J 
 
 y^ ^L^ 
 
 .t>4t ocnUiL' I*ni3it 
 
COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 FIFTY YEAES AGO : 
 
 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS AND REMINISCENCES 
 OF A SEXAGENARIAN. 
 
 BY 
 
 CA:NmFr iiaight. 
 
 it " 
 
 " Ah, happy years ! Once more who would not be a boy :" 
 
 Childe Harold's Pil/frimage, 
 
 Toronto : 
 
 PUBLISHED BY HUNTER, ROSE & CO. 
 
 1886. 
 
 
^^i&^r;c 
 
 Enteied accc.rding to the Act cf the Pailian.ent of Canada, in the year 
 one thousand eight hundred and eighty-five, by Canniff HAlcuiT, 
 in the office of the Minister of Agricultuie. 
 
TO 
 
 THE YOUNG MEN OF CANADA, 
 
 VPON WHOSK INTKOKITY ANf ENRROY OK OIFAIU. T!U 
 T.I« FUTUHR .,K T.rrs .UtKAT MRH.TAOE OK OURS .-ESr., 
 
 THIS BOOK 
 IS RESPECTFULLY DEI)ICA.TED 
 
 l!V 
 
 THK AUTHOR. 
 
 > 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 ^TTHEN a man poses betoie the world— even the 
 
 ' ^ Canadian world— in the role of an author, he 
 
 is expected to step up to the footlights, and explain his 
 
 purpose in presenting himself before the public in that 
 
 capacity. 
 
 The thoughts of the world are sown broadcast, very 
 niueh as the seed falls from the sweep of the husband- 
 man's hand. It drops here and there, in good ground 
 and in stony places. Its future depends upon its vi- 
 tality. Many a fair seed has fallen on rich soil, and 
 yet never reached maturity. Many another has shot 
 up luxuriantly, but in a short time has been choked 
 by brambles. Other seeds have been cast out with 
 the chaft' upon the dung heap, and after various mu- 
 taticms, have come in contact with a clod of earth, 
 through which they have sent their roots, and have 
 finally grown into thrifty plants. A thought thrown 
 out on the world, if it possesses vital force, never dies. 
 How much is remembered of the work of our greatest 
 men ? Only a sentence here and there ; and many a 
 
VI PUKKACK. 
 
 iiiaii wlio.se iiiunc will go down tlirougli all the siges, 
 owes it to tliu truth or the vital force of tin; thou'fht 
 embedded in a few hrief lines. 
 
 I have very little to say respecting the volume here- 
 with presented to the public. The principal contents 
 appeared a short time ago in the (Jmuidimi Monthly 
 and the dinadiaii Methodist Miujdzlne. They were 
 written at a time when my way seemed Ijcdged around 
 with insurmountable dirticulties, and when almost any- 
 thing that could atlord me a temporary respite from the 
 mental anxieties that weighed me down, not only dur- 
 ing the day, l»ut into the long hours of the night, would 
 have been welcomed. Like most unfortunates, I met 
 Mr. Worldly Wiseman from day to day. I always 
 found him ready to point out the way 1 should go and 
 what 1 should do, but I have no recollection that he 
 ever got the breadth of a hair beyond that. One even- 
 ing I took up my pen and began jotting down a few 
 memories of my boyhood. I think we are all fond of 
 taking retrospective glances, and more particularly 
 when life's pathway trends towards the end. The re- 
 lief I found while thus engaged was very soothing, and 
 for the time I got altogether away from the present, 
 and lived over again many a joyous hour. After a 
 
PRKFACK. vn 
 
 time 1 lijul accuiiiulatcd a ^^ood deal of matter, .sucli as 
 it was, but the tliou^dit of puMicatioii liad not then 
 entered my mind. One day, while in conversation 
 with Dr. Withrow, 1 mentiotied wliat I l»ad done, and 
 lie exjiressed a desin' to .see what I liad written. Tlie 
 I)apers were sent him, and lu a sliort time he returned 
 tliem witli a note expressin<^ tlie pleasure the perusal 
 of them had aftbrded him, and advi.sing me to submit 
 them to the Canadian Monthbj for publication. Some- 
 time afterwards T followed his advice. The portion of 
 the papei's that a])peared in the last-named i)eriodical 
 were favourably received, and I was mueh <^'ratiHed 
 not only by that, but from private letters afterwards 
 received from ditlerent parts of the Dominion, convey- 
 ing expressions of connuendation which J had certain- 
 ly never anticipated. This is as much as need be said 
 about the origin and first publication of the papens 
 which make up the })rincjpal pai c of tJiis voluuie. I 
 <lo not deem it necessary to give any reasons for put- 
 ting them in book form ; but I may say this : the whole 
 has been carefully revised, and in its present shape I 
 hope will meet with a hearty welcome from a large 
 number of Canadians. 
 
y\{{ PREFACE. 
 
 In conclusion, I wish to express my thanks to the 
 Hon. J. C. Aikins, Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba, 
 for information he procured for me at the time of pub- 
 lication, and particularly to J. C. Dent, Esq., to whom 
 1 am greatly indebted for many useful hints. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAOE 
 
 Dedication iii 
 
 Preface. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The prose and poetry of pioneer life in the backwoods— The log house 
 - Sugar making — An omen of good luck — My (Quaker grand- 
 parentH—Tlie old home -Winter evenings at the fireside— Kural 
 ho8i)itality — Aristocracy ccrsus Democracy— School days -Debat- 
 ing societies in the olden time— A rural orator clinches the nail- 
 Cider, sweet and otherwise- Husking in the barn — Hog killing and 
 sausage making — Full cloth and corduroy — Winter work and win- 
 ter amusements— A Canadian skating song 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The round of pioneer life — Game— Night fishing — More details about 
 sugar-making— Sugaring off— Taking a hand at the old churn — 
 Sheep-washing — Coimtry girln, then and now— Substance and Sha- 
 dow — "Old Gray" and his eccentricities — Harvest— My early 
 emulation of Peter Paul llubens — Meeting-houses — Elia on Qua- 
 ker meetings— Variegated autumn landscapes — Logging and (|uilt- 
 ing bees— Evening fun -The touching lay of the young woman 
 who sat down to sleep :]S 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Progress, material and "social- Fondness of the young for dancing — 
 Magisterial nuptials — The chiirivari — Coon-hunting— Catching a 
 tartar— Wild pigeons -The old Dutch houses— Delights of summer 
 and winter contrasted- Stilled voices 71 
 
X CONTF-NTS. 
 
 (iHArTEll IV. 
 
 ]>A(iB 
 Th»^ early settlers in UpiJcr Canada- ProHperity, national and indi- 
 vidual The old homeH, without and within — Candle-making — 
 Superstitions and omens— The death-watch- Old almanacs— Eees 
 — Ihe divining rod— The U. E. Loyalists- 1 heir ^nfTerin{;H and 
 heroism- An old and a ntw price list— Primitive horologes- A 
 jaunt in one of the conventional " carriajjes " of olden times Then 
 and now- A note of warning 85 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Jefferson's definition of "Liberty "—How it was acted upon- The 
 Canadian renaissance— 15urning political uncstions in Canada half 
 a century ago -Locomotion- Mrs. Janu'son on Canadian stage 
 coaches — Battejiux and I )urham boats 121 
 
 c;haptkr vl 
 
 Roa<l-niaking — Weller's line of stages and steamboats- My trip from 
 Hamilton to Niagara- Schools and colleges- Pioneer Alethodist 
 preachers- Solemnization of matrimony— Literature and libraries 
 • Early newspapers — Primitive editorial articles 140 
 
 CHAPTER VIT. 
 
 Banks— Insurance- Marine — Telegraph companies Administration 
 of Justice -Milling and manufactures Rapid increase of popula- 
 tion in cities and towns— Excerpts from Andrew Picktu litl 
 
 SKETCHKa OK Eauly Hihtoky :— 
 
 Early schools and schoolmasters— Birth of the American Republic— 
 liove of country— Adventures of a U. E. Loyalist family ninety 
 years ago- The wilds of Upper Canada -Hay bay Hardships of 
 pioneer life Urowth of population - Division of the Canadian 
 Provinces— Fort Frontenac The " dark days "— Celestial fire- 
 works-- Eaily steam navigation in Canada— The country merchant 
 — Progress The Hare aiid the Tortoise 213 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Random IlEooi,r.ECTioNH of Eably Days: 
 
 Paternal ™emories-Avisit to the hon^e of .x^ylnwho^ . 
 
 (inaker Tneeting.hou8e-FJa«h..s of .siIence-Th« ' T/'^^'^r'^^" '^''^ 
 -"Tothememorj'ofEliza" Pl'tr ^^' •^•"'"'•^"SJ^ronml 
 «eo.- Kneount. ^Ith . J^^^Oi^^n^ ^^^I^^^^ *';« 
 
 ar.y,,«estion".-Songof the bullfrog-Kin! si -f * ""''" 
 
 -Training^day^-Pieturesnue scenery on 7hT^ ""'""^'^ 
 John A. Macdonald A . i ^ ^ ^^^ "^ (^uint.?- 
 
 Ca^ey Z"" '""'"" Journey--A„„t Jane and Willet 
 
 25;] 
 
COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 FIFTY YEARS AGO. 
 
 -♦♦-< 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 " I talk of dreams, 
 * * * * * 
 
 For you and I are past our dancing dnys." — 
 
 liomco and Juliet. 
 
 THE rR-lSE AND VOETllY OF VIONREK LIKE IN THE BAOKWOOPS— 
 THE LO(! IIOU.SK— SLTti.VR MAKING— AN OMEV OF GOOD LU(JK — 
 MY QUAKER GUANDrAllENTS — THE UiO HOME — WINTER EVEN- 
 INGS AT THE KIIIE.SIIJE— KURAL HOSPITALITY — ARISTO(,'RACY 
 I'C/yit.S l»KMO»M<A»JY — SCHOOL HAYS — l»EI5ATIM»! SOCIETIES IN 
 THE OLOES TIME — A RURAL ORATOR CLINCHE<) THE NAIL — 
 CIDER, SWEET AND OTHERWISE — HUSKING IN THE I;AUN — 
 HOG KILLING AND SAUSAGE M \KI\<: — FULL CLOTH AND CORl U 
 ROY — WINTER WORK AND WINTHl AMUSEMENTS— A CANADIAN 
 SKATING SONG. 
 
 nr WAS born in the County of , Upper Canada, on 
 
 -*- the 4th day of June, in tlie early part of this pre- 
 sent century. I have no recollection of iny entry into 
 the world, though I was present when the great event 
 occurred ; but I liave every rea.soii to believe the date 
 
 ♦,«» 
 
counthy life in Canada. 
 
 ^iven is correct, for']|I have it from my iilother and 
 Aatlier, who were tht- 3 at the time, and I think my 
 mother had pretty good reason to know all about it. 
 I was the first of the family, though my parents had 
 been married for more than five years before I pre- 
 sented myself as their hopeful heir, and to demand from 
 them more attention than they anticipated. " Chil- 
 dren," says the Psalmist, "are an heritage, and he who 
 hath his quiver full of them shall not be ashamod ; they 
 shall speak with the enemies in the gate." I do not 
 know what effect this had on my father's enemies, if 
 he had any ; but later experience has proved to me 
 that those who rear a numerous progeny go through a 
 vast deal of trouble and anxiety. At any rate I made 
 my appearance on the stage, and began my perform- 
 ance behind the footlights of domestic bliss. I must 
 have been a success, for I called forth a great deal of 
 applause from my parents, and received their undivi- 
 ded attention. But other actors came upon the boards 
 in more rapid succession, so that in a few years the 
 quiver of my father was well filled, and he night have 
 met " his enemies in the gate." 
 
 My father, when he married, bought a farm. Of 
 course it was all woods. Such were the only farms 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 
 
 8 
 
 available for young folk to commence life with in tbose 
 days. Doubtless there was a good deal of romance in 
 it. Love in a cot ; the smoke gracefully curling; the 
 wood-pecker tapping, and all that ; very pretty. But 
 alas, in this work-a-day world, particularly the new 
 one upon which my parents then entered, these silver 
 linings were not observed. They had too much of the 
 prose of life. 
 
 A house was built — a log one, of the Canadian rustic 
 style then much in vogue, containing one room, and 
 that not very large cither ; and to this my father 
 brought his young bride. Their outfit consisted, on his 
 part, of a colt, a yoke of steers, a couple of sheep, some 
 pigs, a gun, and an axe. My mother's dot comprised a 
 heifer, bed and bedding, a table and chairs, a chest of 
 linen, souie dishes, and a few other necessary items 
 with which to begin housekeeping. This will not seem 
 a very lavish set-out for a young couple on the part of 
 parents who were at that time more than usually well- 
 off. But there was a large family on both sides, and 
 the old people then thought it the better way to let the 
 young folk try their hand at making a living before 
 they gave them of their abundance. If they succeeded 
 
4 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 they wouldn't need much, and if they did not, it would 
 come better after a while. 
 
 My father was one of a class of young men, not un- 
 common in those days, who possessed energy and ac- 
 tivity. He was bound to win. What the old people 
 gave was cheerfully accepted, and he went to work to 
 acquire the necessaries and comforts of life with his 
 own hands. He chopped his way into the stubborn 
 wood, and added field to field. The battle had now 
 been waged for seven or eight years ; an addition had 
 been made to the house ; other small comforts had been 
 added, and the nucleus of future competence fairly es- 
 tablished 
 
 One of my first recollections is in connection with 
 the small log barn he had built, ami which up to that 
 date had not been enlarged. He carried me out one 
 day in his arms, and put me in a barrel in the middle 
 of the floor. This was covered with loosened sheaves 
 of wheat, which he kept turning over with a wooden 
 fork, while the oxen and horse were driven round and 
 round me. I did not know what it all meant then, but 
 I afterwards learned that he was threshing. This was 
 one of the first rude scenes in the drama of the early 
 settlers' life to which I was introduced, and in which I 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 5 
 
 had to take a more practical part in after years. I 
 took part, also, very early in life, in sugar-making. The 
 sap-bush was not very far away from the house, and 
 the sap-boiling was under the direction of my mother, 
 who mustered all the pots and kettles she could com- 
 mand, and when they were properly suspended over 
 the fire on wooden hooks, she watched them, and rock- 
 ed me in a sap-trough. Father's work consisted in 
 bringing in the sap with two pails, which were carried 
 by a wooden collar about three feet long, and made to 
 fit the shoulder, from each end of which were fastened 
 two cords with hooks to receive the bail of the pails, 
 leaving the arms free except to steady them. He had 
 also to cut wood for the fire. I afterwards came to 
 take a more active part in these duties, and used to wish 
 I could go back to my primitive cradle. But time 
 pushed me on whether I would or not, until I scaled 
 the mountain top of life's activities ; and now, when 
 quietly descending into the valley, my gaze is turned 
 affectionately towards those early days. I do not think 
 they were always bright and joyous, and I am sure I 
 often chafed under the burdens imposed upon me ; but 
 how inviting they seem when viewed through the gol- 
 den haze of retrospection. 
 
6 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 My next recollection is the raising of a frame barn 
 behind the house, and of a niece of my father's holdin*^ 
 me in her arms to see the men pushing up the heavy 
 "bents" with long poles. The noise of the men shout- 
 ing and driving in the wooden pins with great wooden 
 beetles, away up in the l)eams and stringer?, alarmed 
 me a great deal, but it all went up, and then one of 
 the men mounted the plate (the timber on which the 
 foot of the rafter rests) with a bottle in his hand, and 
 swinijinn: it round his head three times, threw it 
 off in the field. If the bottle was unbroken it was an 
 omen of good luck. The bottle, I remember, was 
 picked up whole, and shouts of congratulation fol- 
 lowed. Hence, I suppose, the prosperity that attended 
 my father. 
 
 The only other recollection I have of this place was 
 of my father, who was a very ingenious man, and 
 could turn his hand to almost everything, making a 
 cradle for my sister, for this addition to our number 
 had occurred. I have no remembrance of any such 
 fanciful crib being made for my slumbers. Perhaps 
 the sap-trough did duty for me in the house as well as 
 in the bush. The next thing was our removal, which 
 took place in the winter, and all that I can recall of it 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 7 
 
 is that my undo took my mother, sister, and myself 
 
 away in a slei^^h, and we never returned to the little 
 
 log house. My father had sold his farm, bought half 
 
 of his old homo, and come to live with his parents. 
 
 They were Quakers. My grandfather was a short, 
 
 robust old man, and very particular about his personal 
 
 appearance. Half a century has elapsed since then, but 
 
 the picture of the old man taking his walks about the 
 
 place, in his closely-fitting snuff-brown cut-away coat, 
 
 kncc-broeches, broad-brimmed hat and silver-headed 
 
 cauo is distinctively fixed in my memory. He died 
 
 soon after wo took up our residence with him, and the 
 
 number who came from all parts of the country to the 
 
 funeral was a great surprise to me. I could not 
 
 imagine where so many people came from. The 
 
 custom prevailed then, and no doubt does still, when a 
 
 death occurred, to send a messenger, who called at 
 
 every house for many miles around to give notice of 
 
 the death, and of when and where the interment 
 
 would take place. 
 
 My grandmother was a tall, neat, motherly old 
 woman, beloved by everybody. She lived a number of 
 years after her husband's death, and I seem to see her 
 now, sitting at one side of the old fire-place knitting. 
 
S COUNTRY IIFE IN CANADA 
 
 She was .ilways knitting, and turning out scores of 
 thick warm socks and mittens for her grandchihhen. 
 
 At this time a great change had taken place, hoth in 
 the appearance of the country and in the condition of 
 the people. It is true that many of the first settlors 
 had ceased from their lahours, hut there vvere a good 
 many lelt — old people now, who were quietly enjoying, 
 in their declining years, the fruit of their early in- 
 dustry. ( *omniodious dwellings had taken the place of 
 the first rude houses. Large frame barns and out- 
 houses had grown out of the f-mall log ones. The forest 
 in the immediate neighbourhood had been cleared 
 ^way, and well- tilled fields occupied its place. Coarse 
 s^nd scanty fare had been supplanted by a rich 
 abundance of all the requisites that go to make home a 
 scene of pleasure and contentment. Altogether a sub- 
 stantial prosperity was ap]iarent. A genuine content 
 and a hearty good will, one towards another, existed in 
 all the older parts. The settled part as yet, however, 
 formed only a very narrow belt extending along the 
 bay and lake shores. The great forest lay close at 
 hand in the rear, and the second generation, as in the 
 case of my fatl ir, had only to go a few miles to find it, 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO, 9 
 
 and commence for themselves the laborious struggle 
 of clearing it away. 
 
 The old liome, as it was called, was always a place of 
 attraction, and especially so to the young people, who 
 wcie sure of finding good cheer at grandfather's. 
 What fun, after the small place called home, to have 
 the run of a dozen rooms, to haunt the big cellar, with 
 its great heaps of potatoes and vegetable.-^, huge casks 
 of cider, and well-filled bins of apples, or to sit at the 
 tabic loaded with the good things which grandmother 
 only could supply. How^ delicious the large piece of 
 pumpkin pie tasted, and how toothsome the rich crul- 
 lers that melted in the mouth ! Dear old body ! I 
 can see her now going to the gi-eat cupboard to get 
 mo something, saying as she goes, " I'm sure the child 
 is hungiy." And it was true, he was always hungry ; 
 and how he managed to stow^ away so much is a 
 mystery I cannot now explain. There was no place 
 in the world more to be desired than this, and no spot 
 in all the past the recollection of which is more bri<djt 
 and joyous. 
 
 My father now assumed the management of affairs. 
 The old people reserved one room to themselves, but it 
 was free to all, particularly to us children. It was 
 
10 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 hard to tell sometimes which to choose, whether the 
 kitchen, where the family were gathered round the 
 cheerful logs blazing brightly in the big fire-place, or 
 a stretch on the soft rag- carpet beside the box stove in 
 grandmother's room. This room was also a sanctuary 
 to which we often fled to escape punishment after 
 doing some mischief. We were sure of an advocate 
 there, if we could reach it in time. 
 
 The house was a frame one, as nearly all the best 
 houses were in those days, and was painted a dark yel- 
 low. There were two kitchens, one used for washing 
 and doing the heavier household work in ; the other, 
 considerably larger, was used by the family. In the 
 latter was the large fire-place, around which gathered in 
 the winter time bright and hapi)y faces ; where the old 
 men smoked their pipes in peaceful reverie, or delighted 
 us with stories of other days ; where mother darned her 
 socks, and father mended our boots ; where the girls 
 were sewing, and uncles were scraping axe-handles 
 with bits of glass to make them smooth. There were 
 no drones in farm-houses then ; there was something 
 for every one to do. At one side of the fire-place was 
 the largo brick oven with its gaping mouth, closed 
 •\yith a small door, easily removed, whcrp the brca<il 
 
o 
 
 30 
 > 
 
 z 
 o 
 
 5 
 
 H 
 I 
 m 
 
 (/) 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 .■■'4, ■'■■ ■- •', 
 
 
 «« .,.,-■■ ■-•!>■■ 'ij ■• 
 
 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 11 
 
 and pies were baked. Within the fire-place was an 
 iron crane securely fastened in the jamb, and made 
 to swing in and out with its row of iron pot-hooks 
 of different lengths, on which to hang the pots used 
 in cooking. Cook stoves had not yet appeared to 
 cheer the housewife and revolutionize the kitchen. 
 Joints of meat and poultry were roasted on turning 
 spits, or were suspended before the fire by a cord and 
 wire attached to the ceiling. Cooking wiis attended 
 with more difficulties then. Meat was fried in loner- 
 handled pans, and the short-cake that so often graced 
 the supper table, and played such havoc with the 
 butter and honey, with the pancakes that came pip- 
 ing hot on the breakfast table, owed their finishing 
 touch to the frying pan. The latter, however, were 
 more frequently baked on a large griddle with a bow 
 handle made to hook on the crane. This, on account 
 of its larger surface, enabled the cook to turn out these 
 much-prized cakes, when properly made, with greater 
 speed ; and in a large family an expert hand was re- 
 quired to keep up the supply. Some years later an 
 ingenious Yankee invented what was called a " Keflec- 
 tor," made of bright tin for baking. It was a small tin 
 oven with a slanting top, open at one side, and when 
 
12 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 required for use was set before the fire on the hearth. 
 This simple contrivance was a great convenience, and 
 came into general use. Modern inventions in the 
 appliances for cooking have very much lessened the 
 labour and increased the possibilities of supplying a 
 variety of dishes, but it has not improved the quality 
 of them. There were no better caterers to hungry 
 stomachs than our mothers, whose practical education 
 had been received in grandmother's kitchen. The 
 other rooms of the house comprised a sitting-room — 
 used only when there was company — a parlour, four 
 bedrooms, and the room reserved for the old people. 
 Up stairs were the sleeping and store-rooms. In the 
 hall stood the tall old fashioned house clock, with its 
 long pendulum swinging to and fro with siow and 
 measured beat. Its face had looked upon the vener- 
 able sire before his locks were touched with the frost 
 of age. When his children were born it indicated the 
 hour, and it had gone on telling off the days and years 
 until the children were grown. And when a wedding 
 day had come, it had rung a joyful peal through the 
 house, and through the years the old hands had 
 travelled on, the hammer had struck oft' the hours, and 
 
FIFTY YEAns AGO. 13 
 
 another generation had come to look upon it and grow 
 familiar with its constant tick. 
 
 The furniture was plain and substantial, more atten- 
 tion being given to durability than to style or orna- 
 ment. Easy chairs — save the spacious rocking-chair 
 for old women — and lounges were not seen. There 
 was no time for lolling on well-stutled cushions. The 
 rooms were heated with large double box stoves, very 
 thick and heavy, made at Three Rivers ; and by their 
 side was always seen a large wood-box, well filled with 
 sound maple or beech wood. But few pictures adorned 
 the walls, and these were usually rude prints far in- 
 ferior to those we get every day now from the illus- 
 trated papers. Books, so plentiful and cheap now-a- 
 days, were then very scarce, and where a few could be 
 found, they were mostly heavy doctrinal tomes [)iled 
 away on some shelf where they were allowed to re- 
 main. 
 
 The home we now inhabited was altogether a dif- 
 ferent one from that we had left in the back conces- 
 sion, but it was like many another to be found along 
 the bay shore. Besides my own family, there were 
 two younger brothers of my father, and two grown- 
 up nieces, so that when wo all mustered round the 
 
14 COUNTRY LIFE llf CANADA 
 
 table, there was a goodly number of hearty poo})le 
 always ready to do justice to the abundant provision 
 made. This reminds me of an incident or two illus- 
 trative of the lavish manner with which a well-to-do 
 farmer's table was supplied in those days. A Mon- 
 treal merchant and his wife were spending an evening 
 at a very highly -esteemed farmer's house. At the 
 proper time supper was announced, and the visitors, 
 with the family, were gathered round the table, which 
 groaned, metaphorically speaking, under the load it 
 bore. There were turkey, beef and ham, bread and 
 the favourite short cake, sweet cakes in endless variety, 
 pies, preserves, sauces, tea, coffee, cider, and what not. 
 The visitors were amazed, as they might well be, at 
 the lavisii display of cooking, and they were pressed, 
 with well-meant kindness, to partake heartily of every- 
 thing. They yielded good-naturedly to the entreaties 
 to try this and that as long as they could, and paused 
 only when it was impossible to take any more. When 
 they were leaving, the merchant asked his friend when 
 they were coming to Montreal, and insisted tliat they 
 should come soon, promising if they would only let 
 him know a little before when they were coming he 
 would buy up everything there was to be had in the 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. l5 
 
 market for supper. On another occasion an English 
 gentleman was spending an evening at a neighbour's, 
 and, as usual, the supper table was crowded with 
 everything the kind-hearted hostess could think of. 
 The guest was plied with dish jifter dish, and, think- 
 ing it would be disrespectful if he did not take some- 
 thing from each, he continued to eat, and take from 
 the dishes as they were passed, until he found his 
 plate, and all the available space around him, heaped 
 up with cakes and pie. To dispose of all he had care- 
 fully deposited on his plate, and around it, seemed 
 utterly impossible, and yet he thought he would be 
 considered rude if he did not finish what he had 
 taken, and he struggled on, with the perspiration 
 visible on his face, until in despair he asked to bo 
 excused, as he could not eat any more if it were to 
 save his life. 
 
 It was the custom in those days for the hired help 
 (the term servant was not used) to sit at the table with 
 the family. On one occasion, a Montreal merchant 
 prince was on a visit at a wealthy Quaker's, who 
 owned a large farm, and employed a number of men 
 in the summer. It was customary in this house for 
 the family to seat themselves first at the head of the 
 
16 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 table, after which tlie hued liainU all caiiio in, and 
 took the lower end. Tliis was the only distinction. 
 They were served just as the rest of tlie family. On 
 this occasion the guest came out with the family, and 
 they were seated. Then the hired men and girls came 
 in and did the same, whereupon the merchant left the 
 table and the room. The old lady, thinking there 
 was something the matter with the man, soon after 
 followed him into the sitting-room, and asked him if 
 he was ill. He said " No." " Then why did thee 
 leave the table ? " the old lady eni^uired. " Because," 
 said he " I am not accustomed to cat with servants." 
 " Very well," replied the old lady, " if thee cannot 
 cat with us, thee will have to go without thy dinner." 
 His honour concluded to pocket his dignity, and sub- 
 mit to the rules of the house. 
 
 I was sent to school early — more, 1 fancy, to get me 
 out of the way for a good part of the day, than from 
 any expectation that 1 would learn much. It took a 
 longtime to hannner the alphabet into my head. But 
 if I was dull at school, I was noisy and mischievous 
 enough at home, and very fond of tormenting my sis- 
 ters. Hence, my parents — and no child ever had better 
 ones — could not be blamed very much if they did 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 17 
 
 send me to school for no other reason than to be rid of 
 me. The school house was close at hand, and its aspect 
 is deeply graven in my memory. My first school- 
 master was an Englishman who had seen better days. 
 Ho was a good scholar, I believe, but a poor teacher 
 The school house was a small square structure, with 
 low ceiling. In the centre of the room was a box stove, 
 around which the long wooden benches without backs 
 were ranged. Next the walls were the desks, raised a 
 little from the floor. In the summer time the pupils 
 were all of tender years, the elder ones being kept at 
 home to help with the work. At the commencement of 
 my educational course I was one of a little lot of urchins 
 ranged daily on hard wooden seats, with our feet dang- 
 ling in the air, for seven or eight hours a day. In such 
 a plight we were expected to be very good children, to 
 make no noise, and to learn our lessons. It is a marvel 
 that so many years had to elajise before parents and 
 teachers could be brought to see that keeping children 
 in such a position for so many hours was an act of 
 great cruelty. The terror of the rod was the only 
 *hing that could keep us still, and that often failed. 
 Sometimes, tired and weary, we fell asleep and tumbled 
 off the bench, to be roused by the fall and the rod. In 
 
18 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 the winter time the small school room was filled to 
 overflowing with tlie lari^cr boys and girls. This did 
 not improve our condition, for wo were more closely 
 packed together, and were either shivering with the 
 cold or being cooked with the red-hot stove. In a 
 shoit time after, the old school house, where my father, 
 I believe, had got his schooling, was hoisted on run- 
 ners, and, with the aid of several yoke of oxen, was 
 taken up the road about a mile and enlarged a little. 
 This event brought my course of study to an end for 
 a while. I next sat under the rod of an Irish peda- 
 gogue — an old man who evidently believed that the 
 only way to get anything into a boy's head was to 
 pound it in with a stick through his back. There was 
 no discipline, and the noise we made seemed to rival a 
 Bedlam. We used to play all sorts of tricks on the old 
 man, and I was not beliind in contriving or carrying 
 them into execution. One day, however, I was caught 
 and severely thrashed. This so mortified me that I 
 jumped out of the window and went home. An inves- 
 tigation followed, and I was whijiped by my father and 
 sent back. Poor old Dominie, he has long since put Ity 
 his Slick, and passed bej^ond the reach of unndy boys. 
 Thus I passed on fixm teacher to teacher, staying at 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 19 
 
 home in the summer, and resuming my books again in 
 the winter. Sometimes I went to the old school house 
 up the road, sometimes to the one in an opposite direc- 
 tion. The latter was larger, and there was generally a 
 better teacher, but it was much farther, and I had to 
 set oft* early in the cold frosty mornings with my 
 books and dinner basket, often through deep snow and 
 drifts. At night I had to get home in time to help to 
 feed the cattle and got in the wood for the fires. The 
 school houses then were generally small and uncomfor- 
 table, and the teachers were often of a very inferior 
 order. The school system of Canada, which has since 
 been moulded by the skilful hand of Dr. Ryerson into 
 one of the best in the world, and which will give to 
 his industry and genius a more enduring record than 
 stone or brass, was in my day very imperfect indeed. 
 It was, perhaps, up with the times. But when the ad- 
 vantages which the youth of this country now possess 
 are compared with the small facilities we had of pick- 
 ing up a little knowledge, it seems almost a marvel 
 that we learned anything. Spelling matches came at 
 this time into vogue, and were continued for several 
 years. They occasioned a friendly rivalry between 
 schools, and were productive of good. The meetings 
 
20 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 took place during the long winter nights, either weekly 
 or fortnightly. Every school had one or more prize 
 spellers, and these were selected to lead the match ; or> 
 if the school was large, a contest between the girls and 
 boys came off first. Sometimes two of the best spel- 
 lers were selected by the scholars as leaders, and these 
 would proceed to ' choose sides ; ' that is, one would 
 choose a fellow pupil, who would rise and take his or 
 her place, and then the other, continuing until the list 
 was exhausted. The preliminaries being completed, the 
 contest began. At first the lower end of the class was 
 disposed of, and as time wore on one after another 
 would make a slip and retire, until two or three only 
 were left on either side. Then the struggle became 
 exciting, and scores of eager eyes were fixed on the 
 contestants. With the old hands there was a good deal 
 of fencing, though the teacher usually had a reserve of 
 difficult words to end the fight, which often lasted two 
 or three hours. He failed sometimes, and then it was 
 a drawn battle to be fought on another occasion. 
 
 Debating classes also met and discussed grave ques- 
 tions, upon [such old-fashioned subjects as these: 
 " Which is the more useful to man, wood or iron ? " 
 " Which afiords the greater enjoyment, anticipation or 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 21 
 
 participation ? " " Which was the greater general, 
 Wellington or Napoleon ? " Those who were to take 
 part in the discussion were always selected at a pre- 
 vious meeting, so that all that had to be done was to 
 select a chairman and commence the debate. I can 
 give from memory a sample or two of these first at- 
 tempts. " Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : Un- 
 accustomed as I am to public speaking, I rise to make 
 a few remarks on this all important question — ahem — 
 Mr. Pre; lent, this is the first time I ever tried to 
 speak in public, and unaccustomed as I am to — to — 
 ahem. Ladies and Gentlemen, I think our opponents 
 are altogether wrong in arguing that Napoleon was a 
 greater general than Wellington — ahem — I ask you, 
 Mr. President, did Napoleon ever thrash Wellington ? 
 Didn't "Wellington always thrash him, Mr. President ? 
 Didn't he whip him at Waterloo and take him prisoner ? 
 and then to say that he is a greater general than Wel- 
 lington — why, Mr. President, he couldn't hold a candle 
 to him. Ladies and Gentlemen, I say that Napoleon 
 wasn't a match for him at all. Wellington licked him 
 every time — and — ^j'^es, licked him every time. I can't 
 think of any more, Mr. President, and I will take my 
 seat, Sir, by saying that I'm sure you will decide in 
 
22 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 our favour I'rom Uio stron^f aroruments our .side has 
 produced." 
 
 After listening to sucli powerful reasoning, some one 
 of the older spectators would ask Mr President to be al- 
 lowed to say a few words on some other important 
 question to be debated, and would proceed to air his 
 eloquence and instruct the youth on such a topic as 
 this : " Which is the greater evil, a scolding wife or a 
 smoky chimney ? " After this wise the harangue 
 would proceed : — " Mr. President, I have been almost 
 mad a-listening to the debates of these 'jre youngsters 
 — they don't know nothing at all about the subject. 
 What do they know about the evil of a scolding wife ? 
 Wait till they have had one for twenty years, and been 
 hammered, and jammed, and slammed, all the while. 
 Wait till they've been scolded because the baby cried, 
 because the fire wouldn't burn, because the room was 
 too hot, because the cow kicked over the milk, because 
 it rained, because the sun shined, because the hen': 
 didn't lay, because the butter wouldn't come, because 
 the old cat had kittens, because they came too soon 
 for dinner, because they were a minute late — before 
 they talk about the worry of a scolding wife. Why, 
 Mr. President, I'd rather hear the clatter of hammers 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 23 
 
 and stones and twenty tin pans, and nine brass kettles, 
 than the din, din, din, of the tongue of a scolding 
 woman ; yes, sir, I would. To my mind, Mr. Presi- 
 dent, a smoky chimney is no more to be compared to a 
 scolding wife than a little nigger is to a dark night." 
 These meetings were generally well attended, and con- 
 ducted with considerable spirit. If the discussions 
 were not brilliant, and the young debater often lost 
 the thread of his argument — in other words, got things 
 " mixed " — he gained confidence, learned to talk in 
 public, and to take higher flights. Many of our lead- 
 ing public men learned their first lessons in the art of 
 public speaking in the country debating school. 
 
 Apple trees were planted early by the bay settlersi 
 and there were now numerous large orchards of ex- 
 cellent fruit. Pears, plums, cherries, currants and goose- 
 berries were also common. The apple crop was gath- 
 ered in October, the best fruit being sent to the cellar 
 for family use during winter, and the rest to the cider 
 mill. 
 
 The cider mills of those days were somewhat rude 
 contrivances. The mill proper consisted of two cogged 
 wooden cylinders about fourteen inches in diameter, 
 and perhaps twenty-six inches in length, placed in an 
 
24 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 upright position in a frame. The pivot of one of these 
 extended upward about six feet, and at its top was 
 secured the long shaft to which the horse was attached, 
 and as it was driven round and round, the mill crunched 
 the apples with many a creak and groan, and shot them 
 out on the opposite side. The press which waited to 
 receive the bruised mass was about eight feet square, 
 round the floor of which, near the edge, ran a deep 
 groove to carry off the juice. In making what is known 
 as the cheese, the first process was to spread a thick 
 layer of long rye or wheat straw round the outer edge, 
 on the floor of the press. Upon this the pulp was 
 placed to the depth of a foot or more. The first layer 
 of straw was then turned in carefully, and another 
 layer of straw put down as in the first place, upon 
 which more pulp was placed, and so on from layer to 
 layer, until the cheese was complete. Planks were 
 then placed on the top, and the pressure of the power- 
 ful wooden screw brought to bear on the mass. At 
 once a copious stream of cider began to flow into the 
 casks or vat, and here the fun began with the boys, 
 who, well armed with long straws, sucked their fill. 
 
 By the roadside stands the cider-tnill, 
 Where a lowland slumber waits the rill : 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 25 
 
 A great brown building, two stories high, 
 On the western hill-face warm and dry ; 
 
 And odorous piles of apples there 
 Fill with incense the golden air ; 
 
 And masses of pomace, mixed with straw, 
 To their amber sweets the late flies draw. 
 
 The carts back up to the uppar door. 
 And spill their treasures in on the floor ; 
 
 Down through the toothed wheels they go 
 To the wide, deep cider press below. 
 
 And the screws are turned by slow degrees 
 Down on the straw-laid cider cheese ; 
 
 And with each turn a fuller stream 
 Bursts fromboneath the graning beam, 
 
 An amber stream the gods might sip, 
 And fear no morrow's parched lip. 
 
 But wherefore, gods ? Those idle toys 
 Were soulless to real Canadian boys ! 
 
 What classic goblet ever felt 
 
 Such thrilling touches through it melt, 
 
 As throb electric along a straw, 
 When the boyish lips the cider draw ? 
 
 The years are heavy with weary sounds, 
 And their discords life's sweet music drowns 
 
 But yet I hear, oh, sweet ! oh, sweet ! 
 The rill that bathed my bare, brown feet ; 
 
 And yet the cider drips and falls 
 On my inward ear at intervals 
 
20 COUNTRY LIFK IN OANAl)A 
 
 And I lead at times in a sad, sweet dream 
 To the bubbling of that little stream ; 
 
 And I sit in a visioned autumn still, 
 In the sunny door of the cider mill. 
 
 — Whittibu. 
 
 It was a universal custom to set a disli of apples and a 
 pitcher of cider before everyone who came to the house. 
 Any departure from this would have been thougiit 
 disrespectful. The sweet cider was generally boiled 
 down into a syrup, and, with apples (juartored and 
 cooked in it, was e([ual to a preserve, and made splen- 
 did pies. It w^as called apple sauce, and found its way 
 to the table thrice a day. 
 
 Then came the potatoes and roots, which had to be 
 dug and brought to the cellar. It was not very nice 
 work, particularly if the ground was damp and cold, 
 to pick them out and throw them into the basket, but 
 it had to be done, and I was compelled to do my share. 
 One good thing about it was that it was never a long 
 job. There was much more fun in gathering the pump- 
 kins and corn into the barn. The corn was husked, gen- 
 erally at night, the bright golden ears finding their way 
 into the old crib, from whence it was to come again to 
 fatten the turkeys, the geese, and the ducks for Chris- 
 mas. It was a very common thing to have husking 
 
flFTY YEAUS ago. 27 
 
 bees. A few neijilibours would be invited, the barn 
 lit with candles. 
 
 Strung o'er the heaped-up harvest, from pitchforks in the mow, 
 Shone dimly down the lanterns on the pleasant scenes below ; 
 The growing pile of huiks behind, the golden ears before, 
 And laughing eyes, and busy hand, and brown cheeks glimmer- 
 ing o'er. 
 
 Half hidden in a quiet nook, serene of look and heart. 
 
 Talking their old times o'er, the old men sat apart ; 
 
 While up and down tho unhusked pile, or nestling in its sh.'de, 
 
 At hide-and-seek, with laugh and shout, tho happy children 
 
 played. 
 
 — Whittier. 
 
 Amid jokes and laughter the husks and ears would 
 fly, until the work was done, when all hands would 
 repair to the house, and, after partaking of a hearty 
 supper, leave for home in high spirits. 
 
 Then came hog-killing time, a very heavy and disa- 
 greeable task, but the farmer has many of these, and 
 learns to take them pleasantly. My father, with two 
 or three expert hands dressed for the occasion, would 
 slaughter and dress ten or a dozen large hogs in the 
 course of a day. There were other actors besides in the 
 play. It would be curious, indeed, if all hands were 
 not employed when work was going on. My part in 
 the performance was to attend to the fire under the 
 
t 
 
 28 COUNTRY LIF*E TN CANADA 
 
 great kettle in which the hogs were scalded, and to 
 keep the water boiling, varied at intervals by blowing 
 up bladders with a quill for my own amusement. In 
 the house the fat had to be looked to, and after being 
 washed and tried (the term used for melting), was 
 poured into dishes and set aside to cool and become 
 lard, afterwards finding its way into cakes and pie- 
 crust. The out-door task does not end with the first 
 day either, for the hogs have to be carried in and cut 
 up; the large meat tubs, in which the family supplies 
 are kept, have to be filled ; the hams and shoulders to 
 be nicely cut and cured, and the rest packed into bar- 
 rels for sale. 
 
 Close on the heels of hog-killing came sausage- 
 making, when meat had to be chopped and flavoured, 
 and stuffed into cotton bags or prepared gut. Then 
 the heads and feet had to be soaked and scraped over 
 and over again, and when ready were boiled, the one 
 beiner converted into head-cheese, the other into souse. 
 All these matters, when conducted under the eye of a 
 good housewife, contributed largely to the comfort and 
 good living of the family. Who is there, with such an 
 experience as mine, that receives these things at the 
 hands of his city butcher and meets them on his table, 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 29 
 
 who does not wish tor the moment that he was a boy, 
 and seated at his mother's board, that he might shake 
 off the phantom canine and feline that rise on his plate, 
 and call in one of mother's sausages. 
 
 As the fall cre])t on, the preparations for winter in- 
 creased. The large roll of full cloth, which had been 
 lately brought from the mill, was carried down, and 
 father and I set out for a tailor, who took our meas- 
 ure and cut out our clothes, which we brought home, 
 and some woman, or perhaps a wandering tailor, was 
 employed to make them up. There was no discussion 
 as to style, and if the fit did not happen to be perfect, 
 there was no one to criticise either the material or the 
 make, nor were there any arbitrary rules ot' fashion to 
 be respected. We had new clothes^ which were warm 
 and comfortable. What more did we want ? A cob- 
 bler, too, was brought in to make our boots. My 
 father was quite an expert at shoemaking, but he 
 had so many irons in the fire now that he could 
 not do more than mend or make a hght pair of shoes 
 for mother at odd spells. The work then turned out 
 by the sons of St. Crispin was not highly finished. 
 It was coarse, but, what was of greater consequence, 
 it was strong, and wore well. While all this was 
 
80 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 going on for the benefit of the male portion of the 
 house, mother and the girls were busy turning the 
 white flannels into shirts and drawers, and the plaid 
 roll that came with it into dresses for themselves. 
 As in the case of our clothes, there was no consult- 
 ing of fashion-books, for a very good reason, perhaps 
 — there was none to consult. No talk about Miss 
 Brown or Miss Smith having her dress made this way 
 or that ; and I am sure they were far happier and 
 contented than the girls of to-day, with all their show 
 and glitter. 
 
 The roads at that time, more i)ar Ocularly in the fall, 
 were almost impassable until frozen up. In the spring, 
 until the frost was out of the ground, and they had 
 settled and dried, they were no better. The bridges 
 were rough, wooden affairs, covered with logs, usually 
 flattened on one side with an axe. The swamps and 
 marshes were made passable by laying down logs, of 
 nearly e(£ual size, close together in the worst places. 
 These were known as corduroy roads, and were no 
 pleasant highways to ride over for any distance, as all 
 who have tried them know. But in the winter the 
 frost and snow made good travelling everywhere, and 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 81- 
 
 hence the winter was the time for the farmer to do his 
 teaming. 
 
 One of the first things tliat claimed attention when 
 the sleighing began, and before the snow got deep in 
 the woods, was to get out tlie year's supply of fuel. 
 The men set out for the bush before it was fairly day- 
 light, and commenced chopping. The trees were cut 
 in lengths of about ten feet, and the brush piled in 
 heaps. Then my father, or myself, when I got old 
 enough, followed with the sleigh, and began drawing 
 it, until the wood yard was filled with sound beech 
 and maple, with a few loads of dry pine for kindling. 
 These huge wood-piles always bore a thrifty appear- 
 ance, and spoke of comfort and good cheer within. 
 
 Just before Christmas there was always one or two 
 beef cattle to kill. Sheep had also to be slaughtered, 
 with the turkeys, geese and ducks, which had been 
 getting ready for decapitation. After home wants 
 were provided for, the rest were sent to market. 
 
 The winter's woi'k now began in earnest, for whatever 
 may be said about the enjoyment of Canadian winter 
 life — and it is an enjoyable time to the Canadian — 
 there are few who really enjoy it so much as the farmer. 
 He cannot, however, do like bruin — roll himself up in 
 
32 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA. 
 
 the fall, and suck his paw until spring in a state of 
 semi-unconsciousness, for his cares are numerous and 
 imperious, his work varied and laboiious. His large 
 stock demands regular attention, and must be fed 
 morning and night. The great barn filled with grain 
 had to be threshed, for the cattle needed the straw, 
 and the grain had to be got out for the market. So 
 'l^y aftei- day he and his men hammered away with 
 the flail, or spread the sheaves on the barn floor to be 
 trampled out by honses. Threshing machines were 
 unknown then, as were all the labour-saving machines 
 now so extensively used by the farmer. His muscular 
 arm was the only macliine ho then had to rely upon, 
 and if it did not accomplish much, it succeeded in 
 doing its work well, and in providing him with all his 
 modest wants. Then the fanning mill came into play 
 to clean the grain, after which it was carried to the 
 granary, whence again it was taken either to the mill 
 or to market Winter was also the time to get out the 
 logs from the woods, and to haul them to the mill to 
 be sawed in the spring — we always had a use for 
 boards. These saw mills, built on sap-streams, which 
 ran dry as soon as the sp-ing freshets wore over, were 
 like the cider mills, small rough structures. They had 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 33 
 
 but oriu upright saw, which, owing to its primitive 
 construction, did not move as now, with lightning rap- 
 idity, nor did it turn out a very large quantity of 
 stuff. It answered the purpose of the day, however, 
 and that was all that was required or expected of it. 
 Rails, also, had to be split and drawn to where new 
 fences were wanted, or where old ones needed repairs. 
 There were flour, beef, mutton, butter, apples, and a 
 score more of things to be taken to market and dis- 
 posed of. But, notwithstanding all this, the winter 
 was a good, joyful time for the farmer — a time, more- 
 over, when the social requisites of his nature received 
 the most attention. Often the horses would be put to 
 the sleigh, and we would .set off, well bundled U]), to 
 visit some friends a few miles distant, or, as frequently 
 happened, to visit an uncle or an aunt, far away in the 
 new settlements. The roads often wound along for miles 
 throu<xh the forest, and it was '^rreat fun f tr us yoiinnf- 
 sters to be dashing along behind a spirited team, now 
 around the trunks of great trees, or under the low- 
 hanging boughs of the spruce or cedar, laden with 
 snow, wliich sometimes shed their heavy lr)ad upon 
 our hea Is. But after a while the col I would siize 
 upon us, and we would wish our journey at an end. 
 
34) COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 The horses, white with frost, would then be pressed on 
 faster, and would bring us at length to the door. , In 
 a few moments we would all be seated round the 
 glowing lire, which would soon quiet our chattering 
 teeth, thaw us out, and prepare us to take our places 
 at the repast which had been getting ready in the 
 meantime. We were sure to do justice to the good 
 things which the table provided. 
 
 Many of these early days start up vividly and 
 brightly before me, particularly since I have grown to 
 manhood, and lived amid other surroundings. Among 
 the most pleasing of these recollections are some of 
 my drives on a moonlight night, when the sleighing 
 was good, and when the sleigh, with its robes and 
 rugs, was packed with a merry lot of girls and boys 
 (we had no ladies and gentlemen then). Otf we 
 would set, spanking along over the crisp snow, which 
 creaked and cracked under the rumiers, making a low 
 murmuring sound in harmony with the sleigh-bells. 
 When could a more fitting time be found for a pleasure- 
 ride than on one of those clear calm nights, when the 
 earth, wrapped in her mantle of snow, glistened and 
 sparkled in the moonbeams, and the blue vault of 
 heaven glittered with countless stars, whoso brilliancy 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 35 
 
 seemed intensitied by the cold — when the aurora borc- 
 aUs waved and danced across the northern sky, and the 
 frost noiselessly fell like flakes of silver upon a 
 scene at once inspiriting, exhilarating and joyous ! 
 How the merry laugh floated along in the evening air, 
 as we dashed along the road ! How sweetly the merry 
 song and chorus echoed through the silent wood, while 
 our hearts were asjlow with excitement, and all nature 
 seemed to respond to the hap[)y scene ! 
 
 When the frosty nights set in, we were always on 
 the qui vlve for a skating revel on some pond near by, 
 and our eagerness to enjoy the sport fre(piently led to 
 a ducking. But very soon the large ponds, and then 
 the bay, were frozen over, when we could indulge in 
 the fun to our heart's content. My tirst attem[)ts were 
 made under considerable difliculties, but j)urseverance 
 bridges the way over many obstacles, and so, with my 
 father's skates, which were over a foot long, and which 
 required no little ingenuity to fasten to my feet, 
 1 made my first attempt on the ice. Soon, how- 
 ever, in the growth of my feet, this trouble WJis over- 
 come, and I could whirl over the ice with anyone. 
 The girls did not .share in this exhilarating exercise 
 then; indeed their doing so would have been thought 
 
36 COITNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 quite improper. As our time was usually taken up 
 with school through the day, and with such chores as 
 feeding cattle and bringing wood in for the fire when 
 we returned at night, we would sally out after supper, 
 on moonlight nights, and, full of life and hilarity, fly 
 over the ice, singing and shouting, and making the 
 night ring with our merriment. There was plenty of 
 room on the bay, and early in the season there were 
 miles of icCj smooth as glass and clear as crystal, re- 
 flecting the stars which sparkled and glittered beneath 
 our feet, as though we were gliding over a sea of 
 silver set with brilliants. 
 
 Ho for the bay, the ice-bound bay ! 
 
 The moon is up, the stars are bright ; 
 The air is keen, but let it play — 
 
 We're proof against Jack Frost to-night. 
 With a sturdy swing and lengthy stride, 
 
 The glassy ice shall feel our steel ; 
 And through the welkin far and wide 
 
 The echo of our song shall peal. 
 
 Chokus. — Hurrah, boys, hurrah ! skates on and away ! 
 You may lag at your work, but never at play ; 
 Give wing to your feet, and make the ice ring, 
 Give voice to your mirth, and merrily sing. 
 
 Ho for the boy who does not care 
 
 A fig for cold or northern blast ! 
 Whose winged feet can cut the air 
 
 Bwift as an arrow from bowman oast : 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 
 
 Who can give a long and hearty chase, 
 And wheel and whirl ; then in a trice 
 
 Inscribe his name in the polished face, 
 Of the cold and clear and glistening ice. 
 
 Chorus. 
 
 Ho, boys ! the night is waning fast ; 
 
 The moon's last rays but faintly gleam. 
 The hours have glided swiftly past, 
 
 And we must home to rest and dream. 
 The morning's light must find us moving, 
 
 Ready our daily tasks to do ; 
 This is the way we have of proving 
 
 We can do our part at working too. 
 
 Chorus. 
 
 
38 COUNTRf LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE ROUND OF TIONEER LIFE— GAME— NICJHT FISHING— MORE 
 DETAILS ABOUT SUfi AR-MAKlNd — SUOAKINO-OFF — TAKING A 
 HAND AT THE OLD CHURN — SHEEP- WASHING — COUNTRY GIRLS, 
 THEN AND NOW — SUBSTANCE AND SHADOW — " OLD GRAY " 
 AND HIS E(!CENTRICITIES — HARVEST— MY EARLY EMULATION 
 OF RKTER PAUL RUBENS— MEETING-HOUSES — ELIA ON QUA- 
 KER MEETINGS — VARIEGATED AUTUMN LANDS(^VTES — LOGGING 
 AND QUILTING BEES — EVENING FUN — THE TOUCHING LAY OF 
 THE YOUNG WOMAN WHO SAT DOWN TO SLEEP. 
 
 VISITING for the older folk and sleigh-riding 
 for the younger were the principal amuse- 
 ments of the winter. The life then led was very 
 plain and uneventful. There Avas no ostentatious 
 display, or assumption of superiority by the " first 
 families." Indeed there was no room for the lines of 
 demarcation which exist in these days. All had to 
 struggle for a home and home comforts, and if some 
 had been more successful in the rough battle of pioneer 
 life than others, they saw no reason why they should 
 be elated or puffed up over it. Neighbours were too 
 scarce to be coldly or haughtily treated. They had 
 hewn their way, side by side, into the fastnesses of 
 
FIFTY YEAPS AGO. 39 
 
 the Canadian bush, and therefore stood on one com- 
 mon level. But few superfluities could be found either 
 in their houses or on their persons. Their dress was 
 of home-made fabric, plain, often coarse, but substan- 
 tial and comfortable. Their manners were cordial 
 and hearty, even to brusqueness, but they were true 
 friends and honest counsellors, rejoicing with their 
 neighbours in prosperity, and sympathising when days 
 of darkness visited their homes. Modern refinement 
 had not crept into their domestic circle to disturb it 
 with shams and pretensions. Fashion had no court 
 wherein to adjudicate on matters of dress. Time- 
 worn styles of dress and living were considered the 
 best, and hence there was no rivalry or foolish display 
 in either. Both old and young enjoyed an evening at 
 a friend's house, where they were sure to be welcomed, 
 and where a well-supplied table always greeted them. 
 The home amusements were very limited. Music, 
 with its refining power, was uncultivated, and indeed 
 almost unknown. There were no musical instruments, 
 unless some wandering fiddler happened to come along 
 to delight both old and young with his crazy instru- 
 ment. There were no critical ears to detect discordant 
 sounds, or be displeased v/ith the poor execution of 
 
40 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 the rambling musician. The young folk would some- 
 times spirit him away to the village tavern, which was 
 usually provided with a large room called a ball-room, 
 where he would fiddle while they danced the hours 
 gaily away. At home the family gathered round the 
 glowing fire, where work and conversation moved on 
 together. The old motto of " Early to bed, and early 
 to rise " was strictly observed. Nine o'clock usually 
 found the household wrapt in slumber. In the morn- 
 ing all were up and breakfast was over usually before 
 seven. As soon as it began to get light, the men and 
 boys started for the barn to feed the cattle and thresh ; 
 and thus the winter wore away. 
 
 Very little things sometimes contribute largely to the 
 comfort of a family, and among those I may mention 
 the lucifer match, then unknown. It was necessary to 
 carefully cover up the live coals on the hearth before 
 going to bed, so that there would be something to start 
 the fire with in the morning. This precaution rarely 
 failed with good hard- wood coals. But sometimes they 
 died out, and then some one would have to go to a 
 neighbour's house for fire, a thing which I have done 
 sometimes, and it was not nice to have to crawl out of 
 my warm nest and run through the keen cold air foj* 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 41 
 
 a half mile or more to fetch some live coals, before the 
 morning light had broken in the east. My father 
 usually kept some bundles of finely split pine sticks 
 tip[)ed with brimstone for starting a fire. With these, 
 if theic was only a spark left, a fire could soon be 
 made. 
 
 But little time was given to sport, although there 
 was plenty of large game. There was something of 
 more importance always claiming attention. In the 
 winter an occasional deer might be shot, and foxes 
 were sometimes taken in traps. It required a good 
 deal of experience and skill to set a trap so as to catch 
 the cunning beast. Many stories have I heard trap- 
 pers tell of tricks played by Reynard, and how he had, 
 night after night, battled all their ingenuity, upset the 
 traps, set them ofi* or removed them, secured the bait, 
 and away. Another sport more largely patronized in 
 the spring, because it brought something fresh and in- 
 viting to the table, was night-fishing. When the 
 creeks were swollen, and the nights were calm and 
 warm, pike and mullet came up the streams in great 
 abundance. Three or four would set out with spears, 
 with a man to carry the jack, and also a supply of 
 dry pine knots, as full of resin as could be found, and 
 
42 COUNTTIY LIFE TN CANADA 
 
 cut up small, which were deposited in different places 
 along the creek. The jack was then filled and lit, and 
 when it was all ablaze carrie<l along the edge of the 
 stream, closely followed by the spearsnian, who, if an 
 expert, would in a short time secure as many fish as 
 could be carried. It required a sharp eye and a sure 
 aim. The fish shot through the water with great 
 rapidity, which rendered the sport all the more exci- 
 ting. All hands, of course, returned home thoroughly 
 soaked. Another and pleasanter way was fishin^' in a 
 canoe on the bay, with the lighted jack secured in the 
 bow. While there its lisfht shone for a considerable 
 distance around, and enabled the fishers to see the 
 smallest fish low down in the clear calm water. This 
 was really enjoyable sport, and generally resulted in 
 a good catch of pike, pickei'el, and, very often, a mas- 
 kelonge or two. 
 
 Early in the spring, before the snow had gone, the 
 sugar-making time came. Success depended altogether 
 upon the favourable condition of the weather. The 
 daj's must be clear and mild, the nights frosty, and 
 plenty of snow" in the woods. When the time was at 
 hand, the buckets and troughs were overhauled, spiles 
 were made, and when all was ready the large kettles 
 

 ■Jutf «, iNITW 6, t" 
 
 NIGHT FISHING IN THE CREEK. 
 
r 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 48 
 
 and casks were put in the sleigh, and all hands set 
 out for the l)ush. Tapping the tree was the first thing 
 in order. This was done either by boring the tree witli 
 an auger, and inserting a spile about a foot long to 
 carry off the sap, or with a gouge-shaped tool about 
 two inches wide, which was driven into tlie tree, under 
 an inclined scar made with an axe. The spiles used in 
 this case were split with the same instrument, sharp- 
 ened at the end with a knife, and driven into the cut. 
 A person accustomed to the work would tap a great 
 many trees in a day, and usually continued until he 
 had done two or three hundred or more. This fin- 
 ished, next came the placing and hanging of the kettles. 
 A large log, or what w^as more common, the trunk of 
 some great tree that had been blown down, would be 
 selected, in as central a position as possible. Two 
 crotches were erected by its side, and a strong pole 
 was put across from one to the other. Hooks were 
 then made, and the kettles suspended over the fire- 
 The sap was collected once and sometimes twice a day, 
 and when there was a good supply in the casks, the 
 boiling began. Each day's run was finished, if pos- 
 sible, the same night, when the sugaring-off" took place. 
 There are various simple ways of telling when the 
 
44 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 syrup is siifRciently boiled, and when this is done, the 
 kettle containing the result of the day's work is set off 
 the tire, and the contents stirred until they turn to 
 sugar, which is then dipped into dishes or moulds, 
 and set aside to harden. Sometimes, when the run 
 was large, the boiling continued until late at night, 
 and, althousfh there was a good deal of hard work 
 connected with it, there was also more or less enjoy- 
 ment, particularly when some half dozen merry girls 
 dropped in upon you, and assisted at the closing scene. 
 On these occasions the fun was free and boisterous. 
 The woods rang with shouts and peals of laughter, and 
 always ended by our faces and hair being all stuck up 
 with sugar. Then we would mount the sleigh and leave 
 for the house. But the most satisfactory part of the 
 whole was to survey the result of the toil in several 
 liundred weight of sugar, and various vessels filled 
 with rich molasses. 
 
 Now the hams and beef had to be got out of the 
 casks, and hung up in the smoke-house to be smoked. 
 The spring work crowded on rapidly. Ploughing, 
 fencing, sowing and planting follow jd in quick succes- 
 sion. All hands were busy. The younger ones had to 
 drive the cows to pasture in the moniing and bring 
 
i 
 
{"IFtY YEARS AGO. 45 
 
 them up at night. They had also to take a hand at 
 the old churn, and it was a weary task, as I remember 
 well, to stand for an hour, perhaps, and drive the 
 dasher up and down through the thick cream. How 
 often the handle was examined to see if there were any 
 indications of butter ; and what satisfaction there was 
 in getting over with it. As soon as my legs were long 
 enough I had to follow a team, and drag in grain — in 
 fact, before, for I was mounted on the back of one of 
 the horses when my nether limbs were hardly long 
 enough to hold me to my seat. The implements then 
 in use were very rough. Iron ploughs, with cast iron 
 mouldboards, shears, &c., were generally used. As 
 compared with the ploughs of to-day they were clumsy 
 things, but were a great advance over the old wooden 
 ploughs which had not yet altogether gone out of use. 
 Tree tops were frequently used for drags. Riding a 
 horse in the field, under a hot sun, which I frequently 
 had to do, was not as agreeable as it might seem at the 
 first blush. 
 
 In June came sheep-washing. The sheep were 
 driven to the bay shore and secured in a pen, whence 
 they were taken one by one into the bay, and their 
 fleece well washed, after which they were let go. In 
 
46 COUNTRY LIP*E IN CANADA 
 
 a few days they were brought to the barn and sheared. 
 The wool was then sorted ; some of it being retained 
 to be carded by hand, the vest sent to the mill to be 
 turned into rolls ; and when they were brought home 
 the hum of the spinning wheel was heard, day after 
 day, for weeks, and the steady beat of the girls feet on 
 the floor, as they walked forward and backward 
 drawing out and twisting the thread, and then letting 
 it run upon the spindle. Of course the quality of the 
 cloth depended on the fineness and evenness of the 
 thread ; and a great deal of pains was taken to turn 
 out good work. When the spinning was done, the yarn 
 was taken away to the weaver to be converted into 
 clotli. As I have said before, thei'e were no drones in 
 a farmer's house tlien. While the work was beinf 
 pushed outside with vigour, it did not stand still inside. 
 Tile thrifty housewife was always busy. Beside the 
 daily round of cares that continually pressed upon her, 
 the winter had hardly passed away before she began 
 to make [)rcparations for the next. There were wild 
 strawberries and raspberries to pick and preserve, of 
 which the family had their share as they came, sup- 
 plemented with an abundance of rich cream and sugai' ; 
 and so with the other fruits in their turn. There was 
 
FIFTY^YEA.RS AGO. 47 
 
 the daily task, too, of milking, and the less frequent 
 one of making butter and cheese. The girls were 
 always out in the yard by sunrise, and soon came trip- 
 ping in with red cheeks and tiowin*;; pails of milk ; and 
 at sunset the scene was repeated. The matron required 
 no nurse t^ take care of the children ; no cook to 
 superintend the kitchen ; no chamber-maid to make 
 the beds and do the dusting. She bad, ver}'^ likely, one 
 or two hired girls, neighbours' daughters. It was (juite 
 common then for farmers' daughters to go out to work 
 when their services could be dispensed with at home. 
 They were treated as equals, and took as much interest 
 in the affairs of the family as the mistress herself* 
 The fact of a giil going out to work did not affect her 
 position. On the contrary, it was rather in her favour, 
 and showed that she had some ambition about hei*. 
 The girls, in those days, were (juite as much at home 
 in the kitchen as in the drawing-room or boudoir. 
 They could do better execution over a wash tub than 
 at a spinet. They could handle a rolling pin with 
 more satisfaction than a sketch book ; and if necessity 
 required, could go out in the field and handle a fork 
 and rake witli practical results. Tiiey were educated 
 in the country school house — 
 
 '* BeaiJe you' straggling fenoo that skirts the way," 
 
48 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 with their biotliers, and not at a city boarding school. 
 They had not so much as dreamed of fashion hooks, or 
 heard of fashionable milliners. Their accompli-shments 
 were picked up at home, not abroad. And with all 
 these drawbacks, they were pure, modest, affectionate. 
 They made good wives ; and that tlicy were the best 
 and most thoughtful mothers that ever watched over 
 the well-being of their children, many remember full 
 well. 
 
 Country life was practical and plotlding in those 
 days. Ambition did not lure the husbandman to days 
 of luxury and ease, but to the accomiilishrnent of a 
 good day's work, and a future crowned with the fruits 
 of honest industry. If the girls were prepared for the 
 future by the watchful care and example of the 
 mothers, so the boys followed in the footsteps of their 
 fathers. They did not look upon tlieir lives as burden- 
 some. They did not feel that the occupation of a 
 farmer was less honourable than any other. The 
 merchant's shop did not possess more attraction than 
 the barn. Fine clothes were neither so durable nor so 
 cheap as home-made suits. Fashionable tailors did 
 not exist to lure them into extravagance, and the 
 town-bred dandy had not broken loose to taint thetn 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 49 
 
 with his follies. Their aspirations did not lead into 
 ways of display and idleness, or their association to 
 bad habits. They were content to work as their 
 fathers had done, and their aim was to become as 
 exemplary and respected as they were. It was in 
 such a school and under such masters that the found- 
 ation of Canadian prosperity v/as laid, and it is not 
 gratifying to the thoughtful mind, after the survey of 
 such a picture, to find that although our material 
 prosperity in the space of fifty years has been mar- 
 vellous, we have been gradually departing from the 
 sterling example set us by our progenitors, for twenty 
 years at least. " Dead flies " of extravagance have 
 found their way into the " ointment " of domestic life, 
 and their " savour " is keenly felt. In our haste to be- 
 come rich, wo have abandoned the old road of honest 
 industry. To acquire wealth, and to rise in the social 
 scale, we have cast behind us those principles which 
 give tone and value to position. We are not like the 
 Israelites who longed for the " iiosh pots " they had 
 left behind in Egypt ; yet when we look around, it is 
 difficult to keep back the question put by the Ecclesi- 
 ast, " What is the cause that the former days were 
 better than these ? " and the answer we think is not 
 
50 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 difficult to find. Our daughters are brought up now- 
 like tender plants, more for ornament than use. The 
 practical lessons of life are neglected for the superfi- 
 cial. We send our sons to college, and there they fly 
 from the fostering care of home ; they crowd into our 
 towns and cities — sometimes to rise, it is true, but more 
 frequently to fall, and to become worthless members of 
 society. Like the dog in the fable, we ourselves have 
 let the substance drop, while our gaze has been glam- 
 oured by the shadow. 
 
 Early in July the haying began. The mowers were 
 expected to be in the meadow by sunrise, and all 
 through the day the rasp of their whetstones could be 
 heard, as they dexterously drew them with a quick 
 motion of the hand, first along one side of the scythe 
 and then the other ; after which they went swinging 
 across the field, the waving grass falling rapidly before 
 their keen blades, and dropping in swathes at their 
 side. The days were not then divided ofi" into a stated 
 number of working hours. The rule was to begin 
 with the morning light and continue as long as you 
 could see. Of course men had to eat in those days as 
 well as now, and the blast of the old tin dinner-horn 
 fell '>r the ear v. ith more melodious soimd than the 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 51 
 
 grandest orchestra to the musical enthusiast. Even 
 " Ohl Gray," when I followed the plough, used to give 
 answer to the cheerful wind of the horn by a loud 
 whinny, and stop in the furrow, as if to say, " There 
 now, off with my harness, and let us to dinner." If I 
 happened to be in the middle of the; field, I had con- 
 siderable trouble to get the old fellow to go on to the 
 end. 
 
 I mu.'+t say a few words in this place al)Out " Old 
 Gray." Why he was always called "Old Gray" is 
 more than I know. His colour could not have sug- 
 gested the name, for he was a bright roan, almost a 
 bay. He was by no means a pretty animal, being raw- 
 boned, and never secinin;^ to be in first-rate condition ; 
 but he was endowed with remarkable sagacity and 
 great endurance, and was, moreover, a fleet trotter. 
 When my father began the world for himself he was 
 a part of his chattels, and survived his master sev- 
 eral years. Father drove him twice to Little York 
 one winter, a distance of over one hundred and fifty 
 miles, accomplishing the trip both times inside of a 
 week. He never would allow a team to pass him. 
 It was customary in those days, particularly with 
 youngstei-s in the winter, to tuin out and run by, 
 
52 COUNTRY LTFE IN CANADA 
 
 and many such races I have had ; but the moment a 
 team turned put of the track to pass " Old Gray," he 
 was off like a shot, and you might as well try to 
 hold a locomotive with pins as him with an ordinary 
 bit. He was skittish, and often ran away. On one 
 occasion, when I was very young, he ran off with 
 father and myself in a single waggon. We were both 
 thrown out, and, our feet becoming entangled in the 
 lines, we were dragged some distance. The wheel 
 passed over my head, and cut it so that it bled freely, 
 but the wound was not serious. My father was 
 badly hurt. After a while we started for home, and 
 before we reached it the old scamp got frightened 
 at a log, and set off full tilt. Again father was 
 thrown out, and I tipped over on the bottom of the 
 waggon. Fortunately, the shafts gave way, and let 
 him loose, when he stopped. Father was carried 
 home, and did not leave the house for a long time. 
 I used to ride the self-willed beast to school in the win- 
 ter, and had great sport, sometimes, by getting boys on 
 behind me, and, when they were not thinking, I would 
 touch "Old (}ray" under the flank with my heel, 
 which would make him spring as though he were shot, 
 and off the boys would tumble in the snow. When I 
 

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FIFTY YEAllS AGO. 53 
 
 reached suliool I tied ui)thu reins and let him go home. 
 
 I do not think he ever had an et^ual for mischief, and 
 
 for the last years we had him we could do nothing 
 
 with him. He was perpetually getting' into the fields 
 
 of grain, and leading all the other cattle after him. We 
 
 used to hobble him in all sorts of ways, but he would 
 
 manage to push or rub down the fence at some weak 
 
 point, and unless his nose was fastened down almost to 
 
 the ground by a chain from his head to his hind leg, 
 
 he would let down the bars, or open all the gates about 
 
 the place. There was not a door about the barn but 
 
 he would open, if he could get at the latch, and if the 
 
 key was left in the granary door he would unlock 
 
 that. If left standing he was sure to get his head-stall 
 
 off, and we had to get a halter made specially for him. 
 
 He finally became such a perpetual torment that we 
 
 sold him, and we all had a good cry when the old 
 
 horse went away. He was upwards of twenty-five 
 
 years old at this time. How much longer he lived I 
 
 cannot say. I never saw him afterward. 
 
 As soon as the sun was well up, and our tasks about 
 the house over, our part of this new play in the hay- 
 field began, and with a fork or long stick we followed 
 up the swathes and spread them out nicely, so that 
 
54 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANAftA 
 
 the grass would dry. In the afternoon it had t(j be 
 raked up into vvinrows — work in which the girls often 
 joined us — and after tea one or two of tlie men cocked 
 it up, while we raked the ground clean after them. If 
 the weather was clear and dry it would bo left out for 
 several days before it was drawn into the barn or 
 stacked ; but often it was housed as soon as dry. 
 
 Another important matter which claimed the far- 
 mer's attention at this time was the preparation of his 
 summer-fallow for fall wheat. The ground was first 
 broken up after the spring sowing was over, and about 
 hay time the second ploughing had to be done, to de- 
 stroy weeds, and get the land in proper order. In 
 August the last ploughing came, and about the first 
 of September the wheat was sown. It almost always 
 happened, too, that there were some acres of wood- 
 land that had been chopped over for fire wood and 
 timber, to be cleaned up. Logs and bush had to be 
 collected into piles, and burned. On new farms this 
 was heavy woi-k. Then the timber was cut down, and 
 ruthlessly given over to the fire. Logging bees were 
 of frequent occurrence, when the neighbours turned 
 out with their oxen and logging chains, and, amid the 
 ring of the axf and the shouting of drivers and men 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 5-5 
 
 with their liandspikes, tlio groiit lo^^s were rolled one 
 upon another into huge heai)s, and loft for the tire 
 to eat them out of the way. When the work was 
 done, all hands proceeded to the house, grim and 
 black as a band of sweeps, wliere, witli coi)ious use 
 of soap and water, they brought themselves batdc to 
 their normal condition, and went in and did justice 
 to the supper prepared for them. 
 
 In August the wheat fields were rea<ly for the rea[)- 
 ers. This was the great crop of the year. Otlier 
 gi-ain was grown, such as rye, oats, peas, barley and 
 corn, but principally for feeding. Wheat was the far- 
 mer's main dependence, his staff or life and his current 
 coin. A good cradler would cut about five acres a day 
 and an expert with a rake would follow and bind up 
 what he cut. There were men who would literally 
 walk through the grain with a cradle, and then two 
 men were required to follow. My father had no su- 
 perior in swinging the cradle, and when the golden 
 grain stood thick and straight, he gave two smart men 
 all they could do to take up what he cut down. A<'ain 
 the younger fry came in for their share of the work, 
 which was to gather the sheaves and put them in 
 shocks. These, after standing a suflicient time, were 
 
oG COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 brought into tlie barn and mowed away, and again the 
 girls often gave a helping hand both in the field and 
 the barn. In all these tasks good work was expected. 
 My father was, as I have said before, a pushing man, and 
 " thorough " in all he undertook. His mottoes with his 
 men were, " Follow me," and " Anything that is worth 
 doing, is worth doing well ; " and this latter rule was 
 always enforced. The ploughers had to throw their 
 furrows neat and straidit. When I efot to be a strong 
 lad, I could strike a furrow with the old team across 
 a field as straight as an arrow, and I took pride in 
 throwing my furrows in uniform precision. The mow- 
 ers had to shear the land close and smooth. The 
 rakers threw their winrows straight, and the men 
 made their hay-cocks of a uniform size, and placed 
 them at equal distances apart. So in the grain field, 
 the stubble had to be cut clean and even, the sheaves 
 well bound and shocked in straijxht rows, with ten 
 sheaves to the shock. It was really a pleasure to in- 
 spect the fields when the work was done. Skill was 
 required to load well, and also to Uiow away, the 
 object being to get the greatest number of sheaves 
 in the smallest space. About the first of September 
 the crops were in and the barns Were filled and sur- 
 rounded with stacks of hay and grain. 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 57 
 
 My fatlier was admitted to be tlie best farmer in the 
 district. His farm was a model of good order and 
 neatness. He was one of the first to devote attention 
 to tlie impi'ovement of his stock, and was always on 
 the look-ont for impi'oved implements or nev ideas, 
 which, if worthy of attention, he was the first to 
 utilize. 
 
 There is always something- for a pushing farmer to 
 do, and there are always rainy days through the sea- 
 son, when out-door work comes to a stand. At such 
 times my father was almost always found in his work- 
 shop, making pails or tubs for the liouse, or repair- 
 ing liis tools or making new ones. At other times 
 he would turn his attention to dressing the flax he had 
 stowed away, and getting it ready for spinning. The 
 linen for bags, as well as for the house, was then all 
 home-made. It could hardily be expected that with 
 such facilities at hand my ingenuity would not develop. 
 One day I observed a pot of red paint on the work- 
 bench, ana it struck me that the tools would look 
 nuich better if I gave them a coat of paint. The 
 thought was hardly conceived before it was put into 
 execution, and in a short time planes, saws, augers, &c., 
 were carefully coated over and set aside to dry. Fa- 
 
o8 COUNTRY LTFE IN CANADA 
 
 thor (lid nut sec tlic tiling" in tlio same Y\y;]\t as I did. 
 He was very n»U(;li (lispluased, and I was punished. 
 After this I turned my attention to water-wheels, 
 waggons, boats, boxes, kc, and in Lime got to be (piito 
 an expert with tools, and could make almost any- 
 thing out of wood. We children, although we had 
 to drive cows, feed the calves, bring in wood, and all 
 that, had our amusements, simple and rustic enouo-h 
 it is true ; but we enjoyed them, and all the more be- 
 cause our parents very often entered into our play. 
 
 Sunday was a day of enjoyment as well as rest. 
 There were but few places of public worship, and those 
 were generally far apart. In most places the school- 
 house or barn served the purpose. There were two 
 meeting-houses — this was the terra always used then for 
 places of worshi]) — a few miles from our place on Ha}'- 
 bay. The Methodist meeting-house was the tirst place 
 built for public worship in Upper (^*anada, and was 
 used for that purpose until a few years ago. It now 
 belongs to Mr. Piatt, and is used as a storehouse. The 
 other, a Quaker meeting-house, built some years later, 
 is still standing. It was used as a barrack by the 
 Glengarry regiment in 1812, a part of which regiment 
 was quartered in the neighbourhood during that year. 
 
fIFTY YEARS AGO. 59 
 
 The men left tlieir bayonet-iiiaiks in the old posts. 
 On Sunday morning the horses were brought up and 
 put to the lumber waggon, the only cai'riago known 
 then. The family, all arrayed in tlieir Sunday clothes 
 arranged themselves in the spacious vehicle, and drove 
 away. At that time, and for a good many years 
 after, whether in the school-house or meeting-house, 
 the men sat on one side and the women on the other, 
 in all places of worship. The sacred bond which had 
 been instituted by the Creator Himself in the Garden 
 of Eden, " Therefore shall a man leave his father and 
 mother, and cleave to his wife ; and they shall be 
 one flesh," did not seem to harmonize with that cus- 
 tom, for when they went up to His house they sep- 
 arated at the door. It would have been thought a very 
 improper thing, even for a married couple, to take a 
 seat side by side. Indeed I am inclined to think that 
 the good brothers and sisters would have put them 
 out of doors. So deeply rooted are the prejudices in 
 matters of religious belief. That they are the most 
 difficult to remove, the history of the past confirms 
 through all ages. This custom prevailed for many 
 years, after. When meeting was over it was customary 
 to go to some friend's to dinner, and make, as used 
 
CO COUNTllY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 to be saitl, a visit, or, wliat was equally as pleasant, 
 father or mother would ask some old ac(|uaiiitances 
 to come home with us, Sunday in all seasons, and 
 moi-e particiilarly in the summer, was the grand vis- 
 iting day with old and young. I do not state this 
 out of any disrespect for the Sabbath. I think I vene- 
 rate it as much as anyone, but I am simply recording 
 facts as they then existed. The people at that time, as 
 a rule, were not religious, but they were moral, and 
 anxious for greater religious advantages. There were 
 not many preachers, and these had such extended fields 
 of labour that their appointments were irregular, and 
 often, like angels' visits, few and far between. They 
 could not ignore their social instincts altogether, and 
 tliis was the only day when the toil and moil of work 
 was put aside. They first went to meeting, when there 
 was any, and devoted the rest of the day to friendly in- 
 tercourse and enjoyment. People used to come to Metho- 
 dist meeting for miles, and particularly on quarterly 
 meeting day. On one of these occasions, fourteen young 
 people who were crossing the bay in a skiff, on their 
 way to the meeting, were upset near the shoi 3 and 
 drowned. Some years later the missionary m xting 
 possessed great attraction, when a deputation composed 
 
F.FTY YEARS AGO. Gl 
 
 of Egeiton Ryerson anJ Peter Jones, the latter with his 
 Indian curiosities, <h'ew tlie people in such numbers 
 that half of them could not i,'et into the house. 
 
 There were a good many Quakers, and as my father's 
 people belonged to that body we fi-equently went to 
 their meeting. The broad brims on one side, with the 
 scoop bonnets on the othei', used to excite my curiosity, 
 but I did not like to sit still so long. Sometimes not a 
 word would be said, and after an hour of profound 
 silence, two of the old men on one of the upper seats 
 would shake hands. Then a general shaking of hands 
 ensued on both sides of the house, and meeting was 
 out. 
 
 Many readers will recall gentle Charles Laml)'s 
 thoughtful paper on " A Quakers' Meeting."* Several 
 of his reflections i-ise up so vividly before me as I write 
 these lines that I cannot forbear quoting them. " What," 
 he asks, "is the stillness of the desert, compared with 
 this place ? what the uiicoiuniuiiicating muteness of 
 fishes 1- — here the goddess reigns and revels. — ' Boreas, 
 and Cesias, and Argestes loud,' do not with their inter- 
 confounding uproars more augment i\M\ bnuvl — nor the 
 waves of the blown Baltic with their clublie(l sounds 
 
 See Fxsaiis of Ella, 
 
62 f!OUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 — than their opposite (Silence her sacred self) Is multi- 
 plied and rendered more intense by numbers, and by 
 sympathy. She too hath her deeps, that call unto 
 deeps. Negation itself hath a positive more and less ; 
 and closed eyes would seem to obscure the great obscu- 
 rity of midnight. 
 
 " There are wounds which an imperfect solitude can- 
 not Ileal. By imperfect I mean that which a man en- 
 joyeth by himself. The perfect is that which he can 
 sometimes attain in crowds, but nowhere so absolutely 
 as in a Quakers' Meeting. — Those first hermits did cer- 
 tainly understand this jjrinciple, when they retired 
 into Egyptian solitudes, not singly, but in shoals, to 
 enjoy one another's want of conversation. The Car- 
 thusian is bound to his brethren by this agreeing spirit 
 of iucommunicativeness. In secular occasions, what so 
 pleasant as to be reading a book through n. long winter 
 evening, with a friend sitting by — say a wife — he, or 
 she, too (if that bo probable), reading another, without 
 interruption, or oral communication ? — can there be no 
 sympathy without the gabble of words ? — away with 
 this inhuman, shy, single, shade-and-cavern haunting 
 solitariness. Give me. Master Zimmerman, a sympa- 
 thetic solitude. 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 63 
 
 " To pace alon(! in. tlie cloisters, or side aisles of some 
 cathedral, time-stricken ; 
 
 Or under hanging mountains, 
 Ur by the fall of fountaina ; 
 
 is but a vulgar luxuiy, compared with that which 
 those enjoy who come together for the purposes of more 
 complete, abstracted solitude. This is the loneliness 
 • to bo felt.' The Abbey Church of Westminster hath 
 nothing so solemn, so spirit-soothing, as the naked 
 walls and benches of a Quakers' Meeting. Here are no 
 tombs, no inscriptitms, 
 
 Sands, ignoble things, 
 
 Dropt from the ruined sides of kings — 
 
 but here is sometlrng which throws Aiiti([uity herself 
 into the foreground — Silence — eldest of things — lan- 
 guage of old Night— primitive Discourser — to which 
 the insolent decays of mouldering grandeur have but 
 arrived by a violent, and, as we mny say, \mnatural 
 progression. 
 
 How reverend is the view of these hushed heads. 
 Looking tranquillity ! 
 
 " Nothing-plotting, nought-caballing, unmischicvous 
 synod ! convocation without intrigue ! parliament with- 
 
•!> COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 out debate ! what a lesson dost thou read to council 
 and to consistory ! — if my pen treat of you lightly — as 
 haply it will wander — yet my spirit hath gravely felt 
 the wisdom of your custom, when sitting among you 
 in deepest peace, which some outwelling tears would 
 rather confirm than disturb, I have reverted to the 
 times of your beginnings, and the sowings of the seed 
 by Fox and|Dewesbury. — I have witnessed that which 
 brought before my eyes your heroic tranquillity, in- 
 flexible to the rude jests and serious violences of the 
 insolent soldiery, republican or royalist sent to molest 
 you — for ye sate betwixt the fires of two persecutions, 
 the outcast and off'-scouring of church and presbytery. 
 — I have seen the reeling sea-rufl[ian, who had wandered 
 into your receptacle with the avowed intention of dis- 
 turbing your quiet, from the very spirit of the place 
 receive in a moment a new heart, and presently sit 
 among ye as a lainb amidst lambs. And I remember 
 Penn before his accusers, and Fox in tlio bail-dock, 
 where he was lifted up in spirit, as he tells us, and 
 ' the judge and the jury became as dead men under his 
 feet; " 
 
 Our old family carriage — the lumbering waggon — 
 revives many pleasant recollections. Many long rides 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 65 
 
 were taken in it, both to mill and market, and, some- 
 times I have curled myself up, and slept far into the 
 night in it while waiting for my grist to be ground so 
 I could take it home. But it was not used by the 
 young folks as sleighs were in the winter. It was a 
 staid, family vehicle, not suited to mirth or love-mak- 
 ing. It was too noisy for that, and on a rough road, 
 no very uncommon thing then, one was shaken up so 
 thoroughly that there was but little room left for sen- 
 timent. In later times, lighter and much more comfort- 
 able vehicles were used. The elliptic or steel spring 
 did not come into use until about 1840. I remember 
 my grandfather starting off for New York in one of 
 these light one-horse waggons. I do not know how 
 long he was gone, but he made the journey, and 
 returned safely. Long journej's by land were made, 
 principally in summer, on horseback, both by men 
 and women. The horse was also the young peoples' 
 only vehicle at this season of the year. The girls 
 wei'e usually gootl riders, and could gallop away as 
 well on the bare back as on the side-saddle, A female 
 cousin of my father's several times made journeys of 
 from one to two hundred miles on horseback, and on 
 one occasion she carried her infant son for a hundred 
 
66 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 and fifty miles, a feat the women of to-day would 
 conrider impossible. ; - » 
 
 Then, as now, the early fall was not the least pleas- 
 ant portion of the Canadian year. Everyone is familiar 
 wilih the striking beauty of our woods after the frost 
 begins, and the endless variety of shade and colour that 
 mingles with such pleasing effect in every landscape. 
 And in those days, as well as now, the farmers' attention 
 was directed to preparation for the coming winter. 
 His market staples then consisted of wheat or flour, 
 pork and potash. The other products of his farm, 
 such . as coarse grain, were used by himself. Butter 
 and eggs were almost valueless, save on his own table. 
 The skins of his sheep, calves and beef cattle which 
 were slaughtered for his own use, were sent to the 
 tanners, who dressed them on shares, the remainder 
 . being brought home to be made up into boots, harness 
 and mittens. Wood, which afterwards came into 
 demand for steam purposes, was worthless. Sawn 
 • lumber was not wanted, except for home use, and the 
 shingles that covered the buildings were split and 
 made by the farmer himself. 
 
 If the men had logging-bees, and other bees to help 
 them on with their work, the women, by way of com- 
 
H 
 
 .FIFTY TEARS AGO. . 67 
 
 pensation, had bees of a more social and agreeable 
 type. Among these were quilting bees, when the 
 women and girls of the neighbourhood assembled in 
 the afternoon, and turned out those skilfully and 
 often artistically made rugs, so comfortable to lie 
 under during the cold winter nights. There w^as often 
 a great deal of sport at the close of one of these social 
 industrial gatherings. "When the men came in from 
 the iield to supper, some luckless wight was sure to 
 be caught, and tossed up and down in the quilt amid 
 the laughter and shouts of the company. But of all 
 the bees, the apple -bee was the chief. In these old 
 and young joined. The boys around the neighbour- 
 hood, with their home-made apple-machines, of all 
 shapes and designs, would come pouring in with their 
 girls early in the evening. The large kitchen, with 
 its sanded floor, the split bottomed chairs ranged round 
 the room, the large tubs of apples, and in the centre 
 the clean scrubbed pine table filled with wooden 
 trays and tallow- candles in tin candlesticks, made an 
 attractive picture which had for its setting the mother 
 and girls, all smiles and good nature, receiving and 
 pleasing the company. Mow the work begins amidst 
 laughter and mirth ; the boys toss the peeled apples 
 
COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 away from their machines in rapid numbers, and the 
 giria catch them, and with tlieir knives quarter and 
 core them, while others string them with needles on 
 long threads, and tie them so that they can be hung up 
 to dry. As soon as the work is done the room is 
 cleared fur supper, after which the old folks retire, and 
 the second and moat pleasing part of the performance 
 begins. These after-scenes were always entered into 
 with a spirit of fun and honest abandonment truly 
 refreshing. Where dancing was not objected to, a 
 rustic fiddler would be spirited in by some of the 
 youngsters as the sport began. The dance was not 
 that languid sort of thing, toned down by modern 
 refinement to a sliding, easy motion round the room, 
 and which, for the lack of conversational accomplish- 
 ments, is made to do duty for want of wit. Full of 
 life and vigour, they danced for the real fun of the 
 thing. The quick and inspiriting strains of the music 
 sent them spinning round the room, and amid the 
 rush and whirl of the flying feet came the sharp 
 voice of the fiddler as he flourished his bow : " Right 
 and left — balance to your pardner — cross hands — 
 swing your pardner — up and down the middle," and 
 so on through reel after reel. Some one of the boys 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 
 
 6D 
 
 woul<l perfo.im a pas seul with more energy than 
 grace ; but it was all the same— the dancing master 
 had not been abroad ; the fiddler put life into their 
 heels, and they let them play. Frequently there 
 was no musician to be had, when the difficulty 
 was overcome by the musical voices of the girls, 
 assisted with combs covered with paper, or the shrill 
 notes of some expert at whistling. It often happened 
 that the old people objected to dancing, and then the 
 company resorted to plays, of which there was a great 
 variety: "Button, button, who's got the button;". 
 " Measuring Tape ; " " Going to Rome ; " " Ladies Slip- 
 per;" all pretty much of the same character, and 
 much appreciated by the boys, because they afforded 
 a chance to kiss the girls. 
 
 Some of our plays bordered very closely on a dance, 
 and when our inclinations were checked, we approached 
 the margin of the forbidden ground as nearly as possible. 
 Amonsr these I remember one which afforded an 
 opportunity to swing around in a merry way, A 
 chair was placed in the centre of the room, upon which 
 one of the girls or boys was seated. Then we joined 
 hands, and went dancing around singing the following 
 elegant refrain : — 
 
70 COUNTRY rjPi5 IN CANADA. 
 
 There was a young wonnn sat down to sleep, . 
 
 Sat down to sleep, sat down to sleep ; 
 There was a young woman sat down to sleep. 
 
 Heigh- ho ! Heigh-ho ! Heigh-ho ! 
 
 There was a you)ig man to keep her awake, 
 To keep her awake, to keep her awake ; 
 
 There was a young man to keep her awake, 
 Heigh-ho ! Heigh-ho ! Heigh-ho ! 
 
 Tom Brown his name shall be. 
 
 His name shall be, his name shall be ; 
 
 Tom Brown his name shall be, , 
 
 Heigh-ho ! Heigh-hc* ! Heigh-ho ! 
 /■ 
 
 Whereupon Mr. Brown was expected to step out, take 
 the girl by the hand, salute her with a kiss, and 
 then take her seat. Then the song went on again, 
 with variations to suit ; jind thus the rustic mazurka 
 proceeded until all had had a chance of tasting the rosy 
 lips, so tempting to youthful swains. Often a coy 
 maiden resisted, and then a pleasant scuffle ensued, in 
 which she sometimes eluded the penalty, much to the 
 chagrin of the claimant. 
 
 t ^ 
 
 
t'iFTY YEARS AGO. 7l 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 PROGRESS, MATBRIAl AND SOCIAL— FONDNESS OF THB YOUNG 
 FOR DANCING — MAGISTERIAL NUPTIALS— THB CHARIVARI — 
 COON-HUNTIN(S — CATCHING A TARTAR— WILD PIGEONS— THE 
 OLD DUTCH HOUSES— DELIGHTS OF SUMMER AND WINTER CON- 
 TRASTED—STILLED VOICES. , •■ ■ 
 
 AS time wore on, and contact with the outer world 
 became easier and more frequent, the refinements 
 of advancing civilization found their way gradually into 
 the country, and changed the amusements as well as the 
 long-established habits of the people. An isolated com- 
 munity like that which stretched along the frontier of 
 our Province, cut oft' from the older and more advanced 
 stages of society, or holding but brief and irrogiilar 
 communication with it, could not be expected to keep 
 up with the march of either social or intellectual 
 improvement ; and although the modern may turn up 
 his nose as he looks back, and affect contempt at the 
 amusements which fell across our paths like gleatfs 
 of sunlight at the break of day, and call them i*ude 
 and indelicate, he must not forget that we were not 
 hed<yed about by conveiitionalities, nor were we 
 
COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 slaves to the caprice of fasliion. We were free sons 
 and daughters of an upright, sturdy parentage, with 
 pure and honest hearts throbbing under rough exteriors. 
 The girls who did not blush at a hearty kiss from 
 our lips were as pure as the snow. They became orna- 
 ments in higher and brighter circles of society, and 
 mothers, the savour of whose virtues and maternal 
 affection rise before our memory like a perpetual 
 incense. 
 
 I am quite well aware of the fact that a large portion 
 of the religious world is opposed to dancing, nor in 
 thic recital of country life as it then existed do I wish 
 to be considered an advocate of this amusement. I 
 joined in the sport then with as much eagerness and 
 delight as one could do. I learned to step off on the 
 light fantastic toe, as many another Canadian boy has 
 done, on the barn floor, where, with the doors shut, I 
 went sliding up and dow^n, through the middle, bal- 
 ancing to the pitch-fork, turning round the old fanning- 
 mill, then double-shuffling and closing with a profound 
 bow to the splint broom in the corner. These were the 
 kind of schools in which our accomplishments were 
 learned, and, whether dancing be right or wrong, it is 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 73 
 
 certain the inclination of the young to indulge in it is 
 about as universal as the taint of sin. 
 
 The young people then, as now, took it into their 
 heads to get married ; but parsons were scarce, and it 
 did not always suit them to wait until one came along. 
 To remedy this difficulty the Government authorized 
 magistrates to perform the ceremony for any couple 
 who resided more than eighteen miles from church. 
 There were hardly any churches, and therefore a good 
 many called upon the Justice to put a finishing touch 
 to their happiness, and curious looking pairs presented 
 themselves to have the knot tied. One morninga robust 
 young man and a pretty, blushing girl presented them- 
 selves at my father's door, and were invited in. They 
 were strangers, and it was sometime before he could 
 find out what they wanted ; but after beating about 
 the bush, the young man hesitatingly said they wanted 
 to get married. They were duly tied, and, on leaving, I 
 •was asked to join in their wedding dinner. Though it 
 was to be some distance away, I mounted my horse and 
 joined them. The dinner was good, and served in the 
 plain fashion of the day. After it came dancing, to the 
 music of a couple of fiddlers, and we threaded through 
 reel after reel until nearly daylight. Oa another 
 
74 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 occasion a goodly company gathered at a neighbour's 
 house to assist at the nuptials of his daughter. The 
 ceremony had passed, and we were collected around the 
 supper table; the old man had spread out his hands to 
 ask a blessing, when bang, bang, went a lot of guns, 
 accompanied by horns, whistles, tin pans and anything 
 and everything with which a noise could be made. A 
 simultaneous shriek went up from the girls, and for a 
 few moments the confusion was as great inside as out. 
 It was a horrid din of discordant sounds. Conversation 
 at the supper table was out of tho question, and as soon 
 as it was over we went out among the boys who had 
 come to charivari us. There were perhaps fifty of 
 them, with blackened faces and ludicrous dresses, and 
 after the bride and bridegroom had shown themselves 
 and received their congratulations, they went their 
 way, and left us to enjoy ourselves in peace. It was 
 after this manner the young folks wedded. There was 
 but little attempt at display. No costly trousseau, no 
 wedding tours. A night of enjoyment with friends, 
 and the young couple set out at once on the practical 
 journey of life. 
 
 One of our favourite sports in those days was coon 
 (short name for raccoon) hunting. This lasted only 
 
• FIFTY YEARS AGO. T6 
 
 during the time of gieen corn. The raccoon is particu- 
 larly fond of corn before it hardens, and if unmolested 
 will destroy a good deal in a short time. He always 
 visits the cornfields at night ; so about nine o'clock we 
 would set off with our dogs, trained for the purpose, 
 and with as little noise as possible make our way to 
 the edge of the corn, and then wait for him. If the 
 field was not too large he could easily be heard break- 
 ing down the ears, and then the dogs were let loose. 
 They cautiously and silently crept towards the unsus- 
 pecting foe. But the sharp ears and keen scent of the 
 raccoon seldom let him fall into the clutch of the dogs 
 without a scamper for life. The coon was almost al- 
 ways near the woods, and this gave him a chance of 
 escape. As soon as a yelp was heard from the dogs, 
 we knew the fun had begun, and pushing forward in 
 the direction of the noise, we were pretty sure to find 
 our dogs baffled and jumping and barking around the 
 foot of a tree up which Mr. Coon had fled, and whence 
 he was quietly looking down on his pursuers from a 
 limb or crutch. Our movements now were guided by 
 circumstances. If the tree was not too large, one of us 
 would climb it and dislodge the coon. In the other case 
 we generally cut it down. The dogs were always on the 
 
76 COUNTRY LIFE tif CANADA 
 
 alert, and the moment the coon touched the ground they 
 were on him. We used frequently to capture two or 
 three in a night. The skin was dressed and made into 
 caps or robes for the sleigh. On two or three of these 
 expeditions, our dogs caught a Tartar by running 
 foul of a coon not so easily disposed of — in the 
 shape of a bear ; and then we were both glad to de- 
 camp, as he was rather too big a job to undertake in 
 the night. Bruin was fond of young corn, but he and 
 the wolves had ceased to be troublesome. The latter 
 occasionally made a raid on a flock of sheep in the win- 
 ter, but they were watched pretty closely, and were 
 trapped or shot. There was a government bounty of 
 $4i for every wolfs heud. Another, and much more 
 innocent sport, was netting wild pigeons after the 
 wheat had been taken off. At that time they used to 
 visit the stubbles in large flocks. Our mode of pro- 
 cedure was to build a house of boughs under which to 
 hide ourselves. Then the ground was carefully cleaned 
 and sprinkled with grain, at one side of which the net 
 was se J, and in the centre one stool pigeon, secured on 
 a perch was placed, attached to which was a long string 
 running into the house. When all was ready we re- 
 tired and watched for the flying pigeons, and when- 
 
FIFTY YEABS AGO. 
 
 W 
 
 ever a flock came within a seeing distance our stool 
 pigeon was raised and then dropped. This would 
 cause it to spread its wings and then flutter, which at- 
 tracted the flying birds, and after a circle or two they 
 would swoop down and commence to feed. Then the 
 net was sprung, and in a trice we had scores of 
 pigeons under it. I do not remember to have seen this 
 method of capturing pigeons practised since. If we 
 captured many we took them home, put them where 
 they could not get away, and took them out as we 
 wanted them. 
 
 At the time of which I write Upper Canada had 
 been settled about forty-five years. A good many of 
 the first settlers had ended their labours, and were 
 peacefully resting in the quiet grave-yard; but there 
 were many left, and they were generally hale old peo- 
 ple, who were enjoying in contentment and peace the 
 evening of their days, surrounded by their children, 
 who were then in their prime, and their grandchildren, 
 ruddy and vigorous plants, shooting up rapidly around 
 them. The years that had fled were eventful ones, not 
 only to themselves, but to the new country which they 
 had founded. " The little one had become a thousand, 
 and a small one a strong nation." The forest had melted 
 
78 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 away before the force of their industry, and orchards 
 with their russet fruit, and fields of waving corn, glad- 
 dened their hearts and filled their cellars and barns 
 with abundance. The old log house which had been 
 their shelter and their home for many a year had 
 disappeared, or was converted into an out-house for 
 cattle, or a place for keeping implements in during the 
 winter ; and now the commodious and well-arranged 
 frame one had taken its place. Large barns for their 
 increasing crops and warm sheds to protect the cattle 
 had grown up out of the rude hovels and stables. 
 Everything around them betokened thrift, and more 
 than an ordinary degree of comfort. They had what 
 must be pronounced to have been, for the time, good 
 schools, where their children could acquire a tolerable 
 education. They also had places in which they could 
 assemble and worship God. There were merchants 
 from whom they could purchase such articles as they 
 required, and there were markets for their produce. 
 The changes wrought in these forty-five years were 
 wonderful, and to no class of persons could these 
 changes seem more surprising than to themselves. 
 Certainly no people appreciated more fully the rich 
 ripe fruit of their toil. Among the pleasantest pic- 
 
FIPTT TEARS AGO. 79 
 
 tures I can recall are the old homes in which my 
 boyhood was passed. I hardly know in what style 
 of architecture they were built; indeed, I think it 
 was one peculiar to the people and the age. They 
 were strong, substantial structures, erected with an 
 eye to comfort rather than show. They were known 
 afterwards as Dutch houses, usually one story high, 
 and built pietty much after the same model ; a 
 parallelogram, with a wing at one end, and often to 
 both. The roofs were very steep, with a row of dor- 
 mer windows, and sometimes two rows looking out 
 of their broad sides, to give light to the chambers and 
 sleeping rooms up-stairs. The living rooms were 
 generally lar^e, with low ceilings, and well supplied 
 with cupboards, which were always filled with blankets 
 and clothing, dishes, and a multitude of good things 
 for the table. The bed rooms were always small and 
 cramped, but they were sure to contain a good bed — 
 a bed which required some ingenuity, perhaps, to get 
 into, owing to its height ; but when once in, the great 
 feather tick fitted kindly to the weary body, and the 
 blankets over you soon wooed your attention away from 
 the narrowness of the apartment. Very often the roof 
 projected over, giving an elliptic shape to one side, and 
 
80 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 the projection of about six feet formed a cover of what 
 was then called a long stoop, but which now-a-days 
 would be known as a veranda. This was no addition 
 to the lighting of the rooms, for the windows were 
 always small in size and few in number. The kitchen 
 usually had a double outside door — that is a door cut 
 cross-wise through the middle, so that the lower part 
 could be kept shut, and the upper left open if necessary. 
 I do not know what particular object there was in this, 
 unless to let the smoke out, for chimneys were more 
 apt to smoke then than now ; or, perhaps, to keep the 
 youngsters in and let in fresh air. Whatever the ob- 
 ject was, this was the usual way the outside kitchen 
 door was made, with a wooden latch and leather string 
 hanging outside to lift it, which was easily pulled in, 
 and then the door was quite secure against intruders. 
 The bams and out-houses were curiosities in after 
 years: large build ngs with no end of timber and all 
 roof, like a great box with an enormous candle extin- 
 guisher set on it. But houses and Lams are gone, and 
 modern structures occupy their f)laces, as they suc- 
 ceeded the rough log ones, and one can only see them 
 as they are photographed upon the memory. 
 
FiFl-Y YEARS AGO. Sl 
 
 teftrly days are always bright to life's voyager, and 
 whatever his condition may have been at the out- 
 set, he is ever wont to look back with fondness to 
 the scenes of his youth. I can recall days of toil 
 under a burning sun, but they were cheerful days, 
 nevertheless. There was always "a bright spot in 
 the future " to look forward to, which moved the arm 
 and lightened the task. Youth is buoyant, and if its 
 feet run in the way of obedience, it will leave a sweet 
 fragrance behind, which will never lose its flavour. 
 The days I worked in the harvest field, or when I fol- 
 lowed the plough, whistling and singing through the 
 hours, are not the least happy recollections of the past. 
 The merry song of the girls, mingling with the hum of 
 the spinning-wheel, as they tripped backward and for- 
 ward to the cadence of their music, drawing out miles 
 of thread, reeling it into skeins which the weaver's 
 loom and shuttle was to turn into thick heavy cloth ; 
 or old grandmother treading away at her little wheel, 
 making it buzz as she drew 'out the delicate fibres of 
 flax, and let it run up the spindle a fine and evenly 
 twisted thread, with which to sew our garments, or to 
 make our linen; and mother, busy as a bee, thinking 
 
 of us all, and never wearying in her endeavours to add 
 F 
 
82 COUNTRY Llf-E IN CANADA 
 
 to our comfort — tliese are pictures that stand out, clear 
 and distinct, and are often reverted to with pleasure 
 and delight. But though Pumnier time in the country 
 is bright and beautiful with its broad meadows waving 
 before the western wind like seas of green, and the 
 yellow corn, gleaming in the field where the sun-burnt 
 reapers are singing; though the flowers shed their 
 fragrance, and the breeze sighs softly through the 
 branches overhead in monot^ines, but slightly varied, 
 yet sweet and soothing; though the wood is made 
 vocal with the song of birds, and all nature is jocund 
 and bright— notwithstanding, all this, the winter, 
 strange as it may seem, was the time of our greatest 
 enjoyment. Winter, when " Old Gray," who used to 
 scamper with me astride his bare back down the lane, 
 stood munching his fodder in the stall ; when the cat- 
 tle, no longer lolling or browsing in the peaceful shade, 
 moved around the barn-yard with humped backs, 
 shaking their heads at the cold north wind ; when the 
 trees were stripped of their loliage, and the icicles 
 hung in fantastic rows along the naked branches, glit- 
 tering like jewels in the sunshine, or rattling in the 
 northern blast ; when the oT^mnd was covered deep 
 with snow, and the 'wind "driving o'er the fields," 
 
 
 
FIFTY YEAilS AGO. > SS 
 
 whirled into huge drifts, blocking up the doors and 
 paths and roads ; when , r. r 
 
 " The whited air 
 Hides hills and woods, the river and the heaven, 
 And veils the farm-house at the garden's end ; " 
 
 when the frost silvered over the window-panes, or 
 crept through the cracks and holes, and fringed theui 
 with its delicate fret- work ; when the storm raged and 
 howled without, and 
 
 " Shook beams and rafters as it passed ! " 
 
 Within, happy faces were gathered around the blazing 
 logs in the old lire-place. 
 
 " Shut in from all the world without, 
 We sat the clean-winged hearth about, 
 Content to let the north wind roar, 
 In baffled rage at pane and door, 
 While the red logs before us beat 
 The frost line back with tropic heat." 
 
 The supper has been cleared away, and upon the 
 clean white table is placed a large dish of apples and 
 a pitcher of cider. On either end stands a tallow 
 candle in a bright brass candlestick, with an extin- 
 guisher attached to each, and the indispensable snuf- 
 fers and tray. Sometimes the fingers are made use of 
 in the place of the snuffers ; but it is not always satis- 
 
S4 ' Country li^e m cai^aDA 
 
 factory to the snuffer, as he sometimes burns himself, 
 and hastens to snap his fingers to get rid of the burn- 
 ing wick. One of the candles is appropriated by- 
 father, who is quietly reading his paper ; for we had 
 newspapers then, though they would not compare very 
 favourably with those of to-day, and we got them only 
 once a week. Mother is darning socks. Grandmother 
 is making the knitting needles fly, as though all her 
 grandchildren were stockingless. The girls are sewing 
 and making merry with the boys, and we are deeply 
 engaged with our lessons, or what is more likely, 
 playing fox and geese. 
 
 " What matters how the night behaved ; 
 What matter how the north-wind raved ; 
 Blow high, blow low, not all its snow 
 Could quench our ruddy hearth-lire's glow. 
 
 O time and change ! with hair as gray 
 
 As was my sire's that winter day, 
 
 How strange it seems, with so much gone 
 
 Of life and love, to still live on ! 
 
 Ah brother.! only I and thou 
 
 Are left of all the circle now — 
 
 The dear home faces whereupon 
 
 The fitful fire-light paled and shone, 
 
 Henceforth, listen as we will. 
 
 The voices of that hearth are still. " 
 
FIFTY TEARS AGO. 
 
 •6 
 
 . CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE EARLY SETTLERS IN UPPER CANADA— PROSPERITY, NATIONAL 
 AND INDIVIDUAL— THE OLD HOMES, WITHOUT AND WITHIN — 
 CANDLE-MAKINO — SUPERSTITIONS AND OMENS— THE DEATH- 
 WATCH — OLD ALMANAC'S— EE£S — THE DIVINING ROD — THE U. E. 
 LOYALISTS — THEIR SUFFERINGS AND HEROISM — AN OLD AND A 
 NEW PRICE LIST — PRIMITIVE HOROLOGES — A JAUNT IN ONE 
 OF THE CONVENTIONAL " CARRIAGES " OF OLDEN TIMES— THEN 
 AND NOW — A NOTE OF WARNING. 
 
 THE settlement of Ontario, known up to the time of 
 Confederation as the Province of Upper Can- 
 ada, or Canada West, began in 1784, so that at the 
 date I purpose to make a brief survey of the condition 
 and progress of the country, it had been settled forty - 
 six years. During those years — no insignificant period 
 in a single life, but very small indeed in the history of a 
 country — the advance in national prosperity and in the 
 various items that go to make life pleasant and happy 
 had been marvellous. The muscular arm of the sturdy 
 pioneer had hewn its way into the primeval forest, and 
 turned the gloomy wilderness into fruitful fields. 
 
 It is well known that the first settlers located along 
 the shores of the River St. Lawrence, the Bay of 
 
86 COUNTRY LTPE IN CANADA 
 
 Quints, Lake Ontario, and Lake Erie, and that, at the 
 time of which I speak, this coastline of a few hundred 
 miles, extending back but a very short distance — a long 
 narrow strip cut from the serried edge of the bound- 
 less woods — comprised the settlement of Canada West 
 as it then existed. Persistent hard work had placed 
 the majority in circumstances of more than ordinaiy 
 comfort. Good houses had taken the place of log 
 cabins, and substantial frame barns that of rude hovels. 
 Hard fare and scanty raiment had given place to an 
 abundance of the necessaries of life, and no people, 
 perhaps, ever appreciated these blessings with more 
 sincere thankfulness or more hearty contentment. The 
 farmer was a strong, hardy man, the wife a ruddy, 
 cheerful body, careful of the comforts of her house- 
 hold. One table sufficed for themselves and their 
 servants or hired help. Meat was provided twice 
 and often thrice a day ; it being more a matter of 
 taste than economy as to the number of times it was 
 served. Fruit was abundant, and every matron prided 
 herself upon preserving and putting away quantities 
 of it for home use. So that at this time the world 
 was moving smoothly with the people. An immense 
 track of wilderness had been reclaimed, and waving 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 87 
 
 fields and fruitful orchards occupied its place. It may 
 have seemed to them, and indeed I think it did to inany, 
 that the sum of all they could expect or even desire in 
 this world had been attained ; while we, who remem- 
 ber those days, and look back over the changes of 
 fifty years, wonder how they managed to endure life 
 
 at all. ^ 
 
 I It is true that the father, more from the force of 
 
 t. 
 
 habit than necessity, perhaps, continued to toil in the 
 field, and the mother, moved by the same cause, and 
 I by her maternal anxiety for the well-being of her family, 
 
 still spent many a long hour at the loom. The son, 
 brought up to work, followed the plough, or did battle 
 with the axe, making the woods ring with his rapid 
 strokes. And as he laboured he pictured to himself 
 the building of a nest in the unbroken forest behind 
 the homestead, wherein the girl of his choice figured 
 as the central charm. The daughter who toiled through 
 the long summer's day to the monotonous hum of the 
 spinning wheel, drawing out and twisting the threads 
 that should enter into the make-up of her wedding 
 outfit, was contented and happy. The time and cir- 
 cqmstances in which they were placed presented noth- 
 
88 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 ing better, and in their estimation the world had little 
 more to offer than they already possessed. 
 
 It is more than probable that if we, with our modern 
 notions and habits, could to-day be carried back into a 
 similar condition of life, we would feel that our lines 
 had fallen in anything but pleasant places. The flying 
 years, with their changes and anxieties, like the con- 
 stant dripping of water on a stone, have worn off the 
 rough edges that wounded and worried during their 
 progress, and only the sunny spots, burned in the 
 plastic memory of yoi^.nger days, remain. 
 
 The old homes, as I remember them in those days, 
 were thought palatial in their proportions and con- 
 veniences, and so they were as compared with the old 
 log houses. The latter often still remained as relics 
 of other days, but they had been converted into the 
 base use of a cow stable, or a shelter for waggons and 
 farm implements during the winter. Their successors 
 were, with very few exceptions, wooden structures, 
 clap- boarded, and painted either yellow or red. The 
 majority, however, never received any touching up from 
 the painter's brush, and as the years rolled on became 
 rusty and gray from the beating of winter's storms and 
 the heat of summer's sun. The interior rarely displayed 
 
i 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 89 
 
 any skill in arrangement or design. The living rooms 
 were generally of goodly size, with low ceilings, but the 
 sleoTci ng rooms were invariably small, with barely room 
 enough for a large high-posted bedstead, and a space 
 to undress in. The exterior was void of any archi- 
 tectural embellishment, with a steep roof pierced by 
 dormer windows. The kitchen, which always seemed 
 to me like an after-thought, was a much lower part of 
 the structure, welded on one end or the other of the 
 main body of the house, and usually had a roof pro- 
 jecting some distance over one side, forming "the 
 stoop." In very many cases, the entrance to the 
 spacious cellar, where the roots, apples, cider, and 
 other needs of the household were kept, was from this 
 through a trap door, so that in summer or winter the 
 good wife had actually to go out of doors when any- 
 thing was required for the table, and that was very 
 often. It really seemed as though the old saying of 
 " the longest way round is the shortest way home " 
 entered not only into the laying out of highways, but 
 into all the domestic arrangements. Economy of time 
 and space, convenience, or anything to facilitate or 
 lighten labour, does not appear to have occupied the 
 thoughts of the people. Work was the normal cgn- 
 
90 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 dition of their being, and, as we see it now, everything 
 seems to have been so arranged as to prechide the 
 possibility of any idle moments. At the end of the 
 kitchen was invariably a large fire-place, with its wide, 
 gaping mouth, an iron crane, with a row of pothooks of 
 various lengths, from which to suspend the pots over the 
 fire, and on the hearth a strong pair of andirons, flanked 
 by a substantial pair of tongs and a shovel. During 
 the winter, when the large back-log, often as much as 
 two men could handle, was brought in and fixed in its 
 place, and a good forestick put on the andirons, with 
 well-split maple piled upon it and set ablaze with dry 
 pine and chips, the old fire-place became aglow 
 with cheerful fire, and dispensed its heat through the 
 room. But in extremely cold weather it sometimes 
 happened that while one side was being roasted the 
 other was pinched with cold. At one side of the fire- 
 place there was usually a large oven, which, when 
 required, was heated by burning dry wood in it, and 
 then the dough was put into tin pans and pushed in to 
 be baked. Sometimes the ovens were built on frames 
 in the yard, and then in wind or storm the baking had 
 to be carried out doors and in. Every kitchen had 
 O^ie or more spacious cupboards ; whatever need there 
 
FIFTY TEARS AGO. 
 
 91 
 
 was for other conveniences, these were always provided, 
 and were well filled. The other rooms of the house 
 were generally warmed by large box stoves. The spare 
 bedrooms were invariably cold, and on a severe night it 
 was like undressing out of doors and jumping into a 
 snowbank. I have many a time shivered for half an 
 hour before my body could generate heat enough to 
 make me comfortable. The furniture made no pre- 
 tensions to artistic design or elegance. It was plain 
 and strong, and bore unmistakable evidence of having 
 originated either at the carpenter's bench or at the 
 hands of some member of the family, in odd spells of 
 leisure on rainy days. ISecessity is axiomatically said 
 to be the mother of invention, and as there were no 
 furniture makers with any artistic skill or taste in the 
 country, and as the inclination of the people ran more in 
 the direction of the useful than the ornamental, most of 
 the domestic needs were of home manufacture. I have 
 a clear recollection of the pine tables, with their strong 
 square legs tapering to the floor, and of how carefully 
 they were scrubbed. Table covers were seldom used, 
 and only when there was company, and then the cherry 
 table with its folding leaves was brought out, and the 
 pure white linen cloth, most likely the production of 
 
92 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 the good wife's own hands, was carefully spread upon 
 it. Thon came the crockery. Who can ever forget the 
 blue-edged plates, cups and saucers, and other dishes 
 whereon indigo storks and mandarins, or something 
 approaching a representation of them, glided airily over 
 sky-blue hills in their pious way from one indigo 
 pagoda to another. These things, I have no doubt, 
 would be rare prizes to Ceramic lovers of the present 
 day. The cutlery and silver consisted mostly of bone- 
 handled knives and iron forks, and iron and pewter 
 spoons. On looking over an old inventory of my grand- 
 father's personal effects not long since, I came upon 
 these items : " two pair of spoon moulds," and I 
 remembered melting pewter and making spoons with 
 thesemoulds wheni wasvery young. Cooking was done 
 in the oven, and over the kitchen fire, and the utensils" 
 were a dinner pot, teakettle, frying pan and skillet 
 There were no cooking stoves. The only washing 
 machines were the ordinary wash tubs, soft soap, and 
 the brawny arms and hands of the girls ; and the only 
 wringers were the strong wrists and firm grip that could 
 give a vigorous twist to what passed through the hands. 
 Water was drawn from the wells with a bucket 
 fastened to a long slender pole attached to a sweep sus- 
 
FIFTY YfiAiiS AGO. 
 
 &S 
 
 pended to a crotch. Butter, as has aU'eady been inti- 
 mated, was made in upright churns, and many an hour 
 have I stood, with mother's apron pinned around me to 
 keep my clothes from getting spattered, pounding at 
 the stubborn cream, when every minute seemed an hoar, 
 thinking the butter would never come. When evening 
 set in, we were wont to draw around the cheerful fire 
 on the hearth, or perhaps up to the kitchen table, and 
 read and work by the dim light of "tallow dips," 
 placed in tin candlesticks, or, on extra occasions, in 
 brass or silver ones, with their snuffers, trays and 
 extinguishers. Now, we sit by the brilliant light of the 
 coal oil lamp or of gas. Then, coal oil was in the far- 
 off future, and there was not a gas jet in Canada, if 
 indeed in America. The making of tallow candles, 
 before moulds were used, was a slow and tiresome task. 
 Small sticks were used, about two feet long, upon each 
 of which six cotton wicks, made for the purpose, were 
 placed about two inches apart, each wick being from 
 ten to twelve inches long. A large kettle was next 
 partly filled with hot water, upon which melted tallow 
 was poured. Then, two sticks were taken in the right 
 hand, and the wick slowly dipped up and down through 
 the melted tallow. This process was continued until 
 
•1.-. ' ' • . 
 
 &4 COtJiiTRJr LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 the candles had attained sutHciout size, when thev were 
 put aside to harden, and then taken off the sticks and 
 put away. It required considerable practical experience 
 to make a smooth candle which would burn evenly ; 
 and a sputtering candle was an abomination. The cloth 
 with which the male members of the family were clad, 
 as well as the flannel that made the dresses and under- 
 clothing for both, was carded, spun, and often woven 
 at home, as was also the fiax that made the linen. 
 There were no sewing or knitting machines, save the 
 deft hands that plied the needle. Carpets were 
 seldom seen. The floors of the spare rooms, as they were 
 called, were painted almost invariably with yellow ochre 
 paint, and the kitchen floorwa-^kept clean and white with 
 the file, and sanded. The old chairs, which, in point of 
 comfort, modern times have In no way improved upon, 
 were also of home make, with thin round kgs and 
 splint-bottomed seats, or, what was more common, elm 
 bark evenly cut and plaited. Many a time have I gone 
 to the woods in the spring, when the willow catkins in 
 the swamp and along the side of the creek turned from 
 silver to gold, and when the clusters of linwort nodded 
 above the purple-green leaves in the April wind, and 
 
 --■ J'. 
 
firtY YEARS AGO. 
 
 9S 
 
 taken the bark in long strips from the elm trees to re- 
 seat the dilapidated chairs. 
 
 If the labour-saving appliances were so scanty in- 
 doors, they were not more numerous outside. The 
 farmer's implements were rude and rough. The wooden 
 plough, with its wrought- iron share, had not disap- 
 peared, but ploughs with cast-iron mould-boards, land- 
 sides and shares, were rapidly coming into use. These 
 had hard-wood beams, and a short single handle with 
 which to guide them. They were clumsy, awkward 
 things to work with, as I remember full well, and 
 though an improvement, it was impossible to do nice 
 work with them. Indeed, that part of the question 
 did not receive much consideration, the principal ob- 
 ject being to get the ground turned over. They were 
 called patent ploughs. Drags were either tree tops or 
 square wooden frames with iron teeth. The scythe for 
 hay and the cradle for grain, with strong backs and 
 muscular arms to swing them, were the only mowers 
 and reapers known. The hand rake had not been 
 superseded by the horse rake, nor the hoe by the cul- 
 tivator ; and all through the winter, the regular thump, 
 thump of the tiails on the barn Hoor could be heard, or 
 the trampling out of the grain by the horses' feet. The 
 
COUNTRY LIFE IN CAKAtiA 
 
 rattle of the fanning mill announced the finishing df 
 the task. Threshing machines and cleaners were yet 
 to come. 
 
 It will be seen from what I have said that both in 
 the house and out of it work was a stern and exactinof 
 master, whose demands were incessant, satisfied only 
 by the utmost diligence. It was simply by this that 
 so much was accomplished. It is true there were 
 other incentives that gave force to the wills and nerves 
 to the arms which enabled our forefathers to overcome 
 the numberless arduous tasks that demanded attention 
 daily throughout the year. All the inventions that 
 have accumulated so rapidlj'- for the last twenty years 
 or more, to lighten the burden and facilitate the ac- 
 complishment of labour and production, as well as to 
 promote the comfort of all classes, were unknown fifty 
 years ago. Indeed many of the things that seem so 
 simple and uninteresting to us now, as I shall have oc- 
 casion to show further on, were then hidden in the 
 future. Take for example the very common and indis- 
 pensable article, the lucifier match, to the absence of 
 which allusion has already been made. Its simple 
 method of producing fire had never entered the imagi- 
 nation of our most gifted sires. The only way known 
 
FIFTY YEA.RS AGO. 97 
 
 to them was the primitive one of rubbiug two sticks to- 
 gether and producing fire by friction — a somewhat 
 tedious process — or with a Hint, a heavy jack-knife, 
 and a bit of punk, a fungous growth, the best of which 
 for this purpose is obtained from the beech. Gun flints 
 were most generally used. One of these was placed 
 on a bit of dry punk, and held firmly in the left hand, 
 while the back of the closed blade of the knife thus 
 brought into contact with the flint by a quick downward 
 stroke of the right hand produced a shower of sp.uks, 
 some of which, falling on the punk, would ignite ; and 
 thus a fire was produced. In the winter, if the fire went 
 out, there were, as I have already stated, but two alterna- 
 tives — either the flint and steel, or a run to a nei< h- 
 bour's house for live coals. 
 
 There were many superstitious notions current among 
 the people in those days. Many an omen both foi- crood 
 and evil was sincerely believed in, which even yet in 
 quiet places finds a lodgement whore the sciioolii aster 
 has not been much abroad. But the half Cf3ntury tliat 
 has pas33d away has seen the last of many a foolish 
 notion. A belief in omens was not confined to the 
 poor and ignorant, for brave men have been known to 
 tremble at seeing a winding-sheet in a candle, and 
 
 a 
 
98 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 learned men to gather their little ones around them, 
 fearinjr that one would be Hnatclied away, because a 
 dog outside took a fancy to howl at tlie moon. And 
 who has not heard the remark when a sudden shiver 
 came over one, that an enemy was then walking over 
 the spot which would be his grave ? Or who has not 
 noticed the alarm occasioned by the death watch — the 
 noise, resembling the ticking of a watch, made by a 
 harmless little insect in the wall — or the saying that if 
 thirteen sit down to table, one is sure to die within a 
 year ? Somebody has said there is one case when he 
 believed this omen to be true, and that is when thir- 
 teen sit down to dinner and there is only enough for 
 twelve. There Wiis no end to bad omens. It was bad 
 luck to see the new moon for the first time over the 
 left shoulder, but if seen over the right it was the 
 reverse. It is well known that the moon has been 
 supposed to exercise considerable influence over our 
 l)lanet, among the chief of which are tlie tides, and 
 it was believed also to liave a great deal to do 
 with much smaller matters. There are few who have 
 not seen on the first page of an almanac the curious 
 picture representing a nude man with exposed bowels, 
 and surrounded with the zodiacal signs. This was al- 
 
PIPTY YEARS AQO. 
 
 99 
 
 ways found in tlio old almanacs, and indeed they would 
 be altogether unsaleable without it and the weather 
 forecast. How often have I seen the almanac consulted 
 as to whether it was going to be fair or stormy, cold 
 or hot ; how often seen the mother studying the pic- 
 tures when she wished to wean her babe. If she found 
 the change of the moon occurred when the sign was in 
 Aries or Gemini or Taurus, all of which were supposed 
 to exercise a baneful influence on any part of the body 
 above the heart, she would defer the matter until a 
 change came, when the sign would be in Virgo or Li- 
 bra, considering it extremely dangerous to undertake 
 the operation in the former case. The wife was not 
 alone in this, for the liusband waited for a certain time 
 in the moon to sow his peas — that is, if he wished to 
 ensure a good crop. He also thought it unlucky to kill 
 hogs in the wane of the moon, because the pork would 
 shrink and waste in the boiling. The findincr of an old 
 horseshoe was a sure sign of good luck, and it was quite 
 common to see one nailed up over the door. It is 
 said that the late Horace Greeley always kept a rusty 
 one over the door of his sanctum. To begin anything 
 on Friday was sure to end badly. I had an esteemed 
 friend, the late sherift' of the county of , who 
 
100 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 faithfully believed this, and adhered to it up to the 
 time of his death. May was considered an unlucky 
 month to marry in, and when I was thinking of this 
 matter a number of years later, and wished the event 
 to occur during the month, my wish was objected to 
 on this ground, and the ceremony deferred until June 
 in consequence. 
 
 It is said that the honey bee came to America with 
 the Pilgi'im Fathers. Whether this be so or not I am 
 unprepared to say. If it be true, then there were 
 loyalists among them, for they found tlieir way to 
 Canada with the U. E.'s, and contributed very consid- 
 erably to the enjoyment of the table. Short-cake and 
 honey were things not to be despised in those days, J 
 rer.'^mber. There was a curious custom that prevailed 
 01 ' jwing horns and pounding tin pans to keep the 
 bees from going away when swarming. The custom 
 is an Old Country one, I fancy. Tlie reader will 
 remember that Dickens, in " Little Dorrit," makes 
 Ferdinand Barnacle say : " You really have no idea 
 how the human bees will swarm to the beating of any 
 old tin kettle." 
 
 Another peculiar notion prevailed withjrespect to 
 discovering the proper place to dig wells. There wore 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 101 
 
 certain persons, I do not remember what they were 
 called, whether water doctors or water witches, who 
 professed to be able, with the aid of a small hazel 
 crotched twig, which was held firmly in both hands 
 with the crotch inverted, to tell where a well should 
 be sunk with a certainty of finding water. The pro- 
 cess was simply to walk about with the twig thus held, 
 and when the right place was reached, the forked twig 
 would turn downwards, however firmly held ; and on 
 the strength of this, digging would be commenced in 
 the place indicated. A curious feature about this was 
 that there were but very few in whose hands the ex- 
 periment would work, and hence the water discoverer 
 was a person of some repute. I never myself witnessed 
 the performance, but it was of common occurence.* 
 
 The people of to-day will no doubt smile at these 
 reminiscences of a past age, and think lightly of the 
 
 *The render will rememher the occult operations of DouHterswivel in 
 the seventeenth chapter of Scott's Antvinarji. " In truth, the German 
 was now got to a little copae-thicket at some distance from the ruins, 
 where he affected busily to search for such a wand as should suit the 
 purpose of his mystery ; and after cutting off a small twig of hazel ter- 
 minating in a forked end, which he pronounced to poHseas the virtue 
 j)roper for the experiment that he was about to exhiint, holding the 
 forked ends of the wand each between the finger and the thumb, and 
 thus keeinng the rod upright, he proceeded to pace the ruined aisles," 
 &c. So it will be seen that we had Canadian successors of Douster- 
 Bwivel in my time, but we had no Oldbucks. 
 
102 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 life surroundings of these early pioneers of the Pro- 
 vince. But it must not be forgotten that their condi- 
 tion of life was that of the first remove from the bush 
 and the log cabin. There was abundance, without 
 luxury, and it was so widely different from the struggle 
 of earlier years that the people were contented and 
 happy. "No people on earth," says Mr. Talbot, in 
 1823, " live better than the Canadians, so far as eating 
 and drinking justify the use of the expression, for they 
 may be truly said to fare sumptuously every day. 
 Their breakfast not unfrequently consists of twelve or 
 fourteen different ingredients, which are of the most 
 heterogeneous nature. Green tea and fried pork, honey- 
 comb and salted salmon, pound cake and pickled 
 cucumbers, stewed chickens and apple-tarts, maple 
 molasses and pease-pudding, gingerbread and sour- 
 crout, are to be found at almost every table. The 
 dinner differs not at all from the breakfast, and the 
 afternoon repast, which they term supper, is equally 
 substantial." 
 
 The condition of the Province in 1830 could not be 
 otherwise than pre-eminently satisfactory to its in- 
 habitants. Tliat a people who had been driven from 
 their homes, in most cases destitute of the common 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 103 
 
 needs of ordinary life, should have come into a vast 
 wilderness, and, in the course of forty-six years, have 
 founded a country, and placed themselves in circum- 
 stances of comfort and independence, seems to me to 
 be one of the marvels of the century. The struggles 
 and trials of the first settlers must ever be a subject of 
 deepest interest to every true Canadian, and, as an 
 illustration of the power of fixed principles upon the 
 action of men, there are few things in the world's 
 history that surpass it. It must be remembered that 
 many, nay most, of the ftimilies who came here had, 
 prior jO and during the Revolutionary war, been men 
 of means and position. All these advantages they 
 were forced to abandon. They came into this country 
 with empty hands, accepted the liberality of the British 
 Government for two years, and went to work. Provi- 
 dence smiled upon their toils, and in the year of which 
 I speak they had grown into a prosperous and happy 
 people. 
 
 The social aspect of things had changed but little. 
 The habits and customs of early days still remained. 
 The position of the inhabitants was one of exigency. 
 The absorbing desire to succeed kept them at home. 
 They knew but little of what was passing in the 
 
104 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 world outside, and as a general thing they cared less. 
 Their chief interest was centred in the common wel- 
 fare, and each contributed his or her share of intel- 
 ligence and f«agacity to further any plans that were 
 calculated to promote the general good. Every day 
 called for some new expedient in which the comfort or 
 advantage of the whole was concerned, for there were 
 no positions save those accorded to worth and intellect. 
 The sufferings or misfortunes of a neighbour, as well 
 as his enjoyments, were participated in by all. Know- 
 ledge and ability were respectfully looked up to, yet 
 those who possessed these seemed hardly conscious of 
 their gifts. The frequent occasions which called for 
 the exercise of the mind, sharpened sagacity, and gave 
 strength to character. Avarice and vanity were con- 
 y - fined to narrow limits. Of money there was little. 
 
 \ Dress was coarse and plain, and was not subject to 
 
 \ ^ the whims or caprices of fashion. The girls, from the 
 
 \ \ examples set them by their mothers, were industrious 
 
 \ and constantly employed. Pride of birth was unknown, 
 
 \ and the affections flourished fair and vigorously, un- 
 
 checked by the thorns and brambles with which our 
 minds are cursed ia the advanced stage of refinement 
 \ of the present day. 
 
 \ 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 105 
 
 The secret of their success, if there was any secret 
 in it, was the economy, industry and moderate wants 
 of every member of the household. The clothing and 
 living were the outcome of the farm. Most of the 
 ordinary implements and requirements for both were 
 procured at home. The neighbouring blacksmith 
 made the axes, logjTjinf^-chains and tools. He ironed 
 the waggons and sleighs, and received his pay from 
 the cellar and barn. Almost every farmer had his 
 work-bench and carpenter's tools, which he could han- 
 dle to advantage, as well as a shoemaker's bench ; and 
 during the long evenings of the fall and winter would 
 devote some of his time to mending boots or repairing 
 harness. Sometimes the old log-house was turned into 
 a blacksmith shoj:). This was the case with the first 
 home of my grandfather, and his seven sons could turn 
 their hands to any trade, and do pretty good work. 
 If the men's clothes were not made l)y a member of 
 the household, they were made in the house by a sew- 
 ing girl, or a roving tailor, and the boots and shoes 
 were made by cobblers of the same itinerant stripe. 
 Many of the productions of the farm were unsaleable, 
 owing to the want of large towns for a market. Trade, 
 such as then existed, was carried on mostly by a system 
 
106 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 of barter. The refuse apples from the orchard were 
 turned into cider and vinegar for the table. The skins 
 of the cattle, calves and sheep that were slaughtered 
 for the wants of the family, were taken to the tan- 
 ners, who dressed them, and returned half of each 
 hide. The currency of the day was flour, pork and 
 potash. The first two were in demand for the lum- 
 bermen's shanties, and the last went to Montreal for 
 export. The ashes from the house and the log-heaps 
 were either leached at home, and the lye boiled down 
 in the large potash kettl(;s — of which almost every 
 farmer had one or two — and converted into potash, 
 or became a perquisite of the wife, and were carried 
 to the ashery, where they were exchanged for crockery 
 or something for the house. Wood, save the large 
 oak and pine timber, was valueless, and was cut down 
 and burned to get it out of the way. 
 
 I am enabled to give a list of prices current at that 
 time of a number of things, from a domestic account- 
 book, and an auction sale of my grandfather's personal 
 estate, after his death in 1829. The term in use for an 
 auction then was vendue. . 
 
 1830. 1880. 
 
 A good horse $80 00 $120 00 
 
 Yoke of oxen 75 00 100 00 
 
 Milch cow 10 00 30 00 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 
 
 107 
 
 , • 1830. 1880. 
 
 . . . .$ 2 00 $ 5 00 
 
 t'r 200 500 
 
 t^^"'^-; 7 00 12 00 
 
 ^^'C^'^'Z .-15 00 12 00 
 
 ^f'P^^'^\ 3 00 3 00 
 
 Flour, per cwt 
 
 „ / 3 50 6 00 
 
 Beef I - -rt 
 
 , , ,. 3 00 6 00 
 
 Mutton II ■■• ^ -„ 
 
 ^ 1 50 
 
 ...!..... 1 00 
 
 80 
 
 ^^."'!."'".!! 40 
 
 " .^ 100 108 
 
 T, ".'..". 70 85 
 
 l^\ 50 100 
 
 ^^'^'^ " 40 70 
 
 ^T .:.:;:;. 37 30 
 
 Oats II ^„ .,„ 
 
 40 35 
 
 Potatoes II _„ 
 
 ^ , 50 50 
 
 Apples II 25 
 
 Butter, per pound 
 
 Cheese " " 
 
 T 1 5 1-5 
 
 ^^'^' '' .. 10 25 
 
 EKgs.perdo.en ^ ^^ 
 
 Wood, per cord 
 
 Turkeys, each 
 
 Ducks, per pair . . . 
 
 Geese, each 
 
 Chickens, per pair. 
 Wheat, per bushel 
 
 1 00 
 
 1 00 
 
 80 50 
 
 Calf skins, each 
 
 Sheep skins, each 
 
 West India molasses 
 
 m, 1 ... 80 60 
 
 Tea, per pound 
 
 „ , 25 50 
 
 Tobacco 
 
 „ 10 25 
 
 Honey . , . 
 
 SO 40 
 
 Oysters, per quart 
 
 Men's strong boots, per pair 3 00 
 
 Port wine, per gallon 80 
 
 T, , 1 50 4 00 
 
 Brandy h „ ^„ 
 
 „ 100 3 00 
 
 ,,„ . , 40 1 40 
 
 Whisky II 
 
 Grey cotton, per yard 1'' 
 
 ^, ,. „ 20 12 
 
 Calico " •• . 
 
 J 14 4 
 
 Nails, per pound 
 
108 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 Vegetables were unsaleable, and so were many otlier 
 things for which the farmer nov/- finds a"^ ready market. 
 The wages paid to a man were from eight to ten dollars, 
 and a girl from two to three dollars, per month. For 
 a day's work, except in harvest time, from fifty to 
 seventy-five cents was the ordinary rate. Money was 
 reckoned by £. s. d. Halifax cnrrcncy, to distinguish it 
 from the pound sterling. The former was e(}ual to 
 $4.00, and the latter, as now, to S4.87. 
 
 CJocks were not common. It is true, in most of the 
 better class of old homes a stately old time-piece, whose 
 face nearly reached the ceiling, stood in the hall or 
 sittinix-room, and measured off the hours with slow and 
 steady beat. But the most common time-piece was a 
 line cut in the floor, and when the sun touched his 
 meridian height his rays were cast along this mark 
 throuoh a crack in the door; and thus the hour of 
 noon was made known. A few years later the irre- 
 pressible Yankee invaded the country with his wooden 
 clocks, and supplied the want. My father bought one 
 which is still in existence (though I think it has got 
 past keeping time), and paid ten pounds for it ; a bet- 
 ter one can be had now for as many shillings. 
 
1AQ 
 FIFTY YEAUS AGO. *"" 
 
 The kitchen door, which, as I have aheady men- 
 tioneJ, was very often divided in>e, middle, so that 
 the upper part could be opened and the lower half 
 kept closed, was the general entrance to the house, 
 and was usually provided with a wooden latch, which 
 was lifted from the outside by a leather string put 
 through the door. At night, when the ta.uily retired, 
 the string was pulled in and the door was fastened 
 a..ainst any one from the outside. From this origin- 
 ated the saying that a friend would always find the 
 
 string on the latch. 
 
 Carriages were not kept, for the simple reason that 
 the farmer seldom had occasion to use them. He rarely 
 ^vent from home, and when he did he mounted his 
 horse or drove in his lumber-waggon to market or to 
 meeting. He usually had one or two waggon-chairs, 
 as the/were called, which would hold two persons very 
 comfortably. These were put in the waggon and a 
 buffalo skin thrown over them, and then the vehicle 
 was equipped for the Sunday drive. There was a 
 light waggon kept for the old people to drive about in, 
 the box If which rested on the axles. The seat, how- 
 ever, was secured to wooden springs, which made it 
 somewhat more comfortable to ride in. A specimen of 
 
no COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 this kind of carriage was shown by the York Pioneers 
 at the Industrial Exhibition in this city. I have a clear 
 recollection of the most common carriage kept in those 
 days, and of my first ride in one. I was so delighted 
 that I have never forgotten it. One Saturday after- 
 noon, my father and mother determined to visit Grand- 
 father C , some six miles distant. We were made 
 
 ready — that is to say, my sister and self — and the 
 " yoke " was put to. Our carriage had but two wheels, 
 the most fashionable mode then, and no steel springs ; 
 neither was the body hung upon straps. There was 
 no cover to the seat, which was unique in its way, and 
 original in its get-up. Neither was there a well-padded 
 cushion to sit on, or a back to recline against. It was 
 nothing more or less than a limber board placed across 
 from one side of the box to the other. My father took 
 his seat on the right, the place invariably accorded to 
 the driver — we did not keep a coachman then — my 
 mother and sister, the latter being an infant, sat on 
 the opposite side, while I was wedged in the middle 
 to keep me from tumbling out. My father held in his 
 hand a long slender whip (commonly called a " gad ") 
 of blue beech, with which he touched the off-side 
 animal, and said, " Haw Buck, gee-'long." The " yoke " 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. HI 
 
 obeyed, and brought us safely to our journey's end in 
 the course of time. Many and many a pleasant ride 
 have I had since in far more sumptuous vehicles, but 
 none of them has left such a distinct and pleasing 
 
 recollection. 
 
 The houses were almost invariably inclosed with a 
 picket or board fence, with a small yard in front. 
 Shade and ornamental trees were not in much repute. 
 All around lay the " boundless contiguity of shade ; " 
 but it awakened no poetic sentiment. To them it had 
 been a standing menace, which had cost the expendi- 
 ture of their best energies, year after year, to push 
 further and further back. The time had not come 
 for ornamenting their grounds and fields with shrubs 
 and trees, unless they could minister to their comfort 
 in a more substantial way. The gardens were generally 
 well supplied with currant and gooseberry bushes. 
 Pear, plum and cherry trees, as well as the orchard 
 itself, were close at hand. Raspberries and strawberries 
 were abundant in every new clearing. The sap-bush 
 furnished the sugar and maple molasses. So that most 
 of the requisites for good living were within easy 
 hail. 
 
112 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 The first concern of a thrifty farmer was to i)0S8e88 
 a large l)arn, with out-houses or sheds attached for 
 liis hay and straw, and for the protection of his stock 
 during the cold and stormy weather of fall and win- 
 ter. Lumber cost him nothing, save the labour of 
 getting it out. There was, therefore, but little to pre- 
 . vent him froui having plenty of room in which to 
 house his crops, and as the ])rocess of threshing was 
 slow it necessitated more space than is required now. 
 The granary, pig-pen and corn- crib were usually sep- 
 arate. The number and extent of buildings on a flour- 
 ishing homestead, inclosed with strong board fences, 
 covered a wide area, but ^he barns, with their enor- 
 mous peaked roofs, and the houses, with their dormer 
 windows looking out from their steep sides, have 
 nearly all disappeared, or have been transformed into 
 more modern shape. 
 
 It would be dirticult to find much resemblance be- 
 tween the well-ordered house of the thriving farmer 
 of to-day and that of half a century ago. In the 
 first place the house itself is designed with an eye to 
 convenience and comfort. There is more or less archi- 
 te(3tural taste displayed in its external appearance. It 
 is kept carefully painted. The yawning fireplace in 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 113 
 
 the kitchen, with its row of pots, has disappeared, 
 and in its place the most approved cooking-stove or 
 range, with its multifarious appendages, is found. On 
 the walls hang numberless appliances to aid in cook- 
 ing. Washing-machines, wringers, improved churns, 
 and many other labour saving arrangements render 
 the task of the house-wife comparatively easy, and 
 enable her to accomplish much more work in a 
 shorter time than the dear old grandmother ever 
 dreamed of in the highest Hights of her imagination. 
 Her cu])boards are filled with china and earthenware 
 of the latest pattern. Pewter plates and buck -handled 
 knives have vanished, and ivory-handled cutlery has 
 taken their places. Britannia nietal and pewter si)Oons 
 have been sent to the melting-pot, and iron forks have 
 given place to nickel and silver ones. The old fur- 
 niture has found its way to the garret, and the house 
 is furnished from the ware-rooms of the best makers. 
 Fancy carpets cover the floor of every room. The 
 old high-posted bedsteads, which almost required a 
 ladder to get into, went to the lumber heap long ago, 
 and low, sumptuous couches take their places. The 
 great feather tick has been converted into the more 
 healthy mattress, and the straw tick an(J cords have 
 
 H 
 
114 COUNTRY LIFE TN CANADA 
 
 been replaced by spring bottoms. It used to be quite 
 an arduous undertaking, I remember, to put up one 
 of those old beds. One person took a wrench, kept 
 for that purpose, and drew up the cord with it as tight 
 as he could at every hole, and another followed with 
 a hammer and pin, which was driven into the hole 
 through whicii the end passed to hold it ; and so you 
 went on round the bed, until the cord was all drawn 
 as tight as it could possibly be. Now a bedstead can 
 be taken down and put up in a few moments by one 
 person witli the greatest ease. The dresses of boih 
 mother and daughters are made according to the latest 
 styles, and of the best material. The family ride in 
 their carriage, with fine horses, and richly-plated har- 
 ness. The boys are sent to college, and the girls are 
 polished in city boarding-schools. On the farm the 
 change is no less marked. The grain is cut and bound 
 with reaping machines, the grass with mowing ma- 
 chines, and raked with horse rakes. Threshing ma- 
 chines thresh and clean the grain. The fanner has 
 machines for planting and sowing. The hoe is laid 
 aside, and his corn and root crops are kept clean witli 
 cultivators. His i)luughs and drags do better work 
 with more easj to himself and his team. He has dis- 
 
, FIFTY YEARS AGO. 115 
 
 covered that he can keep improved stock^at less ex- 
 pense, and nt far <^a'cater profit. In fact, the whole 
 system of farming and farm labour has iiJvanced with 
 the same rapid strides that everything oho has done ; 
 and now one man can accomplish more in the same 
 time, and do it hotter, than half a dozen could fifty 
 years ago. 
 
 Musical instruments wore almost unknown except 
 by name. A stray fiddler, as I have said elsewhere, 
 was aliout the only musician that ever delighted the 
 ear of young or old in those days. I do not know that 
 there was a piano in the Province. If there were any 
 their number was so small that they could have been 
 counted 'on the fingers of one ho,nd. Now, every house 
 in the land with any pretension to the ordinary com- 
 forts of life has either a piano or a melodeon, and every 
 farmer's daughter of any position can run over the keys 
 with as nuich ea^e and eftect as a city belle. Passing 
 along one of our streets not long since, I heard some 
 one ])laying in a room adjoining a little grocery store. 
 My attention was arrested by the skill of the player, 
 and the fine tone of the instrument. While I was 
 listening, a couple of ladies pas^scd, one of whom said, 
 " I do wonder if they have got a piano here." " Why 
 
IIG COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 not," said the other, " the pea-nut-man on Street 
 
 has one, and I don't see why every one else shouldn't 
 have." 
 
 I think all who have marked the changes that have 
 taken place during the half century which is gone, will 
 admit that we are a much faster people than our 
 fathers were. We have jumped from change to change 
 ' with marvellous rapidity. We could never endure the 
 patient plodding way they travelled, nor the toil and 
 privation they went through ; and it is a good thing 
 for us, jierhaps, that they preceded us. Would it not 
 be well for us occasionally to step aside from the bustle 
 and haste which surrounds us, and look back. There 
 are many valuable lessons to be gathered from the pages 
 of the past, and it might be well, perhaps, were we to 
 temper our anxiety to rise in the social scale with some of 
 the sterling qualities that characterized our progenitors. 
 Our smart boys now-a-days are far too clever to pursue 
 the paths which their fathers trod, and in too many 
 cases ])ecr\i\ the career of life as second oi- third-rate 
 professional men or merchants, while our daughters are 
 too frecpicntly turned into ornaments for the parlour. 
 We know that fifty years ago the boys had to work 
 early and late. West of England bro'idcloths and fine 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 117 
 
 French fabrics were things tiiat rarely, indeed, adorned 
 their persons. Fashionable tailors and young gentle- 
 )nen, according to the present acceptation of the term, 
 are comparatively modern institutions in Canada. 
 Fancy for a moment one of our young swells, with his 
 fashionable suit, gold watch, chain, and rings, patent 
 leather boots and kid gloves, and topped off with 
 Christie's latest headgear, driving up to grandfather's 
 door in a covered buggy and plated harness, fifty years 
 ago! What would have been said, think you? My 
 im|)ression is that his astonishment would have been 
 too great to find expression. The old man, no doubt, 
 would have scratched his head in utter bewilderment, 
 and the old lady would have pushed up her specs in 
 order to take in the whole of the new revelation, and 
 possibly might have exclaimed, " Did you ever see the 
 beat?" The girls, T have no doubt, would have 
 responded to tlieir mother's ejaeuUition ; and the boys, 
 if at hand, would have laughed outright. 
 
 My remarks, so far, have been confined altogether to 
 the country settlements, and fifty years ago that was 
 about all there was in this Province. Kinsfston was* 
 in fact, the only town. The other places, which have 
 far outstripped it since, were only commencing, as we 
 
118 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 shall see presently. Kingston was a place of consider- 
 able importance, owing to its being a garrison town ; 
 and its position at the foot of lake navigation gave 
 promise of future greatness. The ditterence between 
 town and country life as yet was not very marked, 
 except with the few officers and officials. Clothes of 
 finer and more expensive materials were worn, and a 
 little more polish and refinement were noticeable. The 
 professional man's office was in his house, and the 
 merchant lived over his store. He dealt in all kinds of 
 goods, and served his customers early and late. He 
 bartered with the people for their produce, and weighed 
 up the butter and counted out the eggs, for which he 
 paid in groceries and dry goods. Now he has his house 
 on a fashionable street, or a villa in the vicinity of the 
 city, and is driven to his counting house in his carriage, 
 His father, and himself, jjerhaps, in his boyhoorV traded 
 in the summer time under a burning sua, and now ne 
 and his]family take their vacation during hot weather 
 at fashionable "i watering place3,l'or make a tour in 
 Europe. 
 
 We have but little to complain of as a people. ^Our 
 progress during the last fifty years has ^,boen such as 
 cannot but be gratifying to every Canadian, and if we 
 
FIFTY YEA.RS AGO. ' H^ 
 
 * 
 
 are only true to ourselves and the great principles that 
 underlie real and permanent success, we should go on 
 building up a yet greater and more substantial pros- 
 perity, as the avenues of trade which are being opened 
 up from time to time become available. But let us 
 guard against the enervating influences which are too 
 apt to follow increase of wealth. The desire to rise in 
 the social scale is one that finds a response in every 
 breast ; but it often happens that, as we ascend, habits 
 and tastes are formed that are at variance not only 
 with our own well-being, but with the well-being of 
 tbose who may be influenced by us. One of the prin- 
 cipal objects, it would seem, in making a fortune ir 
 these days, is to make a show. There are not many 
 families in this Province, so far, fortunately, whose 
 children can aff'ord to lead a life of idleness. Indeed, 
 if the truth must be told, the richest heir in our land 
 cannot afford it. Still, when children are born with 
 silver spoons in their mouths, the necessity to work is 
 removed, and it requires some impulse to work when 
 there is no actual need. But, fortunately, there are 
 higher motives in this world than a life of inglorious 
 ease. Wealth can give much, but it cannot make a 
 man in the proper and higher sense, any more than 
 
120 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 iron can be transmuted into gold. It is a sad thing, I 
 think, to find many of our wealthy farmers bringing 
 up their children with the idea that a farmer is not as 
 respectable as a counter-jumper in a city or village, 
 store, or that the kitchen is too trying for the delicate 
 organization of the daughter, and that her vocation is 
 to adorn the drawing-room, to be waited on by mamma, 
 and to make a brilliant match. 
 
Fifty years ago. 
 
 121 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 jjjfferson's definition of «' liberty "-how it was acted 
 
 UPON- THE CANADIAN RENAISSANCE — BURNING POLITICAL 
 QUESTIONS IN CANADA HALF A CENTURY AGO-LOCOMOTION— 
 MRS. JAMESON ON CANADIAN STAGE COACHES-BATTEAUX AND 
 DURHAM BOATS. 
 
 THE American Revolution developed two strik- 
 ing pictures of the inconsistency of human nature. 
 The author of the Declaration of Independence lays 
 down at the very first this axiom : " We hold this 
 truth to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; 
 that among these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
 happiness." And yet this man, with numbers of others 
 who signed the famous document, was a slave-holder, 
 and contributed to the maintenance of a system which 
 was a reproach and a stain upon the fair fame of the 
 land, until it was wiped out with the blood of tens of 
 thousands of its sons. The next picture that stands 
 out in open contradiction to the declaration of equality 
 of birth and liberty of action appears at the end of 
 the war. The very men who had clamoured against 
 oppression, and had fought for and won their freedom, 
 
122 COUNTRY LIFK IN CANADA 
 
 in turn became the most intolerant oppressors. The 
 men who had dift'ered from them, and had adhered to 
 the cause of the mother land, had their property con- 
 fiscated, and we)'o expelled from the country. Revol- 
 utions have ever been marked by cruelty. Liberty 
 in France inaugurated the guillotine. The fathers of 
 the American Revolution cast out their kindred, who 
 found a refuge in the wilderness of Canada, where 
 they endured for a time the most severe privations and 
 hardships. This was the first illustration or defini- 
 tion of " liberty and the pursuit of happiness, " from 
 an American point of view. 
 
 The result was not, perhaps, what was anticipated. 
 The ten thousand or more of their expatriated countrj'^- 
 men were not to be subdued by acts of despotic injus- 
 tice. Their opinions were dear to them, and were as 
 fondly cherished as were the opinions of those who 
 had succeeded in wrenching away a part of the old 
 Empire nndei* a plea of being oppressed. They claimed 
 only the natural and sacred right of acting upon 
 their honest convictions ; and surely no one will pre- 
 tend to say that their position was not as just and 
 tenable, or that it was less honourable than that of 
 those who had )'ebelled. I am not going to say that 
 
 
FIFTY YEAHS AGO. 
 
 123 
 
 there was no cause of complaint on the part of those 
 who threw down the gage of war. The truth about 
 that matter has been conceded long ago. The enact- 
 ments of the Home Government which brought about 
 the revolt are matters with which we have nothing to 
 do at this time. But when the war terminated and 
 peace was declai-ed, the attitude of the new Govern- 
 ment toward those of their countrymen who had ad- 
 hered to the (31d Land from a sense of duty, was cruel, 
 if not barbarous. It has no parallel in modern history, 
 unless it be the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by 
 Louis XIV. The refugees, however, did not, like the 
 Hufuenots, find a home in an old settled country, but 
 in the fastness of a Canadian forest ; and it is wonder- 
 ful that so many men and women, out of love for a 
 distant land whose subjects they had been, and whose 
 cause they had espoused, should have sacrificed every- 
 thing, and passed from comfortable homes and dearly- 
 loved kindred to desolation and poverty. It shows of 
 what unbending material they were made. With 
 their strong wills and stronger arms they laid the 
 foundation of another country that yet may rival the 
 land whence they were driven. This act no doubt 
 occasioned the settlement of the Western Province 
 
124 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA. 
 
 many years earlier than it would have occurred under 
 other circumstances ; and notwitlistanding the attempts 
 that were made to subdue the country, our fathers 
 proved, when the struggle came, that they had lost 
 none of their patriotic fire, and though they were 
 comparatively few in number, they were not slow to 
 shoulder their muskets and march away in defence 
 of the land of their adoption. There were no difier- 
 ences of opinion on this point. A people who had 
 first been robbed of their worldly goods and then 
 driven from the homes of their youth, were not likely 
 soon to forget either their wrongs or their sufferings, 
 nor to give up, without a struggle, the new homes they 
 had made for themselves under the keenest privations 
 and severest toils. As our fathers successfully resisted 
 the one, so have their children treated the threats and 
 blandishments that have been used from time to time 
 to bring them under the protecting tegis of the stars 
 and stripes. The wounds that were inflicted nearly a 
 century ago have happily cicatrized, and we can now 
 look with admiration on the happy progress of the 
 American people in all that goes to make up a great 
 and prosperous country. We hope to live in peace ana 
 unity with them. Still, we like our own country and 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 125 
 
 its system of government Letter, and feel that we have 
 no reason either to be discontented with its progress, 
 or to doubt as to its future. 
 
 The year 1880 may be taken as the commencement 
 of a new order of things in Canada. The people were 
 prosperous ; immigration was rapidly increasing. A 
 system of Government had been inaugurated which, if 
 not all that could be desired, was capable of being 
 moulded into a shape fit to meet the wants of a 
 young and growing country. There were laws to 
 protect society, encourage education, and foster trade 
 and commerce. The application of steam in Eng- 
 land and the United States, not only to manufactur- 
 ing purposes bat to navigation, which had made 
 some progress, rapi.lly increased after this date, and the 
 illustration given by Stephenson, in September of this 
 year, of its capabilities as a motor in land transit, com- 
 pletely revolutionized the commerce of the world. It 
 assailed every branch of industry, and in a few years 
 transformed all. The inventive genius of mankind 
 seemed to gather new energy. A clearer insight was 
 obtained into the vast results opening out before it, and 
 into the innumerable inventions which have succeeded ; 
 for the more uniform and rapid production of almost 
 
12G COUNTHY MFE TN CANADA 
 
 every conceivable tiling used by man has had its 
 origin in this Nineteenth Century Renaissance. Our 
 Province, though i-cmote from this " new birth," could 
 not but feel a touch of the pulsation that was stirring 
 in the world, and, though but in its infancy, it was not 
 backward in laying hold of these discoveries, and ap- 
 plying them as far as its limited resources would admit. 
 As early as 1810 we had a stoamer — the Fronvenac — 
 runninrj on Lake Ontario, and others soon followed. 
 The increase was much more rapid after the date 
 referred to, and the improvement in construction and 
 speed was equalh'- marke<l. Owing to our sparse and 
 scattered population, as well as our inability to build, 
 we did not undertake the construction of railroads un- 
 til l(S5o, when the Northern Railroad was opened to 
 Bradford ; but after that we went at it in earnest, and 
 we have kept at it until we have made our Province a 
 network of railways. In order more fully to realize 
 our position at this time, it must bo borne in mind that 
 our population only rcaehod 210,407. 
 
 Those who.se recollection runs back to that time have 
 witnessed changes in this Province dirlirult to realize 
 as having taken place during the (ifty years which 
 have intervened. The first settlers found themselves 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 
 
 127 
 
 in a position wliich, owing to„the then-existing state 
 of things, can never occur again. They were cut off 
 from communication, except by very slow and inade- 
 quate means, with the older and more advanced parts 
 of America, and were, therefore, almost totally isolated. 
 They adhered to the manners and customs of their 
 fathers, and though they acquired property and grew 
 up in sturdy independence, their habits and modes of 
 livincr remained unchanged. But now the steamboat 
 and locomotive brought them into contact with the 
 world outside. They began to feel and see that a new 
 state of things had been inaugurated ; that the old 
 paths had been forsaken ; that the world had faced 
 about and taken up a new line of march. And, as their 
 lives had theretofore been lives of exigency, thoy were 
 skilled in adapting themselves to the needs of the hour. 
 Men who have been trained in such a school are quick 
 at catching improvements and turning them to their 
 advantage. It matters not in what direction these im- 
 provements tend, whether to agriculture, manufactures, 
 education, or government ; and we shall find that in all 
 these our fathers were not slow to move, or unequal 
 to the emergency when it was pressed upon them. 
 
128 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 One of the dearest privileges of a British subject is 
 the right of free discussion on all topics, whether sacred 
 or secular — more especially those of a political charac- 
 ter — and of giving effect to his opinions at the polls- 
 No people have exercised these privileges with more 
 practical intelligence than the Anglo-Canadian. It 
 must be confessed that half a century ago, and even 
 much later, colonial affairs were not managed bv the 
 Home Government altogether in a satisfactory manner. 
 At the same time there can hardly be a doubt that the 
 measures emanating from the Colonial Office received 
 careful consideration, or that they were designed with 
 an honest wish to promote the well-being of the colon- 
 ists, and not in the perfunctory manner which some 
 writers have represented. The great difficult}'- has 
 been for an old country like the mother land, with its 
 long established usages, its time-honoured institutions, 
 its veneration for precedent, its dislike to change, and 
 its faith in its own wisdom and powei", either to appre- 
 ciate the wants of a new country, or to yield hastily 
 to its demands. British statesmen took for granted 
 that what was good for them was equally beneficial to 
 us. Their system of government, though it had under- 
 gone many a change, even in its monarchical type, was 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 1:^9 
 
 the model on which the colonial governments were 
 based ; and when the time came we were set up with 
 a Governor appointed by the Crown, a Council chosen 
 by the Governor, and an Assembly elected by tlie peo- 
 ple. They had an Established Church, an outcome of 
 the Reformation, supported by the State. It was 
 necessary for the welfare of the people and for their 
 future salvation that we should have one, and it was 
 given us, large grants of land being made for its sup- 
 port. A hereditary nobility was an impossibility, for 
 the entire revenue of the Province in its early days 
 would not have been a sufficient income for a noble 
 lord. Still, there were needy gentlemen of good fami- 
 lies, as there always have been, and probably ever 
 will be, who were willing to sacrifice themselves for a 
 government stipend. They were provided for and scLt 
 across the sea to this new land of ours, to fill the few 
 offices that were of any importance. There was noth- 
 ing strange or unnatural in all this, and if these new- 
 comers had honestly applied themselves to the develop- 
 ment of the country instead of to advancing their own 
 interests, many of the difficulties which afterwards 
 sprang up would have been avoided. The men who 
 
 had made the country began to feel that they knew 
 I 
 
130 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 more about its wants than the Colonial Office, and that 
 they could manage its affairs better than the appointees 
 of the Crown, who had become grasping and arrogant. 
 They began to discuss the question. A strong feeling 
 pervaded the minds of many of the leading men of the 
 day that a radical change was necessary for the well- 
 being of the country, and they began to app? 7 the lever 
 of public opinion to the great fulcrum of agitation, in 
 order to overturn the evils that had crept into the ad- 
 ministration of public affairs. They demanded a gov- 
 ernment which should be responsible to the people, 
 and not independent of them. They urged that the 
 system of representation was unjust, and should be 
 equalized. They assailed the party in power as being 
 corrupt, and applied to them the epithet of the " Fam- 
 ily Compact " — a name which has stuck to them ever 
 since, because they held every office of emolument, and 
 dispensed the patronage to friends, to the exclusion of 
 every man outside of a restricted pale. Another griev- 
 ance which began to be talked about, and which re- 
 mained a bone of contention for years, was the large 
 grants of lands for the support of the Church of Eng- 
 land. As the majority of the people did not belong to 
 that body, they could not see why it should be taken 
 
tlFTY YEARS AGO. 131 
 
 under the protecting care of the State, while every 
 other denomination was left in the cold. Hence a 
 clamour for the secularization of the Clergy Reserves 
 began to be heard throughout the land. These, with 
 many other questions, which were termed abuses, 
 raised up a political party the members whereof came 
 to be known as Radicals, and who, later, were stigma- 
 tized by the opposing party as Rebels. The party 
 lines between these two sides were soon sharply drawn 
 and when Parliament met at York, early in January, 
 1830, it was discovered that a breach existed between 
 the Executive Council and the House of Assembly 
 which could not be closed up until sweeping changes 
 had been effected. 
 
 The Province at this time was divided into eleven 
 districts, or twenty-six counties, which returned forty- 
 one members to the Assembly, and the towns of Yor'.v, 
 Kino-ston. Brockville and Niagara returned one mem- 
 ber each, making in all forty-five representatives. 
 Obedient to the command of the Lieutenant-Gover- 
 nor, Sir John Colborne, the members of the different 
 constituencies were finding their way with sleighs 
 (the only means of conveyance in those days) through 
 woods and snow-driits, on the first of the year, to the 
 
132 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 capital — the Town of York. The Province had not 
 yet reached the dignity of possessing a city, and in- 
 deed the only towns were the four we have named, of 
 which Kingston was the largest and most important. 
 It had a population of 3,035, and York 2,860. A 
 member from Winnipeg could reach Ottawa quicker, 
 and with much more comfort now, than York could be 
 reached from the Eastern and Western limits of the 
 Province in those days.* 
 
 Marshall Spring Bidwell was Speaker to the As- 
 sembly, and the following formed the Executive Coun- 
 cil : — J. Baby, Inspector-General ; John H. Dunn, 
 Receiver-General ; Henry John Boulton, Attorney- 
 
 * Fancy such an announcement as the following appearing in our news- 
 papers in these days, prior to the opening of the House of Assembly : — 
 " To the proprietors and editors of the different papers in the Eastern 
 part of the Province. Gentlemen : Presuming that the public will desire 
 to be put in possession of His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor's 
 speech at the approaching Session of Parliament at an early date, and 
 feeling desirous to gratify a public to which we are so much indebted, we 
 sliall make arrangements for having it delivered, free of expense, at 
 Kingston, tlie day after it is issued from the press at York, that it may 
 be forwarded to Montreal by mail on the Monday following. 
 
 " We are. Gentlemen, 
 
 " Your obedient servants, 
 '•H. NoiiTON & Co., Kingston, 
 " W. Weller, York. 
 ••January 2nd, 1830." 
 
 The foregoing ia clipped from an old number of the Christian Guardian. 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 133 
 
 General; and Christopher A. Hagerman, Solicitor- 
 General. On the opening of the House, the address 
 was replied to by the Governor in one of the briefest 
 speeches ever listened to on the floor of the Legislative 
 Assembly. " Gentlemen of the House of Assembly, I 
 bhank you for your Address." The expense of Han- 
 sards wouk. not be very considerable if the legislators 
 of the present day followed the example of such brev- 
 ity as this. 
 
 Any one looking over the Journals of the Second 
 Session of the Tenth Parliament will see that there 
 was a liberal bill of fare provided. Every member 
 had at least one petition to present, and altogether 
 there were one hundred and fifty-one presented, some 
 of which read strangely in the light of the present day. 
 Among them was one from Addington, praying that 
 means might be adopted, " to secure these Provinces 
 the trade of the West Indies, free from the United 
 States competition." Another was from the Midland 
 District, praying that an Act be passed to prevent itin- 
 erant preachers from coming over from the United 
 States and spreading sedition, &c. ; and another from 
 Hastings, to dispose of the Clergy Reserves. "Mr. 
 McKenzie gives notice that he will to-morrow move for 
 
134 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 leave to bring in a bill to establish finger posts ; " and 
 a few years later these " finger posts " could be seen 
 at all the principal cross-roads in the Province. Among 
 the bills there was a tavern and f^hop license bill ; a 
 bill establishing the Kingston Bank with a capital of 
 £100,000; a bill authorizing a grant of £57,412 10s,, 
 for the relief of sufferers in the American War ; and 
 one authorizing a grant to the Kingston Benevolent 
 Society, and also to the York Hospital and Dispensary 
 established the year before. Among the one hundred 
 and thirty-seven bills passed by the House of Assembly, 
 nearly one hundred were rejected by the Legislative 
 Council, which shows how near the two Houses had 
 come to a dead-lock. In other respects there was 
 nothing remarkable about the session. The really 
 most important thing done was the formation of Agri- 
 cultural Societies, and the aid granted them. But in 
 looking over the returns asked for, and the grievance 
 motions brought forward from time to time, one can 
 see the gathering of the storm that broke upon the 
 country in 1837-8, and, however much that outbreak 
 is to be deplored, it hastened, no doubt, the settlement 
 of the vexed questions which had agitated the pub- 
 lic mind for years. The union of the two Provinces, 
 
FIPTY YEARS AGO. 133 
 
 Upper and Lower Canada, followed in 1841, and in 
 1867 Confederation took place, when our Province 
 lost its old appellation, and has ever since been known 
 as the Province of Ontario— the keystone Province of 
 the Confederation. 
 
 It was in 1830 that the name of Robert Baldwin 
 first appeared in the list of members, and of the forty- 
 five persons who represented the Province at that time 
 I do not know that one survives. The death of George 
 IV. brought about a dissolution, and an election took 
 place in October. There was considerable excitement, 
 and a good many seats changed occupants, but the 
 Family Compact party were returned to power. 
 
 A general election in those days was a weighty 
 matter, because of the largo extent of the constituen- 
 cies, and the distance the widely-scattered electors had 
 to travel— often over roads that were almost impassable 
 —to exercise their franchise. There was but one pol- 
 ling place in each county, and that was made as cen- 
 tral as possible for the convenience of the people. 
 Often two weeks elapsed before all the votes could be 
 got in, and during the contest it was not an uncom- 
 mon thing for one side or the other to make an eftbrt 
 \o get possession of the poll, and keep their opponents 
 
136 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 from voting. This frequently led to disgraceful fights, 
 when sticks and stones were used with a freedom that 
 would have done no discredit to Irish faction fiijlits in 
 their palmiest days. Happily, this is all changed now. 
 The numerous polling places prevent a crowd of ex- 
 cited men from collecting^ together. Voters have but a 
 short distance to go, and the whole thing is accom- 
 plished with ease in a day. Our representation, both 
 for the Dominion and Provincial Parliaments, is now 
 based upon population, and the older and more densely- 
 populated counties are divided into ridings, so that 
 the forty-eight counties and some cities and towns 
 return to the Ontario Government eighty-eight mem- 
 bers. 
 
 Fifty years ago the Post Office Department was 
 under the control of the British Government, and 
 Thomas A. Stayner was Deputy Postmaster General 
 of Biitish North America. Whatever else the Deputy 
 may have bad to complain of, he certainly could not 
 grumble at the extent of territory under his jurisdic- 
 tion. The gross recei[)ts of the Department were 
 £8,029 2s 6d.* There were ninety-one post offices in 
 
 *I am indebted to W. H. Griffin, Esq., Deputy Postmaster General, 
 for information, kir.uJy furnished, respecting the Post Office Depart- 
 
 XL V , &C. 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 137 
 
 • 
 
 Upper Canada. On the main line between York and 
 Montreal the mails were carried by a public stage, and 
 in spring and fall, owing to the bad roads, and even 
 in winter, with its storms and snow-drifts, its progress 
 was slow, and often difficult. There are persons still 
 living who remember many a weary hour and trying 
 adventure between these points. Passengers, almost 
 perished with cold or famished with hunger, were 
 often forced to trudge through mud and slush up to 
 their knees, because the jaded horses could barely 
 pull the empty vehicle through the mire or up the 
 weary hill. They were frequently compelled to alight 
 and grope around in impenetrable darkness and beat- 
 ing storm for rails from a neighbouring fence, with 
 which to pry the wheels out of a mud-hole, into which 
 they had, to all appearance, hopelessly sunk, or to dig 
 themselves out of snow banks in which both horses 
 and stage were firmly wedged. If they were so for- 
 tunate as to escape these mishaps, the deep ruts and 
 corduroy bridges tried their powers of endurance to 
 the utmost, and made the old coach creak and groan 
 under the strain. Sometimes it toppled over with 
 a crash, leavirg the worried passengers to find shelter, 
 if they could, in the nearest farm-house, until the 
 
138 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 damage was repaired. But with good roads and no 
 break-downs they were enabled to spank ulong at the 
 rate of seventy-five miles in a, day, which was consid- 
 ered rapid travelling. Four-and-a-half days were re- 
 quired, and often more, to reach Montreal from York. 
 A merchant posting a letter from the latter place, 
 under the most favourable circumstances, could not 
 get a reply from Montreal in less than ten days, or 
 sometimes fifteen ; and from Quebec the time required 
 was from three weeks to a month. The English mails 
 were brought by sailing vessels. Everything moved 
 in those days with slow and uneven pace. The other 
 parts of the Province were served by couriers on horse- 
 back, who announced their approach with blast of tin 
 horn. That the offices were widel}'^ separated in most 
 cases may be judged from their number. I recently 
 came upon an entry made by my father in an old 
 account book against his fathar's estate : " To one day 
 going to the post office, 3s. 9d." The charge, looked 
 at in the light of these days, certainly is not large, 
 but the idea of taking a day to go to and from a post 
 office struck me as a good illustration of the inconven- 
 iences endured in those days. The correspondent, at 
 that time, had never been blessed with a vision of tl\^ 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 139 
 
 coming envelope, but carefully folded his sheet of 
 paper into the desired shape, pushed one end of the 
 fold into the other, and secured it with a wafer or 
 sealing-wax. Envelopes, now universally used, were 
 not introduced until about ] 845-50, and even blotting 
 paper, that indispensable requisite on every writing- 
 table, was unknown. Every desk had its sand-box, 
 filled with fine dry sand, which the writer sprinkled 
 over his sheet to absorb the ink. Sometimes, at a 
 pinch, ashes were used. Goose quill was the only 
 pen. There was not such a thing, I suppose, as a 
 steel pen in the Province. Gillott and Perry had 
 invented them in 1828; but they were sold at $36 
 a gross, and were too expensive to come into general 
 use. Neither was there such a thing as a bit of 
 india rubber, so very common now. Erasures had to 
 be made with a knife. Single rates of letter postage 
 were, for distances not exceeding 60 miles, 4id. ; not 
 exceeding 100 miles, 7d. ; and not over 200 miles, 9d., 
 increasing 2^d. on every additional lOO miles. Letters 
 weighing less than one ounce were rated as single, 
 double or treble, as they consisted of one, two or more 
 sheets. If weighing an ounce, or over, the charge was 
 a single rate for every quarter of an ounce in weight. 
 
140 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 How is it now ? The Post Office Department has been, 
 for many years under the control of our Government. 
 There are in Ontario 2,353 Post-Offices, with a revenue 
 of $914,382. The mails are carried by rail to all the 
 principal points, and to outlying places and country 
 villages by stage, and by couriers in light vehicles, 
 with much greater despatch, owing to the improved 
 condition of the highways. A letter of not over 
 half an ounce in weight can be sent from Halifax 
 to Vancouver for three cents. A book weighing five 
 pounds can be sent the same distance for twenty cents, 
 and parcels and samples at equally low rates. To 
 England the rate for half an ounce is five cents, and 
 for every additional half-ounce a single rate is added. 
 Postage stamps and cards, the money order system, 
 and Post Office savings banks have all been added 
 since 1851. The merchant of Toronto can post a letter 
 to-day, and get a reply from London, England, in less 
 time than he could in the old days from Quebec. In 
 1830 correspondence was expensive and tedious. Let- 
 ters were written only under the pressure of necessity. 
 Now every one writes, and the number of letters and 
 the revenue have increased a thousand fold. The 
 steamship, locomotive and telegraph, all the growth of 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 
 
 141 
 
 the last half century, have not only almost annihilated 
 time and space, but have changed the face of the 
 world. It is true there were steamboats running be- 
 tween York and Kingston on the Bay of Quints and 
 the St. Lawrence prior to 1830 ; but after that date 
 they increased rapidly in number, and were greatly 
 improved. It was on the loth of September of that 
 year that George Stephenson ran the first locomotive 
 over the line between Liverpool and Manchester— a dis- 
 tance of thirty miles— so that fifty years ago this was 
 the only railway with a locomotive in the world— a 
 fact that can hardly be realised when the number of 
 miles now in operation, and the vast sums of money 
 expended in their construction, are considered. What 
 have these agents done for us, apart from the wonder- 
 ful impetus given to trade and commerce ? You can 
 post to your correspondent at Montreal at G p.m., and 
 your letter is delivered at 11 a.m., and the next day at 
 noon you have your answer. You take up your morn- 
 ing's paper, and you have the news from the very anti- 
 podes every day. The merchant has quotations placed 
 before him, daily and hourly, from every great com 
 mercial centre in the world; and even the sporting 
 
142 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 man can deposit his money here, and have his bet 
 booked in London the day before. 
 
 From the first discovery of the country up to 1800, 
 a period of about three hundred years, the bark 
 canoe was the only mode of conveyance for long dis- 
 tances. Governor Simcoe made his journeys from 
 Kingston to Detroit in a large bark canoe, rowed by 
 twelve chasseurs, followed by another containing the 
 tents and provisions. The cost of conveying merchan- 
 dise betweej Kingston and Montreal before the Rideau 
 and St. Lawrence canals were built is hardly credible 
 to people of this day. Sir J. Murray stated in the 
 House of Commons, in 1828, that the carriage of a 
 twenty-four pound cannon cost between j£150 and 
 £200 sterling. In the early days of the Talbot Settle- 
 ment (about 1817), Mr. Ermatinger states that eighteen 
 bushels of wheat were required to pay for one barrel 
 of salt, and that one bushel of wheat would no more 
 than pay for one yard of cotton. 
 
 Our fathers did not travel much, and there was a 
 good reason, as we have seen, why they did not. The 
 ordinary means of transit was the stage, which Mrs. 
 Jameson describes as a " heavy lumbering vehicle, well 
 calculated to Ive in roads where any decent carriage 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 143 
 
 must needs founder." Another kina, jed on rougher 
 roads, consisted of " large oblong wooden boxes, formed 
 of a few planks nailed together, and placed on wheels, 
 in which you enter by the window, there being no 
 door to open or shut, and no springs." On two or 
 three wooden seats, suspended in leather straps, the 
 passengers were perched. The behaviour of the better 
 sort, in a journey from Niagara to Hamilton, is 
 described by this writer as consisting of a " rolling and 
 tumbling along the detestable road, pitching like a 
 scow among the breakers of a lake storm." The road 
 was knee-deep in mud, the " forest on either side dark, 
 grim, and impenetrable." There were but three or 
 four steamboats in existence, and these were not much 
 more expeditious. Fares were high. The rate from 
 York to Montreal was about $24. Nearly the only 
 people who tra\elled were the merchants and officials, 
 and they were not numerous. The former often took 
 passage on sailing vessels or batteaux, and if engaged 
 in the lumber trade, as many of them were, they went 
 down on board their rafts and returned in the batteaux. 
 *' These boats were flat-bottomed, and made of pine 
 boards, narrowed at bow and stern, forty feet by six, 
 with a crew of four men and a pilot, provided with 
 
144! COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 oars, sails, and iron-shod poles for pushing. They 
 continued to carry, in cargoes of five tons, all the 
 merchandise that passed to Upper Canada. Some- 
 times these boats were provided with a makeshift 
 upper cabin, which consisted of an awning of oilcloth, 
 supported on hoops liketheroof of an American, Quaker, 
 or gips^ waggon. If further provided with half a 
 dozen chairs and a table, this cabin was deemed the 
 height of primitive luxury. The batteaux went in 
 brigades, which generally consisted of five boats. 
 -Against the swiftest currents and rapids the men poled 
 their way up ; and when the resisting element was too 
 much for their s<,rength, they fastened a rope to the 
 bow, and, plunging into the water, dragged her by 
 main strength up the boiling cataract. From Lachine 
 to Kingston, the average voyage was ten to twelve 
 days, though it was occasionally made in seven ; an 
 average as long as a voyage across the Atlantic now. 
 The Durham boat, also then doing duty on this route, 
 was a flat-bottomed barge, but it differed from the 
 batteaux in having a slip-keel and nearly twice its 
 capacity. This primitive mode of tr.'ivelling had its 
 poetic side. Amid all the hardships of their vocation, 
 tho French Canadian boatmen wore ever light of spirit, 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 145 
 
 and they enlivened the passage by carolling their boat 
 songs ; one of which inspired Moore to write his im- 
 mortal ballad."* 
 
 The country squire, if he had occasion to go from 
 home, mounted his horse, and, with his saddle-bags 
 strapped behind him. jogged along the highway or 
 through the bush at the rate of lorty or fifty miles a 
 day. T remember my father going to New York in 
 1839. He crossed by steamboat from Kingston to 
 Osv7ego; thence to Rome, in New York State, by 
 canal-boat, and thence by rail and steamer to New 
 York. 
 
 * Tnmt'H RailvHii/s of CanuJa, 1870 1, 
 
146 COUNTRY L[FE IN CANADA. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 t 
 
 ROAD-MAKINO' — WELLER's LINE OF STAGES AND STEAMBOATS — 
 MY TBIP FllOM HAMILTON TO NIAGABA— SCHOOLS AND COL- 
 LEGES — PIONEEK METHODIST PBEACHEBS -SOLEMNIZATION OF 
 MATBIMONY — LITERATURE AND LIBRARIES— EARLY NEWSPAPEBS 
 — PRIMITIVE EDITORIAL ARTICLES. 
 
 THE people were alive at a very early date to the 
 importance uf improving the roads ; and as far 
 back as 1793 an Act was passed at Niagara, then the 
 seat of government, placing the roads under overseers 
 or road-masters, as they were called, appointed by the 
 ratepaying inhabitants at their annual town meetings. 
 Every man was required to bring tools, and to work 
 from three to twelve days. There was no property 
 distinction, and the time was at the discretion of the 
 roadmaster. This soon gave cause for dissatisfaction, 
 and reasonably, for it was hardly fair to expect a poor 
 man to contribute as much toward the improvement of 
 highways as his rich neighbour. The Act was amended, 
 and the number of days' work determined by the 
 assessment roll The power of opening new roads, or 
 altering the course of old ones, was vested in the 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 147 
 
 Quarter Sessions. This matter is now under the con- 
 trol of the County Councils. The first government 
 appropriation for roads was made in 1804, when £1,000 
 was granted; but between 1830-33, $512,000 was pro- 
 vided for the improvement and opening up of new 
 roads. The road from Kingston to York was contracted 
 for by Dantford, an American, in 1800, at $90 per 
 mile, two rods wide. The first Act required that every 
 man should clear a road across his own lot, but it made 
 no provision for the Clergy Reserves and Crown Lands, 
 and hence the crooked roads that existed at one time 
 in the Province. Originally the loads were marked 
 out by blazing the trees through the woods as a guide 
 for the pedestrian. Then the boughs were cut away, 
 so that a man could ride through on horseback. Then 
 followed the sleighs, and finally the trees were cleared 
 ort" so that a waggon could pass. " The great leading 
 roads of the Province had received little improvement 
 beyond being graded, and the swamps [had been] made 
 passable by laying the round trunks of trees side bv -ide 
 acrois the roadway. Their supposed resemblanv .0 the 
 king's corduroy cloth gained for these crossways the 
 name of corduroy roads. The earth roads were passably 
 good when covered with the snows of winter, or when 
 
148 COUNTRY LTFE IN CANADA 
 
 dried up in the summer sun ; but even then a thaw or 
 rain made them all but impassable. The rains of 
 autumn and tho thaws of spring converted them into 
 a mass of liquid mud, such as amphibious animals 
 might delight to revel in. Except an occasional legis- 
 lative grant of a few thousand pounds for the whole 
 Province, which was ill-expended, and often not ac- 
 counted for at all, the great leading roads, as well as 
 all other roads, depended, in Upper Canada, for their 
 improvement on statute labour."* 
 
 The Rev. Isaac Fidler, writing in 1831, says: "On 
 our arrival at Oswego, I proceeded to the harbour in 
 quest of a trading vessel bound for York, in Canada, 
 and had the good fortune to find one that would sail 
 in an hour. I agreed with the captain for nine dollars, 
 for myself, family, and baggage, and he on his part 
 assured me that he would land me safe in twenty-four 
 hours. Our provision was included in the fare. In- 
 stead of reaching York in one day, we were five days 
 on the lake. There were two passengers, besides our- 
 selves, equally disappointed and impatient. The cabin 
 of the vessel served for the sitting, eating, and sleeping 
 room of passengers, captain and crew. I expostulated 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 149 
 
 strongly on this usage, but the captain informed nie he 
 had no alternative. The place connnonly assigned to 
 sailors had not been fitted up. We were forced to 
 tolerate this inconvenience. The sailors slept on the 
 floor, and assigned the berths to the passengers, but not 
 from choice. The food generally placed before us for 
 dinner was salt pork, potatoes, bread, water and salt ; 
 tea, bread and butter, and sometimes salt pork for 
 breakfast and tea;" to which he adds, " no supper." One 
 would think, under the circumstances, this privation 
 would have been a cause for thankfulness. 
 
 The same writer speaks of a journey to Montreal the 
 following year : " From York to Montreal, we had three 
 several alterations of steamboats and coaches. The 
 steamboat we now entered was moored by a ledge of 
 ice, of a thickness so great as to conceal entirely the 
 vessel, till we approached close upon it. We embarked 
 by steps excavated in the ice, for the convenience of 
 the passengers." 
 
 The following advertisement, from the Christian 
 Guardian of 1830, may prove not uninteresting as an 
 evidence of the competition then existing between the 
 coach and steamboat, and is pretty conclusive that at 
 
150 COUNTRY LIPE IN CANADA 
 
 that date the latter was not considered very much 
 superior or more expeditious : — 
 
 " NEW LINE OF STAGES AND STEAMBOATS FROM YORK 
 
 TO PRESCOTT. 
 
 " The puljlic are respectfully informed that a line of 
 stages will run regularly between York and the 
 Carrying Place,* twice a week, the remainder of the 
 season, leaving York every Monday and Thursday 
 morning at 4 o'clock ; passing through the beautiful 
 townships of Pickering, Whitby, Darlington and Clark, 
 and the pleasant villages of Port Hope, Cobourg and 
 Colborne, and arriving at the Carrying Place the 
 same evening. Will leave the Carrying Place every 
 Tuesday and Friday morning at 4 o'clock, and arrive 
 at York the same evenincr. 
 
 " The above arrangements are made in connection 
 with the steamboat Sir James Keiyipt, so that passen- 
 gers travelling this route will find a pleasant and speedy 
 conveyance between York and Prescott, the road being 
 very much repaired, and the line fitted up with good 
 horses, new carriages, and careful drivers. Fare through 
 from York to Prescott, £2 10s., the same as the lake 
 boats. Intermediate distances, fare as usual. All 
 baggage at the risk of the owner. N.B. — Extras 
 furnished at York, Cobourg, or the Carrying Place, on 
 reasonable terms. 
 
 " William Weller. 
 "York, June 9th. 1830." 
 
 I remember travelling from Hamilton to Niagara in 
 November, 184G. We left the hotel at 6 p.m. Our 
 stage, for such it was called, was a lumber waggon, 
 
 *The Carrying Place is at the head of the Bay of Quinte. 
 
t-IFTY YEARS AGO. 
 
 151 
 
 with a rude canvas cover to protect us from the rain, 
 under which were four seats, and I have a distinct 
 recollection that long before we got to our journey's 
 end we discovered that they were not very comfort- 
 able. There were seven passengers and the driver. 
 The luggage was corded on behind in some fashion, 
 and under the seats were crowded parcels, so that 
 when we got in we found it difficult to move or to get 
 out. One of our passengers, a woman with a young 
 child, did not contribute to our enjoyment, or make the 
 ride any more pleasant, for the latter poor unfortunate 
 screamed nearly the whole night through. Occasion- 
 ally it would settle down into a low whine, when a 
 sudden lurch of the waggon or a severe jolt would set 
 it off again with full force. The night was very dark, 
 and continued so throughout, with dashes of rain. 
 The roads were very bad, and two or three times we 
 had to get out and walk, a thing we did not relish, as 
 it was almost impossible for us to pick our way, and 
 the only thing for it was to push on as well as we could 
 through the mud and darkness. We reached Niagara 
 just as the sun was rising. ur appearance can readily 
 be imagined. 
 
152 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 " In 1825, William L. Mackenzie described the road 
 between York and Kingston as among the worst that 
 humaa foot ever trod, and down to the latest day be- 
 fore the railroad era, the travellers in the Canadian 
 stage coach were lucky if, when a hill had to be 
 ascended, or a bad si)ot passed, they had not to alight 
 and trudge ankle deep through the mud. The rate 
 at which it was possible to travel in stage coaches 
 depended on the elements. In spring, when the roads 
 were water-choked and rut-gullied, the rate might be 
 reduced to two miles an hour for several miles on the 
 worst sections. The coaches were liable to be embed- 
 ded in the mud, and the passengers had to dismount 
 and assist in prying them out by means of rails obtained 
 from the fences."* 
 
 Such was the condition of the roads up to, and for 
 a considerable time after, 1830, and such were the 
 means provided for the public who were forced to use 
 them. It can easily be conceived that the inducements 
 for pleasure trips were so questionable that the only 
 people who journeyed, either by land or water, were 
 those whose business necessities compelled them to do 
 so. Even in 1837, the only road near Toronto on 
 
 *Trout'B Railuoaya of Canada^ 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 153 
 
 which it was possible to take a drive was Yonge Street, 
 whic'i had been macadamized a distance of twelve 
 miles. But the improvements since then, and the 
 facilities for (luick transit, have been very great. The 
 Government has spent large sums of money in the 
 construction of roads and bridges. A system of 
 thorouirh <n-adinfc and drainage has been adopted. In 
 wet swampy land, the corduroy has given place to 
 macadamized or gravel roads, of which there are about 
 4,000 miles in the Province.* Old log bridges have 
 been superseded by stone, iron, and well-constructed 
 wooden ones, so that in the older sections the farmer 
 is enabled to reach his market with a well-loaded 
 waggon during the fall and spring. The old system of 
 tolls has been pretty much done away with, and even 
 in the remote townshii)s the Government has been 
 alive to the importance of uninterrupted communica- 
 tion, and has opened up good central highways. The 
 
 *In order to ascertain the number of miles of macadamized roads in 
 the Province, after huntin;,' iu vain in other quarters, I addressed a cir- 
 cular to the Clerk of the County Council in each county, and received 
 thirty replies, out of thirty- seven. From these I gathered that there 
 were about the number of miles above stated. Several replied that 
 they had no means of giving me the desired information, and others 
 thought there were about so many miles. I was forced to the conclusion 
 that the road accounts of the Province were not very systematically 
 kept. 
 
154 COtJNTllV LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 batteaux and sailing vessels, as a means of travel, with 
 the old steamer and its cramped up cabin in the hold, 
 and its slow pace, have decayed and rotted in the dock- 
 yard, and we have now swift boats, with stately saloons 
 running from bowio stem, fitted in luxurious style, on 
 either sides rows of comfortable sleeping rooms, and 
 with a table d'hote served as well as at a first class 
 modern hotel. Travelling by steamer now is no longer 
 a tediously drawn out vexation, but in propitious wea- 
 ther a pleasure. A greater change has taken place in 
 our land travel, but it is much more recent. The rail- 
 road has rooted out the stage, except to unimportant 
 places, and you can now take a Pullman at Toronto at 
 7 p.m., go to bed at the proper time, and get up in Mont- 
 real at 10.30 a.m. the next day. The first railroad on 
 which a locomotive was run was the Northern, opened 
 in 1853, to Bradford. Since that time up to the present 
 we have built, and now have in operation, 3,478 miles, 
 in addition to 510 under construction or contract.* 
 
 Washington, in his farewell address, says : " Promote 
 then, as an object of primary importance, institutions 
 for the general diflfusion of knowledge. In proportion 
 as the structure of a government gives force to public 
 
 * Thin is exclusive of the O.P.R. 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. l55 
 
 opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be 
 enlightened." Fifty years ago, education, even in the 
 older and more enliglitened countries, did not receive 
 that attention which its importance to the well-being 
 of society and the state demanded, and it is only during 
 recent years, comparatively speaking, that the education 
 of the masses has been systematically attempted. In- 
 deed, it used to be thought by men of birth and culture 
 that to educate the poor would lead to strife and con- 
 fusion — that ignorance was their normal condition, and 
 that any departure therefrom would increase their 
 misery and discontent. Those notions have, happily, 
 been exploded, and it is found that education is the 
 best corrective to the evils that used to afflict society 
 and disturb the general peace. It goes hand in hand 
 with religion and good order, and so convinced have 
 our rulers become of its importance to the geneml weal, 
 that not only free but compulsory education has become 
 the law of the land. It is not to be wondered at that 
 half a century ago our school system — if we could be 
 said to have one — was defective. Our situation and 
 the circumstances in which we were placed were not 
 favourable to the promotion of general education. The 
 sparseness of the population and the extent of territory 
 
l56 COUNTlilt^ LlfE IN CANADA 
 
 over which it was scattered increased the difficulty } 
 but its importance was not overlooked, and in the early 
 days of the Province grants of land were made for 
 educational purposes. The first classical school — in- 
 deed the first school of any kind — was opened in King- 
 ston, by Dr. Stuart, in 1785, and the first commoii 
 school was taught by J. Clark, in Fredericksburg, 1786. 
 In 1807 an Act was passed to establish grammar 
 schools in the various districts, with a grant of £100 
 to each. But it was not until 1816 that the govern- 
 ment took any steps towards establishing common 
 schools. The Lieutenant-Governor, in his Speech from 
 the Throns on opening the House, in January, 1830, 
 said : — 
 
 "The necessity of reforming the Royal Grammar 
 School was evident from your Report at the close of 
 the session. By the- establishing of a college at York, 
 under the guidance of an able master, the object which 
 we have in view will, I trust, be speedily attained. 
 The delay that may take place in revising the charter 
 of the University, or in "mming one suitable to the 
 Province and the intention of the endowment, must, in 
 fact, under present circumstances, tend to the advance- 
 ment of the institution; as its use depended on the 
 actual state of education in the Province. Dispersed 
 as the population is over an extensive territory, a 
 general efficiency in the common schools cannot be ex- 
 pected, particularly whilst the salaries of the masters 
 will not admit of their devotin^f their whole time to 
 their profession." ^ 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 157 
 
 As far as my recollection goes, the teachers were gen- 
 erally of a very inferior order, and rarely possessed more 
 than a smattering of the rudiments of grammar and 
 arithmetic. As the Governor points out, they were 
 poorly paid, and " boarded around" the neighbourhood. 
 But it is not improbable that they generally received 
 all their services were worth. In those days most of 
 the country youth who could manage to get to school 
 in winter were content if they learned to read and 
 write, and to wade through figures as far as the Rule of 
 Three. Of course there were exceptions, as also with 
 the teachers, but generally this was the extent of 
 the aspiration of the rising generation, and it was not 
 .necessary for the teacher to be profoundly learned to 
 lead them as far as they wished to go. I knew an old 
 farmer of considerable wealth who would not allow his 
 boys to go to school, because, he said, if they learned 
 to read and write they might forge notes. He evidently 
 considered "a little learning a dangerous thing," and 
 m'7st have had a very low estimate of the moral tone 
 of his offspring, if he had any conception of morality 
 at all. However, the safeguard of ignorance which the 
 old man succeeded in throwing around his family did 
 not save them, for the all turned out badly. 
 
158 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 The books in use were Murray's Grammar, Murray's 
 English Reader, Walker's Dictionary, Goldsmith's and 
 Morse's Geography, Mavor's Spelling Book, Walkin- 
 game's and Adam's Arithmetic. The pupil who could 
 master this course of study was prepared, so far as 
 the education within reach could fit him, to under- 
 take the responsibilities of life ; and it was generally 
 acquired at the expense of a daily walk of several miles 
 through deep snow and intense cold, with books and 
 dinner-basket in hand. 
 
 The school-houses where the youth were taught 
 were in keeping with the extent of instruction received 
 within them. They were invariably small, with low 
 ceilings, badly lighted, and without ventilation. The 
 floor was of rough pine boards laid loose, with cracks 
 between them that were a standing menace to Jack- 
 knives and slate pencils.* The seats and desks were 
 of the same material, roughly planed and rudely put 
 together. The seats were arranged around the room 
 on three sides, without any support for the back, and 
 all the scholars sat facing each other, the girls on one 
 side and the boys on the other. The seats across the 
 end were debatable ground between the two, but fin- 
 
 * Atlantic Monthly, 
 
FIFTY TEARS AGO. 159 
 
 ally came to be monopolized by the larger boys and 
 girls who, by some strange law of attraction, gravitated 
 together. Between was an open space in which the 
 stove stood, and when classes were drawn up to recite, 
 the teacher's desk stood at the end facing the door, and 
 so enabled the teacher to take in the school at a 
 glance. But the order maintained was often very bad. 
 In fact it would be safe to say the greatest disorder gen- 
 erally prevailed. The noise of recitations, and the buzz 
 and drone of the scholars at their lessons, was some- 
 times intolerable, and one might as well try to study 
 in the noisy caw-caw of a rookery. Occasionally 
 strange performances were enacted in those country 
 school-rooms. I remember a little boy between seven 
 and eight years old getting a severe caning for mis- 
 spelling a simple word of two syllables, and as I hap- 
 pened to be the little boy I have some reason to recol- 
 lect the circumstance. 'J'he mistake certainly did not 
 merit the castigation, the marks of which I carried on 
 my back for many days, and it led to a revolt in the 
 school which terminated disastrously to the teacher. 
 Two strong young men attending the school remon- 
 strated with the master, who was an irascible English- 
 man, during the progress of my punishment, and they 
 
160 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 were given to understand that if they did not hold 
 their peace they would got a taste of the same, where- 
 upon they iininediately collared the teacher. After a 
 brief tussle around the room, during which some of the 
 benches were overturned, the pedagogue was thrown 
 on the floor, and then one took him by the nape of 
 the neck, and the other by the heels, and he was 
 thrown out of doors in the snow. There were no 
 more lessons heard that day. On the next an investi- 
 gation followed, when the teacher was dismissed, and 
 those guilty of the act of insubordination were a-bnon- 
 ished. 
 
 Dr. Thomas Rolph thus refers to the state of schools 
 
 two years later: "It is renlly melancholy to traveise 
 the Province and go into many of the common schools ; 
 you find a brood of children, instructed by some Anti- 
 British adventurer, instilling into the young and ten- 
 der mind .sentiments hostile to the p irent State ; false 
 accounts of the late war in which Great Britain was 
 engaged with the United States ; geography sotting 
 forth New York, Philadelphia, Boston, kc, as the largest 
 and finest cities in the world; historical readini; books 
 describing the American population as the most free 
 and enlightened under heaven, insisting on the super- 
 iority of their laws and institutions to those of all the 
 world, in defiance of the agrarian outrages and mob 
 suj)remacy daily witnessed and lamented ; and Amer- 
 ican spelling books, dictionaries, and grammars, teach- 
 ing them an Anti-British dialect and idiom, although 
 living in a British Province and being subjects to the 
 British Crown. " 
 
nriY tEARS AGO. 161 
 
 There was a Board of Education consisting of tive 
 members appointed to each district, who had the over- 
 sight of the schools. Each school section met annually 
 at what was called the School meeting, and appointed 
 three trustees, who engaged teachers, and superintend- 
 ed the general management of the schools in their sec- 
 tion. The law required that every teacher should be 
 a British subject, or that he should take the oath of 
 allegiance. He was paid a fee of fifteen shillings per 
 (quarter for each scholar, and received a further sum 
 of $100 from the Government if there were not fewer 
 than twenty scholars taught in the school. 
 
 Upper Canada College, the only one in the Province, 
 began this year (1830), under the management of Dr. 
 Harris. Grantham Academy, in the Niagara District, 
 was incorporated, and tlie Methodist Conference ap- 
 pointed a Committee to take up subscriptions to build 
 an academy and select a site. The last named, when 
 built, was located at Cobourg, and the building which 
 was begun in 1832 was completed in 183G, when the 
 school was opened. There were 11 district and 132 
 common schools, with an attendance of 3 677, and an 
 expenditure of £3,8GC lis. C|d. 
 K 
 
162 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 There was very little change in our school laws for 
 several years. Grants were annually made in aid of 
 common schools, but there was no system in the expen- 
 diture; consequently the good effected was not very 
 apparent. The first really practical school law was 
 passed in 1841, the next year when the union of the 
 Provinces went into effect ; and in 1844 Dr. Ryorson 
 was appointed Chief Superintendent of Education for 
 Upper Canada, which office he held for thirty-two 
 years. During that time, through his indefatigable 
 labours, our school laws have been moulded and per- 
 fected, until it is safe to say we have the most com- 
 plete and efficient school system in the world. The 
 influence it has exercised on the intellectual develop- 
 ment of the people has been very great, and it is but 
 reasonable to expect that it will continue to raise the 
 standard of intelligence and high moral character 
 throughout the land. Our Government has, from the 
 very first, manifested an earnest desire to promote 
 education in the Province. During Dr. Ryerson's long 
 term of office, it liberally supplied him with the necces- 
 sary means for maturing his plans and introducing such 
 measures as would place our educational system on the 
 best footing that could be devised. This has been 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 163 
 
 accomplished in a way that does lionour, not only to 
 the head that conceived it, but to the enlightened 
 liberality of the Government that seconded the untir- 
 ing energy of the man who wrought it out. 
 
 The advantages which the youth of Ontario to-day 
 possess in acquiring an education over the time when 
 I was first sent to school with dinner basket in hand, 
 trudging along through mud or snow, to the old school- 
 house by the road side, where I was perched upon a 
 high pine bench without a back, with a Mavor's spell- 
 ing book in hand, to begin the foundation of my edu- 
 cation, are so many and great that it is difficult to 
 realize the state of things that existed, or that men of 
 intelligence should have selected such a dry and un- 
 attractive method of impaiting instruction to children 
 of tender years. It is to be feared that there are many 
 of our Canadian youth who do not appreciate the van- 
 tage ground they occupy, nor the inviting opportuni- 
 ties that lie within the reach of all to obtain a gener- 
 ous education. There is absolutely nothing to prevent 
 any young person possessing the smallest spark of am 
 bition from acquiring it, and making himself a ut^eful 
 member of society. " It is the only thing, " says Milton, 
 in his "Literary Musings," "which tits a man to 
 
164 tX)tJNTRt LtPfc t» CANADA 
 
 perform justly, skilfully, and magnanimously, all 
 the offices both private and public of peace and war. " 
 There seems to be a growing disposition in the pub- 
 lic mind to do away with the first important educa- 
 tional landmark established in the Province. Why 
 this should be, or why its influence for good should at 
 any time have been so much crippled as even to give 
 occasion to call its usefulness in question seems strange. 
 One would think that its intimate connection with 
 
 - our early history ; the good work accomplished by it, 
 and the number of men who have passed out of it to 
 fill the highest public positions in the gift of the Prov- 
 ince, would save it from violent hands, and furnish 
 
 - ample reasons for devising means to resuscitate it, if 
 r it needs resuscitation, and to place it in a position to 
 
 hold its own with the various institutions that have 
 come into existence since its doors were first thrown 
 open to the young aspirants for a higher education 
 half a century ago. 
 
 The opening of Upper Canada College in 1830 gave 
 an impetus to education which soon began to be felt 
 throughout the Province. It was impossible, in the 
 nature of things, that with increasing population and 
 wealth there should be no advance in our educational 
 
FIFTY TEARS AGO. 1G6 
 
 status. If the forty-six years that had passed had 
 been almost exclusively devoted to clearing away 
 the bush and tilling the land, a time had now 
 arrived when matters of higher import to future 
 success and enjoyment pressed themselves upon the 
 attention of the people. The farm could not produce 
 all the requirements of life, nor furnish congenial em- 
 ployment to many active minds. The surplus products 
 of the field and forest, in order to become available as 
 a purchasing power, had to be convorted into money, 
 and this set in motion the various appliances of com- 
 merce. Vessels were needed to carry their produce 
 to market, and merchants to purchase it, who, in turn, 
 supplied the multifarious wants of the household. 
 Then came the mechanic and the professional man, and 
 with the latter education was a necessity. It was 
 not to be expected that the tastes of the rising gen- 
 eration would always run in the same groove with 
 the preceding, and as wealth and population increased, 
 so did the openings for advancement in other pui-suits ; 
 and scores of active young men throughout the Province 
 were only too anxious to seize upon every opportunity 
 that offered to push their way up in life. Hence it 
 happened that when Upper Canada College first threwr 
 
166 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA \ 
 
 open its doors, more than a hundred young men enrolled 
 their names. In a comparatively short time the need 
 for greater facilities urged the establishment of other 
 educational institutions, and this led to still greater 
 effort to meet the want. Again, as the question pressed 
 itself more and more upon the public mind, laws were 
 enacted and grants made to further in every way so 
 desirable an object. Hence, what was a crude and 
 inadequate school organization prior to 1830, at that 
 time and afterwards began to assume a more con- 
 crete shape, and continued to improve until it has 
 grown into a system of which the country may well 
 be proud. •" - ■ ^ ■•■••■*. ,.*.- > j :-..-'.. f^- «. ,. , -.,..^1. . 
 
 The contrast we are enabled to present is wonderful 
 in every respect. Since the parent college opened its 
 doors to the anxious youths of the Province, five 
 universities and the same number of colleges have 
 come into existence. The faculties of these several ' 
 institutions are presided over by men of learning and ^ 
 ability. They are amply furnished with libraries, ■ 
 apparatus aad all the modern requirements of first- 
 class educational institutions. Their united rolls show 
 an attendance of about l,oOO students last year. There 
 a,re 10 Collegiate Institutes and 94 High Schools, with 
 
, FIFTY YEARS AGO. 107 
 
 an attendance of 12,130 pupils ; 5,147 Public Schools, 
 with 494,424 enrolled scholars ; and the total receipts . 
 for school purposes amounted to $3,220,730. Besides « 
 these, there are three Ladies' Colleges, and several other 
 important educational establishments devoted entirely v 
 to the education of females, together with private and - 
 select schools in almost every city and town in the \'- 
 Province, many of which stand very high in public ■. 
 estimation. There are two Normal Schools for the 
 training of teachers. The one in Toronto has been in 
 existence for 29 years, and is so well known that it is 
 unnecessary for me to attempt any description of it. 
 The total number of admissions since its foundation 
 have been 8,269. The Ottawa school, which has been 
 in operation about two years, has admitted 433. Three 
 other important educational institutions have been 
 established by the Government in different parts of the 
 Province. The Deaf and Dumb Institute at Belle- 
 ville is pleasantly situated on the shore of the Bay of 
 Quints, a little west of the city. The number in . 
 attendance is 269, and the cost of maintenance for the 
 past year $38,589. The Institute for the Blind at 
 Brantford numbera 200 inmates, and the annual expen- 
 diture is about $30,000. These institutions, erected at 
 
1 68 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 a very large outlay, are admirably equipped, and under 
 the best management, and prove a great boon to the 
 unfortunate classes for whom they were established. 
 The Agricultural College at Guelph, for the training of 
 young men in scientific and practical husbandry, though 
 in its infancy, is a step in the right direction, and must 
 exercise a beneficial influence upon the agricultural 
 interests of the country. Of medical corporations and 
 schools, there are the Council of the College of 
 Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario ; the Faculty of 
 the Toronto School of Medicine ; Trinity Medical 
 School ; Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons ; 
 Canada Medical Association ; Ontario College of Phar- 
 macy ; Royal College of Dental Surgeons ; and Ontario 
 Veterinary College. There is also a School of Practical 
 Science, now in its fourth year. This, though not a 
 complete list of the educational institutions and schools 
 of the Province, will nevertheless give a pretty correct 
 idea of the progress made during the fifty years that 
 are gone. ,,t- . .-. +v -- .-,.. ..■••v '^ 
 
 The accommodation furnished by the school sections 
 throughout the country has kept pace with the pro- I 
 gress of the times. As a rule the school-houses are ^ 
 commodious, and are built with an eye to the health 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. ' 169 
 
 and comfoi't of the pupils. The old pine benches and 
 (Jesks have disappeared before the march of improve- 
 ment — my recollection of them is anything but agree- 
 able — and the school-rooms are furnished with com- 
 fortable seats and desks combined. The children are 
 no longer crowded together in small, unventilated 
 rooms. Blackboards, maps and apparatus are furnished 
 to all schools. Trained teachers only are employed, 
 and a uniform course of study is pursued, so that each 
 Public School is a stepping-stone to the High School, 
 and upward to the College or University. Great 
 attention has been paid by the Education Depart- 
 ment to the selection of a uniform series of text 
 books throughout the course, adapted to the age and 
 intelligence of the scholars ; and if any fault can be 
 found with it, I think it should be in the number. 
 The variety required in a full course — even of English 
 study — is a serious matter. The authorities, however, 
 have laboured earnestly to remove every difficulty that 
 lies in the student's path, and to make the way attrac- '' 
 tive and easy. That they have succeeded to a very 
 great extent is evident from the highlj'- satisfactory 
 report recently presented by the Minister of Education. 
 With the increasing desire for a better education, there 
 
170 COUNTRY LIFE TN CANADA 
 
 seems to be a growing tendency on the part of young 
 men to avail themselves of such aids as shall push them 
 towards the object in view with the smallest amount 
 of work ; and instead of applying themselves with 
 energy and determination to overcome the difficulties 
 that face them in various branches of study, they resort 
 to the keys that may be had in any bookstore. It is 
 needless to repeat what experience has proved in 
 thousands of instances, that the young man who goes 
 through his mathematical course by the aid of these, 
 or through his classical studies by the use of trans- 
 lations, will never make a scholar. Permanent success 
 in any department of life depends on earnest work, 
 and the more arduous the toil to secure an object, so 
 much the more is it prized when won. Furthermore, 
 it is certain to prove more lasting and beneficial. 
 
 The same causes that hindered the progress of educa- 
 tion also retarded the advance of religion. The first 
 years of a settler's life are years of unremitting toil ; a 
 struggle, in fact, for existence. Yet, though settlers 
 had now in a measure overcome their greater difficul- 
 ties, the one absorbing thought that had ground its 
 way into the very marrow of their life still pressed its 
 Qla,ims upon their attention. The paramount questiou 
 
r- FIFTY YEARS AGO. • 171 
 
 with them had been how to get on in the world. They 
 were cut off, too, from all the amenities of society, and 
 were scattered over a new country, ^t^hich, prior to their 
 coming, had been the home of the Indian — where al 1 
 the requiiements of civilization had to be planted and 
 cultivated anew. They had but barely reached a 
 point when really much attention could be devoted to 
 anything but the very practical aim of gaining their 
 daily bread. It will readily be admitted that there is 
 no condition in life that can afford to put away relig- 
 ious instruction, and there is no doubt that the people 
 at first missed these privileges, and often thought of 
 the time when they visited God's House with regular- 
 ity. But the toil and moil of years had worn away 
 these recollections, and weakened the desire for sacred 
 things. There can be no doubt that prior to, and even 
 up to 1830, the religious sentiment of the greater por- 
 tion of the people was anything but strong. The 
 Methodists were among the first, if not actually the 
 first, to enter the field and call them back to the alle- 
 giance they owed to the God who had blessed and pro 
 tected them.* Colonels Neal and McCarty began to 
 
 * Dr. Stuart, of Kingston, Church of England, was the first minister 
 in Upper Canada ; Mr. Langworth, of the same denomination, in Bath ; 
 and Mr. Scamerhom, Lutheran minister at WiUiauasburgb, next, 
 
172 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 preach in 1788, but the latter was hunted out of the * 
 country.* Three years later, itinerant preachers began 
 their work and gathered hearers, and made converts in ; 
 every settlement. But these men, the most of whom 
 came from the United States, were looked upon with 
 suspicion -f* by many who did not fall in with their 
 religious views; and it is not surprising that some ■ 
 even went so far as to petition the Legislature to pass 
 an Act which should prevent their coming into the 
 country to preach. It was said, and truly, when the ^' 
 matter about this was placed before the Government, 
 that the connection existing between the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church of the United States and Canada 
 
 * Playter. 
 
 t I have in my posRession an old manuscript book, written by my 
 grandfather in 179G, in which this point is brought out. Being a Quaker, 
 he naturally did not approve of the way those early preachers conducted 
 services. Yet he would not be likely to exaggerate what came under his 
 notice. This is what he says of one he heard: "I thought he exerted 
 every nerve by the various positioi^s in which he placed himself to cry, 
 stamp and smite, often turning from exhortation to prayer. Entreating 
 the Almighty to thunder, or rather to enable him to do it. Also, to 
 smite with the sword, and to use many destroying weapons, at which my 
 mind was led from the more proper buoiness of worship or devotion to 
 observe what appeared to me inconsistent with that quietude that be- 
 cometh a messenger sent from the meek Jesus to declare the glad tidings " 
 of the gospel. If I compared the season to a shnwer, as has heretofore 
 been done, it had only the appearance of a tempest of thunder, wind and 
 UaUi destiljute of the s\yeet r^fresbin^ drops of a gospel ohower," 
 
.</ tlVTt TEAbS Ado. *'* 17^ 
 
 was altogether a apiritual and not a political connec- 
 tion ; that the Methc \ists of Canada were as loyal to 
 the British Crown as any of its subjects, and had 
 , proved it again and again in the time of trouble. l?et, 
 looking back and remembering the circumstances under 
 which the people came, it does not seem so very stranga 
 to us that they should have looked very doubtfully 
 upon evangelists from a land which not only stripped 
 them and drove them away, but a little later invaded 
 their country. Neither do we wonder that some of 
 them were roughly treated, nor that unpleasant epi- 
 thets were thrown out against their followers. This 
 was the outcome, not only of prejudice, but the recol- 
 lection of injuries received. There were a good many 
 angularities about Christian character in those days, 
 and they frequently stood out very sharply. They 
 were not friends or enemies by halves. Their preju- 
 dices were deeply seated, and if assailed were likely to 
 be resisted, and if pressed too closely in a controversy, 
 were more disposed to use the argumentwm bacuUnum, 
 as being more effectual than the argumentum ad 
 judicium. But time gradually wore away many of 
 those asperities, and now few will deny that the posi- 
 tion our Province holds to-day is to a considerable ex- 
 
174 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 tent owing to this largo and influential body of Chris- 
 tians. They built the first house devoted to public 
 worship in the Province ; through their zeal and energy 
 the people were stirred up to a sense of their religious 
 obligation ; their activity infused life and action into 
 other denominations. The people generally through- 
 out the country had the bread of life broken to them 
 with regularity, so that in the year of Grace 1830 a 
 new order of thing's was inaugurated. But with all 
 this, a vastly different state of atiairs existed then 
 from that now prevailing. No one could accuse the 
 preachers of those days of mercenary motives, for they 
 were poorly paid, and carried their worldly possessions 
 on their backs. Their labour was arduous and unre- 
 mitting. They travelled great distances on foot and 
 on horseback, at all seasons and in all weathers, to till 
 appointments through the bush — fording rivers, and 
 enduring hardships and privations that seem hardly 
 possible to be borne. A circuit often embraced two or 
 three districts. The places of worship were small and 
 far apart, and fitted up with rude pine benches, the men 
 sitting on the one side and the women on the other. 
 Often forty or fifty miles would have to be traversed 
 from one appointment to another, and when it was 
 
''' firn YEABs AGO. lis 
 
 Reached, whether at a neighbour's house, a school-house, 
 
 a barn or a meeting house, the poople assembled to 
 
 hear the word, and then the preacher took his way to 
 
 the next place on his circuit. > ' . '. 
 
 Mr. Vanest says : " In summer we crossed ferries, and 
 in winter we rode much on ice. Our appointment was 
 thirty-four miles distant, without any stopping-place. 
 Most of the way was through the Indian's land — other- 
 wise called the Mohawk Woods. In summer I used to 
 stop half-way in the woods and turn my horse out 
 where the Indians had had their fires. In winter I 
 would take some oats in my saddle-bags, and make a 
 place ill the snow to feed my horse. In many places 
 there were trees fallen across the path, which made it 
 difficult to get around in deep snow. I would ask the 
 Indians why they did not cut out the trees. One said, 
 'Indian like deer; when he no cross under, he jump 
 over.' There was seldom any travelling that way, 
 which made it bad in deep snow. At one time when 
 the snow was deep, I went on the ice till I could see 
 clear water, so I thought it time to go ashore. I got off 
 my horse and led him, and the ice cracked at every 
 step. If I had broken 'through, there would have been 
 nothing but death for us both. I got to the woods in 
 dee|) snow, and travelled up the shore till I found a 
 small house, when I found the course of my path, 
 keeping a good look-out for the marked trees. I at 
 last found my appointment about seven o'clock. If I 
 had missed my path I do not know what would have 
 become of me. At my stopping-place the family had 
 no bread or meal to make any of, till they borrowed some 
 of a neighbour ; so I got my dinner and supper about 
 eleven o'clockon Saturday night. On Sabbath 1 preached. 
 On Monday I rode about four miles, crossed the Bay 
 (Quint^), and then rode seventeen miles through the 
 
ITC ^ COUl IBV LirB IN CANADA 
 
 woods without seeing a house, preached and met a class 
 for a day's work." 
 
 ii Another writer says : " We had to go twenty miles 
 without seeing a house, and were guided by marked 
 treeSI there being no roads. At one time my colleague 
 was lost in getting through the woods, when the 
 wolves began to howl around him, and the poor man 
 felt much alarmed ; but he got through unhurt." * . 
 
 These incidents occurred some years before the date 
 
 of which I speak, but the same kind of adventures 
 
 were happening still. It did not take long to get 
 
 away from the three or four concessions that stretched 
 
 along the bay and lakes, and outside of civilization. 
 
 I remember going with my father and mother, about 
 
 1835, on a visit to an uncle who had settled in the 
 
 bush, -f- just ten miles away, and in that distance we 
 
 travelled a wood road for more, than five miles. The 
 
 snow was deep and the day cold. We came out upon 
 
 the clearing of a few acres, and drove up to the door 
 
 of the small log house, the only one then to be seen. 
 
 The tall trees which environed the few acres carved 
 
 out of the heart of the bush waved their naked 
 
 branches as if mocking at the attempt to put them 
 
 *Dr. Carroll. 
 
 tThis was in the oldest settled part of the Province— the Bay of 
 Quints. 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 177 
 
 away. The stumps thrust their heads up through 
 the snow on every hand, and wore their winter caps 
 with a jaunty look, as if they too did not intend to 
 give up possession without a struggle. The horses 
 were put in the log stable, and after warming our- 
 selves we had supper, and then gathered round the 
 cheerful fire. When bed-time came, we ascended to 
 our sleeping room by a ladder, my father carrying me 
 up in his arms. We had not been long in bed when a 
 pack of wolves gathered round the place and began to 
 bowl, making through all the night a most dismal and 
 frightful noise. Sleep was out of the question, and for 
 many a night after that I was haunted by packs of 
 howling wolves. On our return the next da}' I expect- 
 ed every moment to see them come dashing down upon 
 us until we got clear of the woods. This neighbour- 
 hood is now one of the finest in the Province, and for 
 miles fine houses and spacious well-kept barns and out- 
 houses are to be seen on every farm. 
 
 I have been unable to get at any correct data re- 
 specting the number of adherents of the various 
 denominations in the Province for the year 1830. The 
 , total number of ministers did not reach 150, while they 
 
178 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 now exceed 2,500.* There were but three churches in 
 Toronto, then called York. One of these was an Episco- 
 palian Church, occupying the present site of St. James's 
 Cathedral. It was a plain wooden structure, 50 by 40, 
 with its gables facing east and west ; the entrance 
 being by a single door off Church Street, f The others 
 were a Presbyterian and a Methodist church. The 
 latter was built in 1818, and wa^, a long, low building, 
 40 by GO. In the gable end, facing King Street, were 
 two doors, one for each sex, the men occupying the 
 right and the women the left side of the room. It was 
 warmed in winter by a rudely constructed sheet-iron 
 stove. The usual mode of ligliting it for night services 
 was by tallow candles placed in sconces along the 
 walls, and in candlesticks in the pulpit. I am sure I 
 shall be safe in saying that there were not 150 churches 
 or chapels all told in the Province.. All of them were 
 small, and many of them were of the most humble char- 
 acter. There are probably as many clergymen and more 
 than half as many churches in Toronto now, as there 
 
 * I he number of ministers, as given in the Journals of the House 
 of Assembly for 1831, are 57 Methodist, 40 Baptist, 14 Presbyterian, 
 and 32 Church of England. Por the last I am indebted tu Dr. 
 Scadding. "" ..' ;.;;.. ';.! ;; : ' 
 
 t Toronto of Old, 
 
FIFTY YEAB8 AGO. 179 
 
 were in all Upper Canada fifty years ago. The differ- 
 ence doeH not consist in the number of the latter alone« 
 but in tlie size and cliaracter of the .structures. The 
 beautiful and conuuodious churche.i, with their lofty 
 spires and richly arranged interiors, that meet the gaze 
 on every hand in Toronto, have not inappropriately 
 given it the proud title of " the city of churches," and 
 there are several of them, any one of which would com- 
 fortably seat the entire population of York in the days 
 of which I have spoken. There were no organs, and I 
 am not sure that there were any in America. Indeed, 
 if there had been, the good people of those days would 
 have objected to their use Those who remember the 
 three early churches I have mentioned — and those who 
 do not can readily picture them with their fittings and 
 seating capacity — will recall the dim, lurid light cast on 
 the audience by the flickering candles. Turn, now, for 
 example, to the Metropolitan Church on an evening's 
 service. Notice the long carpeted aisles, the rich 
 upholstery, the comfortable seats, the lofty ceilings, the 
 spacious gallery and the vast congregation. An unseen 
 hand touches an electric battery, and in a moment 
 hundreds of gas jets are aflame, and the place is filled 
 with a blaze of light. " Now the great organ heaves 
 
180 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 its thrilling thunders, compressing air into music, and 
 rolling it forth upon the soul." Surely the contrast is 
 almost incredible, and what we have said on this point 
 in regard to Toronto may be said of every city, town, 
 village or country place in the Province. 
 
 It will be proper to notice here that from the settle- 
 ment of the country up to 1831, marriage could only 
 be legally solemnized by a minister of the Church of 
 England, or of the established Church of Scotland. 
 There was a provision which empowered a justice of 
 the peace or a commanding officer to perform the rite 
 in cases where there was no minister, or where the 
 parties lived eighteen miles from a church. In 1831, 
 an Act was passed making it lawful for ministers of 
 other denominations to solemnize matrimony, and to 
 confirm marriages previously contracted. This act of 
 tardy justice gave great satisfaction to the people. 
 
 The day for cheap books, periodicals and newspapers 
 had not then arrived. There were but few of any 
 kind in the country, and those that were to be found 
 possessed few attractions for either old or young. The 
 arduous lives led by the people precluded ulie cultiva- 
 tion of a tsistc for reading. Persons who toil early 
 and late, week in and week out, have very little 
 
ipIFTY YEARS AGO. ^ 181 
 
 inclination for anything in the way of literary re- 
 creation. When the night came, the weary body 
 demanded rest, and people sought their beds early. 
 Consequently the few old volumes piled away on a 
 shelf remained there undisturbed. Bacon says : " Some 
 books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and 
 some to be chewed and digested ;" and he might have 
 added — " others still to be left alone." At all events 
 the last was the prevailing sentiment in those days. 
 I do not know that the fault was altogether with the 
 books. It is true that those generally to be see.ii were 
 either doctrinal works, or what might be termed 
 heavy reading, requiring a good appetite and strong 
 digestive powers to get through with them. They 
 were the relics of a past age, survivors of obsolete 
 controversies that had found their way into the coun- 
 try in its infancy ; and though the age that delighted 
 in such mental pabulum had passed away, these 
 literary pioneers held their ground because the time 
 had not arrived for the peoi)le to feel the necessity of 
 cultivating the mind as well as providing for the 
 wants of the body. Seneca says : " Leisure without 
 books is the sepulchre of the living soul;" but books 
 without leisure are practically valueless, and hence it 
 
l82 COUNTRY LI^E IN CANADA 
 
 made but little diffevence with our grandfathers what 
 the few they possessed contained.* Some years had 
 to pass away before the need of them began to be felt. 
 In a country, as we have already said, where intelli- 
 gence commanded respect but did not give priority ; 
 where the best accomplishment was to get on in the 
 world ; where the standard of education seldom rose 
 higher than to be able to read, write, and solve a 
 siuiple sum in arithmetic, the absence of entertaining 
 and instructive books was not felt to be a serious loss. 
 But with the rapidly increasing facilities for moving 
 about, and the growth of trade and commerce, the 
 
 •From an inventory of my grandfather's personal effects I am enabled 
 to give what would have been considered a large collection of books in 
 those days. As I have said before, he was a Quaker, which will account 
 for the character of a number of the books ; and by changing these to 
 volumes in accord with the religious tenets of the owner, the reader will 
 get a very good idea of the kind of literature to be found in the houses 
 of intelligent and well-to-do people :— 1 large Bible, 3 Clarkson's works, 
 1 Buchan's Domestic Medicine, 1 Elliot's Medical Pocket Book, 1 Lewis's 
 Dispensatory, 1 Franklin's Sermons, 1 Stackhouse'a History of the 
 Bible, 2 Brown's Union Gazetteer, 1 16th Report of the British and 
 Foreign Bible Society, 1 History United States, 1 Elias Hicka's Ser- 
 mons, 2 Newton's Letters, 1 Ricketson on Health, 1 Jessy Kerzey, 1 
 Memorials of a Deceased Friend, 1 Hervey's Meditations, 1 Reply to 
 Hibard, 1 Job's Scot's Journal, 1 Barclay on Church Government, 1 M. 
 1 iver on Shakerism, 1 Works of Dr. Franklin, 1 Journal of Richard 
 Davis, 1 Lessons from Scripture, 1 Picket's Lessons, 1 Pownal, 1 Sequel 
 to English Reader, Maps of United States, State of New York, Eng- 
 land, Ireland and Scotland, and Holland Purchase. . , ' •:;,,*»,>. 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 183 
 
 people were brought more frequently into contact 
 with the intelligence and the progress of the world 
 outside. And with the increase of wealth came the 
 desire to take a higher stand in the social scale. The 
 development of men's minds under the political and 
 social changes of the day, and the advance in culture 
 and refinement which accompanies worldly prosperity, 
 quickened the general intelligence of the people, and 
 created a demand for books to read. This demand has 
 gone on increasing from year to year, until we have 
 reached a time when we may say with the Ecclesiast : 
 " Of making of books there is no end." If there 
 was an excuse for the absence of books in our Can- » 
 adian homes half a century ago, and if the slight 
 draughts that were obtainable at the only fountains of 
 knowledge that then existed were not sufficient to 
 create a thirst for more, there is none now. Even the 
 wealth that was to a certain extent necessary to gratify 
 any desire to cultivate the mind is no longer required, 
 for the one can be obtained free, and a few cents will 
 procure the works of some of the best authors who 
 have ever lived. 
 
 But little had been done up to 1830 to establish 
 libraries, either in town or village. Indeed the limited 
 
184 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 number of these, and the pursuits of the people, which 
 were almost exclusively agricultural — and that too in a 
 new country where during half of the year the toil of 
 the field, and clearing away the bush the remaining 
 half, occupied their constant attention — books were 
 seldom thought of. Still, there was a mind here and 
 there scattered through the settlements which, like the 
 " little leaven," continued to work on silently, until a 
 large portion of the " lump " had been leavened. The 
 only public libraries whereof I have any trace were at 
 Kingston, Ernesttown and Hallowell. The first two 
 were in existence in 1811-13, and the last was 
 established somewhere about 1821. In 1824, the 
 Government voted a sum of £150, to be expended 
 annually in the purchase of books and tracts, designed 
 to afford moral and religious instruction to the people. 
 These were to be equally distributed throughout all 
 the Districts of the Province. It can readily be con- 
 ceived that this small sum, however well intended, 
 when invested in books at the prices which obtained at 
 that time, and distributed over the Province, would be 
 so limited as to be hardly worthy of notice. Eight 
 years prior to this, a sum of £800 was granted to 
 establish a Parliamentery Library. From these smal 
 
J-IPTY YEARS AGO.' l8o 
 
 Ibeginnings we have gone on increasing until we have 
 reached a point which warrants me, I think, in saying 
 that no other country with the same population is better 
 supplied with the best literatiire of the day than our 
 own Province. Independent of the libraries in the 
 various colleges and other educational institutions, 
 Sunday schools and private libraries, there are in the 
 Province 1,5 CO Free Public Libraries, with 298,743 vol- 
 umes, valued at $178,282, and the grand total of books 
 distributed by the Educational Department to Mechan- 
 ics' Institutes, Sunday school libraries, and as prizes, is 
 1,398,140.* There are also upwards of one hundred 
 incorporated Mechanics' Institutes, with 130,000 vol- 
 umes, a net income of .S59,928, and a membership of 
 10,785. These, according to the last Report, received 
 legislative grants to the amount of $22,885 for the year 
 1879 — an appropration that in itself creditably attests 
 the financial and intellectual progress of the Province.*}" 
 It is a very great pity that a systematic effort had 
 not been made years ago to collect interesting inci- 
 
 *TTie number of volumes in the principal libraries are, as nearly as 
 I can ascertain, aa follows :— Parliamentary Library, Ottawa, 100,000 
 Parliamentary Library, Ontario, 17,000 ; Toronto University, 23,000 
 Trinity College, 5,000 ; Knox College, 10,000 ; Osgoode Hall, 20,000 
 Normal School, 15,000; Canadian Institute, 3,800. ■ .* >- ■•' ' 
 
 tReport of the Minister of Education, 1879. '<' 
 
\HC) country life in CANADA 
 
 dents connected with the early settlement of the 
 Province. A vast amount of information that would 
 be invaluable to the future compiler of the history of 
 this part of the Dominion has been irretrievably lost. 
 The actors who were present at the birth of the Pro- 
 vince are gone, and many of the records have perished. 
 But even now, if the Government would interest itself, 
 much valuable material scattered through the country 
 might be recovere J. The Americans have been always 
 alive to this subject, and are constantly gathering up 
 all they can procure relating to the early days of their 
 country. More than that, they are securing early re- 
 cords and rare books on Canada wherever they can find 
 them. Any one who has had occasion to hunt up 
 information respecting this Province, even fifty years 
 ago, knows the difficulty, and even impossibility in 
 some cases, of procuring what one wants. It is hardly 
 credible that the important and enterprising capital 
 city of Toronto, with its numerous educational and 
 professional institutions, is without a free public library 
 in keeping with its other advantages.* This is a serious 
 want to the well-being of our intellectual and moral 
 
 * This want has since been supplied by an excellent Free Public 
 Library. ,..*' ^ . 
 
t-I^-TY YEARS AGO. 187 
 
 nature. The benefits conferred by free access to a 
 large collection of standard books is incalculable, and 
 certainly if there is such a thing as retributive justice, 
 it is about time it showed its hand. 
 
 The first printing office in tne Province was estab- 
 lished by Louis Roy, in April, 1793,* at Newark (Ni- 
 agara), and from it was issued the Upper Canada 
 Gazette, or Artierican Oracle,f a formidable name for 
 a sheet 15 in. X 9. It was an official organ and news- 
 paper combined, and when a weekly journal of this 
 size could furnish the current news of the day, and the 
 Government notices as well, one looking at it by the 
 light of the present day cannot help thinking that 
 publishing a paper was up-hill work. Other journals 
 were started, and, after running a brief course, ex- 
 pired. When one remembers the tedious means of 
 communication in a country almost without roads, and 
 the difficulty of getting items of news, it does not seem 
 strange that those early adventures were short-lived. 
 But as time wore on, one after another succeeded in 
 getting a foothold, and in finding its way into the 
 home of the settler. They were invariably small, and 
 
 * Mr. Bourinot, in his InteUcctuaZ Development of Canada, says, this 
 was in 176;{, which is no doubt a typograi)hical error. ■ • f 
 
 t Toronto of Old. . .. \;,.r 
 
l88 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 printed on coarse paper. Sometimes even tliis gave 
 out, and the printer had to resort to blue wrapping 
 paper in order to enable him to present his readers 
 with the weekly literary feast. In 1830, the number 
 had increased from the humble beginning in the then 
 capital of Upper Canada, to twenty papers, and of 
 these the following still survive : The Chronicle and 
 News, oi Kingston, establishtni 1810; Brockville Re- 
 corder, 1820 ; St. Catharines Journal, 1824 ; Chris- 
 tian Guardian, 1829. There are now in Ontario 37 
 daily papers, 4 semi- weeklies, 1 tri- weekly, 282 week- 
 lies, 27 monthlies, and 2 semi-monthlies, making a 
 total of 353. The honour of establishinof the first 
 daily paper belongs to the late Dr. Barker, cf Kingston, 
 founder of the British Whig, in 1834. 
 
 There is perhaps nothing that can give us a better 
 idea of the progress the Province has made than a com- 
 parison of the papers published now with those of 1830. 
 The smallness of the sheets, and the meagreness of 
 reading matter, the absence of advertisement*", except 
 in a very limited way, and the typographical work> 
 make us think that our fathers were a good-natured, 
 easy-going kind of people, or they would never have 
 put up with such apologies for newspapers. Dr. Scad- 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 189 
 
 ding, in Toronto of Old, gives a number of interesting 
 and amusing items respecting the " Early Press." He 
 states that the whole of the editorial matter of the 
 Gazette and Oracle, on the 2nd January, 1802, is the 
 following : " The Printer presents his congratulatory 
 compliments to his customers on the new year." If 
 brevity is the soul of wit, this is a chef d'amvre. On 
 another occasion the publisher apologises for the non- 
 appearance of his paper by saying : " The Printer hav- 
 ing been called to York last week upon business, is 
 humbly tendered to his readers as an apology for the 
 Gazette's not appearing." This was another entire edi- 
 torial, and it certainly could not have taken the readeis 
 lonj to get at the pith of it. What would be said over 
 such an announcement in these days ? 
 
 We have every reason to feel proud of the advance 
 the Press has made, both in number and influence, in 
 Ontario. The leading papers are ably conducted and 
 liberally supported, and they will compare favourably 
 with those of any country. Various causes have led to 
 this result. The prosperous condition of the people, the 
 increase of immigration, the springing up of railwjiy 
 communication, the extension and perfecting of tele- 
 graphy, and, more than all, the completeness and efR- 
 
190 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 ciency of our school system throughout the Province, 
 have worked changes nob to be mistaken. These are 
 the sure indices of our progress and enlightenment ; 
 the unerring registers that mark our advancement as a 
 people. 
 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 191 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 BANKS — INSURANCE— MARINE — TELEQRAPH COMPANIES— A DMINI8> 
 TRATION OF JUSTICE — MILUNO AND MANUFACTURES — RAPID 
 ' INCREASE OF POPULATION IN CITIES AND TOWNtt — EXCEUPT8 
 FROM ANDREW PICKEN. 
 
 r I iHE only bank in the Province in 1830 was the 
 -■- Bank of Upper Canada, with a capital of 
 £100,000. There are now nine chartered banks owned 
 in Ontario, with a capital of $17,000,000, and there are 
 seven banks owned, with one exception, in the Prov- 
 ince of Quebec, having offices in all the principal 
 towns. There are also numbers of private banks and 
 loan companies, the latter representing a capital of 
 over $20,000,000. This is a prolific gi-owth in half a 
 century, and a satisfactory evidence of material 
 success. 
 
 Insurance has been the growth of the last fifty 
 years. During the session of the House of Assembly 
 in 1830, a bill was introduced to make some provision 
 against accidents by fire. Since then the business has 
 grown to immense proportions. According to the re- 
 turns of the Dominion Government for the 31st De- 
 
192 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 cember, 1879, the assets of Canadian Life, Fire, Ma- 
 rine, Accident, and Guarantee Companies were $1(),34G 
 587. British, doin^' business in Canada, $(5,838,309. 
 American, ditto, $1,G85,.599. Of Mutual Companies, 
 there are 94 in Ontario, with a total income fur 1879 
 of $485,579, and an expenditure of $455,801.* 
 
 Fifty years ago the revenue of Upper Canada was 
 £112,1G6 i3.s. 4d. ; the amount of duty collected £0,283 
 198. The exports amounted to £1,555,404, and the 
 imports to £1,502,914. There were twenty-seven ports 
 of entry and thirty-one collectors of customs. From 
 the last published official reports we learn that the 
 revenue for Ontario in 1879 was $4,018,287, and that 
 for the fiscal year ending June 30th, 1S80, the exports 
 were $28,003,080, and imports $27,800,444 ; amount of 
 duty collected, $5,080,570; also that there are fifty-six 
 ports of entry and thirty-eight outposts, with seventy- 
 three collectors. 
 
 One of the most interesting features in the progress 
 of Canada is the rapid growth of its marine. It is 
 coiTectly stated to rank foui-th as to tonnage among 
 the maritime powera of the woild, Tlie United States, 
 
 ♦ Inspector of Infjurance Report, 1880, 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 11>3 
 
 with its fifty-four millions of people and its immonso 
 coast-line, exceeds us but by a very little, while in 
 ocean steamers we are ahead. In fact, the Allan Line 
 is one of the first in the world. This is something for 
 a country with a population of only five-and-a-half 
 millions to boast of, and it is not by any means the 
 only thing. Wo have been spoken of as a people 
 wanting enterprise — a good-natured, phlegmatic set — 
 but it is a libel disproved by half a century's progress. 
 We have successfully carried out some of the grandest 
 enterprises on this continent. At Montreal we have 
 the finest docks in America. Our canals are uneciualled ; 
 our country is intersected by railroads; every town 
 and village in the land is linked to its neighbour 
 by telegraph wires, and we have probably more miles 
 of both, according to population, than any other people. 
 The inland position of the Province of Ontario, al- 
 though having the chain of great lakes lying aloiig its 
 southern border, never fostered a love for a sea-faiing 
 life. This is easily accounted for by the pui-suits of 
 the people, who as has been said before, were nearly al 
 agriculturists. But the produce had to be moved, and 
 the means were forthcoming to meet the necessities of 
 the case. The gi-eat water-course which led to the 
 
194 COUNTRY LIFE IN CAilADA 
 
 seaports of Montreal and Quebec, owing to the rapids 
 of the St. Lawrence, could only be navigated by the 
 batteaux and Durham boats ; and the navigator, after 
 overcoming these difficulties, and laying his course 
 through the noble lake from which our Province takes its 
 name, encountered the Falls of Niagara. This was a huge 
 barrier across his path which he had no possible means 
 of surmounting. When the town of Niagara was 
 reached, vessels had to be discharged, and the freight 
 carted round the falls to Chippawa. This was a tedious 
 matter, and a great drawback to settlement in the wes- 
 tern part of the Province. Early in the century, the 
 Hon. William Hamilton Merritt conceived the plan of 
 connecting Lakes Erie and Ontario by a canal, and 
 succeeded in getting the Government to assume the 
 project in^ 1824. It was a great work for a young 
 country to undertake, but it was pushed on, and com- 
 pleted in 1830. From that time to the present vessels 
 have been enabled to pass from one lake to the other. 
 This, with the Sault Ste. Marie canal, and those of the 
 St. Lawrence, enables a vessel to pass from the head 
 of Lake Superior to the ocean. The Rideau Canal, 
 undertaken about the same time as the Welland Canal, 
 was also completed in the same year. It was construe - 
 
^l^t VEAfeS Ado. 1&6 
 
 ted principally for military purposes, though at one 
 time a large amount of freight came up the Ottawa, 
 and thence by this canal to Kingston. The St. Law- 
 rence was the only channel for freight going east. All 
 the rapids were navigable with the batteaux except 
 the Lachine, and up to 1830 there was a line of these 
 boats running from Belleville to Montreal.* Our 
 canal system was completed fifty years ago, and 
 all that has been done since has consisted of enlarging 
 and keeping them in repair. The total number of 
 miles of canal in the Province is 136. 
 
 The number of vessels composing our marine in 1830 
 was 12 steamers and 110 sailing vessels, with a tonnage 
 of 14,300 ; and it is worthy of remark that at that date 
 the tonnage on the lakes was about equal to that of the 
 
 *The reader may be interested in learning the amount of produce ship- 
 ped from the Piovince in 1830, via the St. Lawrence, and the mode of its 
 conveyance. It is certainly a marked contrast, not only to the present 
 facilities for carrying freii,'ht, but to the amount of produce, etc., going east 
 and coming west. Statement of produce imported into Lower Canada 
 through the I'ort of Coteau du Lac, to December 30th, 1830,in 584 Durham 
 boats and 731 batteaux ; 133,141 bis. Hour ; 2(3,084 bis. ashes ; 14,110 bis. 
 pork; 1,627 bis. beef ; 4,881 bu'.. corn and rye ; 280,322 bus. wheat ; 1,875 
 bis. corn meal ; 245 bis. and 955 kegs lard ; 27 bis. and 858 kegs butter ; 263 
 bis. and 29 hds. tallow ; 625 bis. apples ; 216 bis. raw hides ; 148 hdp. 
 and 361 kegs tobacco ; 1,021 casks and 3 hds. whiskey and spirits ; ?,(i;;(; 
 hogs. (Quantity of merchandise brought to Upp er Canada in the same 
 year, 8,244 tona — Journal of the House of Assembly, 1831. 
 
196 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 United States. The number of steam vessels now 
 owned by the Province is 385, with 657 * sailing 
 vessels, having a total tonnage of 137,481, which at $30 
 per ton would make our shipping interest amount to 
 $4,124,430. 
 
 A great deal has been done these last few years to 
 protect the sailor from disaster and loss. Independent 
 of marine charts that give the soundings of all navi- 
 gable waters, buoys mark the shoals and obstructions 
 to the entrance of harbours or the windings of intricate 
 channels ; and from dangerous rocks and bold head- 
 lands, jutting out in the course of vessels, flash out 
 through the storm and darkness of the long dreary 
 night the brilliant lights, from the domes of the light- 
 houses, warning the sailor to keep away. By a system 
 of revolving and parti-coloured lights the mariner is 
 enabled to tell wtere he is, and to lay his course so as 
 to avoid the disaster that might otherwise overtake 
 him. There are now 149 f lighthouses in the Ontario 
 division. In 1830 there were only four. Another great 
 boon to the mariners of the present day is the meteoro- 
 logical service, by which he is warned of apjDroaching 
 
 * Report Marino and Fisheries, 1P80. 
 tib. 
 
PIFTT TEARS AGO. 197 
 
 storms. It is only by the aid of telegraphy that this 
 discovery has been made practically available ; and the 
 system has been so perfected that weather changes can 
 be told twenty-four hours in advance, with almost 
 positive certainty. We have fourteen drum stations, 
 eight of which are on Lake Ontario, four on Lake 
 Huron, and two on the Georgian Bay. 
 
 The Montreal Telegraph Company, the tirst in Can- 
 ada, was organized in 1847. It has 1,647 offices in the 
 Dominion, 12,703 miles of poles, and 21,568 of wire. 
 Number of messages for current year, 2,112,161 ; 
 earnings, $550,840. The Dominion Company reports 
 G08 offices, 5,112 miles of poles, and 11,501 of wire. — 
 Number of messages, 734,522 ; gross earnings, .$229,- 
 994. This gives a total of 17,845 miles of telegraph, 
 2,282 offices, 2.846,623 messages, and gross earnings 
 amounting to $780,834.* 
 
 The administration of justice cost the Province in 
 1830, $23,600, and according to the latest official re- 
 turns $274,013 — a very striking proof that our pro- 
 pensity to litigate has kept pace with the increase of 
 wealth and numbers. There were four Superior Court 
 
 *Annual Report of M^ontreal and Dominion Telegraph Companies^ 
 1881, „;. ., .,-■ , ; ■•::':;, . ' ' / .[ 
 
198 COUNTKY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 Judges, of whom the Hon. John Beverley Robinson was 
 made Chief Justice in 18?9, at a salary of $6,000. The 
 remaining judges received $3,600 each. Besides these 
 there were eleven District Judges, and in consequence 
 of the extent of country embraced in these sections, 
 and the distance jurors and others had to travel, the 
 Court of Sessions was held frequently in alternate 
 places in the district. In the Midland District, this 
 court was held in Kingston and Adolphustown. The 
 latter place had been laid out for a town by some far- 
 seeing individual, but in never even attained to the 
 dignity of a village. There was, besides the court- 
 house, a tavern, a foundry, a Church of England — one 
 of the first in the Province — the old homestead of the 
 Hagermans, near the wharf ; a small building occupied 
 for a time by the father of Sir John A. Macdonald as a 
 store, and where the future statesman romped in his 
 youth, and four private residences close at hand. 
 When the court was held there, which often lasted a 
 week or more, judge, jury, lawyers and litigants had to 
 be billeted around the neighbourhood. As a rule they 
 fared pretty well, for the people in that section were 
 well off, and there was rarely any charge for board. 
 The courts comprised the Court of King's Bench, the. 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 190 
 
 Quarter Sessions, and Court of Requests. The latter 
 was similar to our Division Court, and was presided 
 over by a commissioner or resident magistrate. The 
 Quarter Sessions had control of nearly all municipal 
 affairs, but when the Municipal Law came into force 
 these matters passed into the hands of the County 
 Councils. The machinery in connection with the ad- 
 ministration of justice has been largely augmented, for, 
 beside the additional courts, we have six Superior 
 Court Judges, one Chancellor, two Vice- Chancellors, 
 one Chief -Justice, three Queen's Bench, tliree Common 
 Pleas, three Court of Appeal Judges, and tliirty-eight 
 County Court Judges. 
 
 The manufacturing interests of the Province in 1830 
 were very small indeed. I have been unable to put 
 my hand on any trustv/orthy information respecting 
 this matter at that time, but from my own recollection 
 at a somewhat later period, I know that very little 
 had been done to supply the people with even the 
 most common articles in use. Everything was im- 
 ported, save those things that were made at home. 
 From the first grist mill, built below Kingston by the 
 Government for the settlers — to which my grandfather 
 carried his first few bushels of wheat in a qanoe down 
 
200 COUNTTwF LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 the Bay of Quintd, a distance of thirty -five miles — the 
 mills in course of time increased to 303. They were 
 small, and the greater proportion had but a single run 
 of stones. The constant demand for lumber for build- 
 ing purposes in every settlement necessitated the build- 
 ing of saw-mills, and in each township, wherever there 
 was a creek or stream upon which a sufficient head of 
 water could be procured to give power, there was a 
 rude mill, with its single upright saw. Getting out 
 logs in the win'^er was a part of the regular programme 
 of every farmer who had pine timber, and in spring, for 
 a short time, the mill was kept going, and the lumber 
 taken home. According to the returns made to the 
 Government, there were 429 of these mills in the Prov- 
 ince at that time.* There were also foundries where 
 ploughs and other implements were made, and a few 
 fulling mills, where the home-made flannel was con- 
 verted into the thick coarse cloth known as full cloth, 
 a warm and serviceable article, as many no doubt re- 
 member. Carding machines, which had almost en- 
 tirely relieved the housewife from using hand cards in 
 making rolls, were also in existence. There were also 
 breweries and distilleries, and a paper mill on the 
 
 •Journals, House of Aesembly, 1831. i, ^ : ■ V , 'V; '■: 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 201 
 
 Don, at York. This was about the sum total of our 
 manufacturing enterprises at that date. 
 
 There are now 508 grist and flour mills — not quite 
 double the number, but owing to the great improve- 
 ment in machinery the producing capacity has largely 
 increased. Very few mills, at the present time, have 
 fewer than two run of stones, and a great many have 
 four, and even more, and the same may be said of the 
 saw mills, of which there are 853. There are many in 
 the Province capable of turning out nearly as umch lum- 
 ber in twelve months as all the mills did fifty years ago. 
 
 It is only within a few years that we have made much 
 progress in manufactures of any kind. Whatever the 
 hindrances were, judging from the numerous factories 
 that are springing into existence all over the Dominion, 
 they seem to have been removed, and capitalists are 
 embarking their money in all kinds of manufacturing 
 enterprises. There is no way, as far as I know, of get- 
 ting at the value annually produced by our mills and 
 factories, except from the Trade and Navigation Re- 
 turns for 1880, and this only gives the exports, which 
 are but a fraction of the grand total. Our woollen 
 mills turned out last year upwards of $4,000,000,* of 
 
 Monetary Times, December 17, 1881. 
 
202 COUNT IIY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 which we exported $222,425. This does not include 
 the produce of what are called custom mills. There 
 are 224 foundries, 285 tanneries, 1G4 woollen mills, 74 
 carding and fulling mills, 137 cheese factories, 127 
 agricultural and implement factories, 92 breweries, 8 
 boot and shoe factories, 5 button factories, 1 barley 
 mill, 2 carpet factories, 4 chemical works, 9 rope and 
 twine factories, 9 cotton mills, 3 crockery kilns, 11 
 flax mills, 4 glass works, 11 glove factories, 7 glue 
 factories, 9 hat factories, 12 knitting factories, 9 oat- 
 meal mills, 9 organ factories, 10 piano factories, 25 
 paper mills, 4 rubber factories, 6 shoddy mills, 3 sugar 
 refineries; making, with the flour and saw mills, 2,642. 
 Besides these there are carriage, cabinet and other fac- 
 tories and shops, to the number of 3,848. The value 
 of flour exported was $1,547,910; of sawn lumber, 
 $4,137,062; of cheese, $1,199,973; of flax, $95,292; 
 of oatmeal, $215,131; and of other manufactures, 
 $1,100,605. 
 
 We may further illustrate the progress we have 
 made by giving the estimated value of the trade in 
 Toronto in 1880, taken from an interesting article on 
 this subject which appeared in the Globe last January. 
 The wholesale trade is placed at $30,650,000 ; produceJ^ 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 203 
 
 $23,000,000 ; a few leading factories, $1,770,000 ; live 
 stock, local timber trade, coal, distilling and brewing, 
 $8,910,000 ; in all, $64,330,000— a gross sura more than 
 ten times greater than the value of the trade of the 
 whole Province fifty years ago. 
 
 Another interesting feature in our growth is the 
 rapid increase in the cities and towns. Some of these 
 were not even laid out in 1830, and others hardly 
 deserved the humble appellation of village. The dif- 
 ference will be more apparent by giving the popula- 
 tion, as far as possible, then and in 1881, when the 
 last census was taken, of a number of the principal 
 
 places : — 
 
 *^ 1830. 1881. 
 
 Toronto 1 2,860 86,445 
 
 Kingston 3,587 14,093 
 
 Hamilton, including tovmship 2,013 35,965 
 
 London, including township 2,415 
 
 Brantford, laid out in 1830 9,626 
 
 Guelph, including township 778 9,890 
 
 St. Catharines (Population in 1845, ,3,500)... 
 
 Ottawa contained 150 houses 
 
 Belleville, incorporated 1835 9,516 
 
 BrockviUe U30 7,608 
 
 Napanee (Population in 1845, 500) 3,681 
 
 Cobourg 4,957 
 
 PortHope 5,888 
 
 Peterboro', laid out in 1826 6,815 
 
 Lindsay, .. 1833 5,081 
 
 Barrie, " 1832 
 
 IngersoU, •. 1831.. 4,32^ 
 
204 COUNTRY LIFE TN CANADA 
 
 1830. 1881. 
 
 Wooilatock (Poinilfttion in 1845, 1,085) 5,373 
 
 Chatham, settled in 18:«) 7,881 
 
 Stratford, laid out in 1833 8,240 
 
 Sarnia, laid out in 1833 3,874 
 
 I hope the humble effort I have made to show what 
 we Upper Canadians have done during the fifty years 
 that are gone will induce some one better qualified to 
 go over the same ground, and put it in a more attrac- 
 tive and effective shape. It is a period in our history 
 which must ever demand attention, and although our . 
 Province had been settled for nearly half a century prior 
 to 18o(), it was not until after that date that men of 
 intelligence began to look around them, and take an 
 active interoit in shaping the future of their country. 
 There were many failures, but the practical sense of 
 the people surmounted them, and pushed on. All were 
 awake to the value of their heritage, and contributed 
 their share to extend its influence ; and so we have 
 gone on breasting manfully political, commercial and 
 other difficulties, but always^' advancing ; and whatever 
 may be said about the growth of other parts of A.merica, 
 figures will show that Canada is to the front. At the 
 Provincial Exhibition in Ottawa, in 1879, the Governor 
 of Vermont, in his address, stated (what we already 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. ^05 
 
 knew), that Canada had outstripped the United States 
 in rapidity of growth and development during recent 
 years, and th^ Governors of Ohio and Maine endorsed 
 the statement. We have a grand country, and I be- 
 lieve a grand future. > , 
 
 " Fair land of peace ! to Britain's rule and throne 
 Adherent still, yet happier than alone, .j.. 
 And free as happy, and as brave as free, 
 Proud are thy children, justly proud of thee. 
 Few are the years that have sufficed to change 
 This whole broad land by transformation strange. 
 Once far and wide the unbroken forests spread 
 Their lonely waste, mysterious and dread — 
 Forest, whose echoes never had been stirred 
 By the sweet music of an English word ; 
 ■ Where only rang the red-browed hunter's yell. 
 And the wolf's howl through the dark sunless dell. 
 Now fruitful fields and waving orchard trees 
 Spread their rich treasures to the summer breeze. 
 Yonder, in queenly pride, a city stands, 
 Whence stately vessels speed to distant lands ; 
 Here smiles a hamlet through embow'ring green, 
 And there the statelier village spires are seen ; 
 Here by the brook-side clacks the noisy mill, 
 There the white homestead nestles on the hill ; 
 The modest school-house here flings wide its door 
 To smiling crowds that seek its simple lore ; 
 There Learning's statelier fane of massive walls 
 ' Wooes the young aspirant to classic halls, 
 
 And bids him in her hoarded treasure find 
 '< The gathered wealth of all earth's gifted minds. 
 
 Pamela S. Vinino. 
 
206 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANAbA 
 
 Since writin<f the foregoing, I accidentally caine 
 across The Canadas, Jbc, by Andrew Picken, published 
 in London in 1832, a work which I had never previ- 
 ously met with. It is written principally for the bene- 
 fit of persons intending to emigrate to Canada, and con- 
 tains notices of the most important places in both Pro- 
 vinces. I have made the following extracts, tliinking 
 that they would prove interesting to those of my read- 
 ers who wish to get a correct idea of our towns and 
 villages fifty years ago. 
 
 "The largest and most populous of the towns in 
 Upper Canada, and called the key to the Province, is 
 Kingston, advantageously situated at the head of the 
 St. Lawrence, and at the entrance of the great Lake 
 Ontario. Its population is now about 5,500 souls ; it 
 is a military post of importance, as well as a naval de- 
 pot, and from local position and advantages is well 
 susceptible of fortification. It contains noble dock- 
 yards and conveniences for ship-building. Its bay 
 affords, says Howison, so fine a harbour, that a vessel 
 of one hundred and twenty guns can lie close to the 
 quay, and the mercantile importance it has now 
 attained as a commercial entrepot between Montreal 
 below and the western settlements on the lakes above, 
 may be inferred, among other things from the wharfs 
 on the river and the many spacious and well-filled 
 warehouses behind them, as well as the numerous 
 stores and mercantile employes within the town. Tiio 
 streets are regularly formed upon the right-angular 
 plan which is the favourite in the new settlements, but 
 they are not paved j and though the houses are mostly 
 
nmrt years ago. 20*7 
 
 built of limestone, inexhaustible quarries of which lie 
 in the immediate vicinity of the town, and are of the 
 greatest importance to it and the surrounding neigh- 
 bourhood, there is nothing in the least degree remark- 
 able or interesting in the appearance of either the 
 streets or the buildings. The opening of the Rideau 
 Canal here, which, with the intermediate lakes, 
 forms a Junction between the Ontario and other lakes • 
 above, the St. Lawrence below, and the Ottawa, oppo- 
 site Hull, in its rear, with all the intervening districts 
 and towuvships, will immensely increase the impor- 
 tance of this place ; and its convenient hotels already 
 afford comfortable accommodation to the host of travel- 
 lers that are continually passing between the Upper 
 and Lower Provinces, as well as to and from the States 
 on the opposite side of the river. 
 
 " York is well sitrated on the north side of an excel- 
 lent harbour on the lake. It contains the public build- 
 ings of the Province, viz, the House of Assembly, whore 
 the Provincial Parliament generally holds its sittings ; 
 the Government House ; the Provincial Bank ; a 
 College; a Court-House; a hall for the Law Society; 
 a gaol ; an Episcopal Church ; a Ba])tist Chapel (Metho- 
 dist) ; a Scots' Kirk ; a Garrison near the toAvn, with 
 barracks for the tioops usually stationed here, and a 
 battery which protects the entrance of the harbour. 
 Regularly laid out under survey, as usual, the streets 
 of the town are spacious, the hou.ses mostly built of 
 wood, but many of them of brick and stone. The 
 population amounts now to between four and five 
 thousand. 
 
 " By -Town, situated on the southern bank of the 
 Ottawa, a little below the Chaudiere Falls, and opposite 
 to the nourishing Village of Hull, in Lower Canada, 
 stands upon a bold eminence, surrounding the bay of 
 the grand river, and occupies both banks of the canal, 
 which here meets it. Laid out in the usual manner, 
 
^08 COUNTRY LIFE IN CANADA 
 
 with streets crossing at rii^ht angles, the number of 
 houses is ah-eady about 150, most of which are wood, 
 and many built with much taste. Three stone barracks 
 and a large and commodious hospital, built also of stone, 
 stand conspicuous on the elevated banks of the bay; 
 and the elegant residence of Colonel By, the command- 
 ing Royal Engineer of that station. 
 
 " The town-plot of Peterborough is in the north- 
 east angle of the Township of Monaghan. It is laid 
 out in half acres, the streets nearly at right angles with 
 the river; park lots of nine acres each are reserved 
 near the town. The patent fee on each is £8, Provincial 
 currency, and office fees and agency will increase it 
 15s. or 20s more. 
 
 "The settlement commenced in 1825, at whicii time 
 it formed a depot of the emigration under Hon. P. 
 Robin.son. The situation is most favourable, being an 
 elevated sandy plain, watered by a creek, which dis- 
 charges into the river below the turn. The country 
 round is fertile, and there is great water-power in the 
 town-plot, on which mills are now being built by 
 Government. These mills are on an extensive scale, 
 being calculated to pack forty barrels of Hour, and the 
 saw-mill to cut 3,000 feet of boards per diem. 
 
 " The situation of Cobourg is healthy and |)leasant. 
 It stands immediately on the shore of Lake Ontario. 
 In 1812, it had only one house; it now contains up- 
 wards of forty houses, an E})iscopal church, a Methodist 
 chapel, too good inns, four stores, a distillery, an exten- 
 sive grist mill; and the population may be estimated 
 at about 350 souls. 
 
 "The two projected towns of most consideration in 
 this district (London district), however, are London -on- 
 the-Thaines, further inland, and Goderich, recently 
 founded by the Canada Company, on Lake Huron. 
 London is yet but inconsiderable, but from its position, 
 in the heart of a fertile country, is" likely to become of 
 
FIFTY YEARS AGO. 209 
 
 some importance hereafter, when the extreme wilds 
 become more settled. The town is quite new, not con- 
 taining above forty or fifty houses, all of bright boards 
 and shingles. The streets and gardens full of black 
 stumps &c. They were building a church, and had 
 finished a handsome Gothic court-house, whiel; must 
 have been a costly work. 
 
 "Ouelph. Much of this tract belongs to the Canada 
 ^ Company, who have built, nearly in its centre, the 
 town of Guelph, upon a small river, called the Speed, 
 a remote branch of the Ouse, or Grand River. This 
 important and rapidly rising town, which is likely to 
 become the capital of the district, was founded by Mr, 
 Gait, for tlie Company, on St. George's day, 1827, and 
 already contains between 100 and 200 houses, several 
 shops, a handsome market house near the centre, a 
 schoolhouse, a printing office, and 700 or 800 inhabi- 
 tants. 
 
 " The Bay of Quints settlement is the oldest in Upper 
 Canada, and was begun at the close of the Revolu- 
 tionary War. We crossed over the mouth of the River 
 Trent, which Hows from the Rice Lake, and it is said 
 can be made practicable for s(eand)oats, though at mucli 
 expense; thence to Belleville, a neat village of recent 
 date, but evidently addicted too much to lumbering. 
 
 "Brockville is a most thriving new town, with several 
 handsome stone houses, churches, court-house, Szc, and 
 about 1,500 souls." 
 
m'^ 
 
 V I 
 
' V 
 
 SKETCHES OF EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 > i 
 

SKETCHES 
 
 OF 
 
 EARLY HISTORY.* 
 
 EARLY SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS— BIRTH OP THE AMERICAN 
 REPUBLIC —LOVE OF COUNTRY — ADVENTURES OF A U. E. LOYAL- 
 IST FAMILY NINETY YEARS AGO— THE WILDS OF UPPER CANADA 
 — HAY BAY— HARDSHIPS OF PIONEER LIFE— GROWTH OF POPU- 
 LATION — DIVISION OF THE CANADIAN PROVINCES— FORT FKON- 
 TENAC— THE "DARK DAYS "—CELESTIAL FIREW0UX8— EARLY 
 
 TEAM NAVIGATION IN CANADA— THE COUNTRY MERCHANT 
 
 PROGRESS— THE HARE AND THE TORTOISE. 
 
 A FTER having consented to read a paper on the 
 
 -^-^ subject which has ah-eady been announced, I 
 
 do not think it would be quite proper for me to begin 
 
 , with apologies. That they are needed I confess at 
 
 once, but then they should have been thought of be- 
 
 * This paper was read before the Mechanics' Institute in Picton, 
 twenty-six years ago. Soon afterwards, the then Superintendent of 
 Education, Dr. Ryerson, requested me to send it to him, which I did, 
 and a copy was taken of it. An extract will be found in his work, 
 " The Loyalists of America," Vol. ii, page 219. Subsequently, in 
 1879, I made up two short papers from it which appeared in The 
 \ I . Carutdmn Methodist Magazine. The paper is now Kiven, with a few ex- 
 ceptions, as it was first written. 
 
^14 SKETCHES OP RARLY HTSTORt. 
 
 fore. How often have we heard the expression, " Cir- 
 cumstances alter cases," and this is just why I put in 
 my plea. If I had not been preceded by gentlemen 
 whose ability and attainments are far and away be- 
 yond mine, I should not have said a word. But when 
 these persons, some of whom finished their education 
 in British Universities, who have trodden the classic 
 shores of Italy and mused over the magnificent monu- 
 ments of her past greatness, or wandered through old 
 German towns, where Christian liberty was born and 
 cradled; who have ranged the spacious halls of Parisian 
 Institutes, or sauntered in places where many historic 
 scenes have been enacted in grand old England — when 
 these persons, I repeat, must crave your indulgence, 
 how much more earnestly should I plead, whose travels 
 are bounded in the radius of a few hundred miles, and 
 whose collegiate course began, and I may say ended, in 
 the country school-house with which many of you are 
 familiar. What wonderful scholars those early teachers 
 were. 
 
 '* Amazed loe, gazing rustics, rang'd around ; 
 And still toe gaz'd, and still our wonder grew 
 That one small head could carry all he knew." 
 
 It is no wonder that we were often awed by 
 their intellectual profundity, nor that they gave our 
 
\ \ 
 
 SKKTCHES OF EARLY HISTORY. 215 
 
 youthful brains an impetus which sent them bounding 
 through the severe curriculum we had to face. 
 
 The narrow-minded and unyielding policy of George 
 III., as every one now admits it to have been, brought 
 about the American Revolution, and gave birth to the 
 American Republic. As always happens in every 
 great movement, there were two sides to this question, 
 not only between Great Britain and her colonists, but 
 among the colonists themselves. One side chimoured 
 boldly for their rights, and, if need were, separation. 
 The other side shrank from a contest with the mother 
 land, and preferred a more peaceful solution of their 
 diflSculties. A moderate degree of liberality on the 
 part of the British Government would have appeased 
 the demands of the malcontents, and another destiny 
 whether for better or worse, might have been in store 
 for the American people. But those were days when 
 the policy of the nation was stern and uncompromising, 
 when the views of trade were narrow and contracted, 
 when justice was untempered with mercy, and when 
 men were bigoted and pugnacious. Protracted wars 
 consumed the revenues and made many draughts on 
 the national purse, and when the trade of the colonies 
 was laid under contribution, they refused the demand. 
 
51 G SKETCHES OF EAKLV HISTORV. 
 
 The Government, true to the spirit of the age, would 
 not brook refusal on the part of its subjects, and must 
 needs force them to comply. The contest began, and 
 when, after a seven years' struggle, peace was declared, 
 those who had sided with the old land found them- 
 selves homeless, and rather than swear allegiance to 
 the new regime, abandoned their adopted country and 
 emigrated to the wilds of Canada and the Eastern Pro- 
 vinces. Two results grew out of this contest : the 
 establishment of a new and powerful nationality, and 
 the settlement of a vast country subject to the British 
 Crown, to the north, then an unbroken wilderness, 
 now the Dominion of Canada,* whose rapid strides in 
 wealth and power bid fair to rival even those of the 
 great Republic. 
 
 The history of our country — I am speaking of Upper 
 Canada — remains to be written. It is true we have 
 numerous works, and valuable ones too, on Canada ; 
 but I refer to that part of history which gives a pic- 
 ture of the people, their habits and customs, which 
 takes you into their homes and unfolds their every-day 
 life. This, it seems to me, is the very soul of history, 
 
 * This has been changed. When the paper was written, the Con- 
 federation of the Provinces, if it had been thought of, had not as. 
 Bumed any definite shape. It followed eight years after, in 1867. 
 
SKETCHES OF EARLV tllSTORY. 2l7 
 
 and when the coming Canadian Macaulay shall write 
 ours, he will look in vain for many an argosy, richly 
 freighted with fact and story, which might have been 
 saved if a helping hand had been given, but which now, 
 alas ! is lost forever. 
 
 It can hardly be expected that I should be as familiar 
 with the early scenes enacted in this part of the Pro- 
 vince as those who are very much older. Yet I have 
 known many of the first settlers, and have heard from 
 their lips, in the days of my boyhood, much about the 
 hardships and severe privations they endured, as well 
 as the story of many a rough and wild adventure. 
 These old veterans have dropped, one by one, into the 
 grave, until they have nearly all passed away, and we 
 are left to enjoy many a luxury which their busy hands 
 accumulated for us. 
 
 As a Canadian — and I am sure I am giving expres- 
 sion, not so much to a personal sentiment, as an abiding 
 principle deeply rooted in the heart of every son of 
 this grand country — T feel as much satisfaction and 
 pride in tracing my origin to the pioneers of this 
 Province — nay more — thanif my veins throbbed with 
 noble blood. The picture of the log cabins which my 
 grandfathers erected in the wilderness on the bay shore, 
 
218 SKETCHES OF EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 where my father and mother tirst saw the light, are far 
 more inviting to me than hoary castle or rocky keep. 
 I know that they were loyal, honest, industrious, and 
 virtuous, and this is a record as much to be prized by 
 their descendants as the mere distinction of noble birth. 
 It has been said that love of country is not a charac- 
 teristic of Canadians ; that in consequence of our youth 
 there is but little for affection to cling to ; that the tra- 
 ditions that cluster around age and foster these senti- 
 ments are wanting. This may be to a certain extent 
 true. But I cannot believe but that Canadif is are as 
 loyal to their country as any other people under the 
 sun. The life-long struggle of those men whom the old 
 land was wonc " to put a mark of honour upon," are too 
 near to us not to warm our hearts with love and vene- 
 ration ; they were too sturdy a race to be lightly over- 
 looked by their descendants. Their memory is too 
 sacred a trust to be forgotten, and their lives too worthy 
 of our imitation not to bind us together as a people^ 
 whose home and country shall ever be first in our 
 thoughts and affection. 
 
 J- ,: " Breathes there a man with soul BO dead 
 Who never to himself hath said 
 • • This is my own, my native landl' 
 , .. •* J. >. Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned u . . . 
 
 As home his footsteps he hath turned t" 
 
SKETCHES OF KARLY HISTORY. 219 
 
 Is there any place in the world where such marvel- 
 lous changes have taken place as here ? Where among 
 the countries of the earth shall we find a more rapid and 
 vigorous growth ? Ninety years * ago this Province was 
 a dense and unknown forest. We can hardly realize 
 the fact that not a century has elapsed since these 
 strong-handed and brave -hearted men pushed tlieir way 
 into the profound wilderness of Ui)per Canada. Were 
 they not heroes ? See that man whose strong arm first 
 uplifts the threatening axe. Fix his image in your 
 mind, and tell me if he is not a subject worthy the 
 genius and chisel of a Chantrey. Mark him as he 
 swings his axe and buries it deep into a giant tree. 
 Hark ! how that first blow rings through the wood, 
 and echoes along the shores of the bay. The wild duck 
 starts and flaps her wings ; the timid deer bounds 
 away. Yet stroke follows stroke in measured force. 
 The huge tree, whose branches have been fanned and 
 tossed by the breeze of centuries, begins to sway. 
 Another blow, and it falls thundering to the ground. 
 Far and wide does the crash reverberate. It is the first 
 knell of destruction booming through the forest of 
 Canada, and as it flies upon the wings of the v/ind. 
 
 « The realer will bear in mind the date when this was written. 
 
220 SKETCjIES OV EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 from hill-top^to hill-top, it proclaims the first welcomo 
 sound of a new-born country. And did these men of 
 whom we have been speaking make war alone upon the 
 mighty forest ? Did they find their way alone to the 
 wilds of Canada? No: thoy were accompanied by 
 women as true and brave as themselves ; women who 
 unmurmuringly shared their toils and hardships, who 
 rejoiced in their succcess, and cheered them when weary 
 and depressed. They left kindred and friends far 
 b3hind, literally to bury themselves in the deep recesses 
 of a boundless forest. They left comfortable homes to 
 endure hunger and fatigue in log cabins which their 
 own delicate hands helped to rear, far beyond the 
 range of civilization. Let us follow a party of these 
 adventurers to Canada. 
 
 In the summer of the year 1795 or thereabouts, a 
 company of six persons, composed of two men and 
 their wives, with two small children, pushed a rough- 
 looking and unwieldy boat away from the shore in the 
 neighbourhood of Poughkeepsie, and turned its prow up 
 the Hudson. A rude sail was hoisted, but it flapped 
 lazily against the slender mast. The two men took up 
 the oars and pulled quietly out into the river. They did 
 not note the morning's sun gradually lifting himself 
 
RK ETCHES OF EARLY HISTORY. 221 
 
 above the eastern level, and Hcattering his cheerful rays 
 of light across the river, and along its shores. All 
 nature seemed rejoicing over the coming day, but they 
 appeared not to heed it. They pulled on in silence, 
 looking now ahead, and then wistfully back to the 
 place they had left. Their boat was crowde<l with 
 sundry household necessaries carefully packed up and 
 stowed away. At the stern are the two women ; one, 
 ruddy and strong, steers the boat ; the other, small and 
 delicate, minds her children. Both are plainly and 
 neatly dressed ; and they, too, are taking backward 
 glances through silent tears. Why do they weep, and 
 whither are they bound ? Their oars are faithfully 
 plied, and they glide slowly on. And thus, day after 
 day, may we follow them on their voyage. Now and 
 then a gentle breeze fills the sail and wafts them on. 
 When the shades of evening begin to fall around them 
 they pull to shore and rear a temporary tent, after 
 which they partake of the plain fare provided for the 
 evening meal, with a relish which toil alone can give, 
 and then lay them down to rest, and renew their 
 strength for the labours of the morrow. 
 
 They reach Albany, then a Dutch town on the verge 
 of civilization. Beyond is a wilderness land but little 
 
222 SKETCHES OF EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 known. Some necessaries are purchased here, and 
 again our little company launch away. They reach 
 the place where the city of Troy now stands, and turn 
 away to the left into the Mohawk river, and proceed 
 slowly, and often with great difficulty, up the rapids 
 and windings of the stream. This rich and fertile 
 valley of the Mohawk was then the home of the 
 Indian. Here the celebrated Chief Brant had lived 
 but a short time before, but had now withdrawn into 
 the wilds of Western Canada. The voyageurs, after 
 several days of hard labour and difficulty, emerge into 
 the little lake Oneida, lying in the north-western part 
 of the State of New York, through which they pass 
 with ease and pleasure. The mo.st difficult part of their 
 ourney has been overcome. In due time thoy reach 
 the Onondaga River, and soon pass down it to Oswego, 
 then an old fort which had been built by the French, 
 when they were masters of t!ie country, as a barrier 
 against the e icroaclunents of the wily Indian. Several 
 bloody frays had occurred here, but our friemJs do not 
 tarry to muse over its battle-ground, or to learn its 
 history. 
 
 Their small craft now dances on the bo om of 
 Ontario, but they do not push out into the lake and 
 
SKETCHES OF EARLY HISTORY. 223 
 
 across it. Oh no : they are careful sailors, and they 
 remember, perhaps, that small boats should not venture 
 far from shore, and so they wind along it until they 
 reach Gravelly Point, now known by the more dignified 
 name of Cape Vincent. Here they strike across the 
 channel, and thence around the lower end of Wolfe 
 Island, and into Kingston Bay, where they come to 
 shore. There were not many streets or fine stone houses 
 in the Limestone City at this time ; a few log houses 
 composed the tow n. After resting and transacting ne- 
 cessary business they again push away, and turn their 
 course up the lovely Bay of Quints. "What a wild and 
 beautiful scene opens out before them ! The far-reach- 
 ing bay, with its serried ranks of primeval forest crowd- 
 ing the shores on either hand. The clear pure water 
 rippling along its beach, and its bosom dotted with 
 flocks of wild fowl, could not fail to arrest the attention 
 of the weary voyageurs. Frequently do they pause 
 and rest upon their oars, to enjoy the wild beauty that 
 surrounds them. With lighter hearts they coast along 
 the shore, and continue up the bay until they reach 
 township number four. This township, now known as 
 Adolphustown, is composed of five points, or arms, 
 which run out into the bay. They sail round four of 
 
224 SKETCHES OF EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 these points of land, and turn into Hay Bay, and, after 
 proceeding about three miles, pull to shore. Their 
 journey it would seem has come to an end, for they 
 begin to unload their boat and erect a tent. The sun 
 sinks down in the west, and, weary and worn, they lay 
 themselves down upon the bed of leaves to rest. Six 
 weeks have passed since we saw tiiem launch away in 
 quest of this wilderness home. Look at them, and tell 
 me what you think of their prospects. Is it far 
 enough away from the busy haunts of men to suit you ? 
 Would you not rather sing — 
 
 " O solitude, where are the charma 
 Which sages have seen in thy face ? 
 
 Better dwell in the midst of alarms 
 Than reign in this horrible place. " 
 
 With the first glimmer of the morning's light all 
 hands are up and at work. A small space is cleared 
 away, trees are felled, and in due thne a house is built — 
 a house not large or commodious, with rooms not 
 numerous or spacious, and with furniture neither 
 elegant nor luxurious. A pot or two, perhaps a few 
 plates, cups and saucers, with knives and forks and 
 spoons, a box of linen, a small lot of bedding, etc., with 
 
 " A chest, contrived a double debt to pay — 
 A bed by night, a chest of drawers by day." 
 
SKETCHES OF EARLY HISTORY. 225 
 
 These constitute pretty nearly the sum total. This 
 is not a fancy sketch. I have heard the story many a 
 time from the lips of the little old grandmother* who 
 was of the party. She lived to rear a family of nir.e 
 children, and to see most of them married and well 
 settled ; to exchange the log house for a large and 
 comfortable home, and to die peacefully at a good old 
 age. 
 
 It is hardly possible for us to conceive the difficulties 
 that beset the first settlers, nor the hardships and priva- 
 tions which they endured. They were not infrequently 
 reduced to the very verge of starvation, yet they 
 struggled on. Tree after tree fell before the axe, and 
 the small clearing was turned to imtnediate account. 
 A few necessaries of life were produced, and even 
 these, limited and meagre as they were, were the be- 
 ginnings of comfort. Comfort, indeed ! but far removed 
 not only from them, but from the idea we associate with 
 the term. I have in my 3'ounger days taken grist to. 
 the mill, as the farmers say. But I can assure you I 
 would prefer declining the task of carrying bags of 
 wheat upon my back for three miles, and then })addling 
 
 *The writer is one of her grandxonH. The incident will be found in 
 Dr. Ryerson'a book. 
 
 
226 SKETCHES OF EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 them in a canoe down to the Kingston Mills,* and back 
 again to Adolphustown — about seventy miles — after 
 which resuming the pleasing exercise of backing them 
 home *f* Such things do not fatigue one much to talk 
 about, but I fancy the reality would fit closer to the 
 backs of some of our young exquisites than would be 
 agreeable. Nor do we, when we stick up our noses at 
 the plainer fare of some of our neighbours, remember 
 often what a feast our fathers and mothers would have 
 thought even a crust of bread. How often — alas, how 
 often ! — were they compelled to use anything they could 
 put their hands upon, in order to keep soul and body 
 together. Could we, the sons of these men, go through 
 this ? I am afraid, with one consent, we would say 
 " No." 
 
 But time rolled on. The openings in the forest grew 
 larger and wider. The log cabins began to multiply, 
 and the curling smoke, rising here and there above the 
 woods, told a silent but more cheerful tale. There 
 dwelt a neighbour — miles away, perhaps — but a neigh- 
 bour, nevertheless. If you would like an idea of the 
 
 *This mill was built by the IJritish Government in the first settlement 
 of the Province for the benefit of the settlera. 
 
 fThis was an early exjierience of my grandfather, Canniff, which he 
 liked to relate in his old age to young men. 
 
SKETCHES OF EARLY HISTORY. 227 
 
 proximity of humanity, and the luxury of society in 
 those days, just place a few miles of dense woods be- 
 tween yourself and your nearest, neighbour, and you 
 will have a faint conception of the delights of a home 
 in the forest. 
 
 There are persons still living who have heard their 
 parents or grandparents tell of the dreadful sufferings 
 they endured the second year after the settlement of 
 the Bay of Quintd country. The second year's Gov- 
 ernment supply, through some bad management, was 
 frozen up in the lower part of the St. Lawrence, and, 
 in consequence, the people were reduced to a state of 
 famine. Men were glad, in some cases, to give all they 
 possessed for that which would sustain life. Farms 
 were given in exchange for small quantities of flour, 
 but more frequently refused. A respectable old lady, 
 long since gone to her rest, and whose grandchildren 
 are somewhat aristocratic, was wont in those days 
 to go away to the woods early in the morning to 
 gather and cat the buds of the ba.jswood, and then 
 bring an apronfull home to her family. In one neigh- 
 bourhood a beef bone pas.sed from house to liouse, 
 and was boiled again and again in order to extract 
 some nutriment from it. This is no fiction, but a 
 
228 SKETCHES OP EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 literal fact. Many other equally uninviting bills of 
 fare might be given, but these no doubt will suffice. 
 Sufficient has been said to show that our fathers and 
 mothers did not repose upon rose-beds, nor did they 
 fold their hands in despair, but with strong nerves and 
 stout hearts, even when famine was in the pot, they 
 pushed on, and lived. The forest melted away before 
 them, and we are now enjoying the happy results. 
 
 The life of the first settler was for a long time one of 
 hardship and adventure. When this Utopia was reached 
 he frequently had difficulty in finding his land. He 
 was not always very particular as to this, for land then 
 was not of very much account, and yet he wished, if 
 possible, to strike somewhere near his location. This 
 involved sometimes long trips into the forest, or 
 along the shores. After a day's paddling he would 
 land, pull up his canoe, and look around. The night 
 coming on, he had to make some preparation for it. 
 How was it to be done in this howling wilderness ? 
 Where was he to sleep, and how was he to protect him- 
 self against the perils that surrounded him ? He takes 
 his axe and goes to work. A ^ew small trees are cut down. 
 Then he gathers some dry limbs and heaps them up 
 together. From his pocket he brings a large knife ; 
 
SKETCHES OF EARLY HISTORY. 2^9 
 
 then a flint and a bit of punk. The punk he places care- 
 fully under the flint, holding it in his left hand, and 
 then picks up his knife and gives the flint a few sharp 
 strokes with the back of the blade, which sends forth 
 a shower of sparks, some of which fall on the punk and 
 ignite, and soon his heap is in a blaze. Now, this 
 labour is not only necessary for his comfort, but for his 
 safety. The smoke drives the flies and mosquitoes 
 away, and keeps the wolves and bears from encroaching 
 on his place of rest. But the light which aflfords him 
 protection subjects him to a new annoyance. 
 
 * ' Loud as the wolves in Orca's stormy steep 
 Howl to the roaring of the stormy deep, " 
 
 the wolves howled to the fire kindled to aff'i-ight them 
 away. Watching the whole night in the surrounding 
 hills, they keep up a concert which truly *' renders night 
 hideous;" and bullfrogs in countless numbers from ad- 
 jacent swamps, with an occasional "To-whit, to-whoo ! " 
 from the sombre owl, altogether make a native choir 
 anything but conducive to calm repose. And yet, amid 
 such a serenade, with a few boughs for a bed, and the 
 gnarled root of a tree for a pillow, did many of our 
 fathers spend their first nights in the wilderness of 
 Canada. 
 
230 SKETCH KS OF EARtY HlStORY. 
 
 The first settlers of Upper Canada were principally 
 American colonists who adhered to the cause of Eng- 
 land. After the capitulation of General Burgoyne, 
 many of the royalists, with their families, moved into 
 Canada, and took up land along the shores of the St. 
 Lawrence, the Bay of Quintd, and the lakes. Upon 
 the evacuation of New York at the close of the war a 
 still greater number followed, many of whom were 
 soldiers disbanded and left without employment. 
 Many had lost their property, so that nearly all were 
 destitute and depending upon the liberality of the 
 Government whose battles they had fought, and for 
 whose cause they had suffered. They were not for- 
 gotten. The British Government was not tardy in its 
 movement, and at once decided to reward their loyalty. 
 Immediate steps were taken to provide for their present 
 wants, and also to provide means for their future sub- 
 sistence. 
 
 These prompt measures on the part of the Govern- 
 ment were not only acts of justice and humanity, but 
 were sound in policy, and were crowned with universal 
 success. Liberal grants of land were made free of ex- 
 pense on the following scale : — A field officer received 
 5,000 acres ; a captain, 3,000 ; a subaltern, 2,000 ; and 
 
SKETCHES OF EARLY HISTORY. 23l 
 
 a private, 200. Surveyors were sent on to lay out the 
 land. They commenced their work near Lake St. Fran- 
 cis, then the highest French settlement, and extended 
 along the shores of the St. Lawrence up to Lake 
 Ontario, and thence along the lake, and round the Bay 
 of Quintd. Townships were laid out, and then sub- 
 divided into concessions and lots of 200 acres. These 
 townships were nund)eied, and remained without names 
 for many years. Of these numbers there were two 
 divisions: one, including the townships below Kings- 
 ton in the line east to the St. Francis settlement; the 
 other, west from Kingston to the head of the Bay of 
 Quints. They were known by the old people as first, 
 second, third, fourth town, etc. No names were given 
 to the townships by legal enactment for a long time, 
 and hence the habit of designating them by numbers 
 became fixed. 
 
 The settlement of the surveyed portion of the Mid- 
 land District, which then included the present counties 
 of Frontenac, Lennox and Addington, Hastings, and 
 the county of Prince Edward, commenced in the sum- 
 mer of 1784. The new settlers were supplied with 
 farming implements, building materials, provisions, and 
 some clothing for the first two years, at the expense of 
 
232 SKETCHES OF EAHLY HiSTOUY. 
 
 the nation. " And in order," it was stated, " that the 
 love of country may take deeper root in the hearts of 
 those true men, the government determined to put a 
 mark of honour," as tlie order of the Council expresses 
 it, " upon the families who had adhered to the unity of 
 the Empire, and joined the royal standard in America, 
 before the treaty of separation in the year 1783." A 
 list of such persons was directed in 1789 to be made 
 out and returned, " to the end that their posterity 
 might be discriminated from the future sei*^lers." From 
 these two emphatic wonls — The Unity of the Empire 
 — it was styled the U.E. list, and they whose names 
 were entered therein were distinguished as U.E. 
 Loyalists. This, as is well known, was not a mere 
 empty distinction, but was notably a title of some con- 
 sequence, for it not only provided for the U.E. Loyal- 
 ists themselves, but guaranteed to all their children, 
 upon arriving at the age of twenty-one years, two 
 hundred acres of land free from all expense. It is a 
 pleasing task to recall these generous acts on the part 
 of the British Government towai'ds the fathers of our 
 country, and the descendants of those true and noble- 
 hearted men who loved the old Empire so well that 
 they preferred to endure toil and privation in the 
 
SKETCHES OF EARLY HISTORY. 233 
 
 wilderness of Canada to ease and comfort under the 
 protection of the revolted colonies. We should vener- 
 ate their memory, and foster a love of country as deep 
 and abiding as theirs. 
 
 In order further to encourage the growth of popula- 
 tion, and induce other settlers to come into the country, 
 two hundred acres of land were allowed, upon condition 
 of actual settlement, and the payment of surveying 
 and office fees, which amounted in all to about thirty- 
 eight dollars. 
 
 Tn 1791 the provinces were divided, and styled 
 Upper Canada and Lower Canada — the one embracing 
 all the French seigneuries ; the other all the newly- 
 settled townships. The first Governor of Upper Can- 
 ada, John Graves Simcoe, arrived in 1792, and took up 
 his residence at Newark (Niagara), then the capital of 
 the Province. Here the first Parliament of Upper 
 Canada met and hold five successive sessions, after 
 which it was moved to York. Governor Simcoe 
 laboured hard and successfully to promote the settle- 
 ment of the Province. 
 
 Kingston is the oldest town in Upper Canada by 
 many years. The white man found his way here more 
 than a century before any settlement in the west was 
 made or thought of. Small expeditions had from time 
 
2^4 SKETCHES OF EARLY HISTOKV. 
 
 to time penetrated tlie vaHt wiMenie.sy far to the west, 
 either for the purpose of trading with the Indians, or 
 led by some zealous priest who sought for tlie glory of 
 God to bring the wandering tribes into tlio fold of the 
 Roman Church. The untiring energy and zeal dis- 
 played by these early Fathers, together with the hard- 
 ships, dangers and privations they endured, form one 
 of the most interesting pjvges of adventure in our 
 country's history. The crafty and industrious French 
 Governor, De Courcelles, in order to put a stop to the 
 encroachments of the Five Nations, despatched a 
 messenger from Quebec to their chief to inform him 
 that he had some business of great importance to com- 
 municate, and wished them to proceed to Cataraqui, 
 where he would meet them. As soon as the Indian 
 deputies arrived, a council was held. The Governor 
 informed them that he was going to build a fort there, 
 to serve principally as a depot for merchandise, and to 
 facilitate the trade that was springing up between 
 them. The chiefs, ignorant of the real intention of 
 the wily Governor, readily agreed to a proposition 
 which seemed intended for their advantage. But the 
 object was far from what the Indians expected, and was 
 really to create a barrier against them in future wars. 
 
HKETCUKS OF KAltLY HISTOUY, 2d5 
 
 While measures were being completed to build the 
 fort Courcelles was recalled, and Count de Frontenac 
 sent out in his place. Frontenac carried out the 
 designs of his predecessor, and in 1672 completed the 
 fort, which received and for many years retained his 
 name. 
 
 Father Charlevoix, who journeyed through Western 
 Canada in the year 1720, thus descnbes Fort Catar- 
 aqui. " This fort is square, with four bastions built 
 with stone, and the ground it occupies is a quarter of 
 a league in compass. Its situation is really something 
 very pleasant. The sides of the view present every 
 way a landscape well varied, and it is the same at the 
 entrance of Lake Ontario, which is but a small league 
 distant. It is full of islands of different sizes, all well 
 wooded, and nothing bounds the horizon on that side. 
 The Lake was sometimes called St. Louis, afterwards 
 Frontenac, as well as the fort of Cataraijui, of which 
 the Count de Frontenac was the founder, but insensibly 
 the Lake has regained its ancient name Ontario, which 
 is Huron or Iroquois, and the fort that of the place 
 where it is built. The soil from this place to la Sal- 
 lette appears something barren, but this is only in the 
 borders, it being very good further up. There is over 
 
236 SKETCfiES OS" EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 a.gainst the fort a very pretty island in the middle of 
 the river. They put some swine into it, which have 
 multiplied, and given it the name of Isle du Pores. 
 There are two other islands somewhat smaller, which 
 are lower, and half a league distant from each other. 
 One is called Cedars, the other Hart's Island. The Bay 
 of Cataraqui is double ; that is to say, that almost in 
 the middle of it there is a point that runs out a great 
 way, under which there is a good anchorage for large 
 ^arks. M. de la Salle, so famous for his discoveries and 
 his misfortunes, who was lord of Cataraqui, and gov- 
 ernor of the fort, had two or three of them, which were 
 sunk in this place, and remain there still. Behind the 
 fort is a marsh, where there is a great plenty of wild 
 fowl. This is a benefit to and employment for the 
 garrison. There was formerly a great trade here, 
 especially with the Iroquois, and it was to entice them 
 to, as well as to hinder their carrying their skins to 
 the English and keep these savages in awe, that the 
 fort was built. But the trade did not last long, and 
 the fort has not hindered the barbarians from doing 
 us a great deal of mischief. They have still families 
 here, in the outside of the pla;;e, and there are also 
 ^ome Missisaguas, an Algonquin nation, which still 
 
SKETCHES 01 RLY HISTORY. 237 
 
 havci a village on the west side of Lake Ontario, an- 
 other at Niagara, and a thiid in the strait." Such 
 is the description we have of Kingston a century and 
 a half ago. The Mohawk name for it is Gu-doi-o-qui, 
 or, " Fort in the Water." 
 
 I am unable, from any information I can get, to give 
 the origin of the name of our beautiful bay. It seems 
 to have borne its present name at a very early date in 
 the history of the country. It is supposed by some to 
 be an Indian name with a French accent. I am dis- 
 posed, however, to think that it came from the early 
 French voyageurs, from the fact that not only the bay, 
 but an island, are mentioned by the name of Quints. 
 The usual pronunciation until a few yeare ago was 
 Kanty. 
 
 In the year 1780, on the 14th day of October, and 
 again In July, 1814, a most remarkable phenomenon 
 occurred, the like of which was never before witnessed 
 in the country. " At noonday a pitchy darkness com- 
 pletely obscured the light of the sun, continuing for 
 about ten minutes at a time, and being frequently re- 
 peated during the afternoon. In the interval between 
 each mysterious eclipse, dense masses of black clouds 
 streaked with yellow drove athwart the darkened sky, 
 
238 SKETCHES OF EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 with fitful gusts of wind. Thunder, lightning, black 
 rain, and showers of ashes added to the terrors of the 
 scene, and when the sun appeared its colour was a 
 bright red." The people were filled with fear, and 
 thought that the end of the world was at hand. These 
 two periods are known as the " dark days." 
 
 Many years after this, another phenomenon not less 
 wonderful occurred, which I had the satisfaction of see- 
 ing; and although forty-five years have elapsed, the ter- 
 rifying scene is as firmly fixed in my memory as though 
 it had happened but an hour ago. [ refer to the meteoric 
 shower of the 13th of November, 1833. My father had 
 been from home, and on his return, about midnight, 
 his attention was arrested by the frequent fall of 
 meteors, or stars, to use the common phrase. The 
 number rapidly increased ; and the sight was so grand 
 and beautiful that he came in and woke us all up, and 
 then walked up the road and roused some of the 
 neighbours. Such a disp/ay of heaven's fireworks was 
 never seen before. If ihe air had been filled with 
 rockets they would have bten but match strokes com- 
 pared to the incessant play of brilliant dazzling mete- 
 ors that flashed across the sky, fur^-owing it so thickly 
 with golden lines that the whole heaven seemed ablaze, 
 
SKETCHES OF EARLY HISTORY. 239 
 
 until the morning's sun shut out the scene. One 
 meteor of large size remained sometime almost station- 
 ary in the zenith, emitting streams of light. 1 stood 
 like a statue, and gazed with fear and awe up to the 
 glittering sky. Millions of stars see.aed to be dashing 
 across the blue dome of heaven. In fact I thought the 
 whole starry firmament was tumbling down to earth. 
 The neighbours were terror-struck : the more enlight- 
 ened of them were awed at contemplating so vivid a 
 picture of the Apocalyptic image — that of the stars of 
 heaven falling to the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth 
 her untimely figs, when she is shaken by a mighty 
 wind ; while the cries of others, on a calm night like 
 that, might have been heard for miles around. 
 
 Young and poor as Canada was half a century ago, 
 she was not behind many of the older and more wealthy 
 countries in enterprize. Her legislators were sound, 
 practical men, who had the interest of their country 
 at heart. Her merchants were pushing and intelli- 
 rrent; her farmers frumil and industrious. Under 
 such auspices her success wa^- assured. At an early 
 day the Go\ernment gave material aid to every pro- 
 ject that was calculated to foster and extend trade and 
 commerce, as well as to open up and encourage the 
 
240 SKETCHES OF EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 settlement of the country. Neither was individual 
 enterprize behind in adopting the discoveries and im- 
 provements of the time, and in applying them not only 
 to their own advantage but to that of the community 
 at large. Four years after Fulton had made his suc- 
 cessful experiment with steam as a propelling power 
 for vessels on the Hudson, a small steamer was built 
 and launched at Montreal ; and in 1815 the keel of the 
 first steamer that navigated the waters of Upper Can- 
 ada was laid at Bath. She was named the Frontenac. 
 The village of Bath, as you all know, is situated on 
 the Bay of Quintd, about thirteen miles west of Kings- 
 ton. It was formerly known as Ernesttown. Those 
 of you who have passed that way will remember that 
 about a mile west of the villasje there is a bend in the 
 shore round which the road leads, and that a short 
 gravelly beach juts out, inclosing a small pond of water. 
 At the end of this, west, stands an old frame house, 
 time-worn and dilapidated. Behind this house the 
 steamer already mentioned was built, and three years 
 later another known as the Charlotte was launched 
 here.* Thousands of people were present, and the event 
 
 • I have often heard my father tell about going to see the launch o f 
 the CharloU". He went on foot a round distance of over thirty miles. 
 
SKETCHES OF EARLY HISTORY. 24l 
 
 wns long i-emembered. They were, no doubt, iiiar- 
 vellous things in those days— much more so, peihaps, 
 than that huge mammoth of steam craft of later days, 
 the Great Eastern, is to us. I cannot give the dimen- 
 sions of these boats, but it is safe to say that they 
 were not large. Their exploits in the way of speed were 
 considered marvellous, and formed the topic of conver- 
 sation in many a home. A trip in one of them down 
 the bay to Kingston was a greater feat then than a 
 voyage to Liverpool is now ; and they went but little 
 faster than a man could walk. 
 
 Early travellers predicted that Ernesttown would 
 be a place of importance, but their predictions have 
 come to naught. It reached many years ago the cul- 
 minating point in its history. Still, in the progress of 
 our country the above must give it more than a pas- 
 sing interest. Gourlay speaks of Bath in 1811, and 
 says, " The village contains a valuable social libraiy " 
 — a thing at that date which could not be f-^und prob- 
 ably in any other part of the Province. 
 
 Previous to the introduction of steamers, which gave 
 a wonderful impetus to trade, and completely revolu- 
 tionized it, the traffic of the country was carried on 
 under great disadvantages. Montreal and Quebec, the 
 
242 SKETCHES OF EARLY HISTORY, 
 
 one the depot of merchandise and the other the centre 
 of the lumber trade, were far away, and could only be 
 reached during six months in the year by the St. Law- 
 rence, whose navigation, on account of its rapids, was 
 difficult and dangerous. There was but little money, 
 and business was conducted on an understood basis of 
 exchange or barter. During the winter jnonths the 
 farmer threshed his grain, and brought it with his pork 
 and potash to the merchant, who gave him goods for 
 his family in return. The merchant was usually a 
 lumberman as well, and he busied himself in the win- 
 ter time in getting out timber and hauling it to the 
 bay, where it was rafted and made ready for moving 
 early in the spring. A.-* soon as navigation was open, 
 barges and batteaux were loaded with potash and pro- 
 duce, and he set sail with these and his rafts down the 
 river. It was always a voyage of hardship and danger. 
 If irood fortune attended him, he would in the course 
 of three or four weeks make Montreal, and Quebec 
 with his rafts two or three weeks later. Then com- 
 menced the labour of disposing of his stuff, settling up 
 the year's accounts, and purchasing more goods, with 
 which his boats were loaded and despatched for home. 
 
SKETCHES OF EARLV niStORY. 243 
 
 The task of the country merchant in making his 
 selections then, was much more difficult than it is now. 
 Moreover, as he could reach his market but once in 
 the year, his purchases had to be governed by this fact. 
 He had to cater to the entire wants of his customers, 
 and was in the letter, as well as the spirit, a general 
 merchant, for he kept dry goods, groceries, crockery, 
 hardware, tools, implements, drugs — everything, in 
 fact, from a needle to an anchor. The return trip with 
 his merchandise was slow and difficult. The smooth 
 stretches of the river were passed with the oar and 
 sail, the currents with poles, while the more difficult 
 rapids were overcome by the men, assisted with ox- 
 teams. Thus he worried his way through, and by the 
 time he got home two or three months had been con- 
 sumed. During the winter months, while the western 
 trader was busy in collecting his supplies for the sprino-, 
 the general merchant of Montreal, a veritable nabob 
 in those days, locked up his shop and set off with a 
 team for Upper Canada, and spent it in visiting his 
 customers. The world moved slowly then. The ocean 
 was traversed by sailing ships — they brought our mer- 
 chandise and mails. In winter^ the only communica- 
 tion with Montreal and Quebec was by stage, and in 
 
244 SKETCHES OF EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 the fall and spring it was maintained with no small 
 difficulty. One of the wonders of swift travelling of 
 the day was the feat of Weller, the mail contractor 
 and stage proprietor, in sending Lord Durham through 
 from Toronto to Montreal in thirty- six hours. Many a 
 strange adventure could be told of stage rides between 
 Toronto and Quebec, antl of the merchants in their 
 annual trij)S down the St. Lawrence, on rafts and in 
 batteaux ; and it seems a pity that so much that would 
 anuisc and interest readers of the present day has 
 never been chronicled. 
 
 There was one thing brought about by those 
 batteaux voyages for which the farmer is by no means 
 thankful. The men used to fill their beds with fresh 
 straw on their return, and by this means the Canadian 
 thistle found its way to Upper Canada. 
 
 As Canada had not been behind in employing steam 
 in navigation, so she was not behind in employing it 
 in another direction. Stephenson built the first rail- 
 road between Liverpool and Manchester in 1829. Some 
 years later, 183C, we had a railway in Canada, and 
 now we have over 5,000 miles in the Dominion. These 
 two agencies have entirely changed the character both 
 of our commerce and mail service. The latter, in those 
 
SKETCHES OF EARLY HISTORY. 245 
 
 early days, in the Midland district, was a private spec- 
 ulation of one Huff, who travelled the country and 
 delivered papers and letters at the houses. This was 
 a very irregular and unsatisfactory state of things, 
 but was better than no mail at all. Then came the 
 wonderful improvement of a weekly mail carried by a 
 messenger on horseback; and as time wore on, the 
 delivery became more frequent, post-offices multiplied, 
 postage rates were reduced, and correspondence in- 
 creased. There were two other enterprises which the 
 country took hold of very soon after theii- discovery. 
 I refer to the canals and the telegraph. The first, the 
 Lachine Canal, was commenced in 1821, and the Wel- 
 land in 1824. The Montreal Telegraph Company was 
 organized in 1847. So that in those four great discov- 
 eries which have revolutionized the trade of the world, 
 it will be seen that our young country kept abreast 
 with the times, and her advance, not only in those 
 improvements, but in every branch of science and art, 
 has been marvellous. 
 
 The Midland District, so named because of its cen- 
 tral position, was one of the largest districts in the 
 Province ; but county after county was cut away from 
 it on all sides, until it was greatly shorn of its pro- 
 
246 SKETCHES OF EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 poi'tions. Before this clipi)ing had begun, the courts 
 were held alternately in Kingston and Adolphus- 
 town. The old Court-House still stands,* and is as 
 melancholy a monument of its former importance as 
 one could wish to see. The town which the original 
 surveyors laid out here, and which early writers men- 
 tion, I have never been able to find more of than the 
 plot. It must have flourished long before my day. 
 
 But what about Prince Edward county ? Of coursb** 
 ycu know that it was set off' in 1833, and that the 
 first Court of Assize was held in this town — then 
 Hallowell — in 1834. I am not able to say much about 
 its early history ; though I am sure there arc many 
 incidents of very great interest connected with it, 
 probably lost for the want of some friendly hand. 
 Land was taken up in this neighbourhood by Barker, 
 Washburn, Spencer, Vandusen, and others about the 
 j'^ear 1790. Patents were issued by the Government 
 in 1802-3-4. At a meeting held at Eyre's Inn, on the 
 14th of February, 1818, at which Ebenezer Washburn, 
 Esq., presided, I learn that there was in the township 
 of Hallowell at that time but two brick houses, one 
 
 * It has been taken down since, and a town hall, for the use of the 
 township, erected on its site. 
 
SKETCHES OF EARLY HISTORY. 247 
 
 carding and fulling mill, one Methodist Chapel — now 
 known as the old Chapel at Conger's Mill — one Quaker 
 Meeting House. Preparations were being made to 
 build a church.* Orchards were beginning to bo 
 planted, and other improvements. The first settlers 
 paid at the rate of one shilling per acre for their land. 
 Four-fifths of the entiie Midland district, in !818, was 
 a dense forest. We can hardly realise the fact that 
 seventy years ago there was probably not a soul living 
 in this fair county. 
 
 Let us skip over a period of about forty years from 
 the first settlement, and have a look at the people and 
 how they lived. The log houses, in very many cases, 
 had been transformed into comfortable and commodious 
 dwellings. The log barns and hovels, too, had given 
 place to larger frame barns and sheds, many of which 
 are still to be seen around the country. The changes 
 wrought in those short years were wonderful, and 
 having followed the pioneer hither and noted his 
 progress, let us step into one of these homes and take 
 a seat with the family gathered around the spacious 
 fire-place, with its glowing fire blazing up cheerfully 
 
 * Known as St. Mary Magdalene. The Rev, W. Macaulay, I think, 
 was the first rector, and lived to a good old age. 
 
248 SKETCHES OF EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 through the heaped-up wood, and note the comforts 
 and amusements of the contented circle. How clearly 
 the picture stands out to many of us. How well we 
 remember the time when, with young and vigorous 
 step, we set our feet in the path which has led us 
 farther and farther away. 
 
 " A thousand fantasies 
 Begin to throng into my memory, 
 Of calling shapes and beckoning shadows." • 
 
 Now, please understand me in this matter. We have 
 not a particle of sympathy with the ordinary grumbler, 
 by which we mean that class of persons whose noses 
 are not only stuck up at any and every encroachment 
 on their worn-out ideas of what is right and wrong, 
 but, like crabbed terriers, snap at the heels of every 
 man that passes. Nor do we wish you to think that 
 we place our fathers on a higher plane of intellectual 
 power and worth than we have reached or can reach. 
 The world rolls on, and decade after decade adds to the 
 accumulative brain force of humanity. Men of thought 
 and power through all the ages have scattered seed, 
 and while much of it has come to naught, a kernel here 
 and there, possessed of vital force, has germinated and 
 grown. You remember what the great Teacher said 
 
SKETCHES OF EARLY HISTORY. 249 
 
 about " a grain of mustard seed which a man took and 
 sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all seeds, 
 but when it is grown it is the greatest among herbs, 
 and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come 
 and lodge in the branches thereof." Any man who 
 looks around him must acknowledge that we are going 
 ahead, but notwithstanding this, every careful observer 
 cannot fail to see that there is growing up in our 
 land a large amount of sham, and hence, as Isaiah tells 
 us, it would bo well for us to look more frequently " into 
 the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the 
 pit whence ye are digged." Let us not only treasure 
 the recollection of the noble example which our fore- 
 fathers set us, but let us imitate those sterling qualities 
 which render their names dear to us. 
 
 " It is a common complaint perpetually reiterated," 
 remarks a racy writer, " that the occupations of life are 
 filled to overflowing ; that the avenues to wealth or 
 distinction are so crowded with competitors that it is 
 hopeless to endeavour to make way in the dense and 
 jostling masses. This desponding wail was doubtless 
 heard when the young earth had scarcely commenced 
 her career of glory, and it will be dolefully repeated by 
 future generations to the end of time. Long before 
 Cheops had planted the basement-stone of his pyramids, 
 when Sphinx and Colossi had not yet been fashioned 
 into their huge existence, and the untouched quarry 
 had given out neither temple nor monument, the young 
 Egyptian, as he looked along the Nile, may have 
 
250 SKETCHES OF EA.RLT HISTORY. 
 
 mourned tha^j he was born too late. Fate haa don© 
 him injustice; in withholding his individual being till 
 the destinies, of man were accomplished. His imagi- 
 nation exulted at what he might have been, had his 
 chance been commensurate with his merits, but what 
 remained for him now in this worn-out, battered, used- 
 up hulk of: a world, but to sorrow for the good times 
 which had exhausted all resources ? 
 
 "The mournful lamentation of antiquity has not 
 been weakened in its transmission, and it is not more 
 reasona ble now than when it groaned by the Nile. 
 There is always room enough in the world, and work 
 waiting for willing hands. The charm that conquers 
 obstacles and commands success is strong will and 
 strong work. Application is the friend and ally of 
 genius. The laborious scholar, the diligent merchant, 
 the industrious mechanic, the hard-working farmer, 
 are thriving men, and take rank in the world ; while 
 genius by itself lies in idle admiration of a fame that 
 is ever prospective. The hare sleeps or amuses himself 
 by the wayside, and the tortoise wins the race." 
 
 ■it l\Ui*-u.J- ' y ..■>;' ■:' /' 
 
 u , ! .■■)'. ' ' ' ' , ' ^ I : ' '■' 
 
 •iff;*" ■•? >1'?i^.- ■'' . :'. ■,' ^ 
 
 ■ , :■,...■,! ^< •. t. ,(<' >■ , ■•'.!■ t-i, ;:■ 
 
 
RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY 
 
 DAYS. 
 

RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS 
 
 ' ■ er 
 EARLY DAYS. 
 
 PATERNAL MEMORIES— A VISIT TO THE UOMB OP MY BOYHOOD— 
 THE OLD QUAKER MEETING HOUSE- FLASHES OF SILENCE— THE 
 OLD BURYING GROUND — " TO THE MEMORY OF ELIZA " — 
 GHOSTLY EXPERIENCES— HIVING THE BEES— ENCOUNTER WITH 
 A BEAR— GIVING " THE MtTTEDf "— A "BOUNDARY QUESTION" 
 —SONG OF THE BULLFROG — RING — SAGACITY OF ANIMAIS— 
 TRAINING-DAYS- L'ICTURESQUK SCENERY OF THE BAY OF QUINTB 
 —JOHN A. MACDONALD — A PERILOUS JOURNEY — AUNT JANE 
 AND WILLET CASEY. 
 
 TVyTORE than forty- five years have elapsed since my 
 father departed this life, and left me a lad, the 
 eldest of six children, to take his place, and assist my 
 mother as well as I could in the management of affairs. 
 Twenty years later mother was laid by his side, and 
 before and since all my sisters have gone. For a num- 
 ber of years the only survivors of that once happy 
 household, the memory of which is so fresh and dear 
 to me, have been myself and brother. Upper Canada 
 was a vastly different place at the time of my father's 
 
254 RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OP EARLY DAYS. 
 
 decease (1840) from what it is now. The opportun- 
 ities he had when young were proportionately few. 
 I have been a considerable wanderer in my day, and 
 have had chances of seeing what the world has accom- 
 plished, and of contrasting it with his time and advan- 
 tages. If his lines had fallen in another sphere ot 
 action he would have made his mark. As it was, dur- 
 ing his short life — he died at the age of 42 — he had 
 with his own hands acquired an excellent farm of 250 
 acres, with a good, spacious, well-furnished liouse, 
 barns, and out-buildings. His farm was a model of 
 order and thorough tillage, well stocked with the best 
 improved cattle, sheep, and hogs that could be had at 
 that time, and all the implements were the newest 
 that could be procured. He was out of debt, and 
 therefore independent, and had money at interest. 
 This, it seems to me, was something for a man to 
 accomplish in twenty years. But this was not all. He 
 was acknowledged to be a man of intelligence superior 
 to most in those days, and was frequently consulted by 
 neighbours and friends in matters of importance; a 
 warm politician and a strict temperance man. He was 
 one of the best speakers in the district, always in 
 request at public meetings, and especially during an 
 
RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 255 
 
 election campaign. Into political contests he entered 
 with all his might, and would sometimes be away a 
 week or more at a time, stumping — as they used to term 
 it — the district. In politics he was a Reformer, and 
 under the then existing circumstances I think I should 
 have been one too. But the vexed questions that agi- 
 tated the public mind then, and against which he fought 
 and wrote, have been adjusted. An old co-worker 
 of his said to me many years after at an election: 
 " What a pity your father could not have seen that you 
 would oppose the party he laboured so hard to build 
 up. If a son of mine did it I would disinherit him as 
 quick as I would shove a toad off a stick." I said to 
 my old friend that I supposed the son had quite as good 
 a right to form his opinions on certain matters as his 
 father had. Political and religious prejudices are hard 
 things to remove. I remember a deputation waiting 
 on my father to get him to consent to be a candidate 
 for an election which was on the eve of taking place, 
 but he declined, on the ground that he was not pre- 
 pared to assume so important a position then, nor did 
 he feel that he had reached a point which would 
 warrant him in leaving his business. He added that 
 after a while, if his friends were disposed to confer 
 
256 RA.ND05t RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 
 
 such an honour upon him, he might consider it more 
 favourably. Peter Perry was chosen, and I know my 
 father worked hard for hira, and the Tory candidate, 
 Cartwright, was defeated. This remimls mo of a 
 little bit of banking history, which created some noise 
 in the district at the time, but which is quite forgotten 
 now. A number of leading farmers, of whom my 
 father was one, conceived the idea of establishing a 
 " Farmers' Joint Stock Bank," which was subsequently 
 carried out, and a bank bearing that name was started 
 in Bath. John. S. Cartwright, the then member, 
 through whom they expected to get a charter, and 
 who was interested in the Commercial Bank at King- 
 ston, failed to realize their expectations in that par- 
 ticular, and the new bank had to close its doors. The 
 opening was premature, and cost the stockholders a 
 considerable sura of money. This little banking epi- 
 sode helped to defeat Mr. Cartwright at the next 
 election. 
 
 Over thirty years have passed since I left my old 
 home, and change after change has occurred as the 
 years rolled along, until I have become a stranger to 
 nearly all the people of the neighbourhood, and feel , 
 strange where I used to romp and play in boyhood 
 
RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 257 
 
 The houses and fields have elianged, the woods liave 
 been pushed further back, and it is no longer tlie lionie 
 that is fixed in my memory. My visits have con- 
 sequently become less and liss fiecjuint. (Jn one of 
 these occasions I felt a strong inclination one Sahliath 
 morning to visit the old Quaker Meeting House about 
 three miles away. After making my toilettt; ami 
 breakfasting, I sallied forth, on foot and alone, through 
 the fields and woods. The day was such as I would 
 have selected from a thou.-and. It was towards the 
 last of May — a season wherein if a man's heart fail to 
 dance blithely, he must indeed be a victim ofdulncss 
 The sun was moving upward in his diurnal course, and 
 had just acquired sufficient heat to render the shade ot 
 the wood desirable. The heaven was cloudless, and 
 soft languor rested on the face of nature, stealing the 
 mind's sympathy, and wooing it to the delights of re- 
 pose. My mind was too much <iccupied with caily 
 recollections to do Uiore than barely notice the splen- 
 dour and the symphonies around me. The hum of the 
 bee and the beetle, as they winged their swift flight 
 onwards, the song of the robin and the meadow lark, 
 as they tuned their throats to the prais< s of the 
 risen sun, and the crowing of some distant chanti- 
 
268 RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EAPLY DAYS. 
 
 cleer, moved lazily in the sluggish air. It waH a season 
 of goneral repose, just such a day, I think, as a saint 
 would choose to assist his fancy in describing the 
 sunny regions whither his thoughts delight to wander, 
 or a poet would select to refine 'his ideas of the 
 cl mate of Elysium. At length I anived at the old 
 meeting-house where I had often gone, when a lad 
 with my father and mother. 
 
 It was a wooden building standing at a corner of the 
 road, and was among the first places of worship erected 
 in the Province. The effects of the beating storms of 
 nearly half a century were stamped on the unpainted clap- 
 boards, and the shingles which projected just far enough 
 over the plate to carry oft* the water, were worn and 
 partially covered with moss. One would look in vain 
 for anything that could by any possibility be claimed 
 as an orua-ment. Two small doors gave access to the 
 nterior, which was as plain and ugly as the exterior. 
 A partition, with doois, that were let down during the 
 time of worship, divided the room into equal parts, and 
 separated the men and women. It was furnished with 
 strong ])ine benches, with backs ; and at the far side 
 were two rows of elevated benches, which were 
 occupied on both sides by leading members of the so- 
 
RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 25f) 
 
 ciety. I have often watched the row of broad-brims 
 on one hand, and the scoop bonnets on the other, with 
 boyish interest, and wondered what particular thing 
 in the room they gazed at so steadily, and why some 
 of them twirled one thumb round the other with such 
 regularity. On this occasion I entered quietly, and 
 took a seat near the door. There were a number of 
 familiar faces in the audience. Some whom I had 
 known when young were growin<^ grey, but many of 
 the well-remembered faces were gone. The gravity of 
 the audience and the solemn silence were very impres- 
 .sive ; but still recollections of the past crowded from my 
 mind the sacred object which had brought the people 
 together. Now I looked at the old bayonet marks in 
 the posts, made by the soldieis who had used it as a 
 barrack immediately after the war of 1812. Next, the 
 letters of all shapes and sizes cut by mischievous boys 
 with their jacknives in the backs of the seats years 
 ago arrested my attention, and brought to mind how 
 weary I used to get ; but as 1 always sat with my 
 father, I dared not try my hand at carving. Then, the 
 thought came : Where are those boys now ? Some of 
 them were sober, sedate men, sitting before me with 
 their broad-brimmed hats shadowing their faces ; others 
 
2i50 RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 
 
 were sleeping in the yard outside ; and others had left 
 the neighbourhood years ago. Then I thought of the 
 great Quaker preacher and author, Joseph John Gur- 
 ney, whom I had heard in this room, and of J. Pease, the 
 philanthropic English banker. Then another incident> 
 of quite a different character, came to my recollection. 
 An old and well known Hicksite preacher was there 
 one Sunday (always called First Day by the friends), 
 and the spirit moved him to speak. The Hickaite and 
 orthodox Quakers were something like the Jews and 
 Saraaritaris of old — they dealt with one Hnother, but 
 had no religious fellowship. The old friend had said 
 but a few words, when one of the leaders of the meet- 
 ing rose and said very gravely: "Sit thee down, James;" 
 but James did not seem disposed to be choked off in 
 this peremptory way, and continued. Again the old 
 friend stood up, and with stronger emphasis said : 
 " James, I tell thee to sit thee down ;" and this time 
 James subsided. There was nothing more said on the 
 occasion, and after a long silence, the meeting broke 
 up. On another occasion, a young friend, who had 
 aspired to become a teacher, stood up, and in that 
 peculiar, drawling, sing-song tone which used to be a 
 characteristic of nearly all their preachers, said : " The 
 
RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS Of fiARLY DAYS. 261 
 
 birds of the air have nests, the foxes have holes, but 
 the Son of man hath not where to lay his head ; " and 
 then sat down, leaving those who heard him to enlarge 
 and apply the text to suit themselves. There was 
 nothing more said that day. And so my mind wan- 
 dered on from one thing to another, until at length my 
 attention was arrested by a friend who rose and took 
 off his hat (members of the society always sit with their 
 hats on), and gave us a short and touching discourse. 
 I have heard some of the most telling and heart-search- 
 ing addresses at Quaker meetings. On this occasion 
 there was no attempt — there could be none from a plain 
 people like this — to tickle the ear with well-turned 
 periods or rhetorical display. After the meeting was 
 over, I walked out into the graveyard. My father 
 and mother and two sisters lie there together, and 
 several membei-s of my father's family. There is a 
 peculiarity about a Quaker burying-ground that will 
 arrest the attention of any visitor. Other denomina- 
 tions are wont to mark the last resting place of loved 
 ones by costly stones and inscriptions ; but here the 
 majority of the graves are marked with a plain board, 
 and many of them have only the initials of the deceased, 
 and the rank grass interlocks its spines above the 
 
^62 RANDOM RECOLLKCTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 
 
 humble mounds. I remember my father having some 
 difficulty to get consent to place a plain marble slab at 
 the head of his father and mother's grave. But were 
 those who slumbered beneath forgotten ? Far other- 
 wise. The husband here contemplated the lowly 
 dwelling place of the former minister to his delight. 
 The lover recognised the place where she whose 
 presence was all-inspiring reposed, and each knew 
 where were interred those who had been lights to their 
 world of love, and on which grave to shed the drop 
 born of affection and sorrow. Although the pomp, the 
 state, and the pageantry of love were her ransom, yet 
 hither, in moments when surrounding objects were for- 
 gotten, had retired the afflicted, and poured forth the 
 watery tribute that bedews the cheek of those that 
 mourn " in spirit and in truth." Hither came those 
 whose spirits had been bowed down beneath the bur- 
 den of distress, and indulged in the melancholy occupa- 
 tion of silent grief, from which no man ever went forth 
 without benefit. I thought of Falconer's lines : — 
 
 *' Full oft shall memory from oblivion's veil 
 . Relieve your scenes, and sigh with grief sincere." 
 
 After lingering for some time near the resting place of 
 
R\NDO>I llECOILECTfOXS OF EARLY DAYS. 2C3 
 
 the clear ones of my own family, I turned away and 
 threaded my way thoughtfully back. 
 
 During another visit to the neighbourhood of my 
 birth, after having tea with the Rev. H. , Rec- 
 tor of , I took a stroll through the graveyard 
 
 that nearly surrounds the old church, and spent some 
 time in reading the inscriptions on the headstones. 
 There were numbers that were new and strange, but 
 the most of them bore names that were familiar. 
 Time, of course, had left his mark, and in some cases 
 the lettering was almost gone. Many of those silent 
 sleepers I remembered well, and had followed their re- 
 mains to the grave, and had heard the old Rector pro- 
 nounce the last sad rite: "Earth to earth, ashes to 
 ashes, dust to dust," long years ago. As I passed on 
 from grave to grave of former friends and neighbours, 
 
 " Each in his narrow cell forever laid," 
 
 many curious and pleasing recollections were brought to 
 mind. I came at last to the lai'ge vault of the first 
 Rector, who was among the first in the Province. I recol- 
 lected well the building of this receptacle for the dead, 
 and how his family, one after another, were placed in it ; 
 and then the summons came to him, and he was laid 
 
2G4 RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 
 
 there. A few years later, his wife, the last survivor of 
 the family, was put tliere too, and the large slabs were 
 sh; t down for the last time, closing the final chapter of 
 this family history, and — as does not often happen in 
 this world — they were taking their last sleep undivided. 
 But Time, the great destroyer, had been at work during 
 the 3'ears that had fled, and I was sorry to find that 
 the slabs that covered the upper part of the vault, and 
 which bore the inscriptions, were broken, and that the 
 walls were falling in. There were no friends left to 
 interest themselves in repairing the crumbling struc- 
 ture, and in a few years more the probabilities are 
 that every vestige of the last resting-place of this 
 united couple will be gone. It is not a pleasing 
 thought, and yet it is true, that however much we 
 may be loved, and however many friends may follow 
 us with tears to the grave, in a few short years they 
 will be gone, and no one left to care for us, or perhaps 
 know that we ever lived. I have stood of an evening 
 in the grand cemetery of Pere la Chaise, Paris, and 
 watched the people trooping in with their wreaths of 
 immortelles to be placed on the tombs of departed 
 friends, and others with cans of water and flowers to 
 plant around the graves. Here and there could be 
 
UANDOM RECOLLECTlOIfS OP EAULY DAYS. 265 
 
 seen where some loved one had been sprinkling thr 
 delicate flowers, or remained to water tliem with their 
 tears. This respect paid to ♦ne memory of departed 
 ones is pleasant, and yet, alas, how very few, after 
 two or three generations, are remembered. The name 
 that meets the eye on one stone after another might 
 as well be a blank for all we know of them. Anyone 
 who has visited the old churchyards or ruined abbeys 
 in England must have felt this, n.s his gaze has rested 
 on time-worn tablets from which every mark had long 
 since been obliterated, 
 
 " By time subdued (what will not time subdue) ! " 
 Turning away from the vault, and passing down the 
 yard, I came to a grave the headstone of which had 
 fallen, and was broken. I turned the two pieces over, 
 
 and read : " To the memory of Eliza ." And is this, 
 
 thought I, the end of the only record of the dear friend 
 of my boyhood ; the merry, happy girl whom every one 
 loved ? No one left after a score of years to care for 
 her grave ? So it is. The years sweep on. " Friend 
 after friend departs," still on, and all recollection of us 
 is lost; on still, and the very stones that were raised as 
 a memorial disappear, and the place that knew us once 
 knows us no more forever. I turned away, sad and 
 
2G6 RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 
 
 tlioughtful ; but after a little my mind wandered back 
 again to the sunny ^^ours of youth, and I lived them 
 over. Eliza had been in our family for several years, 
 and was one of the most cheerful, kind-hearted girls 
 one could wish to see. She had a fine voice, and it 
 seemed as natural for her to sing as a bird. This, with 
 her happy disposition, made her the light and life of 
 the house. She was like the little burn that went 
 dancing so lightly over the pebbles in the meadow — 
 bright, sparkling, joyous, delighting in pranks and fun 
 as much as a kitten. 
 
 " True mirth resides not in the smiling skin — 
 The sweeted solace is to act no sin." — Herrick. 
 
 I do not think Eliza ever intentionally acted a sin. 
 On one occasion, however, this excess of spirit led her 
 perhaps beyond the bounds of maidenly propriety; 
 but it was done without consideration, and when it 
 was over caused her a good deal of pain. The mis- 
 chievous little adventure referred to shall be men- 
 tioned presently. 
 
 We had some neighbours who believed in ghosts ; 
 not an uncommon thing in those days. Eliza, with 
 myself, had frequently heard from these people descrip- 
 
RANDO RECOLLECTIONS OF EAllLY DAYS. 2G7 
 
 tions of reinaikal)le sights they luid soeii, and dreadful 
 noises they had heard at one time and another. She 
 conceived the idea of making an addition to tlieir ex- 
 periences in this way, and as an exi)eriment made a 
 trial on me. I had been away one afternoon, and re- 
 turned about nine o'clock. It was quite dark. In the 
 meantime she had quietly made her preparations, ard 
 was on the look out for me. When my horse's feet 
 were heard cantering up the road, she placed herself so 
 that I could not fail to see her. On I came, and, dash- 
 ing up to the gate, dismounted ; and there before me 
 on the top of the stone wall was something, the height 
 of a human figure draped in white, moving slovrly and 
 noiselessly towards me. I was startled at first, but a 
 second thought satisfied me what was up, and that my 
 supernatural visitor was quite harmless. I passed 
 through the gate, but my pet mare did not seem in- 
 clined to follow, until I spoke to her, and then she 
 bounded through with a snort. After putting her in 
 the field, and returning, I found the ghost had vanished. 
 But I was quite sure I had not done with it yet ; and 
 as I drew near the house I was in momentary expecta- 
 tion that it would come out upon me somewhere. I 
 kept a sharp look-out, but saw nothing, and had reached 
 
268 RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OP EARLY DAYS. 
 
 the porch door to go ii), when lo, there stood the spec- 
 tre barring my way ! I paused and glanced at its ap- 
 pearance as well as I could, and I must confess if I had 
 been at all superstitious, or had come on such an ob- 
 ject in a strange place, I think I should have been 
 somewhat shaken. However, I knew my spectre, and 
 boldly took hold of it, and found I had something 
 tangible in my grip. After a brief and silent struggle, 
 I thrust open the door, and brought my victim into the 
 room. My mother and sisters, who knew nothing of 
 what had been going on, were greatly alarmed to see 
 me dragging into the house a white object, and, woman- 
 like, began to scream ; but the mystery was soon re- 
 vealed. She had made up some thick paste, with 
 which she had covered her face, and had really got up 
 quite a sepulchral expression, to which the darkness 
 gave effect; and being enveloped in a white sheet, 
 made, we thought, a capital ghost. This did not sat- 
 isfy her, and was only a preliminary to her appearances 
 on the first suitable occasion to our neighbours. It was 
 not long before they encountered the ghost on their 
 way home after dark, and were so badly frightened 
 that in the end I think Eliza was worse frightened 
 than they. Eliza never had any confidants in these 
 
UA.NDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EA.RLY DAYS. 2C9 
 
 little affairs, and they were over before any one in the 
 house knew of it. This was the end, so far as she was 
 concerned, of this kind of amusement. 
 
 Some time after tl is another little episode of a simi- 
 lar nature happened, but this time Eliza was one of the 
 victims. We had a near neighbour, an old bachelor, 
 who had a fine patch of melons close at hand. Eliza 
 and a cousin who was on a visit had had their eyes on 
 them, and one day declared they were going that night 
 to get some of Tom's melons. Mother advised them 
 not to do it, and told them there were melons enough 
 in our own garden without their going to steal Tom's. 
 No, they did'nt want them, they were going to have a 
 laugh on Tom ; and so when it was dark they set off to 
 commit the trespass. They had been away but a few 
 minutes when mother — who by the way was a remark- 
 ably timid woman, and I have often wondered how she 
 got up enough courage to play the trick — put a white 
 sheet under her arm and followed along the road to a 
 turn, where was a pair of bars, through which the girls 
 had passed to the field. Here she paused, and when 
 she fancied the girls had reached their destination, she 
 drew the sheet around her, rai)ped on the bars with 
 a stick, and called to them. Then, folding up the 
 
270 RANDOM RtCOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 
 
 sheet, she ran away home. Slie was not sure wliether 
 they had seen her or not. The sheet was put away, 
 and, taking up her knitting, she sat down (piietly to 
 await their return, which she anticipated ahnost imme- 
 diately. A long time elapsed, and they did not appear. 
 Then mother became alarmed, and as she happened 
 to be alone she did not know what to do. Though 
 she had gone out on purpose to frighten the girls, I do 
 not think she could have been induced to go out again 
 to see what was keeping them. After a while Mary 
 came in, and then Eliza, both pale, and bearing evidence 
 of having had a terrible fright. Mother a^ked them what 
 in the world was the matter. " O, Aunt Polly !" they 
 both exclaimed, we have seen such an awful thing to- 
 night." " What was it ? " They could not tell; it was 
 terrible ! " Where did you see it i " " Over by the bars ! 
 Just as we had got a melon we heard an awful nc^ise, and 
 then we saw something white moving about, and then it 
 was gone ! " They were so badly frightened that they 
 dropped down among the vines and lay there for some 
 minutes. They then got up, and, making a detour, 
 walked homo ; but how, they never could tell. Mother 
 was never suspected by then», and after a time she told 
 
RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 271 
 
 them al)Out it. There were no more ghosts seen in the 
 neighbourhood after that. 
 
 Time passed on, and Eliza's love of mischief drove her 
 into another kind of adventure. She was a girl of fine 
 presence ; fair, with bright black eyes and soft black 
 hair, which curled naturally, and was usually worn 
 combed l)ack off the forehead. The general verdict 
 was that she was pretty. I have no <loubt if she had 
 had the opportunity she would have made a brilliant 
 actress, as she was naturally clever, possessing nn ex- 
 cellent memory, and being a wonderful mimic. She 
 would enter into a bit of fun with the abandon of a 
 child, and if occasion required the stoicism of a deacon, 
 the whole house might be convulsed with laughter, 
 but in Eliza's face, if she set her mind to it, you could 
 not discern the change of a muscle. Her features were 
 regular, and of that peculiar cast which, when she was 
 equipped in man's attire, made her a most attractive- 
 looking beau. About half a mile away lived a poor 
 widow with a couple of daughters, and very nice girls 
 they were, but one was said to be a bit of a coquette. 
 Eliza conceived the idea of giving this young lady a 
 practical lesson in the following manner. She dressed 
 herself in father's clothes, and set about making the 
 
272 RANDOM BECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY OATS.^ 
 
 girl's ac(iuaintance. She possessed the necessary sanj 
 froid to carry on a scheuie of this kind with success. 
 The affair was altogether a secret. Well, in due course, 
 a strange young man called about dark one evening 
 at the widow's to make enquiries respecting a person 
 in the neighbourhood he wished to find. He gave out 
 
 that he was a stranger, and was stopping at , a few 
 
 miles away ; asked for a drink of water, and to be 
 allowed to rest for a few moments ; made himself agree- 
 able, chatted with the girls, and when he was leaving 
 was invited to call again if he passed that way. He 
 did call again in a short tiuie, and again and again, and 
 struck up a regular courtship with one of the girls, and 
 succeeded to all appearance in winning her afi'ection. 
 Now, the question presented itself, when matters began 
 to take this shape, how slie was to break it off, and 
 the affair was such a novelt}' that slie became quite 
 infatuated with it, and I liave no doubt would have 
 continued her visits if an accident had not happened 
 which brought them to an abrupt termination. On 
 her return one night she unexiectedly met father 
 at the door, and as there was no chance for retreat, 
 she very courteously asked if he could direct her to 
 Mr. — . It happened to be raining, and father, of 
 
tlAMDOM UtUuLLECTlONS Vh' KAtlLY DAYS. 273 
 
 course quite innocently, asked the stranger in until 
 the sljower was over. She hesitated, but finally came 
 in and took a seat. There was sonietliing about the 
 person, and particularly the clothes, that attracted his 
 attention, but this probably would liave passed if he 
 had not observed that the boots were on the wrong 
 feet ; that is to say, the right boot was on the left foot, 
 et vice versa. Knowing Eliza's propcnsitici-' well, ho 
 suspected her, and she was caught. Enjoying a romp 
 now and then himself, he called mother, and after 
 tormenting poor Eliza for a while, let her go. This 
 cured her effectually. But the poor girl never knew 
 what beciame of her lover. He came no more, and 
 she was left to grieve for a time, and I suppose to 
 forget, for she married a couple of years after. The 
 secret was kept at Eliza's request, after making a clean 
 breast of it to mother, for a Ions time. She married 
 not long after this, and was beloved by everyone. 
 She was a devoted wife, and had several children, none 
 of whom are now living. Poor Eliza ! I thought of 
 Hamlet's soliloquy on Yorick as I stood by her unkept 
 grave, with its headstone fallen and broken. " Those 
 lips that I have ki.ssed 1 know not how oft — where 
 be your gambols ? your songs ? your flashes of merri- 
 
274 RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLT DAYS. 
 
 ment." All gone, years ago ! And they live only in 
 the sweet recollections of the past. 
 
 My father used to keep a large number of bees either 
 in wood or straw hives, mostly of the former ; and in- 
 deed most all our neighbours kept them too, and I re- 
 member a curious custom that prevailed of blowing 
 horns and pounding tin pans when they were swarm- 
 ing, to keep them from going away. I never knew my 
 father to resort to this expedient, but it was wonderful 
 to see him work among them. He would go to the 
 hives and change them from one to another, or go under 
 a swarin, and. without any protection to his face or 
 hands, shake them into the hive, and carry it away and 
 put it in its place. They never stung him unless by 
 accident. If one of them got under his clothes and 
 was crowded too much, he might be reminded that 
 there was something wrong ; but the sting only trou- 
 bled him for a minute or two. With me it seemed if 
 they got a sight of me they made a " bee line " for my 
 face. After father's death they soon disappeared, as I 
 would not have them about. We sometimes found bee 
 trees in the woods, and on one occasion chopped down 
 a large elm out of which we got a quantity of choice 
 honey. I remember this well, for I ate so much that it 
 
tlANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 275 
 
 made me sick, and cured me from wanting honey ever 
 after. - 
 
 Another incident connected with the afternoon's 
 work in robbing the bees. It was quite earl}'- in the 
 spring, and though the snow had pretty much disap- 
 peared from the fields, yet there was some along the 
 fences and in the woods. We left the house after din- 
 ner with a yoke of oxen and wood-sleigh freighted 
 with pails and tubs to bring back our expected prize, 
 and the afternoon was well spent before John — our 
 hired man — had felled the tree, and by the time we 
 had got the comb into the vessels it was growing dark. 
 Just as everything had been got into the sleigh, and 
 we were about to leave, we were startled by a shrill 
 scream on one side, something like that made by a 
 pair of quarrelsome tom-cats, only much louder, which 
 was answered immediately by a prolonged mew on the 
 other. The noise was so startling and unexpected that 
 John for a moment was jiaralyzed. Old Ring, a large 
 powerful dog, bounded away at once into the woods, and 
 Buck and Bright started for home on tlie trot. I was 
 too sick to care much about wild cats, or in fact any- 
 thing else, and lay on my back in the straw among the 
 pails and tubs ; but I heard the racket, and what ap- 
 
276 RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OP EARLY DAYS. 
 
 peared a struggle with the dog. We did not see Ring un- 
 til next morning, and felt sure that he had been killed. 
 The poor old fellow looked as though he had had a 
 hard time of it, and did not move about much for a 
 day or two. The wild cat or Canadian lynx is a fero- 
 cious animal. The species generally go in pairs. I 
 have frequently heard them calling to one another at 
 apparently long distances, and then they would grad- 
 ually come together. A man would fare very badly 
 with a pair of them, particularly if he was laid on his 
 back with a fit of colic. 
 
 Like most lads, I was fond of shooting, and used fre- 
 quently to shoulder my gun and stroll away through 
 the fields in quest of game. On one occasion, some- 
 where about the first of September, I was out hunting 
 black squirrels, and had skirted along the edge of the 
 woods and com fields for some distance. I had not 
 met with very good success. The afternoon was warm, 
 and I was discussing in my mind -yvhether I should go 
 further on or return home. Looking up the hill, I saw 
 a couple of squirrels, and started after them at a 
 sharp pace. On my right was a corn field, and as I 
 stepped along the path near the fence I had a glimpse 
 of something moving along on the other side of it, but 
 
RANDOM RECOLLECTIOKS OF EARLY DAYS. 277 
 
 I was so intent on watching the squirrels that I did 
 not in fact think of anything else for the moment. As 
 I drew near the troe I saw them go up. Keeping a sharp 
 look-out for a shot, I chanced to look down, and there 
 before me, not two rods away, sat a large red-nosed 
 bear. The encounter was so unexpected that it is hardly 
 necessary to say I was frightened, and it was a moment 
 or two before I could collect my wits. Bruin seemed 
 to be examining me very composedly, and when I did be- 
 gin to realize the position the question was what to do. 
 I was afraid to turn at once and rua. Having but 
 one charge of small shot in my gun, I knew it would 
 not do to give him that, so we continued gazing at each 
 other. At length I brought my gun to full cock, made 
 a step forward, and gave a shout. The bear quietly 
 dropped on his fore legs and moved off, and so did I, 
 and as the distance widened I increased my speed. The 
 little dog I had with me decamped before I did, having 
 no doubt seen the bear. I ran to a neighbour's who had 
 a large dog. One of the boys got his gun, and we 
 went back in a somewhat better condition for a fight ; 
 but when the dog struck the scent he put his tail be- 
 tween his legs and trotted home, showing more sense 
 probably than we did. However, we saw nothing of 
 
278 RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 
 
 the bear, and returned. Some days after a neighbour 
 shot a large bear, no doubt the same one. 
 
 Very early in the history of mankind it was pro- 
 nounced to be not good that man should be alone, 
 and ever since then both male and female have seemed 
 to think so too. At all events there is a certain time in 
 life when this matter occupies a very prominent place in 
 the minds of both, and it was no more of a novelty 
 when I was young than now. The same desires warm- 
 ed the heart, and the same craving for social enjoyment 
 and companionship brought the young together, with 
 the difference that then we were in the rough, while 
 the young of the present have been touched up by 
 education and polished by the refinements of fashion- 
 able society. I do not think they are any better at 
 the core, or make more attentive companions. Now, 
 when a young gentleman goes to see a young lady with 
 other views than that of spending a little time agree- 
 ably, he is said to be paying his addresses, or, as Mrs. 
 Grundy would say : It is an affaire d'amour. When I 
 was young, if a boy went to see a girl (and they did 
 whenever they could) he was said to be sparking her. 
 If he was unsuccessful in his suit you would hear it 
 spoken of in some such way as this : " Sally Jones gave 
 
RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 279 
 
 Jim Brown the mitten;" and very often the unlucky 
 swain was actually presented with a small mitten by 
 the mischievous fair one whom he had hoped to win, 
 as a broad hint that it was useless for him to hang 
 around there any longer. Sunday afternoon was the 
 usual time selected, and in fact it was the only time 
 at their disposal for visiting the girls. There were 
 favourite resorts in every neighbourhood, and giils 
 whose attractions were very much more inviting than 
 others, and thither three or four young gallants, well- 
 mounted and equipped in their best Sunday gear, might 
 be seen galloping from different directions of a Sunday 
 evening. Of course it could not in the nature of things 
 happen that all would be successful, and so after a 
 while one unfortunate after another would ride away 
 to more propitious fields, and leave the more fortunate 
 candidate to entertain his lad^'^-love until near mid- 
 night. Sometimes tricks were played on fortunate 
 rivals by loosing their horses and starting them home, 
 or hiding their saddles; and it was not a pleasant con- 
 clusion to such a delightful visit to have to trudo^e 
 throuafh the mud four or five miles of a dark nijjht, or 
 to ride home barebacked, as the best pants were likely 
 to get somewhat soiled in the seat. However, these 
 
280 RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 
 
 little affairs seldom proved very serious, and it would 
 get whispered around that Tildy Smith was going to 
 get married to i'ete Robins. 
 
 When I had grown to be quite a lad I got a lesson 
 from Grandfather C , that never required repeat- 
 ing. Those who are acquainted with the Quakers know 
 that they do not indulge in complimentary forms of 
 speech. A question is answered with a simple yes or no. 
 My father's people were of this persuasion, and of course 
 my replies whenever addressed were in the regular 
 home style. It does not follow, however, that because 
 the Friends as a people eschew conformity to the world 
 both in dress and speech, that there is a want of paren- 
 tal respect. Quite the contrary. Their regular and 
 temperate habits, their kindness and attention to the 
 comfort and well-being of one another, make their 
 homes the abode of peace and good-will, and, though 
 their conversation is divested of the many little phrases 
 the absence of which is thought disrespectful by very 
 many, yet they have gained a reputation for consist- 
 ency and truthfulness which is of more value than ten 
 thousand empty words that drop smoothly from the 
 lips but have no place in the heart. During a visit to 
 my grandfather, the old gentleman asked me a number 
 
RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 281 
 
 of questions to which he got the accustomed yes or no. 
 This so displeased him that he caught me by the ear 
 and gave it a twist that seemed to me to have deprived 
 me of that member altogether, and said very sharply, 
 " When you answer me, say Sir." That Sir was so 
 thoroughly twisted into my head that I do not think 
 the old man ever spoke to me after that it did not jump 
 to my lips. 
 
 Another anecdote of much the same character as that 
 related above, and quite as characteristic of the men of 
 those days, was told me by an old man not long since — 
 one of the very few of the second generation now liv- 
 ing (Paul. C. Petersen, aged 84). Mr. Herman, one of 
 the first settlers in the 4th Concession of Adolphustown, 
 bought a farm, which happened to be situated on the 
 boundary line between the above-named township and 
 Fredericksburgh, in those days known as 3rd and 4th 
 town. It seems that in the original survey, whether 
 through magnetic influence, to which it was ascribed 
 in later years, but more probably through carelessness, 
 or something more potent, there was a wide variation 
 in the line which should have run nearly directly north 
 from the starting point on the shore of Bay Quints. 
 However, as time wore on, and land became more val- 
 
282 RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 
 
 uable, this question of boundary became a serious thing, 
 and in after years resulted in a series of hiw suits which 
 cost a large sum of money. Mr. Herman held his farm 
 by the first survey, but if the error which had been 
 made in a direction north was corrected, he would 
 either lose his farm or would have been shoved over 
 on to his next neighbour west, and so on. He was not 
 disposed to submit to this, and as he was getting old 
 he took his eldest son one day out to the original post 
 at the south-east corner of his farm on the north shore 
 of Hay Bay, and said to him : " My son, this (pointing 
 out the post), is the post put here by the first sui vey, 
 and which I saw planted at the corner of my lot, and I 
 wish you to look around and mark it weiL" While 
 the son was looking about, the old man drew up his 
 arm and struck him with the flat of his hand and 
 knocked him over. He at once picked him up, and 
 said : " My son, I had no intention of hurting you, but 
 I wanted to impress the thing on your mind." Shortly 
 after he took the second son out, and administered the 
 same lesson. Not long after the old man passed away, 
 and I remember well that for years this matter was a 
 bone of contention. 
 
RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 283 
 
 Most Canadians are familiar with the musical bull- 
 frogs which in the spring, in a favourable locality, in 
 countless numbers call to each other all night long from 
 opposite swamps. These nightly concerts become very 
 monotonous. The listener, however, if he pays atten- 
 tion, will catch a variety of sounds that he may train 
 into something, and if of a poetical turn of mind might 
 make a song that would rival some of those written 
 to bells. I used to fancy I could make out what 
 they were calling back to one another, and have often 
 been a very attentive listener. There was an old man 
 in the neighbourhood who very frequently came home 
 drunk, and we used to wonder he did not fall off his 
 horse and get badly hurt or killed ; but the old horse 
 seemed to understand how to keep under him and fetch 
 him and his jug home all right. We had a little song 
 which the frogs used to sing for him as he got near 
 home. 
 
 Old Brown — old Brown Ist -baritone, last word drawn out. 
 
 Been to town— been to town l?nd— answer same key. 
 
 With his jug-jug-jug 3rd — high key, in which more join. 
 
 Coo-chung— coochung 4th — baritone in which several join. 
 
 Chuck-chuck-chuck. 5th— alto from different quarters. 
 
 Chr r r r r r r r. 6th— chorus, grand, after which 
 
 there is a pause, and then an old 
 leader will start as before. 
 
284 RANDOM RKCOLLECTJONS OF EABLY DAYS. 
 
 Old Brown — old Brown 
 Get home — get home, 
 Your drunk, drunk, drunk, 
 Coo chung — coo chung 
 Chuck-chuck-chuck. 
 Chr r r r r r r r. 
 
 Many curious stories are told respecting the sagacity 
 of animals, among which the dog takes a prominent 
 place. My father had a large dog when I was a young- 
 ster that certainly deserves a place among the remark- 
 able ones of his race. Ring was a true friend, and never 
 of his own accord violated the rules of propriety with 
 his kind, but woe to the dog who attempted to bully 
 him. He possessed great strength, and when driven 
 into a contest, generally made short work of it, and 
 trotted away without any show of pride over his de- 
 feated contestant. He was in the habit of followinsr 
 my father on all occasions, and although frequently 
 shut up and driven back, was sure to be on hand at the 
 stopping point to takt charge of the team, etc. On the 
 occasion I am about to mention, my father and mother 
 were going on a visit to his brothers some twenty-four 
 miles distant. Before starting in the morning the de- 
 cree went forth that Ring must stop at home, and he 
 was accordingly shut up, with instructions that he was 
 
RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 285 
 
 not to be let out until after dinner. It was necessary 
 to do this before any preparations were made for going 
 away, for the simple reason that it had been done re- 
 peatedly before, and when there was the least sign of a 
 departure, experience had taught him that the best plan 
 was to keep out of the way, in which he generally 
 succeeded until too late to capture him. On this occa- 
 sion Ring was outwitted. The horses were put to the 
 sleigh, and away they trotted. On the journey they 
 stopped at Picton for a time, when the team was driven 
 into the tavern yard and fed, during which time other 
 teams were coming and going. After about an hour 
 they started again, driving through the village, and on 
 towards their destination. Some five or six hours after, 
 when all possible chance of Ring's following seemed to 
 have passed, he was let out. The dog seemed to know 
 at once what had been going on, and after a careful 
 inspection, discovered that father and mother, with 
 the horses and sleigh, were gone. He rushed about the 
 place with his nose to the ground, and when he had 
 settled which way they had gone, set off in full chase 
 up the road, and a few minutes before they had reach- 
 ed my uncle's, Ring passed them on the road, wagging 
 his tail, and looking as if he thought that was a good 
 
286 RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OP EARLY DAYS. 
 
 joke. The singular point is how the dog discovered 
 their route, and how, hours after, ho traced them up, 
 into the tavern yard and out tlirougli a street, and along 
 a road where horses and sleighs were passing all the 
 time ; and how he distinguished the difference of the 
 horses' feet and sleigh runners from scores of others 
 which had passed to and fro in the meantime. It is a 
 case of animal instinct, or whatever it may be called, 
 beyond comprehension. 
 
 Many years ago my father-in-law (the late Isaac In- 
 gersoll, Esq.), a prominent man in the District, and a 
 wealthy farmer, widely known, had frequent applica- 
 tions from pat ties in Kingston for a good milch cow. 
 In those days milk was not delivered, as now, at every 
 door in towns, and it became a necessity for every fam- 
 ily to have a cow. The wealthier people wanted good 
 ones, and as the old gentleman was known to keep good 
 stock, he was enabled to get good prices. On one occa- 
 sion he sold a cow to a gentleman in the town above 
 named, and sent her by steamboat down the Bay of 
 Quints, a distance of over thirty miles. A week after, 
 the old man was surprised one morning to find this 
 cow in his yard. She had made her escape from her 
 new master, and returned to her old quarters and asso- 
 
HANDOM HECOLLECTIONS OV EARLY DAYS. 28? 
 
 ciates. Slio was sent back, and after a time got away 
 and travelled the thirty miles again, and was found in 
 the yard. The second journey of course was not so 
 difficult, but by what process did she discover, in the 
 first place, the direction she was taken, and pursue a 
 road which she had never travelled, back to her old 
 quarters. At her new home she was^ if anything, bet- 
 ter fed and cared for ; why should she embrace the first 
 opportunity to steal away and seek her old companions ? 
 Who can explain these things ? In this case there is 
 an attachment evinced for home and associates, and a 
 persistence in returning to them, most remarkable, and 
 in the case of the dog, an intelligence (or what you may 
 be pleased to call it), which enabled him to trace his 
 master, and overtake him, which is altogether beyond 
 
 human ken. 
 
 There is the irrepressible cat, too. Every household 
 is troubled from time to time with one or more of these 
 animals, which from their snuping propensities be- 
 come a nuisance. I have on more than one occasion 
 put one in a bag and carried it miles away, and then 
 let it go, rather than kill it outright; but it was sure 
 to be back almost as soon as myself. 
 
288 RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 
 
 The 4th of June, the anniversary of the birth of 
 King George III, as well as that of the very much more 
 humble individual who pens these lines, for many years 
 was the day selected for the annual drill of the militia 
 of the Province. It was otherwise known as general 
 training-day, and ten days or more previously, the men 
 belonging to the various battalions were " warned " to 
 appear at a certain place in the district. Each individ- 
 ual was subject to a fine of 10s. or more if not on the 
 ground to answer to his name when the roll was called. 
 On the morning of that day, therefore, men on foot, on 
 horseback and in waggons were to be seen wending 
 their way to the " training ground," or field, in close 
 proximity tc a tavern. It was an amusing spectacle to 
 see a few L. ired rustics, whose ages ranged from 16 
 to 40, in all kinds of dress, with old muskets that had 
 been used in the Revolutionary War or in that of 1812 
 — fusees that many a year, as occasion required, had 
 helped to contribute to the diminished larder — drawn 
 up in a line, and marched round the field for a time. 
 The evolutions were such as might be expected from a 
 crowd of raw countrymen^ and often got tangled up so 
 that a military genius of more than superhuman skill 
 would have been puzzled to get them in order again. 
 
tlANDO>t RECOLLfiOtlONS 09 EARLY DAYS. 289 
 
 There was no other way to do it, but to stop and re-form 
 the line. Then would come the word of command : "At- 
 tention. Brown fall back. Johnson straighten up there. 
 That will do. Now men, at the word 'Right about,' each 
 man has to turn to his right, at the word ' Left about,' 
 each man turns to his left. Now then: Attention — Right 
 about face." Confusion again, some turning to the right 
 *Qd others to the left. A few strong phrases follow— 
 " As you were " — and so the thing goes on ; the men are 
 wheeled to the right and left, marched about the field, 
 and, after being put through various steps, are brought 
 into line again. The commanding ofticar, sword in 
 hand, looks along the serried ranks, the sergeants pass 
 along the line, cliucking one's head up, pushing one 
 back, bringing another forward, and then rings out the 
 word of command again : " Attentlo)i ! Shoulder arms ! 
 Make ready, present, fire ! " Down come the old guns 
 and sticks in very threatening attitude, a random pop 
 along the line is heard, then " Stand at case " — after 
 which the Colonel, in his red coat, wheels his charger 
 about, says a few words to the man, and dismisses 
 them. The rest of the day was spent by every man in 
 carousing, horse-racing, and games, with an occasional 
 fight. After the arduous duties of the day, the officers 
 
290 RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 
 
 had a special spread at the tavern, and afterwards left 
 for home with very confused ideas as to the direction 
 in which they should proceed to reach it. 
 
 Fifty years ago, shaving the beard, in Canada at all 
 events, was universal. If a man were to go about as the 
 original Designer of his person no doubt intended, a 
 razor would never have touched his face. But men, 
 like other animals, are subject to crotchets, and are 
 wont to imitate superiors, so when some big-bug like 
 Peter the Great introduced the shears and razor, men 
 appeared soon after with cropped heads and clean 
 chops. I do not remember that I ever saw a man with 
 a full beard until after I had passed manhood for some 
 years, except on one occasion when I was a youngster 
 at school in the old school house on the concession. A 
 man passed through the neighbourhood — I do not re- 
 member what he was doing — with a long flowing beard. 
 We had somehow got the idea that no men except Jews 
 wore their beards, and the natural inference with us 
 was that this man \v^as one of that creed. He was as 
 much of a curiosity to us as a chimpanzee or an African 
 lion would have been, and we were about as afraid of 
 him as we would have been on seeing either of the 
 other animals. 
 
HA-NDOM RECOLLECTIONS OP EARLY DAYS. 291 
 
 The township of Adolphustovvn, in the county of 
 Lennox, is the smallest township in the Province. 
 Originally the counties of Lennox and Addington, 
 Frontenac, Hastings and Prince Edward were embraced 
 in the Midland District. These counties, as the country 
 advanced in population, were one after another set off, 
 the last being the united counties of Lennox and Ad- 
 dington, soparated from Fnmtenac, and with the town 
 of Napanee as its capital. The township in my young 
 days was k. own as fourth town, as the townships east 
 of it as far as Kingston were known as first, second and 
 third town. Immediately after the American War, the 
 land along the Bay of Quinte, embracing these town- 
 ships, with fifth, sixth and seventh town to the west, 
 were taken up, and the arduous task of clearing away 
 the bush at once began. The bay, from its debouche at 
 Kingston, extends west about seventy miles, nearly 
 severing at its termination the county of Prince Ed- 
 ward from the main land. The land on either hand, for 
 about thirty miles west of Kingston, is undulating, 
 with a gradual ascent from the shore, but when Adol- 
 phustown is reached, Marysburgli, in the county of 
 Prince Edward, on the opposite side of the bay, presents 
 a bold front, its steep banks rising from one to two 
 
2D2 RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS Of EARLY DAYS. 
 
 hundred feet. From the Lake of the Mountain, looking 
 across the wide stretch of water formed by the sharp 
 detour of the bay in its westerly to a north-easterly 
 course for fifteen or twenty miles, the observer has one 
 of the most charming scenes in America spread out 
 before him. In the distance, the lofty rocky shore of 
 Sophiasburgh, with its trees and shrubs crowding down 
 to the water's edge, stretch away to the right and left. 
 To the west, the estuary known as Picton Bay curves 
 around the high-wooded shore of Marysburgi\, and be- 
 neath and to the east, the four points of which the town- 
 ship of Adolphustown is composed reach out their 
 woody banks into the wide sweep of the bay like the 
 four fingers of a man's hand. For quiet, picturesque 
 beauty, there is nothing to surpass it. On every hand 
 the eye is arrested with charming landscapes, and look- 
 ing across the several points of the township you have 
 dwellings, grain fields, herds of cattle, and wood. Be- 
 yond you catch the shimmer of the water. Again you 
 have clumps of trees and cultivated fields, and behind 
 them another stretch of water, and so on as far as the 
 eye can reach. The whole course of the bay, in fact, is 
 a panorama of rural beauty, but the old homes that 
 Were to be seen along its banks twenty -five and thirty 
 
RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 293 
 
 years ago have either disappeared altogether or have 
 been modernized. It is now very nearly one hundred 
 years since the first settlers found their way up it, and 
 it must have been then a beautiful sight in its native 
 wildness, the clear green water stretching away to the 
 west, the sinuosities of the shore, the numberless inlets, 
 the impenetrable forest and the streams that cut their 
 way through it and poured their contingents into its 
 broad bosom, the islands here and there, upon which 
 the white man had never set his foot, water fowl in 
 thousands, whose charming home was then for the first 
 time invaded, skurrying away with noisy quake and 
 whir, the wood made sweet with the song of birds, the 
 chattering squirrel, the startled deer, the silent murmur 
 of the water as it lapped the sedgy shore or gravelly 
 beach — these things must have combined to please, and 
 to awaken thoughts of peaceful homes in the near 
 future to them all. 
 
 The Bay of Quints, apart from its delightful scenery, 
 possesses an historical interest. It is not known from 
 whence it received its name, but there is no doubt it is 
 of French origin. Perhaps some of the old French 
 voyageui-s, halting at Fort Frontenac,fon their way 
 west, as they passed across it, and through one of the 
 
294 RANDOM BECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 
 
 gai)8 that open tlie way to the broad expanse of Lake 
 Ontario, may have christened it. Be this as it may, it 
 was along its shores that the first settlers of the 
 Province located. Here came the first preachers, 
 offering to the lonely settler the bread of life. On its 
 banks the first house devoted to the worship of God 
 was erected, and the seed sown here, as the country 
 grew, spread abroad. Here the first schoolmaster be- 
 gan his vocation of instructing the youth. The first 
 steamboat was launched (181G) ujion its waters at 
 Ernesttown, near the present village of Bath. King- 
 ston, for a long time the principal town of the Province, 
 then composed of a few log houses, was the depot of 
 supplies for the settlers. It has a history long anterior 
 to this date. In 1G73, Courcelles proceeded to Catara- 
 qui with an armed force to bring the Iroquois to terms, 
 and to get'control of the fur trade. Then followed the 
 building of Fort Frontenac. The restless trader and 
 discoverer, La Salle, had the original grant for a large 
 domain around the' fort. Here, in 1G83, La Barre built 
 vessels for the navigation of the lake, and the year 
 following held a great council with the'Five Nations of 
 Indians, at which Big Mouth was the spokesman. The 
 fort was destroyed by Denonville in 1689, and re- 
 
RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DATS. 295 
 
 built in 1696. It was again reduced by Colonel Brad- 
 .street in 1758. 
 
 In Adolphustown many of the first settlers still lived 
 when I was a boy, and I have heard them recount 
 their trials and hardships many a time. Besides the 
 U. E. Loyalists there were a number of Quaker families 
 which came to the Province about the same time, leav- 
 ing the new Republic, not precisely for the same rea- 
 sons, but because of their attachment to the old land. 
 During the war, these people, who are opposed to war 
 and bloodshed, suffered a good deal, and were frequently 
 imprisoned, and their money and property appropriated. 
 This did not occur in Canada, but they were subject to 
 a fine for some time, for not answering to their names 
 at the annual muster of the militia. The fine, how- 
 ever, v/as not exacted, except in cases where there were 
 doubts as to membership with the society. This small 
 township has contributed its quota to the Legislature 
 of the country. T. Borland represented the Midland 
 District in the firstParliamentof the Province, and was 
 followed by Willet Casey, when Newark or Niagara was 
 the capital. The latter was succeeded several years 
 later by his son, Samuel Casey, but, as often happens, 
 there was a difference in the political opinions of the 
 
296 RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 
 
 father and son. The father was a Reformer, the son 
 a Tory; and at the election, the old gentleman went to 
 the poll and recorded his vote against his son, who was 
 
 nevertheless elected. The Roblins, John P , who 
 
 represented the county of Prince Edward, and David, 
 who sat for Lennox and Addington, were natives of the 
 
 township. The Hagermans, Christopher and D , 
 
 were also fourth town boys, with whom my mother 
 went to school. The old homestead, a low straggling 
 old tenement, stood on the bay shore a few yards west 
 of the road that leads to the wharf. T remember it 
 well. It was destroyed by fire years ago. The father 
 of Sir John A. Macdonald kept a store a short distance 
 to the east of the Quaker meeting-house on Hay Bay, 
 on the third concession. It was a small clap-boarded 
 building, painted red, and was standing a few years 
 ago. I remember being at a nomination in the village 
 of Bath, on which occasion there were several speakers 
 from Kingston, among them John A. Macdonald, then 
 a young lawyer just feeling his way into political life. 
 He made a speech, and began something in this way : 
 " Yeomen of the county of Lennox and Addington, I 
 remember well when I ran about in this district a bare- 
 footed boy," &c. He had the faculty then, which he 
 
RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OP EARLY DAYS. 297 
 
 has ever since preserved, of getting hold of the affec- 
 tions of the people. This bonhommie has had much to 
 do with his popularity and success. I recollect well 
 how lustily he was cheered by the staunch old farmers 
 on the occasion referred to. A few years later a con- 
 test came off in the county of Prince Edward, where I 
 then resided. In those days political contests were 
 quite as keen as now ; but the alterations in the law 
 which governs these matters has been greatly changed 
 and improved. The elections were so arranged that- 
 people owning property in various counties cduld exer- 
 cise their franchise. The old law, which required voters 
 to come to a certain place in the district to record their 
 vote, had been repealed ; and now each voter had to go 
 to the township in which he owned property, to vote. 
 Foreign voters were more numerous then than now, 
 and were looked after very sharply. On this occasion 
 there was a sharp battle ahead, and arrangements were 
 made to meet property owners at all points. There 
 were a number from Kingston on our side, and it fell to 
 me to meet them at the Stone Mills Ferry, and bring 
 them to Picton. The ice had only recently taken in 
 the bay, and was not quite safe, even for foot passen- 
 gers, There were six or seven, and among them John 
 
298 RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 
 
 A. Macdonakl, Henry Sinith, afteivvaids Sir Henry 
 and (itlicrs. In crossing, Snjitli got in, but was pulled 
 out by liis companions, in no very nice pliirht for a 
 long drive. The sleighing was good, and we dashed 
 away. In the evening I Ijrouglit them back, and bo- 
 fore they set off' across the bay on their return, John A. 
 mounted the long, high stoop or platform in fi-ont of 
 Teddy McGuire's, and gave us an harangue in imita- 
 tion of , a well-known Quaker preacher, who 
 
 had a marvellous method of intoning his discourses. 
 It was a remarkable sing-song, which I, or any one else 
 who ever heard it, could never forget. Well, John A., 
 who knew him well, had caught it, and his imitation 
 was so perfect that I am inclined to think the old man, 
 if he had been a listener, would have been puzzled to 
 tell t'other from which. We had a hearty laugh, and 
 then separated. 
 
 I have often heard my mother tell of a trip she made 
 down to the Bay of Quintd, when she was a young 
 girl. She had been on a visit to her brother Jonas 
 CannifF (recently deceased in this city at the age of 
 ninety-two), who had settled on the river Moira, two 
 miles north of the town of Belleville, then a wilderness. 
 There were no steamboats then, and the modes of con- 
 
RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 299 
 
 veyance both by land and water weio .slow and tedious. 
 She was sent homo by her brother, who engaged two 
 frien<lly Indians to take her in a bark canoe. The dis- 
 tance to bo travelled was over twenty miles, and tho 
 morning they started the water in the bay was exceed- 
 ingly i-ough. She was placed in the centre of the canoe, 
 on the bottom, while her Indian voyageurs took their 
 plaec in either end, resting on their knees. They 
 started, and the frail boat danced over the waves like 
 a shell. The stoical yet watchful Indians were alive 
 only to the necessities of their position, and with mea- 
 sured stroke they shot their light bark over the bois- 
 terous water. Being a timid girl, and unaccustomed to 
 the water, especially under such circumstances, she was 
 much frightened, and never expected to reach her home. 
 There was considerable danger, no doubt, and her fears 
 were not allayed l)y one of the Indians telling her if 
 she stirred he would break her head with the paddle. 
 The. threat may not have been unwise. Their safety 
 depended on perfect control of the boat, and in their 
 light shell a very .slight movement might prove di.sas- 
 trous. Her situation was rendered more unpleasant 
 by the splashing of the water, which wet her to the 
 skin. This she had to put up with for honrs, while 
 
300 RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 
 
 the Indians bravely and skilfully breasted the sea, and 
 at last set her safely on the beach in front of her 
 other's house. When they came to the shore one of 
 the Indians sprang lightly into the water, caught her 
 in his arms and placed her on dry land. This trip was 
 literally burned in her memory, and though she fre- 
 quently mentioned it, she did so with a shudder, and 
 an expression of thankfulness for her preservation. 
 
 Of the old people who were living in my boyhood 
 there are few more thoroughly fixed in my memory, 
 with the exception, perhaps, of my grandfathers Can- 
 niff and Haight, than Willet and Jane Casey. There 
 were few women better known, or more universally 
 respected, than Aunt Jane. This was the title ac- 
 corded to her by common consent ; and though at that 
 time she had passed the alloted term of three-score 
 years and ten, she was an active woman— a matron 
 among a thousand, a friend of everybody, and every- 
 body's friend. Her house was noted far and wide for 
 its hospitality, and none dispensed it more cordially 
 than Aunt Jane. In those days the people passing to 
 and fro did not hesitate to avail themselves of the 
 
 comforts this old home afforded. In fact, it was a 
 

 ■S:^^Pfel^ 
 
 Aunt Jane, ae:92 
 
 t>u|>^<^tbLtiiM ler<uiD. 
 
RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 301 
 
 general stopping place, where both man and beast 
 were refreshed with most cheerful liberality. 
 
 Jane Niles, her maiden name, was born at Butter- 
 nuts, Otsego County, in the central part of New York 
 State, 1763; so that at the commencement of the 
 American Eevolution she was about eleven years old. 
 She was married in 1782. The following year, 1783, 
 the year in which peace was proclaimed, her husband, 
 Willet Casey, left for Upper Canada, and located in 
 the fourth town on the shore of the Bay of Quintd. 
 After erecting a log house and a blacksmith shop, he 
 returned for his wife. He was taken seriously ill, and 
 nearly a year passed before he was able to set out 
 ao-ain foi- the new home in the wilds of Upper Canada 
 (which was reached early in the year 1785), where, 
 after a long and prosperous life, he ended his days. 
 
 Aunt Jane was a tall and well proportioned woman, 
 of commanding presence and cheerful disposition; a 
 woman of more than ordinary intelligence, and a good 
 conversationalist. She had been a close observer of 
 passing events, and possessed a wonderfully retentive 
 memory. It was an epoch in one's life to hear her re- 
 count the recollections of her early days. These ran 
 through the whole period of the American War, and 
 
302 RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OP EARLY DAYS. 
 
 many scenes which are now historical, that she had 
 witnessed, or was cognizant of, were given with a 
 vividness that not only delighted the listener but fixed 
 them in his memory. Then, the story of the coming 
 to Canada, with her first babe six months old, and the 
 struggles and hardships in the bush, which in the 
 days of which I s})eak she delighted to linger over, 
 was a great treat to listen to. There were few of the 
 first families she did not know, and whose history was 
 not familiar to her, and in most cases she could <rive 
 the names and ages of the children. The picture given 
 of her in this volume is a co})y from a dagueri'otype 
 taken when she was ninety-two years old. For several 
 years before her demise she did not use spectacles, 
 and could read ordinary print with ease, or do fine 
 needlework. She retained her faculties to the last, 
 and died at the age of ninety-six. 
 
 She had eleven children, five of whom died young. 
 Her eldest daughter, Martha, known as Patty Borland, 
 attained the age of ninety-two. Then followed Samuel, 
 Elizabeth, Thomas, Mary and Jane. These, with the 
 exception of Thomas and Mary Ingersoll, my wife's 
 mother, died many years ago. Thomas Casey died at 
 Brighton, in January of this year, aged eighty-seven, 
 
RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY DAYS. 303 
 
 and Mary Ingersoll on the first of June, aged eighty- 
 five, the last of the family. 
 
 Willet Casey was an energetic man. He accumulated 
 a large property, and in my boyhood there were not 
 many days in the week that the old man could nob be 
 seen driving along the road in his one-horse waggon 
 in some direction. He was one of the first representa- 
 tives for the Midland District, when Newark was the 
 capital of the Province. His son Samuel, a number of 
 years siibsecjuently, represented the district, and later, 
 his grandson, Dr. Willet Dorland, represented the 
 County of Princ" Edward. 
 
 Note.— At the time my book was going througb the press, I waa under 
 the impression that the Mi known in this country as a Sucker was the 
 same as the Mullet, but had no intention that the latter name should find 
 its way into the text in place of Sucker. See page 41. Accoi-ding to 
 Richanlson, one of the best authorities we have, the Sucker is of the 
 Carp family, the scientific name of which is Cyprinus Uudtonim, or 
 Sucking Carp. 
 
 On page 127, "and, as their lives had theretofore," read heretofore.