preserved its sensibilities for some more worthy object. It was an indubitable fact, which wa§ at length grasped in the entirety thereof, that the banner of the Emperor float- ing from the masts of le Bellepoule or le Bellerophon, mem- ory refuses to be taxed as to the exactitude of the cognom.en, or whether the royal presence arrived not in both of these ships at once, each participating in the joyous burthen, and my chronology is often at fault on regal matters; but it was true, notwithstanding. The very insignia which had so often undertaken the humiliation of our sometime insubordinate old mothcr,was pcac2fully getting uj) to Chebucto basin somehow or other, without once going like a common vessel upon the roeks at Farquson's cove, or being decoyed by false lights into Prospect Bay. Itwas to this jtwous advf>ntthat we in a great measure owed the influx of*^ curious looking gentlemen heretofore ob- served, and oiiicers with blue and yellow badges stitched upon their coats, and who perambulated our streets at their pleasure, exhibiting countenances in which a mingled expres- sion of melancholy and agony bore precedence, together with frowning and scowling brows, harsh eyes which "iiupu- dently scanned every window of every domicile, and a perfect wilderness of unkempt tresscs,Avith a heavy moustache, imperi- al, and all the other etceteras of French gentlemen, includins 32 a clattering poignard, a perfumed mcuchoir, a cigar and hiofh heeled boots, and an atrociously enormous bouquet with snutf-box to match. Though the possibility of our coun- try's ever attaining the tea-garden position prophesied by the retired navy list was yet in embryo, the certainty became in- stilled into our minds that an extensive celebrity as a " Bear garden," ranged by the most vicious of the species, was be- stowed gratis, by foraging parties of thesfe animals, disguised as above described, who wandered here, there, and e^ -rv- where, getting each other and all the " peaceful inhabit- ants" with whom accident or circumstances brought them in contact, into strange scrapes and unheard-of advent 3, into unnecessary intrigues, and ruinous debts, and begetting a. style of fashionable life which our weak minds anxious for universal equaUty grasped at as the ultimatum of quintes- cence. But whether the conjecture be a wild, unfounded fan- cy, that the conjoined presence of these various parties advert- ed to were the effect of accident, or a design efficiently acted upon, or the freemasonry which draws birds of a feather to- gether, must be for subseqnent events to determine. Balls, fetes, dejeunes and luncheons followed each other in quick succession, and the railroad prospectus -which had tbiTified, while delighting us, waxed thin and thinner, figura- tively speaking, for while it now fell upon the lo\Ter classes, who eagerly grasped it as the embodiment of their saving hopes, it received a desperate handhng from the exalted clique, who scanned it at their leisure, and laughed over it with the foreigners. But pubhc courage revived upon the news transpiring throughout the country that " the gracious presence," while doing the honors in propria personae at one of his most brilliant entertainments, had actually chosen as his partner in the" virling valtz " the honored daughter of a native of the soil, the first and only one said the gossipping coteries during his extended hospitalities. The public heart reverberated at the condescension, which however aroused a mystified uncertainty as to its now probably evolving des- tiny ! For was not this the symbol of unity, and when after dis- cussing the routine of " toasts" at the conclusion of the entertainment we fell upon those which over and yet again lauded the land of the Mayllower and Acadia's fair daugh- ters, the most desperate introducers of "Yankee Notions," and American common-places amongst us, succumbed with- -t. f I 33 r, a cigar and )rmou3 bouquet lity of our coun- fophesied by the linty became in- rity as a " Bear pecies, was be- imals, disguised ire, and e^ "'•y- 2aceiul inhabit- \ brought them i-of advent 3, I, and begetting nds anxious for um of quintes- unfounded fan- 3 parties advert- efficiently acted of a feather to- rmine. ved each other ctus -which had thinner, figura- j lo\Ter classes, )f their saving m the exalted aughed over it ived upon the '' the gracious personae at one ually chosen as 1 daughter of a the gossipping he public heart wever aroused evolving des- when after dis- iclusion of the and yet again a's fair daugh- ikee Notions," .ccumbed with- out further argument and without one dissentient voice decided that our plain and distinct course* was marked by the hand of Nature, £nd the best thing to be done by the way of progress, v as to annex ourselves to France as spee- dily as possible, or u"ow ourselves at the lOOt of the throne and beg to be lifted up ! That such a state of general dissatisfaction prevailed throughout the Province has been, and is still well known. That it was behind the times, that it lacked progress, and lazily lagged in the rear when the advance called for its presence, the cause was unthought of, and the kernel reposed in the tough rhind, eafficient hardihood existed not, individ- ually to chance upon the spines of the integument. Some time after this thrilling incident of the royal presence was partially obliviated, being upon the eve of removing to a village situated upon the banks of the Chebucto and imme- diately opposite the city of H., I became aware that the gen- tlemen whose patriotic views have been already dealt with, and whose gigantic efforts in the cause of Responsible Gov- ernment marked him as a king among his peers, had some how or other won round to the heirarchy, and was himself among the prophets, peering into astrology, and anxious to give a first and friendly welcome to the star upon the hori- zon, which did not take the trouble it seemed, to rise as fast as possible, or as might bo expected. Literature, then 'was to be our saving clause from down .ight perdition among the nations. The strong reed by the deep waters. The papyrus with many volumes in the folding, and here was a self-elccted general at issue ready to drag from hidden recesses the abscond- ing traitor to the trust, or the wavering or hesitating recruit. Literature was the theme upon all sides, it was to be our mainstay, our beacon, our kindly philanthrophist, to pick us up out of the gutter of despondency, and place us upon the dry bank by the busy mart side, that the sun of prosperity might bestow a thorough warming upon us. Our Captain General worked day and night, at reason- able and unreasonable times, to convince, by speeches, exhortations, and alluring argument, the already satisfied community, that "somehow, something there always had been wanting," a fact which we could have readily, one and all, forestalled the acknowledgement of, h^d not a timid sr irking of the Question unfailinwlv rlotovra^ "W^ «^«««^h O ■f, 34 the country in search of coadjutors, while he, as master ot the ceremonies, intrbduced each fortunate wight who pos- sessed the art of stringing a rhyme together into every tea party, or temperance demonstration, or political gathering of every description, into Avhich they might be oonveniently drat^ired as a future Byron, Burns, and Scott, done up m one. , i- • 1 By the instrumentality of this person', pubhcations partak- ' imr the nature and style of periodicals, were soon started, wilh the dcsiderative full in viewoffosterinj; the timid genius and gracefully and beneficently^ framing the bold and cursory, and his paternal care soon lured into the field a collection of poetical competitors and productions, mediocre or otherwise, from pens, many of them Aticlded by female hands, which miaht then, had adequate interest been extended, have created a decided era in our social world, and not a fictitums or an an absurd one. The m^nia spread rapidly, literature was all we wanted to make us great, wise, wealthy and happy, but some how or other it seemed to take a dov iihill slide, and seldom came • up to the point, that is to say, with a celebrated writer upon the other side of the Atlantic, it met not " things as they are," but modestly held back from giving notoriety to j^eo- pie or localities, and dea't in epitaphs, epigrams, and mar- riage epithaliums, or fraudulently appropriated confectionary mottoes, and threw them into the market as genuine. To be sure, we have all along been astounded and well nij^h anni- hilated at times by the oratory of our statesmen ; the rapid declamations of the leaders of muhitudinous gatherings, and various societies, not to forget the long and oft-time threat- ening epistles to my Lord this, that, or the other, the Sec- retary of Foreign Affairs, or a petition to be carried at once to the foot of the throne, and compiled by the joint efforts of the entire Legislature, both sides taking their turn, and act- incT in unison, when any thing was to be got frorn the other. %ut we diverge from the subject. These last lie not m the domain of that expression of thought, that combination of the mental powers, the judgment, memory and will, the originality which speaks in a new sense, opening up occult sources, of information, and displaying tangible purpose, so that while yet eagerly seizing upon news frorn " Home" by every arrival, and our own land teemea with interesting 35 ^, as master ot A'ight who pos- into every tea ieal gathering of be conveniently ott, done up in ications partak- re soon started, the timid genius old and cursory, ,d a collection of ere or otherwise, e hands, which extended, have d not a fictitious all we wanted but some how or d seldom came ated writer upon " things as they notoriety to peo- rams, and mar- :cd confectionary genuine. To be well niL;!i anni- ■irncn ; the rapid s gatherings, and oft-time threat- other, the Sec- e carried at once he joint efforts of ir turn, and act- ; from the other, ast lie not in the : combmation of ry and will, the »ening up occult ^ible purpose, so om " Home" by with interesting material altogether untouched, for the very important need of skilful and cunning workmen. And still the sun rose and set upon scenery as vividly beautiful as any in the known world, and the great railroad agitators kept their thousands in suspense and anxiety, while no evident obstacle existed in regard to the accomplishment thereof, this last allusion will be comprehended by those who have heard of the struggles and irritations by which the great project of the British Canadian steam route was ushered in. But talent once waxed into the ascendant, and as a mat- ter of course it soon took the priority, arrogating an unusual share of laudation, and every person now who possessed a brow of bold ard lofty character, elevated it to the last extremity of breaking their necks, that it might be " clearly developed" to an admiring public, "who did not know what the world was coming to, it was going to be so clever." And pool- ignorance", scanned by green spectacles, suddenly became fashionable, as bestowing a " Literary aspect," wa^ fain to hide its blushes behind the wash tub, or the chopping knife, at " pig killing tirpe." From whence it sent forth in its exuberance of health and animal spirits, jovial, but bitter and effective sarcasms, v/hile exhibiting in the form of a substantial sausage, or clustering bunches of white flax thread, shining and lustrous, fresh from the "h^-- 'en,'' indubi-. table evidenae of physical capability, if the mental were altogether overlooked. This was also our age of Phrenology, and nothing but heads were to do the work of the country- Indeed all the " Heady sciences" had a fine run among us at that time, owing to certain gracious pioneers from across the Bay of Fundy, undertaking to enfighten us, at one and three pence a piece. And everybody went about, staring everybody out of countenance, by way of establishiiig a claim to a know-, ledge of Physiognomy. All who ventured upon a clear and determined mind, and decision independent, a,dopted a mil- itary deportment. A dreamy elevated d^emeanor, quite lifted up, it was supposed above sublunary things, whicli exhibited the power of mind upon matters, in a -striking degree. This last was the perceptible and distinguishing trait of those whose names had been actually enrolled amopcr the scintillating] cluster of literature. Whom it was premised > miL with such a general in the van. Picking up the dejected, waiting for the meek, and even nourishing pencilled lines of favorites of the muse. Thus bestowing black leads upon an ungrateful country gratis, would not only enable it to rise even with the rest of the world, but make that world ashamed of itself, ior leaving us so much to our own resources. — Neglected bantling that we were. But no fear of us, when we chose. Emulation thus fairly appealed to, arose to distin- guish its own attributes, and assume its position with aristo- cratical superiority, and poetasters abounded for a time, blushing like the dawn at their own cleverness, upon which the eyes of the universe were fixed, and criticised each others productions with all the combined asperity of a years' Blackwood. We had evidently not yet arrived at the pecu- liar constellation by which future souls were to be moulded, but we were not far from it, and we revelled in the blissful anticipation and each hoping himself might be the favored of the muses; meanwhile tidings of this progressive nature of things reaching my retired abode in the country, in connec- tion with the circle of friends whom I had been so nearly associated with some time previously, had a natural effect. I could not hear of literary parties without a sigh of discon- tent, at being among the absent, the outlawed ignorant, I could not see with patience, giant strided progress drawing up elevated taste, like the eastern gourd, which'was to per- fect its form by some innate vitality, as if at the bidding of necromancy it defied the laws of nature. And these com- bined impressions acting in consonance with the beautiful scenery around, and a deep interest just acquired in the History of Nova Scotia, uy Halliburton, enabled me to over- come timidity, occasioned by the little encouragement ever given to the excercise of the talent, and the not pleasing notice elicited, as before related. And writing out the first chapter of what vvas intended as a poet'^al romance, illus- trative of the local and traditional tales of the country, and nothing more. I despatched it to the captain of the band as I must designate the gentleman alluded to, but without affixing a signature. A condescending and kind notice from his pen however, was convincing evidence that he had traced it to the author, while a word of advice, respecting peculiiir- ities of style showed that it had not been unnoticed. Though native talent had never revealed any great poetical 'N,. a? » the dejected, pencilled lines ack leads upon enable it to rise world ashamed 1 resources. -^ ar of us, when arose to dislin- >n with aristo- 3d for a time, jverness, upon 1 criticised each srity of a years' 'ed atthe pecu- to be moulded, in the blissful 2 the favored of isive nature of try, in conn6c- )een so nearly natural effect, sigh of discon- ed ignorant, I jgress drawing ch'was to per- the bidding of .nd these com- h the beautiful cquired in the )led me to over- iragement ever e not pleasing ig out the first romance, illus- i country, and in of the band o, but without [ind notice from it he had traced acting peculiiir- oticed. y great poetical • acumen, all that was written was valued, and loudly lauded at this time, and a scholastic study of the art, in its various branches, had been instituted at the various seminaries. — But recurring to 4he past, the only attempt at any thing like . poetry for the people, brought to the public cognisance, or with which I became acquainted in the days of childhood, when the topic was altogether slighted by the higher powers was promulgated by an aged intinerant, vending his own productions under the title of Cowdel's Poems, and the half mischievous merriment with which this deputy of l^arnassus was universally hailed, together with " the charitable feel- ings" that gave " the miserable old man a six-pence for pity sake," and benevolently condescended to purchase his vol- umes for the purpose of getting rid of him, " and pitied the foolish fellow for not trying to get his living in some mcyre business-like method," All this seemed so like the mocking gleam of sunlight upon half buried fir trees, when the fire has been extinguished from their green columns, by heavy rains, that my own ambition h^d incontestibly shrank from becomimg that unfavored precent a poetess, and the more so as with the headings for the wooden tomb stones in the church-yard, a more than usually brilliant effusion was con- sidered synonymous with madness, and would have imme- diately consigned the writer to a Bedlam, had capability been consonant with will. So the old bard wandered up and down the land like Noah's dove, finding no rest for the sole of his foot, and not overburthened with six-pences. So much for local literature in the planting and nurturing thereof, yet, strange to say, we eagerly seized upon that of other lands, and hung with delight upon descriptions of scenery, which pot one among a thou- sand might ever have an opportunity of seeing and local liter- ature was not the guest of the day. For said we humiliatively , '' who would care to read stuff that we had made ourselves, out of our own heads, and carry it about like old Cowdel does." Not at all, we would never have the face to do it, and what was more, there would be no recipients forthcom- ing. No ! we knew better than that', we had not the abom- inable and unheard of vanity to think so. So that at this epoch, our poor poets, had there beeq any, might have died in pig sties, as well as garrets, if they had been sufficiently fortunate to gain the favor of one, as to I 38 I I owning such a thing, the mines of Golconda were not further from their reach. It was not to be thought of, they did not deserve one. The reception these poems received in* the kitchen, also was not to be despised. As the strictures of the servants in a country establishment, form a very powerful criterion for children, wereby to arrive at practical conclusions, and in which, if simplicity be the test of truth, the mark is seldom overstepped. And, although one of the fugitive pieces entitled the " Hymn of the Indian in the wood" of which an extract, is subjoined, was rapturously received. The entire volume was too often discovered lurking in corners upon the kitchen d'-e*ser, or lying torn, defaced, and soiled in the course towel drawer, from whence it was roughly dragged forth, that more than its fly-leaves might be the support of some broken tallow candle, or serve to fill up the elaborate socket of a candlestick ,under the not very flattering cog- nomen of a bit of old Govf del's book. And from the length of time these piracies continued, I am led lO think the volume must have been inexhaustible in size and contents, yet, the following lines were of a certainty duly appreciated : ■ In de dark wdod, no Ligin nigh, Den me look Heaven, and send up cry, Upon my knee so low, ])at God in Heaven ■\vid sliining face, Sec me on earth, dis little place. My priest he tell me so. To sav the truth, when we look V ick upon the past of our country, to the time when we became the undoubted part and parcel of a monarchy, here was much need for all the practical characteristics of humanity. Though not so great a scope for them as had our neighbors. People must work or starve. They had no time for poetry. And when at the close of the revolution, so many additions were made to our population, by refugees from the Republic, it may be doubted whether it was the dread of this last or the hope of less difficult maintenance in a country, the chief ports of which became the entre-pot of the British Army and Nayy, scattering wealth around them, (or a circulation serving to retard self dependant advances.) And creating an easy reliance upon the mother^'country, inujrious in every were not further of, they did not lie kitchen, also \ of the servants werful criterion jonclusions, and e mark is seldom fugitive pieces )od" of which an •ed. The entire corners upon the id soiled in the oughly dragged I the support of ap the elaborate flattering cog- 1 from the length ed lO think the e and contents, uly appreciated : )n the past of our undoubted part ich need for all Though not so ;. People must ry. And when ions were made epublic, it may last or the hope the chief ports itish Army and 3t a circulation And creating inujrious in every 39 respect. There being nothi'^g like an established capital whereby to co-operate, or creating preponderaticn. Those were the days when the wild, dreamy mania of hid- den treasures lured many a penniless wretch to these shores who had no notion of digging, and was not at all ashamed to be idle. If he could only be favored by a vision of his great grand-father, guiding him to a strong box, under the spruce trees, where, by the friendly assistance of a pine torch, waved three times over the cherished spot, an independence was immediately to be realized. But not withstanding these hallucinations, coast traffic, the West India trade, and rough living, seem to have been the order of the day, among the mass of the people, reserving those who held official positions. And there was little leisure for literary aspiration, beyond the elements of writing, (sign- ing a cross percfiance,) and arithmetic. Those were the days, w^hen official gentry, revelling in the abundance of town life, and attending two or three lavish entertainments in one evening, became the wonder and glory of country folks, whom they did not condescend to regard very consid- erately," by all accounts, until they had failed in their efforts at a system of aristocracy, to have been instituted for their own peculiar benefit. So these last, in the meanwhile, devoted themselves of necessity, to be useful, practical, money making, and hard working. And even the females became familiar with every stage of buying, selling and bar- gan making. To be good house-keepers, — to shine in patch-work quilts, and frying fresknach, or " Fast Nacht'' cakes, according to the proper pronunciation, to whichsing- ing school festivities, and the unmeasured indulgence of quilting parties, bestowed the criterion of a ivorable opinion. 'Tis true, times were changing, as previously portrayed, but old impressions are in a new country, well nigh inerad- icable, particularly, when these are the offshoots of the harsh old Conservative Toryism planted in the Colonies a century ago, and left to germinate at pleasure. It's well enough for rich folks to have lotsof learnin', said his wondering admirer, the dweller in the country district, them that gets their money home in England, straight from the King, and can sit down and do nothing, no mor^, not like us poor ones, who has to toil from daylight till dark nut in all weather s> and none the better for it. "I got trew 40 1) 1; % te vorld vel enough mineself, milfout any grammer, an my gurls ken .do de same," was the frequently quoted remark of an old German lady, whose peregrinations, in that expan- sive arena, the world, were limited, and the boundary delineated thus, no further than our back door, to tend the cattle, up on the pasture a bit, and back to the house. So that in these dark and barbarous days of Tory Despo- tism, the hapless being who "set up to be learned" was as likely to pine away, and die, the deserved victim of public contempt, as was the wandering and desolate bard, whose audacity was equalled by his daring hardihood, and who, far from becoming the oracle of the evening circle, was wisely , mortified into a corner, " out of the way." To shut up all the "larnin" with the Parson, the Lawyer and the Doctor, of the country village, and extract it in costly atoms, at an exorbitant charge, had been the fashion of the time, when, to attend church in leather shoes, laying aside the weekly wooden ones, and the thick tresses adorned with a gay handkercliief head-dress, Avas the coveted luxury. The unsettled position of the commercial world, rendering textile fabrics from the towns of England, as difficult of attainment, to the provinces, as varied circumstances made them to our neighbors. The grey German linsey' woolsey cloth, became the general costume, and unobtrusive indus- try twirled the time discolored wheel, beside the close stove, by daylight, or midnight hours, and the great hanks of yarn redolent of fish oil, depended from every country kitchen ceiling in the province. Upon the wiiole, then our monarchists gradually found themselves no better off than they had been previous to the exudation from the struggles of the infant republic, but rather in the descent, as having forfeited all claim to inde- pendant purpose. But invincible energy, dormant or warped, as it might be, has certainly made the best of the bargain. It was in those sylvan days, that sturdy young country lasses made light of trudging some twenty, thirty, or forty miles, to the nearest Church or Meeting House, when Meeting Houses began to be countenanced, and English goods being diflScult of attainment, the two yards width dress of white muslin, was vainly paraded, for envious eyes to gaze upon. The crimson sash fluttered in the breeze, and I 41 jrammer, an my quoted remark of , in that ex pan- el the boundary oor, to tend the the house. I of Tory Despo- learned" was as victim of public ale bard, whose ^od, and who, far rcle, was wisely son, the Lawyer id extract it in been the fashion er shoes, laying k tresses adorned ! coveted luxury, vorld, rendering , as difficult of imstances made linsey' woolsey obtrusive indns- '■ the close stove, it hanks of yarn country kitchen gradually found previous to the it republic, but claim to inde- y, dormant or the best of the young country thirty, or forty House, when I, and English ards width dress invious eyes to le breeze, and treasure of treasures, the shoes of leather, not too dainty ih style, or too delicate in appearance, were carefully carried the entire distance, as rather impeding than aiding the pro- gress of the wearer, and with the dress and sash bound into a bundle, for coarser clothing was needed in breaking a path among brushwood, thus parties of young lasses, their stal- war* escort preceding to the most convenient tavern, speed- ily exchanged the russet cloth for the white muslin. The lounge-roon . the most sheltered nook, formed by the hemlock, or the bir"^ The rriirror, the nearest pelluced stream, In which duck-weid e: d, or transparent tadpole disported, in the vic- inity of i;^ vf « ^e Church, when the first bell frantically pro- claimed ti. ^vent of Easter Sunday. And after ihe feet which bore the shoes, had dipped deeply as the tadpole, these indubitable evidences of wealth and gentility were sure to win a husband, if all other allurements were a failure. There is a latent, though desperate energy, in the Nova Sco- lian, when not totally schooled down, disciplined and subdued, by ancient maxims, which the moment he has fallen upon an unprofitable disposition of affairs, sets him upon the most direct plan of rectifying them, with a kind of double-handed determi- nation. But the idea once instilled into his mind by those he vnerates, that a spirit of quiet unquestioning submission to the powers that be, is his greatest glory. The secret of slow growth is at once arrived at, to say of the trival arrangements of a small country, "they are too deep for me, I have enough to do with- out troubling myself about politics," and this from men whose known capability marks them for publicity, argues not well for the position which tvery country must assume in relation to others, through intellectuality alone, while in the superabundant class of an opposite description, too ready to seize upon advan- tages. Space is left for aggression, and the means of giving it may be beslowed to an illimitable extent. This bias is the elfect of that early laxity of improvement of the mental powers of which we have attempted an explanation, and these sketches of the " antique system" are requisite that the reader may have some clue in the elucidation of present things. It is very certain that the Provinces were not made ready grown up, but being sup- plied with the materials for a brilliant adolesence, the artificer is alone wanting the strong right hand that can wrest the unres- trained application. It is equally so that restraint has been per- niciously excercised, for reasons previously explained, but the I I 42 expression was also wanting. A scrutinizing lest was spreading abroad a literary ordeal which was far from genial in the tenor, or agreeable to become subservient to, so that the timid becanfie •''^«s assured, the bold less brave. After settling in the village of D,, though so near the seat of »-.::rning, the Athens of the Province, where authors were no: flung to the wild beasts — I did not very warmly renew my former friendships. Other influences than those of literature were at work and seething to the fUrface, and division, disunion and irritation, throughout the country, were deeply reflected in domestic circles. My mind was undergoing a change, and 1 sought more congenial companions than those previously asso- ciated with. The choice brancii of the now culminating clique, whose' pass-word was "literature," continued their visits to ourselves, but there were but two or three of the family relatives with whom I cared to exchange courtesies, so that life at D. gradually became a very concentrated and secluded sort of thing. The literary mania taking a more subdued fornci, still went on, and one of the individual circle of ladies connected with the Captain-General, showed me parts of the composed poem which I had transcribed for his approval, and he had caused it to be inserted in a newspaper of which he was the editor. But the hesitation from various causes, and previously hinted at de- terred from a candid arising acknowledgment of authenticity. The idea of turning talent to account in the usual common- place of novel writing, had been for some time entertained, while coMscien *e urgf^d some tangible object and matter of fact, or of moment, with the hope of doing good, an 1 I hesifated between the position of the native Micmac and the great move- ment of temperance ; which, at that time, made an exciting noise among us, and which, commencing with Roman Catholic manifestations and demonstrations and devotional developments, gradually swung round into an understood though secret index of annexation to the United States, and those who innocently regarded it as a simple opponent of dram-drinking were tacitly smiled down, or left to amuse themselves with the notion in their own way. Proof enough that while weak agents acted upon the outer surface, skillful hands controlled the wires, and the puppets did the bidding of a master hand. A restless love of out-door amusements, however, deterred from the heartless effort, and the constant occupation of gardening and taking long est was spreading lial in the tenor, he timid becanfie near the seat of authors were no: irmly renew my ose of literature division, disunion ?eply reflected in a. change, and 1 previously asso- low culminating ;inued their visits 36 of the family esies, so that life lid secluded sort m, still went on, [inected with the composed poem le had caused it the editor. But sly hinted at de- r authenticity, usual common- ime entertained, d matter of fact, , an 1 I hesifated the great move- ade an exciting loman Catholic il developments, gh secret index i who innocently ;ing were tacitly I the notion in ik agents acted 1 the wires, and A restless love m the heartless and taking long 43 walks into ihe country, and strolling upon the beautiful and breezy shores of Chebuclo Basin. But the conviction was then painfully and indelibly impressed, that little aid would be be- stowed, or even permitted, for necessary researches, unless the result were calculated to sustain party bias. And stiilthe im- pression recurred that undeveloped resources demanded exertion, and yet more, that establishment of sound scriptural principle which it is the glory of literature to instill, with a decided con- viction of the sad perversion thereof by a warping partizanship. I have sometimes thought that all the mental agony I afterwards endured was a just rptribntion for the indecision of that' period. Providence, meanwhile, was preparing a subject undreamed of, and hitherto unknown to the author. One which has shaken* kingdoms and undermined principalities, one which has also ensured them a firm and christian foundation, one which is im- portant in the deepest sense of the term to the peasant, and the sovereign, to the world enlightened diplomatist, and to the beggar-boy upon the way-side, who can only pray as his father has taught him, and knows no distinction of form, or sect, or creed. That subject is most truly vital which is dear to the veiled nun while counting her rosary, and the strolling mendi- cant who sees God in the clouds and hears him in the wind- who gazes upon the soil which gives not unto him a single foot, hold for a possession, and into the glowing ' ^ue expanse where the illimitable immensity of eternity is ; 'lingly displayed ; and meekly says All, all is thine, and I am nothing. This theme which must forever ^nd forever remain the same, however protean it became, has been, though mingled with much human error, the foundation of the greatest living repub- lic, marked upon tfie annals of earth's history, and its firm establishme*- vvill doubtless be the precursor of milienial glory. 'Tis but three hundred cycles since this subject has shaken the social system of the wide universe, and scattered abroad many an hidden seed of iniquity, and while revelation is thtf denizen of the human family, shall freedom of religious faith reach for- ward to eternal things. Those i..one who have personally experienced an infringe- ment of this privilege of the christian or the pagap era, can form an adequate estimate of its value, nor can a conception of the bitter grief which accompanies it be otherwise understood. It becomes a crushing weight, an overpowering incubus, through which the mind is gradually wrought to a state of frenzy or des- ' 44 peratlon, or sinks down slowJy, gradually, despairingly, into an utter extinction of power, a death like torpor. A cessation of every mental energy follows, the physical nature gradually suc- cumbs, and the only refuge for the harassed being is the silent jrave ; where the wicked cease from troubling, the only hope for the jaded mind, the outraged spirituality is rest, rest, rest, rest, m the presence of its Maker. i 4^ jpairingly, into an )r. A cessation of ure gradually suc- leing is the silent ng, the only hope is rest, rest, rest, CHAPTER III. Mom is breaking, mom is breaking, The East is red and glorioua. Days of earth's millenia' bliss. Be thy harbinger victorious. We hear you calling, Uncle Sam, your voice is on the hills, And we know religious foctions have created bitter ills. < We are brin^g, we are bringing Cmshed hopes, but hopeful hearts ; Despotic power again is felt. But eacn must act their part. • The curse is hanging over us, 'tis written not in sand; We won't endure the tyranny of a dark and secret band. 1 trust some insight has been given to the reader in this cursory contour of the exact state of things in or Province, and some idea of the sort of people we are, .has been en- grafted upon the public mind, discussing these trifles. It is for v^^riters with other objects in viow to gather the oft-told anecdote ot smuggling notoriety, to dwell upon th ; mental destitution, which is now openly acknowledged, and daily becoming self-evident, and point the way to a better sys- tem. Yet did the ancient tory regime laud loudly its philan- thrope^ efforts for Uie conversion of the heathen^ and, sooth to say, they evidently did as well as they knew how. Those were not the most brilliant intellects which the hand of our mother threw amongst us, but it is to be supposed they were the best that could be spared, and they ruled the roast to an extent unparalelled in western history. But a glorious sunrise was preparing for our benighted vision, and the bberals now in the ascendant, did, in their proftsion of promises, remind one of the old acme once so popular among children, which awards illimitable supplies of plum- pudding and roast goose to the pet daughter of some se- cluded old dame, as the means of enticing her from the* paternal roof, and ends by an expose of cruelty which 111! 46 makes one's heart bleed for her sorrows, fictitious ihough they were, for the unfortunate victim reveals to her petrified mamma that she has not only been fed upon mud and water out ol the gutter, but an inhuman savage has actually com- pelled her to sleep upon pins and needles stuck upwards. Ihe pins and needles were the vision of that terrible rai'- road, which still pines for completion, though many, too many, of its early advocates are now mingled with the dust ° Provincial life was, in its elements at that time, well-nigh shaiV3red by such an expose of party excitement as an election surely brings. It seemed as if the weak, wavering, or conscientious principles implanted in the Colony, we?e now to be put to the issue, that they might bring forfh fruit, ihe fruit ui office. Between the two divided apparently, but in reanty the one party beneath two semblances, that have nearly ^yrecked Protestantism, the Liberal and Con- servative. Little else seems to have been gained. The old Crerman qmescence has all along, either from apathv, a too ready shirking of responsibility, or an inertness tJ public thing* growing out of the snaggles for the mere sustenance ot Ijie, in the old settler, (we dare not say a disregard of prmciple,) and inherited by his sons, and an almost abieet reverence for book learning as it is connected with a law- yer s otiice, growing out of early privations and discomforts and the practicable efficiency of that functionary in the business of title deeds, land boundaries, divisions and mort- gages, giving him an impression that the mc t important atlairs ol the country were bound up in parchment, and led with reti tape rather than the training and exercise of his own mental functions. At what can a country ever am in which such a spirit is fostered ? It is not the appli- bilityot monarchical administration to Colonial life, which we question as much as the crushing, delegated influence accompanying it, and which here had an action altogether unrestrained by the cherished thought, and established gov. ermng hteratnre of an older country. For the genilemen ol the long robe have been the presiding deity of Nova ftcotia, and an union for interested purposes must create exclusiyeness. Let it not be understood that learning in •the abstract had not been well attended to. It had only not become a vitally diffusive element. Neither was the phase s, fictitious ihougli als to her petrified on mud and water ■ has actually corn- stuck upwards. that terrible rail- hough many, too mingled with the lat time, well-nigh excitement as an B weak, wavering, the Colony, were t bring forth fruit, vided apparently, semblances, that -liberal and Con- gained. The old •oni apathy, a too ertness to public mere sustenance ly a disregard of an almost abject ected with a law- and discomforts, nctionary in the n'sions and mort- mc t important parchment, and and exercise of a country ever : is not the appli- lonial life, which egated influence iclion altogether established gov- )r the genilemen ; deity of Nova ses must create that learning in It had only not ' was the phase i * 47 of science unheeded, undeveloped, uniil these, our own times. Classical schools had been orgaiuzed long since, and the name of Halliburton had been far dispersed in either hem- isphere. But the desideratum was still unfilled. There was a guiding influence unexisten*, therefore undisseminated. It remained to be proved that, if existing, there would be no restraining action. An indistinct recollection occurs upon this suggestion, contemporary with " Old Cowdel's book." Some very beautiful stanzas, emanating from King's College, Windsor, bearing upon local and ecclesias- tical topics, suddenly left a space in the newspaper columns to be filled by more extraneous matter. Regretted for a time by those who were attracted by their novelty, or applica- bility, the more so as ihey were unfinished. And however brilliant our past periods may have been. I have been unable to trace any other occidental clusterings than the mofct prim- itive style of rhyme inscribed upon the lichen clustered and half-sunken tablets of old slate or granite, in the little burial ground of L., where, among the numerous mementos of Frau, Mann, and Kindlien, of the German ancestry, a loi- terer may suddenly find himself face to face with a more modern and striking monument of poplar wood, whereupon the brush of the house-painter has inscribed in yellow let- ters upon a cerulean ground-work, " The address of a child to its parents ;" which, from its peculiarity of composition, I am inclined to place among the originalities of the period. It runs thus', and speaks largely of simple and deep piety : " Hark from the tomb a doleful sound, Mine ears attend the cry ; Ye busy men come view the spot Where ye must shortly lie. Weep not for me, my parents' dear, I am not dead, but sleejwng here ; Till Christ shall rise, and bid me come, And take us all together home." There, in this little grave-yard, situated upon a hill over looking a large extent of bay, copst, inlet, green slope, and poHits of land, with distant islets dotting the intervening space, and in which rests a broken-hearted and injured man — my own father; — borne down by the intolerant parti- I k 48 ^ zanship which is slo\rly, but und ubtediy, undermining all the sacred and social institutions of our land. Hci'e I have often stood, and with an October sty, gilded and glowing in all the gorgeousness of carmine and deep orange, and the sea air, clear and reflective, gave back from far away in the distance the mingled voices of human beings with the bleating of sheep and the lowing of cows, wending their homeward way, while amid the windings of the black harbor or peninsula, (there are an interminable multiplicity of such,) and all do not possess very euphonious, if any, distinctive appellation, to the extent of four miles, incliid- ing shelved point, jutty curve, and grassy eminence, ihroughout this extent of the peninsula, I say, so intensely aid vividly transparent has been that sweet October atmos- phere, that the carolling of a country girl, and each word of the following old song, has been thrown back upon the echoes. This song, I am positive, must be a native production, and of provincial origin, though it may have received acces- sories from country school-masters, or captains of gull's eggs schooners, sentimentally inclined. Bat seriously insti- tuted researches among t^3 farmers' daughters, guarantee the assertion that it was made by some of our folks. The undoubted authenticity thus warranted, I proceed to initiate the reader into some of its peculiar beauties and deep pathos. I would also, if I could, help to dig a niche in the' heart of posterity, for the express purpose of inserting the name of the author, that it might spring up and blossom to his end- less praise. But alas! in the eager appropriation of the spoils, floral and sentimental, it has been totally overlooked " From the main-top high, to the cabin low, Your sailor-boy away must go ! Now all young maids who iress in white, And all young men who ^\ dk so b'ght, Forget your ])ridc, forget your joy, Weep, weep, for the sailor-boy. He ran fhe deck, he climbed the mast. His time is gone, his day is past, Do>vn, down, where the sea-weeds grow, Your sailor-boy shall go, shall go." The subject is sailor-boy, who takes his first voyage ini- »*"■¥• undermining all d. Here I have ed and glowing leep orange, and Tom far away in beings with the , wending their fs of the black able multiplicity (honious, if any, ur miles, includ- assy eminence, say, so intensely October atmos- and each word n back upon the live production, J received acces- plains of gull's t seriously insti- hters, guarantee )ur folks. The Dceed to initiate ind deep pathos. e in the heart of ig the name of ssora to his end- jpriation of the ally overlooked irst voyage ini- 40 tiatory to the West India ports, preparatory to engaging in the voyage of life with a "fair maid," who, by his untimely fall overboard," is compelled to cease *' dressin*^ in white " and assume the habil--ients of a more sombre hue Uomi the news of wWch f i catastrophe arriving, she calls in he language of affecl- upon all the vnuth's "compeers" to join m her lamentah is, and for man^y a day has the simpk conclusion of the ditty, ringing through the air, rising and swelling in the distance, and the fresh voice of that country maiden, come back to my memory in sad but pleas'nff nni son. t- 6 This was, in my opinion, very expressive of the feeline^of the early settlers, who, finding little employment for ^row ing sons, in a country that presents few resources for voune men, were compelled to sacrifice them, one after the other to see them take to the water with the perversity of vounj crabs, and become the victims of fe er in a tropical country The song had a medley of interests, also, as it was in part connected with an island in the neighborhood, upon which dwell, (so said tratliiion by the lips of a nurse girl ) a faith less and hard-hearted maiden, who had refused the addresses of a lover, and after he had " taken to the sea " in a fit of vengeance, she ruthlessly " combed her long tresses" before a glass each returning evening, (a sr.re way to get up a sea storm) said Granny Wisdom. And in a terrific gale aroused by this process, the lover " found his death." Upon which, for the purpose of making vengeance doubly ^ure he takes the liberty of visiting his mistress in the form of a coal black dog, with fiery eyes, until terror and remorse place his vicL.a in an early tomb. By going into all this absurd detail, I may, perchance / give some inkhng of the tenor of local minds, unswayed by elevation. To say truth, ,'e are scarce yet beyond the era I when six feet high young ladies rejoiced in the ability of carrying home a d-ad bear upcn their shoulders, and didn't • w?nt no larnin' to aid the difficulty." When such treas- ure as old Mrs. Rushticross stalked through ur hon-^j fron. basement t attic, if unimpeded in progress. H. jIq straw poke elevated high 7n the air, and her canvass bag rich in woodland wealth, displayed to our admiration in mixed hues, partridges ^ " " - • - rabbits, and oride of cat mpnipv nvers -\ ". 60 captured salmon ; whose advent was proclaimed, and whose praises were extolled, with the sharp, exulting cries of " a solimaint, a nice vat, vresh solimaint. Here ! ver are ye all ? Toant yer vant a vresh solimaint, only tree shillins ? Tu* ! dats noatten. Tittn't I ketch him mineshelf ?" Ladies going to sociable entertainments jn these times took a favorable opportunity of decrying the unheard-of absurdity of any woman but the " parson's wife troubling her head about books." She, to be sure, ought to, if she had time. Times were so different when we were girls, said rhe matrons ; the moment one took up a book she v/as called idle, careless, good-for-nothing. And no great pro- phetical prognostications were needed to convince society that such an one was in the road to destruction. Then there were mysterious gratulations that we had not arrived at the height of absurdity, with our neighbors across the bay, where the ladies actually studied all <' the things with long imes " and hard meanings, and took degrees at col- lege , ist as gentlemen did. And I do not know but what, by the colloquiefi of the male oracles of these anti-literary societies. Becomingly dipping deeper in the argument, wc were taught how much we were indebted to our stringent cdnservatisra for relief from such impositions, the certain herald of infidelity, and the dear knows what all. Thus, by a summary process, indicting a multiplicity of evils, not quite specified. Hcyever, good advice always acting in the contrcry n od in young minds, set us all upon emulating the stigmatizea pro- ceedings, and gay young men while chanf'mg at intervals, " dol, dol, dol, me, re, fa, sol," at the singing schools, simultaneously echoed the sentiment, " They're a wbnde-ful people ; they're an astonishing people ; they're far before us .'" Yes ; they could not but be convinced that piogress, in a new country, is conservative ; possesses a restraining, as well as a life-giving energy. Not the conservatism which elevated an Episcopal Bishop to the pedestal of a demi-god, but that of innate, self- governing, Pnd well-directed energy. And thi=« we are subsist- ing, and think we can continue to flourish without. We, in ttie Colonies, upon whom has been ent'.rafted a.l tiie fashionable idleness and easy laxity of morality, inseparable from a garrison station. It is not surprising, then, that ve have acquired habits oi laimed, and whose ulling cries of *' a Here ! ver are ye only tree shillins ? nineshelf?" iits jn these times ig the unheard-of n's wife troubling •e, ought tOj if she en we were girls, up a book she v/as Lnd no great pro- I convince society lestruction. Then 'e had not arrived ^hbors across the il " the things with )ok degrees at col- 3t know but what, these anti-literary the argument, wq I to our stringent itions, the certain ' what all. Thus, )licity of evils, not e contrcry n od in e stigmatizea pro- l at intervals, " dol, ols, simultaneously il people ; they're m /" Yes ; they a new country, is ill as a life-giving ited an Episcopal bat of innate, self- thi^ 2ve are subsist- ihout. We, in the iA tiie fashionable ble from a garrison acquired habits oi 51 slurring over important events of local interest. That we have a natural aversion to investigate ; to think deeply ; to elev ai principle, by permitting it to pervade, and counteract, to ii*; fullest extent. As the election progressed in the following year, and the cli- max was well nigh attained, as has been remarked, previous to this digression, the minds of the general populace seemed more than usually excited by all the causes and effects at work. Nothing else was, of course, the ruHng topic of discussion, and, as usual, every newsnaper teemed with accounts concerning it, but there was evidently an all-pervading influence, which, while it seemed to overlook the merits of this, or that party man, swayed and controlled, and started forward unblushingly, in the least suspected positions. Passing over all the vicious recrimin- ations of the daily papers, and tracing the virulence to its origin, was a thing, however, not to be looked for, in the unanalyzing public. A notice, however, was no more than might be ex- pected from persons who were mere spectators, whose opinion was unbiassed by personal interest relatively. There who had neither father, husband or brother, to press for the palm of victory. And while speaking as freely as did others in the presence of visitors, friends of our literary leader, there might have been nothing in the circumstance of so doing, which in any other country would have been excitable of a recrimina- tory manifestation. Thus the mind dwelling upon these things, it was not surpris- ing that I should also write. It was the merest trifle, and il fell from a careless pen. Chancing to call upon a female connec- tion of our literary Captain, the gentleman previously referred to, who was then deeply immersed in politics, bent upon rallying his forces, and gaining the day for his party. "We fell into a long discussion upon the ability of the lower classes to think for themselves. Tho lady maintained th^t as they had to get their bread by hard labor, which occupied all their time, they should more submissively yield to the guidance of those who sacrificed their Avhcle time and domestic peace, for the benefit of those under special consideration. That the presumption evident in the oppo'sition of j'.ich persons was too palpable, in the present emergencies, and diffic-jlties insurmountable, except by the in- dom'table energy of a statesman, were the result of it. Attempting to modify these dangerous plausibilities, I urged that as all are gifted with an equaiiiy of intellect, or ])owp»- I_EifS'fl 53 which may be cultivated to an unbounded extent, and frequently exhibited in the lower classes, education should be equally dis'- pensed, that each consequent trait might be permitted to display ijself. People capable of forming accurate conclusions of events or principles at issue, should not be impeded in the power of do- ing so ; but that the too prevalent spirit of the times was in each peculiarity a convincing evidence that other literature than that which has been the Englishman's preservation, and is his proud- est heritage in a new country, had been taking a firm hold of un- established places. It was clear thai the progression of the century was urging us on, and casting loose our coveted conserv- atism. We were willing to clutch at anything to aid tbe rescue. Old landmarks were removed, to clear the march of ultraism. Circumstances might in future times show the tendency of this . last, and our advancing attainments. I am never deeply interested in public things unless they elu- cidate some accepted theory, and seldom display a warm inter- est. Upon this occasion I spoke as 1 felt, and upon a subse- quent visit I placed the following verses upon Freedom of Opinion, in the hands of this person, with an intimation that something more would be connected with it, provided I could secure the countenance of gentlemen interested in 'eveloping the literature of the country, and the one particularly and pub- licly concerned in it, as I very naturally supposed. 'Ihe lines were these : — Bright Nova Scotia, adored is thy n?ime, Thou art dearer to us than the land whence we came. Though honored by all is the home of the Free, Nova Scotia, our own, we're devoted to thee. Ever my country, though bitter the strife, Cherish thy liberty, e'en as thy life. Ay, long as the Moose-deer shall bound from the brake, Or the Lutea look from the translucent lake. Lovely Acadia shall, error-arrayed, In gorgeous apparel thine Idol be made ? Shall it always the land of the ^layflower disgrace. Shall it ever be found amid power and place P Beautiful Acadie, ne'er be thy name Dved with a deep an indelible stain. Alas for thy sons, though tliey ebb as the wave, Opinion, though false, they would perish to save. Beautiful country — the bonny spruce tree Is the undying emblem of what thou wilt be, When the tissue of folly, that error lias cast Around thy bright name, shall be thrown to the blast. 53 Ktent, and frequently uld be equally dis- )ermitted to display onclusions of events in the power of do- le times was in each literature than that )n, and is his proud- g a firm hold of un- progression of the )ur coveted conserv- ng to aid the rescue, march of nllraism. e tendency of this igs unless they elu- play a warm inter- nd upon a subse- jpon Freedom of an intimation that , provided I could sted in 'ev^loping rlicularly and pub- 3os»ed. 'Ihe lines we came, 'ree, I the brake, grace, ave. the blast. Beloved is the fir-tree, but dearer to thee And to all of thy sons, is the bliss of the Free. But oh be thy liberty worthy the name • Freedom from Error, from Crime and from Shame. Had I but known the least iota of what 1 hare experienced of the policy f -sued by our leaders, my safest course would have been the cjstruction of these lines, the moment they were penned. But utter ignorance led me to imagine the liberalism so vaunted at that time to be a safe remove out of Roman Catholic predominance by a bond which would draw various denominations into a closer unity. An error I believe very common among the inexperienced among us. I anticipated nothing but a kindly notice and encouragement to proceed. Simple and inexperi- ensed, with no guide but a too accurate observation. Truly saith the law " truth is a libel." The lady had handed them to her friend, it appeared, but nothing more was said than that a man in his position could not be expected to notice every production thrown thus before him, as he was surrounded by cares and electoral responsibilities. As I peruse them now, I can well comprehend how each word must have had the semblance of an indirect reproach. Not a line that does not seem directed at the very course that person had been pursuing, accompanied by able coadjutors and skilful veteran supporters. At that time half their applicability only was comprehended, and in requesting the opinion of the gentleman I was pleased with the ability of adding. They form part of a Romance which I mean to compose. People who write, have now so much encouragement, that I almost think I could venture on publishing. Now let me ask, can a political editor be the supporter of literature, or what is the position literature should assume in a country ? If it bound off into the regions of fiction, its mission IS unaccomplished, if that mission be the elevation of society. If It deal with tangible evils, the subtle band of the statesman, or the ambitious man, can be no longer -its fostering protector ! ! Is It so ? Is he then to check its advances, when the attempt to inculcate sentiments militating against his projects of personal aggrandisement is made? When he can no longer aid, must he then crush ? If it attack an evil policy, must his especial laction be heeded, and all the claims of literature forgotten ? Oi' must literature breathe the sentiment of language alone ? Be It again clearly understood, that I here criminate no indi- 54 vidual. ^ am but relating a succession of singular coincidences. Ei»cioral sentiments had subsided ; the feeling that had led to the inditing of these lines had passed away. The liberals had gained the day, and all the land rejoiced thereat. But it hap- penedj that upon leaving the steamer, at the side of the harbor at which I resided, I found several ill-looking fellows apparently belonging to the lower class of Irish, who crossing at the same time, followed half the distance, calling in coarse, low lan- guage. Then seating themselves upon the rocks on the road- side, continued to do so, until I had advanced far upon the homeward path. The way was lonely, though much travelled and frequently there were no other persons walking that way but myself. The language was accompanied by loud and im- pudent merriment, too evidently jests, vulgar and insolent, and indicating personality. The summer passed on, with frequent returns of the same de- scription of annoyance. Endeavoring to persuade myself that it really was not an actual impertinence seriously;, intended, I resolved to assume a pretence of not noticing it, hoping that as it had commenced at the close of an election which had been fiercely contested, and excited a spirit of acrimony among all classes, it would perchance pass away when the eftect of such a great struggle had subsided. But I had had no connection with political affairs, living retired and monotonously, without interest in either party, and being but one among the calm spec- tators of their struggles. However, matters continued in the same position, and became such a regularly recurring vexation, that I dreaded coming to the village of D. or crossing in the boat at all, as I had then no male relative at band to interpose, and, though it might be noticed by a friend, I was at a loss as to the proper measures for restraining it, and for reasons to be men- tioned hereafter, dreaded speaking of it to any person. A year passed on, and the annoyance was continued, and re- sumed at intervals, long after the charitable allowance with ref- erence to electoral agifation which 1 partly attributed it to, should have subsided. At all events, I thought no longer of it, and concluded that others were equally disinterested. Gross and obscene language, infamous oaths, and scurrilous ex- pressions, became the almost constant attendants upon ray daily waiK. Now not being at all inclined to sacrifice this chief entertain- ment of life at D., the amusement of watching the various de- 55 ngular coincidences. ng that had led to The liberals had ■eat. But it hap- side of the harbor fellows apparently ossing at the same ti coarse, low lan- Dcks on the road- ced far upon the gh much travelled walking that way 1 by loud and im- • and insolent, and ns of the samede- suade myself that ously.; intended, I t, hoping that as it which had been •imony among all be eftect of such ad no connection tonously, without ng the calm spec- continued in the 2curring vexation, )r crossing in the band to interpose, ^as at a loss as to •easons to be men- ■ person. iontinued, and re- lovvance with ref- attributed it to, lought no longer illy disinterested, ind scurrilous ex- ts upon my daily s chief entertain- ig the various de- scriptions of persons bringing their saleable wares to the city ; the petty traffic, and the constant variety presented thereby. The Preston trafficker in birch brooms, was to me then a nov- elty. The little unshod fisherman, with his basket of trout, or cucumber perfumed, and crisp little smelt, fresh from the scoup- pet, and enwreathed with moss. The market-woman, with her eggs and butler; the fresh air, and the change of scene, was all this to be foregone and constant seclusion, to lay the foundation of ill health, because three or four idle fellows were always loitering at hand with the evident purpose of exciting terror, and awak- ening alarm ? The lower classes of Nova Scotia, are, without exception, remarkable for th. -e tardy i position, bi any wh-./ Iropolis. watched fc an occupai Become mentioned 'defending supposed t cision as ti erally kno was the cc The mo plicitly cor it certainly nation oi ( and a help 68 debt, he wa** kindly advised by one friend to present tc the other, who nad so disinterestedly taken the trouble of investiga- ting the volume of shipping reports and ofiiv 'tl donuments. Too ill and unnerved, to resist any proposition, however pre- posterous, he acceded ; too happy to be spared by his tormen- tors, and escape lurther infliction of their pertinacious efforts to expose him io public censure. And fifty pounds was the re- ward of turning over volumes of statements, which the habitual accuracy of a correct arithmetician had L. , without an error. Disgu8^ed with his official position, and with his place of res- idence, he was not even permitted to resign and leave it. He was detained in the very spot of his trials, and his hitter humili- ation, by this most remarkable and singular, at the same time, very suspicious assertion, " if you resign your office, and leave ,he place in which you reside, you will render yourself account- able for the entire origma! sum oi money, the default of wh ich has been laid to your charge." This was from the most active agent in this strange transac- tion, giving the intention of his employers, but the two years which comprised the commencenieni and completion of it, had, by inteiise menial agony, of which only his own family were the partakers and witnesses, done their work. Again, removal from the scene of so much suffering, was implored. Restora- ♦'on to health, even life, depended upon it, and while awaiting V -e tardy avowal which bound hirii ibr one year more, to public position, but only nominally so, or limited his choice of residence any wh- • in the Province of Nova Scotiu, extilusive of its me- tropolis. Paralysis supervened, and greedy aspirants eagerly watched for lh3last breath, which would, in its failing, bestow an occupancy. Become utterly incapable, by the recurrence of the above- mentioned demoniacal manceuvreings of official business, or of 'defending his name from malignant aspersion, it might have been supposed that his stern Ibes would relax, and withdraw their de- cision as to his choice of residence, but not until it became gen- erally known that his injured circumstances prohibited this step, was the concession madco The motives for Such a course of proceeding, were never ex- plicitly comprehended or explained. I owever, the tendency of it certainly finished the work, which the most admirable combi- nation of duplicity and desigi?ing rnanoeuvre had cor.iiiericed, and a helpless family were deprived at the same lime of a father, 64 and a large portion of their inlieritance, thus unjustly md dis- honorably disputed. The singular coincidence of circumstances upon each occa- sion, was equally remarkable. The precise paper missing at the very period of requirement ; the wearisome day of agony spent in searching it out'; the piles of documents examined for that purpose, the opened drawer? and desks; the slowly admitted confirmation of duplicity ; the suspicious person who had idly loitered about the office the entire day previous to the discover- ed deficiency, with uo apparent pujpose but that of passing an unoccupied space of time in trivial conversation ; the grasping ai my evidence which might convic this person, and recover the missing document * and the knowledge that it could not have beenusefufto this man in any way^ but as an instrument o( im- peachment, when inquiry was instituted by persons in authority. AH the after years of broken health, and domestic derangement accruing, left too indelible an impression of tergiversation and chicanery, in controlling powers, that constant suspicion of the same system working in difFerenI ways, and by other means, could not ever be doubted, and outweighed the value of a thous- and Colonial civil offices. ..... ... Was there not a more merciful method of disnnssmg a public servant than this ? Was reputation to be assailed in ".s entire sensitiveness, and the victim to be thus compelled to a hated po- sition and residence, until life was unendurable, to prevent all these facts becom.ing common topics, and casting a reflection of mal-adminislration ? Oris this a system which is fast being es- tablished, that a necessary change cannot take place ofHcially, without the aid of the blackest malignity, sweeping in Us on- ward course, alike the friend or the rival, the relative and the stranirer into untimely graves? Or by officious time-servers is denominational predominance thrown into the scale of advance- ment, and made the foundation of destruction ! Let Nova Scotia beware, and learn discernment by past ex- perience. If the destruction of Chrisliaaity be not already wrought by overlooking such transactions, which have so multi- plied, she is thus surely undermining all the bonds of society.